Marvel News

Details have emerged about the upcoming Falcon and Winter Soldier series (filming begins in August). Sharon Carter and Zemo are on the slate (assuming negotiations are completed) and the show will air next August. I'm excited for the latter, but I never felt like Sharon was particularly distinctive--intended as Cap's romance, the MCU decided to go a different way (much like they did with Ashley Johnson's character in Avengers); as a character she's basically Maria Hill with a different name. I feel like she might get shoehorned as a romance for one of the other characters, but I hope not.

There's a supposed Guardians 3 leak on 4chan we can take a look at:

• The story is set 4 months after the events of endgame
• Thor [is] still fat
• Both Fin Fang Foom and Beta Ray Bill appear, they are results of High Evolutionary's experiment
• Adam Warlock and Gamora work together
• Peter, Drax and Rocket say goodbye to the team at the end
• Peter finally reunites with Gamora and they settle down on the planet Zhen-Oberi
• Beta Ray Bill, Groot, Nebula, [and] Mantis are [the] new Guardians of the Galaxy with Adam Warlock as their leader
• Beta Ray Bill invites Thor to his home planet and they teleport [away? to it?]

I'm not sure there's much to say about the first two points--exactly when it occurs after Endgame doesn't seem that relevant and Thor losing the weight could be an arc of sorts. Rumours about Fin Fang Foom has been floating around for awhile (not specific to the Guardians, but to the MCU), but I don't know what the point would be without knowing the story (he's often associated with the Manderin, who seems slated for Shang-Chi). Beta Ray Bill has also been heavily rumoured for awhile and his eventual arrival in the MCU was teased in Ragnarok. We know that Guardians 3 is the end of the current roster and certainly having Quill leave is the most obvious way to do that. Could this post be true? I think it's unlikely, at least as-is, although by naming a specific planet it will tell us if this was insider knowledge one way or another when the film comes out.

Speaking of Shang-Chi, a genuine scoop comes from Charles Villanueva who makes two claims and proposes a theory:

• The Russo brothers originally had a deal with Chinese investors for a Shang-Chi film
• Filming will begin this fall in Australia and casting has begun
• (Theory) he'll be an MI:6 operative

I don't know what to make of the first point, since Shang-Chi rumours have been floating around the MCU for a decade or more (it needs more context to be fleshed out), but in terms of the here & now it's simply interesting trivia. The second scoop is related to what we heard back in April about an MCU movie filming in Australia, which at the time had to be either Shang-Chi or The Eternals. This does mean my long-held theory (eg) that Marvel was going to add another date to 2020 (after removing one due to the James Gunn drama) holds up--the production date means Shang-Chi can appear next year.

As for the theory: I have no feelings about it whatsoever--there's nothing that requires him to be a British agent, although that could fulfill MCU-producer Nate Moore's dream of bringing Union Jack into the MCU (as well as space for Jessica Drew--assuming Sony cooperation--and other UK characters). The thing is, if Shang-Chi is going to go full Black Panther with a cast that is virtually all Southeast Asian (I keep seeing Asian--Asia is a big place, there are a lot of different people there), a UK-setting doesn't make much sense to me. You'd think Shang-Chi would be based somewhere in China, at least partially. I do think making him a secret agent is much more interesting than him simply being a martial arts hero without that context.

Jeremy Conrad has put out a rumour that Marvel plans to integrate Deadpool into the MCU. I've castigated Conrad before about his rumours (eg), but it remains a fact that he did scoop The Eternals, so we have to explore his ideas (whatever he heard seems to be what Charles Murphy was told as well), keeping in mind that MCU scoopers have talked about how little news has leaked the last couple of months.

Does Kevin Feige want Deadpool in the MCU? I'm not convinced. I've long thought that the closest association he would accept would be what we get with ABC, Netflix, and Hulu--alternate realities that have no impact on the actual MCU. The other problem with this rumour is that it posits Deadpool appearing in a Spider-Man film, ie, a Sony film, which is very unlikely (until they have full control, Marvel will keep Spider-Man's films very insular).

With that said, is the general idea plausible? I think the manner being discussed makes it very unlikely and I don't think it's a given that this is something Feige even wants (something echoed by Roger Wardell, who says Disney prefers he have the same relationship with the MCU that he had with the X-franchise). Personally, I also think Deadpool 2 was a significant step back for Deadpool and that it's entirely possible a third film simply bottoms out the character (which is why I thought a switch to X-Force was a good idea--whether Marvel wants to continue with that I don't know).

Speaking of Conrad, he's claiming Power Pack is in full development. Feige has talked about the IP going back about as far as you can go and we heard it was being considered (along with a slew or others) this fall. I'd say the idea is probably true, even if I can't summon any enthusiasm for the property. I agree with Conrad that it's far more likely to be a Disney+ show than a film (seeing Shazam and the Ant-Man films crash and burn, in relative terms, suggests that the comicbook film crowd isn't keen on properties that overtly target kids--this is true of this kind of comicbook themselves, incidentally).

I was thinking about Umberto Gonzalez and his value as a source for MCU leaks. While not the most prominent figure for scoops (at least for Marvel), he's well known both within the community and the industry. Since I switched my focus from Marvel Netflix to the main MCU back in 2018, he's had two major scoops and I wanted to examine them as compared to much more significant contributions from more marginalized figures like Villanueva.

• Spider-Man: Homecoming: a year before release he claimed Zendaya was playing Mary Jane Watson

What he actually heard was that she was playing "MJ" and then made the conclusion over what that meant himself. He was technically right, in that Michelle uses that as a nickname (a terrible decision I feel was Sony's), but otherwise she's a completely different character.

• Avengers: Endgame: in the fall he claimed that Katherine Langford was in the film, but he was unsure who she was playing

This was true--she was removed after test screenings--and Umberto seems to have learned from the MJ scoop blowing up in his face not to include his speculation as fact.

In each case Gonzalez heard something that was true, but didn't have access to the full context. These are both marginal scoops, completely unlike the megaton of info dumped on Villanueva last May. It suggests to me that his info isn't from MCU-insiders, but from ancillary sources (test screeners, extras, etc). I'll point out that no one else had either of his scoops (keeping in mind that, in spirit, the first one is wrong), but neither of them are significant.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News

The idea that Rocket is going to be a primary focus for Guardians 3 has been partially confirmed by James Gunn, who calls the film the completion of his character arc. His comment doesn't mean that the 4chan leak (which I think is based in part on the information dumped on Charles Villanueva a couple of years ago--he'd heard about the involvement of the High Evolutionary at that time) is completely accurate, but I won't be surprised if some of it is. A more interesting question, and one Deadline (the link) doesn't ask, is how much Gunn will revise the script in light of the extra time he's had to digest and think about the story. I anticipate tweaks, if nothing else.

We have what might be a hint of when the Black Widow prequel will take place, although this is a report of something said by Sebastian Stan (Bucky) that's as yet unconfirmed. Stan implied the film will occur after Civil War, which is a good ten years later than most rumours have suggested and long after Jeremy Conrad's bizarre Y2K prediction. "After Civil War" could mean at any point before Infinity War, so up to the MCU's 2018, but no earlier than late 2016. That timeline is when Cap, Falcon, Widow, and Wanda are on the run, leaving room for appearances by any or all of them (although I'd expect only cameos, if anything). We have very little idea what the group was doing before Infinity War and it won't retread what's been hinted or is already known about Natasha's past (Budapest, the Red Room, etc)--this would help overcome most of my objections to it being a prequel. It would also overcome the issue I brought up previously that there's no point in casting a young actor like Florence Pugh if she's appearing seventeen or more years in the past (leaving her no throughline for future films). This timeline would suggest, however, that we won't see Bucky, who is being cured and is then out of commission in Wakanda from Civil War until Infinity War (no Hawkeye either, as he's under house arrest).

Kevin Feige did his first ever AMA on Reddit and in the midst of it confirmed future plans for the Mandarin, which is what the 4chan leak indicated (granted it wasn't hard to speculate, as both I and Robert Meyer Burnett did, cf the link). I discussed, when going through the 4chan post, that this makes a lot of sense. One of the major problems with using the Mandarin in the Iron Man films were arguments that he'd be a racist stereotype--this ceases to be an issue if he's in an Asian-lead film like Shang-Chi. Another clever thing the MCU is doing by having Shang-Chi be their first, premiere martial artist, is that you can add Iron Fist later on and avoid much of the white washing complaints about the character (they regain his rights next fall, although it's probable Kevin Feige has no use for him and he'll get dumped on Loeb-land on Hulu).

Apparently there have been three call sheets leaked for the The Eternals (the first is the THS leak in November), but it's not clear what other sheets are (they have not, as far as I can tell, come out en mass to the public, given that the other two apparently don't name Ikaris). Villanueva, who provides this information, has a theory that "Karen" is in fact Moondragon--I feel uncertain about this if the latter is going to be in Guardians 3, since presumably James Gunn would want to introduce her. If she does appear in The Eternals and is, as expected, Drax's daughter, she could be the tie-in between the two franchises. The push for her diverse casting would match Marvel's tendency to race-swap alien characters (ala Mantis etc).

We have a 4chan leak about the cast to examine:

Keanu Reeves is cast as [the] main villain Druig; Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Luke Evans, Shawnee Smith, Kumail Nanjiani, Millie Bobby Brown, and Michael Obiora are the main cast

Jolie and Nanjiani are already confirmed, with Madden also seemingly set, but there's no Ma Dong-seok (assuming we can trust Umberto Gonzalez's scoop) or Conrad Ricamora (same link, but via THS, who said he was being considered). I've heard both the Reeves/Brown/Luke Evans rumours before, but not Smith or Obiora. What do I make of it? I don't have any reason to accept or reject it--the inclusion of Reeves/Brown does make it sound like fan casting, however.

One thought Murphy/Villanueva presented in their podcast fits a supposition that I've had for a long time: I don't think we're going to get a direct sequel to Ant-Man and the Wasp--neither it nor Ant-Man were successful enough to warrant it. However, that doesn't mean the characters can't move forward and the M/V idea is that they get folded into either a New Avengers or West Coast Avengers movie. This seems far more viable to me, although it would likely mean shedding much of the supporting cast from the franchise (as you can only have so many characters--albeit I don't expect the decimation of the Thor-cast we've seen--likely they simply won't be there). This would also presumably mean saying goodbye to director Peyton Reed.

We have an apparent comment from Disney CEO Bob Iger where he says all the Disney+ shows will occur after Endgame (in the MCU timeline). What makes this interesting (since for three of the shows I think that goes without saying) is the Loki show--everyone has been calling it a prequel. Assuming the source is a good one and that Iger didn't misspeak, this presumably would have to be the Loki who escaped with the Space Stone in Endgame--except, in theory, he should be part of another timeline, so...I don't know what to make of it. I'll hold back on speculating until there's further confirmation, but it's food for thought (I don't want a prequel Loki, but it's hard to imagine it as anything else).

I've been mentioning for a long time that Shazam's box office is not good (360 million at the moment, putting it 39th out of 43 major comicbook films since the MCU dropped--list via the link). Despite lurid praise from critics, along with talk of a sequel, we're getting solid rumours that WB won't be making a sequel. It's interesting how long it has taken anyone else to discuss the possibility despite the lackluster return (very apparent after its opening weekend). Admittedly, the commentary via the link isn't insightful (with both John Campea and Burnette bending over backwards to convince themselves everything is fine), but the fact that it is being discussed is what's important.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News

There's a 4chan roundup of MCU rumours (mirrored on Reddit, via the link, and getting picked up elsewhere) that is worth going through, although I'll preface this by saying there's not much new here:

Black Widow, The Eternals, Black Panther 2, Shang-Chi, Doctor Strange 2, Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are in active development and there are plans for Thor 4, Ant-Man 3, Captain Marvel 2, New Avengers, Young Avengers and Dark Avengers.

The only surprise is the claim that Nova is in active development--I use the word "surprise" loosely because Kevin Feige has been talking about the character for years (he was even in a version of Infinity War, which is the third time he's been cut from a film). The seven films listed as in active development are one shy of the eight slots on the current MCU slate (leaving one open)--if I was going to pick from the others I'd think Captain Marvel 2 or an Avengers film is the most likely missing title. All these films, incidentally, have been rumoured over the past year or more, so there's nothing new except the developmental note. Among common rumours all that's missing is a Thunderbolts film, which was part of the Roger Wardell rumours from December (although you could argue Dark Avengers is essentially the same thing).

Falcon & Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki and Hawkeye are being developed for Disney+, but the characters will still be featured in the movies. The X-Men and the Fantastic Four will not appear until Phase 5.

The first part repeats what we already know and the latter is similar to what Feige has said, although he hasn't specifically ruled out the Fox characters appearing in the next five years.

There won’t be another decade-spanning overarching storyline like the Infinity Saga, but there will be overarching “mini-arcs” spanning 3-6 films.

I've heard this before, but I can't immediately find a reference for it.

There will be a clearer divide between grounded MCU and cosmic MCU going forward, each having their own core casts, specific tones and overarching storylines.

I think this divide is more clearly parsed by saying earth-based and space-based heroes. Through the first three phases only the Guardians were separate from the main MCU. Undoubtedly future Thor and Captain Marvel films, along with The Eternals, will occupy that space (as would a Nova film).

Norman Osborn will be the main antagonists of [the] grounded MCU and is expected to appear in several movies provided Marvel and Sony renew their contract.

This echoes prior rumours (originally from THS in October (possibly from the massive leak from May, 2018) and then 4chan in January), but is completely dependent on the Sony deal (something likely already resolved one way or another, since Sony need the wheels moving on the third Spider-Man film in order for it to come out on time in 2021).

Chris Hemsworth renewed his contract for several more Marvel movies and is expected to appear in both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Thor 4.

This was already clear (a future Thor film was teased around the release of Ragnarok and the ending of Endgame explicitly showed his participation in Guardians 3).

Chris Pratt also has several movies left in his contract and is expected to continue even though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is intended as the team’s final appearance in the MCU.

If true this does surprise me, because Guardians 3 would be his fifth MCU film, so what kind of contract did he sign? Regardless, there's no reason to let a still young, popular actor go, especially when his character has a lot of room to grow.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME - Mysterio is from a parallel dimension, but is a criminal there and is controlling the Elementals in order to masquerade as a hero and usurp Iron Man. OsCorp is revealed to have purchased Stark Tower.

Much of this goes back to a May, 4chan post, but with the updates about Mysterio (from another Earth) and firming up the speculation that the Stark Tower is now OsCorp. I'm not clear on how he can usurp Iron Man when he's dead, however.

BLACK WIDOW – Florence Pugh is introduced as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow.

If true this would actually make me interested in the film (by connecting it to the present), although it begs the question of how much of a prequel it is (the rumours have consistently claimed it occurs before Iron Man 2 (usually 2006, but sometimes significantly earlier--1999 according to Conrad), since the time gap would make the 23-year old Pugh far too old for such a role in the present (17 or 24 years later). I think it makes more sense to have the film take place either during the five-years of the Snap or just prior to Infinity War (there also remains the possibility that she's frozen, ala Winter Soldier, in which case the time gap doesn't matter as much). We know Pugh is playing a spy (as reported by THR) and that this apprentice role would echo Hawkeye training his replacement Kate Bishop on Disney+. Incidentally, a new Black Widow opens the door to getting her comicbook relationship with Daredevil (whose rights return to Marvel next year).

THE ETERNALS – Richard Madden is playing the main character, Ikaris. The Eternals will [be] pivotal to cosmic MCU.

Already officially revealed on both counts.

BLACK PANTHER 2 – Killmonger will appear in the spiritual plane. Queen Divine Justice will be featured. Movie will be political.

I thought the end of Black Panther made the former pretty obvious (especially after the strong reaction to Killmonger), but the rest is new speculation. I've been hoping we'll see Storm in this film, but the timing might not work out for that (Ryan Coogler has, in theory, been working on the story since October and only had access to her since April).

SHANG-CHI – The Mandarin is rumored to be Shang-Chi’s father.

This is an idea shared by myself and Robert Meyer Burnette back in March. It's perhaps the only film where you could use the Mandarin and avoid the racist issues associated with the character (ala M'Baku in Black Panther); it would be a nice tie-in to the second and third Iron Man films--perhaps making room for War Machine to appear.

DOCTOR STRANGE 2 – Christine Palmer, Wong, Mordo and the Ancient One will appear. Lord Nightmare will be the villain. Mordo will be a complex, sympathetic antagonist like Loki. Clea and Brother Vodoo will be featured. Asian actresses eyed for Clea. Parts of the movie will be set in the 1980’s.

This is the Wardell rumour with the added expected return of Mordo and Christine Palmer.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 – The High Evolutionary will be the main villain and Rocket’s creator. Rocket will fall in love with another of the High Evolutionary’s experiments, Lylla. Drax will find out that his daughter is still alive. Star-Lord and Nebula will become closer as they search for Gamora. Thor will be in the movie and meet Beta Ray Bill, who might be another of the High Evolutionary’s experiments. Quasar and Adam Warlock also rumored to appear, with Zac Effron reportedly eyed for Adam.

This is also a Wardell rumour (link above and partially confirmed by Charles Murphy), but with the High Evolutionary specifically designated as the villain and adding Beta Ray Bill, Quasar, and Adam Warlock (whose appearance was set up in Guardians 2). I'm not a big Zac Effron fan, but if he's cast I won't judge him until I see him in the role.

LOKI – Anthology chronicling how Loki shaped human historical events.

HAWKEYE – Hawkeye has to come out of retirement (again) when troublemaker Kate Bishop begins running around claiming to be the new Hawkeye and gets into trouble with the mob. Ends up training her to take his place. Supernatural mobster The Hood and Hawkeye's evil brother Trickshot might appear.

FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER – Falcon and Bucky have to work together with a new government-sanctioned Captain America to stop terrorists from destroying the United Nations. New Cap eventually goes psycho and they have to stop him. Seems like it'll lead to Sam becoming the new Cap after all.

WANDAVISION - Vision gets rebuild, Wanda tries to give him a soul and he instead gets possessed by a dark force. Allegedly it's more of a psychological thriller with a 1950's aesthetic. Wanda and Vision end up living in the suburbs where the neighborhood is racist against Wanda's robosexuality. The witch Agatha Harkness might appear.

These are identical to 4chan rumours from January. Neither the WandaVision nor Loki shows as described interest me, but the other two look good.

One thing I've been wondering about for awhile is Quasar--what James Gunn (and Marvel) would want to do with him because on the surface he's not a distinctive hero. I think the latest video from Kinda Culty solves this puzzle. In all the speculative articles I've seen about the character the writers were always referring to the Wendell Vaughn version--the original. However, if this is Phyla-Vell (also known as Martyr/Quasar) it makes much more since, since she is Moondragon's lover and we know Marvel is moving forward with LGBT characters/relationships.

One of the interviews with the Russos' that have come out post-Endgame refutes Kevin Feige's assertion in the fall that the title of the film was always Endgame. The Russo's admitted it was Infinity Gauntlet for quite some time (making sense of Zoe Saldana's faux pas back in April of 2017)--this original title was the 'mild spoiler' they and Feige were worried about (which is why when we got the Endgame reveal they had a hard time explaining away that caution).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News

I've mentioned previously that I try to avoid Sony's marketing for the Spider-Man films because they are too spoilery. However, I checked out the latest trailer due to its Endgame connection. I was not expecting Mysterio to be from another reality, but if that's true it makes me wonder if a new Disney-Sony deal will have the Sonyverse as an alternative Earth--such that, while Venom et al aren't part of the MCU in the traditional way, it means that Spider-Man can go back and forth in the multiverse. Alternatively, if there is no deal, he can simply remain in the alternative Earth. It reminds me of how Iron Man 3 ended in such a way that if Robert Downey Jr. didn't resign with Marvel his story would have reached a conclusion. I don't think this arrangement is necessarily likely, just that it opens the door for it.

This could allow the new X-Men films to exist in a different reality as well--I dislike the idea, but it could preserve things like Magneto's origin in World War II or whatever element of Wolverine's increasingly ridiculous origin they want to use (I'm hoping for his early. simpler origin). It's also possibly we get a Witcher-style Convergence, where an alternative reality including mutants gets combined with the main MCU (very unlikely, but I thought I'd throw the idea out there).

Going back to Far From Home, there's a theory floating around (eg) that Michelle is Nick Fury's daughter. The evidence is based on the Homecoming end credits where she's depicted with an eye patch--take that for what it's worth. Do I think this is true? It's possible--the character was controversial (some fans didn't like the MCU trying to reinvent Mary Jane Watson as Michelle--I went over my theory that the push for a new MJ came from Amy Pascal, but that's just my speculation). What attaching her to Fury does is connect her to a popular character, possibly making her more palatable for those who are unhappy--if that's the intent I don't think it actually helps, since the objection is primarily how hamfisted it's being handled (even fans of the character don't find her worth mentioning when discussing the latest trailer). I never understood the point of having her be MJ but also Michelle. Regardless, good writing is the way to ameliorate the situation.

One thing I've been wondering about, since Sony wants its Sinister Six movie, is how Michael Keaton's Vulture will fit into that (given the events of Homecoming). He owes Peter Parker a debt, such that something has to change for him to become a villain again (assuming he's not simply blackmailed into joining). I wonder if Liz Toomes (er, Allen), his daughter, will get Gwen Stacey'd and die with Spider-Man blamed for it. This idea, if it has any merit at all, will have to wait for a third film, as it's been confirmed that neither Vulture nor his daughter will be in Far From Home.

THR is reporting that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is expected to film in 2020, earlier than previous speculation and meaning it will appear no later than 2022 (it debunks Karthik Prasad's claim last fall of a 2021 production date, although in fairness to him this was presumably before James Gunn was re-hired).

The now famous Roger Wardell has made some claims about the upcoming film on his second account:
1) Rocket's creator is the High Evolutionary
2) Drax's daughter is alive
3) Rocket gains a love interest in Lylla
4) Nebula and Star Lord become friends

The last element makes a lot of sense--there aren't any other relationships for Peter Quill to explore among the Guardians; the first and third seem highly plausible; Kamaria (presumably Moondragon) would be a good development for Drax, who has no motivation left now that his revenge has been satisfied by the death of Thanos. Charles Murphy confirms the idea of the High Evolutionary being present, saying he heard about it two years ago (presumably via the massive leak that went to his buddy Charles Villanueva, see below--he says his information is from an early draft of the film).

Variety reports that Richard Madden is in negotiations to play Ikaris in the film. In addition, Jim Starlin dropped that Kronos is supposed to be in The Eternals (which reminds me of a debunked Conrad theory I forgot in my Endgame reaction post, as he claimed back in July that Kronos would appear in Endgame).

Wardell also has claims about the Doctor Strange sequel:
1) It will include time travel to the 1980s (I'm assuming that's what he means by "1980's Boogaloo" and the point below)

2) Tilda Swinton is in negotiations to return as the Ancient One

3) Jericho Drumm (Doctor Voodoo) and an Asian-Clea will appear

If Mordo's threat of consequences for using the Time Stone from Doctor Strange are true, a trip to the past makes sense; I'd welcome a return of the Ancient One (Swinton is fantastic); Clea is the usual love interest for Strange and it makes sense to have her there--the race-swap to Asian could be intended to mollify those upset by Swinton's casting in the first Doctor Strange.

We have a bunch of MCU dates officially announced, so let's quickly go through them with my guesses as to what films they represent:

• May, 2020 - This is Black Widow given that production has either started or is about to start
• November, 2020 - The Eternals, because it's the only other MCU film currently casting
• February, 2021 - This is probably Shang-Chi, although Ryan Coogler has had as much time to work on Black Panther 2, so it could be here as well (the arguments for the former is that it would hit during the Chinese New Year, but it's also Black History month, so take your pick)
• May, 2021 - Either Black Panther 2 or Shang-Chi
• November, 2021 - Doctor Strange 2 (it could be the May date as well, but I'm guessing it will echo the slot it had in 2016)
• February, 2022 - unknown (possibly Captain Marvel 2, although it might be something brand new)
• May, 2022 - Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (we know it's a 2020 production date, which could actually see it out earlier, but I think it will be a summer release and I don't think can make the 2021 date)
• July, 2022 - unknown (possibly Thor 4 or something new)

I last went through the hypothetical Marvel slate back in January, which hasn't really changed here, but there are a number of interesting things to note in regards to it:

• Spider-Man films won't appear in this sequence because they are Sony's dates; if the deal is renewed expect it to be in 2021 (as Sony wants the films every two years)
• No third 2020 film has been added - I and many others had been speculating that the MCU would not want to simply lose an expected release date next year, with most speculating that the fast-tracked Shang-Chi would be that third film, but there's no sign of that date here (that could still change, however)
• We don't expect a Deadpool or X-Force film to show up on this slate as part of the MCU, but it was puzzling that Disney gave New Mutants a new date--I'll expand on that below

Myself and others had been expecting Marvel to expand to four films a year--with Fox's added production capabilities it's logistically possible (and if Marvel continues making Spider-Man films, we'll get that in 2021 regardless), but there isn't a clear sign of it now and I wonder if that's because Disney wants to leave space for it's other blockbuster properties (Star Wars, the inherited Avatar, etc). I'll be interested to see if this arrangement (three films a year, which began in 2017) will remain static.

I'm rethinking what the MCU is going to do with the X-Men. For a long time I (and a few others) thought Dark Phoenix and New Mutants (or at least the latter) would be cancelled to protect the IP. This opposed the conventional wisdom which was: the Fox films cost a lot of money, so to recoup as much of that as possible the completed films will be released. That, certainly, is the case of Dark Phoenix, which comes out shortly, but what about New Mutants? A film described repeatedly as a mess and one Fox thought needed reshoots back in January, 2018, which have never occurred. Will Disney simply fund those predetermined changes and roll out the film as-is (this is it's fourth release date, incidentally)? It may very well be that simple--New Mutants isn't being added to the MCU slate, so it doesn't seem like Feige will change the film to suit him, but it's very odd for such a late, dead-on-arrival Marvel-related release. Could it be hitched to the Deadpool franchise? That seems unlikely given the very different tones of those films. It's difficult to parse their intention (is that world going to be another alternative reality?).

Going back to the MCU X-Men, we've heard it could be five years before we see the X-Men on film (even if X-characters could appear sooner). I thought this might simply be a bluff on Feige's part to avoid distractions before Endgame, but if not then it's certainly long enough for people to have purged their memories of the wildly uneven second stage of the Fox X-films (meaning some of the characters I was excising from the MCU due to their use by Fox might remain in play).

THR reports that Hulu is getting Ghostrider and Helstrom shows. I'm unfamiliar with the latter, but it's the Robbie Reyes' Ghostrider from Agents of SHIELD, with Gabriel Luna reprising the role. The Ghostrider move is no surprise, as Kevin Feige has dumped every minor IP previously on film to Marvel Entertainment--ie, outside the MCU. I frankly have no interest in either show--I like my MCU interconnected, not marooned on Jeph Loeb island.

We've learned that virtually all of Endgame leaked May, 2018, via a phone call to Charles Villanueva of MCU Exchange--he in turn informed a small group of people (including the oft-referenced Charles Murphy and presumably Roger Wardell among others). Whoever the source was is very connected, as other MCU scoops were dropped at that time. Whether Villanueva retains that connection I have no idea, but I do respect the fact that he didn't simply dump all the info and spoil the film.

It turns out the Umberto Gonzalez scoop back in October (claimed by Conrad as his own) about Katherine Langford appearing in Endgame has some basis after all. The Russo's divulged there's a cut scene where Langford appeared as an older Morgan Stark and forgives her father for not being there for her because of his sacrifice (this mirrors the Thanos and Gamora scene from Infinity War). The scene didn't test well--it was too confusing--so it was cut (undoubtedly it's from these test screenings that the scoop is derived). The screenings are also undoubtedly the source of the rumour Conrad reported that her role was as Tony's adult daughter (although Conrad's interpretation, that she'd have to be sacrificed, remains erroneous).

I was thinking about where Endgame leaves the Phase One characters--mostly thinking about how it will reflect forward to the new era (Kevin Feige doesn't want to call it Phase Four, but it's going to be hard to break that terminology).

Iron Man - Dead; leaves behind Pepper (who, according to Paltrow, is basically retired out of the MCU), and his very young (4) daughter Morgan (it's difficult to parse how Langford's older version could be used without time travel)
War Machine - Alive and with rumours of a Disney+ show; as a very undeveloped character I'm not sure what they'll do with him, especially given Don Cheadle's age (55)--perhaps he passes the torch? Could he be the avenue to Ironheart?
Hulk - Crippled (making space for the Amadeus Cho Hulk, if they want to go that way); now that he's Professor Hulk they can keep Mark Ruffalo and the character around for as long as they want (the CGI means Ruffalo's age is largely mitigated)--I would expect him, however, to revert to a background role

Black Widow - Dead, but with a forthcoming prequel film--I have no interest in that unless there's a definitive link to the present (I've seen other people wonder if it's an alternate reality version of the character, but I don't think the MCU will want to void the stakes of her sacrifice in Endgame)

Thor - Gave up his his royal position (to Valkyrie), which brings his character full circle into being a more humble version of the character he was in the first Thor; tied in with the Guardians of the Galaxy and it's clear there are more films to come for him
Hawkeye - We know his Disney+ show will have him train his replacement in Kate Bishop, which will sunset the character outside of cameos

Captain America - Retired (his role taken over by Falcon), but not dead; if Chris Evans didn't want to come back he surely would have died in Endgame, so I suspect he'll serve as an adviser/friend in the future

All of these changes leave room for a completely new set of Avengers. It seems like the new team will consist of Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man (if the deal is renewed), and possibly Ant-Man and the Wasp (I remain unsure what Marvel wants to do with the latter pair given that the solo films have not done well in MCU-terms).

Amy Pascal is leaving Sony for Universal. No one seems to know whether this impacts a renewal of the deal with Marvel or not, but what it does mean is that the projects Pascal were spearheading (like Silk and separate Silver Sable and Black Cat films) are likely dead, because unlike the MCU, Sony's properties were divided into three advocates (with Palak Patel's getting the most attention thus far; Avi Arad is the other). Will the move help Marvel's situation with Universal? That remains to be seen, as Comcast (which owns Universal) is not fond of Disney (thus their competing bids for Fox).

I mentioned back in December that one of the reasons Jeremy Conrad faces a lot of criticism is because of how he behaves on social media. I'd heard, although I'd never researched it, that he proactively blocks people who criticize him. Apparently this is true, as he has me blocked despite not interacting with him (he probably found the site through my talking to Kinda Culty on Twitter)--it's a funny thing, because I don't really check his feed (most of which is devoted to fighting with people who dislike The Last Jedi). I don't know if his much more popular buddy Danile Richtman does the same thing, but unlike Conrad (who I considered very reliable initially), I looked into Richtman first and knew he was very hit and miss (much like Umberto Gonzalez).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)