Marvel News

No SPOILERS below--I haven't seen Avengers: Infinity War nor have I had it spoiled--anything related to it is just speculation.

Frank Palmer at Screen Geek is claiming a major Marvel character dies:

The beginning of Avengers: Infinity War features the death of a major Marvel character. Some fans will be expecting it, while others will be blindsided.

Palmer himself echoes Kevin Feige's statement that deaths in the film will be permanent (looking, no doubt, to avoid the of Phil Coulson situation--dying in The Avengers only to spend five seasons on Agents of SHIELD). I agree with Palmer that, if true, the most logical character to die would be Loki--there's really no other major character that makes sense (and no, Heimdall does not count)--but this speculation isn't new as his death was rumoured weeks ago (eg). If this is true it will be a hard pill to swallow as Tom Hiddleston has been excellent in the role and there seems to be plenty of room for growth--admittedly his transformation from villain (Thor and The Avengers) to ally (Thor: Ragnarok) is a pretty complete character journey.

Feige, who was talking to everyone about everything in the run-up to Infinity War, told Mike Ryan:

I knew some about him [Captain Mar-Vell], but it was definitely Carol Danvers who was most interesting to us and why we choose her. [Mar-Vell will play a role when it comes to Carol Danvers’ origin story.] But as that character connects to the origin of Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel? We’re pulling from some of that for inspiration.

This turned into other sites saying "Kevin Feige isn't familiar with Captain Mar-Vell" which isn't what he said at all. To unpack this, let's briefly go over the origin of the film itself. Back in 2013 a Ms. Marvel script (pre-Kamala Khan, who first appeared in August of that year) was mentioned (Carol Danvers became Captain Marvel in 2012, so the script process presumably began no later than that), with Marvel looking for female-driven films (something Marvel Entertainment head Ike Perlmutter kept rejecting (passim; 'women and minorities don't sell toys' being his rationale--thus no Black Widow toys with the Avengers, cf). The announcement of a Captain Marvel film came in October, 2014 (alongside Black Panther, whose development history has a similar trajectory--both films delayed about a year after their announced date).

What this means is that in 2013 (at the latest) Kevin Feige had decided on a Carol Danvers film and, as a huge comicbook fan who is very involved in the MCU, he would know her origin story when she became a hero (as Ms. Marvel) in 1977 (the character dates back in 1968). Briefly, a former pilot and CIA agent who joins NASA, she befriends the Kree Mar-Vell (who debuted in 1967), who was using the identity of Dr. Walter Lawson as a cover--she becomes romantically and tangibly involved with him and via an accident gets her powers. Mar-Vell eventually gets cancer and dies (1982)--like every superhero in the comics his death doesn't last, but that's not our concern here. While the MCU is going to keep the Kree part of this story, along with Danvers having been an pilot and friend to Mar-Vell, I doubt how she gets her powers will be the same.

My assumption about the film (which takes place in the 90s and involves conflict between the Kree and Scrulls) is that it will end with Danvers trapped in the Quantum Realm, freezing her in time (much like Captain America), although how and why I have no idea. Because the film takes place in the past and it's expected she will be a major part of Avengers 4, it's not clear what will happen in her sequel as the version of the character the MCU is presumably going to draw from is the very modern (2015+) leader of S.W.O.R.D. and there's not many stories to draw from that (although I would enjoy her having adventures with Alpha Flight, the Canadian mutant superhero team who become part of SWORD).

As expected Jeremy Conrad is more reliable than Umberto Gonzalez, as less than three weeks after his scoop about The Eternals coming to the MCU Kevin Feige confirmed to Gonzalez (of all people) that they are having those discussions at Marvel. Gonzalez says 'insiders' have told him "multiple screenwriters have taken meetings and have been asked to come up with a story that focuses on the female Eternal known as Sersi"--I'd take his speculation with a grain of salt (especially in the immediate aftermath of his "insider knowledge" blowing up in his face).

Speaking of comments from Feige, he said the following about Nova:

Nova is… if we have a big board with a bunch of characters that have more immediate potential, Nova is on that board. Because of the connection to the Guardians universe, because there are more than one example to pull from in the comics that are interesting [Richard Rider and Sam Alexander]. And you’re absolutely right, he was in the earliest drafts of the [Guardians of the Galaxy].

This is no surprise given that the Nova Corps itself was featured in the first Guardians film. With the second Guardians film teasing Adam Warlock and James Gunn teasing Quasar on Twitter last summer, there's a host of cosmic characters around for the MCU to play with.

That Hashtag Show is claiming actress Emma Fuhrmann will portray Cassie Lang (Scott Lang's daughter) in Avengers 4--they don't know why it's an aged-up version (Fuhrmann is 16), as original actress Abby Ryder Forston (who is 10) will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp. If the report is accurate it's also not clear if this change reflects events happening in the aforementioned film or Avengers 4. In the comics Cassie is known as Stature and Stinger and was a member of The Young Avengers, becoming a hero after her father's death. This makes me wonder if the Phase Four change that's been referred too isn't just the addition of the Fox characters, but the addition of something like The Young Avengers (it's had a varying composition, but began with Iron Lad, Hulkling, Patroit, Wiccan, the Kate Bishop Hawkeye, and Stature--I don't think Marvel would feel beholden to this lineup, but its spirit of young characters with some connection to the original Avengers makes sense).

Speaking of That Hashtag Show, they claim the Black Widow film will be a prequel (which I'm not a fan of). Specifically:

Late last year, I was told that this film would take place in the past; today, that was confirmed by a second source. The film will find Natasha living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union! That timeline places the film firmly in the mid-2000s [the USSR dissolved in 1991, meaning the film would take place in 2006], meaning we’ll meet up with Nat prior to the events of Iron Man 2. That time frame opens up plenty of options, and while many fans seem to want a Black Widow/Hawkeye team up in Budapest [cf The Avengers], we’ve been told that early discussions about the film involved Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier. Stan seemed to have some ideas about a potential Black Widow film recently and their unique comic book history could make for a VERY interesting adaptation. Though no director has been officially attached to the film, we can report that Brad Winderbaum will serve as the film’s executive producer, following his time in that role on Thor: Ragnarok. While rumors place the film on Marvel Studios slate of 2020 films, we were unable to confirm that release date.

While I'm a fan of Black Widow, I think re-treading a background already spoiled in other films (particularly Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron) is not the right move, so hopefully it's not the plot we get.

Joe Russo was asked to expand on his comments about potentially adapting the "Secret Wars" storyline and he said the following:

Listen, my second favorite character growing up, and one of my prized possessions in my comic book collection is Incredible Hulk #181, which of course is the first appearance of Wolverine [November, 1974]. I feel like the mission of the Marvel Universe is to keep expanding and surprising people. Surprise them with casting choices, surprise them with story choices. If we’re moving into this world of crossover events, certainly that affords opportunity for other large-scale stories from the books like Secret Wars [1984] — which was another favorite comic of mine as a kid.

CBR, the source of these comments, believes that because the original version of Secret Wars was one of Joe's favourites as a kid that that's the version he'd adapt (as opposed to the Jonathan Hickman version in 2015). I think the key element is "surprise them with story choices"--I seriously doubt the Russo's would want to simply have the Beyonder force heroes to fight before eventually defeating him themselves.

Antonique Smith's character role has been revealed: Detective Nandi Tyler, who was a childhood friend and then professional rival of Misty Knight. She's an original character (as in no comic book basis). This is very similar to the Diamondback plot from the first season and I worry it's going to fall into the exact same cliches--Smith's performance, of course, could give it much more weight.

The never-ending Moon Knight rumours (the last being Jon Schnepp's erroneous prediction that he'd appear in The Punisher) got a boost of sorts from Kevin Feige when he said:

Yes. Does that mean five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now? There are stacks of character cards that we have in our, in our development offices, which we look at. Which we pull for him, which we discussed.

This is pretty vague and doesn't suggest any kind of immediacy--indeed, he's always seemed like a character more suited to television, although this suggests he's not coming to TV any time soon (if at all).

Speaking of rumoured characters, last February Namor was rumoured to have a TV show or movie in production (the former seeming most likely) and at that time speculation was Marvel had reacquired the rights to him. Talking to IGN recently Kevin Feige made comments suggesting Universal still had some control over the character (likely the same distribution rights they own for the Hulk since Universal owns them both), meaning using the character would have similar complications. Given that Universal (owned by Comcast) is unlikely to ever sell the character back (who presumably isn't under the same seven-year reversion clock that the Fox characters were), the MCU ought to use him like the Hulk if they want to include him.

Deadline put out a story that said the following:

[Peter] Rice told Fox employees that the transaction will most likely [my emphasis] be completed by spring-summer 2019 and end of summer 2019 at the latest

This lead to innumerable outlets (eg) saying the deal is going to be done in the summer of 2019 if it goes ahead. There are two things to point out here: Rice said "most likely" (so the timeframe could be shorter or longer), and that it's "mostly likely spring-summer"--a period covering roughly April-August, which is pretty broad and whose precise timing has a major impact on what movies Fox could release beforehand. I can't imagine that Rice has insider knowledge of how fast the courts are going to move, so I take this as him simply telling his employees what's already known--these decisions take at least 12-18 months--and he has no reason to imagine the sale not happening.

Speaking of that impact, Brent Andrew claims to have talked to some high-level Fox production crew members who told him the following:

• X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the last proper Fox Marvel movie (meaning adhering to the muddled Fox continuity beginning with Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000)--they also seemed to confirm re-shoot rumours for the film (which I discussed a month ago and make sense given the release date change)
• The X-Men characters (and everything else Marvel at Fox) will be integrated into the MCU ASAP and all are planned for Phase Four

None of these revelations are surprising (some pundits were speculating on a much longer integration, which I think is ridiculous), but it's added fuel to what's already been rumoured. It's also yet another sign that New Mutants is just never going to be released.

After writing the above Kevin Feige provided some fuel to the ridiculous fire by saying it will be a long time before the Fox characters appear. I believe this is him both being prudent as well as some deliberate obfuscation--the same way I viewed his Spider-Man deal denials (something Sony and Marvel adamantly denied right up to the official announcement). Until the sale to Disney is complete Feige isn't going to say anything about what Marvel will or won't do with the properties--I'm pretty sure that's viewed as tampering if he did. The plans are in motion and once the sale is complete we'll see those characters ASAP.

More updates from DC as apparently Birds of Prey is taking Suicide Squad 2's production date to be the next film in active production for the DCEU. I mentioned a month ago that it was unclear if Birds of Prey was happening at all, or if it instead was going to be the Harley Quinn movie or Gotham City Sirens. At that time rumours suggested Suicide Squad 2 was filming this fall, but if this is correct it appears that indeed we are getting the film Margot Robbie mentioned back in November, 2016. To me the decision makes a lot of sense--Suicide Squad was a mess and not an easy movie to make a sequel to. Birds of Prey, on the other hand, takes an element people liked (Harley Quinn) and puts it in a fresh context which could serve as a launching point for a Batgirl film (however weird it will be to have Batgirl before we get the Matt Reeves' Batman movie). Since this report came out Variety is reporting there are two scripts for the film and the only constants in both are Harley and Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl). The report also indicates Suicide Squad 2 might film immediately afterward. It makes sense for DC to double down on female-lead films when the MCU is only just getting there, but whether they can actually put out a good film remains an open question (signing Ava DuVernay to direct New Gods is not a positive sign).

The other rumoured DC film, Blackhawks (if it ever happens given Spielberg's age and busy schedule), isn't connected to the DCEU, so I won't get into that.

The leaked Venom trailer wasn't that bad except for the look for Venom itself (I've seen mixed reactions to it, positive and negative). I'm still not sure how the film will work out for Sony--detaching the character from its Marvel context. As a trailer it's an improvement on the very bland teaser the preceded it.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel TV and MCU News

Jeremy Conrad (known for breaking the Deadpool 2 story) has a scoop where he claims the MCU's next big team series will be the The Eternals. Here are the key points from his article:

Through confirmation from multiple sources [three], Marvel is looking to launch The Eternals as a new franchise post-Guardians of the Galaxy 3 [2020] and the wheels are already in motion to find Marvel’s new team of heroes. The decision to do them came after the success of the very Kirby-esque Thor: Ragnarok and DC developing their New Gods movie [in active production but with no release date], but they’ve been preparing for them for a while and we’ll see a moon-sized hint at them in Avengers: Infinity War this month [presumably referring to Thanos' home of Titan]. The rumor says the movie is currently on the Phase 4 schedule for 2021 or 2022, and there’s a possibility some of the Eternals could pop up in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 before being spun off into their own franchise. As Guardians 3 is the final outing for this team, introducing new cosmic characters prior spinning them off into their own movie would make a lot of sense.

The rest of the piece is Jeremy giving his opinion on why this is happening. The notorious Umberto Gonzalez has already dismissed the idea, but his own track record is a mixed bag (his colossal error on who Zendaya was playing in Spider-Man: Homecoming is just the latest example, but you can see an old list of others here), so his dismissal on its own doesn't amount to much. James Gunn is pretty quick to point out incorrect rumours so he's the one I'd watch in terms of the validity of Conrad's claims (the news broke on April 4th and so far there have been no denials--Rich Johnston is reporting an official announcement is coming soon--this runs contrary to Kevin Feige's statement that none of the Phase Four films would be revealed until after Infinity War, so my guess is the change is a reaction to Conrad's scoop).

As for who The Eternals are: Jack Kirby's creation back in 1976 when he returned to Marvel from DC (where he had created the New Gods which is the DC film mentioned above) and there are a lot of similarities between the two (both companies cancelled the run before he finished the storyline, illustrating their limited public appeal at the time). Briefly: when the Celestials visited Earth five million years ago and performed genetic experiments on early proto-humanity, they created two divergent races: the long-lived Eternals and the genetically unstable and monstrously grotesque Deviants (very angels/devils). The Eternals are long-lived and in general protected the human race, especially from the Deviants, with whom they've always had an enmity. Eventually the Eternals develop godlike powers.

How much of this the MCU would keep is hard to say. If the focus is the cosmic there's less need for the Eternals to be from earth's past. Thanos, who is an Eternal in the comics, may or may not be connected to them in the MCU--generally the MCU simplifies things (eg Ego becoming a Celestial) and that's what I'd expect with the Eternals.

A thought to add to my Infinity War speculation: is Tony Stark going to be the Uncle Ben moment for Spider-Man? I don't mean replacing it necessarily, I just mean as the dramatic moment--the emotional scene that serves as the cinematic touchstone for Peter Parker? There's certainly something about Tony wanting Peter to be better than he is that has some resonance with Ben's declaration in the comics. Just a thought.

Speaking of my speculation, we've had a comment from co-director Anthony Russo related to some of it:

We were considering showing [Thanos’] backstory, but ultimately felt it wasn’t necessary for the movie

My speculation was that we'd see Thanos' call to action (as in the event which begins his quest to balance the universe), so does this debunk that idea? It may, but Russo could also be talking about his origin in particular (growing up and developing) which is not quite the same thing.

I've also seen speculation that the fourth Avengers film will be in some way be the "Secret Wars" storyline--an idea that makes no sense to me whatsoever and fortunately the Russo's recently made comments that saves me going through why, as they expressed an interest in doing Secret Wars once the Fox properties are back with Marvel (see below).

For those unfamiliar with Secret Wars it refers to two two series in the 1980s from Jim Shooter (1984-86) and then a series of the same name from Jonathan Hickman in 2015. The two stories are very different--in the former an omnipotent being called the Beyonder is at the heart of the plot (which was written at the behest of Mattel to sell toys), whereas in the latter it's a merging of the various Marvel universes (bringing the Ultimate universe together with the default 616-universe, among others). The motivations of both are vastly different and when the Russo's refer to them I think they mean Hickman's (a sentiment echoed by others). While I no longer believe we'll ever see TV characters in the MCU, if we do this would be the place.

On the more take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt side of things the same Conrad has a one-source rumour that the Black Widow movie will be in 2020. This isn't much of a leap to make (it was my guess when the dates of phase four were announced). While Scarlett Johansson isn't old by any means (33), as a character she'll have had seven major appearances beforehand (I'm excluding her cameo in Thor: Ragnarok) and there comes a time where the interest in a solo appearance might fade away. Given how much Sebastian Stan has talked about such a movie it wouldn't be a surprise if he was in it (seeing the MCU tackle an espionage film would be fun).

On the Netflix side of things more news is coming out about Luke Cage season two (which is just two months away). Talking to Empire Magazine, showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker said:

Danny [Rand] helps Luke channel his chi in a fight to end all fights that was just one of the most fun things we've done.

This doesn't specifically give us much of an idea for why Luke seeks out Danny's help (to deal with the Bushmaster perhaps? see below), but it does suggest fun is part of the process, which is what you want from a nascent Heroes for Hire. It also doesn't provide any hint at how long Danny is in the show--what's described could be one episode or it might be part of a story arc (my guess is the former).

Coker also described Bushmaster's powers as being virtually the same as Luke's. Speaking of villains he deflected addressing the specific problems the first season had with Diamondback as a villain (implying it was largely a matter of comparative performance, ie, Mahershala Ali was so much better than Erik LaRay Harvey that it made his character seem poor by comparison--something not very fair to Harvey who, I think, was at minimum a victim of bad material).

In talking about Luke's journey Mike Colter said:

Luke is his own worst enemy, and that's something I enjoy playing about him, because he doesn't necessarily understand the results of his actions. He's fallible and he makes mistakes. He's got an edge, he's got a chip on his shoulder, he's got to discover his own popularity and enjoy it a bit. He's learning on the fly what it is to be someone everybody recognises, to be someone everyone in Harlem looks to for answers. It's a lot of responsibility

This is a good arc to follow since it's so distinctive from two of the other Netflix characters (Daredevil is a secret identity and Jessica Jones doesn't want popularity). Comments from Simon Missick were a bit more vague:

How does this person who is identified by her strength and her power as a cop do that job [without her good arm]? She can't. So we see Misty at the top of the season walking away from the thing that defined her.

So it seems Misty leaves the police (something presumed when we heard Daughters of the Dragon was going to be in Iron Fist season two), but it's not clear what she leaves the police for and discovering that seems to be her journey for the season.

Despite mixed reactions to the latest season of Jessica Jones it has been confirmed for another. The speedy renewal (about a month later) suggests Netflix had already made up its mind prior to the release of two (much as it had, say, with a Punisher series or Daredevil season two). What will be interesting to see is how showrunner Melissa Rosenberg reacts to the mixed feelings fans had about the second season--comments after the first showed her very concerned with audience reception (citing Dexter's collapse) and she can't be happy with how the second season was received. The obvious change to make would be to push Jessica's story forward rather than triple-dipping into her past, but we shall see (and it is a long way away).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

MCU News

Luke Cage has added Annabella Sciorra to the cast, playing Rosalie Carone. She's the creation of Chuck Dixon (1992) and one of many short-lived Punisher villains (she's part of a mafia family and has been dead since 1996). I mentioned back in December that the roster of Iron Fist villains was fairly small and this is just as true for Luke Cage. Given the budget limitations of the Netflix shows they have to steer clear of villains with special effects-heavy superpowers, making many of Luke/Danny's villains unavailable. Because of that I'm not surprised that we're seeing Punisher characters pilfered for use in other series' (he has a vast cast of villains who are suited to the format). I'm not expecting Rosalie to be the main villain, as Bushmaster (who definitely won't be using that name) and Nightshade--along with Shades and Mariah--are presumed to be the primary antagonists. It's worth noting the first two characters are also not original Luke Cage villains, being Iron Fist and Captain America foes initially (as I go over here).

We've learned Jay Ali has been cast as a series regular in Daredevil season three as one of the FBI roles reported by That Hashtag Show back in November. I've been speculating for awhile now that there might be something broader going on with the inclusion of agency characters in the various shows (ie, not regular police). The list:
The Punisher - featured the CIA and DHS (who would be involved in the show regardless)
Jessica Jones - hasn't strayed from standard police
Luke Cage - none yet announced
Daredevil - "Ben Jeffries" and "Steve" (FBI agents)
Iron Fist - "Tanya Parker" (a covert operative--perhaps CIA or something similar)
I'm probably reaching here as what stands out is having that kind of character in Iron Fist (not typically something you'd expect there). My hope is that we'll see a The Defenders team-up versus the Kingpin (who tends to engender that kind of attention), but what this might indicate is a stronger leaning on procedural drama for the Netflix shows (I don't we'll see a repeat of Jessica Jones' season two soap operaish approach).

I finally finished watching The Runaways--I got about halfway through the show back in December, but things got in the way of me completing it (that's the problem with not dropping all the episodes at once--the can be interrupted flow). While Hulu's offering has a different feel from the Netflix properties, I quite enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to another season. The showrunners (Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage) found a way to make their limited special effects work and even though it has a strong YA leaning it avoided the worst elements that come with that (the romance is cringe-worthy, but otherwise everything worked for me).

While the Marvel TV remains largely disconnected from itself and completely detached from the MCU, Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson) is going to get one last hurrah as he's slatted to appear in Captain Marvel (along with Ronan the Accuser and Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy; and Maria Hill from both Avengers films and Captain America: Winter Soldier). Given the time frame the movie is set in (the 1990s) it's also possible the older Howard Stark (Iron Man 2, Ant-Man, and Civil War), Thunderbolt Ross (The Incredible Hulk/Captain America: Civil War), Everett Ross (Civil War and Black Panther), Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Ant-Man and the Wasp), Janet Van Dyne (Ant-Man and the Wasp), and Bill Foster (Ant-Man and the Wasp) could appear. I'd be shocked if Peggy Carter wasn't featured (an MCU favourite). The announced characters are already more than enough, but it's interesting considering which characters could appear given the era.

I wanted to briefly dismiss some articles that have come out recently claiming Doctor Strange 2 has been confirmed (something I think will happen in due course): all of these posts derive from a report on Movieweb which simply describes what writer C. Robert Cargill and director Scott Derrickson have said they would do if they get a sequel. The point here isn't that we won't get a sequel (I believe we will), but simply the source of the confirmation is erroneous in this case.

I believe that behind the scenes Fox is doing Disney a favour by delaying New Mutants long enough for them to kill it (an opinion Andre at Midnight's Edge shares). The deal is a good one for the sellers (the Murdochs), so it certainly suits them to help out their buyer. Since the underwhelming trailer for New Mutants dropped in October of 2017, the only news has been delays: the first delay was announced in January, just three months prior to release (moving to February, 2019), and now it has been moved to August, 2019, which means it will absolutely be in Marvel's control (and, I suspect, never released to avoid sullying an otherwise pristine brand). There's no reality that requires 16-months to fix New Mutants (that's enough time to re-film the entire movie). Also on the move is X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which shifted from November of this year to February of 2019. It's likely the unwanted sequel will still appear, since Fox can't really do more damage to the brand, but reading the tea leaves from studio shill Steve Weintraub X-Men requires unscheduled re-shoots that, in order to accommodate the actors, meant pushing the release back. All big-budget movies plan re-shoots, so this implies unplanned re-shoots meaning the film truly tanked in screen tests (rumours suggest the third act is the problem). These moves heavily impact Fox's original plan of three comicbook releases in 2018 (now just Deadpool 2, which has no impact on the future MCU-brand). While Comcast (which owns Universal) is trying hard to stop the sale to Disney, the delays buy more time to win out in the courts. As an end note: I'd thought we could kiss goodbye to stories about the Channing Tatum Gambit movie after Gore Verbinski left the project in January, but Omega Underground is reporting a new production date of June 19th (which, if true, means script revisions are finished and cameras will role in time for it to hit it's June 7, 2019 release date). Naturally, that schedule allows plenty of time for Disney to spike the film if they wish (as they surely would).

With Ike Perlmutter's interference out of the way at Marvel Studios (since September, 2015) I've been curious how the approach to casting would change. We all remember the controversy about the casting of the Ancient One in Doctor Strange (Tilda Swinton was cast before Perlmutter's removal, but that change was largely about placating China by avoiding using a Tibetan character). Prior to the change only two notable characters (Heimdall, Gamora, and Baron Mordo) had been ethnically switched (the latter is an alien, so the change isn't that dramatic). The first true test of diversity came with Spider-Man: Homecoming and while Sony had impute for that movie I think it illustrates what Marvel's approach will be (carried forward in Thor: Ragnorak): lead characters will remain as is, but secondary characters are fair game for change.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)