Variety is reporting that a Winter Soldier-Falcon series is in the works and unlike the others that have been reported this one has a writer attached (Malcolm Spellman). This continues the phenomena of secondary characters from MCU Phases One and Two being shifted over to the streaming service. It doesn't necessarily mean they won't appear in movies after Avengers 4, but it does suggest that they will have a much smaller presence, such that the upcoming movies will truly be a watershed moment for who we see on screen going forward.
It's worth noting that all of the characters appearing on the streaming service confirms they will never have their own films. This isn't particularly surprising--none of the characters we've heard about thus far have been able to support their own comic for any length of time--but it does indicate that Phase Four will radically reduce the number of current MCU characters appearing (making space not just for new characters, but for the Fox properties). I have to wonder if future Ant-Man material will also be put on the streaming service. It's interesting that none of the actors involved are among the older in the MCU (no 54-year old Don Cheadle, 53-years young RDJ, or 51 year-old Mark Ruffalo, although 71-year old Sam Jackson has been rumoured); granted I doubt that's truly a factor in these decisions.
One other thing the above story tangentially confirms is that neither co-star will be replacing Captain America (as has been speculated many times)--even Charlie has figured this out--such that if Chris Evans leaves the role they won't be picking up the shield (a smart decision--Disney won't want brand confusion). My contention remains that Cap survives.
Speaking of the shows, Peter Sciretta is reporting that Vision is meant to not only appear in Scarlet Witch's show, but have a large role and possibly costar with her. The inclusion of Vision suggests one of two things: Shuri backed up his mind on her computer or that Avengers 4 will undo his death somehow (it would fit my theory that the team goes back in time to prevent Thanos from ever assembling the Infinity Gauntlet).
With so many shows coming to Disney's streaming service, all of which directly connect to the MCU, I have to wonder what the fate of Marvel TV outside of that is. There's no question that Kevin Feige wants to have a hand in anything happening within the MCU and that hasn't been the case outside of Agent Carter. It's generally understood that The Gifted and Legion will have no attachment to the future and broadly accepted that the Netflix shows are also unrelated. What about those on ABC, Hulu, and Freeform? To me it's been clear for a very long time that Agents of SHIELD is irrelevant to Feige (it's final season wraps this year regardless), but what about The Runaways and Cloak & Dagger? I believe that these will also be put on the pyre of Jeph Loeb and allowed to burn away in some alternate universe while Feige spreads his wings into an integrated television sphere. If I'm right I suspect Disney will want to jettison these non-canonical shows sooner than later (to avoid brand confusion). If anything is to be retained I fully expect some sort of crossover with Disney's service, but I don't think Feige is going to accept something he wasn't fully involved with creatively.
Just broadly, putting aside my own attachment to the Netflix shows, it makes sense to have one creative head for all the MCU. Splitting it between Feige and Loeb over at Marvel Entertainment never made much sense.
Related to this, Screen Rant is loudly proclaiming that Daredevil season three's viewership numbers are down 57%. Given that they have no access to Netflix's data, how do they arrive at this conclusion? Via a social media study from Jumpshot (whose data only covers the US audience). I'd take this with a grain of salt. It's probable that the numbers are down, but affixing any kind of number to it this way seems pretty reckless. If the show is in decline (probable), I don't think the primary factor is the quality of shows, but rather that we were sold on 'it's all connected' only to learn that it's not connected. This massively hurts viewer investment (part of the reason why AoS never found heavy traction on ABC either). Netflix refused to even try to CW itself by making the shows more self-integrated. We are, it seems, in the final death spiral of this glorious experiment.
[An update to this story: Business Insider is reporting that Daredevil season three is the most 'in demand' streaming show of the week (as measured by Parrot Analytics, which uses Demand Expressions as its data).]
Jeremy Conrad is re-confirming the title of the movie (Annihilation) as well as saying the trailer will drop in November (he doesn't source the latter, but it apparently comes from trailer production leaks that were loosely echoed in the most recent, and almost certainly fake, trailer description).
I've been thinking about Avengers 4, in part inspired by another toy leak (showing concept art). Not only does it confirm an earlier toy leak (from early October) showing Thor and Rocket in uniforms reminiscent of Hank Pym's from Ant-Man and the Wasp (ie, intended for the Quantum Realm), but it also reconfirms the concept art that leaked earlier in the year showing Thanos in his armour and carrying a massive sword. The latter image is a curious one for me, because with the Gauntlet Thanos needs neither a sword nor his armour. This suggests two possibilities: 1) the Avengers are powerful enough that the Gauntlet alone isn't enough (I don't believe this to be the case, but if we buy into the Avengers building their own Gauntlet it's possible), 2) Thanos no longer has a functioning Gauntlet and/or doesn't have all the Stones anymore (this fits my speculation).
Executive producer Michael Grillo (no relation to Frank) has revealed that the Ancient One, long rumoured to appear in Avengers 4 (courtesy of the always talkative Mark Ruffalo), will indeed do so. Grillo said the actress only had availability for "one day," meaning it can't be more than a cameo. What sort of cameo is hard to say, since she dies in Doctor Strange, but if Ruffalo shared a scene with her clearly it involves the Hulk in some way.
The last few weeks have variously confirmed and denied various rumours I covered in my Avengers 4 speculation article. We've had Frank Grillo confirming what he himself hinted over a year ago, then deny it (he might simply be trolling since he wasn't happy with his character's death in Civil War, but I think if that was the case Marvel would officially end the rumours); Aaron-Taylor Johnson (Quicksilver) largely denying an appearance (albeit there's ambiguity with what he said); and the Swinton confirmation above. None of this, really, tells us much about the film, although Conrad claims it won't be three hours long.
Conrad is reporting that a Hawkeye/Kate Bishop show or movie is in some kind of internal development (echoing his own rumour from back in June). He's not confident enough to say it will happen or where, but he is confident enough to talk about it being in development. I think such a story has no chance to be a feature film--Black Widow is already pushing the envelope of what can work as a superhero outing--but it would be a very cheap (in relative terms) TV show to make (the CW's Arrow has had seven seasons after all).
Unknown Marvel Film
THS is reporting writer David Callaham has been hired to write a script for an upcoming film, but they aren't sure which, other than not Black Widow, The Eternals, or Black Panther 2 (all three already have announced writers). THS speculation is notoriously wrong, but they throw out Doctor Strange 2 and Young Avengers as possibilities (the former is unlikely, as director Scott Derrickson likes working with writer C. Robert Cargill).
Conrad is reporting a rumour that the role Katherine Longford is playing is that of the adult daughter of the Stark's and, therefore, basically a cameo without a future in the MCU (or so he implies). It's certainly plausible to have a 'name' actor in a limited role like this (Matt Damon did it in Thor: Ragnarok), but since this is a rumour about a rumour, we'll have to wait for more information to come out. Conrad's idea--of a fully adult daughter being sacrificed by the Avengers to defeat Thanos--would be a much more interesting sacrifice than his earlier narrative of them giving up a kid (as I mentioned when critiquing this idea, what's preventing them from having the kid once things are fixed?).
Speaking of rumours, there are a bunch of clickbait articles floating around right now about Namor because Kevin Feige was asked about him and his vague response was given far more weight than it should (his paraphrased answer was "Namor could make an appearance, still deciding IF & when"). This is no different from what we've heard before. Awhile ago, when I thought we were getting Zack Snyder's darker version of Aquaman from the DCEU, the likelihood of Marvel's Atlantian appearing (because of his similar profile and the rights situation with Universal) was slim. However, given that Joss Whedon and James Wan have shifted the character into a lighthearted surfer dude, there's suddenly space for the brooding, antihero that is Namor. I very much doubt he'll get his own film, but he could easily make appearances in The Fantastic Four or Black Panther (as I previously went through).
I've been a voice in the wilderness for quite some time in saying X-Men: Dark Phoenix is unlikely to ever be released. Apparently my voice is not alone anymore however, as I stumbled across a Captain Midnight video from mid-August (prior to its date shift to the summer) making the same assertion. He makes one point I did not which is worth repeating: while shelving the movie (or burying it) is expensive, compared to the value of the brand itself the cost is negligible (fans might have a hard time believing it, but prior to the MCU the Avengers were a B-brand compared to the X-Men). This is also why New Mutants (whose reshoots still haven't happened) is something I think will never appear.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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