Marvel News

Back in May the website License Global released what it claimed was the official synopsis of Avengers: Endgame:

A culmination of 22 interconnected films the fourth installment of the Avengers saga will draw audiences to witness the turning point of this epic journey. Our beloved heroes will truly understand how fragile this reality is and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it.

Many months later the actual official synopsis has come out:

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.

The two are quite different. In the real synopsis there's no mention of reality or sacrifices, instead it's about the team and undoing Thanos' actions (no matter what the consequences). I think a lot of people will assume consequences = sacrifices, but I believe the heroes will instead be giving something up--something they truly want--for the sake of the universe (perhaps the wish fulfillment scenes mentioned in a 4chan leak from a month ago, assuming that leak was valid).

One of the concerns fans have had about Captain Marvel is her power level, a concern shared by the Russo brothers going into Endgame. In reference to this they said:

It's always a concern of ours about overpowering characters, because the reason that people relate to these characters is their humanity, and that they’re flawed. And the reason we love working so much with Captain America was that he was limited, and his heart was his superpower, you know? So we're all acutely aware of the dangers of having an overly powerful character. [But] we like sensitive storytelling, so… we found a thoughtful way through it. That's what kind of fires us up, I think, on a storytelling level, to be honest with you. Because when you do have powerful characters, you have to work that much harder to find their vulnerabilities and complexities. And Joe was mentioning on a storytelling level… and keep the stakes high! Because that’s where those characters are vulnerable. And actually, that makes for great drama, and you run in that direction. As storytellers, that's been one of the most fun things we've had working with these characters is figuring out ways into them where they are vulnerable and they aren't all powerful.

This is a great answer, even if it tells us nothing about how they've approached that particular problem. One of the interesting things about using the character is that her scenes were shot before her own movie (which filmed primarily from March-July of last year), so matching tone must have been an interesting challenge (reshoots could, of course, smooth that out). This matches the Russo's introducing both Black Panther and Spider-Man in Civil War before their own films.

Lauren Shuler Donner, who was the head of Marvel properties at Fox, gave a talk recently and the most interesting thing she said (all of which was speculation, something no one covering it emphasized), was that she expects the MCU to put out four films a year. This is exactly what I've been saying since the sale was announced. We also heard, from Disney head Bob Iger, that Deadpool will continue with Disney, which echoes what he's said several times before (would those films count as part of the four? Presumably). Whether Ryan Reynolds will be folded into the MCU proper or exist in his own little universe remains to be seen (I think it will occupy the same space as the Netflix shows, which is to say, theoretically part of the MCU, but not really). Charlie's speculation (the first link) about when these films will be released once this cycle begins is on target I think: February/March, May, July, and then November.

Related to the X-Men, I was watching Rob's video about Wolverine's origins (he does a good job of distilling what has become a complete mess--why does he need to fight in every major war prior to becoming a costumed hero?), and I bring this up because when I was reading the character (up to mid-1992) much about him remained unknown--I feel like that's far more compelling than what the comics have done subsequently. I mentioned in my X-Men speculation article that I think the MCU will try to avoid much of what Fox did with the character and thankfully that includes most of the aforementioned clutter (which takes up the bulk of the first Wolverine-solo film from 2009).

Discussing Film claims The Eternals will begin production in August (which makes sense given its expected release next fall).

The other news about the film is in regards to a revelation of sorts: for years rumours had swirled that John Ridley had been tapped for a secret Marvel TV project for ABC. Speculation about what this project was ran the gamut, from Namor (link above) to Kamala Khan's Ms Marvel. According to Charles Murphy at THS his project was, in fact, The Eternals, which Kevin Feige and the MCU scooped up for the big screen last year. How The Eternals could have worked on the small screen I have no idea--all I can imagine is the low production quality of The Inhumans. Presumably there are no remnants of Ridley's fingerprints on the film version. Speaking of ABC, I mentioned previously  that I thought Disney was pulling all Marvel properties out of Marvel Entertainment's hands and giving them to Kevin Feige, but as we'll see below there are exceptions to that.

I had some thoughts about what the MCU could do with Daredevil when they get his rights back in the fall of 2020 (I don't put much stock in Netflix allowing the show to be picked up by Hulu, incidentally). As with most portrayals the character leaned into some aspects more than others. I think the MCU version will focus more on him being a lawyer--being less angsty and angry, less focused on his Catholicism (somewhat comparable to what it sounds like Matt Reeves is doing with Batman). We'll also likely see him dispense with his secret identity (and thus the issue of dual identities). Rebooting him means the MCU is also be free to make their own run at Elektra where there's much more room to work with since Netflix botched her so badly.

I mentioned not long ago that I wondered if Marvel Entertainment would be allowed to do any more new Marvel TV content given that Disney+ was about to burst onto the scene. It seems that they will, as a slate of four animated shows for Hulu have been announced: MODAK, Hit-Monkey, Howard the Duck (this is not the same project pitched by Lea Thompson), and Tigra and Dazzler. These are largely Z-grade characters, but the latter two stand out to me--the former I brought up and dismissed in my future characters article (largely because she didn't tick any boxes, but I gave her a small chance of appearing because Cheetah was appearing in Wonder Woman 1984); the latter I discussed in my X-Men article, where she was dismissed for similar reasons (not ticking any boxes). I have no personal attachment to Tigra (and clearly Kevin Feige doesn't either), but I am disappointed that this locks out Dazzler from appearing in the X-Men franchise--she's a character with a rich history who was part of my exposure to the group as a kid--it's unfortunate she's not going to make the cut.

Mark Hughes wrote a long (long) article that's largely a sop to DCEU fans, as well as massaging WB's tender ego about the films. Within that morass there are updates to various projects we've heard about previously (I went through their status before back in March):
-The Flash: speculates there might be another 'change of direction' for the film
-The Joker and Harley Quinn movie is dead
-The solo Jared Leto-Joker film is dead
-Superman (presumably referring to Man of Steel 2) is shelved for now
-Gotham City Sirens is not connected or attached to Birds of Prey
-Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, Nightwing, Deadshot, Justice League Dark, Cyborg, and Lobo are either dead, on hold, or in development hell
None of this is surprising, although I think it puts to bed the idea that Jared Leto's interpretation of the Joker will ever be seen again. Other than Harley Quinn it looks like the entirety of Suicide Squad can be ignored as, indeed, it seems like the whole Snyder-verse will be sooner than later.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)