Marvel News

We've heard about the reshoots for Endgame before and Karen Gillan tells Empire that they were very frequent indeed. Until we've seen the movie we'll have no idea what they were for--final touches or entire scene insertions/changes? Given the situation with James Gunn (fired and re-hired) I wonder if plans for the Guardians changed with his status.

I rarely agree with Hector from Hyper RPG, but his belief that few if any of the major characters will die in Endgame is the same as my own (and a view not shared by many). We both believe that most of the OG Avengers will be put out to pasture, but Marvel will still want access to them--I leave room for maybe the death of Iron Man, but I think it's highly unlikely.

Black Widow is negotiating to cast Florence Pugh, with THR saying she would be playing a spy opposite Widow (presumably the 'female Bond' we heard about via the THS cast list). The plot continues to be described as a prequel and mentions the KGB, even though the KGB ceased being an entity in 1991 (presumably they mean the Russian successor organization). I do wonder if one of the reasons we seem to be getting a prequel is to avoid fans asking the question, "Why doesn't she just call so-&-so to resolve this?" It does make casting Pugh an odd choice though, depending on how far in the past it is (what are you going to do with her after the film?). Unlike with Captain Marvel where most of the supporting cast are aliens so you can use them decades later, with humans characters they are going to be one-and-done.

There's a supposed Eternals leak on 4chan to assess (with the usual grains of salt encouraged; I've gone ahead and made the post more coherent):

• [The] leaked synopsis is mostly wrong--the movie isn't set millions of years ago. Only the opening [is]. [The] main story is set 30,000 years ago
• [A] love story between Ikaris and Sersi is [the] main plot, but not the crux of the film. [A] genderbent Sersi for two gay leads is being considered
• Karen, Piper, Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi, Starfox, Thena, Zuras, and Hercules are the leads
• Entire Greek pantheon will be alluded to, but may not be cast in this movie
• Druig is the main villain
• Karen leads the team, but is not the lead of the movie
• Piper (Sprite) is planned to be super endearing and sympathetic, so if they do the Gaiman arc [2006-07] then the audience will have a connection
• The Celestials [seen in the first Guardians film] get fleshed out a lot in this movie. We see the universe while they ruled it
• [The] action is set entirely in the past to allow for greater powersets and [a larger] sense of scale than any MCU movie so far
• We meet Odin at the age Thor is now in this film, [who] shows the same brash arrogance
• Titan is visited in the film
• [It] was described multiple times as "an epic" compared to The Odyssey
• The word "awe inspiring" was used many times in relation to the action scenes, "Powers that can shape the course of planets"
• Most multicultural and inclusive MCU film yet

Let's open the discussion by saying most of the information here either matches what we know or what's been broadly speculated. The cast list generally matches the leak from THS in November (including their speculation that Hercules is the unnamed male lead and that Piper is a stand-in and gender swap for Sprite)--the only difference is it does not mention Elysisus or The Forgotten One/Gilgamesh. I believe the synopsis he's referring to is the debunked one THS reported in October, and we already know Marvel is looking to cast a gay lead. I don't think we'll actually get a gay love story as a focus in the film (given that they cut Valkyrie's very tame lesbian moment from Ragnarok). The push for diversity certainly fits the direction Marvel is going (they won't feel the need to adhere to traditional depictions of Greek mythology anymore than they did with Norse, nor is there any dedication to Kirby's original white versions of the characters). What is puzzling is the "if they do the Gaiman" or "may not be cast" comments above--why doesn't the poster know? There's actually no sign of the plot either, just the backdrop--what, exactly, are the Eternals doing? If the above has any weight, the person must be working from early discussions about the film aided by what's come out in leaks. The specifics that are unique to it are: the timeframe given (other leaks have said thousands of years ago, some millions, but 30,000 is very specific) and Odin's appearance. Even if it's authentic it really doesn't reveal very much.

Something I missed in December: Adam McKay (who worked on the initial treatment of Ant-Man and the Wasp) mentioned that he'd batted around ideas with Kevin Feige about The Inhumans. After the ABC show flopped in 2017 I didn't think the MCU would touch the IP for awhile, but it appears as though Feige remains open to the idea (presumably such a project would be a long way away).

We Got This Covered is saying the following:

A source ... has alleged that Endgame will be Hemsworth’s last outing as Thor. Though the report adds that there’s still a slight chance he’ll return several years from now in Marvel’s Phase 5, the possibility isn’t considered very likely.

Let's note that WGTC has had no successful MCU scoops to date, so their solitary source isn't worth much. Secondly, this runs contrary to Hemsworth's public comments in response to Ragnarok. Is their idea feasible? Absolutely, but I think it's just speculation. I bring it up because there will be people who use this as a basis to theorize about Thor's death in Endgame.

There's a long article by Ben Pearson (itself a commentary on a Deadline article) that goes into Netflix's overall strategy for shows and we can reflect on what this meant for the (now cancelled) Marvel shows:

[T]hat stipulation [two to three years before a show can move to another network] applies to all Netflix TV shows that come from other studios ... [I]t’s in Netflix’s best financial interests for shows to not last more than three seasons ...  the streaming service reportedly “does not see significant growth potential beyond Season 3” – unless it’s receiving significant awards attention. After a second or third season, those mid-tier shows will not drive new subscriptions – which, of course, is Netflix’s primary goal. So Netflix will cancel middle-of-the-road shows and divert those funds to making something new and flashy in the hopes of hitting big and attracting new subscribers

There were clearly other, corporate reasons for cancelling the Marvel shows, but what this illustrates is that even if there was a good relationship with Disney it's likely none would have gone beyond two or three seasons anyway.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)