Marvel News

THS is reporting that Ludi Lin (Power Rangers etc) and Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why etc) are on the shortlist to play Shang-Chi. Donnie Yen (Rogue One etc) is also being sought to join the production (to me he seems like a slamdunk unless he passes on it). There are two things I have to add to this brief bit of news.

First, I have to correct an error I made some time ago (I've gone back and corrected it in the archives as soon as I realized it). I was conflating Charles Villanueva's scoop about when filming will begin for Shang-Chi with the rumoured Eternals start date--ie, I was thinking Shang-Chi was filming in August. However, Villanueva clearly said the fall for Shang-Chi while the original Australian scoop from The Sydney Morning Herald doesn't specify when it will occur. Given that, THS' notion of a November start is plausible and fits with what we've heard thus far (it also explains why Shang-Chi is so far behind The Eternals in the casting process).

The second thing to clarify is who is responsible for this scoop. This tangled web arose and was solved on Twitter via a back and forth between Charles Murphy (of THS) and whoever runs the Lords of the Long Box Twitter feed. To make a long story short, here's what seems to have occurred:

• 1) May 29th: Daniel RPK told Murphy in private DMs that Marvel wanted Donnie Yen in the film (this isn't difficult to speculate, but the implication is that Daniel had a source)
• 2) May 29th: LotLB put out a Youtube video where they say Keanu Reeves is in negotiations with Marvel to play either Adam Warlock (!) in Guardians 3 or the Silver Surfer (in what I don't know)--there was a 4chan rumour about Keanu weeks earlier (for The Eternals, which was parroted by Jeremy Conrad June 1st), but that seems unrelated
• 2) May 30th: Murphy exchanges private DMs with LofLB discussing Marvel matters (including that Kevin Feige likes the Savage Land, including Shanna the She-Devil, who I discussed back in October; they do not seem to have discussed Shang-Chi)
• 3) June 4th: LofLB say in a Youtube video that Yen was in negotiations to play the Mandarin
• 4) June 17th: Murphy comes out with the scoop above
• 5) June 17th: LofLB asks for attribution; Murphy responds that he didn't get the information from them

This disagreement simmered down on Twitter fairly quickly, thankfully. What I think occurred is that each got their information separately, but LotLB had no way to know Murphy had access to the info from elsewhere and assumed (because he was watching their videos) that he'd picked up the info from them on the 4th (a natural enough assumption--there are definitely those who cover Marvel who don't attribute sources--Armin is probably the most notorious). Murphy's denials upset LotLB, who then got dog-piled by defenders of a more prominent figure (with egregious behaviour from someone at GWW--I assume that person is young and can learn and can grow from the experience). The confusion of what occurred was cleared up when Murphy posted the DMs with Daniel and I think we can accept that both parties arrived at this information on their own and move on with our lives.

One of the rumours (via GWW) floating around is based on this casting exclusive from them:

“The Benefactor.” All that is known about the character is that he is a “mysterious and nefarious benefactor.” The studio is searching for a male actor, preferably Caucasian, in their 40s to 60s. The actor will shoot their scene sometime this year in Atlanta.

Inexplicably GWW claims this is Norman Osborn (!), even though Far From Home is a finished film and didn't shoot in Atlanta. If the casting scoop is real, what's indicative is which upcoming film (Black Widow, The Eternals, or Shang-Chi) is shooting there. The former is, as far as we know, primarily shooting in the UK at Pinewood Studios--given that it's already filming, such late casting seems improbable; if we believe Villanueva's scoop (and I do), that Shang-Chi is shooting in Australia, that only leaves The Eternals for this character to slot into (not appropriate for Osborn). The leaked (and likely dated) cast list doesn't clear up who this could be at all, so we'll have to wait and see--there's also a chance this character is destined for Disney+.

Mindy Kaling said she'd talked to Marvel about Ms. Marvel, but in the hubbub around those comments she clarified that she's unaware of any active production of the property (something I don't think she could admit too even if she did know). If this is a Disney+ show (as seems likely) I wouldn't expect it to arrive any sooner than 2021 (given the much further ahead Falcon and Winter Soldier won't debut until August, 2020).

I've been saying since September that a third Ant-Man film was in jeopardy and our only rumour about a future film (via 4chan in May) was that it was being discussed, but not in active production. This rumour seems to be confirmed by Paul Rudd encouraging fans to petition Marvel to make another Ant-Man. I suspect that we simply won't get a third film--that the franchise isn't profitable enough--but that the characters will be folded into other projects. I also believe this means Peyton Reed won't be getting any MCU projects on film (which is one of the reasons I rejected Conrad's Fantastic Four rumour). I suspect that Emma Fuhrmann's Cassie Lang is safe from a franchise purge because that character is likely attached to New/Young Avengers plans (or, perhaps, something on Disney+).

I was thinking about the MCU's struggles with romances in their films. This common element in most stories is something I think they've had problems with. Let's go over those depicted (I listed the movies where they occur; those in square brackets are when they are either simply referenced or the appearance of the love-interest is an unrelated cameo or otherwise ephemeral; I also excluded Doctor Strange because that's a post-romance relationship, as well as cut out pre-established relationships like Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne):

• Tony Stark-Pepper Potts (Iron Man 1-2, Avengers, Iron Man 3, [Ultron, Civil War], Homecoming, Infinity War, Endgame) - this works very well; it's built slowly and evolves naturally; it's also the only romance that has functioned properly through the hands of multiple writers
• Bruce Banner-Betty Ross (Incredible Hulk) - like the film it comes from this is poorly and weakly done; Betty is abandoned hereafter (even though her father returns in Civil War eight years later)--with two excellent actors the issues are the writing (Zak Penn), directing (Louis Leterrier), and the god awful editing of the film (Rich Shaine, Vincent Tabaillon, and John Wright)
• Thor-Jane Foster (Thor, Dark World. [Ultron, Ragnarok, Endgame]) - there's no chemistry at all between Hemsworth and Portman, with the latter mailing in her performance in Dark World
• Steve Rogers-Peggy Carter (Captain America, Winter Soldier, Ultron, Civil War, Endgame) - it worked so well in the first film that it ruined all other attempts to give Cap a new romance
• Steve Rogers-{Ashley Johnson} (Avengers) - the waitress romance was cut out of Avengers completely, so clearly Joss Whedon (or Marvel) didn't think it worked; this was, I think, the only time a romance could have been established to transition Cap away from Peggy
• Thor-Sif (Dark World) - I thought the attempt to have Sif pining for Thor in Dark World was moderately effective, but Sif is never given enough screen time for this to have weight
• Steve Rogers-Sharon Carter (Winter Soldier, Civil War) - audience reaction (the creep factor) killed this off (she was cut from an early version of Infinity War)--I thought it was moderately effective in terms of performance/build-up, but the chemistry was not as strong as with Peggy (in part, perhaps, because Sharon has less depth as a character)
• Bruce Banner-Natalie Romanov (Ultron) - audiences did not respond to this and it feels rushed; the MCU immediately backed away from it
• Peter Quill-Gamora (Guardians 1-2, Infinity War, Endgame) - I didn't care for this in the Guardians films--it felt hollow and stereotypical--although it gained some gravitas in Infinity War (due to better writing from Markus & McFeely)
• Vision-Wanda Maximov (Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War) - brief as this is, it works
• Scott Lang-Hope Van Dyne (Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, [Endgame]) - this is...fine--average--it works, even if it's very tacked-on, but it's not made particularly important in either film
• Peter Parker-Liz Toomes (Homecoming) - this is very weak and generic; intentionally so, I believe, since Michelle is meant to be the throughline for Peter Parker
• Valkyrie-{Random Valkyrie} - the first depicted LGBT romance was shot for Ragnarok, but cut from the film (likely because it comes across as superfluous for what is a fairly shallow character)
• T'Challa-Nakia (Black Panther) - this is very well done; for a minor character Nakia's writing is particularly good (unlike, for example, Sharon Carter, Nakia seems to have a life going on that's independent of a romance with T'Challa)

One of the problems Marvel had in the beginning is that the romances they had access too weren't particularly interesting in the comics (Pepper, Betty, Peggy)--women largely defined by their romances rather than their own inner lives. As the MCU marched on the problems became more about not wanting to spend enough time on growing the romance--Nat and Bruce, Peter and Gamora, and Peter and Liz are all rushed; Vision and Wanda are also rushed, but Markus & McFeely wisely let a lot of real world time and movie time pass before they become partners and I think that helps.

With the purchase of the Fox IP (and the return of the Netflix IP--undoubtedly to be buried in an unmarked Loeb-universe grave), the MCU is getting back some classic romances (including some unrequited ones) and I'll be curious if they will give themselves the time to make them work. Far From Home has a lot of work to do to make the Michelle-Peter romance function the way its supposed too--if it doesn't work, you lose out on the heart of that film.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)