One thing I didn't bring up in my SDCC review was that by having Thor 4 release before Guardians 3, there's no obligation (or even expectation) that Thor needs to appear in the latter. This change frees up the film to maintain it's original focus (introducing Adam Warlock and whatever else Gunn is interested in--Quasar, Wonder Man, etc).
Another note: I mentioned back in January that I wasn't happy with the what I was hearing about two of the Disney+ shows (Loki and WandaVision); the former, which was believed to be a prequel, was problematic for me because it was a prequel (and therefore lacking stakes), and the latter didn't seem that engaging. SDCC did a lot to wash away those fears--the Loki story has relevance even if he's in the past (since this is a "new" Loki who could wind up in the present or affecting it) and the connection between WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2 means there's a lot more impact in the former story. One tangential thought: I wonder if Loki's past visitations will impact the origin of mutants at all (my current theory is that the multiple use of the Infinity Gauntlet will trigger the X-gene, but this is another possibility for how it could happen).
With Spider-Man: Far From Home coming to home release we're hearing about deleted scenes and some of what was shot or what was discussed for it, confirming some of the old rumours about the film. The most interesting (to me) was that there were plans to include Captain Britain in the film, although these were scrapped before casting or filming began. When rumours about him appearing in the film were shot down back in June, my response was I didn't think Feige would let new MCU IP appear in a Sony film--this creates some doubt about that. We also know that Mahershala Ali has a lot more pull than Orlando Bloom, as the latter claimed he was asking for the Cap role a year ago (how seriously I'm not sure, but it's funny to note regardless).
What was not mentioned (or included) among the deleted scenes was anything about the Sinister Six or Norman Osborn (despite many people, particularly TMSM, claiming such scenes were shot). This doesn't definitively put that idea to bed--not everything gets released--but it's something to keep in mind.
Collider says Barry Keoghan is up for a role in The Eternals, while Variety says Gemma Chan (pointlessly killed off in Captain Marvel, where she was given nothing to do--just like all the other antagonists) is also in line for a role in the film. What those roles are is hard to say. Charles Murphy speculates the former could be Starfox, while for my part both the "Karen" and Sersi roles are available for Chan. The cast is bloated and surely most of these characters will not be very prominent (the first Guardians film was the most ambitious introductory film in the MCU thus far and only focused on half a dozen characters, albeit Groot doesn't really count).
Kinda Culty believes that Doctor Strange teaches Wanda about magic in the film, which seems plausible. He also reminds us that Nightmare is not yet confirmed as the villain (however probable it may be). He echoes the general sentiment that this story is likely (in part) an adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis' House of M storyline.
Deadline reports that Taika Waititi has already turned in a complete script for the film, which is a remarkably short turnaround (about a month) from him signing to write/direct, suggesting he knew what he wanted to do long before he started it. Much more than Ragnarok this will truly be Waititi's film (despite his many claims of ignoring the script, the evidence shows that most of Ragnarok either followed or was heavily influenced by it).
TMSM claims (in the comments of that thread) that there have been casting calls for Beta Ray Bill and Gorr (I've seen neither mentioned by anyone else); it's worth noting that Beta Ray Bill was cut from Ragnarok (they'd shot scenes of him), so that prediction seems safe. Someone (I think LotLB) was speculating that Natalie Portman would only play Jane Foster and not the female Thor (an idea I like, but speculation I've seen nowhere else and I'm doubtful of).
Ryan Reynolds is teasing Deadpool 3 in Phase Five. Given that Reynolds has, in the past, nudged his employers through his own efforts (specifically forcing Fox's hand to make the first Deadpool), there's a chance this is a similar move on his part. It's far more likely, however, given that Bob Iger has repeatedly said Disney wants to keep making Deadpool movies, that this was pre-arranged and approved. If that's the case, it's an interesting development. Firstly, it means whatever X-Force plans Fox had are either being scrapped or the branding itself is being changed. Secondly, it suggests Deadpool will be integrated into the MCU in some fashion. Thirdly, it suggests that Kevin Feige has some notion of how he wants to incorporate the character into the broader MCU and I have no idea how that will work. If it's truly called Deadpool 3 that implies continuity with the franchise (and, therefore, the characters appearing in those films). Presumably he'd be from another Earth, although that would be the one that included the Fox X-Men and it's hard to believe that Feige would allow them to be canon in his universe when he won't do it for Jeph Loeb and Marvel Entertainment. My personal hope is that they jettison most of the supporting cast from the Fox films (the troubled T. J. Miller was already gone, but I'd like Morena Baccarin and the rest removed as well) to give him a truly fresh start in the MCU.
Discussing Film says Loki is aiming to start filming January 28th. Conrad, being Conrad, jumped on this scoop with an unsourced rumour of his own ("production sources"), which is really just a copy and paste of the THR article from February that he copied at that time. All leaks/rumours about the show (Conrad's, THS, and those on 4chan) derive from Roger Wardell's back in December when he said "[It's an] anthology chronicling how Loki shaped human historical events." The one useful thing Conrad points out is that because of how the MCU has defined time travel any changes Loki makes in the past can't impact the present, so if this idea is accurate, it's unclear how he'll impact the MCU's future.
Speaking of Discussing Film, they also claim Falcon and the Winter Soldier are aiming to start filming this October. The plot, apparently, is that the American government doesn't want Falcon to be Captain America (perhaps opposition from General Ross). The only rumours we've had about the plot of the show suggests that there will be a government sponsored version of Cap, which would explain their opposition to Falcon, but none of that is confirmed yet (it's not clear what Zemo's role will be).
GWW says Marvel is looking to cast a transgender actor for the role of "Jessica"--they only know that the role will be for something filming in 2020 (they are apparently unaware that Shang-Chi is filming in 2019, so include it as a possibility). The projects filming that year are: Doctor Strange 2, Thor 4, and the Loki and Hawkeye shows. They suggest the role could be for Marvel's only transgendered character Sera (a Thor-character), but also point out Marvel has happily been changing characters willy nilly of late, so it could be anyone. I think the latter point has to be taken with the a grain of salt, as Feige (thus far) has been careful about which characters he swaps (never a well-known, toy-selling/IP-anchoring character).
Conrad is floating the idea that the MCU plans to use the character Tyrant in conjunction with its Galactus plans. LotLB immediately said this was false and that a different Herald was intended (something I'm inclined to agree with, given how interesting the others are)--see below.
Conrad also says Giancarlo Esposito (from Breaking Bad etc) is up for a major Marvel role and connects it to the GWW casting scope back in June about "the Benefactor"--borrowing their speculation that it could be for Norman Osborn (keeping in mind all the problems with that idea given that Sony owns the character). Despite that caution, it would fit the casting approach we've seen for Marvel's Sony projects (as well as the required criteria Midnight's Edge went over a month ago), but I don't think that's what this is. X-Men: First Class writer Zack Stentz took this rumour over on Twitter and suggested he'll play Magneto--an idea that strikes me as bizarre both due to his age (61), the character's background as a Holocaust survivor, and that Wanda and Pietro are both white. Now, you could argue that if they change his origin then he could play the role and that's true to a point, but his age is the bigger problem for me (assuming you want him to be involved long term). The other problem with this idea is the MCU isn't casting for those roles yet--the X-Men are in Phase Five, not Phase Four. Finally, Stentz's opinion isn't something we should consider particularly important (I'd venture to say he put this out there both to get attention and to distract people from Rim of the World, his first film since First Class, which bombed hard in May).
Deadline is reporting that ABC is thinking about a new Marvel property featuring an obscure female character (recall that they were working on an A-Force show last fall before ultimately cancelling it in February). LotLB speculates the character intended for this is Dakota North (or some facsimile thereof)--given that she's largely a Daredevil character, I don't think Marvel Entertainment has access to her at the moment. Conrad has the more plausible suggestion of either Squirrel Girl (now that Freeform's New Warriors is dead), or Glyph (originally slated for Hulu). The former is far more marketable than either of the other two, is family friendly (good for ABC), and seemingly Feige has no interest in her. I wish Disney would extirpate everything Marvel Entertainment does, but I imagine there's no way to do so as long as Ike Perlmutter is still at Marvel.
TMSM says we will hear little or nothing about Phase Five at D23, with the focus instead being on Disney+. He's had a rough run on his predictions of late, but this seems like a pretty safe guess--no one is going to be excited for The Eternals or Shang-Chi if they know the X-Men are coming soon.
Here's the latest LotLB set of rumours:
- MCU is currently planning their next three-phase arc (ala The Infinity Gauntlet), which is Secret Wars (the 2015 Hickman version, which is a popular rumour that gained traction when Joe Russo referenced it last year); they say the former Netflix characters and those on Hulu will be involved (something I believe is impossible--but see below); this idea (of a multi-phase arc) runs contrary to what Wardell said in December (no more big arcs)
- Fin Fang Foom will be in Shang-Chi (whether true or not it makes sense to put that character in his films--any Chinese-influenced character is best served appearing there first)
- The Mandarin will have a cameo in Doctor Strange 2 (I'm not sure the intent of this, since it occurs after Shang-Chi)
- Feige doesn't want to use Peyton Reed's old Fox script for Fantastic Four (which would have taken place in the 1960s); he wants the team to be working for SWORD when the accident happens (they claim this is meant to help a Hulu Agents of SWORD show, but I reject this as Feige has done everything in his power to hurt Jeph Loeb's Marvel)
- The Herald of Galactus will be Frankie Raye's Nova (presumably with a different name given the unending Richard Ryder rumours); this would be my preference, but we really have no information to go on (Conrad's rumour above about Tyrant also seems like pure speculation)
- Nick Fury is going to train Richard Ryder to become Nova (an added specific to the rumour they put out a month ago)
- Iron Heart will be in Phase Six (this echoes the rumour via reserved Facebook titles from a couple of weeks ago), but I seriously doubt there are solid plans for that phase yet
- Power Pack will be on Disney+ (echoing Conrad's rumour back in May which, in turn, was fueled by Wardell's earlier)
- They claim Spider-Man 3 will be Phase Five, but this seems impossible (the films are coming out every two years, which would put it solidly in Phase Four)--they repeated the lawyer rumour in the film (She-Hulk) while saying Kraven will be the villain (but a Wakandan rather than his usual Russian-origin--echoing the BossLogic rumour from a couple of weeks ago, which would presumably mean he's no longer the Chameleon's brother--if that's who Dmitri was in Far From Home)
- Repeated their rumour from July about Henry Cavill playing US Agent, but now claim he'll be on Hulu rather than in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (this is a bizarre claim--once he finishes filming Enola Holmes he'll be going back to The Witcher, so his schedule isn't open until the fall of 2020--and why would he want to be in the Loeb ghetto of Marvel?)
- No Korvac for a long time (this would refute TMSM's rumour about him from a month ago)
- Kamala Khan will appear in Captain Marvel 2 (a safe guess), but they say she'll have a show on ABC, which again continues the confusion about the relationship between Feige and Loeb
- Obnoxio the Clown will be on Hulu
From what I was told, Loeb has 8 shows on Hulu, the rest is Feige. Narrow it down even more, 5 of those shows are the [cancelled] Netflix shows. There is a power struggle now and if Loeb can bite down on his pride and report to Feige. Because as of right now, all the Hulu and Disney + Stuff is all part of the MCU. It will be telling to see who does the Hulu presentation at D23. [And in a follow-up to that] Just reached out to my source, Loeb will still control ABC, Freeform and Hulu. But now these properties will cross over more with MCU. [And] Feige and Loeb are in better place now. With the size of Marvel MCU now I'm sure Disney hire ups told them to play nice and behooves them all to cross pollinate.I appreciate him clarifying, although it's difficult to understand how Loeb could report to Feige, since Marvel Entertainment is separate from the MCU (part of the agreement reached while Civil War was filming is that Feige no longer reports to Ike Perlmutter of Marvel Entertainment, but Loeb still does). For Loeb to report to Feige requires a restructuring at Disney--not impossible, but hard to imagine without the trades catching wind of it first.
Back to LotLB (a repost of the video referenced in the last blog), I wanted to add thoughts to a few things they discussed:
- Their claim that Millie Bobbie Brown is in negotiations to play Sersi would mean a complete reframing of the character
- I neglected to include that they claim Blade was originally slated for Hulu, but that the MCU took it back when Mahershala Ali asked for the role (this seems plausible given Feige's track record of dealing with recovered IP when its already appeared on film)
- They speculated Red Guardian will die in Black Widow (a pretty safe guess for any Marvel villain); a reminder that they thought Omega Red would be in the film and from how they subsequently discussed that, it sounds like they were making a guess based on the (limited) number of Russian villains who could appear in a Black Widow film
Speaking of rumours, some Twitter guy I've never heard of (Movie Details) is claiming Naomi Scott, Sofia Boutella, and Priyanka Chopra are up for a MCU role. This sounds like someone's wish list, so until someone notable echoes it I'd take it with a grain of salt.
One bizarre footnote related to LotLB is that someone flagged his channel and got Youtube to delete it (Take Two?)--whoever that person was then camped the web domain name. LotLB is not a significant enough guy to actually get a response for what happened from Youtube and my suspicion is that his Twitter war with Charles Murphy (that moved over to Instagram afterwards) back in June is ultimately the cause for this. I don't think Murphy would go beyond muting someone on social media, but there were people who came to his defense that seemed toxic enough to do it (I didn't mention him by name at the time, but TheComixKid from GWW was the worst participant of that spat--on Twitter at least). I'll share my somewhat related banning experience: I got kicked from the two primary Marvel subreddits awhile ago at the behest of person/s unknown--presumably they didn't like the traction I was getting via my MCU articles)--the moderator who banned me admitted he'd never even seen my content and was unable to offer a rational explanation for the ban. Given that experience, I feel for the LotLB (even if his rumours often seem drawn from thin air)--I don't like seeing smaller content creators get bullied by larger ones.
Speaking of smaller content creators, Midnight's Edge (which is much larger than LotLB, but still small), I mentioned in my Captain Marvel Review that Andre was hurting his brand by ignoring his usual attachment to facts and diving into the culture war. I decided to check his Socialblade this week and his views have fallen off a cliff (it's not clear the MCU-stuff is the cause), so I'll reiterate that he's far better off sticking with the things he's passionate about rather than trying to follow trends.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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