Marvel News

At Brazil's Comic Con scenes from Black Widow were shown and here's a description of them from Reddit:

• There's a crashed helicopter scene with Black Widow, Red Guardian and Yelena, where the Red Guardian asks about "him" (Captain America), and if he told war stories about [the two of them]. He also mentions he is his "geopolitical adversary".
• A cut before the trailer table scene shows Melina Vostokoff saying that his suit "has an incredible smell" and that she never washed it, apparently showing that she was the one who kept it.
• Red Guardian and Melina Vostokoff were (fake) married, possibly for a mission. They both play mother/father figure-like characters. Melina says that they can't really use the "family" word, because they're a fake family. Melina also mentions that Yelena had become a beautiful woman, despite the big nose she had as a child.
• Natasha replies [to] Red Guardian's question saying that his first question after 20 years [1996 or 1997 given that the film is 2016 or 2017] [of] not seeing each other is about himself. In another cut, he mentions that he recently left prison and is full of energy.
• Quick shots showing a black set with Natasha fighting with Taskmaster (with mask and now the hood).
• Feige also said that Black Widow will reveal [to] us a secret for the future of the MCU, and that [it] is confirmed that what happened in Budapest will be explained.

If this is accurate there are a number of interesting points:
1) I'm a little confused about Red Guardian's interactions with Steve Rogers; the Soviets and Americans were allies in WWII, so presents no obvious point of conflict; Steve was unfrozen in 2012, four years before Civil War, but it's difficult to imagine what interactions they could have had over that period of time (when presumably Alexei was in jail and half of which Steve was hunting down Hydra). There's another possibility, which is that the two are aware of each other as cultural icons, although there again the time available for that to cause conflict is limited--either I'm missing something, the Redditor is missing something, or the writers didn't think through the timeline for this to make sense
2) If Red Guardian broke himself out of jail, it debunks the Reddit post from just a few days ago (which claimed Nat breaks him out); given the unclear language used, however, we can't be sure how literal the transcription is and certainly the latter is more dynamic
3) I'm probably alone in not caring about what happened in Budapest--I'm quite content with some mysteries from a character's past remaining mysteries (they rarely live up to the hype)

After the trailer Murphy engaged in some speculation and wondered if the film could introduce Latveria (Doctor Doom) and/or Mutants. This was spurred on, presumably, by Feige's comments about a secret being revealed that impacts the future of the MCU. Given that the scripts were written before Marvel had the rights to either, this is only possible if they were late adds. Murphy's response to this problem was: scripts get tweaks all the time during production, so little references could be included. I like his reasoning behind the Latveria reveal, as that country is supposed to be a little piece of Hungary (ergo, Budapest nearby). Given how ubiquitous easter eggs are, one or both could be true, but it's not that interesting unless it directly ties into something (which Murphy doesn't attempt to do--given that he's had a scoop about a film in 2024 since August, he might be reverse-engineering to arrive at this speculation).

We learned from Brazil ComicCon that, indeed, the Deviants are the antagonists (or, at least, among the antagonists) of the film. This confirms, in part, the rumour Murphy posted recently (as well as his original summary from October, 2018, which included the Ikaris and Sersi love story--seemingly complicated by Black Knight). Feige said The Eternals will take place over 7,000 years, as the characters go to different periods in time. Conrad adds (presumably from other comments) that the Eternals are aware of the Avengers; the Deviants will be depicted differently from the comics (which I take to mean they will be less monstrous); and that we'll see the Celestials in all their glory. Murphy re-confirmed that Richard Madden's Ikaris is not the gay character in the film (his romance with Sersi makes that clear).

After the above dropped, Box Office Theory offered it's own description which added some details.

As it is preliminary, the trailer did not focus on action scenes or set pieces with visual effects. It was more accompanying image, with parts focusing on each of the Eternals. The first scene is the team being welcomed by Druig in a kind of camp. I also remember scenes of Kingo performing in a Bollywood film, Ajak riding a horse, Sersi passed out on Ikaris' lap, Phastos inside a well with kids and holding hands with a man (who looks like to be his husband) and an action scene with Thena. There was also a knight all in black, and masked, riding in an ancient period. Maybe it's an earlier version of the Black Knight, character from Kit Harrington.

The new elements involve the scene with a knight and the specifics of Phastos. Two different 4chan posts in October broke that he was the gay character on the team and if this description is accurate it's confirmation of that fact.

More actors have been announced for Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Desmond Chiam (who, among other roles, was on the fantasy flop The Shannara Chronicles) and Miki Ishikawa (whose career got boosted via Hit). These are likely bit parts, given how large the cast is, but we'll have to wait and see.

Murphy has scooped that Josh Stamberg has joined WandaVision in a small, supporting role, as an FBI agent (part of Jimmy Woo's team if the November 4chan rumour is true).

In a now deleted post a Redditor offered up the following:

• WandaVision is loosely based on House of M, and it features Wanda creating a pocket dimension to help herself deal with the grief caused by recent events. [The idea of House of M goes back at least to LotLB in June; echoed by 4chan in October; the pocket dimension via October Reddit and echoed by November 4chan; although all of these are echoing elements from the comic stories being drawn on for the series: House of M, Avengers Disassembled, and Tom King's Vision]
• She creates a pocket dimension where she and the Vision are a married couple, and other important people such as her brother, Pietro, are still alive. [The latter via LotLB in August and repeated by the October Redditor; the pocket dimension via the Redditor and November 4chan, although that's also via the source material]
• Her reality resembles a classic sitcom, and the first three episodes pay homage to sitcoms from the 50s, 60s and 70s. The final three, less-silly episodes are set in something resembling the 80s, which is what Roger Wardell was talking about when he mentioned the film [Doctor Strange 2] being an "80s boogaloo" [The Wardell Doctor Strange stuff is from May; the era feel from 4chan in May; the sitcom aesthetic from released artwork, but echoed by Daniel in October; suggesting eras (plural) rather than just the 50s--the latter repeated by the October Redditor--echoed by Conrad in November, which is also derived from concept art shown in Expanding the Universe]
• Kathryn Hahn is playing a loose version of Agatha Harkness, and she is working with Chthon. [Harkness goes back to January 4chan and has been echoed repeatedly--only Murphy dissented from this view, but has finally changed his mind, given up on his goofy idea of an original character named 'Agnes']
• Jimmy and Darcy are working for the FBI, and they are investigating Wanda's mysterious disappearance when they wind up trapped in her world. [This is similar to November 4chan, except it included Monica as part of that FBI team]
• However, Wanda gets tempted by Nightmare's servant, Chthon, which causes her to open a rift in reality itself, causing the "Multiverse of Madness" to open. [The latter echoes a second 4chan post from October]
• As said before, Quicksilver will return, whether or not Aaron Taylor-Johnson chooses to reprise his role. Marvel may recast him. [This is exactly the LotLB rumour from August mentioned above]
• Nightmare eventually takes control of Wanda, turning her into his servant and giving her a more comic-accurate costume. [The villain appearing in the show first popped up in LotLB in August, echoed by a broad MCU 4chan post from early October, then the main October 4chan post, repeated by the second, as well as by the Redditor]
• Baron Mordo is helping Nightmare because he promised to help him rid the world of sorcerers. Unlike Wanda, he is acting mostly out of his own free will. He, like Wanda, gets a new, more comic-accurate costume. [Mordo's involvement appeared in a 4chan post back in May; his motivation is either cribbed from the first Doctor Strange or his comicbook source material]
• Brother Voodoo and Clea are from other Sanctums from around the world, and they are called into action by Strange to help him fight Nightmare and his servants. [Wardell is the antecedent of this]
• Nightmare's main cronies are Chthon, the self-proclaimed "Lord of Darkness", and Shuma-Gorath, a bizarre extradimensional creature with the power to drive reality itself into madness. [The latter was first rumoured in an October 4chan post, the former from November 4chan]
• The movie is a superhero movie at its core, but from what I'm hearing it's gonna be SCARY. It'll be PG-13, but you should NOT take your little kids to see it.
• It's not like any Marvel movie that came before it in the least bit. One movie my source is comparing it to is The Cell [2000], due to a similar sense of trippiness and "nightmare fuel".
• Ghost Rider may have a cameo in the film, and I'm hearing that he's possibly going to get a Disney+ limited series. Whether or not Gabriel Luna will return to the role is up for debate. Marvel might recast him, seeing as he's already 37 and Marvel wants to keep the character relatively young. [This sounds like the October Redditor, whose claims were repeated by Daniel (same link) at that time]
• Nightmare is basically a Marvel version of Pennywise, and he manifests in the form of his opponents' greatest fears.
• Loki isn't in the movie, but his series is affected by the events of the film, so it does "tie into" the movie in a way. [In November Feige said they would tie-in]
• All in all, my source is absolutely loving the script. He says MCU fans and horror fans alike will have a blast seeing it.

This is, from what I can tell, a conflation of many (but not all) rumours that have come beforehand (as I've illustrated above). The only original elements are the nod to Pennywise from It (because of the lack of originality & an inability to verify himself, the post was removed). Here are other rumoured elements of the show that were not included above (just for context):

• Children - released art (September, 2018) that teased WandaVision immediately generated theories that their children would appear, particularly Wiccan because of the upcoming appearance of Cassie Lang in Endgame (scooped by Murphy that April), as the two are both Young Avengers; LotLB put him on a long-term spec list in September; Conrad reported a rumour about kids in early October; October 4chan has a grown-up version helping Doctor Strange fix things in his movie (no mention of his brother); November 4chan has he and his brother; Conrad echoed the idea in late November
• Mutants - LotLB (June) say they will be introduced
• The story will borrow from the Avengers Dissembled storyline - Kinda Culty (June)
• 4chan (October) - Jericho is a necromancer whose parents are evil voodooists [the family angle is new]; Clea is from Hong Kong [matches the Wardell's comment that she'd be Asian]; Jimmy Woo etc carry over from WandaVision into Doctor Strange 2; a powered Monica is from another reality; Marvel Zombies (!) will play a big part in the movie
• 4chan 2 (October) - Mordo is helping Strange and forms a friendship with Wong; this is the only rumour to not have Clea played by an Asian actress
• 4chan (November) - Wanda is homeless; Rambeau, Ultron (archive footage), and Doctor Strange will cameo in WandaVision; The Grim Reaper is another of Nightmare's minions
• IMDB (November) - John Walker (U. S. Agent) is currently listed for WandaVision

To reiterate: I don't think the Reddit post above is a scoop, it's simply a serious of rumours cobbled together from various sources. What it does do is serve as an excuse to go through all the rumoured material for the show while touching on Doctor Strange 2.

Murphy says that Loki will begin production February 1st. We've heard surprisingly little about the show given how soon it will film (one casting announcement a month ago and only one plot rumour via Reddit).

Production List, who got the Shang-Chi filming date wrong (by at least two months) is claiming Ant-Man 3 will start filming January 6, 2020. We know pre-production has started, but Michael Douglas said it would film in January of 2021. Their date is very soon and seems preposterous--why film it at the same time as Shang-Chi when it's released after Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4?

Feige said that Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk will be 'ready' towards the end of 2020--I presume he means ready to film (meaning they will start being available to air in late 2021).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)