Kinda Culty has done some interesting detective work on Black Widow and these points stood out to me:
- The version of Taskmaster being used for the film is the Ultimate-version (Tony Masters); he was a former SHIELD agent and whether or not that's kept it's the kind of background that fits someone who could be involved with Natasha
- By looking at the make of cars shown in the General Ross scene in the trailer, it seems to be from 2007 or 2008 (KC's theory is that Ross wants to get hold of the Armin Zola-version of the super-serum)
- KC believes one of the reasons Zemo and Ross are appearing in Black Widow and Falcon and the Winter Soldier is to help set-up the Thunderbolts
- Possible members of the Thunderbolts he includes in addition to the above are: Ghost (via Ant-Man 2), US Agent (via Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Songbird (rumoured in the aforementioned), Yelena Belova (via Black Widow); Atlas (to be introduced), Swordsman (ibid), and possibly Bucky
This group (whether in part or in full) is more interesting than the original Wardell lineup from the previous December (which leaned heavily on Incredible Hulk villains we haven't seen in over a decade and whose actors--58-year old Tim Roth and 55 year-old Tim Blake Nelson--are now long in the tooth). Speaking of age, this would be a much younger cast than has been typical for the MCU.
Set pictures seem to confirm the idea of the Tomb of the Gods, which we've been hearing about repeatedly since October (and goes back to the Kirby version of the comic).
Set pictures seem to confirm the idea of the Tomb of the Gods, which we've been hearing about repeatedly since October (and goes back to the Kirby version of the comic).
Deadline confirms that Spider-Man 3 will film during the summer (as expected to meet its planned 2021 release). I expect plot leaks to come sooner than later, as virtually everything we heard previously came before the end of the original deal with Sony (and its unclear if the new arrangement has changed those plans or not).
Murphy says the movie will film this January. Originally he thought it would film in the fall, but by August switched to January and that's proven to be correct (in the link the info was erroneously attributed because at the time I struggled to differentiate between he and his buddy Villanueva).
A 4channer weighs in on Shang-Chi:
- The film is basically an anime tournament arc from the perspective of the bad guy's henchmen. [I don't watch anime, so that reference goes over my head.]
- Shang-Chi works for the Mandarin and the Ten Rings. He was adopted off the street and raised by Mandarin as a sort of surrogate son. He has been working behind the scenes in big MCU moments since he was a teen. [This idea matches all but the earliest rumours, where he was part of MI6]
- Mandarin has him enter a Kung Fu tournament in which the prize is the legendary 10 rings. An ancient alien artifact that has been protected for centuries. [The tournament also matches the more recent rumours, which began on Reddit in October]
- The other fighters in the tournament are a who's-who of D and C List Marvel characters. There will be mutant characters, not sure if this will be the intro to MCU mutants, but I know that Spiral, Omega Red, and T- Ray are in the tournament. [The first and third haven't cropped up in any rumours, and the only for Omega Red tease was LotLB's claim that he'd be the villain of the Black Widow sequel]
- Other MCU characters include Baron Mordo, who seeks the ten rings for his own purposes, Batroc the Leaper, and Kree and Skrull fighters. [These are also unique claims, with Batroc having appeared already in Winter Soldier]
- Stylistically its very 70s Kung Fu, but with the layer of actual respect for Chinese culture. Shang-Chi has no duplicate powers like other leaks have said. [This refers specifically to the Reddit post linked above]
- The film ends with Shang-Chi using the 10 rings to defeat Fing Fang Foom, and saving the world from his wrath. Mandarin escapes, but Shang-Chi vows revenge for brainwashing him into a life of crime. Their relationship is actually genuinely sweet and loving, so the betrayal hits hard. [Rumours about the dragon go back to LotLB in August and were in the first batch of posts about the film's plot]
We have an interesting quote from Feige:
The next Doctor Strange film for instance features some new MCU characters that will be making their debut in that movie that you wouldn’t expect or won’t guess who it is, but we found a cool way to make it work. Because we needed a particular, we wanted to make a particular type of movie there, and there was a character we always wanted to do something with who we think will fit really well there.Conrad thinks he's hinting at Mephisto, which doesn't qualify as 'you wouldn't expect' for the film (something Charlie echoes), although its hard to parse exactly what Feige means when he says 'a character we always wanted to to'--does that mean one they didn't have the rights to until the Fox purchase? Or does it mean someone they've always had access too but haven't been able to fit in (like Namor or Nova or Beta Ray Bill)? If it's from the latter group and you look at heavily rumoured characters, the two that stand out to me are Captain Britain (teased in Endgame) and Hercules. The former has strong connections with magic, but little association with Doctor Strange. If it's new IP then the possibilities are far broader--it might be an iconic X-Men, someone from the Fantastic Four, etc. Whatever it is, it's a good tease from Feige.
After writing the above, Murphy said he believes the character being referred to is Namor, even though that character is expected for a Doctor Strange film. The primary fact behind his surmise is the GWW casting scoop in August for the ruler of an ancient kingdom and preferring to cast Asian actors. This speculation from him comes a month after he pushed the same idea on social media without explanation.
We had another Sutton-Youtube crossover scoop (here and here):
- Part One: Doctor Strange 2 will have a Lovecraftian feel whose challenges force Doctor Strange to recruit a team at the end, forming the Illuminati (including Reed Richards and Professor X); Sutton says these ideas were before pre-production of the film (which isn't in production yet and we've had no news if Jade Bartlett's version of the script is complete (she started working on it in October, while C. Robert Cargill's was begun last January)
- Part Two: the rest of the Illuminati: Black Bolt, Namor, and Black Panther; Scarlett Witch will resurrect Black Widow, who will then fight Red Skull (!); Doctor Strange 3 will be Strange with Doctor Doom going to hell to rescue the latter's mother from Mephisto (echoing the 1990 "Triumph and Torment" storyline by Roger Stern)
Another photo from the filming of Falcon and the Winter Soldier has been identified as featuring the flag of Madripoor--an invented city that's the MCU-version of Singapore. It's heavily associated with mutants (particularly Wolverine), but has other connections (Ophelia Sarkissian, aka Madame Hydra and Viper, ruled it for a time; Tarik Fayad, aka Horus, was the city's defender briefly). I don't think this means we'll see Wolverine in the show, instead it's an easter egg for fans to let them know he's coming.
The Disney+ Twitter account has confirmed that WandaVision will come out in 2020. This has been my expectation all along (in part because it's filming at the same time as Falcon and the Winter Soldier), even though we were told 2021 originally.
Speaking of dates, Murphy says Hawkeye's production will begin in July, which fits the expected mid-2021 release date.
Conrad says Marvel has either found their Kamala Khan or have narrowed it down to just a few actresses and is in the midst of negotiations. In his piece he mentions that she's Pakistani-American, a specificity we got from Discussing Film back in November; it also casts doubt on a 4chan post (same link) that had actual Pakistani actress Arisha Razi in the role.
Support for Murphy's scoop about production beginning in April comes from Production List, who slate it for April 6th.
Daniel says Dracula (and Werewolf by Night) will appear in Moon Knight. LotLB were the first to propose the character was coming to the MCU (changing their minds on who would play him in August, with both choices apparently wrong). The latter rumour is something Daniel originally put out back in October (echoing LotLB in July--although they had him on Hulu--and GWW in August, guessing it would be in Moon Knight, making them the apparent source for Daniel).
HN Entertainment writer Christopher Marc says Moon Knight will potentially shoot in the fall in the UK (this comes on the heels of Murphy speculating it would shoot in the first half of the year). Given that Marc has no track record I'm aware of, I'll lean on Murphy for now.
Sutton is floating Pedro Pascal for the lead role, but at 44 he seems too old (I suspect Sutton is guessing based on Disney's relationship with him visa vie The Mandalorian); he's also not Jewish, which I expect is a non-starter to begin with.
More news about New Mutants: There will be no re-shoots and the film will be the director's original vision when released. This is the cheapest way for Disney to approach the film, although its being spun as some sort of artistic choice. As I mentioned long ago I disliked the trailer for the film because it seemed like a poor vehicle for the IP (and if it had tested well Fox simply would have released it as-is), but time will tell.
A Redditor made a few claims about the MCU (I'm unfamiliar with him, but unlike a lot of these posts this is someone who has a very active account that's been around for awhile):
- TFWS [The Falcon and the Winter Soldier] have [a] Wolverine cameo and pay homage to XMFC [X-Men: First Class], the show also mention Weapon X and include multiverse [This is probably riffing off the Madripoor scoop above]
- Loki series will have alternate versions of character [and] the show will be connected to DS:MoM [Doctor Strange 2], [with] a new Mjolnir from another reality [This echoes the only plot rumour we've had for the show thus far]
- No Daniel Radcliffe in MCU, still looking for an actor to play MK [Moon Knight] [There's been no actual rumours of Radcliffe's participation, just speculation]
- DS:MoM [Doctor Strange 2] [will] introduce Galactus in MCU [This specific is new and would fit the Feige comment above]
- Sutton in September (first, second, and third) talked about a Wolverine vs Hulk movie with the former being Hugh Jackman's to turn down; in the third link he says this idea is simply being discussed
- LotLB in September claimed Jackman hadn't turned down the role yet, so it hadn't been re-cast (which repeats Sutton's assertion above)
- Various clickbait articles did the rounds in November saying that Mark Ruffalo had discussed a Wolverine vs Hulk film, but it was later clarified that no one knew what ideas he'd pitched to Feige
- Sutton in December said Marvel wanted Jackman to reprise the role for Deadpool 3 as his last hurrah as the character (thus, either undercutting his earlier rumour or implying that Jackman turned down the role in the earlier context)
LotLB offered up a scoop from their original source (ie not Sutton), who provided an unconfirmed rumour that She-Hulk will first appear in WandaVision and will break the fourth wall in it (as she does sometimes in the comics). I don't believe this--the show is already very busy with characters and with Deadpool coming to the MCU, talking to the audience is his schtick, so duplicating that doesn't seem wise.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
No comments:
Post a Comment