Marvel News & Notes

In a surprise move, Disney CEO Bob Iger resigned, installing his protege Bob Chapek as his successor. This doesn't mean Iger is gone, as he'll remain in charge creatively until his contract expires at the end of 2021. I don't think this impacts the MCU, as Chapek is unlikely to interfere with Feige.

More related to Disney+, one thing we keep hearing about are a stupendous number of characters appearing across the IP. I think, assuming this occurs, the plan might be to intro various IP in order to spin them off into the ancillary parts of Disney's empire (Hulu, FX, and ABC)--as in, intro a bunch of D-list characters who can be tried out in front of a tiny audience, but still have a direct MCU-connection.

Caleb Williams (who is apparently no longer at GWW) reports on Knight Edge Media that Daniel posted on his Patreon (and once it went public, Twitter) that Marvel is seeking an 'Alison Brie-type' (the Community/Mad Men actress) for the role of She-Hulk. The 38-year old is outside the age range Marvel put out (26-34), but this gives us a more specific idea of what kind of actress they are looking for (and wouldn't necessarily exclude Brie).

Daniel also claims Wiz Kid will appear in Shang-Chi. Takeshi Matsuya is a minor mutant character (17 appearances) who debuted in 1988. He's disabled and uses a wheelchair, although it's unclear if he'd mirror that in the film. The character would be a late add to the script, as it the original was written prior to the completion of the Fox purchase. Once again, the prospective number of characters in the Phase Four IP is reaching levels of absurdity (unless, of course, most are cameos).

GWW guesses that Cle Bennett (seen in set photos) is playing Battlestar (whose appearance Murphy scooped back in November), which makes sense.

Murphy reports a rumour that extra filming for Falcon and the Winter Soldier is happening in order to change the plot so it doesn't echo the corona virus (which particularly impacts the early episodes).

We had a two 4chan rumours and a Reddit post about the show; here's the first:

• A few things I know from the episode of the show I saw today:
• Sam isn't allowed to be Cap because of the events of Civil War, but trusts US Agent to take over the mantle.
• US Agent genuinely wants to do a good job and doesn't realize he's part of a bigger plan.
• Sam and Bucky have to work with Zemo to track down a criminal syndicate called The Alchemists. Zemo is essentially their hostage but he has vital information.
• They go to Madripoor with him and there they meet Batroc the Leaper and Omega Red. There were other characters that the camera lingered on that might have been Easter Eggs but I didn't recognize them. Felt like the cantina scene [from Star Wars] but in the MCU. [The only time we've heard Batroc's name is in a 4chan rumour for Shang-Chi in January; Omega Red is also from that rumour, as well as an LotLB rumour in the summer that he'd appear in Black Widow]
• Overall the show feels a lot like Winter Soldier and Mission Impossible movies.
• Agent 13 and Bucky seem to have a romance. Very flirty vibes. Sam judges Bucky for it and Bucky says, 'Steve dated her like 70 years ago.' Made me laugh.
• William Hurt [General Ross] is in the show. At least in one episode. Seemed to reference events of Black Widow. Not sure.
• Zemo escapes from them in a speedboat to end the episode.

Nothing springs out at me as implausible, although the only unique elements are the name of the criminal syndicate (The Alchemists, with no comicbook precedent I can find--none of the characters with that name are obvious fits either), and that for a time Zemo is working with the heroes.

The second 4chan rumour:

• Agent 13 is leading Sam and Bucky. They are doing missions for the government to repair their reputation after the events of Civil War.
• Some want Bucky to serve life in prison for his crimes. He's haunted by his past. Publicly he's charming and witty, but when he's alone he is clearly struggling. Very distrusting of authority because he never wants to be used as a weapon again.
• Agent 13 is the only one he trusts to command him, and says her and Sam 'out of all of us, you're the most like Steve.'
• US Agent fights like Cap but hits harder and is more brutal with the way he uses the shield.
• Sam and Bucky still fight and butt heads but it's with trust and love.
• They call themselves 'Blip Brothers' when talking to Batroc about where they've been.

This seems very similar to the above--it may be cribbed from it. I'm puzzled at the new persistent rumours about Batroc appearing--I'm not sure what the purpose of bringing him back would be (not that I'm opposed to it, but it strikes me as very random since Winter Soldier is a long time ago).

Finally, from Reddit (in a few places I've clarified the text):

• Hey guys! I was on here a bit ago with some of what I knew from seeing some Falcon and Wandavision content while choosing what to [will] go in the Superbowl Expanding the Universe trailer. As many of you suspect, some content will be released on March 5th- although I’m not sure if they’ll be releasing it or just showing it to insiders. Because of this, I got to see a rough draft of the Falcon pilot. Given that insiders will likely be seeing it, I don’t feel too bad about releasing info here. Before I get into it, I’m gonna clarify some things from my last post: [If accurate it suggests the writer of this is editor Brenton Covington, who isn't exclusive to Marvel or Disney, although still unlikely to get himself in trouble by posting]
• The final trigger word was not deactivated in Wakanda, but the rest absolutely were. Many of you were pretty upset by the prospect of Shuri’s work being retconned, and I’m here to clarify it absolutely won’t be. The final trigger (as many of you have guessed, it is 'Sputnik') was never used--it was a worst case failsafe. For this reason, Bucky never remembered the code nor was it in the code word book. Naturally, Shuri didn’t get rid of something she didn’t know was there.
• Some rumors of a Bucky/Sharon romance have been attributed to my last post--I didn’t discuss that whatsoever in the post. There is a hint of romance between them, but it’s not fully realized due to EVC’s lack of significant screentime (unfortunately due to scheduling conflict [the Fox TV show The Resident]). They do flirt, and Sam teases Bucky for it. [Echoing the 4chan posts above]
• Alright, let’s get into the pilot.
• The series opens RIGHT after Endgame. No Evans cameo, however. The series opens with Bucky sitting on the lakeside bench, alone. Sam approaches, and asks Bucky what he’s doing there and mentions thinking that Bucky was leaving with Steve (and his family). Bucky says he thought he was too. Sam offers Bucky a ride and Bucky asks if he’s sure about that given that “the two of them don’t have a good track record with cars.” He gets in anyway. They drive for a while down a quiet country road, radio blasting. At one point Sam pulls over, and asks Bucky where they’re going. Bucky answers “The future.” Cue TFA music, which is cut off by Sam asking “Okay.. but do you have a place to stay, dude?” Bucky says he doesn’t know. Sam says he has an idea.
• Cut to them pulling up to the house seen in the trailer. It’s Sam’s family’s house, and they haven’t seen him since the Accords [cf Civil War]. They ask where he has been. Him and Bucky look at each other and answer in unison “that’s a long story.” Cue title card. [If accurate it suggests the actress seen on-set with Sam back in November is his sister Sarah Wilson]
• These are the definite first few minutes of the series, and from here I saw a few scenes that hadn’t been edited into the episode yet. Here are some of those.
• I saw more of the Sam and Ross scene--turns out Sam is given an offer to be pardoned for his Accords violations and allowed to keep the shield and mantle.. if he undergoes the serum procedure. Sam is reluctant, and says he needs time to think. Bucky, immediately wary of this agreement, encourages Sam to refuse, saying the shield isn’t worth outliving the people you love. This leads into Isaiah’s introduction--he calls Sam on a burner phone and they meet. Isaiah shows Sam photos from the serum experiments conducted following Steve’s “death”, many of which killed the test subjects. He is the only survivor. [cf]
• Bucky at one point has a flashback to his childhood and meeting Steve. It’s edited into a sequence of Bucky having nightmares--and there’s a specific moment in which the two make a pact to be best friends til the end of the line--the origin of their vow. Pretty heart wrenching stuff. [This is one way to have Steve appear without requiring Evans]
• Following Isaiah and Sam’s meeting, Sam declines the serum and turns in the shield, which is given to US Agent. As he undergoes the serum procedure, it is revealed the serum allows the recipient’s mind to be controlled.
• That’s all I saw, but I think I love this show even more than I ever anticipated, and it was the one I was most excited for. It’s insane. You all will love it.

Just like the posts above this could be speculation. The element that I'm not fond of is mind control--that feels done to death for anything involving Bucky and I hope it's not true.

Finally, we have bits of theory from Kinda Culty:

• Taskmaster is an ex-SHIELD agent, which is how he and Nat know each other [This idea goes way back to when the Rick Mason character was announced]
• Confirmation of flashbacks when all the characters were much younger [It's been long assumed we'd see Hawkeye/Budapest and some Red Room, ala Age of Ultron]
• Taskmaster might not remember his time together with Nat because he's taken the super soldier serum and it has interfered with his memory (this is something that happened to him in the comics) [I'm not sure how this would function if Nat and he are going to have some sort of connection in the film, unless the memories he loses are selective]
• Gives a solid maybe on Crossbones appearing in a flashback (here and possibly WandaVision) [reflecting on a Conrad rumour from earlier in the month]
• Thinks Ross will be running a super soldier serum program
• Thinks Sam will give up the shield before he talks to Isaiah [as opposed to afterwards, as above]

There's not much new here, although it did remind me of the Conrad rumour I'd forgotten to include a few weeks ago (which, sure, you could do, but I don't know what the point would be--that character's limited arc is complete). On the surface I don't like the memory issue attached to the serum (nor do I like the mind control idea via Reddit above). A better idea is what Jessica Jones season one did with Will Simpson, by having the drugs cause psychotic breaks (the more usage, the more common).

Bleeding Cool reports a rumour that Squadron Supreme will appear in Loki, basing it on "the production team for the show has been ordering all manner of material, with the common thread being the appearance of the Squadron Supreme." Much like Shang-Chi above, we're starting to hit a critical mass of characters appearing (again, unless it's via cameos). For those not familiar, Squadron Supreme is Marvel's version of DC's Justice League who hail from another reality--of the group, Nighthawk is the only one with resonance outside that context (as in, popularity).

Gary Collinson of Flickering Myth (I've never heard of either) claims Hawkeye's delay will push the show's production into 2021. This was followed by Conrad saying multiple sources have told him there's no change in date at all and it will begin on-time in July (to hit its expected 2021 release). While I have some issues with Conrad, this seems like pretty solid confirmation.

Speaking of delays, GWW reports that Moon Knight's filming date has moved from August to November--they offer no reason why, nor do they speculate. The past two months have seen all sorts of speculation about shifting Disney+ dates--apparently this will all be clarified by Disney on March 5th.

LotLB's latest long term spec list:

• Caleb Hammer
• Gunhawks (Reno Jones and Kid Cassidy)
• Black Rider
• Tex Dawson
• Rawhide Kid
• Six Guns (Tarantula, Matt Slade, Tex Dawson, Two Gun Kid, and Black Rider)
• Ghost Rider (Carter Slade)

I find Westerns goofy, but it's not impossible someone at Marvel likes the genre enough to want to take a stab at it. LotLB believe the characters will appear as part of a Kang time travel plot. What's missing for me is where the throughline of doing this is--as in, what's the point of having these characters appear? It only makes sense to me if the intention is to put them on Disney+ or Hulu and they are the kind of D-grade characters Marvel might shuffle off to the aforementioned or FX or ABC. I still consider it very unlikely

Yet another Redditor is pitching Norman Osborn-in-the-MCU:

• So, before I tell you about what Marvel's current plan for Osborn is, let me tell you what their plan WAS.
• So, before Spider-Man: Far From Home released, Marvel had a huge plan for Norman Osborn in the MCU, with him being one of the main antagonists. In fact, in the original script, there was a post-credits scene that featured him. However, in the months leading up to the film's release, talks between Marvel and Sony turned bitter and they decided to put their plans for Osborn on the back burner because they could lose his rights at any second. In order to pressure Sony, however, they ended the film with a cliffhanger so, no matter what, Sony would HAVE to keep Spider-Man at least tangentially related to the MCU.
• Now that Marvel and Sony have a new deal, however, Marvel has a new plan for Osborn. The current plan is to make him a "shadow villain" (a la Palpatine or Voldemort) in Spider-Man 3, which will set him up for a bigger role in the MCU. Osborn, like Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson, will also have some appearances in Sony's Marvel Universe, and will be part of the connective glue that unites the two film universes. However, Sony doesn't have big plans for the character, and he'll mainly be a part of the mainline MCU. Marvel has plans for the Dark Avengers, but not until at least much later in Phase 5.

I think that, in part, these rumours persist because of the Dark Avengers spec script Marvel commissioned awhile ago. Spec scripts aren't unusual, but can be the source of specific elements we keep hearing about (one Redditor, TMSM, claimed a post-credit scene of Osborn was actually shot for Far From Home). That said, I've yet to see anyone actually explain why Marvel would center their plans on a character they don't own (the only response is about what Osborn has done in the comics, but that doesn't actually answer the question). Could Feige want to use the character for Spider-Man films? Absolutely, but it seems pretty clear that other than Peter Parker that entire IP is being confined to itself.

Along the same lines as the above, LotLB Tweeted this out: "I was shown a casting grid for Thor Love and Thunder from Dec 2019 and it has Christian Bale role as Norman Osborn and a child that "Must look similar to Chris Hemsworth." Tim's inference is either that the latter is his son or him via a flashback--if this is credible, the latter makes much more sense to me. One thing I'd not considered (or seen considered) is that Jane Foster becomes Thor because Lebowski-Thor has been killed or imprisoned and needs replacing. Back to the earlier point: I have no idea what Norman Osborn would be doing in a Thor-film and think it's technically impossible anyway since Thor 4 opens after the current deal with Sony expires. We also have very solid rumours that say Bale's role (if he signs) is that of an alien, which Osborn is not.

It struck me how much more diverse Phase Four is compared to the past. Of the various shows and films only four (of thirteen) have an exclusive white, male lead (Loki, Doctor Strange 2, Spider-Man 3, Thor 4)--four others have them as co-leads (Falcon, Eternals, WandaVision, Hawkeye). There are six films with either a female lead or co-lead, and at least five with diverse leads or co-leads (there could be more depending on further casting announcements). Here's the raw list:

Black Widow - female lead
Falcon and the Winter Soldier - diverse co-lead
Eternals - diverse/female co-lead
WandaVision - female lead
Shang-Chi - diverse lead
Loki - possible diverse co-lead
Ms. Marvel - diverse/female lead
Doctor Strange 2- possible diverse co-lead
Hawkeye - diverse/female co-lead (the latter probably diverse)
Spider-Man 3 - possible diverse co-lead
She-Hulk - female lead (possibly diverse)
Moon Knight - diverse lead
Thor 4 - female co-lead (could be diverse)

Some of this change is simply part of the approach Feige wants now that Ike Perlmutter isn't around to interfere, but I wonder if we're getting so much of it in Phase Four because the Fantastic Four has four white leads (Ben Grimm is an easy race swap, but we'll have to wait and see if they go that way) and most of the iconic X-Men are white as well (barring swaps, of course)--so could this be an intentional move to balance that out? A secondary point is how little race and gender swapping we're actually seeing: nearly all the confirmed diverse characters are that way in the comics and this is a fantastic way to avoid complaints.

One of the rumours to come out from LotLB, based largely on a Bleeding Cool article, is that AT&T (which owns WB, who owns DC) is considering farming out the comic side to Marvel--they would retain the IP and the films/TV would stay at the WB, but the comics themselves would be under Marvel's (and Kevin Feige's) umbrella. I find this highly unlikely. Tim said as evidence that DC is struggling outside of Batman (& related) comics and Wonder Woman #750, so I went to Comichron to see what DC books were inside the top-50:
January (3; including excluded 14; Marvel 35, Image 1)
29. Justice League #39
32. Superman #19
50. Green Lantern #3
December (6; including excluded 11; Marvel 30, IDW 1, Boom 1, Image 1)
1. Doomsday Clock #12
10. Superman #18
24. Justice League #37
28. Justice League #38
31. Suicide Squad #1
50. Wonder Woman: Dead Earth #1
November (12; including excluded 19; Marvel 29, Image 2)
17. Justice League #35
21. The Legion of Superheroes #1
26. Justice League #36
28. Superman #17
33. Green Lantern: Blackstars #1
34. Event Leviathan #6
38. Flash #82
40. Far Sector #1
46. Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1
48. Action Comics #1017
49. Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis #1
50. Catwoman #17
October (9; including excluded 20; Marvel 28, Image 1, Dynamite 1)
32. DCeased #5
35. Superman: Year One #3
36. DCeased #5 Card Stock Edition
42. DCeased #6 Card Stock Edition
44. Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Death of Superman #1
45. DCeased #6
46. Event Leviathan #5
48. Superman #16
49. Catwoman #16
September (10; including excluded 20; Marvel 28, Image 1, Valiant 1)
7. Doomsday Clock #11
9. DCeased: A Good Day to Die #1
22. Justice League #31
26. Legion of Superheroes #1
28. Superman #15
29. Flash Forward #1
39. Green Lantern #11
46. Justice League #32
49. Flash #78
50. Action Comics #1015
August (8; including excluded 14; Marvel 35, IDW 1)
17. DCeased #4 Card Stock Edition
18. Superman: Year One #2
19. DCeased #4
23. Justice League #29
26. Event Leviathan #3
32. Superman #14
39. Action Comics #1014
45. Justice League #30

It's only the last two months where we see a drop off, as Aug-Nov all comfortably fall into a similar range (8-12 titles), although very little is in the top-20 (4 are top-10, three of which are events; 6 are top-20; 12 are top-30; 11 are top-40; and 16 are top-50). Without comparing to DC last year it's hard to fully assess their position, but what we can say is DC is struggling compared to Marvel. Tim's point about not seeing many of their iconic characters in the sales data stands, as other than Superman and Justice League none appear regularly. This alone, however, isn't enough to convince me that the sale will happen.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

I mentioned not long ago that Murphy had changed his projected MCU release dates without explanation. He's put some of them back up again and his 2022 film slate now looks like this:
February - Ant-Man 3

May - Black Panther 2 (the official date from Marvel)

July - Captain Marvel 2

October - Blade

The only change is the fourth film, suggesting he's quite confident about Ant-Man 3 and Captain Marvel 2. Afterwards a supposed Hasbro Tweet suggested just four Disney+ shows in 2021 (meaning She-Hulk and Moon Knight would air in 2022). I find it a bit hard to believe--why rush production of the latter two (both beginning filming before Hawkeye) if they won't air until the following year? Murphy claims we'll get a revised slate announced on March 5th, so if that's true we won't have long to wait for clarification.

We got official confirmation of Captain Marvel 2 (not that we needed it at this stage). The name of the production is "Warbird," which could be a throwaway name that references one of Carol Danvers former aliases, or it could be a reference to the 90s Kurt Busiek run where, after losing some of her powers, Carol struggles to deal with it and becomes an alcoholic. I don't think we'll see the latter affliction (it was cut from Tony Stark's storyline), but some struggle would allow the character to grow. This scenario could come about if we're getting Rogue's origin of stealing her powers, although Carol could also take on the alias of Binary, but I think Warbird is more likely since in her current form she's already at Binary's power level. For those unfamiliar with the variation, the Binary identity (with adjusted power set) is what Chris Claremont did with her in the 80s after Rogue stole her initial powers (those of Captain Marvel).

Deadline reports that 68-year old Carl Lumbly is part of the Falcon and Winter Soldier cast, with speculation giving him the role of Isaiah Bradley (cf).

There was an interesting double post on Reddit I wanted to go over. Here's the first:

• Hey guys! I don’t know tooo many specifics about the general plot, but I was partially involved with editing the Expanding The Universe teaser and got to see some of what’s already been filmed for Falcon. Few key plot points:
• Ross will reappear to restrict Sam from being the new Cap due to his accords violations [This echoes 4chan from November along with general speculation]
• Zemo will attempt to trigger Bucky, who then pretends to be in Hydra mode before emptying the gun and saying he doesn’t do that anymore. [We haven't heard this idea before, although this scene was shown in the teaser]
• We will see some footage of Sam training in the air force Falcon Program.
• During what seems like a crucial battle, it appears Zemo discovers one last trigger word--a deactivation code, knocking out Bucky instantly and presumably killing him. We then see Sam pick up the shield for the first time since being confronted by Ross. [This is also new]
• Oh, and with the news about the possible Isaiah [Bradley] casting I just want to add that I 100% believe that. It just hasn’t been filmed, so I haven’t seen it. [His speculation]

This could be made up, but it feels credible to me (it hasn't been taken off the boards last I checked). His information is limited and fits the general shape of the narrative as we understand it (although the observations don't really push beyond what we've already seen or heard). If it's not a scoop it's at least plausible speculation.

And the second post from the Reddit user mentioned above is:

• [I] got to see quite a bit of footage from both Falcon and Wandavision. I don’t have a concrete idea of Wandavision’s plot based on the footage I’ve seen outside of my own nerd-knowledge, but here’s what I have seen.
• [Wanda's] Twins.. duh. [Confirmed through the teaser]
• The Agatha Harkness rumors are 100% true. She enters Wanda’s fantasy as her “neighbor” and eventually infiltrates the delusion in unclear ways, but she appeared to be an anti-hero from what I saw. [The idea of Agatha being their neighbour comes from 4chan in November]
• There’s a shirtless Vision scene. He’s in boxers. This isn’t relevant to the plot it’s just.. a lot to process and I’m warning you all.
• Monica Rambeau! She’s kickass and will be a fan favorite for sure but I’m worried her fate won’t be as great.. a clip I saw showed her getting presumably mortally wounded in battle. [This idea matches a 4chan post from October that's largely about Doctor Strange 2]
• The sitcom concept is insane. Each episode has a different cheesy intro based on what sitcom it’s emulating and it’s insane. [This fits all rumours as well as comments from the lead actors; the three eras depicted in the teaser were the 50s, 70s, and late 80s/early 90s]
• Hints at Pietro’s return? [His return fits the more recent plot rumours, beginning in November, although speculation goes back much earlier]
• Again, can’t say I know much but what I do know is cool as hell.

The comments seem credible to me (he's not claiming anything radical, but also not anything beyond what's within the parameters of what's known). As with Falcon above, it could be speculation, but if it is, it's plausible.

TI's Braxter offers up details for Loki's supporting cast, with a mix of paraphrase and the actual listing (the errors are his):

• Male Lead – There is no age specified. Looking for name talent. Likely with sense of humor. This role will have options for the series and for film. The role needed for 5 or 6 episodes.
• Female 2 – Looking for a female in the 30 to late 50’s age range. This role is open to all races. Needed for 6 episode run.
• Casey – Open to any ethnicity or gender. Casey is a good natured, yet exhausted intern. Extremely likeable. Great comedy skills. Casey’s entire career has been spent indoors and always does things by the books even when things are out of their control. A supporting character needed for 4 episodes
• John – John is male. Open to all ethnicities in the 27 to 36-year old range. Contentious and combative soldier with an axe to grind. Presumptuous and ominous. A supporting role. Needed for 4 episodes

He understandably believes that Owen Wilson has the lead male role above (given the fame of the actor). 'Female 2' could fit either Sophia Di Martino (who was the first member of the cast announced back in November) or Gugu Mbatha-Raw. We don't know any other actors who've been cast, so we can't (yet) guess at who 'Casey' or 'John' is (I agree with Braxter that the former is almost certainly a TVA agent; the latter could be as well, possibly Justice Peace). There's no sign of other rumoured characters (Sera etc).

Murphy speculates that Owen Wilson is playing Kang in Loki, which is interesting because he hates this idea, but it makes sense to him. As someone with no attachment to Kang, I'm indifferent to who plays him. In the midst of his speculation he said the following:

I’ve been hearing recently that some changes to the future of the MCU took place as recently as October of 2019

This echoes Conrad back in September, who said such planning was about to take place. What's interesting is that it means Black Widow and Eternals were planned without that future fully laid out (although tweaks and reshoots can easily fill that gap).

We have competing scoops about the same thing: both GWW and Daniel claim that Red Hulk is coming to the MCU. Daniel did not know when and where, but GWW said it will be in She-Hulk and be General Ross. William Hurt will turn 70 shortly, but as a CGI role he can handle it (at least for a little while). Hurt is a massive fan of the Hulk IP, which is likely why he signed on for The Incredible Hulk and returned in Civil War. Rumours about this go back to WGTC (of all people) in August (repeated by LotLB and others, cf), although the seeds were planted by Wardell much earlier when he revealed The Thunderbolts (with Ross) were coming. After these stories dropped, Conrad presented his own rumour that we'll see Red Hulk in The Thunderbolts.

We got some clarity about those Elsa Bloodstone rumours that have been floating around (beginning with Reddit/Daniel in October and then repeated a couple of weeks ago on Reddit). She was intended to have her own show on ABC [here's a link that works] (this is what LotLB thought would be a Dakota North show, cf), although that's been cancelled since Feige took over Marvel Entertainment.

LotLB's latest video says a Gambit-series is coming (Disney+/Hulu), echoing what they said back in August; no Rogue is planned for the show; the associated spec list:

• Thieves Guild - a group Gambit was part of prior to his time with the X-Men
• Etienne Marceaux - a childhood friend who dies when Gambit is young
• Marauders - originally a villain group created by Mister Sinister with a long history vs the X-Men
• Candra - an External (a group of immortal mutants) who founds both the Thieves Guild and the Assassins Guild
• Pig - a mutant crime boss who engaged in human trafficking (just one appearance)
• Belladonna - a love interest and fellow mutant
• Scrambler - a member of the Marauders

Is this plausible? Absolutely, although I don't see a reason to rush into Gambit (depending on what kind of X-Men team the MCU is building towards--you can see my expectations from a few months ago via the link).

A very different Redditor posted this rumour:

• Hello, guys! So, I am a Marvel insider, and my source has told me some exciting info about the future of one particular villain. The villain in question is none other than the boss himself, Victor Von Doom.
• Ideas for him are mostly in the discussion phase for the moment, but there is one thing that has officially been decided: Doctor Doom will debut in the Black Panther sequel as the main antagonist. However, before that, he may debut in a Disney+ miniseries that could take multiple elements from Noah Hawley’s cancelled movie. [The Doom in BP2 idea goes back to Reddit in December and later echoed by 4chan; the Noah Hawley project was declared dead back in August]
• As for the character’s origin, he will have ties to the Fantastic Four and Reed Richards, and his origin story depends on the route Marvel decides to take with the first family. However, one element that is being discussed is him being a citizen of Sokovia who, following the events of Age of Ultron and Civil War, takes his country’s misfortune as an opportunity to rebuild it in his image, then begins to conquer smaller countries while they’re weakened during the “Blip”.
• After that, Doom will essentially take Loki’s place in the MCU. He will be a recurring antagonist in multiple movies who also helps the good guys when it serves his best interest. However, Secret Wars is being discussed as the next major MCU event and, if it happens, Doom will not only be the main villain, but he’ll be an even bigger threat than Thanos.

The poster seems to be trying to emulate the style of the one above, but I think it's just a fan speculating based on some popular rumours and comic lore (I don't find it credible).

A bit of trivia, but Murphy seems to have deleted his Reddit account--I'm not sure why (I suppose we could ask why he bothered creating one in the first place, but Conrad does it too--a lot of scoopers like getting down in the trenches and arguing).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

HN Entertainment reported that Shang-Chi will shoot some scenes in San Francisco, speculating that the location is being used to set-up the Agents of Atlas (specifically the current iteration of the team, which is all-Asian--specifically Chinese, Korean, and one Filipino). All versions of the team are connected to Jimmy Woo, but the Mandarin has recently been injected into its background making it even more of a fit. This story was followed up an exclusive from GWW which said an Agents of Atlas show or movie was being set-up by Shang-Chi (dependent, I'd think, on box office for the film, unless it's a spinoff). I mentioned back when the film was announced that the problem with the IP is that it's very shallow--the roster of characters associated with it is unknown, the character isn't very popular (Agents of Atlas is even less popular), etc. However, using a team can mitigate risk--by putting the IP on the shoulders of an ensemble, it's easier for fans to find something to gravitate to.

Ron Seoul-Oh of POC Culture claims Shang-Chi is hiring a character known as the 'Boss' for a minor role (a Chinese crime boss). No one has disputed the scoop, so it seems credible, but I haven't seen any comic character suggestions for the role (meaning it's likely just a generic crime lord).

There were a couple of interesting quotes from Taika Waititi about both Thor 4 and the Marvel process. In the first case Taikia strongly hinted that the Jane Foster cancer story has been cut from the film. If that remains the case I won't be surprised--it's hard to imagine there being enough screen time to do it properly along with the rest of the story (Quill's mother in Guardians has also stolen a little thunder from the concept--not that you can't do cancer more than once, but that it's better to avoid repeating yourself). I think Marvel will also cut the anti-religious narrative from Jason Aaron's story. Can Taika have Jane earn becoming worthy, or will she simply be worthy because the plot needs her to be? More importantly, can he get Natalie Portman to emote in a blockbuster? I've never seen it, so that seems like the bigger challenge. I deal with the second interesting thing he said below.

Daniel posted that Black Knight (Dane Whitman) and Sersi are the leads of The Eternals (as in, the other usual lead, Ikaris, is a supporting character). This has been my expectation for quite some time (and echoes all the rumours about the film since it went into production), but we should address why this choice was made, particularly as Black Knight is not associated with The Eternals in the comics.

A group as weird and unknown as The Eternals needs an 'everyman' for the audience to identify with--a character who can ask all the questions the audience has. Kit Harrington, who plays the role, performed the exact same function in Game of Thrones as he was the 'everyman' for the Night Watch, the Wildlings, and the Others (his casting is so on the nose it's almost painful). In the comics this role was played by archaeologist Margo Damian, but was a trivial love-interest and I don't think the MCU was ever going to use her. What's interesting about this choice is that Marvel hasn't felt the need to push an 'everyman' previously--in both Thor and Guardians they relied on storytelling to fill out the details (with either Jane Foster or Ronan, The Collector, and the Nova Corps serving up exposition here and there). This says to me that Marvel is much more concerned about audience buy-in with the Eternals and this is an understandable fear. The IP has never been popular--it's not even niche (which is undoubtedly why the IP was in the works at ABC for years, cf, until Feige took it back). Despite Kirby (and later Gaiman) having worked on it, not even its characters have resonated outside the group (which is very different than the Guardians, as I mentioned previously).

Big picture it's unclear if Gemma Chan and Harrington can actually carry a blockbuster. The latter's films have all bombed (most of them spectacularly), while the former has only one modest success when she's starred (Crazy Rich Asians)--modest is the word (at 238.5 million it's well behind The Incredible Hulk with just 75% of the gross adjusted for inflation). When it comes to leads Eternals is somewhat similar to Guardians, although Chris Pratt was much more obscure than Harrington. That said, Guardians leaned heavily on well-known actors in support (Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Benicio Del Toro, Glenn Close, Zoe Saldana, etc). It also featured Thanos--someone teased in the Avengers. I think Eternals has tried to mimic the supporting character angle (even if I'm not nearly as familiar with most of them), but it remains to be seen if they'll strike the same chord. Another key difference is that neither Harrington or Chan have shown they can do comedy (the unifying theme within all Marvel films), so can they carry the film the same way Pratt and Saldana did (albeit only Pratt doing the comedic elements)? Of all of Marvel films, this is the biggest toss of the dice.

The second thing Taika said regarding the Marvel process that I find fascinating was this:

[We make changes] based on what the audience wants. We test the film. We shot for two weeks on Thor [Ragnarok] with our pickups. There were huge, huge character changes, huge story changes. We reshot entire scenes. I think that’s why they do good work. They’re relentless in their pursuit of just a good movie.

This idea, of pursuing what the audience wants as opposed to following an auteur's vision, runs in contrast to what everyone else making comicbook films does (they are either attempting the auteur approach--the Zach Snyder vision etc--or aiming to please egotistical executives who think they know better than the audience). For film purists this is probably an awful (if obvious) revelation, but the MCU is simply following the dictates of a consumer culture: sell what works. What the MCU misses out on with this approach are radical breakthroughs (we won't get the comic version of Blade Runner, for instance), but in attempting to meet the needs of their audience they also miss out on catastrophic failures. There are no bad MCU films--there's no Fan4stic, no Dark Phoenix, no Justice League. At their worst MCU films are average (Incredible Hulk forming the bedrock of that mediocrity).

Variety reports Gugu Mbatha-Raw has joined the Loki cast without specifying the role. Daniel claims she's a co-lead who is in all six episodes and plays 'a leader.' Speculation has her as the head of the TVA, which is plausible.

Daniel says the show will set-up Kang the Conqueror, which follows Sutton claiming he was coming just a few days ago (without providing context for when); as I pointed out then, Sutton's rumour is virtually identical to a Reddit post from January (which also lacked original context). Kang would fit Loki's time travelling and the TVA, but that also means it's very easy speculation to make.

Braxter (TI) reports that Red Dagger and Kamran have been added to the cast of Ms. Marvel. The former is a male, Pakistani hero without powers who serves as a romantic interest for Kamala Khan. The latter is an Inhuman whom Kamala has some interest in, but is called 'morally corrupt.' Both characters were created for and used exclusively by G. Willow Wilson in her run of the comic. On the surface it looks like the show is building up a classic love triangle--a ubiquitous element in IP like this.

Unbeknownst to me, an apparent audition tape for Ms. Marvel was leaked about three months ago, but none of the usual suspects covered it (CM, JC, etc)--why? Looking into it, everyone else did (eg). I don't know if the tape is a real or fake, but if it's real it's pretty clear that the actress did not land the role (cf).

This is as good a time as any to mention that sometimes scoopers will keep information to themselves or simply not boost the signal of something they think is true. While virtually none of the usual suspects was aware of Roger Wardell until after Endgame, there have been times where after the fact Murphy will reference bits of information he had and never shared or didn't boost at the time (two examples: last January's 4chan leak about WandaVision that he thinks is creditable, is something I hadn't heard him talk about until this February; the recent TI scoop about Kraven the Hunter is based on old information he'd heard, pre-dating the new Sony-Marvel deal in September). I'm not criticizing anyone for doing this, but it does mean that when someone like CM speculates he could be doing so based on information he hasn't shared, making it hard to know what is or isn't actual speculation (other than the failures of course, which, by default, are).

Braxter says She-Hulk will begin filming in August. If this is correct, it's an adjustment over what Murphy said a few weeks ago (July, having said April previously), a date he has not yet changed in response to this report.

We then got a casting breakdown (of sorts--TI doesn't quote it fully), but here's what was said about it (I've cut down on the superfluous prose):

[L]ooking for an actress with comedic chops in the 26 to 34-year old age range. [C]asting open to all races. ... [Jennifer] Walters’ origin and background in the series will skew very close to the pages of Marvel. The description...cites [her traditional] origin, [as] a lawyer who will gain her abilities after receiving a blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner ... after being shot. Additionally, she [will be] a future member of the Avengers.

I'm a bit surprised the role hasn't specifically targeted POC actors, since the makeup/CGI tends to muffle complaints about race swapping (eg Gamora)--the two groups the OG version of the character represents (redheads and tall women) don't matter to diversity proponents, so are of no concern in casting. Braxter goes on to say there's no confirmation that Hulk will appear, but given the origin described above I think he has to.

Dana Schwartz, one of the writers of the show, inexplicably set herself on fire (metaphorically speaking) by attacking South Park. She's not the head writer, and the show is a long way off, so it's probably irrelevant, but you have to wonder why anyone would make this kind of attack (whether you agree with her or not). People inside the entertainment industry live in a bubble and within that bubble she's fine, but there's no way to 'win' these kinds of fights online.

Murphy says Hawkeye will begin filming in September (rather than the originally scheduled July; this was subsequently confirmed by TI, link above). This is a very small delay--just two months--and likely won't impact its release date. His scoop is a direct rebuttal to someone at Disney who claimed the production date had not changed. It also debunks Conrad's theory (same link) that Jeremy Renner's legal issues were impacting the show.

I've mentioned that I didn't used to pay much attention to what Marvel Comics was doing as a reflection of the MCU because Feige had no direct involvement with it. Now that he does I pay more attention and some potentially interesting news came out. Marvel Entertainment's Twitter has announced The Union, a group of British Superheroes lead by Union Jack. Why does that matter? It's a sudden announcement, it's coming soon, and the leader of the team is a character MCU producer Nate Moore has been trying to put on film for years. I have no idea why Moore is so attached to Joseph Chapman, as he's not a particularly popular character, but all that matters is his interest. The question about the project becomes: is Marvel simply testing the waters to see the response to the character (and the team), or is it teasing an eventual appearance by the character (ala Moon Knight randomly appearing in a Conan comic prior to his show announcement)? The other alternative is that it has been in the works all along and will mean nothing--time will tell.

I previously went over the recent Spider-Woman rumour on Reddit that has now been echoed by Daniel (who apparently said it was in the works two months ago). He claims it might be the 2021 Sony film announced. This was followed by TI's Brandon saying Sony is indeed moving ahead with the film and eyeing Michelle McLaren to direct. The article keeps confusing Sony Marvel films with the MCU, but towards the end makes it clear that this is a Sony film. After this story dropped GWW (Thomas Polito) speculated this is actually the Madame Web project (passim), who had writers hired in September. The reasoning for his surmise is that Sony doesn't exclusively own Jessica Drew, but they do own Julia Carpenter, who was both Spider-Woman and Madame Webb. Murphy weighed in on the issue (specifically referencing the GWW and TI version of this story) and said this is an Amy Pascal project (none of whose Sony-exclusive live action properties have seen the light of day), which is being overseen by executive producer Rachel O'Connor, who (like Pascal) has only been involved in the MCU-Spidey films. Murphy finds this suggestive. He then reported that Sony is looking to cast an actress in the 25-35 range, which essentially confirms the story that Sony is pushing forward with the film. Prior to that I'd included a note via ComicTom101 that a dealer has been selling huge quantities of Spider-Woman #1 since November, with me making the inference that a rumour like this would boost prices, but given CM's confirmation I consider my cynical idea debunked.

What do I think? If there's a Jessica Drew Spider-Woman film coming it's either an abomination from Sony including only the elements they control, or there are more parts to the short deal struck with Marvel that we don't know about (if Marvel surrendered her rights--making a trade perhaps--Feige may not be involved and if he isn't, worry--lest we forget the films Pascal's actually had hand in have all bombed: Ghostbusters, Molly's Game, The Girl in the Spider's Web, and Charlie's Angels--she's not listed as a producer for the latter, but she approved the film and its creative lead, Elizabeth Banks).

LotLB expanded on the Sutton scoop laid out in my previous post:

• The Alejandra Jones version of Ghost Rider will be trained by one of the older iterations (either Johnny Blaze or Daniel Ketch)
• Sutton repeats the old Murphy rumour from November, 2018, that a Rocket and Groot series is coming, claiming Blackjack O'Hare will be the villain

The problem with the latter (as I pointed out at the time) is the cost, although with a shorter episode count and run-time it would be feasible (animated always seemed the easiest way to go with that, even if it's not what I'd want). As for the former, it's still not clear to me if Feige wants to use Ghost Rider or not.

Speaking of Tim, he said something I think is worth repeating:

Marvel TV Studios has a lot of things being planned. Its hard to pin point what platform (Disney+/Hulu) but as collectors we just care about the characters since that affects back issue market.

This is the main reason, I think, why LotLB's scoops are all over the place. Sometimes the general idea within the scoop is correct, but so often the specifics are not (a great example of this is US Agent appearing in the MCU--they were the first to suggest this, but completely wrong about where he'd appear and who would play him).

One thing I never see brought up is how well Feige navigates the culture war (which you can see exploding around Star Wars and Star Trek each and every day). While Feige himself is a progressive and has an agenda associated with that, thus far he has sidestepped all the nonsense we typically see--fights over casting have been minimal, the gender war never boils over into a fight (despite a hard push against Captain Marvel last year), etc. Feige wants representation, but at no point has he inflamed the old school fans and he always talks about respecting Marvel's past. To handle culture warriors on the one hand and not piss off the fanboys on the other is remarkable.

A bit of Sony trivia: Amy Pascal's Silver & Black project had a script from Christopher Yost written in 2017 (Yost was a contributing writer for the MCU for Thor 2 and Thor 3). This doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things since that project was cancelled, but I wanted to note it.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)