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)