Murphy removed his predicted dates for both Captain Marvel 2 (July/22) and Guardians 3 (Feb/23) without explanation. His CM2 date always had a question mark next to it, but GotG3 did not, so there's no clarity on why as yet. When I last made my predictions for the upcoming schedule, I had these two films in the opposite positions (Guardians struck me as a summer release, which was its original slot (May, 2020), while CM made its hay in February previously, so why not leave it there?). From my list the biggest question is whether Deadpool 3 is going to 'count' as part of the MCU. There's also a possibility I didn't entertain, which is that Avengers 5 could be in the July, 2022 slot. The reasoning for that would be it's three years after Endgame and we've had those films at three-year intervals. In that time it appears as though the Young Avengers, The Thunderbolts, and all the Phase Four plots will have moved forward, so a crescendo for them isn't out of the question.
TI's Braxter Timberlake says they've learned that Christian Bale's role in Thor 4, which he hasn't signed for yet, is as the lead villain who is an alien. This doesn't narrow it down very much, or debunk anyone's prior speculation. What it does do is provide a bit more clarity over what kind of character he'd be playing.
Afterwards a Redditor claimed Bale was playing Mangog after Ryan Gosling turned it down (the Gosling idea, not specific to this role, showed up in 4chan posts back in September and October, for whatever that's worth). Mangog is a very old (1968), minor, weird character who certainly has the power to be a threat, but seems a bit far off the beaten track to be a major villain.
Kinda Culty thinks John Walker will be the leader of the Thunderbolts rather than Zemo, with the latter forming the MCU-version of the Masters of Evil instead. The reasoning is good because Zemo hates the Avengers and an Avenger-like group isn't likely to appeal to him. The possibility of him joining the group with the purpose of subverting it remains, of course.
KC also indulged in some casting speculation: Noah Mills as Beetle or Atlas; Desmond Chiam as Fixer. Both of these characters were on LotLB's spec list in my previous post, but KC isn't getting the idea from them, instead he's looking at the comic roster of the team and connecting the dots.
One interesting thing revealed by IMDB (via stunt credits that are unlikely to be faked) is that the Yakuza will make an appearance in the show. They are little used in Marvel (Hawkeye was hunting them down in Endgame), but where they do appear they are usually connected with Daredevil (who remains locked behind the Netflix wall for another nine months) and Wolverine. The latter connection fits both the Madripoor setting and the Weapons Plus program. The MCU is putting a lot of easter eggs for the premier mutant in this show and I'm curious why that is. I don't expect him to appear or even necessarily be alluded too, but this is a lot of Wolverine-fluff for a seemingly unrelated show.
One of the likely reasons why Madripoor is being used in the show is that it has no extradition treaties with other countries, so if Zemo escapes captivity in Germany he can't legally be removed from Madripoor by SWORD, General Ross, or anyone else.
Bob Iger has confirmed the show will air in December, long after Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs in August (far longer than it needs to be--perhaps making space for whatever Star Wars offering is on Disney+). I'm unsure if this three month gap between shows is intended to be the norm, although having them debut between films makes sense. I think the minimum number of MCU shows a year is four (matching the films), but there's really no reason they couldn't add more.
The teaser for WandaVision confirmed Wiccan and Speed will appear. Rumours about their inclusion go all the way back to when the show was announced in 2018 (since it was borrowing comic elements that included them).
The Time Variance Authority (TVA) was confirmed via the Loki teaser. It's an obscure group with a big mission: monitoring realities throughout the multiverse and attempting to keep temporal interference to a minimum. They have no strong association with Loki in the comics, but do with Thor (and, oddly, She-Hulk); they are also connected to Kang the Conqueror (a subject of popular rumour). Justice Peace is the most commonly appearing member of the TVA. The group has not come up in any rumours about Loki, which is a reminder that we've had almost no rumours about the show. In comparative terms, the Disney+ shows have (thus far) featured far fewer leaks than the films.
On a personal note, I don't share the enthusiasm for Kang--in part because he was never in the comics I read so he doesn't touch on the stories I feel attached too. This doesn't mean he can't be a fantastic foe. I'm not (yet) convinced the TVA guarantees his involvement at some point.
Murphy put out a rumour that Angelica Ross was up for a roll in Loki that he thinks was for Sera (passim), although he's uncertain if she landed the role because she's not in Atlanta where the show is filming (the role is thought to be involved in every episode).
Speaking of rumours, a Redditor claims the following about the show:
- Morgan Le Fay will appear in the series [Echoes KC's speculation in November]
- Owen Wilson will play TVA agent Justice Peace [See above]
- Mr. Alternity will be in the series in a minor role [Another TVA member]
- Kid Thor will appear in the show but will be turned into a frog by 2012 Loki [Echoing the idea of Kid Loki appearing; the transformation that echoes Thor #364 and a line from Ragnarok]
- Cul Borson will appear as one of the villains
Speaking of Owen Wilson speculation, I've now seen a rumour that he'll play an older version of Loki (which seems a bit of a stretch to me).
TI's Braxter Timberlake says Ms. Marvel's filming date is shifting from April to August [the latter date matches a 4chan post from November], but the cast is being locked in for a year of filming even though the show only needs four months of shooting. His surmise is that the cast is being kept for Captain Marvel 2 (the implication being it will begin filming at the beginning of 2021). The other possibility, not brought up by Braxter, is that they need to be available for an unannounced New Avengers show (or film).
Conrad says Trickshot and the Tracksuit Mafia will appear in Hawkeye (he also reiterates there's no delay in production). The idea of the former goes back to 4chan in January (echoed in May, same link), although both of those posts had the Hood as the main antagonist.
Conrad claims Rick Jones is coming to the MCU, but he doesn't know in what film or show. His first suggestion is Captain Marvel 2, but I find that very improbable (she's space-based and the IP is trying hard to be very female-centric). I think She-Hulk is a more logical choice, since the character is often attached to the Hulk IP (he was in the original Incredible Hulk script and is referenced in that film, but Edward Norton wrote him out).
Conrad is also floating the idea that Crossbones will return to the MCU. While this is possible (despite dying in Civil War), I don't know what the point would be. Why bring him back? What purpose would it serve? How can Crossbones evolve in a way that makes him something other than just another thug?
We have our first 4chan post about Captain Marvel 2:
- Not much is know [known]. This topics have been talked about in the "room" multiple times, it would seemed the board is going to keep this [these] ideas.
- What's left of Nova Corp after the planet's destruction at the hands of Thanos will be involve [involved] in the movie. There are some concepts not used in Infinity War that will be used at the beginning of this movie.
- Richard Rider's daughter, Beth (Elizabeth) Rider will be NOVA [Nova] in the MCU and will be a sub-antagonist of Captain Marvel.
- Beth Rider won't the only survivor of Xandar.
- Talonar will be the villain of the movie. Robert Rider [who is] Beth's uncle.
- Beth and Carol will develop a romantic relationship through out the movie.
- Talos will gained [gain] the ability to copy other characters powers. [Ala Super-Skrull]
- They want Jane Foster's Thor to make a cameo in the movie, Marvel wants to build A-Force with Carol Danvers as their leader. Talos won't be part of A-Force because it will be an all woman team.
Mikey Sutton has put out a Fantastic Four scoop:
- Marvel's plans for the team are FAR different than any previous interpretations. [Feige has said as much]
- Rather than simply a team of superheroes, they are a family of explorers. This will be emphasized in the MCU.
- Their first MCU solo movie will feature them traveling through strange lands, worlds and dimensions.
- Their origin will also be tweaked, as they'll get their powers on a journey to the Negative Zone, which may or may not be a pocket dimension within the Quantum Realm. [This and the idea below come from a July Cosmic Book News post]
- Their official introduction will come in the upcoming third Ant-Man film.
- Marvel has huge plans for Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer and even Galactus. However, in order to maintain a sense of freshness with their interpretation, Marvel wants to make Mole Man the antagonist of the first film. [This idea comes from a 4chan post back in December]
- Peter Parker will actually try to join the team, and eventually become Reed Richards' new protege. [This is an idea Sutton initially floated back in September]
- John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are STILL at the top of Marvel's list for Reed and Sue Richards.
- Development on the project is pretty early, but it is happening.
- There are plans for the FF to meet the rebooted Inhumans in a sequel.
The Twitter feed of a guy who writes comics that's claimed to be given credence by Murphy said he heard Jessica Drew was coming. This brings up a number of things I want to get into. I became aware of the Tweet because it was repeated on Reddit and the OP defined it as being specifically Jessica Drew and not Spider-Woman due to rights issues:
OP: I say "Jessica Drew" because the "Spider-Woman" name is technically webbed up at Sony, while Marvel have no such restrictions with the character outside of her costume. Meanwhile, there's no confirmation if it's SUMC or MCU, or if it's a movie or a show, so I'm not including it in the headline. Without Sony agreeing to anything, Marvel Studios can use the character of Jessica Drew, but they don't have a greenlight to use the name "Spider-Woman", or the character's Spider-based superpower set. Sony can use all of that, but they can't reference the character's ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA (which Marvel can). Sony can also use the name "Spider-Woman" for other characters to which that name applies, like Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It's basically the same thing as what happened with Quicksilver, albeit more complicated. Or how Fox used a version of Madame Hydra in The Wolverine, sans the HYDRA ties and imagery. And if Sony and Marvel play nice with each other, then no restrictions should apply to either of them, and they can make full use of Jessica Drew, the Spider-Woman, with no creative limitations in either of their movies. (Although with the SUMC stuff, I doubt that they have any real plans to tie S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA into their stories.)
Other 1: From what I understand a lot of this is a mix between just a handshake agreement and courtroom-based mutually assured destruction. Like, if an MCU-set SWORD show wanted to use Jessica Drew, and Sony wanted to sue to stop them because they had plans to use her as Spider-Woman, Disney could use the excuse you laid out and feasibly defend their use, which would be an expensive loss for Sony, and vice-versa. Exactly like you said with the Maximoffs; they *are* Mutants, which was Fox's argument for owning them, but they were Avengers before they were X-Men, which was Marvel's argument. Instead of starting expensive courtroom battles without a guarantee of victory, they'd rather just work out a way that both parties will be happy. Throw in the fact that by all accounts Sony and Marvel are very happy with each other and this new agreement (even if Feige is annoyed that he doesn't get all his toys) and this seems reasonable.
Other 2: Aida was Madame Hydra in Agents of Shield season 4.
Other 1: Right, because Marvel Studios has the rights to that title. Fox, somehow, was able to use the basic character archetype (beautiful woman with poison makeup in charge of a shadowy organization), as long as they didn't reference the Hydra elements.
Back in 2018 Deadline reported that an animated 'Spider-Women' film was being made, whose details Vanity Fair filled in a couple of months: it would include Spider-Gwen, Jessica Drew, and Cindy Moon (aka Silk). The project has a director (Lauren Montgomery) and screenwriter (Bek Smith), but no date and no further news has come out since--this is presumably irrelevant because the rights to animation are different than live action. All the live action films for Sony, thus far, have been under Palak Patel's guidance--his only plans for a female character are Madame Web (which has writers attached, but no director or date), who is a completely unrelated character.
As I went over last October, Sony has a track record of announcing projects for their Marvel IP and then simply abandoning them (Silk, Jackpot, Nightwatch, etc). There's reason to believe we get these announcements for two reasons: 1) to put pressure on Marvel to play ball, 2) to satiate the enormous egos of Pascal and Avid Arad (all their live action projects never go anywhere). Sony Pictures is struggling financially as films keep bombing or failing to meet expectations (the Zombieland sequel, the Jumanji sequel, Charlie's Angels, etc). Marvel IP helps stir up investment and announcing them and hiring writers is a cheap way to do so.
Back to the point: why are we theoretically getting a Madame Web film (a character no one has ever heard of) if Sony could produce a Spider-Woman film? I don't think Rothman is dumb enough to give the animated branch precedence (particularly when Venom outperformed Spider-Verse almost 3-to-1). We've never even had rumours of a Sony live-action version of Jessica Drew so we have to ask the question: why is that? I'm inclined to agree with the Redditor's breakdown of the rights, otherwise she should have been at the forefront of Sony's hypothetical lineup (particularly as, despite her name, she's not strongly associated with Peter Parker). That doesn't mean the specific rumour is correct, however.
Murphy reported last January that Jessica Drew was originally in Far From Home, but was replaced by Nick Fury and Maria Hill. That's a joint Sony production, but the version of the character we'd see is very much in line with the Marvel rights described above (without her costume or powers, but all the other elements Marvel is said to own). We don't know why she was removed (was it at someone's insistence, or did the story function better as is?), and because of the IP we don't know if she was only available because it was a Sony film.
Back to the scoop itself: my belief is that the Twitter user saw the WGTC rumour circulated elsewhere, or heard something about the animated project at Sony, and is referring to that. As-is, there's nothing to suggest it's MCU-related until we hear more, but it did serve as an interesting launching point for looking at the rights situation of the character.
The New York Times reports that Disney+ has accumulated 28.6 million subscribers, exceeding Disney's largest expectations. There are reasons for Disney to trumpet any result it gets and the article doesn't offer any interpretation or larger context for the information, but it's something to be aware of.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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