Marvel News

Re-shoots for Black Widow have begun (presumably for routine pick-ups). I'd expect these to last at least a couple of weeks.

Variety reported that Sam Raimi is in talks to direct Doctor Strange 2 and shortly thereafter he was confirmed in that role. Raimi hasn't directed a feature film in seven years (Oz the Great the Powerful), and hasn't had a hit since 2007's Spider-Man 3 (despite how poorly that film is viewed, it was financially successful). Buried in the article was that Rachel McAdams, Christine Palmer, would not be returning, which lends even more credence that Clea will be the love interest for Strange in the film. It's not clear why McAdams isn't being included (as in, was it a choice by the filmmakers or the actress--I have a feeling the MCU is trying to steer clear of love interests without powers and that may be why she's gone--my idea is wanting to stay away from companions or love interests who require rescuing).

Speaking of changes, the film is getting a re-write, as Loki's Michael Waldron has been given that task. Murphy reported back in January that Scott Derrickson's buddy C. Robert Cargill was writing the script, but Cargill himself has debunked that, adding that he and Derrickson's version of the film was never written, so that the October script by Jade Bartlett was the first stab at the story. Murphy has admitted the error, although he hasn't offered an explanation for how it was made. This re-write is something Marvel has done for every film initially written by a female writer thus far:

• James Gunn's re-write of Nicole Perlman's Guardians of the Galaxy (she maintained her writing credit)
• Four of five female writers of Captain Marvel were dropped to just story credits as the co-directors made significant changes (Geneva Robertson-Dworet is the only one whose work remained)
• Eric Pearson's re-write (the second) of Jac Schaffer's Black Widow script
• The aforementioned Waldron's re-write of Jade Barlett's script (it's not clear if Barlett will get more than a story credit, although the implication is that's all she'd get)

Re-writes aren't uncommon for Marvel (12 of 25 thus far, or 12 of 20 if you exclude Markus and McFeely), but it's interesting that all the scripts written by women have failed to make it intact to filming. This reminds me of stories from almost a decade ago that Marvel was struggling to find women interested in writing their films (plenty of female film writers were out there, but the genre didn't appeal to them). My guess is we're seeing the early days of Feige giving opportunities that haven't yet hit the mark yet (I think Perlman deserves a lot of credit for the first Guardians film, as the Gunn-only sequel was a marked step down in quality--the comedy remained excellent, the everything else was worse). In time this will change, it just seems to be the growing pains of assembling filmmakers for the task (it's similar, I think, to finding female directors for the films--a struggle that largely seems over).

Murphy speculates that Super-Midnight will appear in Shang-Chi. If he's correct, that '98% Asian' comment from Feige is starting to look like hyperbole. This also sounds like GWW's story from July that guessed Midnight Sun was coming to the film (the latter is African, the former African-American, but both are from the 70s iteration of the IP and have very similar names).

Variety reports that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has joined Thor 4's writing staff. For me this is two bits of news: the announcement itself, and that Taika Waititi wanted a co-writer. I've gone over before how his derision of Kyle/Yost/Pearson script of Ragnarok doesn't hold up if you look at the script, so it will be interesting to see how his (and Robinson's) compares.

Daniel has echoed Bleeding Cool's claim that a Brian Michael Bendis-based Secret Invasion Disney+ series is coming and will lead into Captain Marvel 2. Rich Johnston's post said 'tie-in,' not 'lead-in,' so I'm not sure if that's Daniel's interpretation or Conrad's (whose link is above). If the language is correct and the show is leading into CM2, then it's coming relatively soon (2022 presumably). There's nothing from Daniel that wasn't in Johnston's original, so he seems to be just repeating it.

Mikey Sutton's latest:

• Kevin Feige has big plans for Rogue, as she's one of his personal favorite X-Men characters.
• Rogue will first appear as [an] antagonist, and may first appear as a member of the Brotherhood [of evil Mutants] or Marauders. (No script has been written yet, this is just brainstorming.) While Captain Marvel 2 is being discussed, it's not certain.
• Kevin Feige wants to put Magneto in [on] the back burner for a little bit, and the Brotherhood's first leader may be someone else. [If this is true we can scratch those rumours about him appearing in WandaVision, which I don't think are credible anyway]
• Captain Marvel 2 will introduce Nova, and he will be the Richard Rider version.
• Nova will be an agent of SWORD who is working under Nick Fury.
• Richard will be set up for a larger role. Marvel is searching for an actor in Tom Holland's age range, as they're interested in a friendship between Nova and Spider-Man.

Rogue is one of my favourite X-Men as well, but I have no idea if Sutton's claim about Feige is true. I've speculated (and hoped) she'd debut as a villain, since it's such a formative part of her background and Fox never used it. The idea of Magneto on the back burner is pretty common speculation (from myself and others), since thus far Feige has steered away from what others have done before (thus Michelle as the love interest for Peter Parker instead of either Gwen Stacey or Mary Jane Watson). Most speculation picks the Richard Rider version of Nova, although I have no idea why a friendship with Spider-Man is relevant so long as Sony controls the character (although associating him with a character who can't appear in Sony films does make life more difficult for Sony).

Sutton then put out another split YT scoop (part one and part two):

• The Sentry is coming, probably to Disney+
• Kang is being considered as the next Avengers villain, intended to unite the Fantastic Four with the former; half will be sent to 2099, the other half to the old west where they meet the Two-Gun Kid

We've had two prior Sentry rumours: one from 4chan back last January (as a possible Disney+ show), and then LotLB put him on a long term spec list in September (in essence, Sutton is simply repeating the 4chan rumour 13-months later). The broad idea of Kang is identical to a Reddit post from January (FF+Avengers team-up), but it didn't have the 2099/old west element (the latter echoes LotLB in July as they claimed something Western-themed was coming to Hulu). As someone who has been following Sutton's material for the last six months or so, it's hard not to think that he simply repeats information gleaned from elsewhere.

LotLB says the Alejandra Jones-version of Ghost Rider is coming to Blade. The idea of this version of the character appearing is something Tim floated back in September (echoing 4chan at the time--same link). LotLB didn't specify where she would appear then, while the 4channer had her in Doctor Strange 2. This runs counter to what their buddy Sutton said less than a month ago (that it would be the Johnny Blaze-iteration). Side note about Sutton: he seems to have cut out Matt Jarbo from his YT scoops (it's not clear if that's due to Jarbo's colourful past or something else).

Speaking of 4chan, the guy who wrote the post referenced above has updated it:

• As I previously reported, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature the first Ghost Rider in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from an alternative universe.
• Marvel Studios was going to cast for the role of "Ghost Rider" between November or December of last year, and a last minute decision was made by Kevin and his team about actress Bella Thorne playing the role of Alejandra Jones, the female Ghost Rider.
• Now, that's not to be. I did said [say] that the role was not set in stone.
• Kevin recently subjected on February a change to the direction of the story, a swap for actress Letitia Wright to play a female version of Black Panther from another universe. A Female Black Panther will take on the role that was going to be played by the female version of Ghost Rider in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
• Daniel Ketch was indeed chosen for a small cameo in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness interpreted by actor Brett Dalton also known for his role as Agent Grant Ward and Hive in the ABC Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.
• The appearance of Daniel Ketch won't be major for the plot, so don't expect him to flame on. Whether the character will return for future installments is yet to be seen.

This boils down to: they were going to have the female Ghost Rider as a supporting character in Doctor Strange 2, but changed their minds and are having a female Black Panther instead, with a small cameo by a male Ghost Rider. Given how many characters are supposed to be in DS2 I have no idea how much screen time you have for a female Black Panther, which seems like a waste. A cameo for Ghost Rider only makes sense if you are going to do something with him (which the poster assumes they will). I don't buy it, but time will tell.

LotLB re-posted their first second scoop video from May (the original was deleted with the rest of the channel in the summer). I wasn't watching at the time, so thought I'd include what was said to keep tabs on their predictions:

• His original source ('The Black Knight') verified himself by showing screen shots of him, among other things, predicting Brie Larson as Captain Marvel and that Shang-Chi was coming; he was a writing for a number of magazines in the 1980-1990s, and was now working on a new comicbook (in another video they apparently bonded over a mutual hatred of Grace Randolph) [Echoed in August]
• Man-Thing for Hulu, who will join Ghost Rider, Helstrom, and Satana as the Spirits of Vengeance (uncertain if he will get his own show) [The former repeated in August and picked up by Daniel in October; the team-up idea is straight out of a Deadline article, which Sutton repeated in October with a plot added, and in January with the name changed to Midnight Sons and an adjusted roster: no Helstrom or Satana, but Blade and Moon Knight added]
• Villains for the Ghost Rider Hulu show: Scarecrow and Orb [Repeated in August]
• Dwayne Johnson as Namor, appearing in Black Panther 2 (where Atlantis attacks Wakanda), with this related to difficulties in negotiations with DC over Black Adam [Repeated in June]
• Peyton Reed in talks to direct Fantastic Four (whose story will pull from Lee, Byrne, and Hickman) [They said Feige rejected his 1960s idea for the team, but that he was still in talks in August]
• Hercules in Thor 4 (using the recent No Road Home iteration of the character) [Repeated in July]
• A lot of Hickman for Phase Four and Five generally, specifying his work with the Avengers and Fantastic Four [Repeated in August]
• The Thunderbolts is not something Feige is that interested in--if it appears it will be on TV [Repeated this in June, but by September had them coming to Disney+]
• Spiderverse live-action film made by Marvel for Sony [Not repeated as far as I can tell]
• DC streaming service in trouble (the idea being that it would be folded into the WB's streaming service) [ibid]

Nearly all this information was repeated subsequently. The Johnson-as-Namor rumours never truly go away, but when Black Adam finally got a production date they dried up. Sutton has picked up only one of these ideas (the former Hulu team-up plan that was broken by Deadline and Bleeding Cool back in April).

A Redditor had two posts which seem to be slightly re-packaged old rumours:

• The Midnight Sons are coming to the MCU! My source has told me that, in addition the upcoming Helstrom limited series, Marvel TV Studios is planning miniseries for Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing and Elsa Bloodstone in order to further set up the team.
• The group's roster will be led by Blade, and also include Moon Knight, Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch), Werewolf by Night, Daimon [Hellstrom] and Ana Helstrom [meaning Satana], Man-Thing, Elsa Bloodstone and The Punisher. Mephisto will be the main antagonist of the movie, and a 2024/2025 release date is likely.
• Currently, Marvel is negotiating a new deal with Netflix, and things are looking good. With Marvel TV now rebranded, several Defenders-related projects are already in development.
• The first Defenders-related project is a fourth and likely final season of Daredevil. Kingpin, Elektra and Bullseye will all return, and it will take place in the post-Endgame timeline. It's in very early stages of development, as are the other projects.
• The second is a Heroes for Hire series, which is being written to have a lighter tone than either of the two previous shows. In order to distance it from the Iron Fist series, Danny Rand will be recast. The first season will feature Luke and Danny protecting a mutant (Marvel is undecided on who that mutant will be) from the main villain.
• The third is a final season for Punisher, which will feature none other than The Hood as the main villain. It will tie into Marvel's supernatural projects, and set up Punisher to join the Midnight Sons

The Midnight Sons roster is very similar to the Spirits of Vengeance roster from LotLB in May (above), but with Elsa Bloodstone added (via Reddit/Daniel in October). Both LotLB and Conrad have floated the idea of Netflix characters being shifted into the MCU-proper (Hulu etc), but recasting Danny Rand is an LotLB special (I didn't note it at the time, but Sutton repeated it in November).

Back to the central substance: there are four unique things above: the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider, having the Punisher as part of the team, Mephisto as the enemy of Sons of Midnight, and a new deal with Netflix. I find the latter idea preposterous--what possible benefit could there be for Marvel in that instance? While Feige would retain creative control over the IP, it makes no sense at all to air shows on a competitor instead of Disney-owned Hulu or FX etc.  I think the entire post is a guess based on the merger of Marvel Entertainment with Marvel Studios (I mentioned previously that LotLB's scoop of it all coming together was correct, but they had no idea how it was being implemented, so their various predictions based on that were all over the place and mostly wrong). The poster seems to be suffering from similar confusion, as its been clear for quite some time that the Netflix IP will simply be a footnote of Marvel history.

We got some clarity on where the new scoopers, The Illuminerdi, come from: they are former That Hashtag Show employees (ergo former coworkers of Murphy's, although I don't recall them having specific scoops while he was there).

A Morbius plot leak has hit Reddit from someone who was able to convince the moderators it might be real (that doesn't guarantee that it is, just that they found the idea plausible). I'm not interested in the film so much as what it says happens with Adrian Toomes. According to the post, Toomes is being held in San Quentin State Prison where a riot allows he (and Mac Gargin) to escape--Toomes tells Morbius he's putting a team together (ie, the Sinister Six), but the latter declines. This fits with Sony's long desire to put such a film together (that idea was already teased in Homecoming). The script also features Netflix-like references to the MCU (Toomes mentions the Blip, for example).

Speaking of Sony, they've announced an untitled film for October, 2021. Given how Sony likes their films two years apart (ie the MCU Spider-Man films, 2017-19-21, as well as their own Venom productions, 2018-20), I suspect it's a second Morbius.

I was not expecting Birds of Prey to open as poorly as it did--33 million is roughly 60% of Shazam's lukewarm opening and on par with Dark Phoenix. The film has no real competition in theaters, but if it lacks legs this could be the second bomb for the DCEU (after Justice League, whose budget ballooned when Whedon reshot most of the film). I have to wonder how much worse it would have been without critical praise (initially 90%, but has pulled it back to 80%).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)