Marvel News & Notes

Clark Gregg was doing interviews for the final season of Agents of SHIELD (seven seasons, the last two at the insistence of ABC's corporate masters after they wanted to cancel it) and said the following:

...doing 10 episodes or 12 episodes the way Tom Hiddleston told me he was doing [on “Loki”] with that kind of budget and that Marvel Cinematic production team

There are three things of note here:

• 1) Throwing Marvel Entertainment under the buss in terms of what it accomplishes (clearly 'Marvel Cinematic' is shorthand for Marvel Studios); ie, Kevin Feige's people versus Jeph Loeb's, who have run AoS (through Joss' brother) into the ground
• 2) The desire to have a proper production budget as opposed to the cheap values on offer from ABC
• 3) 10-12 episodes of Loki? Isn't it supposed to be six episodes? The question becomes: are there more episodes of the show, or does it have that rumoured second season already?

What the third point misses out on is: Gregg may have simply misspoke. It's possible Loki will get another season (surely not all Disney+ MCU shows are intended to be one-and-done), just as the season might be longer than initially asserted. As for now, an offhand comment from an actor reporting what another actor told him doesn't amount to much (just food for thought).

Speaking of Loki, something on Reddit I missed from a couple of months ago makes this claim: "Sophia Di Martino is play Sylvie (Enchantress) adult, and actress Cailey Fleming will be her youngest version. Sylvie in the comics is a creation of Loki, but in the series will be his biological daughter and may be the villain of the series." This was posted after IMDB Pro's listing of Fleming as 'Young Sylvie" was discovered. It's a plausible theory (very much fits into the lore), although that doesn't make it true. What's interesting is the same Reddit user (in a comment to another post about the show two months later) said, "In my opinion, the antagonist will be Rei Loki (A Loki villain of the Future), King Loki will make Loki 2012 wish not to become him. And for that he makes a deal with TVA, to become an agent of time, mirroring the saga Loki Agent Of Asgard, while King Loki and the Trickster Metamorfos [Mephisto?] that alters human history, this 2012 Loki tries to pay for his crimes by winning him. I believe that entering the saga Journey to the Mystery too, Só tu Mephisto in 1 Episode, where Kid Loki goes to Limbo. And the Lady Loki I think it would be one of King Loki's works." He's expressing an opinion, which indicates a lack of insider knowledge, so how could he know Di Martino's role? The answer could be a casting grid, IMDB, or elsewhere, but it's worth noting the ambiguity makes his assertions suspect (as he never says where that information comes from).

4chan about WandaVision:

Hello, sorry English is not my primary language. I work for a company that ILM gives work to, like a middleman. So I am working on Wandavision right now.
The beginning is that she is living a secret life in Europe away from the government and agents.
One day the agents find her (Monica [Rambeau] from Captain Marvel) and want her to help America just in case there is another invasion.
However in the shadows is a former Hydra doctor from The Winter Soldier who also help in the past be a psychologist for Wanda in Sarcarvia [Sokovia] and he pleads with Wanda to join him in his facility.
So they meet on a train when she escapes the agents and she goes to America with him under the conditional he is to help her make peace with her hauntings.
There she meets a lot of people including but not limited to Darcy from Thor who is also have hauntings of the past, her spouse who died of cancer in Endgame.
So, they become friends and watch old American shows for memories. These memories is when the doctor breaks Wanda from her refusal to speak of the Avengers and she becomes upset to leave to Europe, but she keeps there for more money (I hate this part, seriously.)
The secret is that the Hydra doctor wants to go to the Endgame version of the past to live with his dead mother and daughter. So he will make force Wanda to open a portal to that past, but first, she needs to use her powers.
So they send her with electricity and tie her up to the machines that help people with their bad memories of the past.

This has a lot of similarities to the 4chan post from two weeks ago: a doctor who lost his wife wants Wanda's powers to bring them back (although there's no Hydra in that post), and Darcy loses her husband to cancer (but she isn't suffering from 'hauntings'). I suspect this was cribbed from the previous post--there's not enough substantive differences to make it clear that it's not.

A giant Sutton scoop (part one, two, three, four, five, and six; I've also included comments by Sutton from live chats); this was not well organized, in the sense that it required a lot of searching to locate all the videos:

• Early title for Nova is Nova: The Human Rocket; Richard Ryder is not an origin story and will be training with SWORD and Nick Fury (cf); Long-term spec list: Condor, The Phalanx, Darkhawk, Annihilus, Anath-na Mut (The Sphinx), Blastaar, Diamondhead, and Factor-X (this list rang a bell, but I cannot find it so it seems to be new)
• Early title is The Uncanny X-Men; X-Men will be introduced slowly before having their own film; the team will be Cyclops, Jean Grey, Thunderbird, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Havok, Wolverine (in his early Jim Lee costume), and Storm, with the initial story being Thunderbird's death ala X-Men 96* (the composition and initial story is new, although this idea is one I've had, cf and cf); [the team deals with Krakoa--I've added this almost a month later, as I mistakenly forgot to include it]; I think this composition, barring gender swaps, is impossible (six men and just two women?)
• A Defenders team with Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, Silver Surfer, and Luke Cage (so mostly the 70s iteration; he's uncertain if it's Mike Colter or not), although the actual name of the group isn't definitive (this is new) [Correction: Cage is for the New Avengers--I missed hearing the transition from one team to another]
• A very strange scoop (the audio cut out during most of it) where Miles Morales will help send off Toby McGuire/Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man--echoing, in some way this prior scoop; elsewhere it was clarified that it would be an MCU Into the Spider-verse film featuring all the various Spider-Men who face the Sinister Six (the idea of all the former Spidey's together has been in the rumour mill for a long time)--not only are there rights issues making this problematic, but what's the point of introducing a teenage Morales when Parker is still a teenager? It does, incidentally, sound like something Sony would want
• A non-Ned Leeds' Hobgoblin as a villain for Spider-Man 4
• Joss Whedon is being considered as a showrunner for Excalibur (which in November was going to be a trilogy for Sutton) or some other alternative that was supposed to be on Matt Jarbo's channel, but hasn't appeared and doesn't seem like its coming any time soon (the idea of Whedon running a Disney+ show is not new, as myself and others have speculated about it previously)
• The Tomb of Dracula on Hulu spinning off from Blade (an association between the two characters has been implied since Loeb's initial plans for Hulu, but this specific claim is a first)
• Agents of SWORD spec list: Quake (Chloe Bennet; cf, her denials are said to be due to an NDA), Shi'ar Empire, Armor, Death's Head, Abigail Brand, Henry Gyrich, The Brood, and K'eel R'kt (this is a new spec list)
• A slow burn for Magneto who will eventually lead the fight against Doctor Doom in Secret Wars; this is to be followed by X-Men vs Avengers (a few months ago Sutton had Magneto on the backburner, which isn't a direct contradiction to this)
• Robert Downey Jr will return in Secret Wars as an alternate-reality Tony Stark; he will be part of The Illuminati from that universe; he's understandably less interested in being an AI voice for Ironheart (both of these elements are popular speculation; cf the Kinda Culty video linked below)
• Alpha Flight is coming (this tickles my memory, but I can't find it elsewhere); I'd love for this to be true, but I remain dubious (at least as their own IP)--incidentally, this is likely the only IP where Murphy and I share the same level of enthusiasm
• Wolverine in Secret Wars (it's not clear to me what significance is intended since he's said to be part of the X-Men above)
• Black Cat and Silver Sable to Disney+ (this echoes the Price-Bythewood story from a few weeks ago, which has all sorts of issues)

*This is very similar to Claremont's original team, missing only Colossus and Banshee (with Havok added)

I've mentioned many times previously the problem of characters from Marvel Entertainment coming into the MCU: everyone talks about the mechanics of how (which isn't a hard problem to solve), but no one ever addresses why in terms of Feige himself (instead they talk about what they would do--what would, abstractly, 'make sense' or be 'smart'). Feige has spent years purposefully ignoring it all--why would he canonize it now? One of the other problems with using Chloe specifically is: Agents of SHIELD is an obscure show--very few people watch it (the Netflix shows are much more familiar to casual fans). That means the explanation required for her in continuity becomes a nightmare (particularly given all the issues it creates with Coulson--the Multiverse is the get-out-of-jail-free card, but, again, why would Feige validate Loeb's work?).

There's also an assumption included in Sutton's various Sony-related items, which is that there are hidden elements in the Disney-Sony deal that permits Sony IP to be used by Marvel in a joint arrangement outside of what's publicly known. I won't deny that this is a possibility, but if so it's extremely difficult to understand the logic of it on both sides--Feige would only accept this if given creative control, and if he has creative control, what are Palak Patel, Avid Arad, and Amy Pascal doing constantly announcing unrelated projects? Barring more information emerging, I don't buy it.

As for the entirety of the scoops themselves, they are a mix of things we've heard before and those that are entirely new. The significant new claims for me are the X-Men story/team, a version of the Defenders, and Alpha Flight. The idea for the former largely fits my speculation, with roster tweaks designed to keep a character in the Deadpool IP (Colossus) and cutting another of little note (Banshee). This also means it's easy speculation to make and as I said above, the gender split is way off for what the MCU is doing these days (particularly given how many iconic female characters come from that IP).

Afterwards Sutton added that Moon Knight will become an Avenger, which was further explained that he was originally going to be part of Midnight Sons (cf), but that Feige prefers him on this roster. He's recruited because of his knowledge of Rama Tut (aka Kang). He'll be portrayed as an anti-hero and won't get along with everyone (echoing what he said in September). Sutton mentions Luke Cage in a way to suggest that he's an Avenger as well (cf)--how this jives with Cage being part of the Defenders (above), I have no idea. Sutton also referenced his multiple personalities as being part of his characterization, which is a change from what he said in September. He did not reiterate that Pedro Pascal was up for the role which, beyond seeming impossible for various reasons, is also seemingly debunked by his busy schedule (this isn't the only odd choice presented for the role, as GWW floated Keanu Reeves recently--sure, let's cast a 56-year old actor to inject fresh blood into the MCU...).

Finally from Sutton (part one and part two, with comments by Sutton in the live chat included), which largely repeats things he's said before:

• Sony Pictures will be sold within the next two years, but the Spidey-IP returns to Marvel even if the company is sold to one of its competitors (Apple, Netflix, and CBS [the latter is in serious financial trouble, so seems an unlikely bidder]); he believes Disney will acquire all of Sony Pictures to provide more content for their streaming service--this echoes what Sutton said in November and January
• Silk will have a show on Disney+ (this has been 'in the works' at Sony since 2018, via Amy Pascal, with no one ever attached)--while I think Sony might take a chance on an IP this obscure, I don't think the MCU would (not with her own show, at least--she's not even a D-list character)
• Repeated that Jon Bernthal will remain the Punisher (cf); this is one of the stranger bits of speculation that persists as Bernthal has no room in his schedule to return any time soon
• He's gradually giving up on his idea of Dwayne Johnson being in the MCU (cf)
• Hercules in Thor 4 (this is an old LotLB idea from July--Sutton may have repeated it, but if so, I don't know when or where)
• Repeated that Man-Thing is coming (cf)

The only thing new from Sutton is Silk getting a show on Disney+. My feeling is Sutton is largely making educated guesses on all fronts (that's how his scoops feel--someone familiar with the business making guesses about where things are headed--I could be wrong and, if I am, I'll make that clear--he did have sources at Sony in the past). Sony Pictures isn't worth as much to other bidders without Spider-Man, which also reduces the price Disney would have to pay for it (since they get that IP for free if its sold elsewhere). The most profitable part of Sony Pictures is Spider-Man, so they are the most logical point of sale and (perhaps) why the deal they struck with Disney was so short (although that could also be a time-buying gesture by Sony to try and get a better sale price). The various live-chat assertions (Bernthal etc) are things others have said over time as well--none came first from Sutton so have to be attributed to other scoopers (right or wrong).

One other issue with a Silk project: Marvel can't work on it until a sale has finalized (Sony can, of course), so in terms of pure mechanics they can't even discuss this idea barring some secret element of their deal this fall that we're unaware of (see above).

A related aside: it's interesting to note that Jarbo is not yet 'out' of the Sutton-LotLB community, even though he hasn't been part of the Sutton scoop jams in months. There's no reason for Sutton or Tim to be aware of Jarbo's colourful Internet history, but for their sake I hope whatever conflicts he gets into doesn't effect them (he's fighting with Daniel now--it's surreal reading DMs from Daniel asking about LotLB when he was actively associating with them at the time). Whatever happens, I enjoy Tim and his buddies and wouldn't want their content impacted by someone else's drama.

4chan on the Agents of SWORD IP (my comments in red to make them more visible):

The S.W.O.R.D. Disney+ project is called Marvel’s Secret Warriors and the first season consists of six episodes. [This is a really strange idea to me as the title reflects an entirely different IP from Marvel; recently GWW floated the rumour that a show or film was being developed for Secret Warriors]
Marvel has an eye on a 2022 release date for Secret Warriors.
Originally planned to be an eight episodes Disney+ show called S.W.O.R.D. but unlike its predecessor, Marvel’s Secret Warriors will be focused on superpower individuals and not the background agents.
The reason the episodes came down to six instead of the original eight that I had reported earlier is due to each episode script been increased to a hundred and twenty pages.
Victor Kohl is one of the victims of the Terran [Terrigen] Mists released on the surface of the Earth by the Kree during the five-year time gap.
Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel will appear in the first episode.
The story of Supergiant and Thane was changed from the comics in this version both are progenitor twin children of Thanos. Thane and Supergiant now lead Thanos' empire with an iron fist. [It's pretty strange to introduce brand new, previously unseen children of Thanos after Infinity War/Endgame]
After learning of their father's death they go to earth to seek revenge. Meeting S.W.O.R.D. and the Secret Warriors along with Captain Marvel they are forced to withdraw their invasion and come up with a plan in the first episode written by Jon Favreau.
Victor Kohl won't turn out to be a villain like in the Marvel Rising animated TV series [2019]. But there are hints through season one that would lead the character down a similar route that a Star Wars fan-favorite character went through.
The Marcus' story-line from Deadly Class [2019] would be the closest representation to Victor Kohl's life in the MCU before he is recruited by Fury for the Secret Warriors created as a response to the Avengers team. Secret Warriors are the "Secret Avengers" working under S.W.O.R.D.
Talos suffers a great loss at the hands of the Kree Empire and becomes an experimented super Skrull by the end of the season. His story sets up his role for Captain Marvel 2.
Maria Hill dies during the final episode along with Thane in an explosion that will destroy parts of the SWORD base and the Skrulls will suffer the most losses from those actions.
Thane will have a better role than Supergiant during the series. Supergiant will be set as the villain of the second season.
Victor Kohl will have a small cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ring movie.

There was a 4chan post in November that included Kohl, Supergiant, and Thane in the show, but did not delve into the storyline. I don't believe the above at all--introducing unknown children of Thanos makes no sense, since they would have been included in his attack forces (Supergiant would also come across as extremely redundant). It's also baffling to use the 'Secret Warriors' name when it's a distinct brand from SWORD. This is, I think, just fan speculation.

In the comments of one of the Sutton videos someone named Joshua Munn (who I've never heard of) spammed a bunch of scoops. Researching him I found a soundly debunked theory on Captain Marvel, but theories aren't scoops. About himself he says, "I've been dropping and debunking scoops for a year now I'm REALLY on the inside. A lot of these scoops here [presumably he means Sutton's] are my ideas wink wink" and "I started got a job at Disney Marvel Studios [about a year ago and] a lot these leaks are ideas I've actually pitched." I think this is preposterous, but thought I'd go over them anyway (to keep my comments visually separated I've coloured them in red):

• The sinking of Atlantis will be shown in an animated flashback in The Eternals; Sprite wiped the memories of the Eternals, so they are living normal lives; Kro is the villain; Druig is he and Thena's son; film will explain mutants and the supernatural; Arishem will appear in flashbacks [The idea of an Atlantis flashback goes back to Conrad in March, who derived it from an actor's comment on Twitter in January, but the animated idea is unique; the story beats are from a 4chan post in December; Arishem was scooped by Funko Pops; the explanation/history stuff is common speculation]
• Kelly Hu in the mix to play Psylocke and cameo in Shang-Chi [I've seen this speculation before, but not from credible people, eg; Hu was a popular choice to play the role in X-Men: Apocalypse]
• Post-credit scene in Doctor Strange 2 will set-up Blade; Doctor Strange will have a small role in Blade; early outline for the film includes Elsa Bloodstone, Pete Wisdom, Hannibal King, Frank Drake, and Rachel Van Helsing; film will be about a group formed by MI-6 to hunt monsters after the destruction of the London Sanctum; main villain is Lilith, who posses Christine Palmer; Court of Lilan to feature; Thandie Newton in negotiations for Clea (Marvel met with Emily Blunt, but she passed) [DS2 setting up Blade I haven't heard before, although it makes sense; the specific for Elsa is new, but her being in the MCU comes from Reddit in February and GWW in May; Wisdom was on a reserve list first for Excalibur (November) then Shang-Chi (January) from Sutton; the rest have not come up before; the MI-6 connection is new, but would tie-in with Shang-Chi; Lilith has only come up once from Discussing Film in January as speculation from a DS2 casting call; the plot specifics are new and I haven't heard of the Court before either; the idea of Blunt passing on Clea comes from Murphy in January; Newton is far too old for the role (turning 48)]
• Early drafts of Black Panther 2 include Storm as a princess on the Serengeti who is enlisted to help deal with Atlantis; Ryan Coogler wanted Kraven, but he's appearing in Spider-Man 3; Rodrigo Santoro signed as Namor in early May; Ana de Armas courted for Marrina Smallwood; Alice Barga and Alexis Bledel in the mix for supporting roles (all to appear in Black Panther 2) [The Storm idea is akin to common speculation, as is the Kraven story; the idea of Namor in the film goes back to Reddit in June, which was repeated by Daniel as a rumour in July, 4chan in September and November, and LotLB in December; Santoro seems too old for the role (turning 45)]
• Thor 4 will have Christian Bale as Gorr; Angela will have a romance with Valkyrie [This is common speculation]
• Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will have Kitty Pryde as a SWORD agent; Thor and Angela will have small supporting roles; Gunn wants Winona Ryder to voice Lylla [I've never heard the Kitty idea before and if James Gunn isn't lying that his script hasn't changed since before he was fired, it's impossible due to the rights situation; Thor is already confirmed to appear, but Angela appearing here is new]
• Captain Marvel 2 will set-up Abigail Brand as the new Nick Fury (Marvel wanted Jodie Comer but she was cast as Angela); Abigail will be teased in WandaVision with a potential cameo in Thor 4; film will set-up Secret Wars with Veranke and Spectrum and a possible Nova/Agents of SWORD series; the film is meant to be a huge creative overall ala Ragnarok; main villains are the Brood who have been sent by the Shi'ar Empire; no Jude Law/Kree; Nick Fury, Ben Mendelssohn, and Monica Rambeau return [Comer is popular in fan casting; Abigail popped up on 4chan in March, and while one could assume this transition it's not stated there; her appearing in T4 is from a different 4chan post via the same link, but I haven't heard her rumoured on Disney+ before (although that could be assumed given SWORD); Veranke is from Sutton in September, but Spectrum is new, as are the absences]
• Marvel courting Olivia Wilde for Young Avengers [At 36 I'm not sure what role Wilde could play in the IP]
• Fantastic Four in early development with David Callaham writing a script based on a Jac Schaeffer story; Joss Whedon, Paul Feig, Phil Lord/Chris Miller being considered to direct; John Krasinski met for Reed Richards and will likely sign [There are inferences and rumours that make me wonder how much faith Marvel has in either writer (eg and eg), but that aside, I haven't heard this before; I don't believe the Feig idea at all--Marvel avoids controversy as much as possible--while Whedon is a fairly popular choice for this]

The basic question for all this is: how would he know this information? His own explanation is ridiculous--if he made successful pitches to Marvel he'd be under an NDA. These are, in my opinion, simply his own theories based off things floating in the rumour mill. Quite a few of the casting suggestions seem far too old (a trend I've noticed in the scoop community, such as 60+ actors being proposed for various plum roles).

If the rumours that Henry Cavill is returning to the DCEU as Superman are true (Daniel claims talks are ongoing), that would debunk the various MCU rumours have been floating around for awhile (it wouldn't mean there weren't talks, but does mean any claims that he'll appear in such-&-such film are false). Grains of salt required overall, as these are rumours versus rumours, but he certainly wouldn't be negotiating with DC if he'd signed with Marvel.

Good clickbait never dies and Bounding into Comics' Phillip Pratt leapt at the chance to repeat some from almost a year ago (borrowing the idea from a site I've never heard of: Fortress of Solitude (via Sergio Pereira)). Our old friend Giancarlo Esposito is back in the rumour mill, the 62-year old actor arriving this way:

• Last January - 4chan said Dark Avengers plans including Norman Osborn are being discussed (something only possible with Sony's cooperation, which we now know is impossible as the two sides weren't talking at this point, amidst an impasse in renewing their deal)
• June - GWW talks about a “mysterious and nefarious benefactor,” with the studio searching for a male actor, preferably Caucasian, in their 40s to 60s. The actor will shoot their scene sometime this year in Atlanta; they speculate this is for Norman Osborn (see the issues with Sony above)
• August - Conrad says Esposito is up for a major Marvel role and connects it to the GWW listing above
• August (same link) - Zack Stentz (who has become an MCU-troll of sorts--perhaps bitter that Feige isn't calling) speculates Esposito will play Magneto (a preposterous idea)
• August - LotLB say Esposito will play Dracula (which doesn't make much sense, as the Hispanic population of 14th century Romania was zero)
• September - content-stealing Full Circle Cinema says Marvel is considering POC's for Charles Xavier and Magneto; FCC has never had an MCU scoop and we (now) know Marvel hadn't even started X-Men discussions when this story came out; the only interesting result from this was Charles Murphy saying the Holocaust is just another tragedy and easily replaced (yikes)

This is a great example of how rumours filter through the fandom. Could the MCU want to use Esposito? Absolutely. Could they be looking to cast a POC for Charles Xavier? Maybe (there's no serious impediment to it outside, perhaps, merchandising/synergy with the comics). Are they currently casting X-characters for the MCU? Not from any evidence we have on-hand. We've seen casting grids for every production through Thor 4 and there isn't a prominent X-character in any of them. There could be cameos, certainly, but Esposito is an older actor and while Xavier is older, you want the actor to be around long term for the MCU, not just for a couple of Phases (I'd picture an actor in their 40s--no older than 50). It has the same problems as Viggo Mortensen playing Doctor Doom--why hire an actor that age for a key role going forward?

Kinda Culty's latest video is up and I wanted to address a few points:

• I agree with his general sentiment that Avengers films will be reserved for major events, although his comment that they won't come as often I'm less sure of (I still think it will be every three years or so); I do like his idea of the Thunderbolts vs the Avengers--it would be an interesting way to tie some very diverse characters together
• I disagree that Young Avengers will be a film franchise and I've already expressed my doubts about there being more than one Eternals film, cf; I think films will be reserved for big IP--X-Men, Fantastic Four, etc--although if anything hits it big on Disney+ it could make the leap. There's just not enough space in the film release schedule for Marvel to play around with C-grade IP now that the Fox properties are back (so post-Phase Four)
• His idea about World Breaker Hulk seems impossible for Bruce Banner (regressing him to what he was before seems pointless), nor could you likely call it that because of the right's situation with Universal; maybe you could adapt it for the Amadeus Cho iteration or Hulkling, but I'm not convinced there's an appetite to return to the rampaging Hulk we've seen many times before

I thought it would be worthwhile to go over my excitement levels for upcoming MCU IP and how they've changed (if they have) over time. So, in chronological order:

• Black Widow - I don't like prequels because they lack dramatic tension, but since it was announced my indifference has slowly shifted into mild interest (the marketing has been mediocre and the story, in terms of what we know and has been rumoured, is also only mildly engaging--outside of David Harbour it's still barely a blip on my radar)
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier - I liked this idea from the start and everything we've heard has amplified that
• WandaVision - I had no interest in this when first announced, but as time has gone on that's flipped and I now think it's both engaging and has a lot of potential
• The Eternals - I was indifferent when I first heard about it and nothing has changed that; it's a weird IP with an uninteresting cast--what could save it for me is the storyline
• Shang-Chi - I was disinterested when it was announced and I still am (the idea of a martial arts film in the era of massive MMA popularity seems out of touch to me); other than picking Simu Liu nothing about it (yet) has engaged my interest, but there's room for that to change
• Loki - I was excited when I first heard about it and that's been tempered a bit--nothing we've heard has struck me as bad, but the known casting is a shrug of the shoulders, so more information is needed
• Ms. Marvel - TBD--like most people I've never interacted with the IP and the danger of the story being too young adult for my tastes is strong
• Doctor Strange 2 - I love the character and concept, but we know virtually nothing else so I remain excited based purely on potential
• Hawkeye - I have no feelings on Kate Bishop at all (I've never read anything involving her) and we have no other real information, so I remain ambivalent (Hawkeye has always been an afterthought in the MCU)
• Spider-Man 3 - I'm one of the few people who is ambivalent not just about Spider-Man himself, but any of the actors who have portrayed him; Tom Holland's version is fine, but it's a bit too warm and fuzzy for my tastes (Michael Keaton added a lot of verve to the first film, but Jake Gyllenhaal wasn't given strong material to work with)--ultimately these films have been fun but forgettable, so that's my expectation here
• She-Hulk - Depending on the casting there's a lot of potential--there aren't many other characters with the unique quirks of She-Hulk--so I'm cautiously excited for it
• Moon Knight - I'm excited about the possibilities, but we have no idea what slant they'll take on the character or have any idea what the storyline is about, so that interest is all based on potential
• Thor 4 - When it was announced I was not interested--I don't like Natalie Portman at all, which completely detracts from a Jane Foster storyline; I'm also indifferent to Valkyrie and the current state of Asgard, so it's a wait-&-see for me (I liked Ragnarok, but it doesn't guarantee something as good as the follow-up)

Keep in mind this is just my anticipation levels--I keep an open mind and the finished product is the only thing that really matters.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

I've said for a very long time that nothing from Marvel Entertainment, nothing that Jeph Loeb had his hand in, would ever cross over to the MCU. This has been evident for years, but that hasn't stopped endless speculation. Lately it's been popular to have Quake join the MCU (Reddit in January, 4chan in March, and GWW and Conrad in May; LotLB had something similar in August, but it's less clear if that was for Loeb or the MCU). Chloe Bennett finally put a stop to the madness by squashing the idea (just as Charlie Cox did a few weeks ago for Daredevil). I understand these are popular actors, but whether you like the decision or not, Feige is never going to canonize Loeb's IP (excluding, as always, Agent Carter, because he was involved with that).

Discussing Film echoes the recent Erin Kellyman story, saying according to their research she has "what seems to be a substantial role" (without specifying what it is). I'm not sure how DF quantifies 'substantial'--does she have a supporting role in every episode? Is she featured heavily in a couple of episodes? I have no idea. We can't even speculate since DF has no idea what her role is. Food for thought, but as it stands we're stuck with the guess that she's one of the Grapplers (although, given the Wakanda connection, she could be attached to them; she could even be a love interest for Falcon--Leila Taylor, perhaps).

Murphy has done more combing through Instagram and has another theory: he proposes that actress Fala Chen is in Shang-Chi and he thinks she'll have the role of Leiko Wu. This is two separate pieces of speculation and while Murphy is right sometimes, as he admits himself, his speculation has also fallen flat in the past--let's explore.

Let's first note that no one that I can find has speculated that Chen is in the film previously, but she's an easy fit (she's a Chinese actress and Feige has said the show is 98% Asian). As for the role, according to the casting sheets Leiko is supposed to be Shang-Chi's ex and Clive Reston's girlfriend. Chen is 38 and Simu Liu is 31--a seven year gap isn't the end of the world (Gemma Chan, Sersi, is four years older than Kit Harrington, Black Knight), but it's not the only possible role for her. Looking at the cast list, she could be playing Yaeko (whose age range is the same as Leiko and is Shang-Chi's partner) or Ming (about whom we know nothing--the role kept under wraps). I think Murphy's sleuthing is probably correct, but I think the role is up in the air.

4chan claims this is the film's story:

As most of the leaks have already detailed, it's a spy movie/tournament arc. Set during the snap.
Shang-Chi grew up working for the Mandarin after having been essentially adopted by him. Fah Lo Suee, Awkwafina, is basically his sister. The three of them actually have a genuinely loving and fun family dynamic. Shang-Chi thinks they are the good guys. Keeping the world in order while Mandarin seeks the Ten Rings. He's been helping Mandarin behind the scenes of the MCU since he was a kid. Mickey Rourke [Whiplash] and Ben Kingsley have cameos related to these flashbacks.
Shang-Chi was tasked with killing Trevor Slattery but couldn't do it and let him go. Trevor ended up picked up by authorities in London, which clued in M-I6 and Clive Reston.
Shang-Chi is fighting in the tournament at the behest of Mandarin to win the 10 Rings. The tournament is being held by a mysterious shadow figure.
The governments/organizations of the world are desperate to get their hands on this alien tech because the Snap was so devastating they need to be prepared.
Lots of cameos in the tournament, paying off other shows/movies and setting new stuff up. Baron Mordo, Batroc the Leaper, a Black Widow, Whiz Kid, White Claw, Omega Red, Spiral, and T-Ray all appear. Along with an Asgardian named Dane, and a vampire named Avok. Seems like mutants are already in existence by this film. Possibly introduced in something earlier. T-Ray gets a big showcase so he may be a major future threat in something (Deadpool 3?)
There's a really funny reoccurring bit about Clive Reston discovering more and more new kinds of powered people like Spiral and Avok.
Baron Mordo seems to be written out of Doctor Strange 2 in this movie.
Mandarin gets the 10 Rings after Shang-Chi wins the tournament. He inadvertently summons Fing Fang Foom. Shang-Chi, Fah Lo Suee, Mandarin and Clive Reston defeat FFF together. Then Fah Lo Suee and Shang-Chi defeat Mandarin.
Film ends with an epilogue of Shang-Chi in present day.

This fits the basic idea of all the Shang-Chi rumours, but (like each of them) varies when it comes to details (it's most similar to the Reddit theory from October). In order, these are the basics of the theories and I'll note how they differ:

• 4chan (October): MI-6 recruits Shang-Chi to stop the Mandarin from retrieving the Ten Rings [Here Shang-Chi is in opposition to the Mandarin rather than having him initially being a fatherly figure]
• Reddit (October): Shang-Chi is dating the Mandarin's daughter and the latter uses him to win the Ten Rings because he won't risk her [So we have Fah Lo Suee as a love interest rather than a sister]
• 4chan (January): Doesn't include a plot so much as reiterates that it's a tournament to win the Ten Rings

More broadly, it's an odd idea that governments were desperate to get their hands on something and don't call upon Iron Man or any of the other Avengers to retrieve it. I'm also befuddled at how Baron Mordo's appearance would write him out of Doctor Strange 2 (unless he dies or something else that's similarly dramatic). Back in February Daniel had Mordo on the revised cast list for Doctor Strange 2, so it's hard to accept this idea (whatever it is). With that said, it's a plausible plot (with Reston in the Everett Ross-role from Black Panther)--nothing sticks out as ridiculous and it doesn't feature silly fan-casting or unrealistic cameos. If it's accurate I think the MCU is going to have to start backing off of the 'this character/group was there the whole time!' train during the first three Phases or it's going to become ridiculous (it's already a key element in The Eternals and was used in Captain Marvel).

Another two-part scoop from Sutton (part one and part two): the Savage Land will appear in the second X-Men film (Tim says this echoes what Sutton said back in November, but I couldn't find that reference in LotLB's video at the time--Sutton did post it on his Facebook group, however). LotLB put out a spec list in September, but it's not clear if that's from Sutton or their original source. The basic idea of the Savage Land appearing goes back to LotLB's original source in May. The antagonists will be Sauron (no relation to the Tolkien character) and Mister Sinister (the idea being the latter transforming the former who was a friend of Charles Xavier); Ka-Zar and Shanna are expected to appear, as is Devil Dinosaur (who will be controlled by Sauron). If the latter sounds familiar it's because a Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series is coming to Disney+ (to debut in 2020, barring something having changed).

Putting aside the validity of the leak (as this is for a second X-Men film, it's a long way away), I would love to see the Savage Land and its associated characters, I just don't know how much interest Feige has in it (LotLB often repeats that Feige loves it, but he says that about a lot of IP and that hasn't always equated to immediate action--he said that about Iron Fist, for instance, before letting him wander off into the obscurity of the Loeb-verse).

Sutton: Sony is talking about a nod to the older Spider-Man films and specifically bringing back Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson as a send-off/hand-off to Tom Holland's iteration (a rumour with a long set of antecedents). Sony can do whatever it wants, but as it's hard to imagine this has an MCU context (we know how much Feige hates incorporating other people's IP into his own). It's also worth mentioning Dunst's dismissive comments about other Spider-Man IP (would she be interested in returning?).

Speaking of Sony, Variety says S. J. Clarkson has been signed to direct a female-centric film, noting the film has no writer (ie, no script) and no actors have been signed. Variety thinks (understandably) that this is the Madame Web project, which was announced in September (and had writers Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, attached at the time--presumably they are no longer attached). Others have speculated it's for Spider-Woman, but as I've noted for years, the only Sony projects that ever make it to screen are those from Palak Patel and Madame Web is his (Spider-Woman is Amy Pascal). That doesn't mean this is guaranteed to hit screens (at all or soon), but that it's much more likely than anything else we hear from Sony. Clarkson's last project was the Game of Thrones spin-off that HBO passed on (a very expensive decision); she directed episodes from the first season of Jessica Jones as well as The Defenders. Subsequently, Deadline claimed it was confirmed (via Variety) that the project is, indeed, Madame Web. If Deadline is correct it means the Robert Orci project (also from Patal) is not Madame Web (perhaps it's Spider-Man 2099, who knows?).

Speaking of Deadline, their article (link above) says Marc Guggenheim has been hired to write a Jackpot script. Sony announced the film back in 2018 (an Avi Arad project), at which time it was said they were seeking a writer. I don't believe it took two years to land Guggenheim and I'm also deeply suspicious that an Arad-backed project will make it to screen (for the aforementioned reasons). There's been no sign of Richard Wenk's Kraven the Hunter (2018, Arad), Cheo Hodari Coker's Nightwatch (2018, Arad), or Gina Prince-Bythewood's Silver & Black (2017, Pascal)--the point being, having someone attached does not equal producing a film.

The Synder Cut of Justice League is coming...sort of. I'm not going to go over the complete history of this drama--others have done so (eg)--I just want say a few things about it as HBO Max prepares to release it next year:

• 1) Don't expect the film to be much better than Joss Whedon's mess; not only is it from the mind of the director who made Batman v Superman (the dark and dreary tone with an overstuffed plot), but it's not even Snyder's original vision--before he was fired, he was already compromising for both WB and his new bosses (the since-fired Peter Berg and Geoff Johns)--his two-part Justice League arc shrunk to a single movie with directives to give it a lighter tone
• 2) This is a publicity stunt; WB did not want to release the cut, but due to the struggles of the DCEU since Snyder was fired (Birds of Prey and Shazam failed, Aquaman and Joker succeeded), and the absence of new content on HBO Max, it became necessary
• 3) We aren't getting the work print Snyder has talked about for years, because HBO Max wants something more substantial than that, so instead it's going to be based off the assembly cut of the film
• 4) There's no return to the Snyder-verse version of the DCEU--even if this film is hailed as a masterpiece after the fact, the actors have moved on, execs have changed, the tone has changed--it's simply going to complete a Snyder trilogy for DC

I actually want to see the cut of this film (unlike BvS), since Justice League was such a bizarre, incoherent mess. DC fans are going to say it's better than the theatrical cut no matter what and its hard to imagine that it could be worse. The move is a good one for Snyder, but ultimately won't impact the future of the DCEU going forward.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

Daniel says a Nova project has gone into active production. Following his prior history of posts, it was in early development last February and then active development in October--whether the prior claim of activity is false or this is a new level (seven months later) I have no idea. TI's Richard Nebens chimed in and said it was unclear if it was TV show or film (anecdotally he would have access to the same info as Daniel). Nebens says there's no time table attached to this--speculating it's for phase five, with only Feige himself listed as involved. Sutton has echoed this idea (see below) and Murphy wrote a three-part speculative article about what he thinks the character's arc will be. Cumulatively, all the scoopers believe it's coming, but there's no consensus about when, where, or how (in that sense, the only truly 'new' element is the 'active development' part, but we've been told that before). Nova is coming, but none of this carries that any further.

Rob Liefeld has, for whatever reason, been talking about how the MCU has no plans for Deadpool 3. Given that Liefeld isn't part of the MCU's process I have no idea why anyone takes this seriously, but in the midst of various articles THS said a production grid for Deadpool 3 exists (they theorize Liefeld is bitter because he's not on it, which is possible). What's interesting about the THS claim is no one else is talking about the grid (something other scooperes have access too)--why they're hanging onto it, I have no idea--THS hasn't published it either.

Murphy published a bunch of set photos showing off Madripoor in the show and points out some ties to Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors (2009-11) and how that connects to Nick Fury. There's also a connection to Mark Gruenwald's Captain America run that seems more like an easter egg.

In another post, Murphy offered more evidence for a Wakanda connection in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He believes at least Ayo (of the Dora Milaje) will appear, but as I said last time, thus far the evidence doesn't push beyond a cameo/single episode appearance, in which case their involvement would be ephemeral. There are good reasons for Wakandans to appear (for Zemo particularly), but as yet they don't seem to be a major part of the plot.

Murphy's friend Lizzie Hill suggests actress Erin Kellyman is playing one of the Grapplers (given her red hair she would fit members Cowgirl (Deb Lowry) or Gladiatrix (Robin Braxton), although it's unclear how much the MCU cares about matching those aesthetics--I'd wager for D-grade villains, they don't at all). It's extremely unlikely the villains will have resonance beyond the show (barring fans falling in love with them), so for the moment this is simply interesting trivia.

We have 4chan weighing in on WandaVision (this is long; I've fixed some of his errors and added the identification of Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness as, while the poster doesn't make that connection, it's clear that's who she is):

The main story line is a Doctor [Smith] who got snapped in Infinity War trying to enter a multi-verse reality to be with his dead wife and daughter. Basically, the same thing as Devs [the Hulu mini-series]. First scene is Hulk and Pym giving a talking at a university. Niel [Neil] Degrasse Tyson cameo. They’re talking about the plot of Endgame and time travel opening up multiverses. They take questions and someone asks what’s to stop them from doing it again and Pym says he destroyed his old particles and formula and Hulk destroyed the machines and blueprints so nobody could recreate what they did. The scene focuses on the main “antagonist” of the show (Dr. Smith) and he walks out after the explain they destroyed everything.
Wanda is in France living off the grid. She has a different hair style, glasses, and wears ugly clothes to try to blend in. She works at a farm taking phone call orders in another language. She lives in a loft in a suburban place and one night she’s drinking and its implied she hasn’t used her powers since Endgame. She uses her powers to create an image of Vision next to her and he says some lines from Civil War and Infinity War like “I only feel you” and its supposed to be her memory of him. But then he says “find me” and Wanda freaks out and ends the image. She goes to bed crying.
SWORD is looking for Wanda and are tracking her. They pick up on her signal when she used her powers in her house and go to her location.
So the next morning SWORD (the black girl from Captain Marvel grown up [Monica Rambeau]) shows up at Wanda’s place and want to meet with her. She has been avoiding them for months but agrees to go with them. She makes a go-bag of cash and clothes and stuff and hides it under her bed. She goes to a café with them and they explain they need to reassemble the most powerful Avengers for the next Thanos-level threat. Wanda plays along but tells them she’s not ready. They tell her to think about it but they need her to come the US with them soon. She agrees and goes home. While she was out, the Doctor [Smith] from the first scene had snuck into her apartment and stolen her cash. He was following SWORD without them realizing.
Wanda goes home and takes the go-bag to the train station. She runs onto a train as it’s boarding and hides under the window. When someone comes for her ticket she tries to give him her cash but doesn’t have any. Then the Dr. [Smith] hands the ticket taker cash and says he’s got her ticket. She thanks him and he sits with her. He says he recognizes her but won’t’ say anything as she clearly doesn’t want to be found. They start talking and he tells her he made a facility in the Midwest to support Snap and Blip victims who couldn’t psychologically handle it and he’s in Europe meeting with potential patients at a hospital. It’s an inpatient facility and people live there but its confidential and people can leave when they want. He says he knows she snapped because she was famous and wants to help her heal. So she agrees and gets off the train with him to his private jet.
In the US he takes her to his facility which is almost a quarter mile long and looks like an apartment complex. People have balconies and live normal lives for the most part but live at the facility. He gives her a room and sets her up with a psychiatrist. I forget her name but she’s Asian. Wanda moves in her apartment which is connected to other apartments in kind of a lobby area. She meets some Mexican guy whose kids died in between the snap and blip so when he blipped back, they had been gone for years. There’s a girl’s wife who snapped and blipped but she had already moved on and she killed herself. The widow is Kathryn Hahn [Agatha Harkness] from Parks and Rec. Wanda tells her story without the details because they don’t appear to know who she is. So she gets her first appointment and is reluctant to give details but the Asian doctor tells her everything is confidential and nobody knows she’s there. So they just talk about things that make her happy and Wanda says the last time she was truly happy was she was she was a kid with her brother and they watched American sitcoms. The Doctor [Smith] tells her she can get some old shows on video and give them to Wanda. She gives Wanda Brady Bunch, Roseanne, Boy Meets World, and a few others but I didn’t recognize them. All real shows though. So Wanda goes to her apartment and watches some shows and it flashes back to her and Quicksilver as kids watching the same episode and that’s the end of the first episode.
Second episode starts with Dr. Smith driving his car on the highway. Him and his wife are taking their daughter to her dance studio and he starts to snap. The wife grabs the wheel as he’s disappearing and crashes into an oncoming car. Dr. Smith blips back with a bunch of other people on the side of the highway and everyone is really confused. Normal people start honking at them and everyone gets out of their cars and then the titles play.
Wanda goes to lunch at a restaurant/chow hall in the facility and meets Kat Dennings [Darcy] from Thor. She’s there because she snapped and blipped and her boyfriend [Ian] (the guy from Thor 2 with the camera) got diagnosed with cancer in the five years and when she blipped back he was dying. She tried to find him but he died a week after the Blip and she couldn’t find him until it was too late. So she has bad guilt and PTSD like everyone else in the facility. She knows who Wanda is but tells her she won’t tell anyone.
Jimmy Wu [Woo] from Ant-man is looking at security footage of Dr. Smith at a gas station by his private landing strip in the Midwest. Dr. Smith winks at the camera and shoots it with a paintball gun from his trunk. Jimmy [Woo] goes backwards in the video using the license plate and sees it at the landing strip, and he searches Dr. Smith’s plane’s ID number and calls Interpol.
Wanda goes to her second session and they talk about the shows she watched the other night. The doctor asks if anything had made her feel close to that happiness in her adult life and she says yes but she can’t talk about it. The doctor agrees and says that it’s only been a year since the blip and a lot of people are only starting to talk about their traumas. Wanda leaves and Dr. Smith comes in another door and asks the Asian doctor how Wanda is. The Asian doctor (I’ll just call her Dr. Jones to make it easy idr her name) says Wanda is opening up but it could be days, months nobody knows. Smith tells Jones to try to trigger Wanda in the next session by talking about Vision. Jones agrees.
Wanda meets Kathryn Hahn [Agatha] and Darcy in the restaurant again after her session and they have dinner together. They go back to Wanda’s apartment and watch some Brady Bunch. They talk about their experiences and how they wish there was a way to bring their lovers back. Kathryn Hahn [Agatha] is a plant (we don’t know that yet) and starts to ask Wanda about her boyfriend but Wanda won’t say much. Darcy distracts Kathryn [Agatha] by making lesbian jokes. They all drink and then leave for the night and Wanda goes to bed. Another flashback and Dr. Smith is at his old house right after the blip. People are still freaking out and celebrating and he knocks on the door and it’s another family. They say the got the house from the bank during the bad times because the whole family snapped. Dr. Smith couldn’t find his wife at the highway so he goes to the library and uses their computer to search for her and his daughter and finds out they died in the car accident. He breaks down in the library crying. He goes to the university he used to work at and they all celebrate seeing him and a few other colleagues. They talk about the hospital that is housing people in the Midwest for people with snap related PTSD and that he should transfer there, and he does. Dr. Jones and Wanda have another session and Wanda says she finished all of Brady Bunch and it brought back a lot of memories. Dr. Jones talks about how Wanda is fitting in and Wanda talks about the girls she made friends with. Dr. Jones is happy and tells her to pursue friendships, even if they don’t match up to the Avengers and Vision. Wanda starts to get upset and Dr. Jones consoles her but Wanda storms out and starts packing her bags in her apartment. Kathryn Hahn [Agatha] comes by and Wanda says she knew they just wanted her for her connection to her old life and she’s going to leave. Kathryn Hahn [Agatha] relaxes her and tells her to talk to Smith about it. Wanda eventually calms down and agrees.
Jimmy [Woo] is looking at footage of the plane in France and rewinds it to see Dr. Smith get off the train with Wanda (he doesn’t recognize her) and then puts in the next tape and it’s footage of Dr. Smith getting on the train in Wanda’s old hometown. He see SWORD agents in the background running after the train leaves the station and he says “Huh, I wonder why they’re there.”

A guy on Reddit asked the actor who played Ian if he was in the show, and was told no, thinking that debunked the leak. However, the leak claims Ian is dead, so there's no need for that actor to appear. More broadly, the above isn't implausible, but seems disconnected from other things we've heard. It sounds much more dramatic and slow moving (granting it purports to talk about just the first two episodes). There's also nothing in it to suggest insider knowledge, nor does it feature the overstuffing that typically occurs with fan posts. Ultimately it doesn't land strongly on the believable or debunked scale for me.

At about the same time another Reddit post put up this image claiming it's a leak. What's funny is it's a screenshot of this Reddit post from December which (as I go through via the link) seemed like a mishmash of other rumours.

Something I missed is that Dana Schwartz is no longer involved with She-Hulk. She wasn't fired, but the scripts are finished and given that she's actively looking for work, she's not (currently) at Marvel. Schwartz made some inflammatory comments on social media after her work was completed and, while it won't hurt her career, it could make hiring her again a bit more dicey for Marvel.

GWW's KC Walsh (aka TheComixKid) says Elsa Bloodstone was included in the MCU's supernatural plans that include Blade and Moon Knight. There are two prior rumours possibly related to this: one from Reddit in October that echoes the idea, and one from Daniel (also from October) whose claim is harder to pin down (he said there were plans for her on TV, but not in what context--his only Patreon claim about her is from June, before Jeph Loeb and Marvel Entertainment were extirpated, leaving it unclear whether the plans he's referencing are for the MCU or not).

A two-part Sutton scoop (part one and part two) says (Richard Ryder) Nova is coming (sometime in Phase Five, if I'm interpreting Tim correctly); he winds up with Nick Fury and the Agents of SWORD; his story will lead into Annihilation. He'll eventually have allies in Quasar, Moondragon, and Captain Marvel vs Annihilus, Gallactus, and Terrax. This is in the early stages of development and its not clear how closely it will follow its comicbook inspiration and may not be an Avengers film, but something specific to the cosmic MCU characters. In part two Adam Warlock is also said to be part of the aforementioned team. Sutton's basic ideas about Nova are not new (he first proposed them in September, with the Fury-angle borrowed from LotLB in August, and the SWORD element added in February). What's new in this scoop is the proposed team and the enemies they face (I can't find Sutton predictions about an Annihilation event, so this is likely from Daniel in October).

Food for thought from another LotLB auction: Agents of Atlas was put up for sale (cf). Again, just by one of the group, but if I were a speculator and I was expecting that to hit big, I wouldn't be selling it now when it's barely a rumour (and an IP almost no one has heard of).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)