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)