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)