Marvel News & Notes

4chan weighs in on The Eternals (my comments in red):

I've been dying to share this but I had to wait until my team was off the project. I've never gotten to work on a movie of this level before, but covid must have lead to Marvel outsourcing CG to my country.
I'm a huge fan of the MCU (I know, I know, stupid baby capeshit) but I didn't know anything about Eternals going into this. I read almost everything I could get my hands on in my free time on the project.
I work on particle effects so I only really saw the scenes I was working on over and over.
Kit Harrington is definitely the 90s leather jacket avengers style Black Knight. Looks like Judge Dredd mixed with Mal from Firefly. I worked a lot on his sword. It's a lightsaber essentially, but it visually reads very different than Star Wars. It's hard to describe, but it truly looks like it's made out of light, and not a color beam. It has lots of cast off on contact like Kylo's saber. [This is echoes what was posted on 4chan back in April.]
Sprite has a navi-esque little fairy companion [I think he's referring to The Legend of Zelda character]. It seems to be related to her powers but I didn't get enough context on that to say for sure. [This is the first time someone has said Sprite has a companion]
Phastos has a weapons forge or something where he's making a gun that shoots swords. Why they need guns I have no idea. Scene felt like Iron Man in the cave crafting his suit. [This is a new]
Kingo seems to be immensely powerful. Which makes me wonder how OP Ikaris, Sersi and Ajax must be. He pretty much has Quiksilver and Captain Marvel's powers combined. [The Captain Marvel reference also echoes the aforementioned April post on 4chan] I worked extensively on a super memorable sequence of him saving an entire city from a Deviant attack in ancient Sumeria. Remember the phrase "not the dog!"
The only other scene I briefly worked on is Ikaris flying from space into our atmosphere. [This also echoes the prior post] Basically just Richard Madden very Superman-style coming to the planet.

The poster's premise (working on effects for the project) has become so pervasive that it's hard to credit, especially because this particular post sounds so much like the one from April. Differences from that post are: there's no mention of Ajak's (seeming?) death; it adds a companion for Sprite; and provides a weapon for Phastos (which sounds ridiculous). These elements have very little in common with prior theories. Is it plausible? Nothing is plot or character-related, which makes it difficult to judge--I can't dismiss it out of hand, but grains of salt are advised.

Murphy scoops that Evan Peters (Fox's Quicksilver) will appear in WandaVision (reading between the lines I think this information came via an agent, although one can never rule out the ubiquitous Production Weekly). Murphy doesn't know what his role is, but speculates he might reprise the Quicksilver role given Aaron Taylor-Johnson's denials about his return (something he'd be obliged to say regardless, but worth noting--Johnson did have space in his schedule to shoot scenes for the series after Tenet wrapped filming--his commitments to The King's Man were completed earlier). Murphy's idea reminds me of a theory I've had: could the expansion into the multiverse be intended, in part, as a backdoor to retrospectively include the otherwise redundant Fox IP? To make them relevant and provide an excuse for the in-continuity Deadpool to cross over? While it's not something I'd want, financially it makes sense to add value to what Disney purchased (how many people will want to watch shelved X-films when the MCU has replaced them?). This would also explain why Feige talked with Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart in the fall (cf the rumours of Jackman's return at the time), Stewart definitively turning him down because he felt Logan was the proper send-off (I don't think Picard's poor reception will change that). Going down the rabbit hole, I don't think this means we'll see a flood of former Fox actors reprising their roles, as Feige will want to establish his own iterations, but it's one way to bring Ryan Reynolds' character into the MCU without losing his successful prior films. Conrad doesn't like this idea, saying it would require Marvel to credit and pay people like Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg, but I don't think merely money would hold them back if they really wanted to do it (the better argument against the idea is that Feige doesn't like using other people's IP in the MCU, although at this stage we only know that for certain with Jeph Loeb and Sony's work). I'm not saying this theory is correct, just that it's not yet debunked.

Just as I was finishing editing this Murphy dropped a post focused on the Expanding the Universe featurette, looking at images in the background that I haven't seen covered before. He believes this reflects on the WandaVision story, so let's go over the evidence (my comments in red):

• Vision #7 (2015) - Showing a dinner party including The Whizzer (who appeared in the horrendous second season of Jessica Jones), Bova Ayrshire, Agatha Harkness, Quicksilver, and Wonder Man (cut from Guardians 2); Murphy says there's a dinner party in the first episode, but he's only sure of Agatha appearing [I find this ironic given how long he opposed the idea of Agatha appearing (cf); only a long 4chan post from May has referenced a dinner party, but I suspect his certainty comes from set reports]
• Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 (1985) - A pregnant Wanda dealing with prejudice of her relationship with Vision; Murphy thinks the inclusion is more about Doctor Strange's involvement than anything else [This image/research/event might be the source of old 4chan rumours that referenced prejudice]
• Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 (1985) - The birth of Billy (aka Wiccan); Murphy thinks he's included because Wiccan plays a role in bringing Wanda out of her madness [Echoes 4chan from October]
• House of M (2005) - Again the birth of the twins; Murphy makes note of Xavier off-screen trying to stop her from continuing to alter reality
• House of M #7 (2005) - Dialogue between she and Strange; Murphy thinks it's again emphasizing Strange, but also might hint at the MCU having its reality altered
• House of M #7 (2005) - Wanda's 'No More Mutants' line; no theory is offered, since the line is nonsensical in MCU context (it's simply the most famous utterance of the story) [The only MCU parallel would be 'No More Superpowers,' an idea I'll delve into below]
• Vision #7 (2015) - Vision telling Wanda a joke; Murphy thinks the importance are pages from this issue that are not seen, where the nature of what is or isn't real is discussed by the two
• House of M #1 (2005) - Xavier demanding Wanda revert reality back to normal; Murphy thinks this is about Wanda's pain, which makes sense since we can't have Xavier in the show (I wonder if Strange could have that role, but since Cumberbatch isn't known to appear as a regular on the show, I don't think he can)
• House of M #7 (2005) - One of Wanda's children accidentally erases Hawkeye; Murphy thinks we'll see scenes like this
• Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 (1985) - The birth of Tommy; Murphy thinks that's why its here
• House of M #1 (2005) - Wanda realizing the things she's done (who she's killed), with Xavier realizing he can't control her anymore; Murphy has no speculation here, since there's no obvious Xavier-cognate (Not Strange for the reasons mentioned above--could this be Harkness in a more sympathetic role?)

Where does this take us? It's sad to say, but there's nothing actually new here, just affirmation of what's long been rumoured. No one has taken a serious stab at how Wanda's actions will echo the impact of House of M given that Mutants don't exist yet and most of the established heroes of the MCU are dead, retired, and scattered--there's no 'establishment' to be shaken (outside of reality itself).

Speaking of the show, it will resume filming in July for re-shoots (we know these are re-shoots because the show completed filming before the pandemic). What's not clear is how extensive the re-shoots will be (Falcon and the Winter Soldier required extensive re-shoots because a subplot had to be replaced)--at the moment we have to assume these are simply routine pick-ups.

Murphy is suggesting that because stunt performer Jade Xu worked on Black Widow and seems to be in Shang-Chi, that whatever character she was doubling for will also make that transition. This is an extremely tenuous association, as it's far more likely that Xu is an excellent stunt woman and is being used for that reason alone.

A screenshot from Production List has Hawkeye's film date listed as September 28th--if this sounds familiar, it's because in February Murphy said that was the month the show would start shooting (something echoed by TI). If the post is correct, that means the pandemic has had no impact on its planned start-date.

Former GWWer Vicky Depledge (now at The Cinema Spot, TCS), repeats the rumour that Hercules is coming to the MCU (obliquely referencing Murphy's debunked speculation that he'd appear in The Eternals back in November, 2018; for those with good memories, he guessed that he'd be the gay character in the film, who we now know is Phastos). Depledge repeats the latter part of that old rumour (whose foundation is the Ultimate-version of the character in the comics), but this strikes me as wish-fulfillment, as Marvel has stayed very safe in its diversity (cutting Valkyries' incredibly tame lesbian moment in Ragnarok and making a peripheral character like Phastos the first openly gay character--emblematic of the tokenist approach--the odds strongly favour the 616-Hercules being the MCU iteration). As for the rumour itself, 4chan (last January and March) repeated Murphy's rumour, which Conrad echoed in April. In July LotLB said he would appear in Thor 4, something Sutton repeated in May (which is plausible, albeit given how many characters are already in that film I'm not convinced unless it's a cameo).

I don't think the following is likely, but we'll go through the idea to consider it. I mentioned above that the only real parallel to Wanda's famous No More Mutants line for the MCU would be No More Superpowers. We have no idea if that's something Marvel wants to do, but I thought I'd follow the bunny trail of how that might work if she does. Let's briefly remind ourselves of the current MCU schedule (post-pandemic delays):
2020
Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Fall)
Black Widow (November)
WandaVision (December)
2021
The Eternals (February)
Loki (unknown)
Shang-Chi (May)
Hawkeye (unknown)
Ms. Marvel (unknown)
Spider-Man 3 (November)
She-Hulk (unknown)
Moon Knight (unknown)
2022
Thor 4 (February)
Doctor Strange 2 (March)

I'm not sure exactly where She-Hulk and Moon Knight will drop in relation to Spider-Man 3, but that's less important than them appearing prior to Doctor Strange 2. Let's imagine that Wanda deletes superpowers in her show, how does that impact the MCU prior to Doctor Strange fixing things in his film sixteen months (and 10 releases) later? Or, to put it more directly, how would this work if everyone (or almost everyone) is depowered? This brings up the matter of the timeline: when do the releases take place?

Let's knock out the easy ones first: We know Loki is in another reality and in the past, so isn't impacted by the idea. Loki's powers are also innate--he's an adopted Frost Giant who studied magic, and I think magic is excluded from Wanda's deletion (otherwise Strange has no avenue to help her). Hawkeye isn't concerned with powers, so isn't impacted; Moon Knight's powers are via magic and directly from a deity (so, again, no impact); She-Hulk's blood transfusion from Bruce Banner (if that's kept) makes a lot more sense if Banner can no longer Hulk-out (although the titular character would need to do so at some point in her show). Thor is Asgardian, so again, not impacted (nor are his cast of characters--Korg is made of rocks and you can't really change that).

For the more tricky ones: there are rumours that Shang-Chi takes place in the past, avoiding the issue (and much of his prowess is martial arts, while the Ten Rings are alien technology, meaning it might not even be necessary for it to occur beforehand). The problems potentially arise with The Eternals and Spider-Man 3, although they could easily take place before the WandaVision series (Eternals might also be unaffected if their powers are considered innate). Ms. Marvel gets her powers via the Terrigen Mist, which might not be unaffected. We could also be dealing with shows/films that take place in an altered timelines (such as the one Loki creates), although I suspect Marvel would fear that gets too confusing.

This idea is a stretch. It's a limited set of people who are impacted and could require fancy footwork with the timeline, so it's far more likely that Wanda creates alternate realities that lead to chaos--that's much, much simpler--but I wanted to mentally go down the rabbit hole of this scenario because I haven't seen it proposed elsewhere.

There was a clarification of the Sutton X-Men scoop (or nuance provided): the Xavier-run school for gifted mutants will have a very large roster that will send out different formations to deal with the issues at hand (a bit like the current X-Men under Hickman). The text version of the scoop also makes it clear that in the beginning Wolverine is still known as Weapon X and is in confinement (I'm not clear if he gets out of that in this film or not). I'll repeat my problem with the team composition: I don't believe there will only be two female characters (my guess, with the reasoning via the link, is a team of six that includes four women). As much as I like the idea of echoing the Giant X-Men storyline, I'm hesitant to think Marvel will do the Thunderbird story since his fate is so well-known (I love the character, but would it still have impact?).

Attached to the video above, but unrelated to Sutton, the YTer refers to the fake Roger Wardell Twitter feed believing it's the real deal. The account was debunked a couple of months ago (resulting in that content being kicked from Reddit), but apparently not many are aware of it because I see information from that account referenced frequently. The real account hasn't Tweeted since last June and long silences are nothing new, just as fake accounts pretending to be him aren't new either (cf). I bring this up purely as a public service for those who may have heard theories attributed via the fake iteration.

The Agents of SWORD 4channer posted a supposed screenshot from the screenplay which had nothing on it to indicate it's anything other than something created by the poster.

I didn't mention it at the time, but I thought I should at least reference the 'controversy' about Captain America via CBR. The website, which is not something anyone should pay attention too, posted a (now-removed) opinion piece by Caleb Clark in which he asserts that Captain America wasn't a hero. If you've never heard of Clark there's good reason for that--the name is attached to a small number of (recent) clickbait articles (top tens and other nonsense)--I wonder if its a pseudonym. Clark's content isn't any worse than what you get from other, similar sites, but he choose to write something that wasn't divisive in the usual way and that was his mistake (he'd be far better off with 'Wolverine should be gay' or 'We need a diverse Mister Fantastic' etc--that's the accepted clickbait pervasive in the space). The intention of the post was to stir the pot (not create interesting discussion or debate), but CBR had to hoist the white flag and pretend it never happened (deleting the article). I don't think there's anything to be learned from this other than it's an example of clickbait. This incident hasn't stopped Clark articles from appearing, but they've returned to the usual generic nonsense that comprises 98% of CBR's content.

One thing I haven't brought up in discussions about the Punisher in the MCU is how reluctant I think Feige is in including him--this beyond the fact that he's a vigilante (given Disney's family-friendly brand). While it's a brand positive that he's popular with the military (they've had a good relationship going back to the beginning--it was almost laughable how much Captain Marvel minimized sexism to avoid bothering the brass), but Frank Castle's popularity with police poses a problem these days. If we ever see the character I think he'll be buried on TV and kept separate from the mainstream MCU (unless someone with a significant voice, like one of the Russo's for example, specifically pushes for him).

Completely ancillary, but it's surreal for me to see Sutton used as a source by Midnight's Edge. I suspect the connection between them is via Robert Meyer Burnett rather than Matt Jarbo (both mutual acquaintances), because the latter seems to have had a falling out with ME. I'm glad Andre is being more consistent in referencing sources when they aren't insiders, which makes judging the quality of his information much easier (he's still all over the place depending on what he's covering--ranging from excellent Conan videos to awful MCU coverage--reflecting, I believe, Andre's relative interest in both).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)