Murphy posted an article that includes the MCU-slate as he understands it. I want to take a look at where he slots the various Disney+ shows whose release dates are currently unknown:
Loki - after Shang-Chi (May/21)
Ms. Marvel - after Spider-Man 3 (November/21)
Hawkeye - after Spider-Man 3 (November/21) and Ms. Marvel
She-Hulk - after Doctor Strange 2 (March/22)
Moon Knight - after She-Hulk
He then has Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, and Loki season two listed.
He attaches no specific reasoning to the list so my guess is he simply kept the order he had prior to the pandemic delay (assuming that, as with the films, the MCU has simply pushed things forward in similar fashion). I'm unsure if the giant gap between WandaVision and Loki is necessitated by the delayed production or not. We know from the original Falcon and the Winter Soldier production schedule (October-August) that Marvel can produce and release a show in less than a year if they are so-inclined.
Lizzie Hill wrote about an Instagram image from the filming of Falcon and the Winter Soldier that depicts a devil's head symbol on a gang member's jacket, expressing uncertainty over what it might mean. Her boss (colleague?) Murphy responded that he thinks it represents Ogun, a Japanese ninja (an idea that makes a historian's head explode) who debuted in 1984's Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series. The symbol certainly fits this idea and the character would be yet another hint at Wolverine himself (just as using Madripoor itself is). If he appears, does Ogun have a substantial role, or is he just a villain for an episode who adds some colour? I suspect he's just another part of the MCU throwing a ton of D-grade villains at the screen (cf the Shang-Chi tournament).
An unrelated note: my intention to do IP-related theory articles on a weekly basis has failed, but the next one (which is on Falcon and the Winter Soldier) is in progress and, depending how preoccupied I get with The Last of Us 2, I hope to have done sooner than later.
It turns out I missed TI confirming back in January that Hulkling will appear in WandaVision. This came on the heels of Daniel reporting (just beforehand) that he would appear, but he wasn't sure where. According to TI:
Marvel Studios is searching for a teenager or young adult male to play Teddy (age 16 – 23), describing him as a Skrull who requires help from S.W.O.R.D. in order to remain safely on EarthCould this be why Monica Rambeau is involved in the show? I have no idea. It seems very detached from the focus of WandaVision, but I'm sure the intent is about Wiccan and the Young Avengers more than anything else (in which case, I don't know how large Teddy's role will be).
Sutton has a long term spec list for WandaVision, Doctor Strange 2, and more: Bova Ayrshire; Viv and Vin; Agatha Harkness; Darkhold; Chthon; Ghost Boxes (objects); Amadeus Cho; and Clea
Tim mentioned that some of these characters are already rumoured/confirmed and that's true in some cases. Agatha, beyond being long-rumoured, has been confirmed through set leaks; Clea goes back to Wardell in December, 2018 (subsequently appearing in casting grids, cf--the only question is if Wardell's initial belief that she'd be race-swapped to Asian is still current or not). We had one prior rumour involving Chthon in WandaVision from Reddit in December.
As for the others, beyond vague comments from Feige about successor characters appearing, we've had no serious rumours about Cho before. Bova's appeared in the background of the Expanding the Universe featurette (although no one has proposed her actually appearing before). Other than the fake Wardell, I haven't heard the Darkhold mentioned before either, nor Ghost Boxes or Vision's android children. LotLB's Manimal guesses that both sets of kids will appear (an interesting idea, but one I think would make the show far too busy).
About spec list's specifically: why does Marvel need to reserve anything now that Feige controls all of it? Previously there were two separate entities within Marvel (Marvel Studios under Feige and Marvel Entertainment under Loeb), so it was important to determine who gets what. However, that's no longer the case, so who are these characters being reserved from? The only explanation I can think of is that it's to prevent other creators within the MCU from using said characters in their own IP (so, to follow the logic, Bova can't appear in Guardians 3, etc).
Continuing from Sutton above:
- No Nightmare in Doctor Strange 2 (this was first fully referenced by Murphy back in January, although 4chan, about a week beforehand, implied as much)
- Triumph and Torment will be the storyline for Doctor Strange 3 (a story that features both Strange and Doctor Doom; repeating what Sutton said back in January and September)
Murphy speculates that we'll see a lot of Hawkeye's past in his show (via flashbacks). I hope this isn't true, since at this stage there's no point in developing Clint's backstory further--the show is a passing of the torch, after all, so the focus should be on his relationship with Kate Bishop.
Sutton, in what I don't consider a scoop, has added his voice to what seems like an obvious element of Ms. Marvel: Captain Marvel will appear in her show. It's impossible to imagine Kamala Khan's origin without Carol's involvement (although I did propose a theory awhile ago whereby Monica Rambeau could serve as her inspiration instead). I gave up on that theory because the MCU is clearly working to improve the general reception of Carol Danvers (as evidenced by changing directors) and this is a positive way to do it, so I'm not expecting any changes to the general gist of Kamala's origin.
Sutton says they've talked about Charlie Cox's Daredevil appearing in season two of Moon Knight. I get into his rationale for the inclusion of the Netflix characters below (I still don't believe it), but we know that Marvel plans well ahead for the arcs of their IP.
Conrad says Marvel still has plans for Starfox (who, typically, would be part of The Eternals). Within his post he indicates there were early casting calls that included both he and Karen the archaeologist for the film--the assumption would be this is via Production Weekly, but Conrad (in typical fashion) doesn't make it clear where that info comes from (it matches Murphy's post for THS back in 2018, which is likely Conrad's source). I have no feelings about this idea whatsoever, as none of the characters from the Eternals IP are ones I spent any time with as a comic reader. Could he appear? Sure, but we need more than Conrad's word for it.
In another video Sutton's response to a question about Hugh Jackman as Wolverine implied he would not reprise the character, but could appear in some other capacity (which is plausible, cf discussions with he and Stewart by Feige in the fall). Whether Jackman wants to return in another capacity remains unknown.
Sutton also repeated that the Sentry is coming (at some point in the next five years), which echoes an old reserve list from LotLB in September (it's unclear if that list was from Sutton or the Black Knight).
Sutton's offered some reasoning for the Netflix actors returning (beyond the obvious idea that they are popular) by trying to debunk one of the most common arguments against it (that Feige doesn't play with other people's creations): it wouldn't be the first time Feige has used a character from another creator. He cites Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, J. K. Simmons J. Jonah Jameson, and hypothetically Patrick Stewart/Hugh Jackman's characters (we don't know how much of those discussions were purely a courtesy on Feige's part). I understand what he's saying, but there's a huge difference between the inclusion of these particular characters vs the Netflix IP. Let me explain:
- 1) Netflix is a (continuing) streaming rival who owns the early seasons, so by keeping the actors as those characters it's benefiting a competitor
- 2) Feige has shown antipathy towards everything Jeph Loeb had his hands in--preventing any serious crossover between the now-defunct Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Studios
- 3) Disney now owns all the Fox IP (so all the characters), giving them a financial incentive to add relevance to an otherwise dead back catalogue (it's also possible we're getting Deadpool in the MCU because of Bob Iger, not Feige)
- 4) Jameson's inclusion is impacted by Sony's impute, who has a say in the IP and we know is eager to connect their current films to their older Spider-Man IP
Just a thought: with the MCU's push for greater diversity I was thinking about race swaps in the Fantastic Four. We've already seen this done with the Human Torch in Fan4stic, but the easiest thing to do (that wouldn't impact merchandise) would be to swap The Thing. To do either of the Storm siblings causes all sorts of issues with logic (as seen in Trank's hilariously awful film) and Reed Richards (along with the pair) sells merch. The safe move is Ben Grimm, so if we get a swap, that's my pick for it. While I think by the time Fantastic Four hits theaters Marvel probably could get away with an all-white team (given the diversity elsewhere), I don't think they'll try.
Murphy spends an inordinate amount of time explaining that Sony's Madame Web and Spider-Woman projects are different by indirectly citing Production Weekly's information from February (as dropped by Daniel at that time). The thrust of the post is about a theory I'd paid no attention too regarding the two projects (proposed by the former GWWer's now at TCS), so for me the only interesting element included here (which wasn't in Daniel's post) is that Palak Patel is overseeing Spider-Woman (with Amy Pascal is producing). This is very important, because only projects overseen by Patel have ever made it to screen for Sony (I'd thought Pascal was in charge and, as such, wasn't taking it very seriously). Do I think Pascal can give us a good Jessica Drew film? Absolutely not.
Murphy has started adding writers to his website: his friend Lizzie Hill, his former editor Charles Villanueva, and (wannabe?) politician Dalbin Osorio. It's odd seeing the editor of MCU Exchange posting content here when his own site struggles to produce it (I also hadn't realized Reddit moderator and WGTC-debunker Pierre Chanliau was a writer for that site).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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