Marvel News & Notes

Hill believes Florian Munteanu will be playing Black Jack Tarr in Shang-Chi, based largely on his time spent in Australia coinciding with production as well as social media activity associated with him (which I find suggestive, if not completely definitive). The only prior speculation about Munteanu comes from Dark Horizon in March, where a source of Garth Franklin's told him Munteanu would be playing a secondary villain role in the film--this doesn't line-up with Hill's theory (Tarr is, at least after their initial meeting, a key ally of Shang-Chi's), but it does connect him with the film.

Michelle Yeoh's apparent involvement with Shang-Chi (cf--as above, via her location and social media) puts to bed rumours of a Ravagers film (cf), which (as I discuss in the link) I always thought was an absurd idea to begin with. Back in January GWW intimated that Yeoh was in the film (a rumour Weekly Planet first reported on--link above), with 4chan claiming in March that she plays an evil scientist (Zhang, a name that has come up several time in rumours, eg).

Deadline reports that Nia Dacosta will direct Captain Marvel 2; she's a relatively inexperienced director (Little Woods, a couple of episodes of Top Boy, the unreleased Candyman, and a pair of shorts). I have no opinion on her at all--as with nearly all of Marvel's directors, I haven't seen her previous work. Within that story, Deadline said Megan McDonnell wrote the script for the film (she's a story editor on WandaVision), who was in final negotiations to do so back in January. Whether that script suffers the same ignominious fate that Jac Schaeffer's did for Black Widow remains to be seen.

Daniel says Marvel is "casting [a] 12-15 [year old] Puerto Rican actress for a leading role in an upcoming Marvel movie," which he believes means is for America Chavez. This cannot be the same casting call The Illuminerdi reported on back in January--it's not just the timing, but the context (that called for a supporting role). The idea of her appearing in the film first came from GWW in January, which Daniel echoed at that time (crediting it to the wrong person, unless former That Hashtag Show writer Joe Dekelmeier and former GWWer Vicky Depledge are the same person). Could Daniel's surmise be correct? The age range fits her first appearance in the comics, but we'll have to wait and see. I'm not familiar with the character and her wiki reads like she was created via a checklist for the CW audience, so it will be interesting to see what the MCU does with her.

Sutton says Alison Brie has been cast as She-Hulk, which is interesting, as recent comments by Brie implied she wasn't yet involved (one could argue that she could have said 'no' if she definitely wasn't in the show). The initial casting grid listed She-Hulk as being in her 30s or 40s (well suited to Brie's age, 38), but the revised grid pushed the age down to 25-34, which would put Brie on the outside looking in. Of course, grids change, but it's worth keeping in mind.

4chan on Moon Knight (I don't buy this rumour, for reasons I'll get into below, but include it for tracking purposes):

From what I heard the main plot of the show is Marc Spector shares psychic connection with both Stained Glass Scarlet and Konshu and they manipulate him for their own gains which leads to Marc having a psychic breakdown. Due to this Marc can't differentiate between what is real and what is not and will have hallucinations and begins to doubt his own past. So to end this he decides to go to all associates and contacts of him and also his personalities to find the truth about his past and also his state. Bushman and Konshu will be minor villians. S.T.A.K.E sister organization of SHIELD will debut in the show. The narrative style will be similar to Westworld and Pulp Fiction. We'll see vampires in the show.

I feel like the writer meant major villains, rather than minor (since he offers no other antagonists in his post). It's taken as a given that Konshu and Bushman will appear; Stained Glass Scarlet's appearance was scooped by Sutton back in September; the only time STAKE has come up previously is about a month ago when Sutton said the group was being considered for a Hulu show. I think the inclusion of SHIELD is the most obvious giveaway that the poster is making this up (it would be SWORD if authentic)--there's nothing unique about the post other than Stained Glass Scarlet working with Konshu.

Sutton R&D list (1):

• Snarks/Zn'rx - An alien race typically used as opponents of Power Pack
• Kurse/Algrim - A Dark Elf and Thor-villain
• Speedball - A member of the hero team New Warriors (has a distinctive look, but I always found him goofy); he appeared in the unaired pilot of New Warriors from Marvel Entertainment, but hasn't come up in rumours since
• Snowbird - Original member of Alpha Flight (I wrote about the team back in June and have a detailed look at them coming soon)
• Marrina - Member of Alpha Flight (she was not included in the Sutton scoop linked above, but I mentioned at the time that I thought it was likely she would appear if the team did--there was a rumour that had her in a Namor/Black Panther 2 context in May, but not from anyone credible)
• Skymax/Sk'ym'x - A Super Skrull member of Squadron Supreme (meant to echo Martian Manhunter)
• Blue Marvel (Adam Brashear) - A relatively new (2009) character who was retroactively injected into Marvel's past without doing anything inventive (imagine how interesting it would be if he was involved in the Black Power Movement)--he's loosely based on Superman. I have no idea what the point of including him would be as he doesn't resonate in fan popularity lists (I'd never heard of him), but he was part of the Alpha Flight Space Program that's attached to Captain Marvel; could it be Marvel wants to have a black Superman before DC? Perhaps merging that idea with Hyperion below?
• Hyperion - Member of the Squadron Supreme (back in March Daniel said the IP was in development, with the general idea going back to Rich Johnston in February, who said they'd appear in Loki)
• Talisman - Member of Alpha Flight (and daughter of Shaman); Tim mentioned in the video 'I don't know if they're just going to bypass Shaman" to use Talisman, which is interesting because that was my speculation a month ago in trying to create more gender balance within the team (along with avoiding a potential stereotype); it was specified that she's being looked at for Disney+, which means she's not part of the Sutton scoop (and that makes sense as he didn't include her on the team for the Wolverine film)

Sutton R&D list (2), specifically for Thor or Hercules IP (the latter, he says, is planned for Disney+, echoing Daniel from October):

• Baldur - Thor's buddy who is eventually revealed to be his brother (I suspect the MCU will skip the latter element); he hasn't come up in rumours before
• Angela - Thor's half-sister who is ubiquitous in the rumour-mill (Joshua Munn had her in Thor 4 and Guardians 3 (May), 4chan in Thor 4 (May), fake Roger Wardell in Thor 4 (May), and The Black Knight (last June) in Thor 4); one of the problems with Angela is that her relationship with Thor was used for Hela in Ragnarok, but that could easily be dropped; she's Sera's love interest in the comics, who is believed to be appearing in Loki
• Enchantress - A sometime enemy, sometime ally; also ubiquitous in the rumour-mill (Reddit in March claimed she's in Loki; IMDB Pro in March listed 'Young Sylvie'; Conrad in January thought the search for a blond stunt double was for her; Reddit in January said she'll appear in Thor 4; 4chan claimed Jodie Comer was cast in the role in January; Sophia Di Martino's casting was speculated to be for her in November; Reddit in October had her as the main antagonist in Loki; and 4chan last January put her in a Sif Disney+ show)
• Zeus - Hasn't come up in rumours previously, but would have to appear in a Hercules show
• Gorr - The primary antagonist in the Jason Aaron run on Thor; another character who constantly appears in the rumour-mill (generally assumed to be Christian Bale's role in Thor 4), but just a month ago Sutton said he'd heard of no plans for him
• Beta Ray Bill - Cut from Ragnarok and expected to appear sooner than later in the MCU; Sutton said weeks ago that he's coming to the MCU, but he was uncertain if he'd appear in Thor 4
• Mangog - A classic Thor-villain (the combined energy of Odin's victims--which seems redundant given Ragnarok); he's come up just once before in rumours, on Reddit in February, which claimed this was Bale's character (perhaps elements of that character will be used for whomever Bale portrays)
• Firelord - One of the Heralds of Galactus; he hasn't appeared in the rumour-mill before
• Recorder - A Rigellian Recorder, a robot created to record information and report back to the Rigellians; one appeared in the first two Hercules limited series (1982 and 1984)
• Skyppi the Skrull - A Skrull friend/ally of Hercules; introduced in the second Hercules series and then killed off in his only other appearance in 2010's Hercules run; this character will only appear as-is if Marvel wants a comedic version of Hercules
• Artume - A fairly recent creation (2009), she's a faux-Amazonian created by the Amazon Queen (Hippolyta), whom she ultimately rebels against; likely because of how prominent Wonder Woman is for DC, the Amazons and their associated characters have barely appeared in Marvel
• Gilgamesh - Yes, the same character who is appearing in The Eternals (a shining example of how selective Marvel's interest in representation/diversity is); he's never been a popular character in the comics, but he was heavily featured in the 2016 Hercules series by Dan Abnett
• Darkstar - Began life as an antagonist for The Champions, the 1970s team Hercules was part of; her powers are similar to Cloak's (of Cloak & Dagger) in that she can manipulate Darkforce energy; Sutton is the only person to bring her up before, back in April, where she was included as part of the Russian group The Winter Guard in an R&D list
• Blood Brothers (Gh'Ree and R'Hos) - Aliens of the Roclite race who are classic bruisers; often foes of the Avengers, they don't have a particularly strong association with either IP attached to this list

The idea of a Hercules series is an interesting one, because in the comics the character has never been able to take off. Let's briefly go over his solo-efforts:

1982 - Limited series taking place in the 24th century

1984 - The sequel to the above

2005 - A limited series within the normal timeline

2008 - The Incredible Hercules (28-issues)

2010 - Limited series

2010 - Heroic Age: Prince of Power (4 issues), which is really an Amadeus Cho vehicle (Greg Pak's creation and Pak wrote this series)

2011 - Herc (10 issues)

2016 - Short-lived run (6 issues)

The character has been around forever and is always in circulation, but no one has been able to make him function on his own. Part of the problem is related to Marvel's struggles on what to do with the Greek pantheon since DC has used it so extensively and has an iconic character derived from it--he often comes across as a discount-Thor and that lack of distinction is the stumbling block for him ever breaking out. I wonder how much the success of the Kevin Sorbo-lead Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995-99) played into the idea of a Disney+ show.

Sutton Q&A (my comments in pink):

• Says there have been discussions to include Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man in upcoming Sony films, but no negotiations have occurred with the actor [Which makes me wonder just how firm those plans are if no one has talked to the actor; for Sutton this idea goes back to May when he said a live action Into the Spiderverse was being planned]
• Starjammers will be teased on Agents of SWORD [Sutton had them on an R&D list in June]
• Kraven in Spider-Man 3, but may not be the main antagonist [Common speculation (eg), although theoretically Sony is still making a solo Kraven-film, which would make this idea impossible; interestingly, this echoes LotLB's second prediction for him from last July, which seems at variance from what they said a month earlier where he was a Wakandan who would appear in Black Panther 2]
• Sutton agrees with The Illuminerdi report that Steinfeld is still attached to play Kate Bishop [He says nothing about her contract issues with Apple and when I asked him about it he said he was still looking into it; an amusing aside: in the video Tim said 'Don't ask me about Steinfeld']
• Wolverine vs Omega Red will occur in the former's solo films [Going from Sutton's prior comments, this could be no earlier than his second film, cf; this seems to be in variance with what LotLB originally proposed last July, where they had Omega Red as the villain of Black Widow 2]
• Sutton says he believes the rumours of Chris Evans Captain America interacting with Wolverine in World War 2 is an idea the MCU won't miss [I find this idea incredibly redundant--it's a prequel, involves the convoluted 01-02 retcon of Wolverine's origin, etc--there's little reason to imagine Evans returning for that specifically, as he wouldn't be evolving his character forward, simply replaying the iteration from the first film]

I'd love to hear more from Sutton about Steinfeld, since no one claiming she has the role has addressed her contract situation (Disney could probably buy her out, but if that was the case, why not do it last fall?). The Starjammers idea is plausible, as is Omega Red's appearance (although, given that I'm unfamiliar with the character, it doesn't particularly excite me). I both don't like and don't buy the other Wolverine idea.

We have another made-up rumour from 4chan echoed by 4chan (with everyone plausibly commenting that the latter was the first poster trying to correct errors under a different name--I've interlinked them with the second post in red):

The deadpool animated series is making a return, but will be on Hulu instead of FXX. Writers and producers are not known to me at the moment, but Donald glover most likely won’t return. Deadpools animated series is trying to comeback, and crossover with hit-monkey. This is due to the success of Harley Quinn’s animated series.

Marvel is trying to make blade and moon-knight team up in some form, most likely a tv show or movie, however nothing is off the table. Blade and moon knight are teaming up in some form.

The MODOK animated series is going to be very similar to archer tone-wise (which is good to me at least.)

A young avengers sitcom is in the works, in the vein of community. A young avengers sitcom that’s like community is an idea that’s been thrown around. It is however not officially in production.

A gritty, dark punisher movie is being worked on as well (but is being put on hold due to police using his logo and the whole Black Lives Matter situation as well as police brutality). Talks of a punisher movie are being discussed. It’s gonna be low-budget, and very gritty. But this won’t come out anytime soon, since a lot of the BLM protests, and the Netflix deal are stopping this from happening.

Deadpools animated series might crossover with hit-monkey, if deadpools animated series ends up being made.

Hit-monkey is set to be voiced by Seth rogen, However, many actors are being considered for the role.

All R-rated marvel movies will be under the Marvel-max banner. These films might crossover into other marvel movies, but be pg-13. Marvel max is going to be for r rated content.

The third Spider-Man movie is going to be called: Spider-Man : can’t go home. Spider man: can’t go home is a working title. Sony still can’t think of a name yet.

Marvel is looking at creating a suicide-squad esque film, with the thunderbolts, James Gunn is eyeing to direct.

Death is going to be introduced in the MCU. Possibly through deadpool 3. Death will not be in deadpool 3.

Moon-knight is going to have a huge focus on mental health, and people who diagnose themselves with mental health disorders, as opposed to people that actually have them. Moon knight is going to talk about the DIFFERENCES between actual mental illness and self diagnosis.

Howard the duck is going to get a live-action movie instead of an animated series. It will be under marvel max. The Howard the duck movie is officially why they wanted to cancel the animated series. It would either be a straight to Hulu animated movie, or a live action movie. But it will be rated r.

Why does everyone believe this is the same person posting twice? The use of language is the same and the second post, rather than simply refuting the first, affirms it, simply adding context and clarification. That aside, the ideas are generally preposterous.

Tangentially, in discussing Peter Shinkoda's comments previously (no further updates on that score, which is surprising and doesn't help his case), I briefly touched on how disconnected the noisy Marvel punditry is with the current state of martial arts in the present--that it's common and multicultural, as illustrated by the melting pot of MMA (the UFC currently has one Asian champion among twelve titles). It behooves Marvel, if it wants to benefit from that popularity, to reflect modern diversity rather than follow the pundits trapped in the past. I have to imagine the MCU is well aware of the this reality and perhaps see Shang-Chi as a peace offering to the later before moving forward with a more modern, diverse approach.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)