Marvel News & Notes

The eulogies continue to rain down after the tragic and unexpected death of Chadwick Boseman. What does this mean for Black Panther 2? THR weighed in and I want to quote the key parts of the article:

Unbeknownst to anyone at the studio, the Black Panther star had been battling colon cancer privately for four-plus years … A source close to Boseman [said he] was convinced until about a week before his death that he was going to beat cancer. No one involved with Black Panther was aware [of the illness], says a source.

This means that Ryan Coogler did not take Boseman's condition into account when he wrote the script, so there's no plan in place to deal with what's happened. At first blush I didn't think the MCU would recast the character, but I'm slightly less certain now. Without Black Panther (ie, the character we've known since Civil War), the film likely requires a complete re-write--something the MCU can normally turn around very quickly (eg Black Widow), but since this is Coogler's film it's unlikely Marvel would use their usual script doctors to do so. Will this impact the May, 2022, release date? I think it's likely, but perhaps not substantially--it could be swapped with Captain Marvel 2 (July) or the untitled film slated for October. The popular scuttlebutt is to have Shuri take over the role and that's the simplest solution, even though other options exist (M'Baku comes to mind). If the film does go the Shuri-direction then the focus should be on her earning the role, albeit that repeats the beats of the first Black Panther (which I don't think Marvel would like). Another difficulty you'd run into with Shuri is losing a future romance with Storm as well as losing the immediate romance with Nakia (the impact for Storm is trivial, since there are other routes to take her, but it's a major blow to Nakia). Shuri is also a very different kind of character--lighthearted and meant to be the 'brains' to Black Panther's brawn, which is almost certainly a poor fit for whatever Coogler wants from his protagonist (M'Baku fits this much better, but I think it's unlikely Marvel goes in that direction). Another issue for the IP is that Black Panther is surrounded by strong, smart female supporting characters--this loses its charm if the lead is a female in the same mold (leaving us with just tertiary male characters in Everett Ross and M'Baku). It's a difficult situation and I don't expect a resolution any time soon.

Daniel says the casting for Ms. Marvel is complete and an announcement is coming soon (he does not know who landed the role). This hasn't been echoed (or denied) by anyone. We know the search for an actress began as early as last September (Conrad claiming in January that it was down to just a few actresses, which seems like a bad guess at this point). The length of the search suggests it has been a torturous process for the MCU. Why the struggle? My surmise is because they limited the actress pool to Pakistani-American actresses (Pakistan or the diaspora is a much vaster pool to draw from than the half million Pakistani-Americans). I'd want to think that any actress who can speak with an American accent would be up for the role, but I don't know that. The long process again makes me wonder if Marvel will care to have her be from her given ethnic background in the comics (by which I mean, the background within Pakistan's varied community).

Richard Nebens (writing for The Direct, although still part of The Illuminerdi) reports that Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will direct at least one episode of Ms. Marvel (I've gone over before how all of Nebens' information seems to come from Daniel). That aside, as I'm unfamiliar with the directors work, my only reaction is the choice seems very on-brand with the MCU's general approach.

This news was followed by Trey Tobias (also for The Direct) saying Jasjit Williams and Saagar Shaikh are in talks for the show and while he doesn't know for what roles, speculates that the former is for Bruno Carrelli and the latter for Aamir Khan. Again, this information seems to be coming from Daniel, but echoes the idea that casting is being finalized for the show.

Conrad put out a rambling exclusive that's short on exclusivity. He opens ponderously with two things we've heard many times before:

• 1) Mandarin acts as a mentor for Shang-Chi [previously covered four times, in chronological order: Reddit (Oct*), 4chan (Jan), 4chan (Mar), 4chan (May)]
• 2) Fin Fang Foom will be in the movie [cf LotLB (previously from the following: TBK, Aug/19), 4chan (Oct), Reddit (Oct*), 4chan (Jan), 4chan (Mar), Daniel (Mar), 4chan (Mar), 4chan (May)]

*Murphy thought this was a credible leak
Conrad only references 4chan as a source--without specifying which--yet another admission (passim) that he's lied before with his repeated assertions that he doesn't read 4chan. What Conrad says that is actually new is this:

it appears that concept of a magical trinity will continue in [Shang-Chi] where there is a trio of wizards who are tasked with keeping Fin Fang Foom dormant

This is a weird way to preface a scoop ('it appears'?), but that aside, the idea thematically echoes Foom's first appearance where his tomb is guarded (although not by wizards). Conrad adds speculation that Mordo's rumoured appearance is how Fin Fang Foom gets free (referring to either the January or May 4chan posts above, both of which include Mordo). The idea is that the sorcerers keeping Foom imprisoned are killed by Mordo, which isn't a bad theory, although that would suggest Mordo is a more major character in the film than we have any evidence for.

Conrad appears to have figured out that you don't have to be Charles Murphy to follow actors on Instagram and wonders if this picture of Benedict Wong with Simu Liu (Shang-Chi) is a hint that Wong will appear in the film. I can't recall hearing this specific rumour before, although it would certainly fit what the MCU is doing with Shang-Chi.

Conrad says Wiccan and Speed will appear in Doctor Strange. I'm not sure who thought any differently, but that aside, in October we had the same idea from 4chan and again in December (neither specifically mentioned Speed, but it's hard to imagine the one brother without the other). Conrad claims he has a source for this, but does he? The weight of the evidence is no, given his track record.

An aside on Conrad: he's been pushing the Black Widow-on-Disney+ narrative (mostly on social media, but also on his site). This idea has always been preposterous (barring a complete pandemic shutdown in the US, which I'd deem impossible at this point). I bring this up because he was trumpeting Mulan's success on Disney+ (initially it was trending on the site), and then the reality of it under performing came out. I mentioned last time that, from my perspective, the only reason Mulan was being dumped on Disney+ was because exec's believed it would bomb at the box office, so by calling this an 'experiment' they can justify the expensive dumpster fire as a 'mistake' to put on streaming--it's all about saving face with investors.

Daniel says there's no Strange Academy project coming from the MCU and that the X-Men will serve the 'Hogwarts' function for the MCU (implying a very young cast). He didn't provide a source for this information and I don't think there is one--I believe he's saying this purely to take a shot at Sutton's steady rumour to the contrary (cf). I actually agree with Daniel (at least in terms of no Strange Academy), but don't believe he has any actual insight and is simply guessing.

I haven't watched New Rockstars in a long time, so I don't typically know what Erik Voss is theorizing. However, Kinda Culty mentioned a theory Voss put out back in March: that Natasha would be returning as Black Widow. This is not an idea unique to Voss. Way back in October Sutton said she'll return for Black Widow 2 (which would include Charlie Cox's Daredevil); then in January he explained that Scarlet Witch will resurrect Nat (it's not clear when--contextually after Doctor Strange 2; LotLB's Tim said she pulls her soul from the Soul Stone, which I think is his own surmise rather than Sutton's). I didn't include either of these posts in my Black Widow Theory article because they weren't about that film, but this isn't the end to these theories, as THR's Richard Newby (in January) also theorized how Nat could return, but in his version it's via Taskmaster being her clone. I don't think Voss is aware of Sutton/LotLB, but he certainly reads THR and while Newby's theory is ridiculous (because we know O-T Fagbenle is playing the role), it may have planted the seed.

Let's just briefly go over why I think this idea is wrong:

• Scarlett Johansson says she's dead (while leaving the door open in the same way RDJ and others have of multiverse/alternative universe shenanigans)
• The marketing wank has been pushing Yelena Belova as the new iteration of the character
• Nat has had a full character arc--her solo film isn't really about her past because we know what her past was like, instead it's setting the table for Yelena
• Preserving the weight of Endgame: undoing, just a year later, the impact of Endgame would hurt all forthcoming stakes in MCU films--a character dying will mean nothing

While Johansson is much younger than RDJ and could have a much longer career with Marvel, on a story and character level there's no need for more Natasha. I happen to think Hawkeye should have died in Endgame instead, since that character is in the same position, but is much less interesting (as evidenced by his show being an immediate passing of the torch to Kate Bishop--even more so in the marketing wank), but that's not the world we live in.

Sutton talks about Young Avengers (casually asserting that Hailee Steinfeld has been cast as Kate Bishop, which is not yet confirmed, cf), saying the team will be the aforementioned, Statue (Cassie Lang), Wanda's children (above), Patriot, America Chavez, Hulkling, Amadeus Cho, and Iron Lad and be faithful to the comics (other than the lineup, as this isn't the initial group). Sutton says that Cho won't be given his Hulk-form any time soon (very redundant given Hulkling and the actual Hulk still around), and instead be the genius to help the group and begin by meeting Cassie Lang. He says the arc "The Children's Crusade" is being considered, which sounds crazy on the surface, but tweaking those involved could make it work. The basic idea of the team appearing not new, but the story and Cho specifics are. I've had no interest in this--successor characters rarely work and kid characters even less so, but I'll keep an open mind until we start seeing specifics.

Another Sutton Q&A (there's not much to delve into):

• Starting the Fantastic Four in the 1960s is still on the table, but he doesn't think that's the path the MCU will take [This addresses a very old rumour whose origins lie in the Peyton Reed film for Fox that was never developed (mirroring exactly what happened with the old Black Widow rumours based on the David Hayter script for Lionsgate]
• Casting for Fantastic Four has not begun (therefore the rumour about Katheryn Winnick as Sue Storm is false) [In July he repeated that Emily Blunt and John Krasinski were the frontrunners]
• No current plan to replace Hulk with the Amadeus Cho or other versions [This has been very clear given Mark Ruffalo's comments about talking to Feige about future projects]
• Brian Cranston is not on the list of actors being considered for Doctor Doom; Sutton says he has heard rumours about Cranston as Harry Osborn [At 64 it's becoming too late to cast Cranston in a major, long term role]
• Has not heard about Venom appearing in Sony's Kraven film
• No Psylocke in Shang-Chi or any time soon [This question offered the opportunity for Sutton to comment on whether Kwannon would be a thing or not, which is basically about what version of Betsy Braddock we'd see, but he didn't address it. I've mentioned before that I dislike Claremont's decision to change Betsy into a boring Wolverine-clone, and it's clear Jonathan Hickman shares my opinion as he immediately separated Betsy from Kwannon's body]

New Mutants has landed and received the expected critical pounding (it was at 23%, now 32%; Dark Phoenix sits at 22%, although the latter has a slightly better audience score). I'm curious how much the film cost, as Maisie Williams told Variety that it was an 80 million dollar movie--close to Shazam (100 million), but with less spent on marketing. It can't break even (it's only made 20 million), but in general has met the expectations of a film that Disney should have buried. When you think of the final output from Fox with their Marvel properties its an awful track record (the exceptions being those films least impacted by the studio--the first Deadpool and Logan).

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva (passim) had this to say:

I hear Sony is in talks with Amazon to be the SVOD distributor of the high-profile package of shows, which includes multiple titles. The first, which was identified by Sony Pictures TV about a year ago and had been in development at the studio, is Silk. … Sources close to the situation cautioned that the complex talks are still in early stages and there are major issues that need to be resolved. Some of them have to do with a complicated web of multi-platform rights for the various characters. No one would comment, but I hear the proposed suite of Marvel series is expected to land on a linear platform first before heading to Amazon for streaming.

The fan reporting on this has been awful, with most claiming this is a done deal, so let's break it down into digestible chunks:

• Sony is looking to use Amazon as its streaming service for a package of shows which Andreeva says is similar in concept to the package Marvel Entertainment sold to Netflix years ago; Silk is part of this package (originally announced as a film from Amy Pascal)
• Not only is the deal not done, but the rights situation is not sorted out either (which is extremely puzzling because my understanding was those rights were sorted out years ago and then leaked as part of the Sony hack)
• She says the series will land on a 'linear platform' before going to Amazon--I find this baffling--what other platform?

How do you pitch a product when you don't know if you can sell it first? This sounds a great deal like posturing ahead of their short term deal with Disney expiring. It's similar in tone to how Tom Rothman approached the disastrous re-negotiation this past summer and I expect it to be just as empty as his threats to walkaway were then.

Sutton put out a couple of Sony related scoops: he echoes Murphy's information about Jessica Drew and Spider-Woman, saying it's not clear that a new deal with the MCU has been struck to make it happen, just that talks did occur (none of this is new); what is new is that he says the complications with Silk (referenced above) are related to Disney--his implication is that the MCU might be involved with the production, but mine would be that the rights on streaming are likely not settled in the agreement. I've said it before that Sutton clearly does have an inside source at Sony, but it's much less clear to me that the same can be said for the MCU.

With all the DCEU news I thought I'd briefly go over my impressions, as my investment (never very high) has been lessening over time due to the overall weak quality of the films (I've already skipped a couple).

• Wonder Woman 1984 - The first Wonder Woman was a mishmash of Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, held up by a strong second act and Chris Pine; nothing about the sequel has interested me--it's one of the strangest prequels imaginable--Why the 80s? Why dress-up Pedro Pascal like Donald Trump? Why 47-year old Kristen Wiig as an action-oriented CGI villain? It's baffling. A film like this can only succeed or bomb, there's no in between.
• The Snyder Cut - I don't think what we'll get will be good, abstractly, but it will be far more coherent than the theatrical release (presumably similar to the extended Batman v Superman, which is to say it has good moments, but a plot full of holes); how casual fans react will be interesting to monitor
• Suicide Squad - I have no interest in this whatsoever (my anticipation level is similar to the first Suicide Squad); it might be a fun movie, looking like a weird CW/Deadpool mishmash, but it's only going to win on comedy for me
• Black Adam - I don't know the character and haven't seen enough to have an opinion on it; I think it's odd putting so much effort into 48-year old Dwayne Johnson, who (as he follows the arc of similar action stars) is hitting the twilight of his career
• Mat Reeves Batman - When announced I was excited to hear that, for the first time, an emphasis would be put on Batman as a detective; everything since has diminished my interest; the first trailer was surprisingly generic; my mind could be changed and I'm still intent on seeing it
• The Flash - My interest in the film is purely in Michael Keaton's Batman and Batfleck; nothing else about the film (or IP) interests for me (it is interesting that Ezra Miller is skating on assaulting a woman in Iceland in April--caught on film, but no one talks about it and it has been scrubbed from his Wikipedia page)
• Shazam 2 - I haven't seen the first film and don't expect to see the sequel; films overtly aimed at children aren't my thing
• Aquaman 2 - The first film was a big budget B-movie, with a plot that makes no sense but fun to see (literally a fun, dumb movie); I expect something similar for the sequel and I'll probably see it unless things go sideways in production; it's interesting that WB is backing Amber Heard given her messy situation with Johnny Depp--my guess is they think the public either isn't paying attention to it or is split down the middle, so there's not much harm in the status quo

I don't usually delve into the culture war unless it's pertinent, but because of its direct impact on the entertainment business I wanted to mention Midnight's Edge video about what's going on inside Disney in relation to it. While Andre indulges in clickbait from time-to-time, in this video he avoids jumping over the cliff with other outrage YTers and cautions against the idea that financial stress at Disney is leading to a change of politics--rather, he claims a need for profitability will tone down political messaging and virtue signalling to a point (specifically talking about Star Wars). I agree with him about a change in the former, but not the latter (since it has worked so well for the MCU). I think for Marvel fans we're in for no change at all until something bombs for that reason--the limp, almost incoherent reference to sexism in the military in Captain Marvel is about as 'extreme' as you're going to get (replicated, I'd guess, in soft messaging in Falcon and the Winter Soldier about institutional/historic racism in the military--likely deflected to some rogue group). How you feel about any of this is going to be highly personal, but I am interested to see how many more films will take the Ghostbusters or Harley Quinn route of leaning into the messaging and fighting with fans, versus the softer MCU approach.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)