Marvel News & Notes

Just Jared published pictures that confirm the rumours that Batroc will appear in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (these rumours did not come from the usual suspects, but from Reddit and 4chan in February, although the evidence for it comes a month earlier from Georges St. Pierre's Instagram and, of all places Weekly Planet). How this impacts similar rumours about him appearing in Shang-Chi is unclear (does he transition to that film, or was he placed there as an educated guess?).

Other set photos and footage confirmed Sharon Carter's appearance, although given that Deadline said as much over a year ago it's no surprise.

Deadline (Justin Kroll) says Jonathan Majors has joined the cast of Ant-Man 3, speculating that his role is that of Kang the Conqueror (subsequently confirmed by THR, albeit Borys Kit occasionally faceplants with MCU info). Kang has been heavy in the MCU rumour-mill for awhile (see below). One of the struggles for the Ant-Man franchise has been making casual MCU fans care--both prior films are financial anomalies (Shazam confirms, I think, that superhero fans do not want films overtly aimed at children) and Kang could add some tension to what has been the most lighthearted Marvel series. As for the casting itself, I've never seen Majors act, so I have no opinion (the general consensus is he was picked to play the Rama-Tut version of Kang, and while Majors neither looks nor is Egyptian, that's irrelevant to Marvel).

The Kang rumours:

• October - Murphy made his 'Limbo' hint for Ant-Man 3, which could hint at Kang, but is oblique enough he can't be credited with the scoop (he's never explained it that I've seen)
• November - 4chan says Kang will appear in Ant-Man 3
• January - Reddit says Kang will connect the Fantastic Four and Avengers (see Sutton below)
• February - Sutton says Kang is the next Avengers-threat villain (involving time travel that includes Westerns, see TBK below, and the Fantastic Four) 
• February - Daniel says Kang will appear in Loki
• February - Murphy speculates that Owen Wilson is playing the character (see Sutton below)
• February - TBK (via LotLB) believe Western-themed characters will appear as part of the Kang plot 
• March - Murphy speculated that Richard E. Grant had the role in Loki
  
• May - Sutton implies Kang will appear in Moon Knight
• July - Reddit included the character in Moon Knight
• July - Sutton says Owen Wilson has the role in Loki [I asked Sutton about this after the news broke and he said he thought there could be different iterations of the character--that seems extremely unlikely to me, but food for thought]
• August - Sutton says Kang will be the first major villain to hit the MCU going forward

There are a few things to note here: Murphy's seemingly wild guesses on who has the role indicate he didn't see a current casting breakdown (both his surmises were Caucasian and the role was clearly intended for an African-American). There is nothing of substance from Daniel, which means he also didn't have access to casting calls. Sutton is guilty of either Conrad-esque 'borrowing' or being very late in reporting on his info, as his basic Kang idea is predated by Reddit and he adds a very late copy of Murphy's Wilson surmise (something he must have been aware of). What's distinctive from Sutton is the Western element and putting him in Moon Knight, which will be interesting to follow going forward. There is nothing from Conrad here, which isn't a surprise.

Sources tell Variety that Disney is looking to shift Black Widow's release date due to the anemic box office performance for films in general. They say a change is "likely" and cast doubt (as I have) that the film will go the Disney+ route.

The Direct, with Daniel as their source (not stated, but we know that's where their information comes from), says She-Hulk will begin production in February. The original date for the show was July, so that's a delay of about seven months due to the pandemic.

Not surprisingly, shortly after that The Illuminerdi (who also get their info from Daniel), said they heard the role has been cast (as it has, see below).

Deadline (Kroll) reports that director Kat Coiro will direct some of the episodes of She-Hulk. At the end of the article Kroll suggests all the currently filming Disney+ series will air next year, but this seems like an aside rather than him scooping a revelation (and he seems to be incorrect as there's every indication that WandaVision will still air in 2020).

Deadline (Kroll again) scooped that Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany has the role of She-Hulk. No one, to my knowledge, suggested her for the role. Maslany is 34, which is on the high end of the revised casting list for the show, but on the low end of the original list (I'd guessed an actress around 30). The casting debunks Sutton's claim in August that Alison Brie had landed the role. I've never seen Maslany act, so I have no strong reaction to her in the role (even visually you can't judge if, as in the comic, she's going to be green or CGI for most of the show).

Sutton says "initial discussions for a new contract [for Charlie Cox] with Marvel Studios are expected in December." This continues his steady narrative of Netflix's Daredevil crossing over into the MCU (or, at least, the same actor in the same role appearing as such). No matter how many people parrot this idea (Daniel and Conrad, to name two) I don't buy it. The benefits of bringing him back are small and cause complications--it's much easier to recast and move forward.

In a deleted Tweet Kris Tapley said Harry Styles would be in an upcoming Marvel film. Tapley said the same thing about WWE star Becky Lynch back in May, but as he has no track record I can't say if he knows what he's talking about or not (I'd lean towards not).

Also on the casting speculation front, 4chan says 56-year old Sandra Bullock is being looked at for the role of Abigail Brand, which would be an older re-imagining of the character. The poster says she's being sought because she's a 'big name'--I'd agree she's a name, but she hasn't been a draw in decades; there's also a long, proud tradition of 'names' being proposed for roles and it going nowhere--worth keeping in mind.

Sutton Q&A:

• Agents of SWORD will be used as a prelude to Secret Invasion which leads into Captain Marvel 2; he doesn't think Rich Johnston's scoop (of that event being on Disney+) makes much sense due to the scale [The implication from Johnston, presumably, would be for a much smaller scale event]
• Repeated that some of the Agents of SHIELD characters will appear in the MCU (on SWORD) [I go over the issues with this here]

4chan

• She-Hulk is described as Better Call Saul, but with a lighter tone, and more of a focus outside of lawyering.
• The actress that is going to play Ms. Marvel is most likely going to be on the older side of 15-20. So maybe 18-20. This is because whoever plays Ms. Marvel is going to get harassed online no matter what.
• Ryan Reynolds had pitched Deadpool Kills the Fox Marvel Universe to marvel studios a while ago. [This idea would only make sense if the various Fox actors still had contracts left on their deals, otherwise I can't imagine they'd return for something like this]
• The only marvel Netflix characters that Kevin Feige is interested in, are Daredevil and Punisher. [Returning Netflix characters is a popular rumour, however, this specific pairing is almost certainly from Sutton]
• Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel are going to both offer religious themes, but Moon Knight especially. [The theme for Kamala Khan is very much on brand, but a bit out there for Moon Knight whose usually schtick is his multiple personality disorder]
• Moon Knight is pushing the limits of its pg-13 rating, and is faithful to the source material.
• Some of the Disney Plus shows are going to team up, eventually to create a super hero team. It’s still being discussed on which characters are going to team up, but it’s reportedly going to be Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel would play a by the books hero, while Moon Knight is not. Think of a good cop bad cop dynamic, a lot more light harded [hearted] than Moon Knight's solo show, but still features character development. Other team ups are not known at the moment. [This is a very odd combination, but given how potentially silly Kamala could be, the gravitas of Moon Knight would help]
• Sony wants Carnage or Venom to be in Deadpool 3, but not Spider-Man.
• MODOK’S animated show [for Hulu] is going to be a workplace comedy, very similar to Archer. [Given that this is a Jeph Loeb show, how it functions seems largely irrelevant]
• Marvel is looking to make binge able, 30 minute comedies, to compete with Friends. They want a show that is less like Friends tho, and more like Community and Parks and Rec. [I have no idea what the poster means--Friends ended in 2004 and the genre itself is long past its peak]
• Marvel is trying to develop a Marvel Ruins miniseries for Hulu [1995; a two-issue parody from Warren Ellis]. [Why?]

 While the post doesn't debunk itself, it has a lot of puzzling features that make me doubt it.

Murphy acolyte Joseph Aberl wonders if an off-hand comment from Olivia Wilde about Spider-Woman is confirmation of Feige's (and the MCU's) involvement: "Listen to me try to avoid Kevin Feige's pellet gun." Is this playful? Does it mean anything? She could have given a straightforward 'no', of course, although we have the tradition of Amy Pascal trying to associate Sony projects with the MCU even when they're not. I'd call it suggestive, but not definitive.

Fandomwire (Devin Colson), not a site known for scoops, says Sony is developing a Spider-Girl film (the Anya Corazon iteration). For those keeping track at home, the number of 'in development' projects at Sony is ridiculous--Sony can't afford all these productions as active, so this rumour needs to be taken with very large grains of salt.

It seemed like the Ray Fisher accusations about Joss Whedon had died since nothing had come out in the months since, but finally Jason Momoa specifically echoed them on his Instagram (without going into specifics).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)