Marvel News & Notes

Murphy believes set photos have revealed that Flag-Smasher will be the main villain of Falcon and the Winter Soldier (with Noah Mills as that character). Back in February both Murphy and Conrad speculated the character would be in the film based on set photos, so other than the actor identification, this isn't new (confirmation, perhaps, for those who doubted it).

Derek Kolstad (writer for Falcon and the Winter Soldier) told Empire:

[T]here are characters from the earliest Marvel movies that are coming back. We’re layering them in and reinventing them in a way that’s gonna shift the storytelling structure. It’s fucking awesome.

What constitutes 'early' for Kolstad isn't clear (I know 'earliest' sounds definitive, but people are looser with language verbally than when they write), but most fans thinks he means from Phase One. 'Bringing them back' implies a long absence and in terms of surviving characters let's briefly go over prominent ones who haven't been seen since Phase One:

• Iron Man: None
• Hulk: Emil Blonsky/Abomination (likely re-cast), Samuel Sterns/The Leader (likely re-cast), Betty Ross (I'm not sure if Marvel would keep Liv Tyler or re-cast her as they did Ed Norton)
• Iron Man 2: Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell would return)
• Thor: Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard would return), Sif (Jaimie Alexander would return)
• Captain America: None
• Avengers: None
• Iron Man 3 was also a long time ago, with Trevor Slattery being the only obvious option (Ben Kingsley), but I'd expect him in Shang-Chi

Because it's a show and we know it will visit Madripoor (a wretched hive of scum and villainy), it's easy for any of the previous villains (or heroes) to make an appearance. In terms of the tone of the show I think Nelson and Hammer are the most likely to re-appear (although perhaps those long lingering Sif rumours will hit the mark here--who knows?).

Let me give Murphy some credit: after all the excitement of Agents of Atlas due to the San Francisco filming for Shang-Chi (last time), he included an important clarification:

Turns out SF was just a stop on [Simu] Liu’s trip home [to Toronto] and he will not be filming any scenes there

This is pretty important for people's theories and a worthy correction. While it'd be nice to think updates like this are the norm, it's not in the fan communities, so a tip of the hat to Murphy. The fact that Liu did not participate in the San Francisco shoot doesn't inherently negate either the Agents of Atlas association or some sort of Ant-Man connection (not Scott Lang per se, but things associated with his films), just that if it is relevant, those scenes would have occurred on a set in Australia and we know nothing about them.

Natalie Portman recently called Thor 4 "Silly and fun," which is not how you'd describe Jane Foster's cancer story in the comics. Daniel followed this by saying the film will do the King Thor storyline, where he loses a hand (which, given that he loses in eye in Ragnarok, could be silly and fun?). I'm much more concerned about this film than the rest of the fandom, because with only one exception thus far, every Marvel director who was given a second film has produced a worse film.

Prior to the official casting news (below), Murphy reported on a rumour he heard about actors being considered for Moon Knight: Daveed Diggs or Nick Kroll. Neither really fit the traditional look of Marc Spector (which we now know wasn't important), although both are Jewish (which also wasn't important). Casting Diggs would get away from arguments about cultural appropriation for the character (his father is African-American) and his relationship with Khonshu. Both actors appeared in Hamilton, funnily enough. Both were older than I'd like (Diggs is 38, Kroll 42), but were clearly in the wheelhouse of what Marvel was looking for.

Right after this was posted, Borys Kit (THR) said Oscar Isaac was in negotiations for the role, which was echoed by Justin Kroll (Deadline). Isaac is not Jewish and not African (he's half Cuban, half Guatemalan), which is interesting given how much trouble Marvel went to in order to cast a Pakistani girl as Kamala Khan. No one had him on their radar, so him landing the role is yet another reason to question 'comic authenticity' when it comes to Marvel's casting. Does this news get me excited? No. It doesn't upset me either. It feels very safe, which suggests Marvel has plans for him beyond just the series (I think they save their risks for more peripheral roles). Isaac is a great actor, but (as we've seen in Star Wars), that by itself doesn't guarantee a great product. I would have preferred someone younger and less well known.

A final note: this reveal means all the scoops about casting for the show were incorrect.

In a long piece on what is rumour and what is fact about Spider-Man 3, Murphy said:

And while the idea of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning to the franchise could make Spider-Man 3 an event that could potentially rival that of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, we cannot get ahead of ourselves with something that isn’t tangible just yet.

This idea, that seeing the three Spider-Men together, would rival the culmination of the first three phases of the MCU is so ridiculous I want to call it hyperbole, but I actually think Murphy believes this. I bring it up as more evidence of the disconnect between what (most) scoopers think is popular versus reality. Would appearances by the others help the box office? Absolutely. Would it rival the box office of the aforementioned films? Not even close. That aside, the rest of the article is on-point and covers the bigger rumours about the film. I just don't understand the disconnect between "me and my friends like something" equals "everyone will like it." It's an approach I see with virtually all the scoopers.

Sutton says Wanda and Quicksilver will be retconned to having been mutants all along (rather than getting their powers from the Tesseract). This, however, is not Sutton's scoop. He attributes this information to a source, but in fact this is based off public information: the recently published The Wakanda Files (covered by Screen Rant and others a couple of days prior). Here's the quote in question:

The Stone similarly transformed her nervous system, but it has ionized and charged it in ways that have given her an extraordinary ability. Neural-electric interfacing allows her to create bursts of extreme energy using only her mind and the tips of her fingers. The manipulation of this energy permits her short bursts of levitation, in addition to a staggering weapon that only requires her bare hands.
What is beguiling is how Wanda's nervous system has also unlocked potential for telekinesis. These are not parlor tricks; she is not just bending spoons. She can manipulate minds and plant suggestive thoughts, even enhance preexisting paranoias. She can see into the mind of a human, find out what they fear and what will motivate them.

This fits what I've always assumed, in that the mutant potential will be retconned to have always been present, but requiring an inciting incident to get going (I've long assumed that for most it will be the snap during and after Infinity War).

Daniel says Emma Stone might return as Gwen Stacy for Spider-Man 3; he classifies this as a rumour and I frankly don't believe it. He throws in Hugh Jackman appearing in Doctor Strange 2 (which, again, I don't believe). He also says the MCU is interested in adapting: Civil War 2 (which was tremendously unpopular), World War Hulk (whose content was used in Ragnarok), and Avengers: Forever. None of this seems credible.

More from Sutton: repeating his assertion back in July that we'd be getting a Miles Morales series called Ultimate Spider-Man (based on the original Brian Michael Bendis series). This followed his claim in May that a live-action Into the Spider-Verse film was coming, and he now says this will be the vehicle to launch Morales. The article is not written very clearly, but at the end Sutton adds the necessary details:

Will Kevin Feige produce them, though? I am told that is the plan as both Disney and Sony would like a few MCU superheroes to meet the new kid on the block.

I absolutely believe Sony could have plans like these, although whether any of them have been cleared with Feige seems unlikely (the deal with Disney expires next year and none of these ventures would be appearing so early). Keep in mind Sony can do all this without the MCU, but it's extremely unlikely the disassociated Sony universe would fare any better than what we saw at Fox (which was run by Tom Rothman and his acolyte), prior Sony ventures, Universal, or Warner Brothers. As I said last time, bringing in Morales now makes absolutely no sense when Peter is still a kid.

Daniel says Marvel's approach to make the X-Men different is by having multiple teams. This sounds a bit like what Hickman did with mutant characters in House of X, although I think he's getting this idea directly or indirectly from Sutton (who has proposed something similar--having various mutant IP launching around the same time, cf, Excalibur and X-Men, with LotLB adding X-Factor and New Mutants).

Let's just take this idea as the reality for a moment and think about what that might mean for the MCU. For non-comicbook readers, I don't think it's clear how much more popular the mutant books are to everything else, meaning there's a good chance that once the X-Men and their various associates appear the relative interest in other Marvel IP could drop. Phase Four is, indeed, cluttered with C-level characters most people have never heard of who can't maintain their own comics. Heavy hitters like the mutants, along with Fantastic Four, could very well push much of the other Marvel IP to the margins. Whether Feige believes this is something to fear or not isn't clear to me, as the Phase Four structure was determined before the Fox IP were available (it received some alteration once the sale was complete, but the principal thrust is based on its absence). I'd imagine the X-Men will herald in the mutant age, but strictly speaking this isn't necessary for IP like Excalibur which only have an ancillary attachment to them. Anyway, food for thought.

It's interesting in retrospect to see how many thematic similarities the Zack Snyder's Justice League films have to Infinity War/Endgame. Both involved time travel to prevent an apocalyptic failure and both involved the sacrifice of key characters. The Russo films are much more coherent and the tone of the MCU is lighter (Snyder doesn't seem aware that it's more impactful to move from a light to dark tone, rather than remain dark all along). We also saw this thematic match in how Batman v Superman and Civil War functioned, with (again) the MCU-version working much better than Snyder's. I've always thought Zack's principal failure was plot (you see this from Christopher Nolan as well)--the concepts are fine, but the execution is filled with holes and confusions that don't show up in the comparable Markus & McFeely scripts.

I am interested to see how WB untangles it's nonsensical universe (if they do). Will they bring things into harmony, or will we have this divergent mess of disconnected films that fail to support one another with an entirely separate narrative off in the kiddy pool of the CW? I have no idea. In theory rising tides lifts all boats, but ever since Snyder/Ayer's vision failed (a problem of plot in my opinion, not the dark tone) WB has been flailing around incoherently.

We haven't had an update to the Joss Whedon/Ray Fisher situation since Jason Momoa's vague comments in mid-September. Unbeknownst to me, because I don't follow John Campea religiously, he accidentally showed a private email from someone with inside info about a month ago that we have a screen grab of. Campea isn't normally a source for anything, but he does know people at WB, so much like the specialized situation of Grace Randolph with DC, this is something that could be credible. Let's go over it:

[Blurred intro paragraph, two lines]

What most people don't understand is that the entire JL experience was an absolutely nightmare. J [Joss] faced unreal expectations and deadlines from the execs almost immediately and a toxic set environment like you wouldn't imagine. You have to understand that ZS [Synder] had a very good relationship with "almost" everyone on set, so his departure was jarring for several reasons. It was their posse and kind of a tight one. It was also a posse that J [Joss] was never really taken into.
Adding to the relentless pressure from everyone from J [Joss] to [Jon] Berg and [seven words blurred out] came something J [Joss] just wasn't expecting. See, The Avengers experience was tough on J [Joss], but everyone there from the execs to the crew to all the cast were all on the same team. Everyone checked their egos at the door and were all dedicated to making the best movie possible for Kevin [Feige], Marvel and the fans. That was the top priority for everyone. Certainly not that everything was roses or that there weren't issues and problems like any production, but everyone was focused on the movie and doing what was best for it. JL was an entirely different experience.
With the exception of a couple of individuals, almost no one on that set cared about the movie. Maybe a better way to put it was that they only cared about the movie in as far as what it was going to do for them and their careers. Who was getting the better framing. Who was getting the choice lines. Who was getting their scenes cut. It was always about them. It just wasn't an environment J [Joss] is accustomed to working in. And frankly it doesn't help that J [Joss] isn't exactly a peacemaker either. It got contentious [nine blurred words] in theaters by deadline. On top of that a few specific people would never pass up the chance to remind J [Joss] that this wasn't his movie. This became a regular bargaining chip whenever certain parties weren't happy with what was happening with their characters or their scenes.
[Blurred closing paragraph, three lines]

There's no mention of Geoff Johns in what we can see, but we know he was on set and had run-ins with Fisher as well. What's above isn't exactly new, but suggests that the conflict between Whedon and Fisher (and perhaps others--Momoa also had content cut) was related to career elements rather than abuse. This is just one person's version of events, but it would explain why in the months following Fisher's complaint no one has come forward with similar complaints from either this or other Whedon productions.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

Deadline (Justin Kroll) reports that Xochitl Gomez will be part of the cast of Doctor Strange 2. The speculation is that she's America Chavez and, while that's not the only possibility, she fits the age range included in the casting call for Chavez (Gomes is 14). If the speculation is correct, it would prove that the casting sheet referenced (from Daniel) is newer than the one The Illuminerdi reported on in January (which also came from Daniel). What this suggests is that the plans for Doctor Strange 2 evolved, almost certainly due to the change in director (we know the script was getting a re-write in February).

Fandom Wire (Andy Signore) claims that Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield are now signed to appear in the third Spider-Man film (if true, confirming Devin Colson's recent article from FW). I've seen people speculate that the site is using Daniel's Patreon for its scoops, but that's not nearly as clear to me as The Direct, The Illuminerdi, etc who are given information directly by him. I believe this particular article is derived from Sutton, who has been talking about this idea since at least May. As Signore has no proven track record as a scooper, we have to take his scoops with grains of salt (his prior Shang-Chi scoop seemed largely derived from a 4chan post). Speaking of FW reminds me of another Marvel-related report from them: the long deleted scoop from James Troughton in January that claimed Sony's Silver & Black would become a TV-series.

After the Signore story dropped, Daniel claimed that Sony might go all-in with the multiverse and do new films with the previous Spider-Men. Sony considers all kinds of projects that go nowhere, so it's possible, but I doubt Daniel has a good source for this information and is just speculating.

Murphy believes Dr. Spencer Smythe (and, possibly, his Spider-Slayer robots), will appear in Spider-Man 3. He doesn't divulge the specific information he was given that drew him to that conclusion, but from the way the article is written, it seems like the Smythe information is solid while the robots are an extrapolation.

Sutton says Ned Leeds will be the Hobgoblin after Spider-Man 3 (based in part on the actor's weight loss), believing part of the reason for this move is for his betrayal to be Peter's emotional loss of innocence (echoing the death of Gwen Stacy). While it's an interesting argument, I don't think it works--what the portrayal would actually echo is Harry Osborn's transformation into the Goblin, and I could see Feige wanting to use a different character for that purpose since the Raimi films already did that (this desire to be distinctive is why we get the limp Michelle romance as opposed to Mary Jane Watson or Gwen--although the latter is probably being saved for Miles). To me the better question is: will Michelle get the Gwen Stacy treatment (as in, die tragically)? I don't think so, as Marvel would fear people would view it as fridging, but there's no other way to really echo the Stacy death.

Murphy discussed a now-deleted purported audition tape for Spider-Man 3. The tape implies Miles Morales will appear in the film, but I'm very dubious of this idea. While the scoop community loves Miles even more than Quake, there's no point in introducing him while Peter Parker is still a teenager. The whole point of the Miles' arc, like most successor characters, is to have the original iteration well established to function as the point of reflection. Tom Holland hasn't reached that point yet--indeed, I'd say he's far from it and I see little need for Marvel to rush to inserting Miles. I will say, just to counter my own point a little, that Kamala Khan is being introduced long before Captain Marvel has been firmly established. That said, that pair is a poor comparison because Kamala isn't a normal successor character--while she's inspired by Carol Danvers, she's actually a Peter Parker-clone, so when she's impacted by Captain Marvel doesn't matter for the kind of character she is (in fact, her similarity to Spider-Man is yet another reason to hold off on Miles).

Speaking of Miles, Conrad says a source tells him that Sony has found their actor for the character. Conrad admits he doesn't know if this is for the MCU or Sony's films. I'm dubious that Conrad has inside sources anymore, but it's more probable that if this is true it's for Sony rather than Marvel.

Sydney Sweeney put it out on social media that she's filming in a secret location for two months and fans quickly put her in Spider-Man 3; others believe she's filming the mini-series The Players Table. We frankly need more information before we assume she's doing something for the MCU.

Tatiana Maslany denies she's She-Hulk. This comes almost a full month after Deadline (Kroll) claimed she had been cast. Kroll is dismissive of her comment, which means he still believes it, and the scoop community (sans Sutton) also puts their faith in Deadline. As far as I'm aware, Kroll is a dependable source, so for now I'll see Maslany's comment as simply not wanting to blow the announcement from Marvel. Personally, I think there could be a better choice, but it does seem like she's pulling a Paul Rudd and denying it until it's announced.

In a deleted post, Comicbook.com claimed 37-year old Matt Lanter had been cast as Moon Knight. Typically when something like this gets pulled it's because it's incorrect and, given that Lanter is not Jewish, that seems likely. However, on occasion an article gets pulled because whoever leaked it demands it--time will tell.

THR (Mia Galuppo) says Danny Ramirez is part of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier in what's called 'a pivotal role'. Without more context, I have no idea what that could be, keeping in mind that the enormous size of the cast at this point makes it difficult to imagine him being pivotal.

Speaking of the show, Murphy believes (through social media activity and a casting call) that Tyler Dean Flores is part of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier cast. I see no reason to disagree with him, but what's more interesting to me is this:

Late last Fall/early last Winter, a casting call was shared for me that indicated Marvel Studios was searching for an Hispanic/Latinx actor to play a supporting role in the series. I couldn’t dig up the communications to find the date, but I know it was around the time we broke the news that Adepero Oduye has joined the series [November]. I know that some other “scoopers” and one Hollywood trade were also in possession of the info and trying to find out who had landed to role as well.

This is an odd bit of information. If the casting call went through the usual channels, Daniel and all the trades would be well aware of it. As far as I know Daniel has never mentioned this particular casting info, and while he does sit on things for periods of time, it's surprising that he's never mentioned it (or farmed it out to his buddies). My assumption is that Murphy saw the list via an agent, as it remains unclear if Daniel shares his info with him. In fact, Murphy accidentally posted a big spoiler on his Discord, but thus far no one has shared what it was (this seems to be information he has exclusively).

The Ronin reports that Veronica Falcon is in the show (based on social media activity). Sure? By and large these casting reports don't mean much to me without an associated character to work with.

Actor Asif Ali confirmed on his Instagram that he's appearing in WandaVision (without revealing the role).

Murphy brought up the rumoured Agents of Atlas Disney+ series, something GWW (Thomas Polito) and HN Entertainment floated in February (on the same day, so I don't know who posted it first)--both gentlemen based the theory largely on Shang-Chi filming in San Francisco (where the Asian-iteration of the team resides). We know that Polito (now at Cinema Spot) gets his info from Daniel, but the latter has never talked about the IP. I remember that LotLB talked about Agents of Atlas even earlier, but I apparently did not write it down at the time--the best I can do is reference this post in January related to this video where Tim says he'd mentioned a few months earlier (October-ish) that Agents of Atlas would appear in the Shang-Chi sequels with the possibility of a spinoff. This is seemingly his own extrapolation of what he'd heard and if he made definitive statements about it afterwards I missed it. While Marvel isn't inherently put off by IP that isn't popular (like Agents of Atlas), and Disney+ is the right fit for Shang-Chi, I remain unconvinced there's an appetite for the show.

This seems as good a time as any to briefly discuss an assumption many have about Shang-Chi: that it's the next Black Panther. Marvel is certainly approaching it that way, but I don't think the two IP are remotely comparable. Here are just a few key differences: 1) There is no shortage of Asian-lead, big budget films (they are rare from Hollywood, but in terms of what matters--the Chinese market--that's not enough to draw people in by itself), 2) Black Panther is a much more popular character than Shang-Chi, 3) Black Panther was aimed at the US market, where African-Americans are a much more significant part of the population (over 12%, with the overly simplified 'Asian' number sitting at 5%--keep in mind Shang-Chi is being aimed at a Chinese audience, not 'Asians'); 4) Black Panther was touching on racial issues that are front and center in the US, while Shang-Chi is giving us a dated, 1970s-era martial arts flick (at a time when you can watch MMA any time you want), making it old fashion and quaint rather than topical. That doesn't mean Shang-Chi won't be a hit, just that it's not uniquely hitting a market the same way Black Panther did.

Back to Shang-Chi news: we have a description of the film's tournament from 4chan (I fixed some of the language below). The substance lightly reflects ideas from this 4channer (January), but the direct source seems to be this 4channer (May)--it's either the same guy or, more likely, cribbed from that post:

I have limited knowledge about the plot of Shang-Chi
Tournament is 16 people. Obviously Shang-Chi and Fah Lo Suee are both in the tournament. Mandarin stacks the deck in his favor so he can be sure to win the rings.
Spiral - 6 armed mutant. Doesn't get a lot of story dedicated to her
Baron Mordo - he doesn't actually fight in the tournament because Wong takes him out, but he wanted the 10 rings to help rid the world of sorcerors. His place in the tournament is taken by Clive Reston, who is eliminated and captured by Mandarin (that's sort of a twist though) Wong sticks around to guide Shang longer than you'd think
Batroc the Leaper, unclear who he is working for but he's definitely a hired gun. Him and Omega Red have a fun dynamic like buddy cops.
Omega Red - needless explanation. Seeks the 10 rings for Russia
T-Ray - some c-list deadpool character who can teleport who gets a weirdly huge amount of focus before being defeated by Shang Chi
A Black Widow named Felicia - not really a character
Whiz Kid [Wiz Kid] - some kind of techno mutant. Develops a good friendship with Shang. Fahlee demolishes him [The poster seems unclear who Whiz Kid is, as the character is not someone who would be fighting in the tournament (he's eleven and in a wheelchair); his appearance in the film was confirmed by a casting sheet put out by Daniel in February]

White Claw - some native american warrior guy? Idk

Daneka - a female Asgardian who has been sent by Valkyrie to investigate and compete in the tournament. She is killed by Omega Red [In the May 4chan post this is Dane the Asgardian]
Avok - a vampire who is the funniest character in the entire movie. Takes out Omega Red due to not having any life force to drain or something?
The other 4 people are just martial artists who may or may not be named. I've seen them have various different names genders and ages at different points in the script. One of them was originally an old man who was really disciplined and was a lesson from Mandarin to Shang, but most recent draft I saw that was cut.
As you can guess, it comes down to Shang-Chi and Fah Lo Suee at the end. Shang defeats her, wins the ten rings. Fin Fang Foom is accidentally unleashed. Mandarin, Fah and Shang defeat him together. Fah and Shang defeat Mandarin

This includes the exact same characters as the 4chan post from May, albeit with the Dane misspelling and a lack of awareness over who Wiz Kid is (the misspelling above comes from the original post). The conclusion of the film is also the same, but the poster cut out the beginning portions and the claim that Fah Lo Suee was in the tournament is the poster's. All-in-all, this is not an insider, just a (poor) imitator.

Daniel claims both a Deadpool 3 and 4 are in development. He does not make it clear if this information comes from Production Weekly (where he gets his info), but it could be so we have to put this in the 'maybe' pile. If it's correct, it suggests the MCU finally knows what they want to do with the character.

Sutton R&D list for Secret Wars (recall that the information they receive is what comics Marvel has asked to see, so what follows are their deductions based on that); it includes things they've said before because it relates to the same thing:

• Wrecking Crew - A Redditor claimed in October that they and Enchantress (below) would appear in Loki; this was followed by LotLB (via TBK, also in October)
• Battleworld (two different types depending on the series) - Comes with any Secret Wars rumours
• Black Suit Spider-Man (specifically described as such to Tim, which is interesting, since it avoids referencing the symbiote or Venom) - This is new (in this way); there's no easy way to integrate the Tom Hardy Venom in this as-such
• Beyonder - Comes as part of any Secret Wars rumours
• Hyperion - He first came up as part of a Squadron Supreme rumour from Rich Johnston in February who said they'd appear in Loki; this was echoed (without attribution) by Daniel in March, who said the IP was in development; Sutton put him on an R&D list in August
• God Emperor Doom (as in, Doctor Doom) - Comes as part of any Secret Wars rumours
• Sheriff Strange (as in, Doctor Strange) - This is new
• Thor Corps - This echoes what LotLB (I believe via TBK in September) put out
• The Illuminati - The group first came up in rumours in January (via Sutton) who said they'd appear in Doctor Strange 2; then in May Sutton revised this and said they would appear in Secret Wars (as he continues to say here); this idea has been repeated by Daniel (and his surrogates) since, beginning in July
• Enchantress - It's widely believed that Cailey Fleming is playing a young Enchantress on Loki; beyond that, the character appeared in rumours on 4chan in January, 2019, for the non-existent Sif show; that October Reddit said she'd be the villain of Loki and appear in Doctor Strange 2 (these all via this link); Reddit then claimed in March that Sophia Di Martino had the role; Sutton put her on an R&D list for either future Thor or Hercules IP in August; finally, in September Sutton said Kathryn Winnick was considered for the role

The Secret Wars rumours are old (many thought Endgame would echo it in some fashion), but the current stream of them goes back to LotLB (TBK) in August, which at the time claimed it would be a three phase arc, but by October (Sutton) said it would be launched off the backs of WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2.

For those unfamiliar with Secret Wars it refers to two different series: the first in the 1980s from Jim Shooter (1984-86) and then from the lauded Jonathan Hickman in 2015. The two stories are very different--in the former an omnipotent being called the Beyonder is at the heart of the plot (which was written at the behest of Mattel to sell toys), whereas the latter is a merging of the various Marvel universes (bringing the Ultimate universe together with the 616, among others). The motivations of both series' are vastly different and when the Russo's refer to them I think they mean Hickman's (a sentiment echoed by others).

More Sutton R&D: repeated that Secret Wars will be like a comicbook crossover with it transpiring slowly over multiple IP before a big finale. Says the event will be various heroes fighting alternate versions of themselves on one of the Battleworlds (including the MCU X-Men facing their Fox counterparts). The finale is 6-7 years away. The list:

• Maximus (Black Bolt's brother) - Has come up previously, attached to the Ms. Marvel IP (with GWW, via Daniel, as well as Reddit saying he was being cast for the show last October, and then Reddit the same thing in January)
• Technopolis - Hasn't come up in rumours before
• Arno Stark - ibid
• Jamie Braddock (Captain Britain's older brother) - Hasn't come up in rumours before
• Maestro - Hasn't come up in rumours before
• Spider-Woman (Tim says probably Jessica Drew, but possibly Julia Carpenter) - I won't revisit every rumour associated with the character, but Julia has come up before, with Sutton implying her back in April in an R&D list that included the team Force Works (a kind of discount West Coast Avengers); Sony owns Julia's rights exclusively, but according to Murphy Sony is making a Jessica Drew Spider-Woman film, so it seems unlikely Julia is being referred to
• Captain Britain - Has come up before (last August LotLB (TBK) said he was coming, then Sutton in November said he'd be part of Excalibur)
• Spider Island - Hasn't come up in rumours before (a caveat in that I think LotLB might have brought it up before, but I'm not positive)
• Molecule Man - Hasn't come up before (Kinda Culty brought him up in speculation about a hypothetical Secret Wars, but that's different than someone offering a scoop)
• Sunfire - Sutton is the only person to bring him up, but in an X-Men context (in May he put him as part of the initial MCU lineup)
• The Grandmaster - While often bandied about for future projects, the only rumour for him previously is from LotLB (TBK) in March where he would appear in a Silver Surfer film
• Darkstar - Has come up from Sutton twice before: first indirectly in April as the Winter Guard group was part of an R&D list, then in August as for either Thor or Hercules IP

It's a fairly distinct list, but we can't make much of it now--more news will have to come out.

This is as good a time as any to mention something I think I've only put out on social media previously: I'm indifferent to Spider-Man and the associated IP. I don't dislike the character, but he doesn't rank very highly. I like some of his villains and I like Jessica Drew (what little I remember of her from the 80s), but that's about it. I thought the first two Raimi films were fine, but skipped the third because it looked awful and didn't bother with the Andrew Garfield outings. I bring this up because my view is in the minority among comicbook fans so it's worth keeping in mind (it may explain my utter indifference to Miles--I do like the aesthetics of Spider-Gwen, but that's detached from who the character is).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

THR (Borys Kit) confirms that Doctor Strange will appear in Spider-Man 3, which is an easy, lateral move by the MCU to have Benedict Cumberbatch take the place of RDJ's Iron Man. After this news dropped, Daniel floated the idea of Spider-Man appearing in Doctor Strange 2 (which I take as speculation, but it's plausible). He followed this up by talking about Venom possibly appearing, which is a popular rumour on the fringes (without better information I don't buy it; LotLB, via their original source, were the first to suggest it that I'm aware of).

Speaking of Daniel, the former made an odd statement:

Since they [MCU] can't have too many cameos in Doctor Strange 2 and because Sony wants more money out of Spider-Man 3 they [MCU] have a plan to include lot of cameos and supporting roles for characters from other Earths in [Spider-Man 3] as well.

What baffles me is "they can't have too many cameos"--why? Marvel has shown no reluctance packing actors into their films, so why would Doctor Strange 2 have a limitation? It's an odd comment to justify the idea of an overstuffed Spider-Man 3. The general idea seems to (again) be derived from Sutton (given how much Daniel hates on him on social media, it's funny to see him continue copying his material).

Natalie Portman talked about Thor 4:

[I]t’s based on the graphic novel of The Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.

Is this confirming the cancer element, or is she just describing the story? Most of the fan sites jumped to the former conclusion and that's the simplest interpretation, but just in front of that quote Portman said she couldn't reveal any details about the film, so I don't think we can be definitive (granting that we've had many actors over the years accidentally spill info in interviews).

We recall the confusion over Hailee Steinfeld's participation in Hawkeye--are grids showing her confirmed in the role old, or has Marvel made an arrangement with Amazon? This remains unclear, as Variety reports that her show on Amazon (Dickinson) has been renewed with her included. Keep in mind, it's not that an actor can't handle multiple shows, but does mean she hasn't been bought out of her contract (so something else would have to be negotiated for her to appear in Hawkeye, which begins filming soon).

The Direct (Tom Drew), via Daniel, dropped a casting list for nine characters for Hawkeye (see below). Murphy commented on this after the fact without adding any significant information (for some reason he says 'it appears' the filming date is November, which is puzzling as that date is listed on casting information itself). Another point of interest for me is that Murphy seems to have seen this casting sheet in June, since he reported on elements from it at that time. From other things we've heard it looks like June is when all the various Disney+ shows started (or resumed) casting, which gives us an idea for how long people like Daniel wait to spread the information. As for the cast list:

[MISHA]
20s – 40s, Male or Female, Eastern European henchman. Speaks with an accent. Strong Supporting/Recurring. [Drew says this is presumably for the Tracksuit Mafia--Eastern Europeans=bad not only fits the source material, but seems to be where the American entertainment is leaning these days]
[BELLA]
Female, white, 8 years old. Precocious, daring and confident with a sense of humor. [It seems clear there is some sort of flashback or series of flashbacks in the show, so this is either the younger iteration of a present-day character or someone purely from Kate Bishop's past; Drew doesn't share this opinion, believing they are present-day kids living in Hawkeye's apartment ala the comics]
[BRADY]
Male, white, 9 years old. Energetic and sweet. [See above]
[HEATHER]
Female, white, Midwestern, 26 years old. Smart & scrappy, does what she needs to in order to survive. [Drew thinks this is attached to the younger characters--I wonder if she's part of what I think are flashbacks]
[ROSE]
Female, 8 years old, Deaf, Indigenous. Independent, athletic & bright. Small supporting. Please note that the dialogue in the audition scene can be spoken in English or signed in ASL (American Sign Language) if the actor knows that language. [Everyone assumes this is Echo in flashbacks]
[RICHARD]
40s - 50s yr old male, Indigenous, American. A loving father and fierce protector. [Assumed to be Echo's father, although Drew speculates he's Red Wolf from the source material]
[MARY]
Female, late 30s - early 40s, open ethnicity. Highly professional & ambitious career woman. No nonsense. Recurring [Drew speculates she's Madame Masque; what's really strange about this is his colleague claimed the role was confirmed in the show a week or so ago--if that's the case, surely they saw a casting list that was unambiguous, meaning this couldn't also be that character. So, either the previous article was using poor information or Drew isn't reading the posts on his own site before speculating (neither is a good look for The Direct)]

[DETECTIVE SHERMAN]

40s, Male, Open Ethnicity, New York City Detective. Recurring [No guesses for this one]
[ALEX]
Female or Male, 30s–50 [Contextually it seems like Murphy believes this is Grills, Clint's neighbour]

The production dates are listed as November to May. Most interesting to me is that the show is listed as episodic--I hope that's not the case, as I generally despise episodic television (granting that I don't think they mean it in the way it used to be done, where every episode was groundhog day as previous events didn't matter).

Something I find interesting--and its a common phenomena--is that even though Clint's life in the MCU is very different from his life in the comics, most of the fan coverage is copy-pasting the source material without much thought. How can Clint go from his happy family life to his single living in an apartment? While his wife wouldn't be pleased with his Ronin activities, Clint was frankly killing bad guys for SHIELD long before that and he has kids in the MCU, so it's difficult to simply shift the character from a state of happy family life (thanks Joss Whedon) to the bachelor pad of Fraction's run. Marvel is all about simplifying when they translate stories, so I'm curious to see what they do with this translation from source to film (or, in this case, TV). I'd actually be happy to lose Clint's family entirely, but I don't think Marvel will go that way.

Social media activity has people speculating that comedian Alyssa Limperis is in Loki. On the heels of this, an article about Sasha Lane seems to confirm speculation via IMDB that she'll appear in the series. I have no strong reactions to either.

Fandom Wire (Devin Colson) is claiming Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in talks to appear in Spider-Man 3. This seems unlikely given that filming begins this month (if real it would suggest only cameos). Again, I don't know what including the older iterations really does for the MCU, but certainly Sony would want it. This idea echoes frequent rumours (Sutton was the first that I'm aware of).

Sutton says Taskmaster will be a Deadpool villain and be R-rated with him. I have no idea what the point of that would be, granting that I think little of Taskmaster (I also believe Deadpool has a limited shelf-life as its own IP). That doesn't mean I'm dismissing the rumour out of hand, just expressing my disinterest if it's true.

4chan claims Millie Bobbie Brown is joining Thor 4, but fans have put her in every Marvel production under the sun, so this amounts to nothing more than speculation.

More 4chan (I've kept the poster's writing as-is):

Spider-Man 3, is going to be similar to John wick 3, where it’s Peter vs everyone. It’s also going to be one of the darker movies in the MCU. [This sounds preposterous]
Squirrel girl is being developed as a Disney plus show. Alison Brie and Anna Kendrick are 2 of the actors that marvel wants, but they aren’t definite choices. [Kendrick has been a popular fan choice for Squirrel Girl forever]
Marvel Max, Marvels R rated brand is real, and Disney wants John landgraf to be in charge of it. However he’s hesitant to leave FX.
Aaron Paul got approached by marvel
Brie Larson will show up in Ms marvel at some point. [I have no idea why anyone--and that includes reputable scoopers--thinks this is news]
Deadpool vs predator is an idea that’s been thrown around, since Disney wants to revive the franchise.
Marvel wants morbius to be in a blade movie. [Why? Unless the film is a success no one knows who or what Morbius is]
Sony wants to create a kraven the Hunter tv series. It would tie into the SUMC, as well as the MCU Spider-Man movies. [There's literally nothing preventing them from doing this, but given how leaky Sony is and we haven't heard this idea from anyone else, it's clearly a product of the poster's imagination]
Moon knight is going to make Marc the first MCU character that is truly flawed.
Marvel wants to bring the punisher back as a Hulu show. [This is an old LotLB rumour]
Marvel wants Keith David to voice a big villain, but they can’t think of who.

Just like the post below, this looks is a fan's wishful thinking. The same poster put up something very similar a day or two later, but it's all the same kind of thing so I haven't included it.

Even More 4chan:

Shang Chi: Ronny Chieng is playing Clive Reston. Fala Chen and Florian Munteanu are playing Leiko Wu and Black Jack Tarr as rumored. Benedict Wong is returning as Wong. Michelle Yeoh is playing Shang Chi’s mother.
Eternals: Dan Stevens is playing Kro. Harry Styles and David Strathairn are playing Eros and Zuras.
Spider-Man: subtitle is Home Invasion, villains are the Sinister Six which include Vulture, Mysterio, Shocker, Scorpion, Electro, and Kraven. Keanu is the top choice for Kraven, no deal finalized yet. J.K. Simmons is coming back as JJJ. [Pretty hard to have no one signed for Kraven when you're about to start filming....]
Love and Thunder: Christian Bale is playing Gorr. Goldblum and Dinklage are coming back. Ryan Gosling voices Beta Ray Bill. Guardians are only in the beginning.
Multiverse of Madness: Wanda is the main villain, as she’s controlled by Mephisto, who Evan Peters is playing in WandaVison. Anne Hathaway and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are the top choices for Clea and Voodoo.
Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion is subtitle. Jude Law is coming back. Monica Rambeau, Rhodes, Kamala, Hill, Talos, and Fury are supporting characters. Abigail Brand is introduced. Keira Knightly and Kate Winslet are being looked at for the role.
Ant-Man 3: Jonathan Majors is playing Kang of course. Emma Fuhrmann is back as Cassie, as is Luis and Janet. Reed Richards is being cast for a supporting role.

This is someone's fan casting (the obsession that Reddit and 4chan have for Ryan Gosling is amazing). One of the mistakes these posters make is thinking that Marvel only casts A-listers, which is actually something they steer away from often (presumably to keep costs down and make it easier to get long term commitments).

One of the stranger things to happen of late is that Grace Randolph has begun to parrot Sutton's old headlines (eg), which Sutton see's as verification for his own material. For those who don't know, or need a refresher, Randolph is a bitter ex-employee of Marvel and has repeatedly floated unsubstantiated rumours about the MCU that have been wrong (eg). She is not a reliable Marvel source, despite the fact that her DC information is sometimes credible. Is Sutton aware of this issue with her? I don't think he is--from what I've seen, he's shown little awareness of the predilections of the various scoopers and news-peddlers in this arena and he's strongly impacted by personal bias (eg; I'll go through this example below). Midnight's Edge has also made this mistake with Randolph, assuming that if she was credible in one arena, she must be generally credible. Andre also has Sutton's lack of sophistication when it comes to sources (he infamously used WGTC once).

Let's go back to that Sutton example I referenced to go over what I mean. First, Sutton sets up a strawman (this term has become a meme, but it means what it means):

The theory is this: Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will recast any Marvel character that was originally handled by another company or producer. Therefore, Daredevil and the Punisher will have to return with different actors. Apparently, Feige is so egocentric and petty that he needs actors of his own choosing, no matter if they excelled previously. Wrong.

Sutton is framing it this way because it suits his subsequent argument (the reasoning offered is frankly ridiculous--no one has suggested Feige's ego is why he does what he does). Sutton says the above is refuted by the use of J. K, Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, and Jamie Foxx as Electro. He then transparently shows his cards by showing a picture of Chloe Bennet at the bottom of his post, someone he's convinced will appear as Quake in the MCU. So what's wrong with the above? It ignores context.

Agents of SHIELD began production in 2012 and Marvel Entertainment (the TV shows under Jeph Loeb) continue to this day in Helstrom. Feige has ignored the ME material completely, despite the ease of which it could be acknowledged (particularly in the early days of Netflix's booming popularity). Feige ignoring them isn't a theory, it's a fact--it's an intentional snub and evidence that Feige wanted nothing to do with anything Loeb had his hand in. Secondly, when the deal was cut with Sony for Spider-Man, Feige made it abundantly clear that anything made by Sony (ie Venom) had nothing to do with the MCU--that's why we have that delightful interview with he and Amy Pascal that's become a meme. That decision doesn't involve Loeb, leaving you with one of two conclusions: 1) he was ordered by either Alan Horn or Bob Iger to maintain that separation, or 2) that's what he wanted for his own reasons. Thirdly, he's said he wants to do something completely different with the Fox IP--he said it in 2019 when no one was telling him what to do creatively. While his comment is about story, it also means he does not want to lean on what Fox has done already (otherwise it's not different). What does this tell us? Feige doesn't want to repeat what's been done before and he doesn't want to acknowledge anything Loeb has done. How does this translate into the actors above?

There's three important factors in the reprising actors Sutton is referring too: 1) Two of them involve Sony's impute (for those who think they have no say in casting, they picked Tom Holland as Spider-Man when he was the MCU's second choice; other choices like Batalon, Zendaya, and Harrier fit Amy Pascal's tendencies), 2) While the actors are the same, the characters are not (the lighthearted Jameson from the Raimi films is not the Alex Jones-clone in Far From Home), 3) Deadpool is Bob Iger's decision--Iger couldn't stop going on and on about it as he pitched the purchase of Fox to stockholders--you can see how difficult following this has been for Feige, as nothing of substance has come out about that IP since the purchase (a third film hasn't even been teased with a logo like Blade).

So, to dovetail back to Sutton's point: could Feige re-use actors in the same role from the hands of another creative team? Of course he could. Is it likely? No. Thus far we've only seen reprisals in a Sony context. Could that change? Sure (there are good economic reasons to try to connect the Fox IP to the MCU, as I discussed last time), but until it does it's speculation with poor foundations. What none of this does is suggest a warming from Feige towards anything Jeph Loeb had his hand in (ie, the incessant Quake rumours). The issue has never been whether its possible, but if its probable. Scoopers love Bennet and that seems to be the real reason so many push her future involvement.

This mental Olympics is something I've seen before (and I'm not picking on Sutton specifically, as Murphy and others are guilty of doing this as well)--where a piece of evidence fits the person's desire so strongly they ignore anything that works against it (classic confirmation bias). We've seen this when people discuss the rights to Namor or the the direct return of the Netflix characters (there's evidence to argue one way, but the predominant and better evidence goes against what they want). In the latter case the argument being made has changed considerably, but you still hear the former repeated.

The news that the inherited Marvel Fox IP are going to be rebranded to 'Marvel Legacy' opens one of two doors. Let me first admit my own personal preference: I don't want the MCU to associate with the inconsistent mess that are the Fox films. Here are the options: 1) This is as far as Feige will go to 'associate' the IP with the MCU without connecting it to the Fox films (providing 'added value' to what Disney purchased), 2) This is a hint about the Multiverse connecting things to the Fox films (being a more direct 'added value' to what's seemingly redundant IP). Normally I would land heavily on option #1 given Feige's approach (described above), but he worked on every Marvel project from 2000-07, regardless of the company behind it, so had his hand in the original three X-films (this applies to the Raimi trilogy as well). Before anyone gets too excited, that applies to Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk film, which despite Universal's involvement in Edward Norton's loose sequel has been utterly ignored. Whatever connections Feige had to these earlier films, I still think the most likely answer is #1 (particularly if, as we've heard, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart weren't open to reappearing as their iconic characters in the MCU), but a tiny door remains open for #2.

This is tangential, but was eye-opening to me so thought I'd share it. For about 24-hours Murphy's home page was set-up incorrectly so that the view counts for articles was visible. This was quite shocking for me because, outside of select scoops from Murphy himself, the counts are incredibly low given his high profile (my own site hits those numbers--keep in mind his overall traffic is higher). The mistake has since been fixed, but I've often wondered just how much viewership the various fansites get and what this makes clear is just how niche written coverage is.

I'm getting concerned with Marvel's casting approach in Phase Four. I'm not saying it's conclusively bad, just that I'm seeing a lot of choices that have no chance to get casual fans interested--casting that's leaning entirely on the brand. This approach is playing with fire and I wonder when the MCU will get burned for doing it. I can't help but think about recent failures like Julian Dennison in Deadpool 2, Natalie Reyes in Terminator: Dark Fate, Isa Briones in Star Trek: Picard, etc. These were actors no one was familiar with who, in these particular titles, showed little to no acting ability and weighed down the IP around them. It's worth noting none of these actors were leads. I should be clear that, at the moment, the Disney+ casts are where the alarm bells are ringing, as other than The Eternals the film casting remains much safer (your opinion of the popularity of the Eternals cast may vary from mine and if the film was made ten years ago I'd have a different opinion). It's much easier to fail on a streaming service (where numbers aren't public and you can pretend all is well), but I am curious to see if this trend continues in Phase Five.

A final tangent: it's pretty crazy that Disney is going to eat another bomb on Disney+ by putting Soul on the streaming service. The Pixar film cost over 150 million and will recoup virtually none of that. Both it and Mulan are coming from the core of Disney's production and speaks poorly to those in charge--you have to wonder if internal shakeups are on order following those failures.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

We haven't had substantive Eternals news in ages beyond the date change, however, a purported toy leak indicates that a previous such leak in April was correct and that Kro is one of the villains. This is further proof that a 4chan post from December (link above) is at least on the right track (purporting a relationship between Kro and Thena and the story ending with Ajak sacrificing herself to save the world from the Celestials--granted the relationship, given Kro's monstrous appearance, seems far-fetched--Marvel isn't making hentai).

Murphy talks about images from the filming of Shang-Chi that show Fin Fang Foom's lair echoing the comicbook version (isolated and protected by warriors). He doesn't outright refute Conrad's recent claims (the acrimony between the two seems to have calmed down), but pulls away from the latter's idea of sorcerers protecting Foom, saying instead that the warriors have abilities they get from chi rather than magic (this is a debunking without saying it). Given how poorly Mulan went down with the lucrative Chinese audiences (a film that leaned heavily into chi), I wonder how much Marvel will push that angle. Regardless, Murphy adds that Michelle Yeoh's character is one of Foom's protectors (suggesting a limited role). Conrad's idea about Mordo's involvement wasn't implausible, but there's no substance supporting it now (and how would that integrate with a Shang-Chi story?).

We finally have Kamala Khan's lead: Deadline reports that Canadian newcomer Iman Vellani has landed the role. She's the daughter of Pakisani parents, is 18 or 19, and grew up in the GTA (for non-Canadians: the Greater Toronto Area). For those unfamiliar with the GTA, the largest minority group are of Desi/South Asian descent (whatever terminology you prefer). Canadians have a fairly neutral accent as English speakers, and given the short amount of time before filming, I expect her to keep it rather than learn a Jersey accent (where Kamala is from in the comics). The Vellani choice reminds me a little of the Isa Briones for Star Trek: Picard (although presumably Vellani is a better actor--she can hardly be worse). Since this is Vellani's first acting gig, I expect the show to lean on more experienced actors to keep the full weight off her shoulders.

It's interesting that, thus far, Ms. Marvel hasn't rolled out any big names to draw in casual viewers (either in terms of actors or MCU connections). I have to believe that's coming, and I don't mean the expected cameo from Captain Marvel, I just have no idea what that hook is going to be. One of the interesting aftermaths of the Vellani announcement is that an actress who failed to land the role posted the script she was given on social media (a similar act to the actress who posted their audition last fall). One of the things this posting did was complete the debunking of Conrad's claim in January that the casting process for the character was nearly complete (the date on the posted script is June).

The Direct (Tom Drew, although it bears repeating that I believe this comes from Daniel via Production Weekly) says Ms. Marvel is casting four more supporting characters:

The first casting is titled SHEIKH, being the sheikh at Kamala's local mosque:
Male, 50-70s, Middle Eastern, he's the Sheikh at the local Mosque. Warm, kind and understanding, he's always there to lend an ear.
The next casting is titled FARIHA:
Female, 30s, Sudanese, smart and intimidating. She is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants, no matter what (or who) gets in her way.
The third casting is titled ADAM:
Male, 30s, Egyptian, Sudanese, Arab, Muslim, he's a big guy, physically intimidating at first glance, but comedic, funny and smart.
The fourth and final casting is titled AUNTIE RUBY:
Female, Pakistani, 50s-70s, vibrant, spirited and animated. She's always in the know and never at a loss for words.

They guess the first is Sheikh Abdullah and the second Ayesha, but are unsure of the other two. The cast of the show is getting very large and there's nothing yet to pull me in.

Further bits of the recent Moon Knight casting sheet have come out (most of it seen via The Direct), which added the nicknames for the two previously discussed characters ("Chad" for what's assumed to be Frenchie, and "Constance" for the other). A third character ("Bill") also appears--I'm not sure why The Direct ignored him, but here's the descriptor: "35-50, all ethnicities, male. A soldier, leading his unit." I'd guess this is either Marc Spector's Force Recon boss or his leader when he's a mercenary (probably the latter).

Back in July a Reddit post claimed Oliver Jackson Cohen was being eyed for the part of Moon Knight and he was finally asked about it: he said while interested, no one had contacted him about the role. It's possible Cohen is under an NDA and can't talk about it--he certainly makes more sense in the role than the other speculation from more notable people--but for now I think we have to take him at his word.

The Direct (Aeron Mer Eclarina) says Hawkeye will feature the villain Madame Masque and I see no reason to question the idea. An aside related to The Direct: Pierre Chanliau seems to have finally removed himself as a Reddit moderator on the Marvel boards (either he realized it's a conflict of interest or someone realized it for him--whatever the case, it should have happened the moment he joined The Direct).

This was followed by The Illuminerdi (Nebens) confirming that Echo is being cast:

The casting call is under the name “Malia,” with the description of “deaf, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous and/or Latinx, independent, athletic and bright”. The audition scene’s dialogue is also set to be signed in American Sign Language.

As pointed out in the article, the idea of Echo coming is not new, as we've known that since June (just not to which show). I think there's potential for Madame Masque to be an interesting villain; it will be interesting to see if Echo receives significant attention or is just a tertiary role to check a representation box.

Fandom Wire (Devin Colson) claims that Mockingbird will appear on the show. The site does not generally break MCU news, so I'm cautious in accepting it, but the character fits the Hawkeye IP (what they'll do with her, I have no idea, since the show's intention seems to be putting Barton out to pasture). I'll credit Colson as being one of the few people within the fandom who accepts that the Marvel Entertainment shows will not be incorporated into the MCU (for those who don't know, we had a version of Mockingbird on Agents of SHIELD). If this is accurate the reasoning for including her is probably to avoid having a male character train a young women on his own. This role would suit Kathryn Winnick, assuming there's any truth to the rumour that Marvel is interested in her.

After these articles came out the full casting sheet appeared and I'll include items not listed above (this is not an updated casting sheet, but the same that started appearing in July; for whatever reason The Illuminerdi incorrectly posted the age range for Arek and that information itself was at least weeks earlier than that, if not longer):

Start date: October 2020
An adaptation of the 'Hawkeye' comic book series, will introduce the world to Kate Bishop, Hawkeye's protégé, and explore Clint's time as his darker and nefarious avatar, 'Ronin', and the consequences of his actions.

[Kate Bishop]
Female, 18-Early 20s, Lead
Hawkeye's protégé
Set Hailee Steinfeld

[Arek]
Male, 26-35, Supporting
Eastern European

[Female Role]
Female, 40s-Early 50s, Supporting
Flashy role opposite Hawkeye

The latter role might be where Fandom Wire is getting Mockingbird from (although she's not identified as such here--her age suggests she's not meant to stick around very long (it's older than Adrienne Palicki, who played the role in AoS).

The other interesting thing is the confirmation of Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop (which is what TI said in the link above). When that story came out (July) Conrad said the deal wasn't signed and Jack McBryan (The Direct) said it was based on old information. This poses the question: is this from an old casting sheet? I don't know--if the film date is in October it's odd that Marvel wouldn't have announced Steinfeld already (the only reason I can think of is to try and save some buzz for the Kamala Khan casting, but as an unknown, there's not much buzz to generate). Swinging back to Steinfeld for a moment: if this is accurate it suggests Marvel bought her out of her exclusive deal with Amazon, which is a surprising investment in a character whose popularity with general audiences remains unknown (there are MCU true believers--virtually all the fan sites--who believe anything Marvel does will work because everything has worked so far--I don't embrace that perspective--the MCU will have a failure sooner or later).

This set photo has people speculating that Verity Willis will appear in Loki (largely due to her appearance, particularly her red hair and tattoos). The character is one of Loki's love interests in the comics and her abilities are to see through illusions and lies. This is the first serious hint we've had at a love interest and makes me think it's less likely we'll see Enchantress (another of his romantic partners) unless she's a villain.

Sutton says Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) is in negotiations to appear in the Nick Fury series, which is something I would have assumed regardless (he's the only living MCU character she's connected too and in the comics she and SWORD are tied together).

Sutton has firmed up his idea about the connection between Sony's Marvel films and the MCU: a source tells him that the Sony films will connect to Tom Holland's films, but not the MCU beyond that. How that would work I have no idea--in terms of logic it's a difficult sell, but this might be purely how Sony is trying to frame things. A lot of Sutton's information regarding Marvel/Sony has a strong Sony slant (I assume it's because his sources at Sony are better than those at Marvel).

Speaking of Sony, THR (Borys Kit) broke the bizarre story that soon-to-be 53-year old Jaime Foxx is in negotiations to return as Electro in Spider-Man 3. To call this strange is an understatement--his appearance as-is would canonize the Andrew Garfield films which, while something Sony surely wants, would be bizarre for Feige to accept. I can imagine, for fiscal reasons, Disney pushing Feige to use the multiverse to canonize the Fox Marvel films in order to profit from the inherited IP (however much I'd prefer them to remain their own disjointed mess), but to give that to Sony as well would require something significant in return the other way. Kinda Culty (and others) are speculating he'll be either another version of Electro or (in the former's case) a different character altogether (these ideas are based off a deleted post on Instagram by the actor). I think if he's not the same iteration of Electro it makes far more sense for him to play another character entirely (it's extremely weird to play two versions of the same character).

This is tangential, but as a comicbook adaptation this is as good a place as any to discuss it. Millennium Films is making a Red Sonja movie that will begin production in 2021. A few notes for those unfamiliar with the IP

• The character was created by Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) in the short story "The Shadow of the Vulture", which is a work of historical fiction where she has a supporting role next to Gottfried Von Kalmbach
• 1973 Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith introduced the character (mixed in with aspects of another Howard character, Dark Agnes de Chastillon, aka The Sword Woman, who starred in three short stories of historical fiction), transporting her to Conan's Hyperborian setting and giving her the now iconic look; the comic version of the character is what the film is based on
• 1985 Bridgette Nielsen starred as the title character in a terrible film
• 1997-98 The character appeared in the Conan the Adventurer show
• 2016 An animated film appeared

Millennium has been trying to make this film since at least 2008, with the fumbling Avi Lerner at the helm (among other things he was responsible for the unwatchable Jason Momoa Conan the Barbarian in 2011). The film nearly got underway in 2018 with Bryan Singer at the helm (a choice as clueless as one can imagine), but MeToo saved us from that fate (Lerner has his own MeToo issues, but to no effect). Jill Soloway is now the writer/director of the film and its unclear if she'll go the Gail Simone route or if she'll remain a more gritty, grounded character. While there's a lot of potential with the IP, with Lerner in charge and a director with no background in the genre, my expectations are very low.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)