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.
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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).
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)
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