Marvel News & Notes

I haven't commented on the confirmation (almost a month ago) from Feige that Fantastic Four was on its way from director Jon Watts (who, presumably, will leave the Spider-Man franchise in order to do so). I'm not completely sold on Watts, because I thought Far From Home was a step down from Homecoming, but the former isn't bad by any means. I hadn't commented on it because we knew the film was coming in November, so the only news was the director. I'd heard the prediction that Watts would direct Fantastic Four before, but I can't find it in my archive, which likely means the prediction came from a source I don't typically take seriously (even Google couldn't resolve it). In terms of the scoopers, when Watts came up, it was usually in a Nova context (from Sutton in particular). Until we know about what kind of film this will be, there's not much to say about it.

An initial toy leak for The Eternals had an interesting connotation:

Gentle, charismatic and exemplary, Ikaris, in addition to flying, has super strength and casts rays of cosmic energy through his eyes. Gilgamesh, the strongest and kindest of the Eternals, and Thena became a couple after certain events in the past separated them from the other Eternals

This was followed by a much more comprehensive description from t-shirt company Redwolf:

Ikaris is the tactical leader and most powerful Eternal and takes pride in keeping the other Eternals safe. Moral, kind and charismatic, Ikaris boasts the power of incredible strength, flight and the ability to project beams of intense cosmic energy from his eyes. When the monstrous Deviants return after centuries, Ikaris leads the charge to unite the scattered Eternals to stop the new threat.

Sersi is the Eternal with an affinity for humanity. Sersi is as happy working as a museum curator as she is saving humans from the threat of the Deviants. Sersi has the ability to manipulate matter, changing the makeup of any non-sentient material she touches. She's also been in love with Ikaris for centuries, and helps him to recruit the Eternals for one last mission.

Ajak is the spiritual leader of the Eternals. Her wisdom has helped guide the team since they arrived here from their home planet to help defend humanity from the Deviants and to help humans advance to the modern civilization that they live in today. Ajak can not only heal humans and Eternals alike, but she is able to communicate with the Celestials as well.

Phastos is blessed with the power of invention. He is able to create whatever he can imagine provided that he has enough raw materials at his disposal. Over the centuries, Phastos has helped nudge humanity forward technologically while always keeping his brilliance hidden in the shadows.

Makkari is the fastest woman in the universe. She uses her cosmically powered super-speed to scout planets for the Eternals, and as the only deaf Eternal, the sonic boom that accompanies her cosmic running does not affect her.

Druig can use cosmic energy to control the minds of men. Druig has become withdrawn from the other Eternals because he disagrees with how they've interacted with mankind over the centuries. Aloof and powerful, at times it's hard to determine whether he's friend of foe.

Gilgamesh is the strongest and kindest member of the team. He becomes Thena's de facto partner when the events of the past exile them from the rest of the team. Capable of projecting a powerful exoskeleton of cosmic energy, Gilgamesh is a fierce warrior who has become legendary for his fights with Deviants throughout history.

Thena, a fierce warrior more comfortable in battle than any other place, she has the ability to use cosmic energy to form any handheld weapon she can think of. Often surly and aloof, she forges an unlikely friendship with Gilgamesh that spans centuries.

Kingo is the Eternal with the power to project cosmic energy projectiles with his hands. Over the centuries, he has become enamored with the idea of fame. In present day, he's a famous Bollywood star who must leave his life of wealth and celebrity to help the team repel the new Deviant threat.

And finally, there Sprite - who appears to be a 12-year old girl, Sprite has the ability to cast lifelike illusions. Her friendship with Sersi hides a world-weary sadness because she's been treated like a child by humanity for centuries. But Sprite is much stronger and cleverer than she appears, which will come in handy as while they battle with the Deviants.

What's interesting about the first leak is that we'd had no hint of a relationship between Gilgamesh and Thena, but the Redwolf descriptions make it clear this is simply a friendship. Otherwise there's not much to glean from this, outside of no mention of Black Knight and confirmation that we're getting the monstrous iteration of the Deviants. I'm concerned with the idea of the Eternals helping humans advance their civilization--I'm not a fan of taking historical invention and advancement and saying some imagined being was responsible. We also run into the Wonder Woman problem where we'll be wondering why the Eternals have ignored various calamities throughout human history (if, as implied, they are so involved with its development). I suspect the MCU will explain that away rather than ignore it, but it does need to be addressed.

In light of these leaks, K. C. Walsh (GWW) says he heard the Deviants are shapeshifters (which seems redundant given the Skrulls, but maybe they will be the ones responsible for Secret Invasion), and that the Celestials are the MacGuffin the Eternals are sworn to protect.

Carlos, a self-proclaimed scooper I've never heard of, says Agnes (ie, Agatha Harkness) and Nightmare are the villains of WandaVision. This is an old rumour and without anything further it's hard to put much stock into it.

Sutton echoes a Lauder report that:

[Keanu Reeves] undisclosed role is for "a series involving Ghost Rider." Last week I leaked that a Ghost Rider TV program was once again being discussed for Disney+, this time part of a planned merger with Hulu. Reeves as Ghost Rider, namely the '70s Johnny Blaze incarnation, would no doubt set the Internet aflame.

It's important to note that Sutton is speculating that Reeves is Ghost Rider, not Lauder. I've heard this idea before, but not from any of the usual suspects. The last time Sutton addressed Reeves in the MCU was in July when he said nothing had been decided about what role he would play.

Speaking of Lauder, he also claims Marvel is in talks with Jon Bernthal to return as the Punisher. This idea isn't unique to Lauder, although I believe this is the first time someone has claimed talks have occurred (the rights to the character won't return to Marvel until late January, so grains of salt required). I've gone over my own issues with bringing back the Netflix characters (the uneven quality mixed with the inchoate continuity), however, if we see Charlie Cox back then Marvel could go back to the well (assuming these aren't just memberberry cameos). The easiest way to avoid the aforementioned issues would be to make the characters different iterations via the Multiverse.

Daniel claims RDJ is being sought for a flashback or AI voice for Armor Wars. I can understand the MCU wanting him to do it, but will he? It's unclear. One of the major issues with RDJ, besides his level of interests, is his cost. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Daniel also claims Young Avengers will have the biggest Disney+ budget--as a team-film it's hard to imagine anything else. It's going to be interesting to see what (if anything) will change her if the response to the various parts of the team is underwhelming beforehand (imagine if, for instance, Ms. Marvel is poorly received).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

Sutton says we're in for R-rated supernatural shows from Marvel (my comments in pink):

...unlike other Disney+ series, these programs will be given an R-rated injection. ... Hulu is under the full control and mostly owned by Disney; by 2024, Comcast will lose its 33% stake to Disney. By making Hulu available through a parental lock, Disney+ will solve its problem of including its 18-and-up IPs to its main streaming service. Discussions are early but ideas are being tossed about [This general idea about Hulu being the platform for R-rated material has been consistent with Sutton and LotLB (TBK)]. Among them:

Tomb of Dracula: This is based on the moody, critically acclaimed cult Marvel comic book of the '70s. If it's greenlit, it will be tied in with the Blade theatrical reboot. [Sutton said the same thing back in May]

Adventure Into Fear: Taking its title from the short-lived Marvel Comics series (only 31 issues over five years) that once housed Morbius, this is currently being envisioned as an anthology of sorts, a revolving door of various Marvel horror characters such as Man-Thing; Marvel Zombies; and Satana (more comics accurate than how she was in Helstrom). This is also what Loeb was calling his horror line for Hulu. [Back in May of 2019 LotLB (TBK) said the various Loeb projects of the time were leading into this (link ahead), believing at the time it was part of the MCU; a Redditor this February made a somewhat similar claim for a film in 2024/25, except it's the Midnight Sons project--see below; Man-Thing is a bit different as Daniel said back in October of 2019 that a project was in development for Disney+--he's never repeated the idea, so it's possible he plucked it from LotLB (who he friendly with at the time)]

Deathlok: Technically not horror, but dark, violent science fiction, this futuristic character appeared on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by J. August Richards. If Deathlok is produced, he will be recast. In the comic books, several people have been equipped with the Deathlok cybernetic tech so any changes would easily be explained away. [The source for this one is an old Deadline rumour from April of 2019 via genre editor Geoff Boucher who isn't really an MCU scooper--no one has ever echoed the idea--I have a theory that Boucher erroneously thought because Deathlok #1 was being researched for the Grapplers (who will appear in Falcon and the Winter Soldier) that the IP itself was coming]

Clea: Doctor Strange's sorceress girlfriend could either have her own show or share one with Jericho Drumm, otherwise known as Brother Voodoo (more recently, Doctor Voodoo) in Strange Tales. Sources add that Voodoo will probably get the series nod as he's more marketable, especially because of his name. [This is an old LotLB (TBK) scoop from August, 2019, with the difference being that Sutton (last December) said Voodoo would spin off Doctor Strange 2 and then Clea from Voodoo (same link), whereas TBK said they would have a joint show called Strange Tales. It's not clear to me that Voodoo is more marketable--while the name is striking, he's not a 'first', whereas Clea would be the first sorceress introduced in this way]

Ghost Rider: The Midnight Sons may be introduced in one of the new Blade movies, as I scooped here on August 21, but Marvel Studios see him as the perfect vehicle for a mature TV show while making theatrical appearances as well with his freakish partners in the Midnight Sons. [Murphy joined the chorus that the character was coming in May; Sutton has been pretty consistent with Ghost Rider, saying he'll be Johnny Blaze, but adding in July that Gabriel Luna would return to play his iteration as well; Sutton has also stuck to Blade leading into Midnight Sons (although the membership has varied--he also doesn't say here, as he did in August, that Blade 2 will lead into the project, although I think its implicit]

Another Sutton post that, like the above, is a tweak of older scoops. These are the points from it:

• A trilogy planned for Black Knight (post-Eternals)
• The character will crossover with Captain Britain and Excalibur

The idea of a Black Knight film is something insider Roger Wardell scooped two years ago; LotLB (TBK) said in August of 2019 that he'd appear as part of an Excalibur trilogy, an idea Sutton repeated in November and again this July. For Sutton this is a new declaration--a Black Knight trilogy--but the idea of a solo film had been planted earlier. If true it's an interesting commitment to Kit Harrington, whose film ventures have consistently failed. It's also not clear from the scoop if his love interest from Eternals (Sersi) will follow him around--that's tended to be the case in Marvel, but not something I'd want to see for Black Knight (much like Harrington, Gemma Chan also doesn't have a track record of film success, cf for both).

Sutton says Firestar will be a romantic rival for Peter Parker once he hits college in Spider-Man 4, as well as serve as his introduction to mutants. This idea is an old LotLB (TBK) scoop from August, 2019, which Daniel and then Conrad echoed. Sutton's first comment on the idea, that I'm aware of, was from this June when he said she was coming to the MCU (same link). He then said she'd be a member of a New Warriors show in November (that doesn't inherently contradict the Spider-Man 4 idea).

Sutton added that Spider-Man will put on his iconic black suit in the first college film. His doesn't explain how this will mesh (if at all) with what Sony has done with Venom, but the suit is intended to be the Symbiote.

Sutton says Felicia Hardy (aka Black Cat) is planned for Spider-Man 4 (for those keeping track, she's been on Amy Pascal's Sony slate for years--either on her own or with Silver Sable). Back in May Sutton said the Black Cat and Silver Sable project would be on Disney+ (this doesn't inherently contradict this new idea, but is food for thought)--Sutton has shifted all the Pascal-lead Sony projects to Disney+ (the others being Silk and Spider-Woman). It's worth noting Black Cat (along with Silver Sable and Silk) are not particularly popular characters and in the case of the former two best known for their striking appearance--an element both Sony and Marvel would likely move away from. I bring this up because I never thought they were (at least in the hands of Pascal) characters who could carry films or TV-shows. After this came out, Sutton said the plan is for Black Cat to be romantically interested in Spider-Man, but not Peter Parker, and her appearance eventually leading into the Kingpin appearing (he doesn't say if this is Vincent D'Onofrio, but given his general feelings on the Netflix material, this seems likely from his perspective).

The idea of both Firestar and Black Cat pushing for Peter's affections while Michelle is still around is strange--these kind of hijinks are better suited to a single character (both for Peter and the women pursing him). YA material is dominated by love triangles, but they function better when the object of affection hasn't made a choice yet (something Peter has done). I don't think either character (Firestar or Black Cat) will be cast to fit their comicbook depictions (Pascal's Spider-Man films have most strongly gone against that).

Murphy believes Blade could be an October, 2022 release, based on what was shown on the Investor's Day fact sheet. He includes cautions and hesitation, but I've long thought this date suited the IP.

From the latest Sutton Q&A: he reiterated that Angela will appear in Thor 4 and that Jessica Jones will appear in the MCU (he's been very consistent with both); he also repeated that Sony's Marvel material will appear on Disney+ as part of the new deal between the companies (see above). There's been a push within the fandom for Angela, but I have a hard time seeing Marvel using her (at least in a remotely comicbook accurate fashion). I also don't know what you do with the character, although she'd add some 'umph' to a Sif series (cf).

Daniel says A-Force is in active development. The idea of an A-Force project isn't new--originally developed as a Marvel Entertainment project for ABC (cf), the first MCU rumour came back in June, 2019, from LotLB (TBK); then 4chan in February, and finally Sutton in July. As I've said every time this comes up, it's an odd idea that feels out of date (as perhaps demonstrated by so many 'girl power' films failing of late). If it's true I'm not sure how Marvel will handle it. About a month ago Daniel said Marvel wanted a majority female Avengers, which would make the impact of an A-Force film redundant (especially since much of the membership would be the same), but Sutton made the same claim back in July. Could this project be coming? Absolutely, but I wouldn't take Daniel's claim as confirmation just yet (if Murphy jumps onboard, then we'll call it locked).

Lauder is repeating an old LotLB idea (TBK; subsequently picked up by Sutton):

A Daredevil series is in the works over at Marvel Studios. This is very much being spearheaded by Kevin Feige and it’s going to be violent. When I say violent, I mean VIOLENT. Possibly R-rated. And it looks like it’s coming to STAR on Disney Plus. Hulu in the US at the moment.

This is consistent with Sutton's idea above (absent the supernatural element). Using the Hulu brand to keep the R-rating from staining Disney makes sense, but whether you really need Daredevil to be R-rated is an open question (given how violent PG films are allowed to be). What an R-rating really allows you to do is nudity, which I expect Disney and Feige to oppose in all contexts.

There are two things I wanted to discuss from Kinda Culty's latest theory video:

1) Jonathan Majors will not only play Kang, but all his iterations as well including Iron Lad

2) The image on the left (inside the red box) is therefore of Majors as Kang

The logic of having Majors play all versions of Kang is much simpler for an audience unfamiliar with the character. That being said, while KC thinks the 31-year old looks young enough to play Iron Lad, I do not. The MCU seems to be trying to keep the hypothetical cast of Young Avengers young:
Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang) - 24 in February

Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop) - 24

Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan) - 18 or 19

Xochitl Gomez (America Chavez) - 14

We don't yet know who is playing Hulkling (confirmed back in January), Wiccan, or Speed, and it is typical for male actors to be older, but for me at least, Majors seems outside the age range for Iron Lad (unless they change his age, lose the name, and Majors looks the same in all iterations).

KC's idea about the three heads above representing The Time Keepers (two representing Vorth and Zanth, with the female Ast being replaced by an image of Kang), is persuasive. However, I don't think the Kang depicted (if that's what it is) looks like Majors (the facial features are wrong). That disconnect may be the nature of the shot in the trailer, but from just that I don't see it.

So what's my solution if, on the whole, KC's basic theory is correct? It's possible we will get the different iterations of Kang played by different actors (it would certainly make filming them meet simpler). The versions in the comics do, for the most part, look distinctive, although that seems overly complicated for the MCU. I'll need more information before I can firmly lean one way or another.

Murphy talks about a potential MCU schedule that would see new Marvel IP arriving on a weekly basis (given that the episodes of the Disney+ shows are annoyingly weekly). I've long thought Marvel wanted new IP hitting every month, but this idea (weekly) makes sense.

As someone very attached to numbers, one of the great puzzles for me is the universal claim (among Marvel pundits) that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a huge success--mirrored by DC pundits claiming the same for Shazam. Based on the numbers, I don't see it (I've included Shazam for context):

• Box Office: 375.5 (film cost 90, so ~140-180 including marketing etc)
• Shazam: 366 (cost 100, so ~150-200)
• Box Office Rank: #24 (#16 domestic, #34 foreign)
• Shazam Rank: #25 (#21, #27)

If you want to talk about it as an animated feature, Incredibles 2 made 1.2 billion dollars the same year. It did make money for Sony, but that's a low bar to cross. What puzzles me is how rare it is for every pundit to repeat the same thing while completely ignoring the financials (pundits love box office as a point of discussion and measure of success). A friend of mine suggested the praise is based on the awards it received, which makes some sense (personally I put no stock in awards, but some do). Regardless of why, I'm curious to see how a sequel does--if it (again) achieves this kind of box office, will we continue to hear the same refrain? And if not, why not?

I haven't seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet (my enthusiasm was never very high because prequels lack stakes), but I'm bringing it up for a specific MCU reason: the plot of the film is apparently a mess and the writer responsible is none other than David Callaham, the writer of Shang-Chi. Back in June, 2019, a Redditor claimed that his script for Shang-Chi was dull and required re-writes. That's never been confirmed, but Callaham's track record as a writer makes it believable (as I went over a long time ago)--it doesn't sound like Wonder Woman 1984 has changed that impression.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

MCU News & Notes

A Multiverse of Member-Berries

For a long time I have been fighting against the tide of the MCU planting memberberries across itself to connect other Marvel IP to the MCU. Why is that? I'm not inherently opposed, but I thought it went against the way Feige operated. As I went through it in detail two months ago, conventional wisdom was that Feige insisted on creative control of his IP and, if that's correct, there's no room for anything he didn't have a hand in. This idea seems to be dynamited by recent events, but what does that retrospectively mean for Feige's approach? It seems as though it was aimed at destroying Isaac Perlmutter's creative impact at Marvel (via Jeph Loeb). What about his approach to Sony, as Feige couldn't stop talking about how detached Sony films were from the MCU? This, apparently, was a negotiating tactic. If that's the case, does Feige fear including the questionable quality of most other Marvel output? I suspect he thinks by pushing those events to other universes he can get the goodwill of including them without being impacted by their relative success. So why do it? Clearly it provides value to Disney for the Fox purchase, it makes Sony happy, and it commits Feige to absolutely nothing going forward--it's a waive goodbye. Finally, it gives a much needed shot of adrenaline to an otherwise limp Phase Four lineup. With no sign of powerhouse X-Men anywhere and no runway to build up to the excellent villains inherited through them and the Fantastic Four, a large supply of memberberries is a solid choice to provide rocket fuel to an otherwise lackluster lineup of new IP. As a reader found this comment unclear, let me clarify: I'm not suggesting there won't be elements from the Fox IP present (we know there will be), but I'm talking about the difference between hints/cameos vs a focus on that new IP. The average viewer (TV or film) is going to be excited about a Wolverine project--you can't assume the same about Ironheart or She-Hulk etc. I realize a lot of superfans are excited by the IP on the docket, but you can easily demonstrate how little impact it has:

Keep in mind there's nothing going on with the X-Men in MCU terms, so their line of interest just reflects the norm. The only IP that peaks above the X-Men is Black Widow and given that the character has been in the MCU for ten years and is buoyed by the running of two marketing campaigns, that doesn't say much. I know there's a slice of the fanbase (including all the scoopers) that believes the MCU can do no wrong--they can make anything work ("Look at Guardians!" is one of the refrains)--that's not really an argument (how does one explain Ant-Man with that logic?). I believe this push to build hype through older IP is partially a way to balance out the limp popularity of some of the characters. I should also point out that Kamala Khan does register higher than Ms. Marvel (due to her leading role in the failed Avengers game), but that blip of interest has sagged down towards the oblivion of Shang-Chi already.

One other conclusion (and this isn't just my idea) is that this approach is why Marvel reached into the archives to find Sam Raimi to direct Doctor Strange 2. I think the only reason they approached him was for his ability to bring back the old actors from the original Spider-Man films. This approach wasn't needed at Fox, where beyond the impossibility of approaching Bryan Singer for his MeToo issues, both Kevin Feige and Ryan Reynolds have a good relationship with Hugh Jackman and the ending of Logan meant if Patrick Stewart said 'no' there was already an in-canon reason to exclude him (in all other cases there's no reason to expect resistance from other Fox, Sony, Netflix, or ABC stars).

I'm not going to break these down scene-by-scene--this article is long enough--just briefly give my impressions. I was underwhelmed by the WandaVision trailer (the worst yet in my opinion--the funny, out of context, isn't there for me). Loki looked excellent (the effects might need some tweaking, but on the whole, performed its function of creating excitement). Falcon and the Winter Soldier looked good (although it really does seem like a Falcon vehicle with Bucky along as a sidekick--that's not inherently bad, but the title suggests joint leads). The Ms. Marvel video isn't really a teaser, it's simply promotional material.

Variety reported on some Hawkeye casting (the roles themselves weren't listed as confirmed at the time, but since have been):

• Fra Fee - Clown [Speculation about the character came via a casting call in July (with Daniel farming it off to The Illuminerdi)]
• Tony Dalton - Swordsman/Jack Duqesne [The only scooper mentioning the character was Sutton back in February, who had him on an R&D list for Thunderbolts, but this was the Andreas Von Strucker iteration]
• Alaqua Cox - Echo [A casting notice for the character was circulated in the fandom in June, although it being for Hawkeye wasn't confirmed until October]

Vera Farmiga was also cast as Kate's mother, but this feels like a smaller role. Just prior to the report Daniel said Florence Pugh (Yelena) will appear here and in Falcon and the Winter Soldier--the Variety report confirms the former. I think this news dynamites old theories about Natasha coming back as Black Widow (these were from Sutton), barring some other iteration via the Multiverse. I have a thought on Pugh below.

Hill posted casting that comes from a friend of a fan, although in her checking she believes it:

Sheikh Abdullah - Laith Nakli

Muneeba Khan - Zenobia Shroff

Nakia Bahadir - Yasmeen Fletcher

In the wake of this news circulating there was an uproar from fans of the IP because the actors are not representative. Unlike with Shang-Chi (with a firm ethnic Chinese casting arc--I'm unsure if they applied John M. Chu's ridiculous idea of actors looking Asian enough)--Ms. Marvel has gone for a loose, American sense of who the various ethnicities are. Will this impact the show? I doubt it, since the groups that are agitated are economically marginal, but it does echo the very loud trend of fans who want adaptations to actually look and feel like the source material. If it illustrates anything, it's that the diversity push from Marvel isn't about actual representation, but marketing and a very specific kind of virtue signaling. If that doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, it should.

As expected, Ms. Marvel will have a supporting role in Captain Marvel 2 (I can't imagine a scenario where that wouldn't be the case--there is no Kamala Khan without Captain Marvel). Monica Rambeau will also appear, which, again, where else was that character going to go? That aside, with the full cast revealed, this show is almost certainly a pass for me--YA material doesn't interest me and this appears to be just another drop in that overflowing bucket.

The smug self-satisfaction scoopers expressed over the confirmation of Steinfeld as Kate Bishop is as obnoxious as imagined. Never have people so incapable of self-reflection or criticism celebrated something that's been largely confirmed for 15 months--and it's not even their scoop--Variety broke the story. This attitude can make these people hard to stomach (there was some catharsis about Murphy in this respect recently--fans respecting his reporting, but hating his attitude). If you're wondering who opposed the casting news it's just two people you've never heard of: Jack McBryan (The Direct) and Derek Cornell (The DisInsider), neither of whom are scoopers. On the broader question of whether she's a good choice for the role: I have no idea. What she does is look a bit like the comicbook character (suggesting a larger role for her is intended, because with leads the MCU tends to stick closer to the comics--perhaps explaining the Cassie Lang news below--the exceptions coming only in the form of award-winning actors like Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight).

Awhile ago Variety (Adam B. Vary/Kroll) reported Rachel McAdams was not coming back to Doctor Strange 2, but now Deadline (Kroll) confirms that she is, indeed, coming back. This makes a lot of sense, because simply pushing Christine Palmer off-stage would come across as extremely odd. The timing of her not coming back was before Raimi was officially signed, so it's unclear if she was not returning for Derrickson or if the plan for her changed subsequently.

I don't think Letitia Wright's anti-vaccination comments will impact her role in Black Panther 2--Gwyneth Paltrow is basically a lunatic and never had any issues at Marvel, so Wright should be fine. The only tangible effect this has is the fan community taking a welcome break from their endless Shuri-as-Black Panther posts (Daniel said in light of this that M'Baku, who would be my pick, is now being considered).

One of the expected confirmations we got is that T'Challa will not be re-cast. The plot of the sequel, apparently, is exploring the world of Wakanda, which is not promising--most of Black Panther was set in the world of Wakanda and reducing scope is not usually a positive. Sutton seems to imply there will be no new Black Panther, which would be an interesting solution to the problem of Boseman's death.

Sutton is going ahead full steam with the Maguire/Garfield return:

An official announcement will be released from Disney and Sony soon, possibly as early as this month [about the signing of Garfield and Maguire for Spider-Man 3] ... Insiders inform me that Garfield and Maguire could appear again beyond this movie, expected to be the longest of the Spider-Man films. Maguire’s final bow as Spider-Man is still planned; as I reported before they wanted an Endgame-esque finale for him. 

I'd thought Sutton was backtracking on when the pair would appear, as Lauder's previous article on the subject suggested this was being pushed to Spider-Man 4, but clearly not. As it turns out, Sutton is right about this and deserves a lot of credit for it. I've mentioned before that I think he has a good source (or sources) at Sony. After this was posted THR (Borys Kit/Aaron Crouch) reported that Alfred Molina is returning as Doctor Octopus, which confirms K. C. Walsh's drunken AMA and is something I hadn't seen elsewhere (I assume Walsh's source is Daniel). This could be why Daniel is saying the film will be bigger than Endgame/Infinity War (an absurd idea, but would guarantee a high box office). Keep in mind, Walsh claims the roles are cameos and that would fit my theory (above) about what Feige is doing here--I believe this would apply to most if not all the extraneous-MCU characters appearing. Daniel says the characters won't be the same versions of themselves from the original films, which is strange if true.

Collider, after the Variety story broke, said Andrew Garfield and Dunst had signed on for the film (Daniel repeated this without crediting them). After this Daniel suggested that Dane DeHaan (Green Goblin) and Willem Defoe (Green Goblin) were also approached and we know negotiations with Emma Stone and Tobey Maguire continue (Devin Colson claims the latter has signed). Later Daniel reiterated part of that idea via his proxy at TI (Timberlake), but paired Thomas Haden Church (Sandman) with Defoe instead (on his own Daniel says both are officially signed).

Sutton claims a new deal between Sony and Disney that will keep Holland for another three films was on the verge of being signed. This idea from Sutton is nothing new, as over a year ago he was claiming it was on its way and not long after referenced the idea of the new trilogy taking place while he's in college--an idea first proposed by LotLB's original source TBK in August of 2019.

Sutton also has claims about the plot:

Spider-Man 3 is going to be a sprawling, ambitious adventure, weaving together science and the supernatural. Apparently, it will end on a cliffhanger as well, concluding in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. ... At the heart of it all will be Holland and Zendaya. The movie will revolve around their relationship, and it's going to be tested here as she realizes how dangerous it is for her boyfriend to be Spider-Man, especially with the world knowing his true identity. The bad guys aren't coming after Parker; they're after her, his most obvious weakness. ... events in WandaVision are what leads the other Sony universe characters to materialize on this Earth. It'll be the fault of the Scarlet Witch. Spider-Man 3 is basically the middle piece of what really is a three-part tale, ending in the Doctor Strange sequel with Mephisto, who will show up here, too, as revealed to me. ... Doctor Strange is going to remove people's memories of Parker being Spider-Man, including [Michelle]'s, with one of his powerful spells. They added there will be consequences to that which I do not know. ... Maguire and Garfield don't appear until the second half of the film, setting up an extraordinary sequence with the trio battling their respective villains. There will be time travel involved as well swinging from one universe to another.

This seems plausible, although that doesn't make it true. I've mentioned before that I'm indifferent to Zendaya's Michelle, although the first two films did a decent job of making her work (she still has no independent existence within the story--she's just a love interest--which makes her actual value to the franchise negligible). Daniel, incidentally, says Ned Leeds will be the Hobgoblin in this film--the only prior related rumours have come from Sutton, who in May said a non-Leeds Hobgoblin was planned for Spider-Man 4, but in October that Leeds will have the part in Spider-Man 3--so as he's done before, Daniel is copying a Sutton scoop.

As I mentioned at the top of this article, the roosters are coming home to roast as Charlie Cox's Daredevil has been confirmed for Spider-Man 3. One of the hilarious results is that everyone is taking credit for the scoop except for the one guy who actually made it, Jeremy Conrad (of all people) back in July of 2019. I don't know where Conrad got his info from and he sounded uncertain about it at points, but he was the first person to put the character in this film, so while Daniel is congratulating Murphy and Sutton is congratulating himself, Conrad gets the prize (despite, oddly, not bothering to claim it on his own site, which once again seems moribund after a redesign).

When this news made the rounds Daniel said Marvel was also interested in bringing Krysten Ritter back as Jessica Jones (given her fairly blank slate of acting gigs, that doesn't seem very hard; Daniel has said this before). Sutton says there are plans for Daredevil in Moon Knight (probably its second season).

We've had Tim Roth's Abomination confirmed to return in She-Hulk and Caleb Williams says The Leader will return as well--the latter is a safe guess, as we've known since 2018 from insider Roger Wardell that they were returning.

We also learned the show will be a comedy made up of half-hour episodes. I find this prospect disappointing, as I think there's limited runway with legal comedies and having that tone connect to the broader MCU. This is another show where my level of investment has declined the more we've heard and its currently sitting in the same 'I'll skip it' with Ms. Marvel. Guest stars won't be enough--this show will need a preview for a reassessment.

We finally know what Owen Wilson's role in the show is: Mr. Mobius. This is information no one had and not something anyone speculated either (the only time the character came up was as speculation for Richard E. Grant's character in September).

The most interesting Ant-Man 3 news was the surprise re-casting of Cassie Lang. I have no idea why Marvel wanted to move on from 19-year old Emma Fuhrmann and sign soon-to-be 24-year old Kathryn Newton. The latter looks more like the comicbook version, but I don't think Marvel would care about that. Fuhrmann expressed an interest in returning to the MCU and I see no reason why not, but I'd love to know the why behind this decision. Along with this news there was confirmation that Kang will be the villain--someone I think will have to be built-up for fans to care (currently I don't care). This film is going to be a tough nut to crack--the MCU brand hasn't been enough to draw fans into Peyton Reed's very safe, small scale approach.

We finally know what the War Machine show will be, which...isn't a War Machine show, but an adaptation of Armor Wars. The basic idea of a show for Cheadle has been floating around the rumour mill for awhile (originating on 4chan in early 2019), but no one had discussed it since this April (Sutton). An ensemble approach is the correct choice here, as neither the character nor the elderly Cheadle is enough of a draw (even on TV). Daniel says Ironheart and Justin Hammer will appear in the show and both make sense--I've mentioned before that I think it's far better to have the former inherit from War Machine than Iron Man (a decision likely forced by RDJ's disinterest in playing a disembodied voice for Ironheart--a reluctance Cheadle likely doesn't share). If this is done right, it's the only new announcement I'm excited for. 

We also had confirmed (in the same 'kind-of' light as above) a Groot show. Rumours of a Rocket & Groot show go back to Murphy in late 2018 (link above), but nothing had been said since this February (Sutton) and clearly something has changed for Rocket to be removed from it. The popularity of Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian likely played a role in pushing this forward. Without more details, this doesn't interest me at all.

Walsh says an early draft of Falcon and the Winter Soldier had Sharon Carter appearing as Captain Britain (as an homage to her mother). This idea is so colossally dumb I hope whoever had it is no longer at Marvel, but it does fit with other tone deaf decisions we've seen (eg the casting of Gilgamesh). This means that whenever that draft was written, there were no plans to keep Psylocke's usual origin or do anything with her brother Brian (the former might be due to Fox complications if it was written pre-sale, as it almost certainly was). Clearly there are people at Marvel who like the IP, but it has little concrete resonance with either Feige, the people around him, or both. It's a worrying idea if you have any fondness for the characters.

Murphy believes a Nomad project is coming because Marvel trademarked it and the associated content. As he points out, this would be a logical spinoff for John Walker or Bucky from Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as a home for grounded secondary characters. The latter would be more marketable, although the former would be cheaper. I'd lean heavily into the idea that it's for Bucky.

Sutton reiterated his old rumour about Sif getting a Disney+ show (in December of 2019 as an ensemble, although I only heard it this summer because his original post was on the then not-public Geekosity site). In his scoop it was Journey into Mystery, but he's not the first scooper to make the suggestion of a Sif show as I went over recently--Discussing Film put out the idea almost a year earlier (around the time 4chan had a plot description for it). As I said then, it's hard to imagine the thinly drawn character being able to carry a show, so Sutton's idea makes more sense. This would be a place to dump the unremarkable Valkyrie (although I'd rather just delete her entirely) and other Thor-related IP not ready for prime time.

Sutton says there are plans in Doctor Strange 2 to include cameos by some of the original X-Men from Fox's first trilogy. He says this is all very early with no decisions on who to approach. This is incredibly nebulous, but does fit into my idea above and what I've said before (Disney would like the old Fox IP to have some sort of relation to the MCU to have economic relevance going forward).

Incidentally, the Amber Heard rumour I mentioned previously (from Daniel) was specifically her looking to play Sue Storm (this was in the same post, but because of his disorganized, scattershot pile of random rumours I didn't notice it at the time--the giant pile looks like a collection of 4chan/Reddit speculation to me, but we shall see).

Within the same disorganized post Daniel said Jared Leto has had talks to appear as Morbius in Spider-Man 3. I don't follow Sony Marvel rumours comprehensively, so if someone notable has brought this up before, I'm unaware of it (4chan believes he'll appear in Blade, but otherwise I have nothing on-hand).

I wanted to offer an opinion and we'll see in a few years how right or wrong I am: I don't see Florence Pugh as leading lady material. Actors who can carry films are few and far between and we're unfortunately left with nebulous phrases like an "'it' factor" to describe them. To give you an example of someone who I think could be one, it's Anna Taylor Joy, but I don't see that potential in Pugh. You can make an argument that, at this stage in her career, Pugh is comparable to Brie Larson, but Larson was more established and a bigger 'grab' for Marvel when she was signed (we also have to take the box office for Captain Marvel with a grain of salt for now because of when it was released and the marketing's heavy integration of the film with the conclusion of Infinity War). This kind of character always seemed like a better fit on TV than on film regardless, but let's hope Pugh proves me wrong.

Midnight's Edge says the main reason WB moved its entire 2021 theatrical catalogue onto HBO Max was to help the struggling streaming service (whose numbers are roughly equal to CBS' anemic All-Access). This idea seems echoed by the shock from WB execs when AT&T made the decision. I have to add that ME was also claiming this was the tip of the iceberg for the apocalypse of the theater industry, but instead it's simply left WB hanging by itself as a pariah (I went over why I thought their theory was wrong last time).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)