Marvel News & Notes

We finally had Disney shift its Marvel slate as the continuing pandemic makes proper worldwide releases impossible. The two films effected are Black Widow (which moves to July) and Shang-Chi--bumped to what's normally the oblivion of September for a hoped for worldwide release (I've posted the 70s-era cover for a reason--see below). The shift for Black Widow means that Loki will air beforehand and that further indicates how little the film impacts the early slate of Disney+ shows. I don't think the shift for Shang-Chi is inherently a negative sign for the film, but the most appealing slot without bumping Eternals (which otherwise would have to jump into 2022).

Variety (Jordan Moreau, who I'm unfamiliar with) says an Echo show is in development as a spinoff from Hawkeye. I'm incredulous--Hawkeye can barely support a show, but no one knows who Echo is (she normally has Taskmaster's power set, which is problematic given that the latter is in Black Widow). Actress Alaqua Cox has no previous acting experience, but Moreau reports that Etan and Emily Cohen are attached to write and run the show. It's rare that I see a report from the trades that I question, but this was a hard one to credit. If I were to guess, Echo won't be the only hook for the show. One thought I did have in relation to this is: thematically she's similar to Daredevil (he's blind while she's deaf and they share a lot of the same characters)--if you don't want to repeat the Netflix show, she's an avenue into similar material.

This reminds me of a speculative thought I've had which goes like this: if you're Kevin Feige and you want a (mostly) faithful adaptation of Fantastic Four and the X-Men, you have a problem. The IP (particularly the latter) have plenty of female representation, but POC's are either in short supply or non-existent. Given that, one way to try and avoid criticism is to put as much representation as possible everywhere else. Now, it's much more likely that the general push for representation in Phase Four will be the same everywhere (including this IP, outside certain characters for merchandizing reasons), but it'll be interesting to see what the MCU does when the time comes (I haven't seen it argued, but you could argue that the casting of Kang is a hint that both Reed Richards and Susan Storm will be race-swapped, since typically one version of Kang is their son).

Amidst some fake toy leaks, real ones have shown up on Reddit for upcoming Marvel IP. To me the only interesting image is top right, which appears to show Clea in Doctor Strange 2. While long rumoured (going back to Roger Wardell in 2018, and presumed from Daniel's casting drop for Doctor Strange 2 last February, cf), this adds even more weight to that probability. Wardell's claim is that Clea would be race swapped, but over the past two years that idea seems to have been abandoned (judging both by the art seen here as well as the lack of the tag in Daniel's casting grid). My theory for the change has always been that Shang-Chi and representation elsewhere made that less pressing.

Lizzie Hill goes over why musician Taz Tyler has unintentionally added more fuel to the fire that Sophia Di Martino is playing Lady Loki. This seemed largely confirmed by the brief image of her shown in the Loki trailer, but one thing I hadn't heard before is that Hill believes the character might be an amalgam of both that identity and the Sylvie Lushton version of Enchantress--something I find plausible, albeit disappointing. Then again, I suppose, what could you really do with Di Martino is she's only Lady Loki (assuming you want her to stick around)?

Rather amusingly, we have a 4chan post that's a duplicate of one posted in October, so presumably from the same person (that post itself seems based off another from May); the details that are direct from the May post are in green (I've kept the prose as-is):

• 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 [This basic idea would be impossible for the initial script, since the rights for her had not yet come to Marvel]
• 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
• White Claw- some native american warrior guy? Idk
• Daneka [Dane] - a female Asgardian who has been sent by Valkyrie to investigate and compete in the tournament. She is killed by Omega Red
• 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. Fing Fang Foom is accidentally unleashed. Mandarin, Fah and Shang defeat him together. Fah and Shang defeat Mandarin

While it includes many of the components of the May post, the plot isn't described in the same way. Both 4channers are describing something calqued from Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (understandably so, as it's widely considered the greatest martial arts film). I think the basic idea is plausible, since Shang-Chi's lore borrows heavily from the era and this film specifically, but that also makes it easy to speculate. I don't know if Marvel would include such a random assembly of characters for the tournament (Wiz Kid, given the lengthy casting grid Daniel dropped last year, cannot be a participant since he's listed as an eleven-year old). Speaking of that casting grid, it does not match the above. In terms of characters referenced who could be in a tournament, Daniel has: Tiger Claw, Moving Shadow, Ghost Maker, and Razor-Fist, none of whom appear above. Ultimately, as fun as the above could be, I don't think it's what we're getting.

The second episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier has dropped and I have a lot of thoughts to share. It's another good effort, if not quite as strong as the first (a couple of scenes are weak and elements while the narrative itself lacks the same drive). What this episode primarily accomplishes is introducing the rest of the important figures in the show and confirming my guess that the Flag-smashers are not the primary antagonists (instead it looks like the Power Broker is our villain).

• We get a cold open with John Walker where we meet his high school sweetheart. The chemistry between the two actors was more like friendship (or ex's) than lovers, but it's not awkward enough to be a serious flaw. It's a good quiet scene for Wyatt Russell, giving him a chance to act and set-up his fear of failure. This is a good angle for Russell's character, because the actor in real life feels the weight of expectation from his famous parents. There isn't much for Canadian actor Cle Bennett (Battlestar) to do (and at 49, I can't think there are many plans for him in the future), although he provides the hint that Walker is inclined to use force to solve problems.
• The stadium scene accomplishes what it needs too (that Walker is a showpiece for the military, but also goes through his qualifications). I think they should have made it a little clearer where the event was taking place initially (Georgia), and the media presence isn't as obnoxious as it should be. Another minor complaint is that Russell did not get ripped for the role (perhaps due to a lack of time--he's fit, but not to the usual MCU standards)--this isn't a big deal, since he's intended to fail. I was surprised that Walker hasn't been treated with the super soldier serum yet and I'm glad that's a plot point to be explored later. The whole intro for Walker is about 7 minutes, almost as long as the 10 minutes given to Falcon and Bucky in the first episode.
• I had expected Falcon to have to go to Bucky to get him to help, but having the latter be more upset about the shield than Sam is actually a nice twist (paid off in the therapy scene); we also get the great line about androids, aliens, and wizards.
• From there its on to the truck fight (which is well done). The banter here is strong; the choice to make Bucky rush into the fight after complaining to Sam about the lack of a plan on the plane is an interesting choice that (so far) has no payoff. As for the Flag-smashers themselves, only Erin Kellyman's character has been given focus, so it appears she's the only one that matters (my prediction that Kellyman won't be the main villain seems to be correct)
• Bucky and Sam go to meet Isaiah Bradley and this scene is the weakest in the show for me. It suffers from a lack of time and depth--we have to be told Isaiah's experience and it simply doesn't hold the weight its intended too--it's like the death of Monica Rambeau's mother--not seeing it or getting a strong reaction to it robs it of its potency. It also has a logic problem--Bucky only would have known him as an enemy, so when would he have had time to learn Isaiah's story? The interaction also doesn't jive with Bucky's lore prior to the show--Black Widow describes him as a virtual ghost brought out for assassinations in Winter Soldier, not someone fighting as a soldier in the Korean War (if he'd had that interaction with Isaiah, then there's no need for Black Widow to be the source of information about him in Winter Soldier). The plot contrivance makes it fall flat despite a solid performance from Carl Lumbly. It's also worth mentioning the distinction being drawn with Isaiah: the argument so far isn't that the military using the serum is wrong, but instead about how those involved are being treated. The show seems to be implying that if Isaiah was treated the same way as Steve Rogers, then everything would be fine. We also don't get a sense of Isaiah fighting against the military establishment the same way Steve does in all his films (although that might still come up, since we'll clearly see him again). I should emphasize that the scene isn't bad, but to be impacted by it as intended you have to want it to work going into it rather than leaning on its structure--future scenes might help round out the rough edges, however.
• Bucky's subsequent arrest and therapy session with Falcon is quite good, as is having Walker free Bucky from his regimented therapy obligation (a good example of plot development). This is also where we learn why Bucky is so upset about the shield, connecting Steve being wrong about Sam meaning he might be wrong about him--it's a good reason, as otherwise Bucky would simply seem petty.
• Walker's reaction to the two rejecting him feels justified--Bucky and Falcon's bitterness towards him is highly personal--the audience is meant to sympathize with the main characters, but it feels too much like bruised egos for me to empathize with them.
• We then get payoff for the Power Broker (who we don't see); the death of the Flag-smasher red shirt is poorly handled--what exactly was he trying to accomplish charging into bullets?
• We end with the tease for Zemo, where I expect the plot to take off and bring us to Madripoor.

The episode was written by Michael Kastelein and he did an excellent job with banter. Where this episode struggled was story related, and that's on showrunner Malcolm Spellman. I feel like the bulk of the problem is due to time constraints that this mostly impacted emotional scenes. Broadly speaking the reaction to this episode from the fandom has been more muted than the first (judging by Youtube traffic from the usual suspects and Google Trends). I'd guess the major reason for this is the slower pace, deflating the Flag-smashers as antagonists, and John Walker being portrayed as an anti-hero rather than just a government goon (giving the show no true antagonist). This isn't a flaw per se, but the more straightforward narrative of the first episode was stronger. I'm looking forward to the next episode and seeing where the show goes from here.

I've mentioned previously that, on the surface, I'm indifferent to the Young Avengers, seeing it as YA-fare in the pejorative sense. With that said, I was trying to think of a positive framing for the IP that might peak my interest and there is a teen-based group that I enjoyed. It's not a Marvel property, but from DC--Teen Titans. While DC has botched the IP on TV, could Marvel push for something like Marv Wolfman's run? I suspect not, given that none of the known members are particularly interesting (there's no one like Raven to add both serious and weird to the dynamic), but this is the route that could get me interested.

This is just amusing: Sutton (in a Q&A video) said there was a 90% chance we'd be getting a Justice League 2 from Zack Snyder--the next day WB said the Snyder Cut was an end to that whole continuity--oops! The timing aside, money will ultimately decide if AT&T wants to step in and allow Snyder to do more on HBO Max (something I doubt given the budgets required). Speaking of Sutton, over the past week he's slanted his news heavily towards DC. I suspect he's doing this simply to capitalize on the current interest generated by the Snyder Cut and that he'll go back to his steady stream of MCU news soon.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)