Marvel News & Notes

One of the things I've realized recently is that if the MCU's quality remains at the current Disney+ level, I won't stick around to cover it. This unfortunate circumstance has happened before--Marvel Netflix crashed and burned so I moved on. It's still early and things can change, but given the recent drop in quality I'm genuinely concerned for upcoming Marvel products.

Buried in a THR story is a comment about Blade:

Marvel isn’t rushing with Blade, whose start date was pushed from this September to July 2022, so that the studio can spend time working on the Stacy Osei-Kuffour-penned script

That unexpected ten month delay suggests some serious issues beyond the director search THR references. I have to wonder if this is another Jac Schaeffer scenario where, the 'appropriate' person was found to write the script, but just like with Black Widow one of the MCU's script doctors is required to fix it. That may sound cynical, but given Mahershali Ali's age (he's forty-seven!) filming soon is of the essence for the action-oriented Blade, so there's logistical pressures to get things moving.

Variety is pumping the tires of Falcon's views based on TVision ratings, which is a US-only data set based on just 5,000 households. We're going to need a bigger boat, Variety! With that said, via Nielsen through the fourth episode the show was #1 among streaming shows, which is honestly surprising. If it can maintain that ranking I'm curious to see if views fall off a cliff when it's over (like WandaVision), or if it can retain its popularity.

James Gunn says he's done at Marvel once Guardians 3 is out (something he might be saying to get more money, but we'll take him at his word for the moment). I think this would be the right move--Gunn's second film wasn't as good as the first and he's being given all he wants at WB (the trailer for Suicide Squad was not encouraging).

A few things from Daniel:

• Shuma-Gorath will appear in an upcoming MCU project [The character has been floating around Doctor Strange 2 rumours for awhile, having started in WandaVision rumours, although no one of note has backed it]
• He believes Monica Rambeau will appear in Doctor Strange 2 [Given her connection to Wanda there's some plausibility to this, but just how many characters can you have in this film--I feel like this is unlikely given that she's off to the seemingly unrelated The Marvels soon after]
• Marvel is considering a POC for Hercules [This wouldn't surprise me, despite the cultural insensitivity--think of poor Gilgamesh]

Sutton claims Nova and Captain Marvel will face Galactus in the future, although he doesn't know in what project. It's a plausible idea, but not one likely to come to fruition any time soon. Whether The Marvels can fix Carol Danvers or not is an open question, but that would require the MCU to believe there are problems with her character in the first place (something we can't be sure of).

4chan:

• Gorr the God Butcher kills Korg and quite a few Asgardians (on Earth). Valkyrie is severely wounded and not seen again until the end of the movie. Gorr leaves when he discovers Thor is no longer on the planet.
• I am also pretty sure Gorr kills Russell Crows Zeus or we are to presume he is dead.
• The beginning of the movie shows Gorr killing Thor (we then find out he is an alternate Thor from a different universe. mjolnir then shoots off into a wormhole and Gorr follows. The Multiverse is a big deal in this movie as well.
• A few surviving Greek Gods team up with Thor to fight off Gorr who easily defeats them all. They are minor Gods. Hercules is mentioned but not with this crew. Thor is rescued by the [Guardians of the Galaxy] with Jane carrying mjolnir and has all the power of the MV Thor. I have literally no idea how she goes from Earth to being with the GOTG. Gorr injures [Peter Quill] (not badly but he is knocked out).
• Sif sacrifices herself for Jane when the two of them are fighting Gorr.
• There is a fight scene with Thor and Hercules over both being very childish about something. Its more comical than dramatic. Drax bets on Hercules while Rocket bets on Thor.
• Thor, Jane Thor, Hercules and Valkyrie all fight Gorr. He loses and then runs away. I would assume he will return again.
• Thor decides to stay with his people on Earth and invites the surviving Greek Gods to live with them as well. Jane stays with Thor but Valkyrie remains Queen.

Off the hop I have to say I don't like this plot at all, but nothing strikes me as inherently implausible, even if the description is vague enough to make me think the poster simply made it up. One of the main trends in rumours is Sif dying and a marginal role for Valkyrie (she can have a major role if she dies, but I don't think that can happen), but just because those elements are repeated doesn't make them true.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)