MCU News & Notes

There was interesting news about Disney that reflects on the MCU (this is Variety's coverage):

Streaming hits like “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” failed to deliver the kind of Disney Plus subscriber numbers that Wall Street was looking for, as the Walt Disney Company reported a mixed quarterly report on Thursday. The entertainment conglomerate’s stock fell sharply, dropping more than 4% in after-hours trading. Disney’s $15.61 billion in revenue for the quarter fell short of expectations, and its 103.6 million streaming subscribers missed estimates

The article actually tries to spin this positively, but it's important to note the failed logic being used: if WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier were big hits, subscriber numbers would meet or exceed targets. Fundamentally, this means both shows failed to accomplish their goal, although Feige has plenty of rope to continue doing what he's doing before Bob Chapek comes knocking on his door for an explanation.

We have more from THS (Nick Santos), who says Midnight Sons is in early development. This is a primordial idea from LotLB that Sutton inherited (cf), but whose framework was originally intended for Jeph Loeb and Marvel Entertainment as part of their Hulu strategy. Santos says a number of interesting thing:

Marvel has over 20 unannounced films, but with those is a heavy emphasis on branching out with their team up movies. They want to replicate the success of The Avengers with multiple team-up films. Young Avengers, Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts, etc. Although this week we can exclusively share that Marvel is working on a Midnight Sons movie, which is currently in early development. … The roster will start off small and grow in future films as with any team-up film. It will start with Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, Blade, Hannibal King, Hellstrom, Ghost Rider, and Scarlet Witch. Hannibal King and Hellstrom will be introduced in Blade and fleshed out further in Midnight Sons. While Ghost Rider will be utilized in [Doctor Strange 2] before continuing on in Midnight Sons. Moon Knight and Blade both have a series and movie coming soon. While plot details are scarce as this is still in early development, we can exclusively share that Blackout will be the primary villain; with teases of Mephisto throughout. From what I’m hearing, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios are interested in having multiple Thanos-level threats within the MCU

The lineup is slightly different from the constantly changing Sutton roster (Hannibal King has never come up), and Blackout has never included as a villain. It also has an imbalanced gender lineup (6 to 1), so if this is accurate, expect gender swaps (I'm not sure if it's diverse enough either, although Blade and now Moon Knight will tick boxes for Marvel).

The first full trailer for Eternals was underwhelming (the teaser is actually better, albeit ephemeral)--again, no demonstration of acting (the cast looks old and tired), the visuals are simply adequate, and there's no tension. Some of this is due to Marvel not wanting to take away from Black Widow and Shang-Chi, but I expect much better (especially given how much time they've had to tweak the marketing). Nothing has changed my fear that this film is going to disappoint. There's certainly nothing yet to justify the award buzz in the fandom.

Speaking of the film, original script writers Ryan and Matthew K. Firpo got the Jac Schaeffer treatment, and are now simply 'story by', as Patrick Burleigh (Ant-Man and the Wasp) and Chloe Zhao are the credited writers. This is not at all unusual for Marvel, as outside Markus and McFeely, it's rare for a script to be under the control of one writer (or writing pair). Unlike with Schaeffer, we don't yet know if the change is a sign of improvement.

Not long ago Daniel said Shuma-Gorath was coming, but claimed he didn't know where. I pointed out that this information had to come from Production Weekly, meaning Daniel does know where the character will appear. This was confirmed when Richard Nebens (cf) posted its appearance in Doctor Strange 2 as a 'scoop' for The Illuminerdi. You can see how this ecosystem works, with Daniel arranging things for 'credit' knowing it was coming, while helping out his buddy by giving him the 'scoop'. This indirect way of cannibalizing Production Weekly (available to you at a price) is the awkward way in which the public gains access to this. The basic idea, of Shuma-Gorath in Doctor Strange 2, goes all the way back to a 4chan rumour from October, 2019, but reading through the entirety of that post it contains a ton of incorrect information. A month later we had another 4chan post which seems credible; it was followed by a third in December, but that has erroneous elements. Since then, we had radio silence outside K. C. Walsh saying he hoped the creature would appear in the film. In the end, if we're giving credit, that November post on 4chan (from 2019) appears to have had the genuine scoop. Am I excited to see Doctor Strange fight a tentacle monster? It depends on how it's done.

Daniel posted up a casting call from Production Weekly that's seeking French and Dutch diplomats and mercenaries (one of each). This seems trivial, but I included it regardless.

Jordan Blum, showrunner of M.O.D.O.K., says the show is part of the MCU. This is probably true, although we don't know in what way (presumably the multiverse) and we have to keep in mind that Jeph Loeb maintained the same throughout Marvel Entertainment's existence when it wasn't true. I certainly don't consider it required viewing.

John Cena made a fool of himself when he apologized for calling Taiwan a country. I'm bringing this up not only to point out what a tool Cena is for abasing himself for the Chinese box office, but because it's a good lead in to the hypocrisy the MCU engages in whenever it tries to take a moral or ethical stance. The main approach for Marvel is to talk about diversity (in the extremely limited, American sense of it), but they remain unconcerned about restrictions imposed by oppressive regimes or American militarism as long as it helps at the box office (what a contrast it is that Steve Rogers joined the army to fight the Nazi's, while Sam Wilson joined an invading force in Afghanistan chasing a paycheque). Cynically, there's nothing unexpected about it, but it's one of the reasons why I find the glowing press pieces about their casting absurd--it's just virtue signaling and a way of distracting fans from being critical (that goes for Disney as well).

This article is late because I needed a break. There was some behind the scenes drama which seems to be over now, and I've generally been very down on the direction of the MCU of late. I still hope to recapture the enthusiasm I had through the first three phases, but we are standing on a precipice where my desire to fully cover it is in question (this happened with Marvel Netflix as well). Let's hope Loki is excellent.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)