MCU News & Notes

For over a year now deleted social media posts from Phase Four figures have come back to haunt them and an old Tweet from Michael Waldron is the latest. I don't think this will impact Waldron at all (just as it hasn't Bisha K. Ali, Simu Liu, and others), but if there are changes coming to the MCU, it could serve as a convenient way to get rid of him. Do I think Waldron should be cancelled? Of course not, but his writing alone is reason enough not to retain his services.

Hawkeye continues to flounder (Charlie has not stopped using anything other than the main characters to flog videos about it). I have no idea what this means, if anything, for either it or the character's future (and by character I mean Kate Bishop, as it's her show). As I mentioned last time, I don't know what the MCU will do to try to win back the fans it is bleeding out. When Star Wars went through this process a few years ago it hit the nostalgia needle like a heroin addict, so that might be what's in store 2-3 years from now (by that I mean a return of actors from the past--whether superficially or prominently I don't know--rumour has it Bob Chapek wants Robert Downy Jr. back as Iron Man).

Recently Henry Cavill said he'd love to play Captain Britain and plenty of people jumped on that to say it's a signal that he will be (Orlando Bloom said much the same years ago and he's not the only British actor to do so). We've known for certain since Endgame that the character has been in the MCU's plans and plenty of scoopers have echoed the sentiment. As for Cavill himself, here's the timeline of rumours while I was tracking them:

• September, 2019 - 4chan said he'd met with Feige about a potential role
• September, 2019 - Sutton said Feige is considering him for a role
• January, 2021 - Daniel reported a rumour that he was being considered for Captain Britain
• March, 2021 - Daniel reported a rumour that Cavill had reached out to Feige about a role
• March, 2021 - Sutton says he's who Feige wants for the role
• May, 2021 - Daniel reported a rumour that Cavill was in talks for either Hercules or Captain Britain

June was when I stopped systematically tracking these things, but in looking now there's been nothing new about the subject from Daniel, Sutton, or Murphy. Cavill won't come cheap and certainly doesn't fit the casting mold Phase Four is pushing, but the MCU actually needs buzz for the first time in a long time, so maybe they'd push for him (we know penny-pinching by WB is part of the reason he's in limbo as Superman--if J. J. Abrams' black Superman goes forward as expected, having Cavill as well could be too confusing--considering there's nothing in production including him, I think his time there is done). Cavill would be an excellent choice, but he needs good writing or this would be the same train wreck as everything else in Phase Four.

Excluding Chinese releases, I wanted to look at the top 2021 films, including the split between foreign and domestic (US) gross; those still meaningfully in theaters are in green (estimated budgets are also included and those that have definitively lost money are in red; I've italicized films that have underperformed given their budget/expectations--broadly those which are well under 50% more than their budget).

• 1. No Time to Die (Universal/Oct/450k) - 765k (79.1/20.9)
• 2. The Fast Saga (Universal/June/300k) - 726k (76.2/23.8)
• 3. Venom 2 (Sony/Oct/165k) - 483k (56.3/43.7)
• 4. Godzilla vs Kong (WB/March/300k) - 467k (78.5/21.5)
• 5. Shang-Chi (Disney/Sept/300k) - 431k (48/52)
• 6. Eternals (Disney/Nov/300k) - 395k (59.2/40.8)
• 7. Dune (WB/Oct/250k) - 389k (72.6/27.4)
• 8. Black Widow (Disney/July/300k) - 379k (51.6/48.4) - plus 125k from Disney+ (504k)
• 9. Free Guy (Fox/Aug/180k) - 331k (63.3/36.7)
• 10. A Quiet Place 2 (Paramount/May/90k) - 297k (46.2/53.8)
• 11. Cruella (Disney/May/150k) - 233k (63.1/36.9)
• 12. Jungle Cruise (Disney/July/300k) - 220k (47/53)
• 13. The Conjuring 3 (WB/June/60k) - 201k (67.5/32.5)
• 14. The Suicide Squad (WB/Aug/275k) - 167k (66.7/33.3)
• 17. Ghostbusters (Sony/Nov/115k) - 164k (29.3/70.7)
• 15. Space Jam 2 (WB/July/225k) - 162k (56.7/43.3)
• 16. Peter Rabbit 2 (Sony/June/65k) - 153k (73.8/26.2)
• 18. The Boss Baby (Universal/July/120k) - 142k (59.8/40.2)
• 19. Tom and Jerry (WB/Feb/120k) - 132k (65.3/34.7)
• 20. Halloween Kills (Universal/Oct/30k) - 131k (30.1/69.9)

I'm dubious that any of these films are good, although several might be mediocre (the praise for Dune seems very similar to what the Snyder Cut received, making me very suspicious of it). What is clear is how dependent studios are on franchises, reboots, and sequels, as Free Guy is the only film in the top-20 that doesn't fall into one of those categories. I think this is both due to studios being risk adverse and their desire to follow trends. One thing I think we can all agree on is that writing for projects released during the pandemic has been subpar and there's no change in sight (look at Cowboy Bebop). The other thing that's obvious is how high production budgets are for many of these films--this guarantees (or should) a quality spectacle, but that's largely failed to draw crowds. It's also apparent how soft the US domestic market is, as even films that couldn't air in China lean on foreign box office. Films are largely aimed at the domestic audience, but that strategy can't continue if this doesn't change. I don't expect Hollywood to accept this as permanent until more time has passed. The above is a good illustration that stars (Dwayne Johnson) don't guarantee success anymore than hot directors do (James Gunn), and absurd budgets for both cost both WB and Disney.

Another figure who was briefly in this space departed months ago. Andy Signore gave up on scoops and genre film earlier this year, which has proven beneficial to his channel. Andy's limp opinions weren't unique, so there was no space for him to make an impact (I remember him mostly for his combative response to any who questioned him). This blandness is the Achilles heel of scoopers past and present--they are terrified to say anything negative for fear of losing access, so their opinions are bland--everything is amazing and brave and could we have more pretty please? There's some reflection of this in the analysis/outrage sphere (praise for the Snyder Cut is pure pandering), but it's somewhat muted by the focus of their channels.

This article was written by Peter Levi