Marvel News & Notes

Some fans are upset that Ms. Marvel's power set is changing for her Disney+ show. I've seen two kinds of complaints: one is related to a Muslim using magic (which is a religious issue I won't address here), and the other is that it's not faithful to the IP. While I sympathize with a desire to follow the source material, I think the change was inevitable with Mister Fantastic on his way to the MCU (duplicating their power sets is not a good idea). Broadly I prefer direct adaptations, but I don't object to the change in principal because this isn't a proven IP (the comics always fail, the video game underperformed, etc), so tweaking on several levels was necessary anyway (whether the specific change will work is a completely different question, but the show had already pissed off the IP's fans with casting, and Marvel seems focused on casuals anyway).

We've learned that there won't be a Hawkeye season two. Just like with WandaVision, there wasn't one specifically planned to begin with, however, there would be if it had been more successful. Viewership of Hawkeye was low (anecdotally none of my friends have seen it and I only know one person who has), which likely means no solo outings for Kate Bishop either. One positive is that fewer people witnessed how poorly Kingpin was portrayed, creating the opportunity for that to be fixed in Echo, although I don't expect it to be. By itself the lack of another season doesn't mean much, but the cumulative context continues to be that Phase Four is floundering. What Marvel needs is a strong Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4, although what's best for fans is for both to struggle in the hopes we get a change of course (my guess is the former will do well, but the latter could be in trouble).

One piece of DC news that came out of the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp trial is that current DC head Walter Hamada tried to replace Amber Heard with Emelia Clarke (!) in Aquaman 2. Clarke, like some other Game of Throne's costars, has failed in everything outside that show, so she's only an improvement by not having personal issues that are public. This news has drawn conspiracy theories (cf) that Heard will be replaced in reshoots, but I seriously doubt Discovery wants to spend more money on Aquaman 2, a film that I think will hit the same brick wall of Venom 2 (in that the success of the first was something of a fluke & there's limited interest in a sequel).

Speaking of DC, Sutton reports that because The Batman underperformed, WB is expecting director Matt Reaves to make artistic changes for a sequel. The metrics indicate women were the main demographic that ignored the film, which is interesting given that Robert Pattison was picked to appeal to that audience. It also illustrates that Zoe Kravtiz isn't a female draw either (which is less of a surprise, but given how popular Catwoman is, is added proof she was also a poor casting choice). I doubt Reaves will want to change his artistic vision, and I'd still argue the cast is too lackluster to save his slice of DC. If I were Discovery I'd wash my hands of it and reboot Batman (yes again--these films should sleepwalk to a billion dollars--the appetite for the character hasn't died).

I'm curious to see how Black Adam performs in October. We know that having Dwayne Johnson in a film doesn't guarantee success and, as someone who was heavily active in comics in the past, I'd never even heard of Black Adam until talk about the film began (admittedly I was a Marvel guy, but I read DC in the 80s). WB has failed selling lesser known IP (Shazam, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad), leaning on their iconic characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Joker). Will this change with Black Adam? I have my doubts.

I haven't gone through Sony's Marvel projects in about a year, so let's update how things have changed:

Released/Filming

• Venom 2 (Oct) - Made almost 40% less than its predecessor--all the losses were worldwide (it was an equally solid if unspectacular success domestically)
• Morbius (Apr) - Bombed across the board
• Kraven the Hunter - Currently filming, but has an unappealing release date (Jan/23)

Production

• Venom 3 (Dec) - Amy Pascal said they were in the planning stages for it
• Madame Web (Feb) - Dakota Johnson hired to star; Sydney Sweeney hired in an unknown role (Mar)

No News

• Nightwatch - Last updated October, 2018
• Sinister Six - Last updated when Pascal said the project was 'alive' in December, 2018
• Roberto Orci project - Updated March, 2020
• Silver & Black - Updated April, 2020
• Jackpot - Updated May, 2020
• Olivia Wilde project (believed to be Spider-Woman) - Radio silent since August, 2020
• Silk (TV) - No updates since June, 2021

Technically Into the Spider-Verse is not part of the SMU, but it's worth noting that it's sequel is planned to release in 2023. The animated spinoffs appear to be dead (assuming Silk is not one of them; nothing official has been said since 2019 and the people producing them are instead busy making the sequel, so it's likely their appearance depends on how Part Two is received). While no one seems to care, Into was not a big hit at the box office and I'm curious to see how its sequel performs.

That aside, what can we make of all this? For one, Amy Pascal's stake in the Spider-Man IP is so strong that being fired from Sony doesn't keep her out of it. Beyond that, Sony's quality of writing for their films is just as bad as Marvel Phase Four, so the odds of any of these projects being good is very small. Of the 'no news' category, I think there's no chance that Nightwatch, Jackpot, or Pascal's Sinister Six will ever appear (just as Silk and Silver & Black did not, at least as originally conceived). If Silver Sable is in Madame Web, then that might be an attempt to launch her into a team-up film with Black Cat...maybe, if Sony is actually trying to plan things out. There are rumours that Black Cat will appear in Spider-Man 4, but whether that precludes her from debuting in Sony films we don't know yet.

I can't claim to understand it, but there is no stopping the group that continues to try and resurrect the Snyderverse. I can't convince anyone I know to watch The Snyder Cut and I don't blame them, as it's a boring, incoherent, and unintentionally hilarious film...and yet its adherents continue to sing its praises (MauLer's review remains much more entertaining than the film itself). The movement itself is massively confusing, as its adherents dislike Ezra Miller (Snyder's Flash), Amber Heard (Snyder's Mera), and Ray Fisher (Snyder's Cyborg), but want to restore his vision. That vision itself was poorly conceived and executed, with Snyder wanting to do the equivalent of MCU Phase Three with his opening (kill Superman, jump to Thomas Wayne, do Flashpoint in the first Flash film, pull Cyborg out of his Teen Titan context, etc). I don't think Discovery will let Zack run the DCEU again, but I do wonder if they think there's enough fans to support an HBO+ show or something similar. Supporters keep talking about how well The Snyder Cut did on streaming, but I haven't seen convincing evidence of that.

This article was written by Peter Levi

Marvel News & Notes

Something I'd apparently missed is that the idea for a WandaVision season two is officially dead (this is so commonly known I stumbled across it via John Campea). There was never any specific promise for another season, so this isn't a change in plans, although if the show had been better received the possibility certainly would be raised. What we have instead is the spinoff announced in October that no one wants (Agatha), based in part (I'd guess) off the popularity of her song. I'm curious to see if this project gets cancelled (I'm doubtful, but if any does, this is a strong candidate).

The Ankler's Jeff Sneider (by way of ComicBookMovie.com, by way of The Direct, by way of Sneider's podcast--oh what fun) claims there have been a lot of issues with She-Hulk. Let's note that the only story from The Ankler I followed previously was false, but that was from a different contributor almost three years ago. This idea, that the show has issues, is also bubbling up elsewhere in the rumour mill, but all those rumours seem to lead back to The Ankler (whose comments are based off people working on the show).

I wanted to walk along the road of superhero films from 2020 to present, because I don't think the results are a sign of market change, but instead the result of both poor writing and the inability to release in China. Here's the list by earnings (split domestic/foreign):

• (MCU) Spider-Man 3 1.89 billion (803/1.088)
• (DC) The Batman 735 (359/376; ongoing)
• (MCU) Black Widow 504 (183/196; includes Disney+)
• (Sony) Venom 2 502 (213/288)
• (MCU) Shang-Chi 432 (224/207)
• (MCU) Eternals 402 (164/237)
• (DC) Birds of Prey 201 (84/117)
• (DC) The Suicide Squad 167 (55/111)
• (DC) Wonder Woman 1984 166 (46/120)
• (Sony) Morbius 126 (57/69; ongoing)
• (Fox) New Mutants 49 (23/25)

There are a number of takeaways from these numbers:

1. Most of these films are bombs--not just disappointments, but films that lost money or just broke even. Superhero films are meant to pad profits, not lose money (I think Venom 2 and up can be considered to have made money, albeit only Spider-Man 3 achieved the success intended for it).
2. MCU failed more outside the US than in it, while domestic tallies for DC films are terrible, so Phase Four has worked better domestically (albeit still having lost over half their audience--you can make an incoherent mess like Eternals and North Americans will still show up, which fits my anecdotal evidence as well). This moderate success is not enough to carry the brand forward. The reverse is true of DC films, where an even smaller but consistent proportion of foreign fans will show up for anything DC, but that's not true of the American audience (I suspect the latter is related to how DC's failed films have looked like MCU films--bright, colourful, etc). Sony leans more towards the Marvel model of performance in the limited sample size, but the lukewarm results indicates my belief that the success of Venom was a fluke is correct (Morbius tanking will undoubtedly cause some issues at Sony for future projects).
3. Most of these are origin films for unpopular IP--none of the comics these characters are based on are popular (the obvious exception is Wonder Woman, but that film is Neil Breen-levels of stupid).
4. The one film that performed as expected is Spider-Man 3, which clearly benefited by being filled with memberberries in a way it can't repeat. The MCU is desperately trying to repeat that success in Doctor Strange 2 via extensive reshoots. It may work, although, again, they won't be able to do it again (barring a full return of the Phase One heroes).
5. No one is claiming any of these films are among the greats--what you hear is that they are entertaining, but not praiseworthy ala The Dark Knight, Infinity War, etc--this is clearly an issue of story and there's no sign that DC, Sony, or the MCU are aware of this or trying to address it

Let's take a look at MCU on streaming--I've included Witcher just as a point of comparison (as is clear, at its peak Loki remained far below the poorly written Netflix show). I'm using Google Trends in part because I don't have Nielsen numbers for the earlier shows (and Moon Knight ratings aren't out yet), although we need to remind ourselves of Nielsen's limitations (American only and a very limited number of households).

As for the data itself, I'd argue all the Disney+ shows were poorly conceived and written, with WandaVision benefiting from both being the first MCU show and its mystery element, while Loki got to ride on Tom Hiddleston's coattails. Their ultimate reception is clear--no serious resonance and no positive impact on films or each other. Moon Knight, incidentally, sits just above Hawkeye on GT, but nowhere near the two more discussed shows. The general trend is decreasing interest from the public, to the point where Marvel can't expect fans to have seen the shows prior to a film, making including characters/events from them much more problematic.

I'm curious what (if any consequences) are coming for Ezra Miller after this latest incident. Miller faced no consequences for his 'assault' of an Icelandic woman in 2020, but the incident in Hawaii is more extreme. What will WB do? It's hard to say, as I don't know where Hollywood is in terms of what is acceptable. My guess is he'll apologize, be sent to rehab, and WB will scale back plans for him, but they will attempt to otherwise ignore the incident for the sake of The Flash film.

Speaking of DC, Sutton claims the J. J. Abrams black Superman film is almost certainly going to be cancelled when Discovery takes over WB (the issue being a lack of story and an inflated budget). You'd think hiring Abrams would necessitate those elements to begin with, but regardless, if this is true it's a sign of just how chaotic things are--they need a fresh start with a clear vision from someone who actually knows what they are doing. Ditching Abrams would be the best move, but he cost so much I don't imagine that's feasible. It's an odd thing, attempting to do a Superman sequel character when you haven't spent any time on the actual Superman. As bad as Falcon and the Winter Soldier was, at least we had an established Captain America for Sam to springboard from.

I almost never go to Reddit anymore (I only went for scoops and I don't make a point of tracking them anymore), but I was bemused to see that Mikey Sutton is still banned for a "high ratio of debunked scoops." The mods who posted this make no attempt to justify it (nor has anyone actually systematically tracked Sutton's predictions--Pierre Chanliau started, but gave up, likely because the evidence wasn't as clear cut as hoped, cf; in 2020 he had Sutton at 5% wrong, 9% right, and the rest undetermined/other categories, cf). Don't take me as an apologist per se--Sutton kicked me out of his Facebook group, after all--but my interest has only ever been in accuracy. In the realm of scoopers, Sutton has done well enough in Phase Four. The Reddit list also suggests that Murphy is the one with the true 'in' with the mod community, as RPK does not get the carte blanch of truth that he does (this despite Murphy doing some faceplants for Falcon and the Winter Soldier among others).

This article was written by Peter Levi