Marvel News & Notes

Disney has finally re-arranged their film release dates as a result of the corona outbreak (in the process debunking some unfounded rumours--see below). Clearly they want the MCU to have its usual worldwide approach, or they wouldn't have shifted the slate so far back. Here's the new schedule (keeping in mind that Spider-Man is a Sony date and therefore not included):
2020
Black Widow - November 6 (the release date of:)
2021
The Eternals - February 12 (the release date of:)
Shang-Chi - May 7 (the release date of:)
Doctor Strange 2 - November 5 (the release date of:)
2022
Thor 4 - February 18 (the release date of an unrevealed title now pulled from the schedule--conventional wisdom says this was Ant-Man 3)
Black Panther 2 - May 6 (no change)
Captain Marvel 2 - July 8 (moving up three weeks)
Unknown - October 7 (general sentiment says this is Blade)
2023
Unknown - February 17
Unknown - May 5
Unknown - July 28
Unknown - November 3

Murphy has heard that the MCU is aiming to gear up full production again in September, which strikes me as a conservative guess, but given how terrible the situation is in the US, it's plausible.

I'm not sure what the shifting schedule means for Ant-Man 3, but the film now has a writer--yet another Rick & Morty alum, Jeff Loveness. He joins Michael Waldron (Loki/Doctor Strange 2) and Jessica Gao (She-Hulk) from Rick & Morty. We also learned there was an earlier version of the script from Paul Rudd and that it included MODOK. What interests me is that Marvel is choosing to bring someone in to either update or completely re-write Rudd's script. Ant-Man 2 suffered in the script department (compared to the original film, which had five writers), so I welcome the move.

Funko Pops may have revealed some appearances in The Eternals, specifically that of Kro and Arishem the Celestial. The latter isn't surprising, given that Marvel has shown off concept art of the Celestials and Arishem is the most obvious member to appear. However, Kro is a villain (a Deviant) who hasn't come up much in rumours. By my count we've only heard of him twice, once in December and then March. Only the original is a potential scoop because the latter is a mix of fan-casting with an absurd plot. What was that December rumour? It came from 4chan and, at the time, I said it was similar to a November post, but re-reading it that's not a fair assessment (the latter is clearly speculation based on the comics). Without repeating it entirely:

• 1) The Eternals were created by the Celestials to defend humanity from the Deviants [this was revealed by Richard Madden months earlier]; the latter are defeated and exiled and the former give up their powers to live among the humans, forgetting who they were (this is very similar to the Neil Gaiman run on the comic)
• 2) Dane Whitman discovers an Eternal citadel and activates a beacon that awakens them; Deviants attack him and the Eternals arrive to save him (this is similar to Jack Kirby's run on the comics, with Whitman in the Margo Damien-role and, I'd guess, Sersi in the Ikaris role)
• 3) The Deviants were freed by a rogue Eternal, there are twists and turns of the plot, but the key element is the inclusion of Kro as the principal Deviant who has a relationship with Thena
• 4) In the end the Celestials return and Ajak sacrifices herself to stop them

I was skeptical of this plot at the time, but returning to it I think it's plausible, making use of various elements we've heard about (eg Phastos etc). Let's keep in mind, the Funko Pops aren't an absolute guarantee we'll see those characters, they simply make it probable.

Murphy put out a Tweet reply where he said: "So you're still going to get Sue [Storm], probably in near proximity to AM3 [Ant-Man 3] coming out and, for all you know, whoever brings the FF [Fantastic Four] to the MCU might do a better job. You didn't lose." This is a fascinating thing for him to say, as to my knowledge he's never discussed this before (at least, outside the realm of speculation). From the context he doesn't just mean Sue Storm but the entire FF. The implication is that he thinks they require Ant-Man 3 to appear, but I'm taking that as his speculation. I wouldn't call this a scoop at this point, but it's interesting to note.

We have a Reddit post from a guy who has previously put up others that have not been deleted (meaning the mods have accepted that he is who he says he is--not the biggest hurdle to overcome, but it gives him more credibility than most):

Hey guys! Long time no see, but I figure with all the delays that everyone could use some cheering up right now. If you don’t already know, I’ve been working as an editor on both Wandavision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, typically just working on trailers, but with the start of remote work, I’ve been working on Falcon as a part-time editor and got to see some interesting scenes. I’m not gonna spoil anything monumental, but given that some of these scenes may straight up have to be cut, I figured I’d share some of their contents with you all. (And for all those wondering, Marvel is eyeing a December 2020 release date, and is likely pushing Wandavision to July 2021 in order to be in close proximity to Doctor Strange--the delays affecting Doctor Strange made them want to push those two closer together as well so a Doctor Strange trailer featuring Wanda can build hype.) [This would be a significant delay and put a drag on MCU momentum for Disney+, but it does make sense to synergize the two related IP]
Some scenes I’ve seen for Falcon:
Bucky will work with US Agent as part of a government-mandated parole of sorts in exchange for charges against him being dropped. He is, however, highly suspicious of the serum given to US Agent, and starts his own spy work mirroring Widows’s Captain America: Winter Soldier arc. This leads into the information I gave in the last leak (Bucky warning Sam about the serum [link above].)
As part of this parole, Bucky also sees a government-mandated therapist who is revealed to be corrupt. He has a few flashback scenes with her in which more of his time as the Winter Soldier is revealed, including him finding out about Steve Rogers’ “death” and momentarily breaking programming, as well as him being ordered to kill Sam and other members of the Falcon program.
Bucky winds up deciding to go on the run rather than work with US Agent and be complicit in further danger to society.
Sam and Bucky go to an airport together undercover and there’s a funny scene involving Sam’s wings and Bucky’s arm going through TSA.
There’s a big reveal involving Steve opening a training academy in the alternate timeline. [I'm not sure what this portends--the phrasing suggests significance, but I'm not clear what that is]
Really cool team-up scene with Sam and Isaiah [Bradley] once Sam takes back the shield, with the 2 of them passing the shield back and forth.
Zemo, Sam, and Bucky will team up before it’s revealed that Zemo was involved in the creation of the mind altering serum used on US Agent.
Battlestar will turn against US Agent after seeing him brainwashed and go rogue.
The Madbomb rumors were true, but those scenes are certainly being cut and possibly being replaced with a new side villain for US Agent and Bucky to take on. [Presumably in reference to the plot changes being made in response to the corona outbreak]
Each episode will have a post-credit scene!
That’s all! I’ll respond to a few questions in the comments as usual. Stay safe everyone, and remember that delays only mean you’ll be getting an even better product. Safety is the priority right now. Shooting is being eyed to resume in June if things have improved.

The idea of the 'Madbomb' plot isn't new (eg, LotLB had it in November and it's been common speculation; the storyline is from Jack Kirby in 1976), but if this is correct it sounds like it's not just being adjusted, but completely replaced. This must be the reason the re-shoots aren't complete, since the show is replacing the plot entirely (a radical decision and, in my opinion, an overreaction). As for what's here in general, it sounds plausible and we're finally learning more about Bucky's storyline. What's not clear from is where the Zemo storyline is going or the end game for US Agent, but the poster did say he was trying to avoid major spoilers.

Daniel claims a Young Avengers project is in active development, without saying if it's a film or Disney+. Rumours about the IP aren't new and they aren't even new for Daniel, who reported the exact same thing back in September. So why is Daniel repeating himself? This isn't the first time he's done so, but I think the trigger was GWW's Thomas Polito saying "Sounds like Marvel Studios is gearing up to take pitches from writers for Young Avengers" on Twitter.

On March 27th Grace Randolph claimed Disney was considering putting Black Widow on Disney+, something that Conrad echoed the next day and Murphy echoed obliquely on his Twitter feed. I pay next to no attention to Randolph, as her unending bitterness towards her former employer and lack of inside sources makes her completely unreliable (cf). A few days after this came out Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro said this idea was hogwash, something that would be more definitive if D'Alessandro himself hadn't fallen on his face previously. Any doubt this was invented was crushed with Disney's revised slate (above), but I'm surprised that Conrad/Murphy gave someone as unreliable as Randolph credit (or that either thought on a business-level such an option was acceptable).

In a now deleted Tweet from Atlanta Filming there seemed to be an accidental casting leak:

"What does 'Must See Thursday' and Fox's X-Men have in common? They both started actors/actresses that are villain in upcoming Marvel shows."

There's no guarantee the person running the Twitter feed is accurate, but its possible, so let's go down the rabbit hole. For those who don't know, the Must See Thursday moniker was NBC's brand for its 1990s nighttime lineup (launched in 1993--you can see the full list here). People on Reddit (link above) missed the 'starred' part of the quote and included everyone who made an appearance--including those from when NBC changed the name to Must See TV, so keeping to our boundaries, here is your option: Kelsey Grammar (Frasier (93-94, 98-00); X-Men 3; Days of Future Past (cameo)). That's it. No other starring actor within that timeframe also appeared in the X-Men films. Could he be appearing? It's certainly possible, but I'd take it with a grain of salt.

Conrad referenced something I hadn't heard of regarding New Mutants (cf above):

"...some have said that HBO has some kind of deal in place for the newer [Fox X-Men] movies (such as Dark Phoenix) until 2022. That would likely rule out New Mutants too."

This is surely why Disney has stubbornly pushed releasing the film theatrically, unable to dump it on Disney+ and, therefore, the only way outside of VOD to make any money on it. In going through comments about this on Reddit people pointed out that the deal only applies in the United States, but that's a significant enough market to give Disney pause.

Here are the highlights from Kinda Culty's latest video for me (some of this is already known, but I felt was worth repeating):

• I was reminded that Feige said the film goes back 7,000 years, a very specific number that none of the early leaks got correct (their estimates ranging from millions to 30,000); Feige also hinted at a Thanos connection (which is expected, but worth repeating)
• From set leaks Loki seems to be working with the TVA; he's rumoured to visit ancient Egypt and KC thinks this is for a Kang connection (he goes through all the different iterations--default Kang, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, Iron Lad, and Immortus), perhaps being a backdoor to Fantastic Four, Mutants (possibly Apocalypse in Egypt), and Young Avengers
• Thor 4 will be like Ultron or Civil War; including maybe Loki, some Eternals, and SWORD; there will be a main villain with a bunch of secondary ones--he leans towards Gorr as the main villain (borrowing elements from Mangog), due to Taika's attachment to the Jason Aaron run on Thor (he likes the recent 4chan leak)
• Black Knight hinted to continue on from The Eternals (which makes sense--of all the leads appearing in that film, he's the only character with any popularity from the comics)

We had more from the fake Roger Wardell:

• Inhumans to undergo complete recast. Ms Marvel will refer to ABC's flop as a TV series of that universe. It will appear several times throughout the show in a form of billboards and TV spots.
• Heroes for Hire Disney+ show planned for Phase 5. It will serve as a binder between some of the Netflix and Disney+ characters. [The idea of the Netflix characters appearing is fairly common, with LotLB, Mikey Sutton, Daniel, Conrad, WGTC, and Cosmic Book News all floating the idea]
• Return of the Darkhold will be fundamental for upcoming WandaVision. Captain Britain and Ghost Rider in Doctor Strange 2. Events of both the show and movie will prepare the ground for Doctor Doom's debut. [Rumours about Ghost Rider in Doctor Strange 2 are quite common, but Captain Britain is not; Murphy brought him up in November in what, in retrospect, seems like his guess over what the 'Limbo LLC' was going to be about--which, as it turned out, was Loki; then in January I speculated he might be one of the 'character they've always wanted to use' Feige teased for Doctor Strange 2]

None of this seems plausible to me, as Feige has shown no inclination to acknowledge the Marvel Entertainment properties, and Disney doesn't even own the Netflix shows, so why empower their competitor?

A couple of thoughts I've had lately:

• I wonder if we'll see a young Daredevil with the Yelena version of Black Widow in the aftermath of Black Widow. Netflix, while it included an origin for the character, used a much older actor and largely skipped over his origins--given Florence Pugh's age, it would be an easy fit if the MCU wants to go there, since the two are heavily connected in the comics
• No Deadpool in the MCU? I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever truly be part of the universe. We've had nothing announced for Phase Four and surely the third film is coming within that timeframe, Bob Iger said it would be part of the MCU, but I wonder if he's going to occupy the same space Netflix/ABC did in being 'adjacent but ignored'

One of the most popular actors in the MCU rumour-mill is Ryan Gosling--according to rumours he's playing anything and everything. This speculation isn't just based on his popularity, but also because he hasn't had any known upcoming projects on his slate. We have a bit of an update on that from Daniel, who says he's signed on with Universal for their Monsters franchise (rebooted, presumably, from Tom Cruise's disastrous The Mummy in 2017). The project has also (according to him) signed John Krasinski to write/direct, which could signal he's been passed over by Marvel, or that the Fantastic Four is a long way off.

Amidst all the shuffling due to the pandemic, one of the more surprising delays is Sony's Morbius. The film has jumped all the way from July 10th to March 19th of next year (while the gap is similar to Black Widow, its notable because Sony didn't need to push it that far). The shift brings to question just how interconnected it is with Venom 2, whose October 2nd date is unchanged. There were a lot of assumptions that Morbius would help set-up Venom, but this change implies there were simply easter eggs or trivial references.

For those interested, via the Sony hack, here are the Marvel characters they can use (including those shared). The document is from 2011, but there were no important adjustments made through to the time of the hack in November, 2014.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

Empire's issue for Black Widow is out and revealed or confirmed a few things (the link is from Conrad and his added speculation is marked in italics below):

• Following the events of Civil War, Natasha is hunted by Secretary Ross.
• Red Guardian is described as the “slightly budget” Soviet version of Captain America.
• Taskmaster is described as “every woman’s nightmare come to haunt her”. It’s widely believed that it’s Mason behind the mask and he’s said to be Natasha’s love interest from the past.
• Ray Winstone is playing Dreykov who is the head of the Red Room and likely the same Dreykov that Loki mentioned in the first Avengers (2012).

One of the things Conrad (link) and Murphy have done is trumpet any revelation about the film as validating the October 4chan leak about it. What's puzzling about this is the above actually debunks a couple of things from that leak:

• It posited that Winstone was playing Ivan Petrovich, not Dreykov (none of the purported leaks got this right--although all of them guessed he was playing her surrogate father)
• It said that Melina Vostokoff was the head of the Red Room, but this has Dreykov running it (possibly he did in the past and now she does, but that's not clear)

None of the leaks suggested Taskmaster is specifically a woman's nightmare--he's described as a villain and Nat's former love interest. This kind of description, if it means he's abusive, would make me believe he'll die in the end (with his role, perhaps, picked up by his daughter). Conversely, if the character survives I think Empire is overstating his villainy (as in, if Empire is merely referencing that an ex turned out to be a bad guy).

Conrad is floating a rumour that Atlantis (ergo Namor) will be teased in The Eternals, which isn't much of a stretch since its sinking is related to the Deviants (and, thus, the Eternals--aside: there's an opportunity to include an easter egg for Kull the Conquerer since Marvel has the comicbook rights back, but Cabinet Entertainment still owns the film rights, making this unlikely). Conrad did not include the source of the rumour, something he has a spotty record of doing, so where did this come from? It's from a Tweet that was mirrored on Reddit in January, where a young actor talked about 'playing the role of a kid whose father is killed by sea monsters.' Given how vague this is, it's no surprise Conrad sat on it for so long.

A thought about the IP: why are we getting this film? There are a lot of answers to this, but I want to throw in some food for thought before I give my answer. The Eternals was an ABC project (helmed by John Ridley) for years--that means it was with Marvel Entertainment and Jeph Loeb and, more importantly, Feige didn't want it. The MCU took it away from Loeb only in 2018 (the scoop that made Conrad's career), but why?

I think this was originally Inhumans--that when that film was pulled from its Phase Three slot in April, 2016, Feige still wanted to do it (the IP had been in development at the MCU since at least 2011). For whatever reason, between then and November the project was shifted to ABC (probably to take advantage of the deal with IMAX) and the show (in 2017) was a disaster. Being poorly received not only meant no future seasons, but that the brand would have to be rebuilt to launch a film franchise (many of the theories around the Ms. Marvel show is that Kamala Khan is providing a backdoor reboot to the Inhumans). Why I think the Inhumans were important in Phase Three is that, before the Fox sale, they were a window on the MCU's past and a kind of discount Mutants, in that they have innate powers for which they could face discrimination--they even have opposed factions of leadership in Black Bolt and Maximus (echoing Charles Xavier and Magneto). While the latter element is now superfluous, I think the original Inhumans MCU film would have dealt with the past performing a similar function that we'll see in The Eternals (setting up whatever is being set up). This is just a theory--I haven't seen it anywhere and there may be holes in it, but it's food for thought.

We have a Black Widow rumour from 4chan:

• Throughout the movie, there are flashbacks of Nat’s childhood in the Red Room and the Budapest incident.
• Nat was sent by the Russian government to assassinate Draco, who was negotiating with their enemies, via car bomb. [I have no idea who 'Draco' is.]
• Nat tried to abort when she found out Draco’s daughter was with him, but the Russians betrayed her and let the bomb explode.
• Draco was believed to have died, but actually survived.
• Hawkeye was there spying on Draco and received the order kill Nat, but recognized she was genuinely guilt for the girl’s death.
• The Russians went after Nat for cleanup, but Nat and Hawkeye fought them off, and he brought her to the U.S. to be recruited into SHIELD and make up for her mistakes.
• First after-credits scene is Ross’ men retrieving Alexei’s blood from the wreckage of the Red Room, which Ross orders them not to report. They also find Mason badly wounded but alive. Ross orders them to bring him Mason as he might be useful.
• Second after-credits scene is Yelena visiting a makeshift grave for Nat in Hawkeye’s farm. She says she has no family and no purpose left, Hawkeye says Nat wanted her to have both, and gives her Nat’s old stingers.
• Jeremy Renner is in it more than people expect, but he's the only one. No Chris Evans, no Samuel L. Jackson, and just archive footage of Robert Downey Jr.

The breakdown is plausible, although it's not radically different from other things we've heard. It's a little depressing that virtually every leak includes David Harbour's death (Red Guardian). The character in the comics is also short-lived, but it seems like a waste of an actor. However, for Nat to make her sacrifice in Endgame, she has to think she has no family left, which seems to have sealed his fate.

TI's Braxter has a scoop that was echoed at the same time by Daniel (almost certainly derived from the same information): two Sony Marvel IP are in the early stages of development: Solo and Man-Wolf (the latter was scooped by LotLB last June). The former looks like Cable and was clearly influenced by the Jason Bourne films as he's named James Bourne. On the other hand, Man-Wolf is an older character, J. Jonah Jameson's son who, through a bizarre event, becomes a werewolf. Daniel said there was a third, unknown property also being put into development, but as I said last time Sony develops a lot of projects that go nowhere. Will any of this see the light of day? I doubt it. This story received an update from TI's Richard Nebens who speculates that Solo will play the role of Nick Fury for Sony's Marvel films (which is a funny choice as Fury has never had his own film).

Murphy put out an odd Tweet:

I know a lot of you who are patrons may not have seen the post so heads up: for the time being, I've unpublished my Patreon. I'm not foreseeing being able to pass any info along to anyone in the near future so I'm not taking your money. Should things pick back up, I'll restart.

This is coming off Murphy saying there were no scoops while production is shut down about a week earlier, which isn't exactly true--the wheels of the industry keep on rolling even when filming stops. This suggests that all of Murphy's information is related to the mechanics of production--casting calls, set photos, etc--as opposed to inside sources. If that's the case it's more than a little self-serving for him to say there can be no news from anyone for awhile (unless the intent is to say that none of the scoopers have inside connections--a possibility outside Roger Wardell).

The next day something just as unique came from Conrad:

Unless you’re writing for a big site like Comicbook.com or IGN [Conrad used to work for IGN], a site like this isn’t a full time paying job. It’s a hobby. People who run sites like this usually have to have day jobs to pay the rent and bills. ...the Governor of California [Gavin Newsom] issued a state-wide stay at home order, which shuts down any non-essential businesses. That doesn’t mean this site is shutting down because of that, but it does potentially have grim repercussions for this site. While some people who are put out of work do still get paid, a lot of others don’t. Unfortunately my wife and I fall into that category of being self-employed with businesses forced to close we have no income to pay our bills or our house. Meaning not only are we not able to make an income to eat, we stand the chance of losing our home. And even before that happens, the web hosting for this site would have to go away. It won’t happen right away, we have enough food to last a week or so. But it’s pretty grim. I know this time is tough for everyone, and there are a lot of people in similar situations as us. But if you can, please consider supporting the site via Patreon.

I mentioned previously that Conrad's Patreon is largely dead (he's never had more than 43 since starting it in 2018), but in response to this post his numbers have jumped. I don't know what Conrad or his wife's businesses are or how far the bill that just passed in the US will support them. While I have issues with Conrad, I wish him the best as he and the rest of us work our way through the pandemic.

An update to my X-Men expectations in the MCU article from the fall, since the screen time of Dark Phoenix is finally posted (changes in bold and by how much in brackets):

Second Iteration (2011-17; Vaughan, Singer, Singer)

Professor X 106:15 (+21:45)

Magneto 86:15 (+13:00)

Mystique 61:45 (+10:00)

Beast 53:15 (+15:00)

Jean Grey 50:00 (+35:00)

Wolverine 30:30

Quicksilver 18:00 (+3:00)

Havok 15:45

Storm 15:45 (+6:00)

Nightcrawler 13:45 (+5:45)

Banshee 8:15

Psylocke 6:00

Angel 6:00

Kitty Pryde 4:45

Iceman 3:00

Colossus 1:30

Sunspot 1:30

Dazzler 0:30 (+0:30)

Fox Totals (minimum 10 minutes)

Professor X 137:00

Magneto 124:00

Wolverine 111:45

Jean Grey 88:00

Mystique 82:00

Beast 61:00

Storm 44:30

Cyclops 44:30

Rogue 29:15

Nightcrawler 23:15

Iceman 19:45

Quicksilver 18:00

Havok 15:45

Kitty Pryde 10:30

It's amazing that through seven films Fox couldn't find time for Storm, and that in a film that's focused so much on Jean Grey that Cyclops is minimally involved (granted that the consensus from people who liked Dark Phoenix is that it made strange story choices).

The added totals reaffirm my contention then that, because of what was emphasized by the Fox films, I think the MCU will initially de-emphasize Magneto and Jean Grey/Cyclops (the latter's central drama has been ruined twice now by Simon Kinberg in less than two decades). I don't think we'll get the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby iteration of the team and instead lean into the Len Wein/Chris Claremont original, possibly with some retro insertions of newer X-characters. For more on all of that, you can check out the article linked above.

For a couple of weeks I've been meaning to get into a list via CBR that collates the most popular Marvel characters over the last 12 years (presumably 2011-19), determined by votes on that site (the list doesn't discriminate between popular in comics or otherwise, so this is a holistic poll). I've gone through this kind of thing before and I'll reference that list below with the number after the slash. Those characters leaning primarily on comicbook popularity are in green; film/TV appearances over the time period are in brackets, with a 'c' if it was a cameo or very limited screen time:
1/3. Spider-Man (2012, 2016, 2017, 2018x2, 2019)
2. Captain America (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
3/7. Wolverine (2011c, 2013, 2014, 2017)
4/44. Daredevil (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
5/2. Thor (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
6/6. Hulk (2012, 2013c, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
7. Doctor Doom (2015)
8/5. Iron Man (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
9. Cyclops (2016, 2018c, 2019)
10. Magneto (2011, 2014, 2016, 2019)
11/32. Thing (2015)
12/22. Hawkeye (2011c, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019)
13/1. Deadpool (2016, 2018)
14/4. Doctor Strange (2016, 2017c, 2018, 2019c)
15/21. Nightcrawler (2016, 2018c, 2019)
16. Storm (2016, 2018c, 2019)
17. Kitty Pryde (2014)
18/27. Jean Grey (2014c, 2016, 2019)
19/18. Silver Surfer
20. She-Hulk
21/15. Punisher (2017, 2018)
22/10. Captain Marvel (2019x2)
23. Emma Frost (2011)
24. Iron Fist (2016, 2017, 2018)
25/46. Rogue
26/40. Beast (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018c, 2019)
27/9. Black Panther (2016, 2018x2, 2019c)
28/12. Scarlet Witch (2014c, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019c)
29/20. Gambit
30/30. Winter Soldier (2011, 2014, 2015c, 2016, 2018cx2, 2019c)
31/45. Moon Knight
32. Thanos (2012c, 2014c, 2015c, 2018, 2019)
33/17. Black Widow (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017c, 2018c, 2019)
34. Mister Fantastic (2015)
35. Multiple Man
36. Namor
37/37. Nova
38/49. Luke Cage (2015, 2016, 2017x2)
39. Venom (2018)
40/19. Vision (2015, 2016, 2018)
41. Loki (2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018c, 2019c)
42. Invisible Woman (2015)
43/25. Colossus (2014c, 2016, 2018)
44/43. Iceman (2014c)
45/47. Psylocke/Captain Britain (Betsy Braddock) (2016c)
46/39. Nick Fury (2011cx2, 2012, 2014, 2015c, 2018c, 2019x2)
47. Spider-Woman
48. Ant-Man (Hank Pym) (2015, 2018, 2019c)
49/35. Human Torch (2015)
50. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
/8. Groot (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019c)
/11. Rocket (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
/13. Star-Lord (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019c)
/14. Ant-Man (Scott Lang) (2015, 2018, 2019)
/16. Ghost Rider (2012, 2016)
/23. Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
/24. Cable (2018)
/26. Professor X (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018c, 2019)
/28. Drax (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019c)
/29. Captain Marvel (Mar'Vell)
/31. Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (2018)
/33. Odin (2011, 2013, 2017)
/34. Gamora (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
/36. Blade
/38. War Machine (2013, 2015c, 2016, 2018c, 2019)
/41. Quicksilver (2014x2(c), 2015, 2016, 2018c, 2019c)
/42. X-23 (2016)
/48. Valkyrie (2017, 2019c) - the listing is for the comic accurate version
/50. Wasp (2015, 2018, 2019c)

You have to take these lists with a grain of salt, but what they do is open a small window into who is registering with the fanbase. The unsurprising thing is that, beyond those characters who have appeared in successful films/shows, the most popular are part of the Fantastic Four or X-Men IP. The only exceptions are She-Hulk (coming to Disney+), Moon Knight (coming to Disney+), Namor (heavily rumoured), Nova (heavily rumoured), Spider-Woman (heavily rumoured), and Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel (Coming to Disney+). How much do the rumours impact votes is hard to say, but certainly before the Fox purchase went through Feige was doubling down on anything in the vault that remained that people cared about.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

It's no surprise that during the current pandemic the film's release has been delayed. How Disney will adjust is not yet known--if they want to wait for worldwide that delay may be considerable, however, if they decide to go on a case-by-case basis it won't be far off the original date for some places. Given the long gap between it and The Eternals I don't think even a substantial delay will really matter.

Murphy speculates Richard E. Grant will play the Immortus version of Kang in Loki and I can't help but be reminded of his Limbo hint back in October (possibly alluding to just the LLC for Loki, but that hint also brought me to this version of Kang). Daniel said in February that Kang was coming (which echoed Sutton about a week before and Reddit a month before that--link above). Could that be Grant's role? It's plausible.

Daniel claims "MODOK is on the new list of characters to use in an upcoming Marvel project that will shoot in the coming year." Conrad wonders if he'll appear in Ant-Man 3, because Peyton Reed is a fan of the character. AIM, the organization MODOK controls, has been shown in the Black Widow trailer, which is a direct hint. If true this also means the animated MODOK is (as expected) completely irrelevant in relation to the MCU.

Daniel also says Squadron Supreme is in development. Back in February he said some of the members would appear in Loki, which echoed what Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston speculation (same link). Daniel doesn't say whether it would be a film or a Disney+ show (the latter seems more probable). If this is true it's surprising how much non-FOX IP is being developed, given that (particularly for mutants) there's so much fodder that would suit the Disney+ model (if we can do Squadron Supreme then give me Alpha Flight!). Naturally, it may all be waiting for Phase Five.

Murphy talked about Spider-Woman on his podcast:

The last that I heard, they were at least having conversations with Sony about trying to make it a co-opt. I know that Feige is at least interested in making a Jessica Drew movie with Sony [my emphasis].

Both Daniel and TI have said Sony is (independently) developing a Jessica Drew Spider-Woman film, so what's going on? GWW (same link) suggests that the news isn't that clear cut and what they saw the project is likely the Madame Web film (which is something Sony has already announced). GWW's conclusion makes sense to me, but Murphy himself (same link) seemed to buy into the idea--if so, what is his recent comment about? Either Murphy thinks the Sony announcement is in conjunction with Feige (so believes the scoops with an added element), doesn't believe the scoops and that something may be brewing behind the scenes, or he believes Sony is currently pushing a project that Feige will try to get in on via a new deal. Personally, a Sony-driven Jessica Drew project even with Feige is of limited interest. I don't mind Peter Parker's limited interactions with the MCU, but Jessica Drew is much more integrated into the wider Marvel universe (her connection with Spider-Man is relatively weak), so by locking her into Sony's little corner I think a lot of potential would be lost. Assuming, that is, that the deal Feige strikes would be the same for her (which it may not be, given that Marvel actually owns part of the IP).

LotLB repeated something they've been saying since the summer: that Charlie Cox's Daredevil will return (in a Hulu TV-series). This became pertinent, in concept at least, because independently Kevin Smith discussed Cox's return (revealing afterward the news blew-up that he got it from MCU Direct, who in turn almost certainly got it from Conrad--the ultimate progenitor of the idea). Tangentially, one thing I didn't mention back then (when dismissing it because of the rights situation--ie, Marvel only has access in November and Spider-Man 3 films July-October) is a potential way around the rights situation: if Cox still has an MCU appearance on his contract. We know he did when he initially signed and, if that's still in effect, that might allow him to appear before the Netflix window closes. Of course, by appearing he'd validate the Netflix material as canon and I don't think Feige will do that (his appearance would also exclude doing any stories about the character when he's younger--Cox turns 38 this year). Ultimately, Smith had no inside information when talking about it, so we're in the exact same situation we were when Conrad's old rumour came out in the summer.

LotLB also said that Glyph will appear in Moon Knight, which is an adjustment to what he said in January (that she'd appear in Helstrom). The idea of that character appearing isn't their scoop, as Bleeding Cool indicated it last April (in a Hulu context), which I mentioned via the link. Although they haven't stated it explicitly, it seems like their ideas for what Jeph Loeb was doing on Hulu are being shifted over to Disney+ IP like Moon Knight with the same intent (we don't know that Feige is taking that approach, just that LotLB thinks he is).

A Twitter account purporting to be Roger Wardell has popped up. The known, verified account hasn't Tweeted since June and unlike this one is following no one. Accounts pretending to be Wardell are not new and a sleuth on Reddit has already provided evidence this one is fake, but to keep tabs on rumours here's the content:

• The Changing People [a term introduced in Neil Gaiman's run], called the Deviants by the Eternals, will have a crucial role to play in more than just one movie. Altered backstory and appereance [appearance] of the race will surprise many. Their descendants are heading into Phase 4 soon enough.
• David Morrissey [56] and Robert Odenkirk [58] being eyed for the role of Norman Osborn. However, his Green Goblin alter-ego will not be happening anytime soon.
• General Ross believes he can control everything from the backseat. His pride and ambitions backFIRE badly as a new Leader shows up. Both Weapon Plus program and Extremis virus bring the long-awaited arrival of a Red Hulk.
• A version of Thor Corps will make its way into upcoming Thor 4. Notable members of the team included Beta Ray Bill, Dargo Ktor, Thunderstrike, Simon Walterson/Throg, Groot, Gamora, Sif, Angela and Storm. Roger Norvell character to appear in New Asgard.

The first and third rumours seem at least plausible to me (I'm iffy on the Leader, but saying it's a new actor is on-target). I've mentioned frequently that the Eternals IP is not popular and the Deviants that come from it are (in comic terms) basically nobodies. I bring this up because, thus far, Marvel has not promoted a little-known part of an IP to any significance, which (on its surface) makes the idea dubious. The second bullet point fits the general framing of Osborn rumours, but both actors strike me as too old. The account doesn't suggest Osborn as a new major villain for the MCU, which makes sense given the contractual situation with Sony (Mikey Sutton was asked about this and said it's not true). The fourth point is the most problematic to me--it's incredibly busy with characters (all from Hickman's Secret Wars) and includes Storm who, unless she's introduced in Black Panther 2 beforehand, is not how you introduce an iconic X-Men.

There have been a flood of rumours from 4chan and Reddit whose premise is: 'I know a guy.' Most of these are ridiculous (although on rare occasions the poster is able to prove themselves to mods), but it's not that different from general rumours. To keep tabs on the trends I'll continue to include the ones that get some buzz (as I was finishing editing this Murphy Tweeted this out: "If you ever wondered if 'scoopers' had legit access or not, feel free to pay attention (starting 2 weeks ago) to how it goes now. I'm not getting anything because there is nothing to get. It's all shut down. Places still churning out multiple scoops per day though..." Don't take that as an absolute--there's news folks have sat on and the people at home aren't idle or lost the ability to communicate, but it adds some grains of salt to what we hear).

4chan on Phase Four:

• Black Widow is getting pushed back due to Coronavirus. End Credits scene includes Jeremy Renner [Hawkeye]
• Ajak and Sprite die in Eternals. The Phastos kiss scene has been discussed being cut but no final decisions. [A scene explicitly showing Valkyrie's sexuality was cut from Ragnarok]
• Shang-Chi will introduce Fin Fang Foom. Jospeh Fiennes, Sam Claflin, and Zhang Ziyi are cast as Reston, Jack Tarr, and Leiko Wu. Michelle Yeoh plays an evil scientist named Zhang [The casting ideas are similar to a 4chan post in January].
• Cillian Murphy is in negotiations to play Nightmare in Multiverse of Madness. Emma Watson is being looked at for Clea, with Malachi Kirby in negotiations for Voodoo. Isabela Merced is cast as America Chavez. Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell have cameos.
• Spider Man 3 will be titled Home Run. Scorpion and Kraven are the main villains. Joe Keery and Jane Lynch are being looked at for roles. Henry Cavill or Jason Mamoa wanted for Kraven, but have to sign a non compete clause if interested. [This is ridiculous for latter as he's going to be filming a sequel to Aquaman]
• Christian Bale is playing Dario Agger in Love and Thunder. Groot and Rocket have supporting roles. Jodie Comer and Ryan Gosling are in final negotiations for roles.
• Ant Man 3 will be about Cassie leaving her family to be an Avenger, with Scott and Hope trying to stop her. MODOK is the villain.
• Micheal B Jordan is back in Black Panther 2. A-List actor wanted for the villain.
• Captain Marvel 2 will introduce Nova. Abigail Brand will appear.
• Blade is looking to cast many Oscar Nominees as the cast.

This is a mishmash of rumours with fan casting. The idea of killing Sprite alone destroys the credibility, as family friendly Marvel is not killing off a child character in her first appearance (if at all).

4chan weighs in on Thor 4:

• Christian Bale is playing the main villain, Gorr. In this version, Gorr is an alien whose race was slaughtered by Hela. He blames the Asgardians and, after years of searching, retrieved the Necrosword to wipe them out.
• Thor is having intergalactic adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy when Gorr attacks and wounds him, then announces that he will kill the remaining Asgardians on Earth. Thor goes there to protect them with Rocket and Groot.
• Thor can’t find Gorr, so he’s forced to ask Jane Foster for help. Gorr’s sword is powered by dark energy, and Jane might be able to trace it. Jane is now working for S.W.O.R.D., and director Abigail Brand is not happy when Thor shows up needing help.
• Thor, Jane and Brand go New Asgard, where they reunite with Valkyrie and time-displaced Loki, who ends up a prisoner there after whatever happens on his spinoff series. Along with Loki is a new time-displaced Mjolnir that doesn’t answer to Thor because it’s under a “different spell”.
• Gorr tricked Thor into leading him to New Asgard and destroys it with his army of “shadow berserkers”. During the chaos, Jane wields Mjolnir and fends off Gorr for the time being.
• Brand places the Asgardians under S.W.O.R.D.’s protection at an outpost near a small town in Oklahoma. Thor trains Jane to control Mjolnir and they reconnect. Valkyrie and Brand also develop a bond.
• Loki escapes and join forces with Gorr to use Jane’s research on dark energy and harness it through the Necrosword to defeat Thor. Dark energy has time-altering properties that Loki wants.
• All leads to major battle between Thor and Jane against Gorr across time and space, while Valkyrie and Brand lead the Asgardians and S.W.O.R.D. in battle against the Shadow Berserkers to defend humanity.
• During the battle, Rocket and Groot must deal with a dark energy singularity that Gorr creates before it consumes the planet, and Loki pursues his own agenda.
• Gorr will be mocap, but his pre-Necrosword form is going to be human-looking. The dark energy mutates him, and he becomes more monstrous as he absorbs more of it.
• Brand is the other major role left to cast, Marvel Studios is looking at actresses like Jodie Comer and Vanessa Kirby for the role since the character is supposed to appear in several movies like Nick Fury.
• Rocket and Groot are supporting characters, the rest of the Guardians (Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis and Nebula) are cameos. There’s some talks about having them join the final battle, but nothing final. Gamora won’t show up because her story is reserved for Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
• Same comedic tone as Thor: Ragnarok. The idea is to leave the door open for Hemsworth and Portman to return for more, but also wrap up their character arcs in case they decide to stop after this.
• Gorr is going to kill either Korg or Miek during the attack on New Asgard. Waititi still hasn't decided on who (Korg would be more impactful, but he likes playing the character).

One of my issues with this idea is the Asgardians being under threat of annihilation again. This was the plot of Ragnarok and Thanos cut down the population even more--there's only so many ways to skin a cat and I'd like to think Taika isn't that repetitive. At least the plot is much more coherent than the post that follows.

More 4chan on Thor 4:

• Yes, Christian Bale is playing Dario Agger. He is only signed for this film.
• Thor goes with Rocket and Groot on a journey. The journey backfires and they land on Earth. Thor reunites with Jane Foster, who now works at Roxxon after everything in her life fell apart. Life in New Asgard is going well until Agger threatens Valkyrie.
• Jane gets a replica of Mjolnir built by Etiri.
• Thor forms a new Revengers team which consists of himself, Jane, Beta Ray Bill, Korg, Meik, Rocket, Groot, Valkyrie, Angela and Kid Loki.
• Angela (Jodie Comer) is an Asgardian refuge who shows romantic feelings for Valkyrie.
• Ryan Gosling is playing Beta Ray Bill, who was exiled on Sakaar by the Grandmaster.
• Kid Loki is being played by Finn Wolfhard. The reasoning on why Kid Loki is around will be explained in the Loki TV series, which Wolfhard signed on to be in the final episode of.
• Quill, Drax, Mantis, and Nebula have cameos at the beginning and end of the film. Gamora isn't mentioned at all.

This is a bunch of ideas that lacks an essential: motive. Why is Minotaur (Agger) threatening New Asgard? What journey was Thor on? Why or how does Jane earn Mjolnir? It looks like a bunch of rumours cobbled together without an actual story attached.

Reddit scoop on Spider-Man 3:

• Tom Holland recently met with Sony and Marvel Studios to discuss the third Spider-Man film. I was able to find out some key information about the movie from my sources. A lot of this stuff has been speculated amongst fans, and correlates to some rumors that I heard wayyy back. Obviously I have no proof, so you guys don't have to believe this. But I'm pretty confident what I heard was accurate.
• First thing's first: the film has eight villains. Yes, eight. Kraven is the main villain. He hunts Spider-Man for the prize just like in the comics [I'm not clear if he means as his personal goal of hunting the most dangerous things, as a mercenary mark, or what]. Yes, Sony is still planning a Kraven solo film [a film whose development hasn't moved forward since 2018]. Side antagonists include Scorpion, Vulture, Shocker, Tinkerer, Mysterio, Prowler, and Silver Sable. It sounds overwhelming but it works out pretty well ["It just works," Todd Howard]. Kraven is independent and doing his own thing. Scorpion forms the Sinister Six so everyone is working as a team (he also assembles an army of extra goons that also want revenge against Spider-Man). Silver Sable is a bounty hunter who allies with Peter after finding out he is innocent, but that comes later. Silver Sable will go on to star in her own television series with Black Cat on Crackle [the streaming service is partially owned by Sony; for the Amy Pascal-lead Silver & Black projects, see below]
• The film is a cat and mouse extravaganza set a week after Far From Home. Peter is a man on the run with a whole city out for his blood. His abilities, alliances, and skills are put to the ultimate test.
• The Avengers co-star is War Machine, with Don Cheadle reprising his role. Rhodey feels obligated to help Peter because of how much Tony cared for him. Returning characters include MJ [Michelle], Aunt May, Peter's peers, and JJJ [J. Jonah Jameson].
• Sony will be casting Jessica Drew soon. I'm guessing she appears in some sort of mid credits stinger, but eh.
• Filming starts shortly before SDCC in July, and will end shortly after Thanksgiving [the same timeframe as Far From Home].
• There was discussions of a contract extention [extension between Sony-Marvel]. Feige wants to play ball with Sony and keep Spidey (and eventually Spider-Woman) in the MCU. A second trilogy is definitely on the table. Feige wants to have a longform storytelling arc with Peter and follow his adventures into college and beyond. Holland is also willing to do it, but it will all depend on what Sony decides.

Normally I'd dismiss this, but it has some odd specifics (why a week after Far From Home?). It's almost certainly speculation, but despite how overloaded it is, it's not as immediately implausible as the posts above.

Reddit on Midnight Sons:

• Feige is interested in Midnight Sons. A movie or series, I don't know. [This team-up idea goes all the way back to Deadline in April as the plan for Hulu, before Marvel Entertainment lost its control of the TV-side and has a long, long history in the rumour mill, coming from many scoopers (LotLB, Sutton, Daniel, and even Murphy)]
• He intends to have Wandavision and Doctor Strange 2 open the door to the paranormal side of the MCU. Mephisto will be introduced in Wandavision but have a bigger role in DS2. Blade and Moon Knight will start building up toward Midnight Sons. He will introduce Danny Ketch's Ghost Rider along the way. We'll hear about Ghost Rider either this year or next year. [As above the return of Ghost Rider goes back to Loeb's original Hulu plans, although which version has seesawed within the rumour-mill; Ketch is less commonly brought up, with the only reference I can find being from 4chan in January where it was said he has a cameo in Doctor Strange 2]

This is quite similar to a Reddit post (link above), with the only difference being Ketch himself.

A Redditor on Starjammers:

• I learned this info from my source who works in hollywood. I cant mention where my source works but my source knows this kinda info. According to my source a project based on marvel comics team Starjammers is in early stages of development. 
• It is unclear if its gonna be a movie or a d+ show.
• The project will be where pirates of caribbean (in space) meets cowboy bebop and marvel studios are searching for various concepts and ideas to make this project look unique.
• But according to my source this will be a part of cosmic story set in the MCU which will be started by Eternals and will be continued by CM2 and GOTG vol3 and several cosmic based projects the studio is developing.

I think this is nonsense, but could generate Starjammers rumours.

The Spidey post above is an excuse to briefly update the status of various Sony projects (excluding those already filmed or in production, ie, Morbius and Venom 2); I've included the Sony exec responsible in brackets, keeping in mind only Palak Patel's projects have gone forward thus far (they are listed in chronological order by announcement--those in red have had no news in a long time, those in green seem to still be moving forward):

• The Sinister Six (Arad) - cancelled in 2015, but Pascal said in 2018 the project was back on when director Drew Goddard was available (keep in mind Pascal says a lot of things); Goddard signed a four-picture deal with Fox last year after Pascal's comments, which is now in Marvel's hands, so Sony is at Feige's mercy to produce his film (there's been no news since Pascal's comment)
• Silver & Black (Pascal) - cancelled in 2018 (due, apparently, to Feige objecting to the use of Norman Osborn in the film); Pascal indicated last year that the film was back on, but beyond her words there have been no updates
• Kraven the Hunter (Arad) - Richard Wenk was hired to write a screenplay in 2018, but the writer hasn't talked about the project since the fall of that year; the film has no director and Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts wants to use the character, so it seems more or less dead
• Nightwatch (Arad) - in 2018 Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker was writing the script, but there haven't been any formal updates (I have a vague recollection of Coker saying he hadn't worked on it in quite some time, but as I can't find that comment take that with a grain of salt); no director is attached
• Silk (Pascal) - announced in 2018 when they were seeking a writer; there has been no news since and with the character slated for animation it's presumed dead
• Jackpot (Arad) - announced in 2018 when they were seeking a writer; there has been no news since
• Black Cat (Pascal) - born out of the cancelled S&B, there was no news until Pascal said the original project was back on a few months later
• Silver Sable (Pascal) - born out of the cancelled S&B, there was no news until Pascal said the original project was back on a few months later
• Madame Web (Patel) - writers were hired this September for the film; it lacks a director
• Unknown Robert Orci project (Patel) - "The property comes from a different corner of the Marvel universe that Sony has access to," which is a difficult statement to parse other than the implication is it's not as explicitly attached to Spider-Man (which is hard to imagine since he's the source of all the Sony IP); it could be Madame Web for all we know

As I've said repeatedly over the last couple of years, thus far only the projects that Patel is heading have made it to screen. My speculation is that the Arad/Pascal live action projects are just sops to their enormous egos and that Sony has no intention of funding them--other than occasionally hiring writers Sony has put no money towards the A/P projects and I see no sign of that changing. Given that, most of the slate above is meaningless.

A bit of housekeeping: I think the source for Sutton's old Valkyrie show rumour was speculation based on the Jane Foster Valkyrie comic that launched back in July.

An LotLB note: the gang held an auction recently (pretty common for YT channels that cover comic speculation) and I was interested in the books being sold which included: the classic (70s) Ms. Marvel run, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and a lot of Excalibur and Ghost Rider books. These are all failed (or at minimum, delayed) specs--the former is worthless because the MCU Carol Danvers is ignoring her original history; the next is an animated show on Hulu that's not connected to the MCU; and the third and fourth are at best a long way away. It's significant that they bought books they were specing on and that they've given up on those particular IPs (to some extent, at least).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)