Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode Four Review

This episode was a watershed moment for me: it had incredible highs, but put exclamation points on where things have gone wrong. It remains a better show than WandaVision, and I suspect the flaws I see are things casual fans either don't notice or care about (I'll tackle those issues after the summary). On the plus side, Marvel lucked out with Wyatt Russell--for a guy who spent his youth trying (and failing) to become a pro hockey player, his performance as John Walker has been excellent (as I go over below, he has the best arc in the entire show thus far). We had the expected strong action sequences from John Wick's scribe Derek Kolstad and we seem to have finally escaped the plot squeezing that troubled episodes two and three. Before we go deeper, let's break down the episode:

• 3min Brief Wakanda flashback (which loses a bit of its potency since it can't include any of the stars from Black Panther), then a short chat with Ayo and Bucky where she makes a deal that he gets just eight hours with Zemo
• 3min Bucky tells Zemo about the Wakandans; we get our first real reaction to Nagle's death (although it involves no consequences voiced); we learn that Kellyman killed people and that she's making demands; Falcon dismisses the gloomy outlook by calling Kellyman a kid (the actress is 22, so I think we can accept it--Steve Rogers calls Wanda a kid in Civil War, granting that he's nearly a century old--Elizabeth Olsen would have been 26 at the time); Zemo associates the serum with racist ideology, which is pretty funny; he accepts that Rogers is an exception to the superhero rule, which I think is meant to tease the same for Falcon
• 1min Very brief Flag-smasher scene (just listening to the radio, which includes the GRC furthering the border-separation they oppose)
• 4min Falcon wandering around asking questions; why are GRC signs in Sokovia posted in English? Still not clear why the GRC isn't fulfilling promises; Zemo finds out what they want by bribing kids with candy, but tells them Falcon/Bucky are bad people not to be trusted
• 3min Falcon finally explains what the Flag-smashers are missing in terms of world unity (it also provides the logic of why the disparate members were in Madripoor); he puts forward a defense of Kellyman (good intentions--the thing the road to ruin is paved with); Zemo admits he knows what's going on, but doesn't want to reveal it because once he stops being useful he'll be disposed of (which is correct); Bucky threatens him, which is pointless, and Falcon calms him down and calls Sharon who has access to a satellite to track Walker
• 2min Flag-smasher scene talking about what they are doing and whether it's right to make more super soldiers (dude compares Kellyman with Captain America, which is hilarious, but the purpose is laying the groundwork for Falcon as Cap rather than Kellyman)
• 2min Walker/Hoskins find the trio and Falcon wants to talk to her and Walker wants to take her down; Falcon brings up his Captain America: The Winter Soldier past of counselling and Walker says that's the concern (referring to Kellyman possibly having PTSD); Hoskins supports Falcon's idea so Walker relents
• 2min Funeral scene (no emotional resonance for me--as I mentioned during the character's death scene, we don't spend enough time with her to care)
• 6min Falcon talks to Kellyman while Walker grows impatient and expresses frustration because he doesn't have the advantages the serum gives Bucky etc--anticipates Hoskins death by asking Bucky if he wants Falcon's blood on his hands; Falcon throws Zemo's argument at her, she disagrees, but as he's trying to make a breakthrough Walker arrives with the time limit up and Kellyman flees as the unattended Zemo escapes and tries to kill her--not doing so as he takes time to destroy the serum and she escapes--Walker knocks Zemo out with one serum left which he pockets (this takes the choice of using them away from Kellyman, but she expresses regret that they've been destroyed so we know what choice she would have made)
• 2min Flag-smashers again (realize the vials are destroyed); another threat from the Power Broker; Kellyman believes they were all 'chosen' (fated for their role); wants to kill Walker (because as a symbol, killing him means something...although what his connection is to the GRC isn't clear--presumably it's that he's a national symbol that matters to her)
• 5min Zemo asks Falcon if he'd take the serum and he says no; Zemo repeats his distain for super people; Bucky says Walker is unhinged (based on what is not made clear--while he's been temperamental, he's done nothing crazy); Walker then demands Zemo (as, indeed, he has the right too) and suggests he and Falcon punch it out (undoubtedly irritated by the constant derision), but the Wakandans show up and the flip out (it's ridiculous as they let Zemo escape, which is the only reason they are there)--the only interesting thing from this is that the Wakandans can de-activate Bucky's arm; Walker is devastated that the Wakandans beat him, providing him his final motivation to take the serum
• 2min Hoskins/Walker talk--the latter asks if Hoskins would take the serum and he would, supporting the idea of Walker taking it; Walker is dismissive of his military honours, believing that being Cap gives him a chance to do something he can truly be proud of
• 1min Kellyman calls Sarah for a one-on-one meet with Falcon by threatening her and her family
• 9min Bucky comes with Falcon and Kellyman says killing Falcon would be meaningless because he represents nothing (which is hilarious); she tells Falcon to join her or leave her alone; Sharon let's them know Walker has found them; Hoskins is captured and Walker pursues--Falcon finds him and joins the rescue; Hoskins' frees himself and all four come together fighting the Flag-smashers; Kellyman kills Hoskins and Walker snaps, killing one of her cronies in front of onlookers (an act that also, in a way, proves Zemo's point about the serum)

In my previous review I'd speculated that Hoskins would die--that picking an older actor (49) to play him and giving him no substance was done in order to make killing him easier. This leads to Walker's moment of failure to clear the way for our inevitable coronation of Falcon as Cap. One of the sad things for me is that, leading into the show, I was looking forward to Falcon's transformation--I liked the idea of him rejecting being given the shield (post-Endgame) and, instead, earning it. Unfortunately, Falcon hasn't earned it--Walker simply fails, so it looks like it's going to be defaulted to him. I'm not sure there's enough runway left in the final two episodes to shift that feeling or not.

It has taken four episodes, but we finally have the show's thesis for why the Flag-smashers oppose the GRC: when the Snapped people returned they were (understandably) given their homes and positions back, which displaced a lot of people the GRC was organized to house, feed, etc. That all seems logical, so the problem is how ineffective the GRC is, but we don't know why it isn't able to perform its function or why no one seems opposed to that inadequacy, or even who is running it), robbing the struggle of any weight (Kellyman is essentially attacking an enemy without a face or identity--punching smoke isn't interesting).

It's a funny thing to realize that Walker has the most engaging character arc in the show. While things are set-up for the leads, the show has largely forgotten them (there's no resonance for Bucky's PTSD/counselling--forgotten since episode two--and the most trauma Falcon has faced is his sister's boat--an issue irrelevant to him since the first episode). The show is, largely, Walker's journey, despite an attempt to do the same thing with Kellyman's character. While his screen time (post-introduction) is limited, Walker goes on a journey: a soldier trying to do good, but (in his mind) held back by his own limitations; believing that becoming Cap will finally let him achieve the good that he wants; he draws the correct conclusions at every turn in the show, but faces only rejection from Falcon and Bucky; is beaten by the Wakandans due to their pride (allowing them to fail again with Zemo), pushing him into the serum; Hoskins' very preventable death is largely due to the lack of cooperation from the former Avengers and this sends him over the edge. It's a fascinating tale carried by a strong performance and, I think, almost accidental, as Spellman seems more interested in other characters (we're meant to think he's crazy, but none of his actions have been--he's been temperamental, but he's also faced nothing but derision for the entire show). Where it goes from here is uncertain--I'd think U. S. Agent, but will they give him that redemption arc? We shall see.

I'm curious to see how the show deals with Kellyman murdering Hoskins. Spellman has tried very hard to absolve her of responsibility for her actions. but she's intentionally killed innocent people twice now and that should be a bridge too far (the threats to Sarah and her kids are also egregious), particularly as she feels no guilt--will it be? I suspect not. For whatever reason it seems like she has the plot armour to safely transition away from those actions--I hope I'm wrong, but thus far the show has been unable to do anything other than telegraph the plot, so it's what I'm expecting.

We've reached a point where the show has unintentionally made Falcon and Bucky both look borderline incompetent:

• Falcon thinks he knows better than Sarah and can get them a bank loan, but fails and this failure leads to his sister breaking his cover in Madripoor and serving as a lever for Kellyman to manipulate him
• Both characters reject Walker for entirely selfish reasons unrelated to who the guy is (they don't know him)
• Despite a career in the military, apparently the first time Falcon questions his own country's racial issues in the military is when Bucky takes him to Isaiah Bradley (granting that the show has only suggested issues related to Bradely)
• They break Zemo out (pissing off the Wakandans, which causes them trouble later)
• Fail to trick Selby in Madripoor, requiring Sharon to save them
• Let Zemo kill Nagle and subsequently escape
• The Wakandans allow Zemo to escape in order to make a bizarre machismo point with Walker, which in turn pushes him to take the serum
• Their unwillingness to work with Walker leads to Hoskins' death and in turn the death of a Flag-smasher at the hands of the enraged Walker

Making mistakes is a normal thing for heroes in narrative--it complicates their lives and makes them relatable, but what good decisions have they made? The primary beneficial decisions have been to approach friends for help, but that's not very dramatic. They've lost half their fights--the initial fight with Kellyman, two of the fights in Madripoor, against the Wakandans, and the fight where Hoskins is killed. This is not normally how you handle heroes and I wonder if it's impacted how casual fans are enjoying the series. There's still time to fix it, but it's a very odd approach.

What has the show done right? Most of the major performers have delivered--Kellyman has been a weak link, but I'd put that down to the writing for the character. The story is a weird mix of on-point and struggling, which is reminiscent of WandaVision. Waffling character presentations didn't use to be a thing in the MCU, but we've seen some of it crop up in more recent Marvel films and whether that's simply a consequence of having a larger writing team or something else is hard to say. It's not clear to me whether fans are impacted by this kind of thing or not. What irritated people in WandaVision were the J. J. Abrams mystery boxes and we have none of that here--so I think the decline in interest in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (should it continue) is due to the lack of a strong villain as well as the less active role our heroes have taken in their own story. When you think about evocative moments in the series thus far, they haven't had them--the big moments have all been given to supporting characters. I'm interested to see how (or if) this changes.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

The Shang-Chi leaks continue, as more toy images have dropped, although like the last it doesn't add anything to what we know (we're shown Fin Fang Foom, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Katy (Awkwafina), Wenwu aka The Mandarin (Tony Leung), Jiang Li (Fala Chen), Death Dealer (unknown), Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu), and Xialing (Meng'er Zhang)).

Two months ago Crazy Days and Nights suggested Rege-Jean Page was up for Black Panther 2's titular role (ie, the new Black Panther, being the Kasper Cole version). This came up again on Twitter with the person wondering if this role was why Page left his show Bridgerton. I know nothing about the show, but heard his character's arc was done. That aside, it's unclear if there's any truth behind the original rumour.

Fandango's Erik Davis says that Gugu Mbatha-Raw is playing Judge Renslayer in Loki and Wunmi Mosaku is playing Hunter B-15. We've known Mbatha-Raw was in the cast for quite some time, but not her specific role; Mosaku I hadn't seen rumoured before. Apparently Renslayer is a love interest for Kang, so theories are springing up that Loki will tease the character--it's certainly plausible.

When the Echo show was announced I speculated it would have an association with Daredevil (the obvious thematic one, as well as her connection in the comics--she is one of his romantic partners), in part because the show requires additional zip to gain public interest (no one has any idea who Echo is and the actress playing her, Alaqua Cox, is a complete unknown). Sutton weighs in with very similar thoughts:

Charlie Cox’ Daredevil is being planned to appear on the Echo Disney Plus series. … Sources close to me said … that Charlie Cox’ participation in the Spider-Man sequel won’t be a large role; furthermore, he might not be in costume, either. As Marvel Studios continues to develop the new Daredevil program for Disney Plus, it’s looking like [he] will move in his furniture in the MCU with the Echo show initially. …they are discussing for Echo to set up his new continuity in the MCU. … Their romantic relationship will apparently be shown on her TV series, too. Marvel Studios will establish Daredevil’s MCU transition in Echo. … His Netflix history looks to be forgotten.

If you read this carefully Mikey is speculating that he'll appear in Echo ("it's looking like"), but I agree with him that this is exactly what the show needs to garner interest. It would also be a way to separate Cox from his two Netflix love interests (both of his early comic book loves: Karen Page and Elektra; Deborah Ann Woll's performance was so good it's unlikely we'll get an MCU version of her (as Feige dislikes repetition), but Elodie Yung's and Jennifer Garner's terrible renditions of Elektra leave the door open for rebooting (it seems unlikely we'll get anything comic accurate however, as Cox is old enough to make a romance with a young Greek woman out of bounds). Speaking of romances, I don't know if the age differences between the Cox's (38 for Charlie, 23 for Alaqua) matter to Marvel or not. The alternative scenario is that Daredevil performs the mentor role (similar to Hawkeye for Kate Bishop), although I don't think the parallel works since Jeremy Renner has been kicking around the MCU for ten years and, technically, Daredevil will just have been introduced.

We've learned Captain Marvel 2 will begin filming next week. I remain curious what buzz the film will have, given the mixed reception of the first film and what was (for me) a lackluster introduction for Monica Rambeau in WandaVision. That means there's a heavy dependence on Ms. Marvel and that's a show I'm concerned will be too niche for most Marvel fans--time will tell.

Deadline (Andreeva) reports that Renee Elise Goldsberry is going to co-star in She-Hulk (playing "Amelia"). I remain skeptical Marvel can make a sitcom format work for the MCU, but we can hope they do. As for Goldsberry, I'm unfamiliar, so have no reaction to her joining the cast.

India Today (Vibha Maru) reports that Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar is going to appear in an MCU production that everyone believes is Ms. Marvel (he's in Bangkok shooting his scenes). Given the on-location shooting, this is surely a one-episode appearance.

A new description of the film has dropped: "Trained since childhood by the mysterious Ten Rings Organization, Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn back into his father's web." Nothing about this is surprising, although it confirms Shang-Chi's relationship with the Mandarin.

We have a rumour from Daniel considered good enough not to be pushed into the ghetto of his rumour section: he says the Darkhold will have a big impact on the MCU going forward. We've been hearing about the Darkhold all the way back to June when Sutton had it on an R&D list for WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2. When I asked Sutton about it he said it will help inform the horror side of the MCU with a particularly large impact on Ghost Rider.

Dietsch claims Sony is trying to persuade Sam Raimi to direct Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire. Sutton chimes in and says Sony wants to see how No Way Home performs before actually pursuing the idea. Sony's desires aside, it's not clear either Raimi or Maguire would wish to return--Spider-Man 3 is a laughably bad movie and while there are ways to move past it, what's the point at this stage? Well, clearly money (something Sony is making painfully obvious by floating the idea of remaking The Last of Us), but I don't think there's much appetite for it from the public.

We had a pretty big 4chan leak that's from a few weeks back that I only just discovered (it post-dates the Gemma Chan story in late February and is possibly post-Echo news and Falcon episode one, but is pre-The Eternals leak). The post claims to cover much of the MCU and its substance is cribbed or an update of a different 4chan post from January--probably from the same author (I've highlighted what's different in green, while in red are parts from the original post that aren't included); I've fixed some of the poor writing:

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The show with the most logistical pieces of the post-Snap world and will also explore some of what life was like during the snap for key characters. Sharon and Bucky will have a romantic spark that I think fans will be all for. Bucky and Sam each have their own villain they deal with. Sam is dealing with John Walker (US Agent) and his group including Lamar Hoskins. Bucky is dealing with Zemo. [Zemo is more of a side antagonist and even an anti-hero] Overall villains of the show are the flag smashers lead by Carly Morgantheau [The main villain of the show isn't in the show a lot but it's Flag-smasher ... Kellyman's character is Songbird]. Thunderbolt Ross will appear in this [appear throughout this]. [More familiar faces will return in small-minor roles] Explores some of Bucky’s PTSD and a lot of Sam Wilson’s backstory including meeting his family. There is a very relevant political message here. It does explore Isaiah Bradley history and features Elijah Bradley. Yelena will NOT be featured in this. Flag Smashers main goal is to obtain a virus to wipe out half the world. Ends up doing something else. This show has the big reveals and surprises that WandaVision was thought to have… [No Old Man Steve Rogers cameo tho it was a very real possibility at one point in time]

We've seen no sign of romantic sparks for Sharon and Bucky; Kellyman isn't Songbird; Flag-smasher arguably isn't the main villain (seemingly it's Power Broker); and there's no sign of a virus.

Black Widow

Ross appears throughout the film. One of the post credit scenes is Ross attempting to recruit a detained Yelena Belova to a government formed task force aka Thunderbolts. Taskmaster isn't going to be a top tier MCU villain. But he's the most Bad Ass. Taskmaster uses fighting styles, weapons and iconic moves from Cap, Bucky, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Spider Man. Red Guardian is more comedic relief but he's formidable. Has some of the most action in any MCU film. You'll know why Budapest is different from Clint and Nat's perspectives. [This will go {to}streaming] I think from what I heard this will be a very well liked MCU film [For me it's not a top-tier MCU movie but it wasn't far off. 8/10. They took some parts from Mission: Impossible and Captain America 2, put some great heart into it and it was just really great. Fun to see the spy genre again.]. Scarlet gives her best Natasha performance.

This has no substantive changes other than deleting the erroneous streaming prediction. None of the comments are very specific, which suggests it's just speculation. In the original post they claimed to have seen the film, but this is far too vague to bear that out (which is likely why they cut that out).

Loki

Marvel have plans to do a 2nd season [and possibly a 3rd with the 2nd shooting early 2022]. This will tie somewhat into [Doctor Strange 2] but Loki won't be in that movie or in Thor 4. This show is really about learning the rules of the multiverse and different timelines. Features a lot of Rick and Morty type of elements. One of the most stand alone things in the MCU due to the fact it’s off a different timeline. [Kang's MCU debut is in 1 episode.] The episode in the 70s will be one of the best episodes on TV next year. Saw a brief glimpse of it in the trailer. Will have Frigga and Sif returning for an episode. [Features some familiar faces in some cool places. A certain cosmic being is who the TVA work for.] Sophia Di Martino as Lady Loki will be a fan favorite.

We've lost the prediction of a third season, Kang's debut, the cosmic being, and rather than hinting at familiar faces it predicts them. The only true specific that remains are the appearances.

Shang-Chi

This does not take place during the Snap. Most hand to hand combat in an MCU movie. A giant tournament that features Asgardians, Inhumans, and others is the main 2nd act of the film. [A tournament featuring many different 'beings' will be the main 2nd act of the movie. It will feature 1-2 cameos of familiar faces within the MCU] Fin Fang Foom is the big 3rd act set piece [Fin Fang Foom will appear]. It really deepens the mythology of the ten rings and who the Mandarin is. People have slept on the fact that the real Mandarin is the main villain in this. Has a big surprise appearance. Trailer will come in early April when Black widow marketing ramps up. [The film only requires small amounts of reshoots]

Other than the trailer appearance, which is nearly busted, the changes are cosmetic. Yet again there's very little here that's specific.

Ms. Marvel

This is one of the shows that ties into events from Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The show will be more lighthearted than most MCU stuff but it by no means in Disney channel level of lightheartedness [Really leans into teen comedy and some coming of age]. Will be the true starting point for Inhumans in the MCU. Kamala is a true fan of the Avengers and that is shown in the awesome fan fiction sequences and her wearing a bunch of Avengers merch [fan fiction sequences in animation]. Captain Marvel has a small appearance [in 1 of the later episodes]. [Marvel thinks Iman Vellani is the next big thing.]

The only significant change is the Falcon connection, which is currently hard to imagine (and that's the only specific here).

Eternals

Already considered the best looking MCU film. Celestials have a big presence and their scenes are spectacular. People have slept on Kit Harrington being Black Knight who is one of the leads of the movie [Kit Harrington as Black Knight and Gemma Chan as Sersi are the best couple in the MCU]. It features a young Thanos for a brief scene and gives more back story to his origin which includes a very big guest appearance/cameo. Eternals have been sitting in the background the whole time in the MCU and some cool stuff will be revealed in their involvement in previous movie events like Avengers 1, Cap 2, Thor 2, Captain Marvel and Endgame [Avengers, Black Panther, Thor 2, and Endgame]. Thena and Gilgamesh have a very conflicted relationship with the rest of the group [Thena and Gilgamesh are the odd ones out of the group due to something that occurred in Babylon]. The villain is Kro who is considered the only somewhat weak point of the film. They did have to shift some things around regarding the ending due to Gemma Chan being somewhat problematic on the set. Nothing that alters the film entirely. Quite a small but very different change. She still is slated to appear in other things moving forward but her role maybe diminished a bit. [A character in this is getting a spinoff Disney Plus show. Sprite is sort of a anti-hero, has her own agenda.]

The Chan story clearly impacted the narrative here, as the praise for her is cut and we get the long explanation of what's happened to her story. It's curious they cut the spinoff idea, as well as the different list of films being referenced. This is, again, incredibly vague, but there are enough specifics that it can be quickly debunked.

Hawkeye

It is thought to be the best series in production. Gives us more of a glimpse of Clint during the snap. Huge Ronin set piece. Hawkeye is getting older and he loses his hearing. Seeks out to find Kate Bishop in New York. There is a flashback scene of her as a child watching the battle of New York from Avengers 1. Clown is the main villain along with the Tracksuit Mafia also in the mix. Show also focuses on Echo and really develops her character. Explores a lot about Clint’s origin. Swordsman is a big part [Swordsman only in flashbacks]. Yelena plays a big role in one episode [Yelena will have a decent role here]. Costume is similar to Clint’s Ronin costume. First half of the show is more Clint driven and later half is more Kate driven. [Will be the last appearance of Clint Barton in the MCU. Pulls heavily from the Fraction run (essentially a direct adaptation in many regards). Feige and Marvel are in love with the script and Hailee as Kate Bishop.]

A pretty significant change to remove the end of Barton's career as a prediction; it also cuts down on the acting hyperbole (perhaps a little gun shy after the Chan story). We have enough specifics that this will be an easy one to judge as well.

Spiderman No Way Home

The story picks up immediately where Far From Home ends. The movie spans over the course of 6 months to Christmas time. Peter is on the run along with Ned and [Michelle]. City on lockdown. Spiderman chased through the city. In huge action sequence with these robots chasing him. It does introduce Uncle Ben to the MCU. It’s not Maguire playing him. Involves a court scene featuring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock. It seems that it is a new Daredevil/soft reboot due to having someone else playing Foggy. [I wasn't told if {Cox} will be in the Daredevil costume of if he will be Peter's lawyer or maybe both. All I was told is that he has a small role in this.] There’s also a scene in a prison. Kraven is the “main” villain. Jeffery Dean Morgan will play him [I have not heard who will play Kraven]. The multiverse plays a pretty decent factor in the film. Jamie Foxx and Micheal Mando play Electro and Scorpion [Scorpion is the secondary villain; I was told {Electro} was the 2nd biggest villain after Kraven]. Electro is from another universe but not the TASM universe due to him having a completely different look that’s more along the lines of the comics and the PS4 game. Molina is back as Doc Ock from the Raimiverse along with Thomas Haden Church as Sandman [Molina...has a new look but is in just one scene and a fight scene. Church is a very brief cameo as Sandman literally 40 seconds from what I was told]. Micheal Keaton returns as Vulture. Mysterio is revealed to be alive and working for Osborn played by Willem Dafoe. Maguire and Garfield Spiderman show up in the 3rd act. Doctor Strange has a role in that happening [Doctor Strange is in the movie for only 8-12 minutes. 2 or 3 scenes really]. Tony Stark isn’t as prevalent in this film but there are definitely mentions to him throughout the film but not as much as FFH. [It is {called} Homeworlds. It apparently has the most dark and gritty moments in a Spider-Man movie. Bounty put on Spidey's head. This ties into WandaVision. JJ is sort of another villain as he has these Spider Slayer bots chase Peter through the city. Btw plenty of JK Simmons as JJ in this. Holland and Garfield are amazing together. These Spider-Men aren't the exact same versions in their movies. You'll see what I mean but it doesn't take anything away. Dunst and Emma Stone are very brief cameos at the end of the film. Tom Hardy's Venom makes a 5-second cameo. Feige is very against it happening. Marvel and Sony have cast Miles Morales. I don't know for sure if he is in this movie (I doubt it) but will appear sometime soon due to being cast.]

This features the most changes of all the prior predictions. The wrong title call is understandably cut, but I'm not sure why the WandaVision connection is cut since that seems true. The timespan addition is certainly due to set leaks that showed the film taking place during Christmas.

She-Hulk

10 episode series. First episode ends with Walters’ accident. They are going to do some 4th wall breaking. Bruce Banner/Hulk is in 4 episodes [in 3-4 episodes]. They are going to un nerf Hulk in this show. He’ll be as strong as ever and his arm will be back to around normal size but still very much discolored and scarred. Banner will be in some sort of politician role. Abomination does return and has a big show down with She-Hulk and Hulk in episode 8. Titania is the main villain. The Leader has a small role in this but seems that he will be a future villain in a 2nd season which they are likely to do. All the cases that Jennifer Walters works on are hero based. Few different Avengers and characters show up and some even are represented by Walters herself . Notably Wasp, War Machine, Bucky along with Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones and Jimmy Woo also appearing [Some familiar faces are even on trial and represented by Jennifer Walters. Has a lot of random appearances of characters]. This show might come out later than people expect to do this having a lot of VFX. March seems a bit early. Would think it'd be summer 2022 [is expected to arrive first quarter of 2022. Thunderbolt Ross has a sizeable role in this.]

This seems to be just a massaging of the original post. You'll notice that the original post had Ross as a major component yet again, but here he's been removed entirely.

I didn't include the episode count/lengths the original post included. The post also lacks comments on Moon Knight, Doctor Strange 2, Thor 4, Black Panther 2, Blade, Secret Invasion, Captain Marvel 2, Ironheart, Armor Wars, Ant-Man 3, Guardians 3, Spider-Woman, The Fantastic Four, Mutants, and Avengers 5. The WandaVision predictions were wrong enough in important areas to show the poster did not have inside information (for it, at least). This, and other errors above, make me believe this is just another speculator in the mold of Joshua Munn and the Wardell imitators (I think the odds are good that this is Munn).

Speaking of 4chan, we have another post to look at (I've cleaned up some of the typos):

• I've worked on films (Antman 2, Black Widow) and kept in touch with people who are on various sides of a-lot of the productions. This may not all be right cause Marvel has fake storyboards, scripts everything.
• Doctor Strange 2: Mordo is only in the first 25 minutes [The screen time matches the January 4chan post mentioned above, but this post doesn't seem dependent on it]. He's a sort of catalyst for what's to come. Mephisto is a side villain which mainly plays into Wanda's part in the movie dealing with getting her kids back. The two actors were in London but have since finished. They are apparently starting on this big sequence where Strange and the team fight zombie versions of the Avengers. I'm sure there is more but I've seen Hulk and Iron Man Zombie looks. I've seen concept are and storyboard of Clea, Drumm and what looks like to me Nightmare. [Concept art for the film leaked in late March] Looks like they'll finish sometime next month.
• She-Hulk: This is one I'm personally close with. Many different characters appear from episode to episode. I know that Murdock, Jessica Jones, Wasp, Darcy appear along with War Machine [This list varies from the one above, although they share commonalities]. They have done pre vis on some Hulk and She-Hulk vs Abomination. I did see the look for She-Hulk and I think fans will be really happy with it.
• Black Panther 2: This one I'm less in the know on due to this one being really under lock and key. They have done a lot of pre production on an Underwater city. Namor seems to be in it [A common rumour]. Also saw some stuff that seemed like they would be doing Doctor Doom with these robots that enovke a bit of him [While Doom has been rumoured before, like the January 4channer, the bots aren't from there]. I honestly cannot tell who will be the Black Panther. I think that's the biggest secret they are keeping. I've seen it all from Shuri, Nakia, M'Baku to Killmonger. Someone said they think it will be an original character created by Coogler and maybe that's why it's so secretive [The "someone" who said this is the January 4channer above]. I'd put my money on Shuri if I'm being honest
• Spider-Man: No Way Home: The new suit is great it's sort of goes back to the red with blue but has a new spider design. He mainly wears his red and black suit in the film along with some brief stints in the iron spider. I was informed that Maguire and Garfield would show up towards the end. Dafoe is back. Gyllenhaal has been at the set. Seen a photo of Spider-Man vs Kraven played by Jeffery Dean Morgan. [The Kraven casting matches the above 4chan post]
• Some stuff I've heard about in the future: Young Avengers series; Illuminati series; Wolverine series [All common speculation]

It seems like the poster read the January 4chan post, but is working from memory, because the above does not share much from that post's lengthy comments on these IP. With that said, there's nothing here that screams credibility, as most of the post is based on common speculation rather than the specifics you get from genuine leaks.

Multiple reports (Deadline and Variety) have come out about Sony and the deal they've just struck for the streaming rights for their material. This has been poorly reported in the fandom, so here are the specific details from the trades:

• Netflix won a two-year bidding war for the US rights (my emphasis) to stream Sony's theatrical releases (believed to be a billion for a 4-year deal)
• Netflix also has a first-look agreement for all direct-to-streaming movies from Sony
• The deal requires Netflix to commit to a certain number of Sony titles (presumably referring to the aforementioned films)
• Netflix will also license an unspecified number of older Sony films
• Sony is working on another theatrical movie licensing pact outside of the Netflix agreement
• Netflix already had a deal with Sony for all its animated releases
• Sony indicated it has no intention of plunging into the streaming wars

What's important about the deal for our purposes is that it doesn't invalidate the story from Variety back in September that a Silk show was being shopped to Amazon (a project that was a film in 2018 and last May Sutton believed was coming to Disney+ as a show). Sony could still be producing a show with someone other than Netflix (Amazon is likely enough), although if that deal fell through it could become a direct-to-streaming film on Netflix. One of the things evident about the Amy Pascal-lead Silk is the difficulty in finding investors to back it--the above locks in a commitment from someone with money.

Ray Fisher finally went through the details of events at WB during Justice League reshoots and I'm not sure that did him any favours (although I'm glad he discussed it openly). There's no smoking gun and the interactions come across as creative differences (and Joss Whedon's gigantic ego).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode Three Review

Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode three has come and gone and was another successful outing for the show, albeit had issues. Written by John Wick scribe Derek Kolstad, much like the Michael Kastelein episode that preceded it, there was a lot of plot to grind through. True to his roots, Kolstad packed a ton of action into the episode, but this was at the expense of proper pacing for character/plot moments (none of which get time to breath). Daniel Bruhl finally appears as Zemo and was fantastic, raising the level of the scenes he's in. With my broad comments/impressions out of the way, let's dig into episode (times are approximate):

• 1min Commercial for the Global Repatriation Council (the GRC; while this seems superfluous and redundant, it's a way to remind casual viewers of context)
• 2min Walker/Hoskins looking for the Flag-smashers (illustrating Walker's temper that was teased in the pervious episode, although he continues to make correct inferences about what's happening)
• 10min Bucky meets Zemo who is sympathetic, telling Bucky that he was a means to an end and that using him in Civil War was nothing personal; Zemo's escape is handled well (I liked having the conversation between Bucky and Falcon played over his exit) and we get a King T'Chaka name drop to tease Ayo's appearance later; the show quickly goes over Zemo's royal past (I'm not sure how well it meshes with his membership in a death squad in Civil War, although it doesn't directly contradict it); we also get a Red Skull name drop (is it a pointless easter egg like the Grim Reaper in WandaVision? Probably)
• 1min A brief scene where Kellyman's friend dies--it's too perfunctory to be emotional and the Flag-smashers' remain anemic antagonists (the show's intent is obvious: emotional fuel for her to turn to killing later in the episode, but she's such a Tyler Hayward-esque shell of a character that there's no fuel in the tank to care--that said, it's still more emotional than Monica Rambeau's reaction to finding out her mother died in WandaVision)
• 24min Madripoor (in 'disguise' for a time); Falcon does awkward well in his role as "Smiling Tiger" (I enjoyed Zemo's line in response to his reaction to his outfit); the slow motion walking scene is weird; the British lady [Selby] is bland and not at all like her comic inspiration; the Sarah phone call during the talk is pretty funny and a nice callback to the plot thread from episode one (letting us know the writers didn't include it or Sarah as a one-off); Sharon Carter's arrival is dramatic and the storyline for her is good, although on an acting level her initial dialogue scene is poor (the acting)--her action scenes feel a lot like Black Widow, which matches how she was portrayed in Civil War, but Marvel does needs to vary up their approach; the group immediately finds Nagle (teased since The Incredible Hulk, although he's not linked to that as expected); we get a long set of action scenes, initially just with Sharon while the trio talk to Nagle before Zemo kills him (there's been no serious reaction to that act yet); Zemo saves them from the chaos outside
• 2min Flag-smasher scene which drags because not enough has been done to make us care about the characters or what they are doing (it's meant to be character building, but the entire group is so bland it feels like a waste of time)
• 1min Walker/Hoskins are at the prison where Zemo escaped and Walker correctly realizes who broke him out, deciding they need to do some things 'off the books', saying as long as they succeed no one is going to care (this is a classic trope for heroes and it's funny seeing an anti-hero using the same logic)
• 2min Plane scene: we get a callback to Isaiah Bradley and now Falcon expresses issues with the shield unrelated to why he gave it up in episode one (even though all the shield represents is American imperialism, which is as much about the uniform as the object, and something Falcon eagerly participated in as a soldier); we also get continued hate for Walker, but the show still hasn't given the lead characters a good reason for that feeling (other than he's not Steve's choice--see below)
• 2min Flag-smashers' again--this time Kellyman kills a bunch of people, believing violence is the only way to make her point which horrifies her companion--this is our first bit of actual development for her and seems to turn the corner into her being a bonafide villain
• 2min Zemo justifiably criticizes the duo for not visiting the Sovokian memorial or being interested in the aftermath (he also conveniently erases the country from the map so that Marvel doesn't have to worry about it geographically); Bucky finds a Wakandan agent (Ayo) who is pursuing Zemo; this was intended to be a surprise, but we've known since May that this was coming

Sharon Carter's introduction occurs in the episode's mid-section and lasts roughly 14 minutes (although her actual character summary is just 2 minutes and she's off-screen for the Nagle discovery and interrogation, so the basic framework fits what Spellman has done for Falcon, Bucky, and Walker). I read somewhere, prior to the show's release, that Sharon's role had to be limited because of Emily VanCamp's availability, but I apparently never included that tidbit here so we're relying on my memory for that rumour (time will tell). I suspect that we'll have some sort of wrap-up of her mini-arc before the show is done.

The Madripoor story feels rushed--it's an amazing place and we're teased navigating it will be a struggle, but instead it's barely an inconvenience. The trio meet literally one person, get saved by Sharon who then hands them Nagle and they leave. It's perfunctory, undercuts Zemo's claim that it would be challenging, and would have been better served with its own episode (where we could see Sharon and our heroes use their brains rather than just shooting through problems). Madripoor is supposed to be dangerous, but ultimately (despite some action scenes) our heroes never seem threatened.

We get the definitive Nagle story: he worked for Hydra (dissolution as of Winter Soldier), was brought in by the CIA to use Bradley's blood samples for serum (these were teased last episode), but was Snapped before he could complete the work. Upon his return the Power Broker funds him and he's able to make 20 batches before the Flag-smashers' steal them. While his basic function was teased by The Incredible Hulk, it's not at all the same as the Incredible Hulk scene that had General Ross part of the process long before Hydra's dissolution. I have a feeling the change is to keep the MCU as far removed from the Universal film as possible. More generally, they've separated Steve's serum from what others are receiving, perhaps to be merciful to the actors so they don't have to mimic Chris Evans' physique (functionally it's not clear how similar they are meant to be and Marvel might want to leave it vague).

Why don't the Flag-smashers' work? Because the show can't afford to make them truly sympathetic--if they are truly saving refugees, what the hell are Falcon and Bucky doing hunting them down? Until Kellyman killed people I thought we might get that transition, but it seems like the show is aiming down the barrel of true villains (which is why we aren't getting the requisite scenes to make them sympathetic--you wouldn't just show them bringing supplies to help people, you'd show actively saving people). We've also spent no time explaining why the GRC is functioning in this way--there's simply not enough focus on them or the situation to make it work--the show's true concern is: Falcon becomes Captain America (just like Wanda becomes the Scarlet Witch), & this hurts secondary material. Let me emphasize that on paper this storyline could be excellent, but the show hasn't put the work in to make it work.

There's a real opportunity being missed to compare/contrast Falcon/Bucky with Walker/Hoskins, but the latter duo simply isn't given enough time or depth (Hoskins in particular has no character at all). Whether this ever occurred to Spellman I don't know, but even if he wanted to do it, the show has far too many characters to actually go there--I would have loved to see it, however.

One thing that's not clear yet is if Falcon will get the serum. There are possibly 12-unused versions of it available and I think the broad assumption is that for Falcon to become Captain America he needs to complete that journey by taking the serum. I think it's far more interesting is he doesn't, but the show seems to be pushing a by-the-numbers approach so I think that's unlikely. The question is whether he takes it willingly or if its forced upon him (by the dictates of the story he'd make the choice himself, but one never knows). The other thing that remains unclear is how Falcon earns the shield in the show--is it by showing mercy to Walker? Kellyman? Or is it by solving the GRC issues? It's not at all clear, since (thus far) his dueling motivations are to stop the spread of the serum and not wanting Walker to be Cap (because reasons--see below).

Speaking of Walker, we remain confronted with the lingering issue from episode two of why we're not supposed to want him as Captain America. On a meta level we know why, but the show has failed to make the case. What disqualifies Walker? The show has said only two things:

1) He wasn't Steve's choice in Endgame

2) Falcon didn't think the shield would go to anyone else when he surrendered/retired it (believing, from his speech in episode one, that no one else was worthy because Steve shaped the identity of the person who used it)

Otherwise, Walker (from what we're told in episode two) is an excellent candidate for the role. While we've seen hints of his temper, our characters have only seen it once and that was in response to them rejecting his request for help. Isaiah Bradley's story is supposed to play into this, but Walker isn't responsible for government/military activities in the 1950s anymore than Steve Rogers is responsible for the military trying to make copies of him after he went into the ice (Bradley's story also doesn't make much sense given that the military was more than happy to experiment on Steve Rogers in WW2, but we can blame that logic problem on Robert Morales' Truth: Red, White, & Black rather than Spellman). What the show has decided to do is lean into the meta context of fans wanting the established hero to have the role (thus the death threats sent to Wyatt Russell--welcome to fandom Wyatt!), rather than someone newly introduced who isn't permitted to succeed and is set-up for failure.  It's a weak choice and while I don't think it will bother casuals, it ultimately lowers the artistic heights the show can achieve (we saw this kind of issue in WandaVision, albeit Spellman understands the medium better than Schaeffer).

A side note about Walker: my initial guess, and still my theory, is that he's getting a lot of screen time and a sympathetic backstory to set-up a future as U. S. Agent. It has occurred to me that there's another alternative: he's being set-up to die. I think that's unlikely--that we'll get the comic-based unhinged Walker who either surrenders the shield or is forced to do so--but the death option remains an option (we might also see him be responsible for Hoskins' death, given how old Cle Bennett is). When you think about the mechanics of how Falcon gets the shield, the structure of the story implies the military/government can't be responsible, so he has to decide.

There's a lot of criticism in my review, but as I've said in the past, criticism is always easier than praise. The banter in the show continues to be excellent, the comedic beats are strong, and in general this is a success (I really love Bruhl--a kind of understated Loki--and hope he continues to appear in the MCU). With that said, the story feels compressed (in this and the previous episode), with rapid-fire jumps through character and story events, along with our first moments of middling acting. I think the show can shake all of this off and finish strong (as we've seen from WandaVision, how you finish matters a great deal). As for the public's response, via Google Trends this episode did a little better than the second (as one would expect both with Zemo and Sharon Carter appearing), but is nowhere near the first episode (a trend less evident on YT because this episode offered a lot more room to theorize). So, a thumbs-up all-in-all, but I want it to be better and we still haven't seen Disney+ reach the heights of the best Marvel Netflix shows.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Marvel News & Notes

We have a confirmed screener leak for The Eternals, something that's extremely rare for the MCU (the confirmed part, I mean). Despite the verification, keep in mind there's a chance that this is wrong. We don't know when this person saw the screening, although it's probably recently. We also know that Marvel sometimes insert fake scenes to throw people off (particularly with post-credits). With that said, I believe this is broadly credible. Here it is in all its glory (spoiler warning, of course):

• There is a lot of jumping around in time to give context to various plot points - I don't recall all of the linear order so will just include the info as part of the synopsis
• Opening title card explaining the Deviants and Eternals - the Deviants were created by the Celestials to hunt predators that prey on intelligent life on newly evolving worlds, but then they started to hunt the [intelligent] life as well, so Celestials created the Eternals to kill the Deviants.
• Opens 5000 years ago in Mesopotamia a man is fishing on some rocks with his son (?) and is attacked by a Deviant from the ocean. The Eternals show up and a short battle commences, after which they line up in a triangular "hero" pose and this rolls into the Marvel logo opening.
• Jumps to present day - Sersi and Dane Whitman are teachers in the UK and dating. During a class lesson, a large earthquake strikes, and Sersi saves a child from a falling object by turning it to sand. Later while out on a date, a Deviant attacks Sersi, Sprite, and Dane; during the battle Ikaris shows up and they fight it off after noting that they thought all the Deviants were destroyed and unlike others, the Deviant was able to heal its wounds.
• The group decide to visit Ajak as she was the leader of the group. After arriving at the midwest ranch where she is now living, they discover her dead body, A small golden device leaves Ajak's body and enters Sersi (this is how she communicated with the Celestials) - they then decide to round up the rest of the Eternals to deal with the Deviants.
• Thena and Gilgamesh are in Australia (I think) due to an issue with her memory causing her to randomly attack the other Eternals. Gilgamesh is obviously in love with Thena but it is not played as a romantic relationship.
• Phastos and his husband live with their child and he decides to help due to the fact that he has fully embraced the human race and wants to protect his family.
• Makkari has been living in the Eternals ship all this time (I guess, since there is a bunch of food containers and mess strewn about).
• Kingo is a Bollywood actor (there is a short dance routine that introduces this) and comes with the group along with his valet (don't recall the name) who tries to document everything on video.
• Druig is living in some rainforest controlling a small village of people after losing faith in humanity and wanting to control them to stop war, famine, etc. Gilgamesh is killed fighting the Deviants in the forest.
• Sersi learns that the Celestials created both races and that the Eternals are basically just very advanced robots. They seed young planets with a Celestial "egg" that takes eons to mature. The evolving intelligent life on these planets feeds the Celestial's growth, so the Eternals are sent to protect the evolving life forms and kill the Deviants. After the emergence, the Eternals are "rebooted" and sent to another world (this is the cause of Thena's memory issue, as she knows that the planet is doomed) - this cycle has gone on for millions of years. Earth was seeded and Tiamut is about to emerge (this was the cause of the earthquake earlier). Once awakened, the entire planet and all life will be destroyed.
• They debate on what to do and some decide to try and find a way to stop the emergence. Ikaris disagrees, Sprite and Kingo are on his side but Kingo agrees to help.
• Phastos designs a device (Uni-Mind) that will allow Druig to channel all the Eternals energies in the hope of controlling Tiamut and putting him back to sleep.
• Sersi learns that Ikaris knew about the Celestials actual plans and this is why he left the group hundreds of years ago. He killed Ajak because she had decided to help stop the emergence and save Earth.
• The group go to where Tiamut is and attempt to use the device - Ikaris and Sprite attempt to stop them. Sersi then uses the device to amplify her power and turn Tiamut to marble just as his hand and part of his head is emerging from the Indian Ocean.
• Ikaris flies off into space (towards the sun - unclear if he just left or flew into the sun and killed himself), then Sersi makes Sprite a real human with what remains of her power.
• A few days (?) later Thena, Makkari, and Druig leave in the ship to seek out other Eternals and try and stop the cycle of destruction. Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos stay on Earth but are then pulled into space by Arishem and vanish.
• The two end credit stingers: 1) Dane is looking at an old box and pulls out a sword that is wrapped up. Just as he is about to touch it, an off screen voice stops him. 2) On the Eternals' ship, Pip the Troll appears and introduces Starfox.

Before we get into the details, my prediction when this came out is that none of the notable people who cover Marvel would talk about it (similar to the complete radio silence on the Gemma Chan leak from February). Thus far the only notable exception to this is the aforementioned Walsh, who said the leak matches what he's been told by someone who worked on the film. Beyond that there's been nothing from Charles Murphy, Daniel, The Illuminerdi, The Direct, CBR, etc--even Youtubers as different as Emergency Awesome and Andy Signore have ignored it. The "why" answer to this silence is the same as it was with the Gemma Chan story: access and friendly relations. While discussing it has a short-term benefit, for those who want to maintain or gain Marvel access, it's better to remain silent.

That aside, while there are familiar elements here, it's not at all what I would have expected from the various supposed scoops we've seen about the IP. Broadly, of course, the storyline matches: the Eternals oppose the Deviants and later must oppose the Celestials to save earth. One thing that's not conclusive is the shifted perspective suggested by Walsh's report (it's particularly hard to understand the Ikaris angle if he's correct, although an increased focus doesn't necessarily mean he can't also be an antagonist). His claim about "other characters are introduced" could be seen as the introduction of Starfox and Pip (assuming they weren't planned for from the beginning). Incidentally, back in September former Variety writer Kris Tapley said Harry Styles would be in an upcoming Marvel film (in a Tweet he promptly deleted)--six months later 4chan claimed this would be as Starfox (grains of salt required, of course).

One of the things this leak resolves is how the film can handle so many characters: by killing some of the off. Ajak and Gilgamesh seem like cameos--ala Slipknot in Suicide Squad. It also looks like Makkari is an ephemeral character.

In terms of surprises, while Sprite as a villainous character is expected, Ikaris is not. It's also a surprise that Dane does not take on the Black Knight identity in the film, as we had reports from Daniel of him in a partially completed outfit (cf). If those reports are true either a decision was made to cut Black Knight from the film (considering it busy enough), or the screener is wrong--given that Daniel's report is from a year ago, I'm leaning towards the screener on this one. The only other notable set leak we had was this image, showing a long, steep stair which various scoopers believed was for the Tomb of the Space Gods--that's certainly one interpretation, but it could just as easily be something else (the stairs of a ziggurat in Mesopotamia, for example)--regardless, that item has no real impact on the veracity of the leak.

The shifted focus of the Celestials matches what we saw with Ego in Guardians 2, which is a less interesting angle than the usual judgement role (in essence, it turns the Celestials into generic monsters). This approach is apparently from the Marvel Earth-X series, but having a comicbook basis doesn't make it anymore interesting. It also seems like the Deviants are simply villainous monsters to dispense with--this makes sense if the tension of the film is a Civil War-like split between the Eternals themselves (which also provides more space for the large cast to be developed). We had a supposed toy leak that included Kro back in the fall, but the toy doesn't say anything about what kind of role he has (if he has any)--there's certainly no sign of his relationship with Thena.

A curious element is the purpose of splitting the Eternals into two separate groups. By introducing Starfox to the Thena-Makkari-Druig group (who are seeking other Eternals), it suggests this is the significant trio for the IP--I'd guess they will ultimately search for Ikaris. This leaves no obvious purpose for the Sersi-Kingo-Phastos trio (which would fit Walsh's claim). It's also interesting that, at least in terms of proximity, Sersi's relationship with Dane is severed at the end of the film.

I'm curious to see what Marvel does now that this is out--right now I think the effort is to let it fade away (given the minimal coverage that seems likely). I don't expect a trailer for the film any time soon, since both Black Widow and Shang-Chi come out beforehand. As for how this impacts my level of interest in the film, which was low to begin with: nothing has changed. Conceptually the film, at least as we know it, doesn't interest me, so the writing/performances will have to win the day.

Nebens (ergo Daniel, ergo Production Weekly) reports that actress Olga Kurylenko has a minor role in Black Widow. This seems much ado about nothing, as it's unlikely to be a role that continues forward after the movie, but it's another piece of information about the film.

Deadline (Dino-Ray Ramos) says Dallas Liu (who is 19) will appear in Shang-Chi (he doesn't guess the role). From Daniel's old casting scoop it seems likely that he is the 'Younger brother' (of who isn't clear) given his age (all we know about the character is that he needs to be Chinese-American, which Liu is).

A new Sutton Q&A:

• Repeated that Owl will be in a Disney+ Daredevil show
• Also repeated (although I hadn't written it down previously because it seems trivial) that we'll see Daredevil's yellow costume and his sonar visualized
• No Gabriel Luna in Doctor Strange 2 as the Robbie Reyes' version of Ghost Rider (instead it will be the Johnny Blaze version) [The former is a change from what he said in July when Luna would reprise his role; he's been consistent about Blaze, although having him in Doctor Strange 2 is (I think) new--in August he said he'd have a cameo in Blade]
• Ghost Rider will first appear in Blade [How this meshes with the above I don't know, albeit live discussions can lead to things being said unclearly]
• Midnight Sons will be built-up to like the Avengers [In August he said it would be lead into by Blade 2]
• Luke Cage will have a friendship with Patriot (that's the Young Avenger character, Isaiah Bradley's grandson) and will get the super serum [This echoes his recent article about Falcon planting the seeds for Luke Cage]
• Wave will be introduced in Shang-Chi at some point [Something he's said previously]

The most intriguing thing is Cage--does he receive the serum in Falcon and the Winter Soldier? That seems highly unlikely, as I don't think Marvel could keep an appearance by Mike Colter under wraps (Mikey believes Colter will return for the role). It's more likely that the Power Broker or someone else winds up spreading the serum. I have no interest in Patriot or the Young Avengers, but a rebooted Cage could be interesting.

A recent Midnight's Edge video provides me the opportunity to explore confirmation bias as they included Marvel in this content. For those unfamiliar with the term, confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs and values. This tendency saturates the Marvel space, but not to the explosive levels of Star Wars fandom. This specific example makes the following argument:

1. WandaVision's ratings decline can be tied to the firing of Gina Carano based on data shown below
2. This decline continued with Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as evidenced by the Snyder Cut beating it in streaming numbers (the former, its claimed, being below internal projections)
3. Falcon is well below WandaVision on Google Trends [Something I've verified]
4. If the downward trend is correct, it appears to have been accelerated by Carano's firing
5. Popular sentiment runs against Carano's firing [The evidence provided are YT downvotes and comments on the official Star Wars YT channel--a tenuous basis]
6. Internally, Marvel is pointing the finger at Star Wars for declining numbers [This would be via claimed inside sources]
7. YT's experiment with hiding dislike numbers is suspicious because of its timing; they relate it to the down voting of Kathleen Kennedy's Oscar video, saying they believe this change comes from Disney, relating it to a similar change from Rotten Tomatoes leading up to Captain Marvel's release (cf) [I go over ME's failed speculation about Captain Marvel here, a failure neither they nor other outrage YTers have handled very well (believing the box office was artificially inflated)]

While ME references inside sources (keeping in mind Andre covered something from We Got This Covered without ever looking into it), in terms of evidence provided it all seems to come from Pirates and Princesses, which admits a bias in how it addresses data (eg)--that honesty, at least, is refreshing. The numbers cited by P&P that aren't from Google Trends are via Deadline via Samba TV (which in the sample used tracked terrestrial smart TV's in the US--a rather narrow band both geographically and technically). Typically when you want streaming numbers you go to Parrot Analytics (which measures social media traffic related to shows) or Nielsen (which provides actual viewing hours), although I believe the latter doesn't yet cover HBO Max. In doing the research, PA seemed to match the Trends notion within the US to some extent (without including the Snyder Cut in the sample), but then Forbes put out the latest numbers confirming that (at least for PA) the first Falcon episode ranked higher than WandaVision worldwide. There are no Nielsen numbers for the show yet (the most recent update I could find was the end of February), although Reelgood (via IndieWire) claims WandaVision beat both the Snyder Cut and Wonder Woman 1984, with Falcon coming in fourth (numbers based on the two million people using their app). The severe restriction of focusing on US numbers is apparent and ought not be used for conclusive statements. I mentioned in my previous post that the reception of the second episode of Falcon was down via Google Trends, as were the usual YT video coverage, and part of that is surely due to the lack of WandaVision mystery boxes (cf). With that said, PA certainly implies there's nuance to that.

We can agree that, as far as social media and search engines can tell us, Falcon and the Winter Soldier has generated less interest than WandaVision. However, WandaVision's own trends do not show a steady decline--including the worldwide numbers it actually peaked in its final episode. Given that, the premise of the ME argument is false. We also have the bizarre comparison of a theatrical film with years hype (the Snyder Cut) to a Disney+ show--I'd call that apples to oranges--the only notable thing would be if the former lost to Falcon. After that we get into a bizarre bunny trail of if X, then Y, except that no direct evidence for X (Carano's firing being a cause) is established. Do I think ME is aware of the weakness of their case here? Probably not--for them the indirect evidence, tenuous as it is, is enough. It's also, more cynically, good economics--their fans want to believe it. I've said this many times before, but Andre would be better off not covering Marvel--he doesn't care and his coverage reflects that.

I will add one thing about streaming numbers: they are difficult to get hold of and the streaming sites have every reason to lie. Netflix, in order to pump the tires of The Witcher, changed how it assesses views--this doesn't mean the show wasn't popular (it was), but that they exaggerated just how popular. There's a flipside to this as well, as Netflix (again) deflated numbers of at least three of its Marvel shows to help justify cancelling them (putting out fake numbers to Business Insider before these were corrected about a month later, cf). The advent of Nielsen tracking hours watched for most of these sites helps, but their numbers tend to come out long after this sort of number manipulation has occurred.

I've been predicting Ava DuVernay's New Gods was never going to happen for a long time (cf)--no meaningful progress was ever made on the IP and she kept taking on other projects that were scheduled beforehand (up to four at last count). THR (Couch/Kit) have put out a story announcing the end of her attachment to New Gods and this is the right move by WB. DuVernay might be a great filmmaker, but her inability to make something as simple as A Wrinkle in Time work for Disney (it actually lost money) is an illustration of why Feige passed on her at Marvel. This means there will be an opportunity for another director to make it down the line. I've seen people try to connect these changes to the Snyder Cut, but I think the desire to move away from DuVernay began when Wrinkle bombed--I suspect people at WB wanted her to step aside on her own, but when it became clear that that was never going to happen, the focus on the Snyder Cut made it easier to cut her (especially on April 1st)--fan and press focus was elsewhere.

As a side note, I never took James Wan's Trench film very seriously--I've always thought the box office for Aquaman was soft (by which I mean I don't think it generated significant interest in the IP--to me it's the most profitable B-movie of all time) and not able to support something as bizarre as a Trench-based film.

Also DC-related: understandably the fans who successfully got the Snyder Cut are now pushing for the Ayer Cut--something which, on a financial and mechanical level, would be much simpler for WB to do since that film is essentially done. The reason I think this is unlikely--at least in the short term--is WB won't want that version of the Suicide Squad detracting from the James Gunn iteration that drops this August. The last thing WB needs is for fans to like the Ayer Cut and its dark tone because of how that will contrast with Gunn's bombastic approach--given that, I think it's something a long way off.

A personal note: I was invited to appear on Edward Lauder's (Small Screen) YT channel this week. I enjoyed the conversation (although my mic sounds awful through Streamyards) and it's an interesting kind of content to be involved with. I came to their attention via my own YT efforts (they were oblivious to the blog's existence), which I've had rebranded to make it look a prettier (here).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)