MCU and Comics

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Marvel News & Notes

The Shang-Chi trailer dropped and for me it was adequate (not as fumbling as a Sony trailer, but not as spinetingling as the first Black Panther trailer). The action looks good, but we get no sense of Simu Liu's acting. This absence isn't crippling, as clearly the film wants to emphasize action, but as someone with limited interest, I would like to see more of the film's other elements. The one thing the trailer clearly established is the starting point for the film: Shang-Chi was given ten years by the Mandarin to live his life, but is now being called back. This basic idea, of a familial (or pseudo-familial) connection between the two goes back to the earliest scoops/leaks (cf).

One of the fascinating results of the release of this trailer is the apparent lukewarm response in China. Comments that were looked at by The Direct indicate dissatisfaction with Simu Liu and the lack of anyone from China involved with the production with cache for this kind of film. Maybe this is just malcontents and not representative, but it is interesting. We can't forget that Mulan, which was made in part to pander to the Chinese market, was aggressively rejected. It's still possible for Shang-Chi to perform well in China, but if it doesn't it will be interesting to see how the MCU responds (given how popular the brand is there).

This news made me curious how the trailer had hit overall so I did some comparisons via social media impressions on Google Trends (apples to apples here, as we compare it to other MCU IP):

Shang-Chi doesn't register against either of the Disney+ shows that are out or the next two that are coming (Loki and Hawkeye), so below I compare it to other obscure IP (incidentally, in the first chart note how relatively anemic Falcon has done vs WandaVision):

Here the film jumps ahead of The Eternals (whose marketing hasn't started yet), but it still has a huge mountain to climb for awareness/excitement, because when you track it back to the original announcement there has been no broad public excitement or interest. This puts tremendous pressure on marketing (rather than leaning on a preestablished base--through characters the public recognizes, like Falcon and Bucky, or an IP that's inherently popular, like the Fantastic Four). Keep in mind, Black Widow is the next film, so there's plenty of time for a strong marketing push to raise its visibility (a tie-in from a Disney+ show wouldn't hurt either, although we don't know if that will happen).

Variety (Matt Donnelly) reports that Emilia Clarke has signed on for an undetermined role in Secret Wars. Someone at Marvel was clearly a fan of Game of Thrones, as she's the third member of the cast to join the MCU (after Kit Harrington (Black Knight) and Richard Madden (Ikaris)). Clarke's career outside of GOT has a similar arc to Harrington's, as her films have bombed or disappointed (although her fails are much bigger related to expectation). When the news dropped, Sutton wondered if she could be Abigail Brand (one source said as much, but he couldn't get confirmation). It's plausible. I'm on the fence when it comes to Clarke's acting ability, but if the role is right that won't matter.

Prior to that, THR (Borys Kit) reported that Olivia Colman would be joining the cast, but without speculation on the role. Colman is a superb actress with tremendous range, although how well that shines will depend on showrunner Kyle Bradstreet (unfortunately, our first two Disney+ shows struggled mightily with plot and story).

Neither announcement makes me anymore interested in the show--that will require a trailer (the concept does nothing for me). There's also some 4chan chatter about the IP below.

Sutton dropped a scoop that the MCU plans on Spider-Man's Uncle Ben moment on coming from Aunt May--either in No Way Home or in his fourth film, with May dying. He adds that the film "underwent several script changes due to the global pandemic and creative reasons as well. It's the most experimental of the trilogy. I don't know how much of this remains intact. For example, Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock wasn't initially in this movie. But COVID-19 production delays pushed it back enough that Marvel Studios had the Daredevil rights back from Netflix." I quite like this idea. In many ways, the first two Spider-Man films have lacked the kind of punch this would provide (even though Iron Man, his mentor has died), although it's not clear what May's death will mean in terms of who he is (Ben's death is what turns him into a hero, but of course in the MCU Peter is already one).

Speaking of Spider-Man, GWW's K. C. Walsh is implying the MCU will merge with the previous Sony films. Walsh has a decent track record, but I wonder if this implication is simply a matter of loose language in a Tweet. I'm not sure what benefit there is in dragging in the Sony material unless Feige is going to have a hand in it.

Sutton, adding to his Patch scoop for Wolverine 2, says the villain Roughhouse will appear. I don't think anyone was holding their breath waiting for the Asgardian, but he's one of Wolverine's antagonists in Madripoor.

Sutton had a couple of interesting things to say. Ghost Rider's destination (film or Disney+) depends on how Blade performs. He says Zack Snyder has been discussed as helming such a vehicle, but hasn't been approached. I don't think Snyder will enter the MCU fold (they've shown a strong preference for lesser known directors), but if given a good script and restrained from some of his bad habits, he has the visual styling for it at least.

Sutton says Marvel is interested in a Daughters of the Dragon Disney+ show with the original actors. Putting Mikey's inexplicable fondness for Simone Missick aside (whose incoherent character blundered through Luke Cage and The Defenders), Jessica Henwick was fine in her role, although you'd need to jettison her goofy Netflix backstory. That said, while I think Marvel might like the IP, this would be a long, long, long way off, and Missick is already on the old side for this kind of role (Henwick turns 29 this year, so that's not a concern). I don't see this happening. My problem with Sutton's default position of everything-but-Finn Jones-returning is that it comes across as wish fulfillment--how is Feige doing something different if he simply brings all the Netflix actors back? It's such a limiting approach. What I can see is extremely selective picks from those shows, but not down to the secondary characters like this.

Speaking of Netflix, THS (Santos) is making a habit of recycling old Sutton material, Tweeting out that Daredevil, Jessica Jones, the Punisher, and Kingpin will appear in the MCU with the Netflix actors. Santos says the latter will appear in Echo and might cameo in Hawkeye; he adds that both Iron Fist and Luke Cage will be re-cast (an idea that makes sense to me, but Sutton continues to say Mike Colter will return).

Cineverso (Alex de los Llanos) says that Hercules and his fellow Olympians (specifically Zeus and Ares) are coming, based on talking to someone who worked on The Eternals and/or Loki. The idea of Hercules appearing is a very old idea, with Daniel suggesting a Disney+ series way back in October, 2019, although he first came up via LotLB (TBK) back in July of that year for Thor 4. Sutton has also got in on the action (cf), echoing Daniel's notion of a Disney+ show (and see below).

I haven't indulged in speculation over who the Power Broker is in the show (I don't really care), but the common speculation is that it's Sharon Carter and that's certainly what Murphy believes. I'm not sure what the point would be--unless she's a Skrull--but it's food for thought. I'll also reiterate what can be seen above on the Google Trends graph--in terms of chatter, at least, the show lags well behind WandaVision (something also apparent from the viewing numbers that are coming from Nielsen--see below).

Incidentally, I was surprised to see an attack on the Flag-smashers as villains from Collider, who would be near the top of the list of Marvel apologists. While the article itself is a mixed bag in terms of analysis (the author is riding a particular hobbyhorse she's trying to hide by not being explicit), but her point here is on-target and is a sign that even among the hardcore fans this part of the plot isn't working.

More Nielsen numbers for WandaVision: it was 11th among streaming shows the week after the finale and dropped to 16th the next week, rebounding slightly at 15th afterwards. Falcon and the Winter Soldier's first week ranked 6th, which is surprisingly low (behind Ginny & Georgia, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Cocomelon, and Heartland).

Deadline (Dade Hayes) brings us the Sony-Disney deal (US-only again) that will allow Spider-Man to appear on Disney+ (in a move I think most of us expected). This doesn't debunk the idea of shows on Amazon.

Murphy did an AMA on Twitter while watching Nobody and said the following:

Yes to chances of Wanda being a villain
Heard Armour Wars is for 2022 [You can tell the person who copied his answers is either Canadian or British from the spelling]
Hasn’t heard anything regarding Silver Surfer
Other Netflix Defenders other than Daredevil coming to Movies/Disney+ [See the notions above from THS and Sutton]
Multiverse of Madness will have surprising cameos [Ralph Bohner and Daffy Duck incoming]
Not a word on Quake or AOS characters [This is not a surprise--I've long held that it's unlikely we'll ever see AOS characters]
Says Yes to MCU having their own Norman Osborn (I think) [See below]
Dafoe’s Goblin and Molina’s Ock are exclusively for [No Way Home]. No future appearances in the MCU (I actually ask this question) [This makes sense]
Confirms again Charlie Cox as Daredevil but gave vague response to question of him appearing in She-Hulk
Daredevil will have long-term presence in MCU [He's a popular character, so that makes sense]
Not sure about Thunderbolts set up in F&WS but hope they will
Doesn’t think Trickshot will show up in Hawkeye but would like to be wrong
Not sure if Cox’s Daredevil is the same Netflix version or rebooted in [No Way Home] [I'd be shocked if they maintained the Netflix continuity, granting that the sloppy writing in the first two Disney+ shows have also been shocking surprises]
No idea on Red Hulk appearing in MCU
Not all Villains on [No Way Home] will be from the Multiverse
Hasn’t heard anything regarding Dehaan for [No Way Home]
Hasn’t heard anything about a new Cap movie starring Sam
Norman Osborn coming “soonly”

Broadly this illuminates his opinions and what he does and doesn't have sources for (it is interesting that he doesn't back up Daniel's many claims). There's nothing surprising here.

Sutton Q&A

Repeated that Elektra is coming in a Daredevil context [If that's the case, given that Feige doesn't like repeating things, it's unlikely we'll see The Hand given how involved they were with both Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders--we can hope a more comic accurate version of her will appear]
Repeated there are plans for U. S. Agent (John Walker) as a member of Thunderbolts
Repeated that Jimmy Woo will form Agents of Atlas and will pop-up in Shang-Chi 2
Repeated Marvel wants Moon Knight to join the Midnight Sons
Repeated that most of the lead Netflix actors will come to the MCU, but in new continuity [see above]
Repeated that Excalibur will be a show and is still in development with Black Knight as the leader [cf]; then that Captain Britain will play an integral role in Black Knight movies [How that meshes with the idea of an Excalibur show he is in is not clear to me at all]
Repeated there are plans for Moondragon and Phyla-Vell to appear, but he's not sure when or where [The idea of the former is primordial, but the latter first showed up via Daniel back in September, 2019]
Repeated that Darkhawk will appear in a Nova film [cf]
Repeated that Shang-Chi will fight White Tiger at some point [An idea that goes back to LotLB's TBK back in July, 2019]
Claims there will be another season of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but it will be called Captain America and the Winter Soldier [At this stage I can't say I'm looking forward to it]
Brother Voodoo will be part of Midnight Sons [The last time I can remember Sutton talking about Brother Voodoo was in December, when he believed he would probably get his own show--no talk about the team-up]

I can't help but point out Mikey has had some misses in his Q&A's (back in July he said the Namor rights were back at Marvel and a film was in development--neither of those things are true and when asked about it recently he said there was no news about Namor--where's the movie Mikey!).

More from our friends at 4chan and here:

I can reveal that Quake will be in Secret Invasion, however this will not be Chole Bennet. This makes it implicit that the Agents of SHIELD is not connected to the MCU franchise. Marvel Studios is looking for a young Chinese-American woman, aged 20-25, to play the role of Daisy Johnson in Secret Invasion. The role will be more similar to Hawkeye in Thor or Maria Hill in Avengers, a secondary command character who answers to Fury. I have no other information at this time, just this specific casting. It would be inaccurate to call this a “re-cast.” It’s only a re-cast in the same way Andrew Garfield was for Spider-Man or Christian Bale was for Batman, it’s a new version of that character for that world.

And

So with regards to the casting of Secret Invasion, Marvel is casting for a young woman of Chinese ethnicity, aged 20-25, to play the role of Daisy Johnson aka Quake. One leaker stated that “recast” is technically inaccurate as this is a new version of the character for the MCU, separate from the Agents of SHEILD universe. Like the comics, despite being young, you get the idea she has been at this “for a while,” compared to the relatively older Chole Bennet version. For reference, the comics note she already had Level 10 clearance at age 17. The role is minor. Saying she is like Hawkeye in Thor or Maria Hill is inaccurate, as this is a show so she will have multiple scenes. I’ve been told to think it closer to Jimmy Woo in WandaVision, a character meant to drive the plot while opening the door to more appearances. To go off that statement, leakers believe her appearance will set up Agents of Atlas in some form similar to Woo in [WandaVision], but that’s just speculation. The point is this is a new Daisy Johnson played by a new actress for a new interpretation of the character

The two broadly agree that a rebooted Quake is coming and Agents of SHIELD will be jettisoned to the dustbin of history. This makes sense to me (as does the idea that Agents of Atlas is just speculation), but there's no specific reason to believe either of these folks have inside information to back it up.

4chan claims Rachael Taylor is in talks with Marvel to return as Hellcat for an episodic Disney+ series; as far as we know only She-Hulk would qualify among what's been announced. This fits the endless Netflix speculation (see above), but I again find it hard to believe Feige wants to just copy/paste all that material into the MCU. I quite like Taylor, but the bizarre things done to her character in the second and third season of Jessica Jones are best forgotten.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode Five Review

This was a seminal episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier--the make-or-break point. I say that because the episode completes the arcs of John Walker, Falcon, Bucky, Isaiah Bradley, Zemo, and even Sarah. There's an argument to be made that these arcs all end in emotionally satisfying way, but in terms of plot and character logic it's problematic. The early data on Google Trends shows a sharp uptick in worldwide interest, while the American end remains about the same as episode four. Those stats say nothing about people's level of satisfaction (WandaVision's finale had the highest traffic for the show, but the result of that was not as positive as hoped), but it means the show has overcome its viewership doldrums (episodes 2-4 worldwide, 2-3 in the US).

The show continues to suffer from a lack of a serious antagonist and it's far too late to fix that now (Batroc as the finale fight?). I've said for the previous four episodes that the show was an improvement over WandaVision, but I'm unsure of that now. What's clear, two shows in, is that the MCU lacks the same level of story oversight provided for the films and its unclear that we'll see that fixed any time soon. It has, perhaps rightfully, lowered my expectations for future shows.

The episode was written by Dalan Musson, although like the other writers the issues with the episode are largely story-related rather than dialogue. Here's the breakdown:

7min Walker runs off after killing the guy, struggling with it and Hoskins' death; confronted by Bucky and Falcon, he tries to justify killing--Falcon gives him an 'out' (heat of battle), but then demands the shield--pretty dumb for a guy who counsels people--Walker refuses and understandably expresses frustration that Falcon was unwilling to help him, and Bucky undercuts the idea of a peaceful resolution by saying they want to fight him; what's not at all clear is why Walker tries to kill the pair--this runs contrary to his portrayal, even if it fits Bucky calling him crazy previously (I've gone over how the show never justified that)
2min Falcon and Bucky talk about the aftermath, with the former saying they are never going to find Kellyman (which is true--without help the duo has accomplished absolutely nothing in the show); Bucky leaves for Zemo; Torres says the mission has moved beyond Falcon and Bucky and how amazing Kellyman is (despite spending the show largely moping like an emo kid)
5min Walker is tried by a military court--his ephemeral wife appears again--Walker blames the military for his behaviour--he tells his wife they don't know what it takes to be Cap--the cameo by Julia Louis-Dreyfus is cringeworthy--the tone is wrong for the moment and the show and even regular Marvel fans will have no idea who she is until they look her up; she says she would have done what he did and that she'll be in touch (perhaps hinting at the Thunderbolts, but given this performance I pray that's not the case)
1min Flag-smasher scene where nothing interesting happens
3min Zemo and Bucky at the Sokovia memorial--Bucky threatens him to demonstrate he doesn't kill anymore and then hands him over to the Wakandans (it's sad to see Zemo gone from the show); Zemo tells him he holds no grudges for his actions--for some reason the Wakandans are taking him to the Raft, even though that's the American facility Walker would have taken him too--Bucky also asks them for a favour (which is making Falcon's new suit)
6min Isaiah Bradley scene where he in part blames Steve Rogers somehow for his treatment--a guy who was in the ice the entire time--but steers away from that in story time where he tells Falcon he shouldn't take the shield because of what it represents to him--but this is irrelevant, because Falcon is going to take it anyway, which means Isaiah is simply wrong and that robs the power of his story; the most effective part of the scene is him talking about being experimented on
7min Falcon repairing the boat--Sarah's decided not to sell because it's too damaged to be worth it--Falcon starts repairing; Bucky shows up with the Wakandan suit for Sam and offers to help with the boat; this section drags interminably
2min Walker talking to Hoskins' family, lying that he killed the person who killed Hoskins (which is out of character)
1min Sharon talking to Batroc, having got him out of prison
2min Falcon's nephews playing with the shield (already deflating Isaiah's story); more boat
4min Falcon practicing with the shield--Bucky apologizes (presumably for pressuring him to take the shield) and absolves him of what happened to Walker (which is indirectly wrong)--Falcon unironically says it doesn't matter what Steve thought...even though his whole motivation in relation to Walker was based on that; Bucky is still having nightmares and Falcon tells him to make amends
2min More boat where Sarah and Sam 'make peace' (Sarah providing the 'counter' for Isaiah, even though it's already clear with the practice decision what Falcon is going to do with the shield)
2min Falcon training montage
2min Batroc shows up to help Kellyman, the deal being that he gets to kill Falcon (setting up their confrontation in the next episode)
1min Torres knows where the Flag-smashers are
1min GRC meeting about moving refugees that Kellyman interrupts
1min Falcon looks at his new outfit from Wakanda (although its not shown)

Performances, generally, are excellent (with the minor exceptions of Dreyfus, Gabrielle Byndloss, and a middling performance from Danny Ramirez); the action is good, albeit the show overuses the Walker shield bash shot.

I mentioned that we can sum up most of the character arcs at this stage, so let's break them down.

Falcon

This is his show--the title, in a way, is a lie, because Bucky doesn't really matter in the narrative. When we begin Falcon is working freelance for the military (a mercenary) and surrenders the shield because he doesn't think anyone can live up to the legacy of Steve Rogers (the shield is government property anyway, so this wouldn't really be his decision). His sister has financial problems he wants to help with (as the pair both own their parent's estate). How does the show resolve these beats?

Becoming Captain America

He doesn't want the role until it's given to John Walker; meeting Isaiah Bradley has him talk about how complicated things are, but ultimately those complications make no impact on his desire for the shield; rather than earning it back, he has to wait for Walker to fail and then takes it

The family financial crisis

He wants Sarah to fix the boat while she wants to sell it; he fails to get them a loan (as she predicted), but ultimately his plan is what works as the community helps them fix the boat--there is no arc here, as Falcon simply gets what he wants (the only nuance is that rather than going to the system for help, the community sorts it out for them)

How active is Sam in solving the plot? It's worth going through it in detail:

Torres informs him about the Flag-smashers initially (both investigating and understanding them)
Walker and Hoskins save he and Bucky from the group, but he rejects them because...Walker wants him as a partner?
Talking to Isaiah is apparently the first time he's asked questions about how the military has handled race (although this has no impact on his decisions)
After Walker frees Bucky of his therapy obligation, they reject him again...because reasons
Bucky decides they need Zemo and it's Zemo who begins their journey in Madripoor, which Sharon Carter completes for them
He allows Zemo to kill Nagle, who then gets them back to the Flag-smashers
His response to Kellyman killing people is that it's okay because she's 'a kid'
Zemo is then the one who finds Kellyman
Walker arrives and wants to arrest her, but Falcon wants to talk first, which fails and in the ensuing melee she escapes and Walker gets hold of the serum
When Walker asks for Zemo (as, indeed, legally he can), he's refused because of their arrangement with the Wakandans...who want to take him to the Raft where Walker would take him (?). The Wakandans then start a fight where Zemo escapes--the fight pushes Walker towards taking the serum
Kellyman threatens Sarah and her kids and meets with Falcon to say join me or leave me alone (an act that's had no impact on his opinion of her yet)--this ultimately leads to a fight, Hoskins death, and Walker killing one of Kellyman's cronies
Falcon tries to reason with Walker by demanding the one thing left to him that matters (which, naturally, fails)
He revisits Isaiah whose advice he ignores
His neighbours solve he and his sister's boat problem and he unironically tells Bucky that Steve's opinion doesn't matter...when his choice is doing exactly what Steve told him to do (as opposed to Isaiah)
Once again Torres knows where the Flag-smashers are.

What has Falcon done? He's a passenger throughout the Flag-smasher plot, with his active decisions failing (rejecting Walker makes things worse; negotiating with Kellyman fails twice; Sharon has to save him after he blows their cover in Madripoor; he requires the help of others to find the terrorists). As for becoming Cap, the decision he makes is to do what Steve Rogers told him--to ignore the Isaiah Bradley story on the one hand, but reject John Walker (or any other Cap) on the other. There's reasoning provided for this--we haven't had anything occur to invalidate the speech he gave in episode one when he gives it up.

Point-by-point, it's difficult to imagine a more poorly deployed arc--I believe it's the worst in the show--but the performances by Mackie and others help lend it an emotional energy which is where I think people who've enjoyed it will find satisfaction.

The one positive that remains is that Falcon won't take the serum. I've mentioned before that I believe that's the stronger decision, albeit it's far less brave (or interesting) than refusing the role and believing that being Falcon (himself) is more than enough to inspire people. This latter idea was never truly an option, as Marvel wanted their moment of Sam in the costume.

Bucky

He's been pardoned for his actions as Winter Soldier, but must participate in mandatory therapy as part of that deal. His therapist wants him to make an amends tour that he struggles with. His other issue is that Steve wanted Falcon to have the shield and if that choice is wrong, maybe his other choices were too (the specious logic here is painful). How does the show resolve these beats?

His psychological problems: four episodes later Falcon tells him to do what the therapist was telling him. Bucky isn't actively involved in this process, but doesn't suffer any difficulties from his trauma in the main plot of the show (indeed, you'd have no idea he had problems outside the therapy moments).

A different Captain America: Walker fails after his partner and friend is killed and Falcon takes up the shield. Bucky's only involvement in this process is to reject Walker and continually implore Falcon to take the shield--which he does.

Because Bucky is a sidekick, there's less requirement for him to be an active participant, but unlike Falcon he does make some proactive (freeing Zemo and delaying the Wakandans to let him work).

John Walker

Oddly the most compelling character in the series, so much so that it's worth (point-by-point) going through what happens to him.

He's married to his high school sweetheart (a relationship given no weight with a limp performance from Byndloss), but we never hear about nor see his family
As a military hero he's given the role of Captain America once Falcon surrenders the shield (in theory the government could have simply taken the shield, but this point is never brought up)
He wants the role of Cap in order to do good things in the world, believing what happened as a soldier wasn't good enough (which is absolutely true)
We're told he has a temper and tends to punch his way out of problems, which is something that's seen throughout the show
He and Hoskins arrive to save our heroes from the Flag-smashers; in return, they are rejected
He frees Bucky of his therapy obligations, asks for help, and is rejected--he tells them if they won't help to stay out of his way
He correctly deduces that the best way to find the Flag-smashers is by following the heroes
He correctly deduces that the heroes broke Zemo out of jail
They successfully find the heroes who know where Kellyman is; he wants to arrest her, but Falcon wants to talk (something he considers risky given his experience with people suffering from PTSD)--when the allotted time is up he goes to get her and she escapes
He catches Zemo and pockets a vial of serum, already feeling insecure about his abilities without it
He demands Zemo be returned to him now that his usefulness is over, but the heroes refuse; he suggests they fight for it, but the Wakandans show up and beat-up everyone, allowing Zemo to escape
He asks Hoskins if he'd take the serum, who said he would and Walker should, saying he always makes the right decisions in the heat of battle--off-screen he does (being defeated by the non-powered Wakandans convinces him he can't perform as Cap without it)
He successfully finds the heroes and Kellyman, but as a fight breaks out Hoskins is killed and Walker loses his mind and tries to kill her (killing a crony instead)
Struggling in the aftermath he's confronted by the heroes and when Falcon asks for the shield and Bucky threatens him, they fight and he ultimately loses
The military discharges him and he's approached by a cartoon character with an offer for help
He lies to Hoskins family saying he got revenge for the death of their son

Up until episode five, this is all well-developed and its far more compelling than anything else we get as a character arc. Walker is far more competent than our heroes when it comes to thinking his way through the story. The kneejerk rejection towards him by the heroes makes things worse and their reasoning seems to be the plot has to happen--it's poorly thought out.

One of the major problems with Walker as an antagonist is that he never wins in fights, which means there's no weight in defeating him (it also eliminates any tension while fighting him). We also have Hoskins asserting that Walker always makes the right choices in battle, but this is an element that the show does very little to back-up.

It's a funny thing to realize that the whole storyline of Walker could have been avoided if Falcon just kept the shield in the first place--the entire tragedy is because of that.

Zemo

His goals from Civil War haven't changed. Once freed he successfully kills Nagle to prevent more serum from being made, encourages the death of Kellyman, determines that Falcon doesn't want the serum and has no issues with Bucky who was forced to take it. Zemo is actively involved with the plot, as he helps the duo locate the Flag-smashers in episodes three and four. He also makes a number of insightful comments about the duo (their indifference to the fate of Sokovia is particularly apt). Why the Wakandans need to be the ones to take him to the Raft is baffling--they are only needed if he's going back to Wakanda, so their entire appearance is just as a gratituous easter egg.

Isaiah Bradley

As I went over previously, his past with Bucky makes no sense given prior MCU lore (nor does it make much sense even in isolated). Isaiah is upset that he and his compatriots were lied too when they were given the serum, but he never objects to the idea of being given the serum or what he did as a member of the military, just how they were tricked and treated. He believes nothing has changed and doesn't want Falcon to take the shield (Falcon doesn't really present a case for something else), but his story and opinion makes no impact on Sam's decision. This would have been so much better if Falcon gave up the shield because of this revelation and then through the process of the show decided that having it was the better choice--I think the writers were afraid of going this route because fans would be left to debate his decision.

Sarah

A tertiary character. Her arc is financial stability, which she believes can only be solved by selling the family boat. Falcon wants to save the boat and while his attempt to get a loan fails, he's ultimately right. Her only other purpose is as slight plot motivation for Falcon to meet with Kellyman, but since he's hunting her anyways, this is superfluous.

Conclusion

Because the show has just one task--make Falcon become Cap--and it needs this to seem like the only option to the audience, any chance for subtle, complex storytelling became impossible. There was so much potential to tell an evocative, interesting story here, but Falcon hasn't been changed by his experiences at all. The Falcon in episode five is the same Falcon from Endgame--yes, he now accepts the shield, but the only motivating factor in the show seems to be to deny it to anyone else.

The social commentary in the show is ephemeral, just like it was in Captain Marvel. The effort to address racism in the US refuses to dive into it in a meaningful way--Isaiah Bradley is wasted, as despite an excellent performance from Carl Lumbly, you could cut those scenes and nothing about Falcon's decision (or the rest of the story) changes.

One other thing to consider is how does Falcon becoming Cap impact Elijah Bradley becoming Patriot? Just like death and taxes, the Young Avengers are inevitable, so what to do with the derivative character? If we take Falcon, U. S. Agent (Walker), and Patroit that's three characters who have the same MO, something I think is impossible to get away with. I suspect Marvel will tweak him to avoid that (Feige doesn't like repeating things, after all), but it's not clear in what way. It's been my belief that Falcon won't be Cap for very long, mostly because his iteration of Cap has never worked in the comics, but we shall see (successor characters rarely work, although it is possible).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Marvel News & Notes

The raw Falcon and the Winter Soldier data is in from Google Trends and we can see some interesting things (I've separated US response to worldwide because there's a major difference). The numbers represent percentage interest, keeping in mind we know episode one drew slightly better than WandaVision's first episode, cf, cf):

Worldwide: E1 100%, E2 50%, E3 57%, E4 54% (overall -46% from the first)
USA: E1 100%, E2 65%, E3 52%, E4 74% (overall -26% from the first)

In American terms, episode four represents a rebound episode for the show (almost certainly tied to Walker's final moments), but worldwide it has struggled after the initial spike in interest. None of these numbers say anything about how it's driven subscriptions (which is what really matters to Disney). We still need to wait for the next two episodes before attempting to assess it's relative success, however.

One result of WandaVision's use of mystery boxes is that an attempt to hype up a cameo for episode five has failed completely--all I see are Marvel fans mocking it because of how poorly speculation turned out for WandaVision (even the hardcore fans don't want to deal with it). This is exactly why that approach (mystery boxes) is a poor one in the first place--if you fail to deliver, the price paid is much worse than the hype gained initially.

A final note about the show: we've known for a long time that the reason re-shoots were required was to remove a B-plot about a virus (due to the pandemic). This may be why the Flag-smasher plot is so poor--that by stripping that element away, it left no substance for the group (Eric Voss does a good job going over it without delving into all the problems it created). It seems like their original plot was motivated by a dangerous virus created in Madripoor that kills their leader, making them turn violent while trying to save others from that fate--this is much better motivation than the leaderless, vague fight against the GRC.

How has WandaVision held up with viewership now that the series is done? Nielsen has the streaming numbers from March 8-14 out and the show slots in at #11 for streaming services they cover (Netflix/Disney+/Amazon), behind Ginny & Georgia, The Crown, Criminal Minds, Greys Anatomy, Cocomelon, Good Girls, NCIS, Schitts Creek, Heartland, and Supernatural. That's not terrible, but given that it ended just the week before, that has to be lower than expected.

The Shang-Chi leaks continue to flow. Here's a description of Xialing (Meng'er Zhang):

When her estranged brother Shang-Chi suddenly shows up in her life, Xialing must choose between the solitary life she's created for herself or join her brother in the fight against the Ten Rings

Zhang is 40, considerably older than Simu Liu (who is 31)--this is trivial, but in the comics it's a younger sister and that's more often what you see in films with male leads--the spunky, younger sister. However, given that Awkwafina is likely providing that energy, it's not necessary here).

Incidentally, we saw an echo of John M. Chu's horrendous 'looking Asian enough' from Crazy Rich Asians (something he's suffered no blowback for) in what's happened to poor Idris Elba as the BBC's diversity chief claims he's not black enough--what a world!

We had a couple of items related to Wolverine in the MCU. Let's dispense with the silly one first. THS' Nick Santos, who has established no credibility yet, claims a Wolverine Disney+ series is on-tap. This is a baffling idea to me, since the IP is obviously something you can put in theaters, so why on earth would you put it on the streaming platform. He adds:

Marvel is aiming to adapt the famous Weapon X story arc for the first season. Not too much else is known other than that this will cover Wolverine’s origin story, his time in the Weapon X program, and ultimately what shapes him into Wolverine. Since this will now be set in the MCU, expect references and allusions to other MCU projects. As this is early in development, this is in the writing phase, so no cast and no Director or Showrunner has been chosen. Although the search for all is still underway. Marvel is hoping to have something to announce this year sometime.

I think he's referring to the Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X storyline (1991), which I'm not a huge fan of, although it doesn't completely erase the original version of his origin (which I go over here). The only logic I could see for putting something this huge on Disney+ is to drive subscriber numbers (which it would), but I don't see the MCU giving up the massive box office potential for that reason.

On the heels of this we got two items from Mikey Sutton. The first is about his second film (recall that Sutton has said the first will involve the Hulk and Alpha Flight), where he'll take on the "Patch" persona from the original continuing Wolverine solo series (1988) from Chris Claremont centered on Madripoor (I have parts of that run, although I haven't read it since). Villains like Tyger Tiger will appear (a crime lord in Madripoor) and the film will have a pirate-adventure feel. This is certainly plausible--in terms of solo adventures to pick from, I favour earlier material in general (even if Claremont at this stage was already in decline).

His second is about the possibility of Hugh Jackman returning as a multiverse version of Wolverine. Sutton says right now he wants to see a script, whereas earlier he wasn't interested (not wanting to impact the legacy of Logan). Where he could appear is in a second MCU Deadpool film the other is Secret Wars. Back in September, 2019 Sutton, LotLB's source TBK, and Daniel said the role of Wolverine was Jackman's to turn down--I don't think (then or now) that was ever for the core MCU-version. We know Feige met with Jackman in the fall of 2019, but the above implies talks since then have occurred (as the consensus is Jackman said 'no' then). I think this is highly plausible and would be a coup for Marvel.

More Ms. Marvel casting news has dropped as The Express Tribune reports that Pakistani actress Samina Ahmed is filming the 'Hollywood serial' that includes Farhan Akhtar, which everyone believes is the Kamala Khan-lead IP. Given that Ahmed is also filming on location, I again think it likely this is for an episode or two of the show.

Sutton did another Q&A and here are the relevant parts for our purposes:

MCU will take a slow burn approach with the multiverse and start with the Spiderverse [which fits the release order of the films as well]
Glyph still coming and will be part of the Midnight Sons [cf]
An R&D list for Tom Holland's second Spider-Man trilogy (when he's in college [this idea was first scooped by LotLB's TBK back in August, 2019]): Prowler [already introduced in Homecoming], Gwen Stacy (who will be the romantic interest for Miles Morales rather than Peter Parker), Captain George Stacy, Madame Web [announced as a Sony film in 2019, but there's no sign of it going into production yet], Robbie Robertson (Daily Bugle writer), Venom [how this jives with the Sony films I have no idea], Jessica Drew [a Sony project we've known about since August, although given how many announced projects never happen--the animated film for her announced in 2018 has never materialized--we have to take it with grains of salt], Reed Richards (his mentor), Johnny Storm (he'll be Peter's close friend [cf; how this will relate to the Fantastic Four film is unclear, but both would be coming to theaters in 2023]), Daredevil, there are rumours they will pay homage to the Ringmaster, Man-Wolf (JJJ's son [last March TI, aka Daniel, aka Production Weekly, said Sony was developing a film for the character], Firestar (Peter's roommate in the comics as well as a romantic interest, cf), Iceman (Peter's roommate in the comics) [cf], Norman Osborn, Black Cat (a romantic interest for Spider-Man who isn't interested in Peter Parker [Sutton first talked about the love triangle back in December and said Black Cat would appear in Spider-Man 4]), Kraven [yet another announced Sony film from 2018 that has gone nowhere; Sutton said he'd be an antagonist in Spider-Man 3 in August, something K. C. Walsh repeated in November; Sutton did not repeat the speculation from LotLB's TBK back in July, 2019, of him being race-swapped], Miles Morales (after Peter finishes college and gets married Miles becomes the new Spider-Man [this is a significant change for Sutton, who just last month said Miles would be a Sony character while Peter represents the IP for the MCU--granted, that in November he said he'd be part of the Young Avengers, echoing what he'd said a month earlier]), Hobgoblin (it will be Ned Leeds), Kingpin (they want Vincent D'Onfrio), Deadpool [Daniel, in his rumour dumping group, repeatedly talks about how Holland wants his character to meet Deadpool]
In the wrap-up to the episode Sutton mentioned that Marvel was heavily researching Amazing Spider-Man Annual 14 (1980), which was drawn by Frank Miller; he doesn't know why, but it features Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Dormammu, Wong, and brief Spidey love interest Debra Whitman (no relation to Black Knight)--keep in mind, the R&D could be largely about the art/style

One thing going with a Firestar romance does is let you echo the traditional Mary Jane Watson relationship without repeating it--both are redheads, both have a long history with Peter Parker, but Firestar is a hero with powers and doesn't have to follow in the footsteps of Kirsten Dunst. The love triangle (with Firestar and Black Cat) fits the default mode of entertainment aimed at a female audience (albeit, flipped). When Sutton first proposed this I wondered if the MCU would do it--this kind of romantic love triangle with a man at the center has been eschewed in entertainment for awhile, but given that the women would be in love with different elements of who he is and Black Cat would clearly lose out, I could see it happening.

This is mostly an aside, but I wanted to briefly go over the X-Men in the MCU for one specific reason. First, two quotes:

Kevin Feige (July 21, 2019): ‘Mutants’ and ‘X-Men’ are interchangeable. I just said ‘mutants. Whatever we do will be quite different than what’s been done before.”
Victoria Alonso (June 4, 2019) “It’s funny that people call it the X-Men. There’s a lot of female superheroes in that X-Men group, so I think it’s outdated.”

Clearly Feige's comment is related to Alonso's, with the latter's coming across as odd--where does it come from? Fighting over language like this (suggesting inherent sexism in words like ‘policeman’, ‘fireman’, etc) was very current in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the transition point between second and third wave feminism (when Alonso was in her 20s). Needless to say, the terms have not gone away. That doesn't mean current intersectional feminism doesn’t care, I'm sure it does, but it's not a hot-button issue. Does any of this matter? No. What matters is money and I think the brand "X-Men" is simply too valuable to be dropped. We'll get, I suspect, other occasional comments about it, but ultimately nothing else.

Daniel massively shaved down his unwieldy rumour file, such that it's difficult to track when he said what anymore. Things that I didn't recognize (There's an unending list of "Ryan Reynolds wants" items I'm going to ignore):

Jane will beat-up Thor in Thor 4 (it's difficult to imagine anything more predictable, so it's an understandable rumour--I feel empowered just reading about it)
Doctor Strange 2 will change the MCU forever (he says this twice in the list, apparently not realizing it)
Kristen Stewart wanted for superhero roles in DC and Marvel
Doctor Strange 2 will feature Eternals characters
Tom Holland wants lot's of screen time with Deadpool (Daniel has included this rumour repeatedly)
Marvel exploring making Bucky bi (this is Full Circle Cinema-style clickbait)
Marvel wants Sigourney Weaver in the MCU as a different character than in The Defenders
Wanda will become the most powerful villain in the MCU (I mean, she's supposed to be the most powerful hero, ergo she'd be the most powerful villain)
Disney thinking of having both an R and PG version of Deadpool 3 (I don't think so)
J. K. Simmons will play both iterations (Sony and MCU) of J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man 3

The fascinating thing about this list is, even though it doesn't look curated, it is, because there are dozens of other rumours (credible and otherwise) that he could include here, but doesn't. I believe these represent a mix of wish fulfillment, clickbait, and speculation.

We have a two purported leaks from 4chan. The first is about Ms. Marvel:

Ms. Marvel is still an Inhuman.
None of the Inhuman Royals are in it, and, yes, no Lockjaw.
Ms. Marvel will have a new power besides “embiggening” by using purple constructs. The only weapons I can confirm are a shield and dagger constructs. I heard that it relates to an armband she’s wearing. [If this is true the idea would be to avoid copying Reed Richards power set]
N.I.C.E. Is an organization that specifically detains Inhumans, Alysia Ryner will be its supervisor and a villain.
The main villain is Ms. Marvel’s boyfriend who is unable to control his newfound power.

This is extremely short and nothing about it strikes me as implausible, although there's also no specific reason to think it's valid either.

The second is much longer and concerns No Way Home (I've left his prose largely intact); it strikes me as fanfiction, but we'll go through it:

There's a lot of stuff out there, but among the leaks lies a lot of bullshit. I've seen most of the previs animations (in 2020) and some concept art. Some of it is my own interpretation, so might not be EXACTLY what happens, but I'd say 75% will make it in the final product. The big theme is 'refuge'. Yeah that's super SJW, but its not as bad as its sounds. It's about open borders and shit like that but its done fairly well.
We open with Spider-man being chased through a broken New York by some type of human thunder storm. The electricity takes a human shape and turns out to be Jamie Foxx, he confronts our spider-man, saying he knows who he is and unmasks him. It is in fact Tobey Macguire. Before Tobey is killed, reality around them fractures. BOOM Marvel opening credits.
We pick up right where we left of in Far From Home. Tom has just seen the broadcast and is rushing home, desperately contacting Aunt May and Happy. He reaches his home and tells Aunt May they have to hide. They will become targets.
But it is too late as the apartment complex is attacked by Michael Mando and his men. In the ensueing fight, the apartment explodes and Mando falls down breaking his back. Aunt May and Tom escape.
They seek refuge at the New York Sanctum, where they meet Wong. Dr. Strange is busy analyzing several fractures to their reality, which started after the BLIP, but have been increasing. Tom wants a 'spell' to reverse the uncovering of his identity. He wants to reverse time or make a deal with the devil. Dr. Strange returns and offers asylum to May, but tells Tom he should solve this in like most people: In Court.
In another part of town, reality fractures (like the mirror dimension in Strange) and out comes a confused looking Jamie Foxx.
The old avengers tower now belongs to Oscorp and they are infact experimenting with fragments of both the tesseract, pym particles and traces of aether found in London. Phineas Mason is working on this new technology for an unseen Norman Osborn - a more Elon Musk type of guy. Less overtly evil, more charismatic.
Multiple 'fractures' of reality are reported. Tom Holland stands trial at court (and is unsuccesfully defended by Matt Murdock). But due to the reality ripples, Tom has to rush out of court and goes to a large anomaly near the docks. Dr. Strange is trying to contain the anomaly, but Strange is pulled into the anomaly and tom is unable to save him. He contacts Shield, he thought Mysterio lied about the 'other dimensions'. But they believe Mysterio's scheme is actually part of something bigger - he had a benefactor.
Michael Mando is brought to Michael Keaton (who runs a large repairshop). Vulture owes him for their shared time in prison and they offer up a lot of cash to take care of Michael Mando. With the help of the Tinkerer, they use one of the Iron Man 2 drones (green) to create an exoskeleton for Michael Mando with a back-based canon.
A confused Jamie Fox is caught and brought in to Oscorp and he is greeted by Norman Osborn. This Norman Osborn seems relatively nice. With the disbanding of the Avengers, Norman wants to create his own privitized team of superheroes. As told by his 'advisor'.
He's been getting messages from 'another reality' by none other than Willem Dafoe. That Norman Osborn is giving hints on how to create a quantum portal to connect both realities. This is one of the few 'surviving' realities and other realities are desperate to come here. The villains in this movie all come from realities that have been mostly destroyed. This Norman Osborn believes himself to be some kind of Tony Stark and is building his own group of superheroes.
Shelters are built for the reality displaced people built by the GRC. Debates are held about this reality taking in refugees from other realities. Missing people, duplicates and the like are taken care of. Among them - Ben Parker. As one of the few living relatives, Aunt May is contacted and even Tom learns of his existence. Ben is happy to see both, as in his reality both had died.
Learning from Shield that the anomaly is coming from the old Avengers tower. Our Spider-man enters and confronts Osborn with the intention of shutting the machine down. Spider-man is still a wanted criminal and Norman tells him of persistent chance. The idea that some things are simply inevitable. As if reality converges to certain events. Like how most realities have a 'spider-man'. He thought labeling this Spider-man a criminal would be enough. But he 'flushes this spider-man' down the drain into an alternate reality.
Tom wakes up in a ravaged Earth. Not destroyed by Thanos - but by Ego. Humanity has moved underground where Dr. Octavius is taking care of survivors. Tom is able to lead them into another fracture of reality. They pass multiple different realities - and come across two other Spider-men. Tom learns about the feeling of 'seeking refuge' and has to find his way back home. Following the trail Dr. Strange left behind.
In his own reality, Norman Osborn completes the quantum tunnel - bridging his reality. and the other Norman Osborn enters - and promptly kills him. This is a hostile takeover. Willem Dafoe wants to enjoy 'this reality' and lavishes in luxury.
The spider-men eventually find Dr. Strange trapped in dimensions and return to this reality, and it is a little like 'Back to the Future 2' Things have been taken over by Oscorp as time has passed for several months. It has become highly militarized. Willem has several protectors. Including Michael Mando has an upgraded suit with stinger.
There's the final battle, which takes place over several ravaged versions of New York including one with Dark Elves. Eventually Tom will have to turn the quantum tower off - which will 'condemn' all of the other earths to their fate. The reality displaced people refract and go back to their own realities. Aunt May says bye to Ben once again, as does Tom to his two spiderbros. They say he's lucky and needs to take good care of this world.
In the ending sequence the dead body of our Norman Osborn is revived by Dr. Connor Tinging his skin with a green hue.

This is so bloated and overly complicated there's no question it comes from the fertile imagination of our poster.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)