“You’re meeting a Vision who has died and come back to life, who is sort of reconnecting with his memories, and his feelings, and is going through a bit of an identity quest,” explained showrunner Terry Matalas, who took creative control of the project from Jac Schaeffer. And while there’s certainly a timer running on how long Vizh can stay on the sidelines and how long the studio can wait to reunite the Maximoff twins, it sounds as though the story told in VisionQuest–or at least some its characters–could live on beyond a first season.
When asked by The Direct if a second season of the series was a possibility or if it would be a one-off, standalone series, Matalas left the door open. “I think that’s up to the Marvel and Disney Gods. It doesn’t necessarily have to,” Matalas said. “There is a group of characters in situations that are certainly on their own island, if you will. Trying to figure out how to say this… You could very much see these characters again, if you want.“
Outside of the clever play on words about characters on their own island (most of the series is reportedly set on Madripoor), Matalas‘ words indicate that at least some of the series main characters find themselves positioned for a future in the MCU even if VisionQuest is the end of the WandaVision trilogy. Even if Matalas is being cagey, there are plenty of ways a series full of A.I. characters could live on beyond the Multiverse Saga.
On April 6th, one of Star Wars most enigmatic and iconic villains will return to the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord. Set during the Reign of the Empire era, the 10-episode animated series will serve as a bridge, connecting the former Sith Lord’s adventures in Star Wars: The Clone Wars to his surprise appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story where he’s revealed as the shadowaster of Crimson Dawn.
Whether you’re a longtime fan of the terrifying darksider or looking to meet him for the first time, The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord is exactly what you need.
Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace
The ongoing fascination with Maul began in 1998 when the menacing Sith and his double-bladed lightsaber debuted in the first trailer for The Phantom Menace. The tattooed Zabrak remained front and center in Lucasfilm’s marketing for the film and in its line of action figures.
Though his role in the film fell short of expectations, his duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi became a pivot point for the fate of the galaxy. After suffering a particularly bad case of being cut in half by Kenobi, it seemed Maul’s role as a disposable pawn of Darth Sidious had come to an end. Thankfully, however, that was not the case.
George Lucas had originally planned to have Maul return in his sequel trilogy where he would be featured as “the godfather of crime in the universe” with his apprentice, Darth Talon, at his side. While that obviously never happened, Star Wars: The Clone Wars slowly started Maul on that path, allowing for Maul-Shadow Lord to really bring the Creator’s original vision to life.
Definitely one of the hardest things we’ve had to do on the show is resurrect Darth Maul.
-Dave Filoni
By design, each season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was broken into arcs. So while it should go without saying that any Star Wars fan should eventually watch the entire series, you can prep for Maul-Shadow Lord by watching 5 arcs…and reading (or reading about) one that didn’t make it to the small screen.
Witches and Monsters (Season 3, episodes 12–14). Runtime: 69 minutes.
The Siege of Mandalore (Season 7, episodes 9–12). Runtime: 102 minutes.
Arc Title
Season & Episode Numbers
Total Runtime
Key Narrative Focus
Witches & Monsters
S3: E12, E13, E14
~69 mins
The Nightsisters & Savage’s transformation.
Darth Maul Returns
S4: E19, E20, E21, E22
~90 mins
The Dathomir Massacre & Maul’s rebirth.
Shadow Collective
S5: E1, E14, E15, E16
~92 mins
Building the Empire & taking Mandalore.
Ahsoka’s Journey
S7: E7, E8
~48 mins
The Pyke Syndicate & the Nite Owls.
Siege of Mandalore
S7: E9, E10, E11, E12
~102 mins
The fall of Maul & the Rise of the Empire.
TOTAL BINGE
17 Episodes
~6 hrs 41 mins
In total, the 17 episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will take up 6 hours and 41 minutes of your time. An easy one-day binge!
Where to Watch: All episodes are available to stream on Disney+.
Binge Strategy: If you start this list on the morning of April 6th, you can finish the entire “Shadow Lord” backstory just in time for the series premiere that evening!
Witches and Monsters
The Witches and Monsters arc is arguably the most essential piece of backstory if you’ve never watched the beloved animated series. It spins a dark, gothic fantasy in the galaxy far, far away, telling the tragic origins of Maul and his brother, Savage Opress.
The Nightsisters use a different kind of Dark Side. It’s not just the Sith philosophy; it’s more ancient, more primal. It’s witchcraft. Mother Talzin is really the puppet master here. She’s playing Dooku and Ventress against each other, and Savage is just the tool she uses to do it.
-Katie Lucas
The arc establishes the power of Dathomirian Night Sister magick and reveals that Maul is alive in the Outer Rim. It also highlights the volatile nature of Sith apprenticeships and the Rule of Two, explaining why Maul was ultimately discarded. Maul’s eventual relationship with his brother also becomes key to understanding his transition from a solitary assassin to a leader of his own criminal empire.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 3, Episode 12, “Nightsisters” (20 BBY)
Galactic showdown! In a fierce battle for survival, the Republic and Separatist armies have clashed in the distant Sullust system. Count Dooku’s most cunning assassin, Asajj Ventress, leads the vicious attack….
Betrayed by her master, Asajj Ventress survives an assassination attempt by Count Dooku and returns to her homeworld of Dathomir to seek the help of the clan of the Nightsisters in her plot for revenge.
-Official episode synopsis via Star wars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 3, Episode 13, “Monster” (20 BBY)
A bid for revenge! Betrayed and left for dead by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress has begun a deadly game with her former Master, launching a secret assassination attempt against him with the help of her kin, the mysterious Nightsisters.
Deceived into thinking the Jedi were behind the recent attack, Dooku has traveled across the galaxy to enlist the Nightsisters in his quest for vengeance….
Asajj Ventress and the Nightsisters plot their revenge against Count Dooku, selecting a warrior from a village on the far side of Dathomir and using dark magic to transform him into their brutal servant.
-Official episode synopsis via Starwars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 3, Episode 14, “Witches of the Mist” (20 BBY)
Mysterious deaths! Unknown to the Jedi, a new threat has unleashed on the galaxy: Savage Opress, a pawn in the dangerous game between Count Dooku and his former assassin, Ventress.
The victims of his brutal massacre on the planet of Devaron are being returned to the Jedi Temple for evaluation. It’s up to the Jedi Council to find this mysterious killer, and eradicate him….
After surveillance footage reveals a Dathomirian male slaughtering Jedi, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to track down the monstrous Savage Opress.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Runtime: 1 hour and 9 minutes
Darth Maul Returns
The connective tissue that makes his later rise to power possible, this arc transitions Maul from a broken, half-mad scavenger to a wily strategist.
Driven by Mother Talzin’s vision, Savage Opress travels to the junk planet Lotho Minor where he finds a creature living in the literal and figurative bowels of the world. Twelve years of isolation and hatred have left Maul a shattered shell of his former self—he has no memory of his name, possesses a makeshift spider-like lower body made of scrap metal drawn to him by the Force and speaks only in crazed riddles.
Savage brings Maul back to Dathomir, where Mother Talzin performs a powerful ritual to purge the madness from his mind. She replaces his scrap-metal legs with biomechanical limbs. And for the first time since Kenobi bisected him on Naboo, Maul is whole—not just physically, but mentally. His singular focus returns: revenge.
The arc provides Maul with his own agency, freeing him from the puppet string of Sleepy Sheev Palpatine. It also cements the deep, personal hatred that drives Maul’s actions throughout the rest of the series, as his rivalry with Kenobi takes center stage. Though Maul is only present in the final two episodes, the entire four-episode arc is worth the time.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 19, “Massacre” (20 BBY)
Sinister forces on the move! Asajj Ventress has suffered a humiliating betrayal at the hands of her own assassin, Savage Opress. Having gone into hiding, she now has no choice but to seek sanctuary with the Nightsisters of Dathomir….
Count Dooku is determined to have revenge against the Nightsisters of Dathomir after their betrayal. General Grievous launches an all-out droid attack against the magic-wielding witches, while Mother Talzin and Asajj Ventress lead the defense with all the dark powers at their command.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 20, “Bounty” (20 BBY)
Abandoned! After an assassination attempt by his forsaken apprentice, Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku launches a brutal counterattack against the Nightsisters, massacring the entire clan. Forced into exile, Ventress wanders far into the Outer Rim, among the castaways and vagabonds of the galaxy, seeking her new life that was foretold by Mother Talzin….
Forced into exile, an aimless Asajj Ventress joins a team of bounty hunters under the leadership of young Boba Fett. On an alien world, they undertake a dangerous but profitable mission that tests the strength of Asajj’s character.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 21, “Brothers” (20 BBY)
A darkness awakes! Count Dooku’s bitter betrayal of his former apprentice Asajj Ventress resulted in the creation of a new menace in the galaxy: Savage Opress. Caught in a deadly game of revenge between Ventress and Dooku, Savage barely escaped the carnage.
Beaten and alone, he returned to Mother Talzin, his creator, who gave him a new quest: to pursue his long-lost brother….
Savage Opress is on a quest to find his long-lost brother, Maul. After more than a decade since Maul’s gruesome encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Savage voyages into the depths of the twisted planet Lotho Minor to find whatever became of the fallen Sith Lord.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 22, “Revenge” (20 BBY)
Brothers reunited! Darth Maul, the sinister Sith thought to have been destroyed so many years ago by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, was found alive by his brother, Savage Opress, and taken back to Mother Talzin on Dathomir.
Though Darth Maul’s memory has yet to be fully restored, his need for vengeance has awakened, more powerful than ever….
Savage and Maul, now reunited, pursue Obi-Wan Kenobi in search of revenge, and the Jedi Knight finds himself forced to unite with a surprising ally to defend himself.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.con
Runtime: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Shadow Collective
Following a narrow escape from the Jedi, Maul and Savage are found drifting in space by the Death Watch, a group of Mandalorian fundamentalists led by Pre Vizsla. Recognizing a shared hatred for Obi-Wan Kenobi and the current pacifist government of Mandalore, they form an uneasy alliance.
Realizing that to topple the Jedi and the Sith he needs more than just a brother–he needs an army–Maul becomes a warlord. Through a mix of brutal combat and intimidation, he forcibly recruits the galaxy’s most powerful criminal organizations: The Black Sun, The Pyke Syndicate and The Hutt Clan.
Maul orchestrates a false flag operation, directing the criminal syndicates to attack Mandalore’s capital. Pre Vizsla and the Death Watch step in to save the day, earning Vizsla the public’s support, allowing him to overthrow Duchess Satine Kryze. When Vizsla betrays the brothers, Maul escapes and challenges Vizsla to a duel to the death for leadership of the Death Watch. After executing Vizsla with the Darksaber, Maul lays claim to the blade and the throne of Mandalore.
Maul draws Kenobi to Mandalore and kills Satine in front of him, mocking the Jedi for his commitment to a code that couldn’t save the woman he loved. However, Maul’s rapid rise creates a disturbance in the Force so great that Sleepy Sheev personally travels to Mandalore to deal with his former apprentice. Sidious views Maul not as a threat to his life, but as a rival to his power and in a brutal duel against Maul and Savage Oppress, kills the latter while taunting the former, who he now holds captive, telling him, “I have use for you.”
Lore Sidebar: The History of the Darksaber
Fans of The Mandalorian will be familiar with the black-bladed saber but for Maul, it wasn’t a heirloom; it was a stolen trophy that cemented his rule over the underworld.
The Origin: Tarre Vizsla
The Darksaber was forged over 1,000 years ago by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi Order. After his death, the Jedi kept the blade in their Temple until members of House Vizsla “liberated” it during the fall of the Old Republic. For generations, it served as a symbol of leadership: whoever wields the blade by right of combat has a claim to lead all of Mandalore.
Maul’s Claim
In Star Wars: TheClone Wars, the blade belonged to Pre Vizsla, the leader of Death Watch. Maul realized that the Mandalorians would never follow a “foreigner” unless he held their most sacred symbol. By challenging Vizsla to a duel and executing him with his own blade, Maul became the first non-Mandalorian to win the Darksaber in ritual combat.
Where is the blade during “Shadow Lord”?
In the timeline of the new series, set after The Clone Wars, Maul still possesses the Darksaber. While he eventually loses it–leading to it being found by Sabine Wren in Star Wars Rebels–during the Shadow Lord era, it is his primary weapon and the badge of office for his Shadow Collective.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 5, Episode 1, “Revival” (19 BBY)
Death and destruction! Darth Maul and Savage Opress spread chaos as they descend on the Outer Rim. After rescuing his brother from despair, Savage and Maul murder and pillage at every turn. Fueled by rage and vengeance, they search for meaning in their new alliance as reports of their brutal attacks spread across the galaxy….
Fueled by vengeance and rage, the newly reunited brothers Savage Opress and Maul spread terror and violence across the galaxy.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 5, Episode 14, “Eminence” (19 BBY)
Evil alliance! Darth Maul and Savage Opress escape Obi-Wan Kenobi’s assault once again. With their plan to build a crime organization in peril, the brothers’ fate is about to be changed forever as they drift barely alive, through unknown space…..
Savage and Maul forge an alliance with Death Watch to target a common enemy: Obi-Wan Kenobi.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 5, Episode 15, “Shades of Reason” (19 BBY)
Villainy swells! With an army of the galaxy’s most vicious criminals, Darth Maul and Savage Opress conspire with Pre Vizsla and the Death Watch to topple Duchess Satine, ruler of Mandalore. While the conspirators prepare to attack the Mandalorian capital Sundari from a base on Zanbar, the fate of 2,000 other neutral systems is under threat as Darth Maul moves closer to establishing a vast criminal empire….
Backed by the criminal underworld, the Sith and Death Watch launch an attack on Mandalore.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 5, Episode 16, “The Lawless” (19 BBY)
Neutral star systems in peril! Darth Maul and Savage Opress command the planet Mandalore through the puppet Prime Minister, Almec, while they expand their criminal enterprise. With the Death Watch removed from power, and the Jedi unaware of the villainous plot, nothing stands in the way of Darth Maul’s vision for a vast criminal empire.
We now find Duchess Satine imprisoned, as her few remaining loyal subjects make a desperate attempt to rescue her….
Using Duchess Satine as bait, Darth Maul lures Obi-Wan into a trap.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Runtime: 1 hour and 32 minutes
Son of Dathomir
Originally designed as an arc for Season 6, the story was released by Dark Horse as a 4-issue comic series in 2014 after the show’s initial cancellation. It was republished by Marvel Comics in 2017.
Following his defeat on Mandalore, Maul is imprisoned and tortured by Darth Sidious and Count Dooku in a secret facility. However, his Mandalorian Super Commandos free him from prison, setting the stage for a wild war between Force users.
Reinforced by Dathomirian Nightbrothers, the Shadow Collective goes to war against Dooku and General Grievous on Ord Mantell. Maul capture Dooku and Grievous, hoping to achieve his ultimate goal is of luring Sidious out into the open so Mother Talzin can drain his life force and possess his body.
On Dathomir, a massive duel featuring Maul and Mother Talzin–who initially possesses Dooku–Sidious and Grievous. To save her son, Mother Talzin sacrifices the last of her spirit to allow Maul to escape. General Grievous delivers the killing blow to Talzin, effectively wiping out the Nightsisters.
Ahsoka’s Journey
Ahaoka Tano plays a major role in Maul’s arc in Season 7 of The Clone Wars with the two discarded apprentices eventually facing off on Mandalore. Following her departure from the Jedi Order, Ahsoka crashes her speeder bike in the underworld of Coruscant. She is taken in by two sisters, Trace and Rafa Martez, who are struggling to survive in the crime-ridden lower levels. For the first time, Ahsoka sees the galaxy through the eyes of ordinary citizens who feel abandoned—and even harmed—by the Jedi’s involvement in the war.
In a desperate bid for credits, the sisters take a job transporting spice for the Pyke Syndicate. Ahsoka joins them to keep them safe, hiding her Jedi past. When the deal goes south, they are imprisoned on the planet Oba Diah. Here, Ahsoka realizes that the Pykes aren’t just local thugs—they are a massive organization with ties to a mysterious shadow leader: Maul.
While escaping the Pyke stronghold, Ahsoka spots three hooded figures observing the Syndicate: Bo-Katan Kryze and members of the Mandalorian Nite Owls. They have been tracking Maul’s criminal activities and realize that Ahsoka is their best chance at regaining Mandalore. After helping the Martez sisters return to Coruscant, Bo-Katan approaches Ahsoka with an offer: help the Mandalorians take down Maul. Realizing she can still do good in the galaxy without being a Jedi, Ahsoka accepts, setting her on a collision course with the former Sith.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 7, “Dangerous Debt” (19 BBY)
Prisoners of the Pykes! Ahsoka Tano has teamed up with the Martez sisters, who live in the underworld of the city-planet Coruscant. Struggling to make ends meet, Rafa Martez scored a job running a spice shipment from the planet Kessel. Tempers flared when Ahsoka realized the spice was being sold to the Pykes, a powerful crime syndicate. As Ahsoka and Rafa argue, Trace Martez dumped the spice, hoping to end the dispute. With no shipment to deliver, the three attempted to deceive the Pykes and failed.
We now find them imprisoned deep within a fortress on the planet Oba Diah….
Captured by the Pyke Syndicate, Ahsoka and the Martez sisters attempt a daring escape.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 8, “Together Again” (19 BBY)
Prisoners in peril! Former Jedi apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, befriended two sisters, Trace and Rafa Martez, who grew up in the underworld of Coruscant. After learning that the sisters blamed the Jedi Knights for the death of their parents, Ahsoka must decide if she’s willing to reveal her Jedi past and use her skills to aid in their escape.
Fearing her new friends will feel betrayed by this revelation, Ahsoka is left with a difficult choice….
Captured by the Pykes once more, Ahsoka and the Martez sisters are running out of options.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Runtime: 48 minutes
The Siege of Mandalore
Sensing that the galaxy is on the brink of a cataclysmic shift, Maul returns to Mandalore and orchestrates a final stand, hoping to lure Anakin and Obi-Wan to the planet. He plans to kill Anakin, believing it will rob Sidious of his prized pupil and prevent the rise of the Empire.
Instead of Anakin, the Republic sends Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex with a division of the 501st. Maul and Ahsoka engage in an absolutely epic duel, during which Maul tries to recruit Ahsoka, warning her that the Jedi are already lost and Darth Sidious is about to win. Ahsoka refuses, eventually capturing Maul just as Order 66 is given.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 9, “Old Friends Not Forgotten” (19 BBY)
Outer Rim under siege! Separatist forces have launched a major offensive. Led by the evil droid General Grievous, Republic forces are pushed to the brink. In response to this overwhelming attack, the Jedi Council has dispatched its Generals, sending them far from the Core Worlds to bolster the beleaguered clones. On the distant planet of Yerbana, we find Commander Cody of the 212th in desperate need of reinforcements….
The Siege of Mandalore begins, and Ahsoka turns to Anakin and Obi-Wan for help.
-Official episode synopsis via Star Wars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 10, “The Phantom Apprentice” (19 BBY)
The battle for Mandalore continues, and Ahsoka finds herself face to face with Maul.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 11, “Shattered” (19 BBY)
Maul is captured and the Siege of Mandalore is won. But evil lurks elsewhere, and the galaxy will never be the same.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, Episode 12, “Victory and Death” (19 BBY)
In the wake of Order 66, Ahsoka and Rex must work together to survive.
-Official episode synopsis via StarWars.com
As the Imperial Era begins, Maul escapes into hyperspace after yet another duel with Ahsoka. It’s been reported that Star Wars:Maul-Shadow Lord will pick up one year after the events of this episode, with the primary setting believed to be 17 BBY. For timeline purposes, Solo: A Star Wars Story takes place in 13 BBY and Maul’s death in Tatooine as seen in Star Wars Rebels, occurs in 2 BBY. That four year gap before Solo, gives Lucasfilm plenty of runway to produce multiple seasons of Maul-Shadow Lord.
Runtime: 1 hour and 42 minutes
About Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord
An all-new animated series from Lucasfilm Animation, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, will premiere on Disney+ April 6, 2026. Two episodes will premiere each week, with the final two airing on the ultimate Star Wars holiday, May the 4th.
Set after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this pulpy adventure finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who could be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge.
-Official synopsis for Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord
The voice cast includes Sam Witwer as Maul, Gideon Adlon as Devon Izara, Oscar® nominee Wagner Moura as Brander Lawson, Richard Ayoade as Two-Boots, Dennis Haysbert as Master Eeko-Dio-Daki, Chris Diamantopoulos as Looti Vario, Charlie Bushnell as Rylee Lawson, Vanessa Marshall as Rook Kast, David C. Collins as Spybot, A.J. LoCascio as Marrok, and Steve Blum as Icarus.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is created by Dave Filoni, based on Star Wars and characters created by George Lucas. The series is developed by Dave Filoni and Matt Michnovetz. Brad Rau is supervising director. The executive producers are Dave Filoni, Athena Yvette Portillo, Matt Michnovetz, Brad Rau, Carrie Beck, and Josh Rimes. Alex Spotswood is the co-executive producer.
According to Cryptic, Sink’s Jean isn’t just a local mutant from Westchester—she was described to him as being “time-displaced.” If that phrase sounds familiar, it’s because it was the literal backbone of one of the most polarizing and fascinating eras in modern X-Men history.
In 2012, writer Brian Michael Bendis launched All-New X-Men, a series that saw the original five teenage X-Men (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Iceman, and Angel) travel from the past to the present day. This teen Jean had to grapple with a world where her older self was dead, her mentor was a failure, and her future was a tragedy.
By using the “time-displaced” description, Marvel Studios might be signaling a move away from the traditional born in the 616 origin. Instead of explaining where mutants have been for 20 years, Marvel could simply pluck them from the past–or another timeline–and drop them into the modern MCU. Even if it’s controversial, it’s potentially brilliant.
Given the knowledge that Brand New Day deals–at least in part–with the fallout of Peter’s memory wipe, if Jean arrives as a stranger in a strange land, she and Peter–the ultimate lonely hero–share a thematic link that makes their rumored partnership much more poignant. Additionally, a time-displaced Jean allows Marvel to explore the character’s raw, untapped power and her psionic form–which Cryptic notes will look like X-Men ’97–without immediately jumping to the cosmic firebird.
Jean gets the First Steps Sue treatment. Unlike previous Jean Greys, her powers have some new visual flair to them. More VFX are involved, and it's said to resemble her X-97 counterpart. pic.twitter.com/MgN2K8VNbe
The time-displaced angle–especially in one of the final films in the Multiverse Saga–helps avoid forcing Marvel to address why the X-Men haven’t intervened on Earth-616 before. It also opens the door to the other members of the original five X-Men appearing in either a post-credit even to Brand New Day or in Avengers: Secret Wars.
If you thought Florence Pugh was just a passing torch-bearer for the Black Widow mantle, think again. According to a fresh report from industry insider DanielRPK, Yelena Belova isn’t just surviving the multiversal chaos of Avengers: Doomsday—she’s being positioned as one of the primary anchors for the grand finale, Avengers: Secret Wars.
Pugh’s Yelena is reportedly one of the modern MCU characters who will actually drive the core of the story, which is slated to begin production later this year.
After beginning the film in the dumps, Yelena ended Thunderbolts* not as a reluctant assassin, but as the de facto leader of a new, albeit dysfunctional, team of Avengers. RPK’s report suggests that her leadership role will somehow extend into the Secret Wars.
In a post-Iron Man MCU, the franchise has struggled to find a human center. Pugh’s performance has been a consistent bright spot, blending high-stakes trauma with the kind of dry wit that fans used to associate with Tony Stark. By making her a major player in Secret Wars, Marvel is betting on her star power to help carry the franchise into whatever comes after the soft reboot.
Following the poster reveal that sent the internet into a frenzy, Illumination has revealed the casting news we’ve all been waiting for: Glen Powell is the voice of Fox McCloud in the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy.
If you’re looking for someone to play a cocky, elite pilot with a heart of gold, there is currently no one doing it better than Powell. After the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters, Nintendo and Illumination have secured the exact kind of A-List energy needed to launch a potential Star Fox spinoff.
The announcement likely positions him as one of the leads in the inevitable Super Smash Bros. event film. Powell joins an already stacked roster including Chris Pratt (Mario), Brie Larson (Rosalina), Issa Rae (Honey Queen), and Donald Glover (Yoshi).
With the film dropping on April 1, 2026, the reveal of Powell as Fox is the final “pre-launch” marketing hammer Sony and Nintendo needed to ensure a $200M+ opening weekend.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 premiere just dropped on Disney+ and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it audio cue has officially tied Wilson Fisk to the highest levels of the MCU’s shadow government.
In a post-premiere breakdown with The Wrap, showrunner Dario Scardapane and executive producer Sana Amanat pulled back the curtain on the episode’s biggest Easter egg: the off-screen presence of the MCU’s shadiest normy,Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
The moment happens in Wilson Fisk’s mayoral office in Gracie Mansion. As Fisk is being lectured by high-ranking government officials, Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles abrubtly enters the room. When one of the officials receives a phone call that instantly flips his hostile tone into one of total submission, he addresses the caller as “Miss de Fontaine.”
Scardapane confirmed to The Wrap that this wasn’t just a random name-drop. “Mr. Charles has a boss!” he teased, finally confirming that Lillard’s character is an asset reporting directly to Val. Sana Amanat explained that the Easter egg was designed to “create space” and remind the audience that these street-level stakes exist within the larger MCU ecosystem, even if Val doesn’t physically walk into Gracie Mansion.
We wanted to put Mr. Charles in that world. We wanted to kind of connect those two. Her showing up in our world would be the best, but a lot of the times, we’re siloed in this, you know, pretty rich world of characters and where those crossovers are.
-Dario Scardapane
As tantalizing as the tease was, Amanat clarified that fans should NOT take it as an indication that it’s anything more than an it’s-all-connected Easter egg. “There’s no need for that,” Amanat said when asked if the mention was teeing up another project. “I feel like these stories are so rich on their own that we are able to tell the stories we need to, especially with Daredevil, because there’s so many different kinds of characters.“
However, informed fans know that Val has her hands into more dirt than just smuggling weapons which means, by extension, so does Mr. Charles…and his MCU story is just beginning.
We’ve seen the reports that the Avengers: Doomsday script was being tweaked during production, and it looks like those rewrites have officially triggered a round of additional photography. But don’t panic—this isn’t a The Marvels level overhaul.
Avengers: Doomsday is heading back to London soon for additional photography and according to industry insider Daniel Richtman, the goal is to provide “narrative clarity” and “emotional beats” to the project. Sounds like after having spent some time in post-production, the Russos realize that with an ensemble this massive, the audience needs more time to actually care about the new team dynamics before Doom starts tearing them apart.
Richtman’s report stated that the big set pieces are reportedly locked and that cameras will be capturing “character-driven material” when they roll in the coming weeks. These moments have always been a strength of Anthony and Joe Russo, who have struck gold with unexpected character pairings and groupings in the past such as Thor, Groot and Rocket or Nebula and Tony Stark.
If they’re going back to set to make sure the “heart” of the movie is beating, that’s a win for the fans.
…it definitely has to be Spider-Man. One day…I’m hoping. We’ll see if they ask me to do it. Kingpin lived in a world of Punisher, Daredevil and Spider-Man so that would be the one.
-Vincent D’Onofrio
While responding to a fan’s statement that a matchup between Kingpin and Spidey was needed “ASAP”, D’Onofrio stated in order for it to happen, Sony and Marvel would need to “get their shit together” over what he called a “complicated rights issue.”
If Sony and Marvel ever get their sh*t together maybe. It's a complicated rights issue. Hope so.
While Kingpin debuted in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #50, he has since become a primary Daredevil antagonist. D’Onofrio explained that because the character is technically “shared” between Marvel (Disney) and Sony, placing him in a Sony-produced Spider-Man film requires a level of legal acrobatics that hasn’t happened yet. In the past, D’Onofrio has noted that his current contract is firmly rooted in the Marvel Television side of things, so similarly to how Spider-Man won’t appear in a live-action Marvel Television series, Kingpin won’t appear in a live-action Marvel Studios film until a new deal is arranged.
Though it’s been sold in part as an adaptation of Marvel Comics Devil’s Reign, showrunner Dario Scardapane‘s inspiration for the narrative structure of Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again came from a slightly more surprising source. With career criminal Wilson Fisk–Mayor Kingpin–having driven Daredevil, Karen Page and New York City’s other vigilantes underground, the synopsis for Season 2 paints Daredevil as “public enemy number one” and promises that Murdock will “fight back from the shadows.” Resist. Rebel. Rebuild. In promoting the new season, Scardapane has revealed that he envisioned the new episodes as “resistance story”, heavily inspired by French film noir, specifically the 1969 Jean-Pierre Melville masterpiece, Army of Shadows.
To tell a resistance tale with fidelity to the genre, Season 2 will need to put the Big Apple in a pressure cooker, examine the corruption inherent to absolute power, challenge the ideology of the resistance and force Murdock to not only make Daredevil a symbol or resistance but also force him, at some point, to bear the weight of sacrifice. Episode 1, “The Northern Star”, sets the stage for the escalation of the revolution teased in the Season 1 finale, immediately crossing the point of no return as the presence of Daredevil forces the scuttling of The Northern Star (keep that wording in mind for the finale).
Resistance is the through line of Season 2. There is opposition to the idea that Fisk won at the end of Season 1. This season is the pushback against his administration. This is the story of Daredevil becoming a symbol for the Resistance. The idea of Daredevil ascending to almost symbolic status was always part of the conversation.
-Dario Scardapane
In choosing to frame the new season as a resistance story, Scardapane turned a superhero story into an exploration of the volatile space between oppression and freedom, a deep dive into the psychology of power and the cost of change. Fortunately, sitting at center of it, is the Man without Fear. Smartly, the first episode establishes that Matt, Karen et al face a steep uphill climb to win the hearts and minds of the citizens of New York. In this regard, the BB Report continues to serve as a monitor of the pulse of the populace and as the new season kicks off, it ain’t too fuckin’ good as far as Daredevil is concerned. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is already an enemy of the state and Fisk attempts to leverage the scuttling of the Northern Star–a ship he’s using to smuggle weapons–to further his personal (V for) vendetta.
Though New Yorkers don’t see it quite yet, not Nelson, Murdock and Page are leading the charge against a state-sponsored occupation. Propaganda-littered streets, a secret police and abuses of office drive the resistance further underground while the Kingpin sits in his cold monolith of power, revealing a fundamentally broken system that, ironically, only the blind man and his closest allies can see. It’s a scenario so twisted that not even the representative of a higher authority can crack the shell, as Kingpin’s it’s-all-connected connections allow him to remain above the law even as Matthew Lillard‘s Mr. Charles power plays the Fat Man.
Brilliantly, just as it looks as though Matt’s efforts to resist will be extraordinarily short-lived, Scardapane reintroduces the classic Daredevil agent of chaos in the closing moments of the episode. Given Bullseye’s talents and tolerance, his intervention can practically be counted upon to disrupt both the regime and the resistance, especially given the reality that he has no skin in the ideological game being played by Fisk and Murdock. Bullseye’s intervention portends a rapid, disorder-driven deterioration not only of the structure of Matt and Karen’s revolution but also of Kingpin’s very ordered sense of things. Vive la Résistance!
Stephen Colbert has found his next calling. In an announcement made alongside Peter Jackson, Colbert–who is leaving The Late Show on May 21st–announced that he will join the forces of Middle-earth.
Colbert is co-writing a brand-new, live-action film tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past. It’s being framed as a direct sequel to the original trilogy that doubles as a “lost chapter” adaptation. Colbert’s specific pitch to Peter Jackson involves adapting the six early chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring that were skipped in the 2001 film—specifically everything from “Three is Company” to “Fog on the Barrow-downs.”
The thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in The Fellowship [of the Ring] that y’all never developed into the first movie back in the day. It’s basically chapters ‘Three Is Company’ through ‘Fog on the Barrow-downs,’ and I thought, Oh wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?
-Stephen Colbert
The movie will be set 14 years after the death of Frodo and use that timeline as a framing device to revisit these untold stories, allowing the film to exist as both a sequel to The Return of the King and a mid-quel to the early days of the journey with the story reportedly centers on Elanor Gardner, the daughter of Samwise Gamgee. While her father and his friends Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their original adventure, Elanor discovers a “long-buried secret” that suggests the War of the Ring was nearly lost before it even truly began.
Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.
-Official synopsis for The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past
Colbert is writing the screenplay alongside his son, Peter McGee, and Philippa Boyens. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are on board to produce via WingNut Films, ensuring the original trilogy aesthetic remains untouched.
While casting is still under wraps, the synopsis practically begs for the return of Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. With the story focusing on their older selves retracing their steps, the timing for the original cast to return–now 25 years older in real life–couldn’t be more perfect.
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