Having worked as a writer on Rick and Morty for two seasons, Jeff Loveness is no stranger to alien landscapes, strange creatures and pulling from off-the-wall references. In that regard, Loveness must have felt right at home while scribing Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which takes the heroes to the Quantum Realm and introduces them to an array of peculiar creatures. Though the Ant-Family finds themselves in another dimension, it’s a creature with ties to their own that has caught the eye of audiences in the latest trailer and who will pose problems for the protagonists for MODOK’s time has come.
As seen in the new trailer, MODOK is played by Corey Stoll, whose Darren Cross was gruesomely dispatched into the Quantum Realm in the final act of 2015’s Ant-Man. The character, who has a fairly comic-accurate design, plays a major role in Quantumania and according to Loveness, is also responsible for his “favorite moments” in the film.
MODOK is maybe my single favorite thing that I got in the movie. Obviously, we are very faithful to the comics with the design and the look, but then there is a little bit of extra we put into him. Maybe I’ll get fired off The Kang Dynasty when people see it, but some of my favorite moments come from MODOK and the dynamics there.
Jeff Loveness
While MODOK’s look is comic-inspired, Loveness had to come up with a brand new take on the character given his new origins. In doing so, he took inspiration from a late 80s off-beat, cult classic comedy, A Fish Called Wanda.
I’ll just say he was inspired by Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda and Frank Grimes in an old Simpsons episode – this really put-upon, selfish, entitled but then also deeply sad, insecure man who knows that he got a shit deal in life and is trying to make the best of it. His ego will crumble the second he’s challenged but then also like Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, he’s pretty good at killing people.
Jeff Loveness
A Fish Called Wanda is a wacky heist film with a number of betrayals and double-crosses, many of which include Kline’s Otto, a role for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Like its successors, Quantumania appears to be a heist film, so should the script of Quantumania have taken a bit of inspiration from A Fish Called Wanda, fans will have their share of twists and turns to track, which is part of the fun of heist films.
Loveness explains that MODOK is “a real loose cannon character and I had a great amount of fun with him,” while adding that he played a key role in finding the tone for the threequel. “We cracked MODOK as a character“, said Loveness, “and the movie just became so fun.” Fans don’t have long to find out just how much fun Quantumania is as it is set to hit theaters on February 17th.
Fans of the award-winning video game franchise, The Last of Us, have been anticipating the arrival of the HBO Max streaming series since word of the project first circulated in late 2020. Led by Pedro Pascal, Anna Torv (oops), and Bella Ramsey, the adaptation kicked off with an 80-minute first episode that covered a lot of ground (55 years to be exact), most of which was incredibly familiar to fans of the game and has fans of the game pretty fired up for more. But what about your average outsider? As a certified outsider, I have a lot of questions about just what the hell is happening at the end of the world in The Last of Us.
More Damn Science
The Last of Us is two-for-two on cold opening full of science stuff and both have done a fantastic job of foreshadowing the horrors faced by the characters that inhabit the world. The terror on the mycology professor’s face when she learned the impossible had happened and cordyceps fungi had learned to live in humans was nothing compared to the emotions of her realization that the world as she knew it was over. Amazing cold open!
Boston
Ellie, the Mycelium Messiah,is a mycological miracle! Once bitten, twice shy I suppose. The distrust on Joel’s part, the unwillingness to let himself believe in hope, is pretty fantastic! And I don’t know that I blame him because until we understand why Cordyceps Christ doesn’t turn into a monster, it’s easy to keep imagining she will! How does this work? The science lady said no medicine and no vaccine!
Two things stood out to me during the time in Boston and both were very cool. First of all, even as someone who has never played the games nor seen them played, I could feel the video gaminess of the hotel and museum scenes but they were also very well done. Moving through the gross water, the dead body jump scare and crossing the wooden plank to find a new path all seemed like things ripped right from gameplay. Also, I have no idea, but I’m guessing the museum is a pretty major stop in the early part of the game. And I had no idea they were going to kill Andrea like that! Wow! This is starting to feel very, very Game of Thrones-y in that I don’t know if I want to get attached to anyone other than Joel and Ellie.
In addition to the great job the creatives did in bringing video game stuff to the screen, the description of the fungus as one large organism followed by the demonstration of the way it works was incredible! Is that from the game? Or is that something they made up or expanded on for the series? What an element of danger it brings to everything you do. If they’re all crispy, no big deal…but if you touch even the smallest bit of one that’s still kicking, those crazy Croakers and the fungal fiends come for you. Absolutely terrifying!
Two episodes in and I’m loving it. This feels like a story worth watching despite knowing everyone is going to die…and they probably should if they leave the safe places! Morons.
With Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania set to kick off Marvel Studios Phase 5 in February, what better time to take a comprehensive look back at the ups, downs, ins and outs of Phase 4. First up, the year that wasn’t.
Long before Avengers: Endgame hit theaters in 2019, Marvel Studios was already well into the planning stages of the Multiverse Saga. Disney Plus was set to play a major role in said saga, which looked set to introduce a slew of new heroes and villains. James Gunn’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was originally expected to kick off the new saga but after that went off the rails for a bit, exactly what to expect and when to expect it was a mystery until October of 2018 when the 2020 film slate was exclusively revealed to consist of only Black Widow and Eternals. When Murphy’s Multiverse went live in November of 2019, Marvel Studios had officially confirmed the news about the two films and also slated the first Disney Plus series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier for a Fall 2020 release. 2020 wasn’t set to be the big, blockbuster opening year to Phase 4 that fans may have expected but it looked the be the calm before the storm as 2021 was set to feature 3 big films and 4 streaming series including the first animated series made by Marvel Studios…and then, before anyone could process it, Marvel Studio’s very 2020 existence was gone.
Things started off calmly enough in January 2020 as production on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier resumed following their holiday break. The production shot scenes involving the Flagsmashers at a State Park in Georgia, did some work in the downtown Atlanta location that served as Madripoor and was scheduled to head to Puerto Rico. Then, things started to get weird.
On January 9th, director Scott Derrickson and Marvel Studios amicably parted way on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was set to begin principal photography in May. Just a couple of days later, before a second earthquake in Puerto Rico altered the course of the production of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. By mid-January, production on one of Marvel’s 2021 streaming series, Hawkeye, which was scheduled to begin in July, had been delayed indefinitely.
Even as all that unfolded, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings began filming in Australia in February and productions in Atlanta for Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and the untitled third Spider-Man film were all on track and Thor: Love and Thunder, which Christian Bale had just joined, was set to get underway down under in October.
By early February, Sam Raimi emerged as the front runner to take the reigns on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the studio remained committed to beginning production in May. Then, Hawkeye got back on schedule, booking a September start of production in Atlanta. With Puerto Rico off limits, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was headed to Prague. All seemed good in the world…
On March 3rd, 2020 the following information was shared to supporters of Murphy’s Multiverse Patreon:
I expect production delays to happen. Things may begin shooting, stop shooting and begin again later. They may get pushed several weeks entirely. I believe it’s possible, even probable, that some projects may see release dates shifted. I believe it’s possible, though I can’t speak to probability here, that some projects may not release at all. I believe Disney may have to consider shutting down their U.S. parks for as little as a few weeks and as long as a couple of months (they’ve already closed parks in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Japan to the tune of a $175 M loss). None of this is good. Not even Disney can afford to keep losing money at this rate.
By March 10th, rumors or release dates shifting started to pick up steam and by March 13th, word reached Murphy’s Multiverse that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier would not make its intended Fall 2020 release. By March 21st, Marvel Studios shut down all of its productions indefinitely (the linked article was published and available for some time before we were asked to take it down as many of the members of various crews had not been informed of the pauses on productions). The COVID-19 pandemic was in its earliest and most frightening days and like everything else, the world of Marvel Studios stopped in its tracks.
With nothing but uncertainty staring them in the face, Marvel Studios had no choice but to start making movies. In early April, they made the first in a series of delays to their film slate pushing Black Widow from its intended May release to November and pushing Eternals into 2021. Additionally, with no clear answers about the safety of the production crews, Marvel Studios production stoppage continued with the studio eyeing a September restart.
Productions resumed and began and, alas, WandaVision didn’t quite make into 2020. By October, production had gotten underway on Spider-Man: No Way Home and in December word of Charlie Cox‘s role in the film was shared to the disbelief of pretty much everyone. A year that began with so much hope and saw so much struggle ended with the promise of Cox’s return.
For those that remember it well, 2020 was all about the news and rumors as any little tidbit gave fans something to cling to while we waited to understand what was happening around us. While it was expected to be slow year for Marvel Studios, nobody could have expected it to be the year with no Marvel Studios presence.
Over the course of two seasons of the animated Star Wars series Rebels, Danish actor LarsMikkelsen was the voice of Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. A brilliant strategist, Thrawn was an ongoing thorn in the side of the group of Rebels before disappearing along with Ezra Bridger in the series’ final episode. Both characters are set to make their live-action debuts in the upcoming streaming series Ahsoka and it was recently rumored that Lucasfilm had cast Mikkelsen in the role of Thrawn, much to the delight of fans who grew to love Mikkelsen’s signature cadence. As with the role of Ahsoka Tano, however, it looks like fans may have to get used to someone new.
In an interview with Express UK, Mikkelsen revealed he has not been contacted about joining the cast of Ahsoka, casting doubt on those recent rumors. Mikkelsen admitted that he was aware of the rumors and that he’d love to take on the role in live-action should he be offered before adding “I haven’t had the offer.”
Though it isn’t quite at the level of absurdity that surrounds every casting made by Marvel Studios, actors cast in Star Wars projects aren’t always truthful when addressing potential roles in films. At this point, it’s nearly impossible to take any actor’s words at face value when they deny involvement with a project, so until another actor’s name becomes attached to the role, fans are likely to hold out hope that Mikkelsen will be painted blue and return to thwart the plans of Ezra and his Rebel friends.
Production has begun on Marvel Studios Agatha: Coven of Chaos and so have the leaks. A series of set photos have revealed Joe Locke‘s character out for an afternoon in the Westview Mall with Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha.
While the photos don’t seem to give much away as far as plot or reveal Locke’s character, they do show that he will have some relationship with Hahn’s Agatha/Agnes in the show. While it’s never been confirmed, it’s widely believed that Locke will be portraying Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, a founding member of the Young Avengers and the son of Wanda Maximoff. With Agatha: Coven of Chaos just kicking off production, we’ll continue to keep an eye out for set photos that may provide clues to the identity of Locke’s character.
According to a trade report, actress Xosha Roquemore (Precious, The Mindy Project) has joined the growing cast of Captain America: New World Order. Roquemore’s role was not revealed in the report, but it’s possible she could be playing a member of the Serpent Society, an organization that was recently rumored to appear in the film.
Little has been officially revealed about the film, which will tell the next chapter in Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) story as Captain America. Danny Ramirez and Carl Lumbly, who debuted in the streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, will reprise their roles as member of Wilson’s support network while newcomer Shira Haas joins the MCU as Israeli hero Sabra. New World Order will also see the return of Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns and Harrison Ford stepping into the role of Thaddeus Ross, previously filled by William Hurt.
Rumors about the film’s plot have revolved around the discovery of the precious metal Adamantium on the corpse of the Celestial Tiamut and the pursuit of it by organizations around the world. Should the Serpent Society be in the film, the 38-year-old Roquemore may potentially have landed the role of Rachel Leighton. In the comics, Leighton was a member of the Serpent Society who ended up in a romantic relationship with Steve Rogers. Though Rogers’ time in the MCU is up (for now), the same scenario could unfold with Sam, putting both him and Leighton in jeopardy.
Captain America: New World Order is slated to begin production on one of the thirty-one days of March and is currently slated to land in theaters May 3rd, 2024.
As the grand experiment that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe shifted from the Infinity Saga to the Multiverse Saga, familiar faces that audiences had grown to love stepped away and heroes, both old and new, stepped up to take their places. Sam Wilson picked up the shield and became Captain America; Kate Bishop met her hero and now shares the mantle of Hawkeye with Clint Barton; Jen Walters became a better Hulk; and Yelena Belova picked up the torch in memory of her fallen sister.
These new characters seek to continue the legacy of the characters with whom they share a moniker though they don’t always look to keep the course that was set by their predecessors. Most of these heroes look to do better–be better–than the imperfect heroes they followed into the role. Their relationships with the original heroes gave them perspective, allowing them to learn and grow from their successes and failures and ultimately choose their own direction. That’s the beauty of a well-done legacy arc, but what happens when the studio chooses to circumvent the process? Marvel Studios has made two such decisions and had decidedly mixed results. With another project on the horizon in which they may face a similar choice, reflecting on what worked well and what could (maybe should) have gone better might help the Parliament choose a bit more wisely when the time comes to choose the lead for their upcoming Nova project.
Ant-Man
After nearly a decade in development, Marvel Studios released Ant-Man in 2015 as the capstone to Phase 2 of the Infinity Saga. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish began developing the script in 2006 and Wright was scheduled to direct. When Wright left the project due to creative differences just ahead of filming in 2014, Peyton Reed came on board and along with Adam McKay rewrote bits of the script. According to Reed, the “spine” of Ant-Man was still based on Wright’s work which was an adaptation of Marvel Premiere #47’s “To Steal an Ant-Man” story. Published in 1979, “To Steal an Ant-Man” saw Scott Lang steal the Ant-Man suit from original Ant-Man and founding Avenger Hank Pym just like what happened in the movie, sort of.
Though Hank Pym was introduced in Wright’s script and Reed’s film, its protagonist is Scott Lang. Pym certainly has a history as the Ant-Man in the MCU, but it’s one only glimpsed in a few brief flashbacks and outside of inventing Pym Particles the character arguably only exists in name only. The same can be said for his wife, Janet, who was not only a founding member of the comic book Avengers like Hank but also a team leader at one point. Though her role grew in importance in Ant-Man and The Wasp and her time in the Quantum Realm will play a major role in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Janet, like Hank, is Janet in name only.
Wright’s development on the film began in 2006, a full year before Marvel Studios hired Zak Penn to write the script for TheAvengers. In 2010, Joss Whedon signed on to direct and rewrote many iterations of the script, including one that included The Wasp as a key member of the team before removing her in favor of Black Widow. It’s unclear exactly how the slow development of Wright’s film may or may not have impacted the script of The Avengers, but what is clear is that Ant-Man didn’t release until 2015, and by that time a second Avengers film, Age of Ultron, had been released as well. So what did the decision to focus on comic book legacy character Scott Lang as the MCU’s Ant-Man ultimately cost Hank Pym?
Skipping over Hank and Janet in favor of Scott and Hope cost the MCU’s adaptation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes two of its founding members. Additionally, the fact that the long-gestating Ant-Man wasn’t released before Avengers: Age of Ultron meant that Whedon had to replace Pym as the creator of Ultron, the villainous AI created by Hank Pym in the comics. Hank and Janet still got to exist, albeit not in their prime, but the opportunity exists for the adventures of their younger days to be told should Marvel Studios choose.
Despite all that, Marvel Studios seemingly struck gold with the decision to focus on a legacy character rather than the original. The casting of PaulRudd as Lang certainly played a large role in that and the large role Lang was able to play because of Rudd’s overwhelming likability has made the character an MCU fixture. Though Marvel skipped over telling the stories of Hank and Pym, the character of Ant-Man has become so integral that the third film in the franchise features the main villain of the Multiverse Saga.
Captain Marvel
In 2013, Marvel Studios began developing a Captain Marvel project and a year later, revealed it would become the studio’s first female-led film. The script, which initially took inspiration from Roy Thomas‘ classic Kree-Skrull War comics, passed through multiple writers before Geneva Robertson-Dworet, along with co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck finalized it. By that time, the Kree-Skrull War had gone from inspiration to the “backdrop and mythological underpinning” of the film, according to producer Jonathan Schwartz, and Kelly Sue DeConnick‘s 2012 Captain Marvel run became a major source of inspiration for the film.
In 2019, Marvel Studios skipped over five (sorry Skrull imposter, you don’t count) Captains Marvel to introduce Carol Danvers as the hero in Captain Marvel. The first of those Captains was Marvel’s first true Cosmic hero, the Kree warrior Mar-Vell who, over the years, developed a relationship with Carol. In 2012, DeConnick explained that her series would find Carol contemplating the legend of Captain Marvel and what it meant to her before choosing to take the name Captain Marvel in honor of the hero. Between Mar-Vell and Carol, Monica Rambeau, Mar-Vell’s children, Genis and Phyla and Noh-Varr all went by the name Captain Marvel. A character named Mar-Vell, who shared no similarities with the comic book hero, played by Annette Bening, appeared in Captain Marvel and briefly interacted with Carol Danvers.
Captain Marvel majorly overhauled the origin story of Carol Danvers but ultimately the character came outof the oven as a pretty good copy of her comic book counterpart. However, in the rush to establish Carol Danvers as a major player in the MCU, Marvel Studios completely ignored the vaunted history of Mar-Vell and in doing so may have set themselves up for a cascade of alterations to other characters and stories in the future. While there are plenty of strange concepts that are part of Mar-Vell’s comic book history that would be better served being left in the books, the character was inarguably one of Marvel’s greatest Cosmic heroes. At one time, Mar-Vell served Eon as the Protector of the Universe and his ongoing participation in the Kree-Skrull War, which was greatly diminished for the MCU, had consequences that extended beyond his death. So what did the decision to focus on comic book legacy character Carol Danvers as the MCU’s Captain Marvel ultimately cost Mar-Vell and the other Captains Marvel?
At the moment, it would seem the greatest cost to Mar-Vell would ironically be legacy. Mar-Vell died years ago in the comics, but his legend has lived on and his legacy carried by his children. Without greatly retconning Bening’s Mar-Vell, it’s hard to imagine that Dorek-Vell/Hulking/Teddy Altman, Phyla-Vell/Quasar and Genis-Vell will be her children. While they’re all incredibly important characters, Teddy’s hidden heritage as the son of the great Kree hero Mar-Vell and Princess Anelle of the Skrull Empire is one of the great twists in Marvel Comics’ history and a major part of the character’s ongoing arc. Teddy, under the name Dorrek-Vell, now rules over the combined Kree-Skrull Empires after having put an end to eons of war. With the Young Avengers just around the corner in the MCU, it would seem this entire fascinating arc couldn’t be done without undoing quite a bit first.
Carol Danvers is a major player in the pages of Marvel Comics and absolutely deserves to be one in the MCU. Marvel Studios landed a huge star in Brie Larson for the role and it’s expected that she’ll be at the forefront of the action as the Multiverse Saga continues to unfold beginning in The Marvels. That film features Monica Rambeau, who was the second Captain Marvel in the comics, and Kamala Khan who was a legacy character to a legacy character in the comics, taking the name Ms. Marvel to honor her idol Carol. The rush to get Carol in the MCU spotlight also greatly changed the Kamala and Carol dynamic (Carol has never been Ms. Marvel in the MCU) and Kamala’s status as Carol’s biggest fan feels forced given there’s really no reason anyone on Earth would know much about Carol much less everything. To date, other than flying through a ship, Carol’s Captain Marvel has not taken her rightful place as a top tier MCU character, calling into question if the overall ongoing narrative may have been better served by introducing Mar-Vell, focusing more on the Kree-Skrull War and allowing Carol to come into her own over the course of a few years, much in the way they have finally worked Peter Parker into a place where he can be a more comic accurate Spider-Man.
A Man Called Nova…But Which Man?
Though every industry insider has different insight into how the character will enter the MCU, Nova is entering the MCU sometime in the near-ish future. Sabir Pirzada, who worked on Moon Knight, began work on a Nova project early in 2022 and at one point insider KC Walsh shared that production on that project was set for 2023. Whether production on the movie/series/special presentation starts in 2023 or 2024 or not, Marvel Studios has already made a decision that will greatly alter how the project is perceived…we just don’t know what they chose.
With Mar-Vell out of the spotlight, Richard Rider became Marvel Comics greatest Cosmic hero over an amazing multi-year run beginning in 2007. Rider grew from a teen who randomly found himself the recipient of a Nova Corps helmet that gave him incredible powers and bopped around with the New Warriors into a man whose body contained the entirety of the Nova Force, rebuilt the Nova Corps following the destruction of Xandar, led the defeats of Annihilus and Ultron and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the entire galaxy. Rider is a fascinatingly complex character who has developed tremendously over the years and could easily be the face of MCU’s Cosmic corner for a decade.
Introduced in 2011, Sam Alexander is a legacy character in more ways than one. The son of a secret black ops arm of the Nova Corps, Sam became the second Marvel Comics character to go by the title of Nova. Sam grew up with no notion that his missing father was a Nova but with the help of Rocket and Gamora discovered his father’s helmet and begin learning how to master its incredible powers. Sam quickly found himself in some incredible situations, saved the entire Nova Corps and joined the group of young heroes called the Champions. Alexander is still portrayed as arrogant and immature, is essentially about where Rider was as a character during his days as a New Warrior and at this point would seem to fit the MCU better as part of a team of young heroes.
Though it hasn’t been revealed to the public, Marvel Studios has already determined which of these heroes will be introduced to the audience as Nova. Whether Rider or Alexandar is the star of Pirzada’s script, the writer would have some cleaning up to do thanks to James Gunn. Gunn introduced the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy, though they were reduced to mall cops with shiny helmets who held onto the Power Stone until Marvel Studios figure out what they wanted to do with it. There was no mention of the Worldmind of the Nova Force in the movie, two integral components of the Corps in the comics, and they have never been seen nor referenced again. It’s possible Pirzada‘s job was made somewhat easier when the writers of Avengers: Infinity War allowed Thanos to retrieve the Power Stone from them off screen. In a rare case of Marvel writers lobbing a softball to their successor, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have given Pirzada the chance to start from scratch to some extent. Xandar has been decimated more than once in the comics, including by the Annihilation Wave, and been rebuilt from the ashes into something new, an idea that may be central to Pirzada’s Nova project.
If part of the Nova project’s plot focuses on rebuilding Xandar, that’s certainly a job for a more mature, veteran Nova, much like Richard Rider was when he took on the task in the comics. However, Richard Rider hasn’t existed in the MCU just yet, much less become a hardened Nova vet. Then, of course, there’s the issue of addressing the powers given to members of the Nova Corps by the Nova Force, which also doesn’t exist in the MCU. Rider first got his powers when a dying Rhomann Dey (played in the MCU by John C. Reilly) handed off his helmet following the destruction of Xandar. As stated previously, Alexander first got his powers after finding his father’s helmet. While the Dey-Rider handoff could happen, there would have to be some retconning done to explain any powers that come with the helmet. Fortunately, the Nova Corps had possession of the Power Stone for quite some time and any number of experiments could have been done to power up the Corps. Of course, if that had been the case, one would think they’d have done a little better job of stopping Thanos, but Pirzada can only work with what he’s handed. Alexander’s story is a little more difficult to retcon. Even if the Nova project were set in 2026 and his father, Jesse, was a victim of the Snap, Alexander would have to have been born between 2008-2011 or so to be old enough to be a high schooler. As far as MCU lore is concerned, there were no powered Nova’s then, much less a super-powered black ops team. Gunn has left quite a mess to be sorted out.
Major mess aside, the choice Marvel has already made but not shared in terms of which character MCU audiences will come to know as Nova most likely came down to how they plan to use the character. If they want a great Cosmic hero, the choice should be Rider; if they want a teen to team up with other teens, the choice should still be Rider, who was introduced as a teen in 1976, but would probably be Alexander. In skipping over Rider and going straight to Alexander, Marvel Studios runs the risk of not only angering comic book fans (even though it’s only 2% of MCU audiences, including me) but also finding the character written into more corners in the future as they have with Hank, Janet and Mar-Vell. Alternatively, they could follow what’s been a much more successful approach to legacy characters by establishing Rider, allowing him to become a great Cosmic hero, shift to him mentoring Alexander and then having Alexander assume the mantle later.
Truthfully, there’s no logical reason for Marvel to have chosen Alexander over Rider, though the lack of logic won’t have prevented them from doing so. Alexander’s Nova hasn’t sold more comics or been more popular and most MCU fans probably don’t have any idea who either of these characters are, much less favor one over the other. Rider’s story as the champion of Xandar and then the galaxy has already been written and would be incredibly easy to adapt to the MCU. Establishing him as a core hero for a few years and then pairing him with Alexander would ultimately make for two strong characters rather than one as their bond would deepen and enrich both of their MCU narratives. Should Marvel Studios chose to follow the example from the comics and have Rider sacrifice himself to save the galaxy, audiences would be heartbroken and Alexander would find himself in an emotional space ripe for telling compelling stories. Such a choice would allow the legacy character to become a legacy character and allow the legacy character to earn the legacy right in front of the audiences’ eyes. If it’s good enough for Hawkeye, it’s good enough for Nova!
As we all wait to find out together which route Marvel Studios has chosen for Nova, which route would you prefer? We would love to hear your thoughts!
Agatha: House of Harkness. Agatha: Coven of Chaos. How about Agnes of Westview? Production on the new Kathryn Hahn-led series has just gotten underway and it seems that it may have a new title! Star Joe Locke, who is believed to be playing Young Avenger Billy Kaplan in the series, revealed a set photo in which a chair reveals a brand-new logo and potentially new title.
The series is slated for a late 2023/early 2024 release, though rumors of a delay have swirled for a month or so. Production on the rumored nine-episode series was tentatively scheduled to last until May, making a late 2023 release possible but also potentially tough. With no update from Disney yet available, it’s unclear if the title has officially been changed or if the new logo represents something other than the series’ title.
A third film in the Tron franchise, Tron: Ares, has finally been given a green light at Disney. Jared Leto, who has attempted to get the project up and running for the past six years, will star in the film which will be a direct sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) has entered into talks to direct the film which will work from a script by Jesse Wigutow.
A third Tron installment has been in the works in one way or another since before the release of Legacy, which featured a cameo by Cillian Murphy as Edward Dillinger Jr., who looked set to be the villain of what was then planned to be an ongoing franchise. Legacy director Joseph Kosinski was expected to return for the third film and in 2015 there was word that a start of production on Tron 3 was right around the corner before Disney pulled the plug on the return to The Grid. Leto picked up the torch to get a third film made in 2017 and now his efforts seem to have come to fruition.
No release date was given in THR’s report, though rumors of a 2025 release have swirled online for some time. No story details have been provided at the moment nor is the identity of Leto’s character known nor if any of the stars from either of the original films will return.
“What a bunch of a-holes.” A great line from the first trailer that hooked fans on the little-known Guardians of the Galaxy. Nearly a decade later, those same a-holes have become household names and are about to go on their last mission together in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The film will be the last MCU project for director James Gunn (and at least one of the Guardians) as he transitions to his new role as the co-chair of DC Studios; however, according to Gunn, it won’t be the last time he teams up with some of the talented cast members.
In an interview with Empire, Gunn expressed his love for the cast of the Guardians and his interest to work with (some of) them again. “This cast are like my family,” explained Gunn. “I cannot tell you how close I am to Chris Pratt and Pom [Klementieff] and Dave [Bautista] and Zoe [Saldaña] and Karen [Gillan]. But I also know I will work again with all those people individually again. Probably at my other job.” Unfortunately, it looks like Gunn’s brother, Sean, will have to look elsewhere for work.
In reality, there’s not a major studio in operation that wouldn’t want to work with any and all of the actors Gunn listed. Pratt and Saldaña are already A-listers with their own franchises outside of Guardians, Gillan’s star continues to climb, Bautista has sought out more and more serious roles and Klementieff will be featured in the nextMission: Impossible film. Outside of Saldaña, the actors have Gunn and the success of the Guardians franchise to thank for their bountiful opportunities. With Gunn preparing to unveil at least a portion of the new DCU slate, it’ll be worth watching to see if he’s already carved out any roles for the talented Guardians.
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Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
