When the calendar turns over to 2022, fans will notice a change in the way WarnerMedia distributes their films. In 2021, films such as The Matrix Resurrections and The Suicide Squad were released on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters through an experiment called “Project Popcorn.” This strategy, while appreciated by fans who weren’t ready to return to theaters during an ongoing pandemic, certainly put a dent in the box office returns for those films. In October, WarnerMedia brass indicated that while there will still be movies that debut on HBO Max (as many as 11), they will be returning to debuting many films in theaters.
One of WarnerMedia’ first big tentpoles to debut exclusively in theaters in 2022 will be Matt Reeves‘ The Batman. Reeves began developing the film in early 2017 after Ben Affleck, who was set to star and direct, hit some creative roadblocks. Reeves’ new take on the Caped Crusader will star Robert Pattinson as a young Bruce Wayne taking on the Riddler as he terrorizes Gotham City. Reeves is a long-time fan of the character and has plans for a trilogy and multiple spinoffs have already gone into development; to that end, The Batman represents a MAJOR investment for WarnerMedia and a successful theatrical run for the film is important.
That does not diminish the importance of HBO Max to the studio’s future success, however, and so while “Project Popcorn” is no more, Warner announced that films that debut theatrically, like The Batman, will have a 45-day run in theaters and will hit HBO Max on Day 46. While speaking with Peter Kafka on the Recode podcast, WarnerMedia CEO, Jason Kilar, confirmed this to be the case for The Batman, indicating it will debut on the streaming service on April 19, 2022. Kilar went on to confirm that the studio intends to follow suit with the releases of Black Adam and The Flash. With Disney, Warner’s chief competition, experimenting with longer windows for some of their bigger budget films, it looks like a new battle of the Streaming Wars in underway.
Back in August when Jonathan Hickmanannounced he would be leaving the X-line of Marvel Comics following the completion of Inferno, he mentioned he’d be doing so to go work on his “Next Big Marvel Thing.” When Hickman signed on with Marvel Comics, it was to, in his own words “try things.” According to some speculation by Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool, the next thing he chooses to try might just be taking the reigns on writing duties for Marvel Comics most popular character: Spider-Man.
Following the end of Nick Spencer’s long run as the writer of Spider-Man, the publisher went to a weekly arc, Spider-Man Beyond, that will end in March. The announcement for this year’s Free Comic Book Day, which will be May 7th, includes a description of Spider-Man/Venom #1, which promised “the first glimpse at Spider-Man’s new era.” Finally, this week artist Chris Bachalo, who worked with Hickman the 2019 Spidey anthology, The Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle, retweeted one of his 2008 covers from The Amazing Spider-Man. As it turns out, Bachalo’s most recent book, Non-Stop Spider-Man, was cancelled and Hickman is a big fan. As Johnston pointed out, the new Spider-book is expected to have a high profile creative team and, given the convergence of events, it is reasonable to speculate that Hickman and Bachalo could be that team.
Hickman, of course, has spent some time with the Wall-Crawler before. Following the death of Johnny Storm in Hickman’s Fantastic Four #587, he replaced him on the newly renamed team, the Future Foundation, with Spider-Man, in FF #1. When Storm returned from “the dead”, Spidey left the team but showed up on and off throughout the remainder of the series.
Hickman’s well-known for his high-concept sci-fi and while Spider-Man is, like many of Marvel’s heroes and villains, the result of a scientific accident, he’d be the most “street-level” hero Hickman has tackled to date at Marvel. If Hickman is indeed the brain behind the main Spider-book, it’ll be incredibly interesting to see what direction he takes the Web-Slinger in next. Of course, Hickman also did quite a bit of work with Miles Morales in Secret Wars, including bringing him into the 616 continuity…
After almost a year’s worth of debate as to whether or not Charlie Cox would be back as Matt Murdock, the actor popped up, as reported, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Murdock served as Peter Parker’s lawyer and, in a brief scene early in the movie, displayed his radar sense by deftly snagging a brick thrown through a window. When asked by Parker how he did it, Murdock simply said, “I’m a really good lawyer.”
Marvel is now putting that humorous scene on display on three new t-shirts available on Amazon.
Amazon has made available a classic t-shirt, a raglan baseball shirt and, a tank top version so you can have the guns out when the sun’s out. You can purchase the shirts by clicking on the appropriate link below:
No, you didn’t read the headline wrong nor did we mistype. Composer Michael Giacchino, who has worked with Marvel Studios on Doctor Strange, two Spider-Man films and Thor: Love and Thunder, is rumored to be on board to direct one of Marvel Studios’ upcoming streaming projects for Disney Plus.
The rumor comes by way of The Illuminerdi, who point out that Werewolf By Night, Echo and Ironheart are among the streaming projects up next for Marvel Studios. As we pointed out here, Sydney Freeland is likely to be directing Echo, taking one potential project off the board for Giacchino. Out of the other two projects, Giacchino seems a much better fit for Werewolf By Night, especially given that his two prior director jobs were shorts. Werewolf By Night is expected to be a short, one-off film rather than an extended series like Ironheart.
Giacchino’s previously worked behind the camera on an episode Star Trek: Short Treks and the comedy short, Monster Challenge, which starred Patton Oswalt. Should Giacchino be directing Werewolf By Night, which is expected to film from February through March, it’s likely he’ll be happy with the work of the composer. This is an interesting choice for Marvel Studios, experimenting with a relatively inexperienced director on their first streaming movie.
Werewolf By Night will star Gael Garcia Bernal as the lead character, rumored to be Jack Russell, and is expected to stream sometime during Spooky Season 2022.
For seven seasons starting in 2013, Marvel Television and ABC Studios’ soap opera, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., adapted characters and story lines from Marvel Comics that were unlikely to ever make their way into any of the company’s mainstream films. With former head of Marvel TV, Jeph Loeb, stepping aside and the company falling under the oversight of Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Fiege, the series was not renewed following its seventh season, which received rave reviews from all 15 critics who took the time to watch it and share their opinions with Rotten Tomatoes.
In late-2018, Marvel Studios began developing its own series which were set to become key central to Disney’s efforts to enter the streaming wars. By early 2019, development on several series had begun, including Hawkeye, which would be officially announced by Feige at SDCC ’19. Hawkeye recently concluded its 6-episode streaming run and, in its finale, clearly identified Laura Barton, played since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron by Linda Cardellini, as a former Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. More specifically, it was made clear that Laura was Agent 19, a designation that belonged only to Barbara “Bobbi” Morse, also known as Mockingbird, the one-time wife of Clint Barton. This revelation indicated to fans that the events of the long-running ABC soap opera, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., could no longer be considered canonical in the Sacred Timeline of the MCU since that show had its own Bobbi Morse who had a very different story.
With the startling revelation that Marvel Studios would choose to tell its own stories with the character it controls, we thought it a good time to take a look at other characters from the ABC series who could be recast and see their stories retold in the Sacred Timeline.
The Secret Warriors
In the mid-2000’s, Marvel Comics’ writer Brian Michael Bendis went on a hot streak the likes of which was rarely seen before it and has rarely been seen since. Beginning in 2004 with Secret War, Bendis weaved a fascinating story with Nick Fury at the center. After killing one his old friends, Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, and finding out she was a Skrull, Fury began assembling, in secret, a team of under-the-radar powered warriors to fight back. These individuals were called Caterpillars and were split up into 3 teams each of which were led by agents who Fury deeply trusted. First appearing in Mighty Avengers #13 during the company’s line-wide Secret Invasion event (overseen by Bendis, who wrote the event series), Fury’s Secret Warriors eventually headlined their own series (co-written by Bendis and Jonathan Hickman). Starting in 2009, Secret Warriors took readers on an absolutely insane ride that slowly unraveled a wild story that included Leonardo da Vinci’s secret council of spies, known as the Great Wheel of the Zodiac.
The third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was loosely based on parts of Bendis and Hickman’s Secret Warriors as it saw Agent Coulson and Daisy Johnson assemble a group of Caterpillars who, in the show, were Inhumans, to battle Hydra and the Hive.
In May of 2020, it was revealed that Marvel Studios has been developing their own Secret Warriors project. Should this project go into development and stick a little more closely to the source material, Marvel Studios could chose to repurpose the following five characters, all of whom were integral to the Secret Warriors comic book though not all of them appeared in the Season 3 Secret Warriors arc of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
As Kolpak indicated in the interview, Feige has plans for Marvel Studios to use Blaze (in fact, they may have found their guy) and are developing a solo Ghost Rider project.
Deathlok
One of the first teasers for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featured a character jumping out of a building and cracking the concrete beneath his feet. Fans speculated WILDLY about who it might be. Was it Luke Cage? Nope. It was legendary Marvel Comics’ character Mike Peterson, portrayed by J. August Richards. Peterson, a one-time Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., volunteered for the Centipede Project which was meant to build an army of super soldier for Hydra. Apparently a big project guy, Peterson then became a subject in Project Deathlok which turned him into a laughable version of the comic book character. I mean he had a rocket launcher in his forearm.
Interestingly enough, in 2019 Deadline reported that Marvel Studios was looking to use the character in an upcoming project. Presumably, the studio would do so by using one of the five comic book characters who have become Deathlok and not creating a new character to act as a poor substitute.
Victoria Hand
In another pretty poor page-to-screen adaptation, Victoria Hand went from a S.H.I.E.L.D. accountant fired by Nick Fury in the comics to a Level 8 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the show. Hand’s time on the show was short, thankfully, as she was betrayed and murdered by Grant Ward. In the comics, Hand became the right hand of Norman Osborn as he rose to power in the aftermath of the Skrull Invasion of Earth and helped him create the Thunderbolts. She later became an Avenger and was killed by a ghost, which not many people can say.
Production on Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion is underway and there’s no telling how messy things will get in the MCU following the events of the paranoia-driven series and who will be left standing to pick up the pieces. Obviously S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t existed in years, but that doesn’t mean a version of Victoria Hand doesn’t exist in the MCU, waiting to be redeemed for how she was handled in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Antagonists
If there was one thing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did incredibly well, it was utilizing interesting comic book villains in incredibly uninteresting ways. Franklin Hall, Graviton, a one-time Master of Evil, A.I.M.’s Minister of Science and an Avengers-level threat was forgotten about after being introduced in Season 1 before his powers were, inexplicably given to Glenn Talbot. Mr. Hyde was turned into a homeless, junkie and the father of Quake (and then the comics retconned Daisy’s whole past to line up with the show). Small-timers Blizzard and Blackout were unceremoniously dispatched. And that brings us, finally, to Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man, who ended up being used by Talbot to turn him into Graviton?
Franklin Hall/Graviton
Calvin Johnson/Calvin Zabo/Mr. Hyde
Carl Creel/Absorbing Man
Marcus Daniels/Blackout
Donald Gill/Blizzard
Glenn Talbot
Of these characters, it’s possible that Carl “Crusher” Creel could show up in the MCU in the next year. Creel’s wife, Titania, plays a major role in She-Hulk and the two have been nearly inseparable in the comics over the past several years. Creel’s power set, much like many of the rest of the villains on the list above, would play much, much better in the big budget world of Marvel Studios television than they did on the melodrama budget of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And Talbot has been a thorn in the side of Hulk since the 1960s; hell, he was even included in Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk. He deserves an upgrade, too.
Fingers crossed, True Believers! Some day some of your favorite heroes and villains will make the jump to the big leagues and join the MCU, just like Agent 19, aka Mockingbird, aka Bobbi Morse, aka Laura Barton.
This one was a well-known fact among many in the “scooper” community and made its way into the public via a Reddit post. After being referenced regularly and teased in Episode 3, Kingpin was seen at the end of Episode 5 before making his grand entrance into the MCU in Episode 6.
Incorrect: A Combo of a Fat Suit and CGI Will Be Used to Make Kingpin Appear Huge
This one spread like wildfire after RPK News shared it and ended up generating the ridiculous looking picture above. As it turned out, it was just D’Onofrio who, at 6’4″ and 250+ lbs., is plenty big enough to be physically menacing.
Correct: Clint Barton Would Need an Audiologist
One of our own and one that was never in doubt since it came from a casting call. Clint’s hearing loss played an integral part in the beginning of the series and, as expected, he had to visit an audiologist. This visit was also seen in set pics taken during filming.
Incorrect: Madame Masque Would Appear in a Supporting Role
Shared last Fall by The Direct, this one turned out to be inaccurate. To add to it a bit, there were also rumblings that Kate’s Mom, Eleanor, would be revealed to be Madame Masque: this was never the case and not something that was “cut” from the series.
Partially Correct: Trickshot and the Tracksuit Mafia Would Appear
An old rumor from MCU Cosmic suggested that Trickshot, the brother of Clint Barton, would appear in Hawkeye. In what seems like a missed opportunity to introduce that character, he was not included. The same report also indicated that the Tracksuit Mafia would appear in the series. Of course, they did appear and were one of the highlights of the series.
Correct: Carlos Navarro Joined the Cast
Another one of ours and it was spot on. The MM team was tipped off and a quick check of social media gave us enough confidence to run it. At the time, we thought maybe Navarro would be playing one of the NYC detectives in the show but, as it turned out, he got to be one of the bros in the Tracksuit Mafia instead!
Correct: Ace Ventura Villain Simon Callow Joined the Cast
This past summer, The Cosmic Circus correctly reported that Simon Callow joined the cast of Hawkeye. Callow, who played one of the Armand’s, was fantastic in his short time in the series.
Criminal. Mentor to Clint Barton. Avenger. Strategic genius. Father of the Celestial Messiah (in a really creepy way). In the comics, Jacques Duquesne, the master of bladed weapons known as Swordsman, was all these things before he ultimately gave his life in defense of the love of his life, Mantis.
Broke rich guy. Witless buffoon. Guy who bought a book on being a step-father. In the Marvel Studios streaming series Hawkeye, Jack Duquesne, the avid collector of bladed weapons known as, well, Jack, was all these things before he was used as a fall guy by the love of his life, Eleanor Bishop, to cover her tracks.
Hawkeye showrunner Jonathan Igla and directors Rhys Thomas, Bert and Bertie did the character of Jacques Duquesne dirty over the course of the six-episode series; however, the series’ finale did redeem the loveable moron and provide an opportunity for the character, played wonderfully by Tony Dalton, to return down the road. And should we see this daringly-different Duquesne again, whether it be in a second season of Hawkeye or another project, the creatives also left him in the perfect position to suit up as his swashbuckling self from the comics.
Desperately in need of some new friends after being manipulated and used by his fiancee, Duquesne finds himself in the company of one of the show’s First Responders, Adetinpo Thomas’ Wendy, following the big events of the finale. Before becoming distracted by the blood on his tie (Balls!), Duquesne was talking with Wendy about a potential “leisure activity”: LARPing.
Throughout the series, the window to the First Responders’ hobby provided comic relief and Clint’s original meeting with them provided fruit down the road as not only did they help out the heroes in the final battle, but also created the great new outfits for Clint and Kate. And while Jacques and Wendy don’t get to finish their conversation, the creatives of Hawkeye have certainly set the table for Jack to give LARPing a shot if/when we see him again. And if we do see Jack (there’s no way they don’t bring Dalton back if there is a Season 2) and we do see him LARPing, the creatives could do the character a solid (though a ridiculous looking solid) by having his LARP in something resembling his classic Swordsman suit, first seen in Avengers #19.
At this point, it seems obvious that the Duquesne of the MCU won’t ascend to the ranks of Avenger and he likely won’t have his dead body possessed by a tree-alien who then uses it to copulate with Mantis (he could, however, meet Mantis, I suppose, if the Guardians where to say, come to Earth at some point) and conceive a child. But we saw enough from the guy over the course of the season to know that he has a big heart, probably way too big, and is always up for a good time. Given that (and the fact that the creatives actually included Hawkeye’s original comic book costume in a LARPing scene before cutting it), it doesn’t seem to far-fetched of an idea at all that we might see a swashbuckling Swordsman braving the battlefield with bladed weapons some time down the road. En garde!
Early last month, Golden Globe winner Gael Garcia Bernal joined the cast of Marvel Studios Halloween Special, Werewolf By Night. At the time of his casting, it was widely assumed that Bernal would be playing Jake Gomez, the most recent Marvel Comics’ character to carry the burden of lycanthropy. A new rumor from The Illuminerdi contradicts that report and indicates that Bernal is instead playing Jack Russell, the original Werewolf By Night.
In the comics, lycanthropy has been part of Russell’s family line dating back to 1795 when his ancestor, Grigori Russoff first became a werewolf after being bitten by one following a battle with Dracula, of course. The curse of the werewolf was passed through generations, with some assistance from the Darkhold (which now plays a prominent part in the MCU), until it manifested in Russell. Over time, Russell used his powers as a werewolf to battle evil, serving at one point as part of the Midnight Sons.
It’s worth noting that the Illuminderi’s report indicates that another “by nighter”, Vampire By Night, could be joining the party in Werewolf By Night. That character, Nina Price, is the niece of Russell and a vampire/werewolf hybird. Price carried the lycanthropy in her DNA and was further changed after being, of course, bitten by a vampire.
Werewolf By Night is set to go into production in February and is being billed as a “one-off movie” for Disney Plus. It is expected to complete filming by the end of March and ready to stream for Spooky Season 2022.
Netflix’s Iron Fist seemed to finally be finding its identity when it was canceled following its second season. A big part of that identity was giving then budding star Jessica Henwick more to do. By season’s end, Henwick’s character, Colleen Wing, wielded the power of the Iron Fist of K’un Lun and, presumably, would have had a major arc in a third season.
Henwick is now starring in the recently released Matrix Resurrections and revealed that, in order to land that role, she passed on one in Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. After that report, fans speculated, wildly as always, that Henwick was set to reprise the role of Wing in Shang-Chi. Thankfully, in an interview with a trade,Henwick clarified that not only was she NOT going to be playing Wing in Shang-Chi, but also that she passed on the role in order to keep hope alive that she might reprise the role sometime down the road.
If I did [Shang-Chi], I would effectively be putting Colleen to bed. It wasn’t the main factor, but it definitely came up in conversation. I love Colleen. She changed my life. Of course, if I was given the opportunity to revisit her, I would, but I just don’t know how likely that is. Charlie [Cox] knew about that opportunity years ago. He already knew it was happening. I think I would have heard by now if there were any plans with Colleen.
As Henwick noted, plans for Daredevil star Charlie Cox to return were in place for some time ahead of his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home and the fact that she hasn’t heard anything about a potential future for Wing could easily be construed as the end for the character; however, as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye have proven, there can be life after Netflix death for these characters.
In a move meant to avoid competing at the box office with Tom Cruise’s Top Gun sequel, John Wick Chapter 4 has moved out of 2022 entirely. Originally set for a Memorial Day 2022 release, the fourth film in the franchise is now slated for a March 24, 2023 bow. The news was revealed in a teaser that was unexpectedly released on social media today.
The film, helmed by returning director Chad Stahelski, recently completed principal photography and now, as is the case with many films, will spend a significant amount of time in post-production. The franchise has been incredibly successful and has now spawned both a spinoff film and streaming series.
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