Author: Charles Murphy

EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Durand In Talks for Villain In DC Universe’s ‘SWAMP THING’

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on November 8, 2018.

Production on DC Universe’s Swamp Thing is set to begin in just a couple of weeks and the cast of the streaming series has rapidly begun to fall into place. With casting for Alec Holland, Avery Sunderland and more having been revealed, it now seems they may have found someone to portray one of his greatest foes. Kevin Durand is in negotiations for the role of Jason Woodrue, aka The Floronic Man.

Durand, who would join the series in a recurring role, is also a TV vet having starred as Vasiliy Fet on FX’s The Strain. A smart, slick and cunning scientist, Woodrue was an inter-dimensional being in the comics has long tormented the Swamp Thing in his search to control The Green and take over the world.

November 8, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: HBO Looking At Matthew Rhys To Become ‘PERRY MASON’

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on November 5, 2018.

HBO’s Robert Downey Jr. produced Perry Mason reboot may have found their man. The network is looking to reboot the series, which originally ran from 1957-1966 and was the first weekly television series, and are hoping to land actor Matthew Rhys in the lead role.

Rhys gained notoriety for his role as Phillip Jennings on FX’s The Americans where he starred alongside his longtime girlfriend Keri Russell. The show ran for 75 episodes over 6 seasons during which Rhys won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Should Rhys join the show, he’d take on the lead role of Mason, a defense attorney with a penchant for helping the wrongly accused clear their names and finding the real criminal.

November 5, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios Taps ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Screenwriter David Callaham to Pen Untitled Film

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on November 1, 2018.

Screenwriter David Callaham has been commissioned by Marvel Studios to write an upcoming and yet to be announced film. Since writing the screenplay for 2005’s Doom, Callaham has quickly ascended as a writer. He has done character work on the Expendables franchise, wrote 2014’s Godzilla and has scripts for 3 major upcoming films (Wonder Woman 1984, Mortal Kombat and Zombieland 2) in various stages of development.

Callaham boarded the new project earlier this month, but at this time we are unable to learn the specifics of the project. We do know that it is a film and not one of the limited series currently being developed for Disney Play. The 41-year old Fresno native and University of Michigan grad is no stranger to Marvel Studios, having done some uncredited work on Peyton Reed‘s Ant-Man, and his very diverse resume of projects (including the Amazon series Jean-Claude Van Johnson) doesn’t give us much to go on as we speculate.

What It Is Not

Black Widow, The Eternals and the sequel to Black Panther are set. Black Widow was penned by Jac Schaeffer while Matthew and Ryan Firpo tag teamed the script for The Eternals. Ryan Coogler recently signed on to write and direct the follow up to Black Panther. With Black Widow and The Eternals expected to enter production in 2019, it’s highly unlikely that Marvel Studios has decided to scrap a script entirely and start over with a new writer. It’s much more likely that Callaham is working on a yet-to-be-announced project.

What It Might Be

Literally anything else. Could Callaham be the writer of the Dark Avengers script we reported on earlier this month? It’s certainly possible, though at this point he’s just as likely to the scribe of that script as he is any other film. We know that Marvel Studios is developing a Doctor Strange sequel, that Kevin Feige has teased adding the Young Avengers and that they would like to introduce a number of new characters, including a handful of new female characters. Callaham’s diverse portfolio makes him equally likely to be working on any one of those projects. Whatever the project is, we wouldn’t be too surprised to hear more about it in the near future. With Callaham coming on board this late in 2018, it would be in line with recent Marvel Studios protocol for them to be hoping to get the script in order to film in late 2019 or early 2020, making it a candidate for either the May 7th or November 5th, 2021 release. It’s also entirely possible that Callaham may take his time on this project and we may not even see it in the near future. Whatever the case, we certainly hope to stir the drink and get some more details in the near future.

November 1, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios 2020 Slate is Set

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on October 26, 2018.

Kevin Feige has kept his word: while the wheels at Marvel Studios are still spinning, the fans are left to speculate on what films will come when. Black Widow, The Eternals, Black Panther 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 headline a list of projects we know are upcoming, but since it was announced that Vol. 3 would be delayed while the search for a director continued, it’s been unclear and a source of debate among fans which film would take it place. The recent announcement that the studio was dropping one of its 3 scheduled films from its 2020 release slate seemingly confirmed that Vol. 3 would NOT be happening anytime soon and fanned the flames of conjecture even further. So which movies will we actually end up seeing in 2020?

We are told that in addition to dropping the July 31, 2020 film from their slate, Marvel Studios also settled on the 2 films they’ll be releasing in 2020. As many fans have speculated, we are told the studio plans to release Black Widow on May 1, 2020 and The Eternals on November 6, 2020.

We are told that Black Widow is looking to take advantage of the attractive production incentives available by filming in Croatia. Walt Disney Studios used the beautiful coastal nation to film portions of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, allowing for Black Widow to film their as well in keeping with one of many requirements for the handsome rebate. We were the first to bring you a limited synopsis for the film, one that is in line with a longer synopsis also recently revealed:

At birth, the Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanova) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action movies to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative. The standalone film will find Romanoff living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.

With production set to begin early in 2019, it’s very possible Black Widow is already in pre-production and we expect casting news to begin to leak before the end of the year!

Marvel Studios is also rolling the dice on The Eternals in 2020.

The story of ‘THE ETERNALS’ is set millions of years ago when the cosmic beings known as the Celestials genetically experimented on humans, creating the super-powered individuals as well as more villainous off-shoots known as Deviants. The two groups went on to battle each other throughout history to see which would eventually become the ultimate race. The story involves the love story between Ikaris, a man fueled by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who relishes moving amongst humans.

Chloe Zhao, director of The Eternals, is the big winner in the shuffling of Marvel Studios post-Infinity plans. The studio has a script that they like and when they moved on Zhao, they had hoped things would come together quickly enough to begin production Q4 of next year, which we are told is tentatively planned to take place primarily in the UK, though that’s certainly not been cemented at this point.

Fans of the comics know that The Eternals have two rather diverse interpretations in the comics: the Jack Kirby iteration and the Neil Gaiman iteration. While Gaiman’s turn with the characters held on to some of the key points of the original Kirby work, it was certainly a more modern take. We are told that the script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo was more heavily influenced by Kirby’s 1976 work and will not only introduce the worlds of the Eternals and Deviants, but also connect to several existing characters, leave doors open for the introductions of any number of new ones and establish a deep history of the MCU.

While no further details about who those characters may be were revealed to us, we can certainly speculate. Dating back to the earliest recorded history, the Eternals have direct connections to Thanos, through his father, A’Lars (mentioned in Avengers: Infinity War) and his mother Sui-San; the Greek Pantheon, known as the Olympians, through Zuras, son of Kronos and uncle to Thanos; the Kree and also the malevolent entity known as the Dragon of the Moon. Additionally, the timeless foes of the Eternals, the Deviants, have several interesting connections themselves. Their longtime, underwater capital city of Lemuria could certainly portend some interesting possibilities as could the fact that Skrulls, set to debut in Captain Marvel, are also Deviant offshoots in the comics. Once thought to be a film that could tangentially connect to Thanos and maybe be backdoored via Vol. 3, it’s possible that The Eternals could become a central hub from which many other future story lines emerge.

If we’ve learned anything in the past week, it is that films which seem to have the firmest of release dates (Wonder Woman 1984, for instance) can be shuffled around in an instant so I’m not here to tell you to go get in line for tickets just yet. In a business that’s always in motion, this represents a snapshot of Marvel Studios plans today as I write this, which isn’t even the same day you’ll read it, at which point plans could already have changed.

October 26, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: SONY’S ‘MORBIUS’ VILLAIN REVEALED

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on October 16, 2018

The box office success of Sony’s Venom means that their planned Universe of Marvel Characters will continue. Up next for Sony is the Jared Leto-led Morbius, which tells the tale of Dr. Michael Morbius. Morbius is a biochemist who in an attempt to cure a fatal blood disease injects himself with a treatment serum derived from bats. Morbius is transformed into a creature with vampire-like traits, including super strength and reflexes and a thirst for human blood. Back in July we brought you the first details on the film’s leads, including the first descriptions of the film’s villain and Martine Bancroft. With filming projected to begin sometime in the first quarter of 2019, Sony has begun searching for its cast and we now have an update on the film’s villain!

In our July exclusive we revealed that the film’s antagonist would be a friend of Morbius’ who turned on him and that still remains true. However, at the time we speculated that friend might be Emil Nikos. While Nikos will be in Morbius (though this iteration of Nikos will be very different from his comic book counterpart), he is not the film’s villain. Michael Morbius will face off against his good friend Loxias Crown!

If that name doesn’t quite ring a bell it’s because Loxias Crown doesn’t exist in the comics…not by that name anyway. It seems as though Sony might be adapting the mutant supervillain Crown, who later went by the name Hunger and came into conflict with Spider-Man and Morbius.

Crown first appeared in 1997’s Spider-Man #76. If Sony is adapting Crown here, they’re making some serious alterations to the characters history. In the film, Loxias Crown suffers from the same rare blood disease as his good friend Morbius. Like Morbius, Loxias will be transformed by the serum that Moribus developed to cure them and the film’s main conflict will center on Morbius trying to stop the killing machine Loxias has become while also fighting off his own blood lust.

With the film hoping to start production early next year, casting for Loxias could happen at anytime, but as of now Jared Leto remains the only actor who has signed on for a role. Stay tuned to That Hashtag Show for more on this story as it develops.

October 16, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: CHARACTER REVEALS FOR ‘THE SOPRANOS’ PREQUEL ‘THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK’

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on October 15, 2018

Earlier this year it was announced that New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to creator David Chase’s Sopranos prequel film to be titled The Many Saints of Newark. This summer Alan Taylor, who directed several episodes of the show during its six season run, had signed on the helm the film said to be set during the riots that took place in the late-60s, seen in a flashback during the seventh episode of Season 1, titled Down Neck.

Little else is known about the film, though it had been reported that several characters from the original series would be present during it. We at That Hashtag Show are thrilled to report that we’ve gotten our hands on some character breakdowns that reveal 5 of the film’s lead characters and give some insight into what we can expect. We can also reveal that filming on the Sopranos prequel is set to begin in early March of 2019, so casting announcements will be forthcoming over the next couple of months!

YOUNG TONY

Of course it wouldn’t be a Sopranos project if Tony weren’t involved. The Many Saints of Newark will seemingly take place over the course of several years and the studio will be looking to cast multiple actors in the role of Tony. When the film begins, Tony is a first generation 9-year old boy with a passion for the Yankees. The film will follow Tony to age 16 where he is described as a “budding linebacker” with long hair and bellbottoms. According to Sopranos’ canon, Tony was born on August 24, 1959, so we can look forward to seeing the film take place between 1968 and 1975.

This setting would find Tony’s father, Johnny Boy, and his Uncle Junior in their primes working under Dominic DiMeo, the original Boss of the DiMeo Familiy that Tony eventually led. It would also take place near the death of a character that was the inciting factor for a key relationship of the original series…

DICKIE MOLTISANTI

A foot solider for the DiMeo family, Dickie was a minor character in the series, but it was his death and subsequent absence that lead Tony to take in and mentor Dickie’s young son, Christopher. Dickie will be a young man here and while he’s not among the characters we have found out about, it’s almost a certainty that a young Christopher will be present here.

Canonically, Dickie is the first cousin to Tony’s wife, Carmela, and his wife, Joanne, is a Blundetto, making their son Christopher a cousin to the Blundettos, just as Tony is. After Dickie’s death, Tony took care of Christopher, calling him his nephew, though Christopher’s longtime girlfriend Adriana indicated that Christopher and Tony did have a blood relation. In this film, Dickie is described as Tony’s uncle, and a new character may reveal the blood connection described above.

ALDO MOLTISANTI

By all accounts Aldo Moltisanti is an entirely new character and, presumably, the link to the blood relation of Christopher and Tony. Described as an “elegant wiseguy” in his mid-60s, Aldo is revealed as Tony’s grandfather! The implications here could be huge. We know (or at least we think we do) that Tony’s father, Johnny Boy Soprano, was one of 3 sons born to Corrado and Mariangela Soprano. However, little information is known about the familial connections of Tony’s mother, Livia. In the film, Aldo is newly married to 24 year old Giuseppina Bruno, leaving us guessing as to whom he was previously married and what it might reveal, if anything, about Tony’s lineage.

Fans have been rabid for information since the announcement of The Many Saints of Newark and this is sure to stir up a storm! What are your thoughts on the possible implications of Tony’s relationship with the Moltisantis? Let us know in the comments.

October 15, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: MARVEL STUDIOS HAS COMMISSIONED A ‘DARK AVENGERS’ SCRIPT

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on October 5, 2018

Marvel Studios has enjoyed an unprecedented 10 year run of box office success as that began with 2008’s Iron Man. That film gave the studio the momentum it needed to build a cinematic universe around a few well-known heroes, take some gambles on a few others and tell a longform story unlike any that’s come before. That story, however, will come to an end with 2019’s Avengers 4 as will the tenures of several of the studio’s flagship heroes leaving fans to wonder what comes next. Some of the heroes and franchises will live on post-Infinity with sequels being developed for Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Black Panther; other new heroes such as Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau will be introduced before Avengers 4 and become a part of the story that comes next; new franchises, such at The Eternals, are being developed, showing that Kevin Feige and company are still willing to roll the dice on some lesser known characters even as their deal to bring home the X-Men, Fantastic Four and related characters creeps towards closure.

As exciting as the influx of new characters is for fans, Feige couldn’t have counted on them to shoulder the load going forward until the recent approvals to the deal. As a result, Marvel Studios has been developing dozens of properties for potential films and those dozens of properties probably stand at a dozen different stages of development. Some of those properties will feature prominently in the future of the MCU and others will never be known to anyone not lucky enough to be a part of the Marvel Studios brain trust. We’ve been fortunate enough to find out about similar projects in the past and today we’re happy to share another: Marvel Studios has developed and completed a script for an adaptation of Dark Avengers.

To be clear, Marvel Studios has many scripts for many projects, not all of which will make it to the big screen. It’s a smart move for the studio to commission as many scripts as possible knowing that at any time someone might come up with a take on an IP that blows people away while also knowing some of them will go straight to the bottom of the pile. We at That Hashtag Show don’t pretend to know where in that pile the Dark Avengers sits, only that a script for the IP was completed .

The Dark Avengers were created by Brian Michael Bendis and first appeared in their own title in January of 2009 in the aftermath of the Skrull Secret Invasion. With the people and the government having lost faith in the Avengers, Norman Osborn, who had been in charge of the Thunderbolts, was appointed head of the reformed S.H.I.E.L.D., now known as H.A.M.M.E.R.. Osborn took the opportunity to assemble his own team of “heroes”, including Sentry, Noh-Varr and Ares and to disguise some Thunderbolts as former Avengers. Osborn’s team included a Mac Gargan “Spider-Man”, a Moonstone “Captain Marvel”, a Bullseye “Hawkeye”, a Daken “Wolverine” and Norman in the Iron Patriot armor. The initial run of the comic lasted 16 issues and ran throughout the Dark Regin and Seige line-wide arcs.

October 5, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: ‘ARROW’ SEASON 7 TO FEATURE DC VILLAIN JAVELIN

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on September 13, 2018

We know that the upcoming 7th season of Arrow, set to premiere this fall, will see Oliver Queen behind bars, leaving Team Arrow to pick up the pace. While Oliver is sure to have his hand full in prison with former enemies and some less than friendly guards, we now know the big bad that the rest of the team will be dealing with in addition to the Longbow Hunters. DC Comics villain Javelin is coming to town!

DC Comics have typically portrayed Javelin as a German Olympic athlete and a thorn in the side of Hal Jordan. He’s been given a bit of an update here, but interestingly enough his Olympic origins may still come into play as a link to Team Arrow member Curtis Holt.

Described as smart and ruthless, Leonard Gibbons, aka Javelin, is a French chemical weapons trader. In the midst of a huge ongoing deal, he does business with an undercover Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific, bringing Team Arrow squarely into the mix. The studio is currently on the lookout for a French-speaking male in his 30s to take on what was described as a “large principle role.”

Certainly a character like Javelin, with his assortment of tricky spear-based weapons and high level of athletic skill fits in just fine in the Arrowverse. We know that Holt was himself an Olympic athlete, having won a bronze in the 2008 decathlon, so it’ll be interesting to see what shared history, if any, the two men have.

Season 7 of Arrow is set to hit the CW on October 15th!

September 13, 2018
SCOOP: Jenny Slate & Scott Haze’s Characters In ‘Venom’ Revealed

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on January 26, 2018.

Filming on Ruben Fleischer’s Venom has moved to San Francisco for the time being, but during its time in Atlanta we were fortunate to get a look at some photos and videos taken on location. Among the photos were several looks at star Tom Hardy, a handful of co-star Scott Haze (including one of the two men fighting, seen below) and a couple of Jenny Slate (also seen below).

The photo of Slate was reportedly taken outside the American Cancer Center, which is being used as one of the locations of the Life Foundation, an organization crucial to the plot of Venom. We can confirm that Slate’s role in the film will find her working as a scientist named Dora Skirth who works for the Life Foundation. There had been some speculation online that Slate might be playing Dr. Ashley Kafka, the founder of the best spider vein removal los angeles Institute for the Criminally Insane where Cletus Kasady was once kept. As far as we can tell, Skirth is an original character developed for the film, though she turn out to be an amalgamation of several minor characters.

Scott Haze‘s role has also been subject to much speculation with many originally believing he might be portraying Casady. As it turns out, Haze’s character will also be a part of the Life Foundation, though his character is much more firmly rooted in the comics. Haze will portray Roland Treece, the founder of Treece International and a member of the Life Foundation’s Board of Directors along with Carlton Drake, played by Riz Ahmed. Additionally, we can expect to see other Life Foundation members lifted from the pages of Lethal Protector in Dr. Collins and Dr. Emerson. This confirms speculation first made by The Venom Vlog based on set pics and video they were able to find online.

Oh and here’s a first look at Michelle Wiliams‘ Anne Weying!

https://twitter.com/Kulturpat/status/956646847526948867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fscreenrant.com%2Fvenom-movie-set-video-michelle-williams%2F

Weirdly enough, there’s zero word yet on who exactly is supposed to be playing Carnage, the purported villain of the movie for several months now. But with more than 50 days into production, it’ll only be a matter of time until we learn who has the honor of playing Spider-Man’s most violent baddie. Venom, featuring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, will be in theaters October 5th!

January 26, 2018
Beyond Infinity: The Next 20 Films We’d Like to See in the MCU

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on December 1, 2017.

The recent Vanity Fair cover story about the past, present and future of Marvel Studios was loaded with wonderful information but one bit of text has spawned thought pieces just like this one all over the internet: Marvel Studios has 20 more films on their plate, taking them well into the 2020s (and Bob Iger added to the tease by saying they could have done more than that!). We really only know what two of these films are for sure, so we put together a list of those plus another 18 we’d like to see:

1.) July 5, 2019 – Marvel Studios Spider-Man 2

One of only two films we know are certainly happening, this could be one helluva roller coaster ride of emotions for Peter Parker. Marvel Studios sequel to its well-regarded Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to hit theaters July 5, 2019, making it the first film of a distinctly different post-Infinity War MCU.

We don’t know much about the premise other than it will feature Peter trying to return to a normal life (and school) following the universe-changing events of the Infinity War. Not too many people expect Tony Stark to come out of that war alive, so Peter’s going to be moving ahead with a heavy heart, but also with great responsibility. We assume the Mac Gargan/Scorpion set-up from the Homecoming post-credits will be explored, but there are plenty of other options to explore as well.

2.) May 1, 2020 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

This is the only other film that has officially been announced and director James Gunn has heavily hinted at the date, though it has not been confirmed. We know this is the final story for this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy (sad), but we also know that Gunn has been developing sequels and spin-offs that will use a mix of old and new characters (joy!).

We expect MOST of the original Guardians to be in the third film and we’ve heard some pretty crazy early rumors about where this is going and what it sets up, but it’s SO EARLY in the process that even if they were true, there’s no telling what will happen by the time production starts. We’d like to see Adam Warlock finally grace the big screen and for Gunn to continue the masterful job he’s done building Marvel’s Cosmic Universe, but with many of Marvel’s best Cosmic villains (and some heroes too) at Fox, we might be seeing Gunn do something brand new and we certainly don’t mind that idea!

3.) August 7, 2020 – Black Widow

Put this one in the mini-exclusive column. We know that Feige has talked about a Black Widow film. We know that Stan Lee said it was happening at a recent Con. We also know that Stan isn’t crazy. Our source (the same one that gave us Captain Marvel, Nomad, Ronin and more) has told us that a Black Widow movie IS in the works and they fully expect it to happen. Until things are officially announced (which would probably be sometime next summer), we can’t be sure and because of that we are going to hold on to the details of the plot we were given, but suffice to say it’s a film that will both shock and satisfy fans.

4.) November 6, 2020 – Doctor Strange 2

Scott Derrickson knocked it out of the park with 2016’s Doctor Strange. Derrickson created a fantastic world for Strange to inhabit and the guy gets horror (he’s also THE nicest guy and has always been responsive to communication with us!), so we are crossing our fingers that sometime soon he gets the sequel greenlit and gets to explore the idea he had for Nightmare and the Dream Dimension that he had originally intended to use in the first film. At this time, all signs point to him returning and we know he’s the guy!

5.) May 1, 2021 – Black Panther: Atlantis Attacks

Marvel Studios has been teasing Namor for a VERY long time. Wakanda is going to play a major role in Avengers: Infinity War and, from the looks of the trailer, there’s no way it can come out of the invasion in tip-top shape. Wouldn’t that be just the time for a prick like Namor to strike? Having Namor in a film provides Marvel Studios with a tough task (not that they’re not up to it) and it’s more than just showing Atlantis and following up Aquaman. The key to Namor is probably getting everyone to absolutely hate the guy, have him totally destroy Wakanda and T’Challa, but then still find a way to make you like him enough to bring him back and, eventually, make him a hero. We’ve been talking about this in our Slack chat for what seems like forever and we aren’t the only ones. Here’s to hoping Feige and company finally give Namor his time to shine.

6.) July 1, 2021 – Marvel Studios Spider-Man 3

If things go according to plan, this would be Peter’s senior year, right? It’s a long way off at this point and a whole lot of stuff will probably happen before this, but we are holding fast to the belief (hope?) that Spidey in the MCU is a long-term thing and that this film, and potentially many more, will get to happen. It would take some tinkering, but we’d love to see Spidey take on Mark Raxton, aka Molten Man, in this film. First appearing way back in Amazing Spider-Man #28 in an issue whose events nearly made Peter miss his high school graduation, Molten Man would be a fun villain and the kind of callback to classic comics that Feige and company have shown a knack for finding. Of course once he finishes high school, it’ll be time to move on to college where he can FINALLY meet Gwen and Harry and Harry’s dad…maybe Norman has moved up in the world and is building H.A.M.M.E.R. to replace the now defunct S.H.I.E.L.D. Eh, those are different movies.

7.) November 5, 2021 – Captain Marvel: Galactic Storm

Operation: Galactic Storm is a major Avengers crossover arc from the early ’90s that could make the Captain Marvel sequel the equivalent of Captain America: Civil War. A war between the Kree and Shi’ar (hurry up and make that deal already, Disney) spills over onto Earth and teams of Avengers head to space to negotiate peace. This arc involves all kinds of space shenanigans and could be a major event film if it’s something Marvel would like to explore. It could also be tweaked to be a companion piece to the next film on the list.

8.) New Avengers: Secret Invasion

Ever since the announcement that Skrull would appear in Captain Marvel, a film that is set in the ’90s, EVERYONE went on alert and the internet ran wild with fan theories about who has been a Skrull all along. Feige has calmed down some of the more intense theories, but in doing so he did NOT totally discount the possibility that there have been Skrulls on Earth. To some extent this film needs to take place at the right time: the new group of Avengers needs some time to come together; the public has to recover from the events of Infinity War and Avengers 4. We’re not really sure when that time is, but this is a film we fully expect to see at some point.

9.) Annihilators

We know from the Vanity Fair interview that there seems to be a priority placed on stories that take place in setting other than Earth and other than now. An Annihilators film seems like it could solve one or both of those problems. Maybe they’re not called the Annihilators; maybe the team isn’t the collection of individuals shown above (but man would that be cool); however, a new team of Cosmic champions assembled to carry on the work of the Guardians of the Galaxy (that’s the idea I always have when I hear Gunn describe what GotG 3 is going to be) would be a great idea and a way to make the fun, wacky spirit of the Guardians live on. Let’s get Cosmo some line, huh?

10.) Ravagers

Gunn has teased the possibility of a Ravagers film and we would LOVE to see it. We’d be open to it taking place in the past if for no other reason than to give us more time with Michael Rooker’s Yondu. Would flashbacks with Yondu take away from the importance of his death in Vol. 2? That’s going to be to Gunn, but we’re on board for a Ravagers film past, present or future. If Disney and Fox could close that deal, perhaps the Ravagers could take on the Badoon, just like the OG Guardians in the comics or perhaps they could somehow finally incorporate Vance Astro into the MCU! At this point, if Gunn’s hands are on it, we are all for it.

11.) Shuri Solo Film

Letitia Wright is a great example of the kind of casting Marvel Studios is becoming known for. She’s 24 and about to be an absolute star

It’s time for a new Iron Man and you know who we want it to be: Shuri. What?!?!?! Yes, we want this film and we don’t think it’s totally crazy. She’s openly being set up as the MCU’s new tech genius. She’s been designing the Wakandan tech which makes Stark’s stuff look like it was made in a cave with a box of scraps…The Hulkbuster is in Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War which means she’ll have her hands on Stark’s baby and we won’t be surprised to find out that she somehow upgrades it. If Iron Man is going the legacy route it did in the comics, this is a way to make that happen with a character who already exists.

Of course, Shuri could always be the new Black Panther in a third solo film, especially if her brother is forced to leave the position following an Atlantean attack. Shuri had an absolutely fascinating turn as the monarch of Wakanda in the comics and we’d be up for an adaptation of that.

To be honest, we aren’t too picky here about how it happens, we just want Marvel to make it happen.

12.) Thuderbolts

Marvel Studios may have been assembling the pieces of this film right under our noses this whole time (not that many haven’t noticed). With Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo waiting in the wings, it won’t take much more pushing to get him a team. The Shocker lived to fight another day in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost would be another great addition. Starting with those pieces, you’re just a few characters away from having your very own squad of baddies out to do good and giving these underutilized actors time to shine.

13.) Nova

Another Cosmic film! We’ve heard time and again that there’s a heavy focus on developing Cosmic characters going forward and Nova may be the most iconic and unused character to whom Marvel Studios holds the rights. The destruction of Xandar that’s sure to come in Avengers: Infinity War would provide a great opening for the origin story of Richard Rider and could be done without much fuss. Sure it might be too late for the hero to help out in Infinity War or Avengers 4, but a young Rider could be tasked with rebuilding the Nova Corps in the wake of it’s central hub being wrecked by Thanos.

14.) Squadron Supreme

We’ve been championing this film for a long, long time and we aren’t backing down. With DC going forward with their own “Captain Marvel” in Shazam, we would love to see Marvel Studios go forward with their very own “Justice League” film. I’d love for this to be a major event film, seeing the comic book origins adapted as best as can be. The Grandmaster’s Squadron Supreme vs. (please let it be Kang’s) The Avengers! A group of heroes plucked from other dimensions and forced to fight Earth’s Mightiest! If Marvel Studios wants different, these characters provide a great opportunity. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie up against Thundra would be just one reason to make it happen, so let’s get this bandwagon rolling!

15.) Captain America: Sam Wilson

We hear a lot of stuff and not all of it makes a lot of sense. One thing we’ve heard several times over the past year, however, that makes a lot of sense is that Marvel Studios is leaning heavily towards having Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson take over the mantle of Captain America instead of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky. This isn’t anything we’ve been told has been set in stone, though we have heard that the studio does NOT have major plans for Stan moving forward. Time will tell on all that, but we already know that Mackie has made a major impression on us and we would love to see his story go on.

16.) Power Pack

This one is based off of a recent rumor, but the more we think about it, the more we like the idea. Based on that rumor, if Power Pack is happening, it’s still in its infancy, but it’s something that Marvel has been developing on and off for almost 10 years. It’s a very kid-friendly choice, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have stakes. I still think the film with some of the steepest stakes I’ve seen recently was a kid’s movie: 2015’s Inside Out. No reason that a group of kids can’t get in on the action and, if Disney closes that deal with Fox, this could be the kind of property that would align nicely with the Richards’ children.

17.) Shang-Chi

This one is a little meta humor. Despite the fact that we have been coming through on scoop after scoop after scoop for you guys, everyone still digs at us for the Shang-Chi in Iron Fist business. I can tell you without a doubt that they auditioned for the role of Shang-Chi for that show and for some reason, he didn’t make the cut. Why? Well, Marvel Studios has a fantastic relationship with China and we imagine they’d like to build on that. The Russo brothers went to China in 2015 to do an exclusive interview about Captain America: Civil War and are even opening their own studio over there. How cool would it be to see some sort of effort made to make Shang-Chi into a loosely-connected James Bond-esque property? Crazy, we know, but it sounded good.

18.) Moon Knight

As much as we think this property could be Marvel TV’s Legion, we are coming around to the idea that having Marc Spector on screen might be more important and, we’re told, so do the folks at Marvel Studio. One reason for the delay in a vehicle for the cult favorite character is that the issue of where he’ll appear isn’t quite settled. The character and content seem a little dark compared to typical Marvel Studios fare, but it’s hard not to imagine a fully-realized Moon Knight on the big screen.

19.) Champions

Marvel had to spend some cash to get the trademark rights to the Champions title back and while it’s been a solid comic, it’s possible they also had the bigger picture in mind. Champions is an interesting twist on what it means to be a superhero and it has found the Champions taking on not only powerful villains like the High Evolutionary, but also “championing” significant causes. The film could be the right vehicle for three of Marvel’s most important characters of late: Amadeus Cho, Kamala Khan and Miles Morales. Miles already exists; Cho’s mother survived Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain Marvel could set up a potential Khan origin. Just a thought, but with Marvel always looking to the future, this is a title that could bring in a ready made crowd of young comic book readers.

20.) Young Avengers

One of Marvel’s great arcs from the mid-aughts, the Young Avengers is another film that should happen and that could already be in the works. With Cassie Lang the only character already in the MCU, some work needs to be done and recent rumors COULD indicate that it is. Speed and Wiccan could be on their way into the MCU and it wouldn’t take much for a Captain Marvel film to set up the events that would lead to Hulking joining the fray. Adding Bishop Publishing to a scene here or there won’t be too hard and then it’s a matter of deciding which other characters the studio wants to add. This was a story ahead of its time in 2005 and it’s time to bring it to the big screen.

We had a hard time stopping at twenty. We want more Thor and more Doctor Strange. We want Hercules. We really, really want to see Taika Waititi direct a Silver Surfer movie. In truth, there’s no end to the things we want and that’s great because it seems there’s no end in sight for Marvel Studios!

December 1, 2017