Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Charles Murphy

  • Theory Thursday: Salem’s Seven’s Beef with Agatha Harkness in ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    Theory Thursday: Salem’s Seven’s Beef with Agatha Harkness in ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’

    Note: This article was first published on June 15, 2023

    A recent plot summary of Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Agatha: Coven of Chaos indicated that a group of villains ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics will be stirring up trouble for Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness and her coven. According to insider Daniel RPK, Salem’s Seven will be headed to Westview to “seek out revenge” on Agatha Harkness…but revenge for what?

    In the Comics…

    First seen in the pages of Fantastic Four #186, Salem’s Seven were, in their own words, “a supernatural squadron” capable of mutating themselves through magic to take on some pretty horrifying forms. Led by Vertigo, the group was made up of mystics named Brutacus, Gazelle, Hydron, Reptilla, Thornn and Vakume all of whom were the grandchildren of Agatha Harkness. As it turned out, Agatha’s son, the wanton sorcerer Nicholas Scratch, had quite an itch to scratch indeed and spread his seed liberally amongst the potential baby mamas of the quaint magical community of New Salem, a hidden Colorado town founded by the survivors of the Salem Witch Trials.

    While each member of the Seven wielded reasonably powerful magic, their transformations made them far more formidable. Brutacus got brutey. Gazelle morphed into a super speedy deer lady. Hydron became a merman with a stump water canon. Reptilla turned into a snake with bitey snake arms. Thornn became a demonic porcupine. Vakume lost his face and could control the wind. And Vertigo…well you can probably guess. It’s best not to overthink these types of things and just accept that they did what they could do because crazy animal sorcerers provided a much more fertile landscape for telling weird witch stories.

    And Salem’s Seven found their way into more than one weird witch story, though their primary purpose remained largely the same: get Agatha. Despite their father being one of the most popular characters in the long history of Marvel Comics, the children of the Scratch mostly failed miserably in their attempts to bring harm to their powerful granny. When it’s all said and done, other than looking cool when they mutate, they were mostly cannon fodder.

    In the MCU…

    In what might be the least mysterious mystery in the history of MCU mystery, the origin of the vengeful Salem’s Seven began in 1693. As seen in Episode 8 of WandaVision, “Previously On”, Agatha’s taste for dark magic put her in a rather precarious predicament as she was put on trial by her own Salem-based coven. Eight witches, including her mother, Evanora, held court as Agatha was accused of a bevy of witchy crimes and sentenced to death by energy beaming. Unfortunately for the coven, Agatha’s reverse energy beaming powers were stronger and she laid those witches low.

    Eight dead Salem witches. One of them Agatha’s mother. Seven dead witches whose descendants would have reason to be out to give Agatha some smoke. Salem’s Seven. The math checks out. Drawn to Westview, perhaps, after the incredibly powerful hex cast by Wanda caught the attention of every magic user across the globe, Vertigo and crew would seem to have a leg up on Agatha given that last time she was seen, she didn’t know who she truly was following Wanda’s spell. Maybe a powerful “familiar” can help her find herself.

    As in the comics, it sounds like the Seven will be led by Vertigo, who is reportedly being played by Okwui Okpokwasili. The only burning question about Salem’s Seven is whether or not Marvel Studios will bring their funky mutant powers from page to screen. The answer, probably, is yes. Much like Len Wein and George Perez, Jac Schaeffer and crew likely recognize that having funky-looking sorcerers is cooler than having a bunch more who look like people. It’s also likely that they’ll pose little actual threat to Agatha and Billy, though they might be able to take out one of their coven just to keep it interesting. If that’s the case, it begs the question of why Marvel Studios would make the main villains of Agatha: Coven of Chaos so underwhelming. Easy one: because they aren’t the true big bad.

    The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • Scratch That, Reverse It! Joe Locke’s Teen May Not Be Who You Thought He Was

    Scratch That, Reverse It! Joe Locke’s Teen May Not Be Who You Thought He Was

    The two-episode premiere of Agatha All Along certainly didn’t disappoint the legions of fans who had been waiting to return to Westview. Star Kathryn Hahn stepped right back into the role of the spellbound Agnes O’Connor before quite literally stripping away the layers that created that persona until Agatha Harkness reemerged. And while fans are rightfully looking forward to Agatha and her coven of chaos making their way down the Witches’ Road, series’ creator Jac Schaeffer had a good old Easter egg hunt planned first.

    Before Agatha escapes the spell cast on her by Wanda Maximoff, she finds herself living out her days as a Westview PD detective. As she works a mysterious murder case, Detective O’Connor grows frustrated in her attempts to deduce any reasonable conclusions from the clues she’s collected which include a familiar-looking locket. Upon returning home for the evening, a distressed Agnes opens a door to a room in her house which, in turn, opens a great big can of worms related to one of the central mysteries of the series.

    Revealed to be the room of her son, the room is shown to be filled with drawings, trophies and otherwise everyday kid stuff…but there’s no kid. Oh, and the kid who isn’t there: it’s Nicholas Scratch. Son of a bitch!

    Who Is Nicholas Scratch?

    Like his mother, Agatha’s comic book son, Nicholas Scratch, has a bit of a sordid history. Scratch was referenced as somewhat of an Easter egg in WandaVision, with Harnkness’ pet bunny (who returns for Agatha All Along) sharing the name, but in the comics, he was a powerful warlock in his own right who had less than a loving relationship with his mother.

    Schaeffer smartly seeded Scratch into the tapestry of Agatha All Along out of the gate…and Episode 1 is hardly the last time he’ll be referenced.

    Scratch Where It Itches

    Teen (Joe Locke) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

    Scratch’s presence in Agatha All Along has been predicted and debated since the series was announced and speculation reached a fever pitch when Joe Locke was cast in a role that has yet to be fully disclosed. Despite some evidence to the contrary, dozens of dedicated fans of Nicholas Scratch and at least one once prominent “leaker” held fast to the belief that Locke was cast as the son of Agatha Harkness.

    Unsurprisingly, Schaeffer not only refuses to resolve the debate over the course of the first two episodes but rather encourages further discourse around it. The recovery of Agatha’s Neopaganistic Triple Goddess broach/locket complete with a lock(e) of curly dark hair shrewdly sustains the suspense over the true nature of Locke’s character, providing hope to the Nicholas Scratch fan club, now 36 strong.

    AGATHA ALL ALONG. © 2024 MARVEL.

    The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are streaming now on Disney Plus.

  • Review: A Divine Kathryn Hahn Walks a Familiar Road and Conjures Up a Potential Hit for Marvel Television in ‘Agatha All Along’

    Review: A Divine Kathryn Hahn Walks a Familiar Road and Conjures Up a Potential Hit for Marvel Television in ‘Agatha All Along’

    As it turns out, Marvel Studios did learn something from WandaVision. Debuting at a time when the world was starving for new content of any kind, WandaVision helped a fanbase find a way to forget about a still terrifying and uncertain reality. As Marvel Studios’ first streaming series, WandaVision blazed a trail and set a high bar for each series that followed. While it’s easy to look back with disdain at the wild weekly theories that never worked out, there’s no debating that no other Marvel Studios’ D+ series has impacted pop culture the way WandaVision did. And if we’re being honest, there’s not been a realistic contender for the crown. So, at a time when the studio seeks to return to its former glory, one must appreciate the coincidence of some measure of that return resting on the shoulders of a WandaVision spinoff that focuses on a once powerful witch seeking to return to her former glory.

    While it would be easy to believe that Agatha All Along exists solely to showcase the bewitching talents of its star, Kathryn Hahn, the series creator, Jac Schaeffer, made no bones about her true intention: “to recapture the fun of WandaVision.” To that end, the first four episodes of Agatha All Along indubitably lean heavily into the spirit of the predecessor, tossing all the right ingredients into the cauldron. Strong acting, smart writing and a devil-may-care affect to the negativity that has surrounded some of the studio’s more recent fare are likely to produce a witch’s brew that results in an entranced audience finding itself trapped in a spell similar to the one cast by WandaVision. For better or for worse, expect plenty of theories and arguments about who Joe Locke‘s “Teen” actually is, the true nature of Agatha’s past with Aubrey Plaza‘s wonderfully wicked Rio and, of course, what role Mephisto plays in it all!

    Whatever Schaeffer‘s intentions for Agatha All Along may have been, no reasonable human being would argue that the series could possibly have been given the green light had Hahn not so thoroughly slayed the role of the dark witch in WandaVision. There’s no need for protracted pretense here in an evaluation of Hahn‘s return to the role in Agatha All Along. From the moment her still spellbound Agnes hits the screen in Episode 1 until the unbound Agatha takes on the trials of the Witches’ Road throughout the screening package viewed by the media, Hahn cleverly recaptures the campy nature of the character’s MCU debut while adeptly transitioning to a far more sinister and unhinged version of Agatha which, as we learn, is the truest version of herself.

    Detective Agnes O’Connor (Kathryn Hahn) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

    That change in demeanor happens when Hahn’s Agatha, who remains trapped as Agnes in the spell placed on her by Wanda in the WandaVision finale, meets two very interesting interlopers: Aubrey Plaza‘s Rio Vidal and Joe Locke‘s Teen. Following the death of the Scarlet Witch and the destruction of the Darkhold as seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Rio and Teen shake the foundation of Agatha’s dreamworld enough to allow her to come to her senses and be reborn, stark naked, in the town of Westview. By the end of Episode 2, Agatha is headed down, down, down the Witches’ Road to reclaim her power and since the road cannot be accessed alone, she must head down the path coven in tow. And so, despite Agatha All Along working first and foremost as a vehicle to let Hahn cook, a strong supporting cast is an absolute must and the impromptu coven is stellar.

    Locke’s Teen, whose true identity is kept hidden by a sigil that’s been placed on him, provides the impetus for the trip down the Witches’ Road and is one of the best additions to the MCU since Hahn joined in 2021. Plaza is as Plaza does, bringing her dark, sardonic sarcasm to Vidal, who clearly has far more tricks and treats up her sleeves. While very different from the chemistry between Agatha and Teen which seems to evolve into something bordering motherly, the enchanting interplay between Agatha and Rio holds the promise of something far greater than what is revealed in the screening package. It’s devilish and delicious and something that will certainly garner significant attention. It isn’t just the triple threat of Agatha, Billy Teen and Rio who travel the road, however, and Hahn’s catalytic charisma with the other members of the coven ensures there’s no real drop off when Teen and Rio are off-screen. Patti Lupone, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn and (kind of) Debra Jo Rupp round out the roster of Agatha’s coven and all have their own charms. Each witch represents a different skill set required to survive the trials of the Witches’ Road and comes with her backstory. However, if there’s one potential problem facing the series it is that it may lose some of the generous positive momentum gained by the end of Episode 2 if the pattern laid out in Episodes 3 and 4–each of which serves as a showcase for one of the witches–continues in Episodes 5, 6 and 7. Whether or not that comes to fruition is impossible to divine as long as Disney continues to dole out only partial seasons for review.

    (L-R): Teen (Joe Locke), Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

    Though Agatha All Along will lure audiences in with the promise of something familiar, the true strength of the series is in its alchemical quest to transform into something better. Come for the WandaVision but stay for the shift into true Spooky Season horror. Schaeffer has created something truly unique among Marvel Studios’ fare in Agatha All Along which at times seems to share more DNA with Werewolf By Night than WandaVision. From The Ring-esque group of weirdos known as the Salem’s Seven to the haunted house horror to the demon literally on the back of one of the coven members, Agatha All Along is downright scary at times and, before long, finds itself very far afield from the campy True Detective-inspired opening episode.

    Through four episodes, Agatha All Along looks to be on the road to becoming just what the doctor ordered for Marvel Television. The combination of some incredibly crafty creative work behind the scenes and a talent like Hahn at its center provide plenty of reasons to keep fans entranced while also keeping them guessing. Despite there being plenty of reason to believe you already know what’s going on, Agatha All Along has mysteries aplenty and with Schaeffer’s willingness to go back to throwing WandaVision-ish curveballs in the mix, this trip down the Witches’ Road is going to be a blast!

  • The ‘Agatha All Along’ Premiere Revealed a Major Clue Most Fans Missed

    The ‘Agatha All Along’ Premiere Revealed a Major Clue Most Fans Missed

    The two-episode premiere of Agatha All Along set the stage for plenty of mystery and mischief to unfold over the next six weeks. Though there truly wasn’t much mystery behind the identity of Episode 1’s murder victim, there are still plenty of questions left unanswered by the end of the series’ double-dip debut. There seems to be much to discover about Aubrey Plaza‘s Rio Vidal and her past with Agatha Harkness and, of course, the true identity of Joe Locke‘s Teen will haunt theorists and speculators for the duration of the show. However, creator Jac Schaeffer may have already given away more information about who Teen truly is than you might think.

    Episode 1 of Agatha All Along, “Seekest Thou The Road”, makes an overt effort to drag viewers in one particular direction when it comes to the true identity of Teen. While still trapped within Wanda’s spell as Agnes, it’s revealed that Agatha once had a son named Nicholas Scratch. If that name isn’t too familiar to you, you’ll be forgiven, but it is a name that fans and leakers alike threw around as the “true” identity of Locke‘s characters dating back to when he was cast in the series. GIven the way Episode 1 plays out, it’s understandable that fans might conclude that Locke is Scratch; however, the devil (Mephisto!!) is in the details.

    Misdirection is well utilized by magicians and it seems as though Schaeffer has employed some “look over here” type shenanigans in Episodes 1 and 2. While fans are busy Googling Nicholas Scratch, growing his fan club to nearly 4 dozen, Detective Agnes O’Connor dropped a fairly important clue of her own in Episode 1 that likely went unnoticed. When she was visited at her home by Rio Vidal, Agnes mentioned a car crash that took place one hour before the time of death of the murder victim she found in the creek. When found in Eastview, the car’s front two airbags had been deployed and there was blood in the backseat. Though Agnes is sure there’s some connection to the dead body that was recently discovered, she’s unable to make all the pieces fit. However, her intuition is sound as the car accident is very likely related to the true identity of Locke’s character.

    Teen (Joe Locke) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.

    Schaeffer has sprinkled clues to the identity of Locke’s character everywhere and more will pop up as the show goes on. Everything seen and heard in the first two episodes was seen and heard for a reason. Agnes’ conversation with Rio about the car would be completely unnecessary if it weren’t going to come back into play sometime down, down, down the road. And while the full reveal hasn’t come along just yet, Episode 2 holds further clues that tie to the car accident. While Teen and Agatha go witch shopping, they hop into Teen’s car…or at least a car he says is his.

    While Teen is clearly comfortable with the vehicle and familiar enough with its contents to know that there’s a pen in the dashboard compartment, there’s at least one compelling reason to believe that it doesn’t belong to him but rather to his mother. Remember that lovely string of pearls that Agatha “borrows” from the mirror and wears around her neck while collecting the coven? That might just be one of those clues you were supposed to notice but missed. And why might that matter?

    If he’s not Nicholas Scratch, Teen is probably Billy Kaplan, a character he’s looooong been rumored to be. And if he’s Billy Kaplan, he’s also Billy Maximoff, kind of…and it’s all pretty confusing how that works out; however, it’s very possible that the car crash has a lot to do with how Billy Maximoff’s disembodied soul might find its way into Billy Kaplan’s body. Unless you had the captions on, you probably missed the dialogue in Episode 2 that revealed that Teen was born and raised in Eastview…where the car crash happened. Delievered during a conversation with Agatha in which she realized she couldn’t hear him speak, it may have seemed like some throwaway lines that were just part of the sigil gimmick but pretend for a minute that it wasn’t. One possible explanation that does provide a somewhat reasonable explanation for what’s going on is that Billy Kaplan died in a car crash, his body was taken over by Billy Maximoff’s soul, he abandoned the car found his way to his house where he took his mom’s car and hatched his plan to get down the Witches’ Road. And why might it be his mom’s car? That string of pearls looks just like the one worn by Rebbecca Kaplan, Billy’s mom, in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1.

    It’s all conjecture at this point but as the show progresses and we all continue to wonder what Agatha is up to, what’s up with Rio and what surprises await down the Witches’ Road, keep in mind that the most innocent member of the group might just be the one dissembling the most and hiding his true intentions.

    The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • ‘Agatha All Long’: Episode 1’s Murder Mystery Explained

    ‘Agatha All Long’: Episode 1’s Murder Mystery Explained

    Marvel Studios’ latest Disney Plus streaming series, Agatha All Along, came out of the gate strong in its two-episode debut. Picking up three years after the events of WandaVision, “Seekest Thou The Road” finds a still bewitched Agatha starring in an episode of a True Detective-esque murder mystery. The pilot episode sees a recently reinstated Detective Agnes O’Connor on the scene of an unsolved murder that has everything to do with who she was and who she will be again. While it might seem fairly straightforward, there’s no harm in breaking down exactly who the vic was and how the evidence ties Agatha All Along to other Marvel Studios’ projects.

    The Victim

    The opening moments of the first episode of Agatha All Along resembles the early episodes of WandaVision by putting the series lead in the middle of a decade-appropriate genre piece which, in this case, is a camped-up version of an episode of HBO’s True Detective. Starring the residents of Westview, the episode within the series revolves around the mysterious murder of an unknown victim. Still trapped inside the spell cast by Wanda Maximoff in the season finale of WandaVision, Agatha Harkness stars as Detective Agnes O’Connor who feels an immediate an inexplicable connection to the murder victim. As the episode unfolds, it becomes clear that the current-ish events of the real world have leaked into the distorted reality in which Agatha is trapped.

    Though Agnes is initially incapable of comprehending what’s occurred, the events of the third act of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are neatly dove-tailed into the Agatha All Along opener by series’ creator Jac Schaeffer. And so, the victim is indeed Wanda Maximoff, who died by her own hand while she destroyed the castle of Chthon at Mount Wundagore.

    The Evidence

    While it’s probably pretty clear early on to most folks that Wanda is the dead woman in the creek, Schaeffer planted an incredibly clever clue at the murder scene. Throughout Episode 1, Detective O’Connor digs into a library slip with multiple dates and zero names. That card leads to the Westview library which allows Agnes to dig up the title of a book that she discovers was stolen from the Natural Science section. Following up on the book’s original location, Agnes learns that every copy of the book, Dialogue and Rhetoric: Known History of Learning & Debate, written by Andrew Ugo, has been burned. As Agatha works out for herself, the title of the book has a one-to-one relationship to the Darkhold, the book of the damned that Wanda stole from Agatha before choosing to destroy every copy of it throughout the Multiverse. As for Ugo, the author’s name is simply a rescramble of Wundagore, the Eastern European mountain that served as the setting for the final act of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Tying the victim’s death back to that location explains the cause of death, the presence of foreign soil and why all the copies of the D.A.R.K.H.O.L.D. appear burned up in the library.

    Interestingly enough, the library card–which doubles as a toe tag for Wanda–may just serve as a list of the former owners of the Darkhold. As seen toward the end of the episode, Agatha Harkness’ name is on the card above Wanda’s which begs the question of who just might make up the rest of the list. While the pages of Marvel Comics provide a fairly straight lineage which includes Doctor Strange, Conan the Barbarian baddie Thulsa Doom, Morgan Le Fay, Werewolf By Night‘s Jack Russell’s ancestor Gregor Russoff and the book’s author, Chthon, the MCU’s own list of owners is yet to be defined and may well play a major part in the events of the remainder of the episodes of Agatha All Along.

  • ‘WandaVision’, ‘Agatha All Along’ Creator Finally Addresses the Solo ‘Scarlet Witch’ Movie

    ‘WandaVision’, ‘Agatha All Along’ Creator Finally Addresses the Solo ‘Scarlet Witch’ Movie

    Much like her comic book counterpart, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Scarlet Witch story arc has become controversial as it unfolded. Similar to what’s happened to the character in the pages of Marvel Comics, Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff has been villain and hero and villain again but her heel turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness left a bad taste in the mouths of many. Despite making a heroic sacrifice in the final act of the Strange sequel that seemed to seal her fate, rumors have swirled for the past couple of years that there was more in store for Wanda. Indeed, even Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, teased further adventures for the character down the road; however, as the studio enters the homestretch of the Multiverse Saga, there’s been no official word on what’s next for Wanda.

    There really is so much more to explore. We still haven’t touched on many of her core storylines from the comics. I don’t know that we saw her under rubble? I saw a tower coming down, and a little red flash. I don’t know what that means.

    -Kevin Feige on the future of the Scarlet WItch in the MCU

    Part of the appeal of telling more stories about the character is, of course, the talented actress who brings her to life. Feige has described Olsen as “incredibly humble and incredibly down-to-earth” while adding that once the cameras roll, she becomes “a force of nature.” And so while things didn’t look great for Wanda as Mount Wundagore collapsed around her, Feige’s willingness to “work with Lizzie for another 100 years” means that, as he said, “anything’s possible in the multiverse!” and a recent report seems to indicate that one possibility might be starting to take shape amid the chaos.

    According to Production Weekly, WandaVision and Agatha All Along creator Jac Schaeffer and The Marvels writer Megan McDonnell have begun work on a script for a solo Scarlet Witch film. Coincidentally, with that report still fresh in the minds of reporters, Schaeffer was on the purple carpet last night at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theater for Disney’s Agatha All Along launch event where she handled some questions about the potential project.

    LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Jac Schaeffer attends the launch event for Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on September 16, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Marvel)

    As you’ve grown to expect, Schaeffer wasn’t revealing much when asked when she would start shooting the Scarlet Witch solo flick but she didn’t say it wasn’t happening, either. “I mean I’m just here hoping for a Scarlet Witch movie,” Schaeffer told Variety. We all want Wanda, so fingers crossed that’s a thing that happens.” When pressed further about whether or not she thought it would happen, Schaeffer replied, “I don’t know! I’m in witchy Agatha land right now and I can’t quite see through the trees, but we’re hoping.” And while none of that sounds to encouraging, Schaeffer’s final comment might provide a glimmer of hope that Wanda will be back to lead her own film. In response to Variety’s reporter commenting that Disney won’t let her talk to the press about it, Schaeffer slyly replied, “Not right now…” which coupled with her body language will likely be enough to give fans hope.

    While fans wait for official word on the Scarlet Witch project to come down to Witches’ Road, there are plenty of compelling reasons to think it is in the works. After having launched work on a second WandaVision spinoff, Vision Quest, Schaeffer recently left the project, turning it over to Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas, leaving Schaeffer with some freedom in her schedule. Additionally, Schaeffer’s rumored co-writer, Megan McDonnell, who worked with her as a producer on Agatha All Along and, at the moment, seems similarly free at the moment. And, of course, the biggest piece in the puzzle, star Elizabeth Olsen, has always maintained that she’d love to return to the role as long as there’s a “good story to tell.” Schaeffer’s track record would suggest she’ up for that task so while it’s best to refrain from being too excited at the moment, it’s also possible that a Scarlet Witch film is more possible now than it ever has been.

  • Further Details from Marvel’s Scrapped ‘Avengers’ Film Reveal It Was Set to Serve as a Surprise Sequel

    Further Details from Marvel’s Scrapped ‘Avengers’ Film Reveal It Was Set to Serve as a Surprise Sequel

    While MCU fans may never understand the full extent to which Bob Iger‘s return to Disney changed the charted course of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga, it seems more can be gleaned about it each week. When Marvel Studios used the Summer convention season to promote its 2025 slates of theatrical and streaming projects and made no mention of what 2026 and beyond would bring beyond what was already known, deductive reasoning led to some speculation that not even the Marvel Studios Parliament knew exactly what was next.

    In the weeks that have followed, it’s become increasingly clear that the studio’s plans are still in flux, though recent developments suggest that things are starting to come together behind the scenes. Shortly after rumors emerged that projects such as Armor Wars, Blade and a Shang-Chi sequel were in limbo, trade reports came in that revealed Destin Daniel Cretton was in talks to direct Spider-Man 4. Cretton taking on the latest installment in the Spidey franchise effectively pressed pause on the Shang-Chi sequel, a project that star Simu Liu recently confirmed was in development, promising that “it’s definitely happening.“

    I think just what Shaun decides to do with all this newfound power, you know? It kind of consumed his father, consumed Wenwu. I’m curious as to how someone much younger, much more inexperienced, would fare against the rings. Just this idea of all of a sudden being gifted something that’s so powerful but also so dangerous. And then the other big question I have is, you know, in what way does Shaun fit in with the rest of the MCU? Who are you going to see? What kind of crazy team-ups? What kinda tie-ins, Easter eggs? I’m just as much in the dark as everyone else, so I don’t know anything, but I’m excited to dive into that process.

    -Simu Liu on a potential Shang-Chi sequel

    While nobody doubts that Liu believes that a sequel to one of the studio’s most critically successful films in the Multiverse Saga will be made eventually, it’s starting to become clear that there’s a reason he also mentioned that he “really can’t say anything” further about the project. However, as it turns out, the Shang-Chi sequel may have actually been delayed far longer ago than any of us knew.

    According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, the original plan for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was for it to have “essentially served” as a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. While fans knee-jerk reaction may be to balk at the news, it does mesh with the recent report from Inverse that Shang-Chi was originally intended to have a major role in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty before the project was “retooled.”

    In the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would’ve been one of the film’s main leads. A lot’s changed since then; Avengers 5 was meant to focus on Kang the Conqueror, but Marvel has since completely retooled the film to introduce Victor Von Doom.

    -Inverse

    Given that Cretton was originally picked to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, it’s certainly not too difficult to believe that Shang-Chi was meant to be one of the film’s leads. Additionally, despite the nebulous nature of that film’s post-credit scene, it’s similarly easy to believe that it could have dovetailed into a confrontation with Kang in the fifth Avengers film. Unfortunately, Jonathan Majors‘ legal troubles and the uneven fan reception to Kang’s role in the Multiverse Saga led to Cretton leaving his post as director of The Kang Dynasty which means that while we may still get a great film in Avengers: Doomsday, we’ll likely never know exactly what was planned for Liu’s wonderful new MCU hero.

  • DC Studios ‘Lanterns’ Struggling to Land A-List Lead

    DC Studios ‘Lanterns’ Struggling to Land A-List Lead

    While their Power Rings are flashy, the members of the Green Lantern Corps are nothing without willpower…and right now DC Studios could use a heavy dose of it as they continue the search for their Hal Jordan. Just a couple of weeks after a star-studded shortlist for the “grizzled vet” of the Corps was revealed, a new report indicates that several stars on that list have passed on the role.

    Nexus Point News originally reported that Goonies and Avengers star Josh Brolin was DC Studios’ top choice to bring Hal Jordan to life in the DCU. Shortly after that, THR’s Borys Kit and Aaron Couch shared the news that Brolin had passed on the role and that the studio was moving down its wishlist, which reportedly included names such as Chris Pine, Ewan McGregor and Matthew McConaughey. However, THR’s report cast some doubt on those reports while also sharing that McConaughey was not going to be suiting up as Jordan either.

    This is a story of a couple of Green Lanterns John Stewart and Hal Jordan.
    We have a few other Lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial-based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU.

    _James Gunn on DC Studios Lanterns

    With production on the series slated to kick off in Atlanta in January 2025, the studio still has time to fill the role of Jordan; however, given that the series will focus on both Jordan and fellow Lantern Jon Stewart, they’ll likely want to roll through at least a couple of rounds of table reads with potential actors for Stewart to ensure the two leads have the right chemistry.

    Described by DC Studios’ co-chair Peter Safran as a “space opera” and  “terrestrial-based investigation story” in the vein of True Detective, Lanterns will play a “really big role leading us into the main story” of Chapter One. With a series bible put together by the “crack team” of Damon Lindelof, Tom King and Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy, Lanterns was ordered straight to series by HBO and DC Studios was reportedly eyeing Primetime Emmy-Award winning director Stephen Williams to helm the pilot episode. A new report by insider Daniel RPK indicates that the studio is also in talks with Lucy Tcherniak to direct some episodes of the series as well. However, until they land a Hal Jordan, Lanterns will remain grounded.

  • Marvel Studios Reveals Complete Episode Release Schedule for ‘Agatha All Along’

    Marvel Studios Reveals Complete Episode Release Schedule for ‘Agatha All Along’

    Marvel Studios’ Disney Plus streaming series have been rolling out two-episode premieres for quite some time and nothing will change about that when Agatha All Along premieres on September 18th. However, in order to make the Kathryn Hahn-led series the perfect spooky season treat, the studio is making one adjustment to the streaming series’ release schedule.

    In Marvel Studios’ Agatha All Along, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…

    -Official synopsis for Agatha All Along

    Via social media, Marvel Studios revealed the full release schedule for the nine-episode series. In addition to the two-episode premiere, Agatha All Along will also roll out a two-episode series finale, with episodes eight and nine dropping on the night before Halloween!

    The nine-episode series was directed by a trio of talent with each responsible for three episodes. In addition to series creator Jac Schaeffer, episodes of Agatha All Along will be directed by Rachel Goldberg (Mayans M.C. and Gen V) and Gandja Monteiro (Wednesday, The Witcher and The Walking Dead: Dead City).

  • Fox ‘X-Men’ Star Confirms Conversations with Marvel Studios

    Fox ‘X-Men’ Star Confirms Conversations with Marvel Studios

    Even though the final film in Fox’s X-Men franchise was D.O.A. at theaters, it turns out there’s plenty of life left in those particular Children of the Atom. Kevin Feige and crew sprinkled a pair of Fox’s X-Men into a pair of projects before Deadpool & Wolverine, which was loaded with Fox (and non-Foz nostalgia) provided Marvel Studios with a much-needed boost this past summer. And even as the studio prepares to move ahead with its own X-Men film, rumors have begun to swirl that–at least for the time being–OG X-Man Hugh Jackman may well stay on as Wolverine.

    While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the heavy nostalgia worked on both live-action and animation, via X-Men ’97, creating a palpable buzz around the mutants for the first time in years. Now, as the studio begins to lay out its approach to Avengers: Secret Wars, another actor who played a key role in Fox’s original X-Men trilogy has teased a future for his character in the MCU.

    In an interview with Comic Book, Kelsey Grammer, who played original X-Man Hank McCoy, aka Beast in the Fox films and then again in a post-credit cameo in The Marvels, shared that he has had “conversations” with Marvel Studios about continuing on in the role.

    “There’s nothing I can talk about,” Grammer told Comic Book. “What I do know is that there was a huge sort of outburst when I showed up at the end of The Marvels, I guess it was. The response was really almost… it wasn’t unexpected. There’d be some response, but it was pretty overwhelming, and so there are some conversations.” And given the way The Marvels came to an end, the possibility that the studio would return to the alternate universe inspired by Chris Claremont’s X-Men run shouldn’t surprise anyone.

    While there’s been no clear indication as to what to expect from Avengers: Secret Wars, the post-credit scene implied that Monica Rambeau ended up in a universe where not only was her mother a powerful superhero capable of wielding both Quantum Bands but also the X-Men were a well-established team. It wouldn’t be too surprising to find out other heroes exist there, too, and those heroes might end up playing a major role over what’s left in the Multiverse Saga.

    Source: Comicbook.com