Your host John Locke is back with more tales from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Earth is facing a culture shock, as it seems that Atlantis might be real? Not just that, New Asgard is finally opening up to the world while new findings in Egypt might open up the question: How many Gods are still out there?
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To end out the year, Marvel’s Avengers‘ developers Crystal Dynamics held one last stream. We got one last time to chat with some from the team behind the game and get a little insight into what is happening. Even while they had to fight some technical difficulties, it was a fun time to hear Phil and Andy talk about what brought them into the industry. Of course, that wasn’t all, as they also teased a few bugs they are currently working on and one major reveal.
We did get one major reveal. CD revealed that we can expect something for the New Years’. It wasn’t just a reference regarding confirmed DLC characters, but overall new story content, new villains, and adaptations to the endgame to add variety. So, it’ll be interesting to see how they will kickstart the new year. There was also a mention of an Omega-Level Threat being released before the Cloning Labs.
Of course, they couldn’t go into detail, but it is great to hear that they are looking into expanding the game beyond the confirmed character DLCs. I am glad they are putting some more focus on the endgame content, as that is currently the area the game can grow the most. I am looking forward to where the game goes from here. Kate Bishop was a fantastic addition, and she was just the beginning.
Source: Twitch
It has been quite a wild ride when it comes to the upcoming Spider-Man 3 film. We had one casting rumor after another. So far, we have heard that Jamie Foxx, Alfred Molina, Andrew Garfield, and so many more are joining the cast. Just a few days ago, Willem Dafoe and Thomas Haden Church were also added to the list rounding out even more iconic characters from the franchise’s past to make a return. Not even the Netflix series was safe, as Charles V. broke the news on Daredevil actor Charlie Cox also making an appearance. It seemed at this point that the film wasn’t really about Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man, or would even include any of his main supporting cast. Luckily, Illuminerdi comes in with some news on MCU-based characters making a return. Hannibal Buress and Martin Starr will reprise their respective roles.
Some of the funniest moments in the films were from the teachers. Starr‘s Mr. Harrington dropped some of the best lines throughout both films, so I am glad to see him return. The character made his debut in 2018, as he had a brief appearance in The Incredible Hulk. Buress also lent his humor perfectly to his brief appearance in the first, so very curious to see if he also only has a minor role this time around.
Sadly, no mention of fellow teacher Julius Dell, who was played by J.B. Smoove. The actor got the role after his performance in the Audi commercial featuring Holland. We don’t know how they will fit into the film, but the best guess would that one of the action sequences takes place at their school. Mr. Harrington was also shown to be quite a kind soul, so I could see him try to keep Peter safe while he is on the run. Maybe Peter accidentally interrupts the teacher’s during a poker game while fleeing one of the million villains that are rumored to appear.
Source: Illuminerdi
The season finale of The Mandalorian has finally arrived. We finally uncover what the future holds for our favorite Mandalorian Din and Grogu. We had no idea what to expect as we entered the episode, but it certainly delivered on so many levels. Now, there was an interesting trend I’ve noticed while watching this episode that seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore as the season comes to an end.
As per usual, only continue reading at your own risk, as there will be some spoilers for the final episode of The Mandalorian‘s second season.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have started to explore an aspect that was overlooked throughout the films. A few episodes back, it was revealed that Gina Carano‘s Cara Dune is a survivor of Alderaan. At first, it seemed like a rather sudden reveal and opened the question of how exactly it ties into the over-arching story. Disney Investor’s Day revealed a new series called Rangers of the New Republic, which seemed set-up when she joined the Empire’s replacement. Now, the final episode in the second season builds on that moment, even if it is only brief. A team consisting of Din, Boba, and Cara try to get their hands on the clone scientist from the first season. Suddenly, one of his bodyguards, who is played by Agent of SHIELD‘s Thomas E. Sullivan, takes him as a hostage to get the upper hand. He starts mocking Cara for the destruction of Alderaan while pointing out how many have died in the death of the Deathstars.
This moment, while brief, once again humanizes those that work for the Empire. Last week’s episode had a strong focus on this, as we saw Troopers support Din and Bill Burr‘s Mayfeld, who were under disguise. We had this surprisingly humanizing moment as we saw a bunch of them celebrate their victory. They even visited a small cafeteria that just gave us a glimpse of their world. Yes, one of the commanders turned out to be pure evil, but that doesn’t mean there are still people behind those iconic uniforms. Some of them may look back at these events differently, just like Mayfeld did when he confronted the before-mentioned Commander.
The only drawback is that they are trying to create sympathy for the remnants of the Empire while having our heroes shoot them down in each episode. This juxtaposition becomes apparent in the season finale, as they have built up Moff Gideon as a pure villain. I am sad we don’t have a series from the perspective of a Storm Trooper. We have the perfect set-up as they started building some sympathy for the once so evil Empire. We don’t know if they are programmed or just regular recruits. The Dark Troopers’ existence may hint at these regular soldiers losing their autonomy at some point. In a way, these teases seem like a way to build-up a connection to Finn, who was a Storm Trooper for the First Order in The Force Awakens. As we have seen throughout the show’s run, they don’t let any stone unturned as they continue the tale of Din Djarin.
Just a month ago, it got revealed that a spin-off focusing on bounty hunter Boba Fett was in development. All we knew is that it had already seemed to enter production, so they had some major plans for the project. A while back, there were plans for an entire film focused on Boba Fett with Josh Trank attached. Yet, after the reception and troubled production of Fantastic Four, it got swiftly canceled, and we didn’t know if they would revisit the bounty hunter’s story ever again. Well, that was until his return in The Mandalorian. It was what fans were waiting for, as the show finally explored the character’s overall place in the galaxy with his background as a clone. We even got some badass action sequences to showcase his abilities. Now, the only question remained, when could we expect the spin-off, and how would it fit in the overall Star Wars timeline.
There are major spoilers for the latest episode of The Mandalorian in the rest of this article. Only continue at your own risk, or watch the latest episode before continuing.
So, now that was quite the season finale. The biggest surprise came at the end of the episode, as it had a post-credit sequence teasing the spin-off. It is now confirmed to be titled The Book of Boba Fett, which will premiere in December 2021. Now, the interesting thing is that The Mandalorian‘s third season was a plan to release that same month. We also didn’t get a unique title card for Boba’s spin-off, which almost hints at the upcoming third season focused on Boba rather than Din. That doesn’t make sense, especially how much this episode highlighted that Fett isn’t technically a Mandalorian. His father was a foundling, but it seems that Bo-Katan disagrees with him having any connection.
The Mandalorian‘s third season also entered production under the working title Buccaneer. The production title doesn’t seem to line-up with the tease from the post-credit sequence. So, it might be its show after all. Din’s story isn’t over, especially with him wielding the Darksaber after defeating Moff Gideon. So, I believe that Boba Fett will release early December and lead into the third season of Din’s story. Whatever they have planned, we’ll have plenty of Star Wars to look forward to.
Source: IGN, DisInsider
Disney’s Investors Day has unveiled a variety of brand new shows. Among them, we got the unveiling of an adaptation of Armor Wars. After Tony’s death during the events of Avengers: Endgame, it seems that his technology was still being shared across the world. Now, it is up to Rhodey in his War Machine suit to make things right. Now, the only question is how exactly they will tackle this iconic story without the hero that defined it. Well, Spider-Man: Far From Home kind of kicked off the question if there is a necessity for a new “Iron Man”. Peter learned the importance of growing into his own as Spider-Man, taking the lessons he learned from Tony but not letting them define him. In a way, Armor Wars may carry that message forward to the rest of the world.
We have no idea what exactly this story is going to explore. The original storyline ran from 1987 to 1988 over seven issues. David Michelinie and Bob Layton developed a story about Tony’s technology getting stolen by his worse enemies. Justin Hammer, who many might remember from Iron Man 2, enlisted Spymaster to steal his technology and create brand new armor designs. Iron Man starts a war with many armored villains to ensure no one can use his technology. Even SHIELD created an armored unit called Mandroid’s, which certainly didn’t leave a great impression on Tony. He also comes into conflict with Jack Taggart, also known as Firepower. We met this character in Iron Man 3, who exploded due to an overdose of Extremis at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
There aren’t many players left to flesh out the original storyline. SHIELD hasn’t been around in the mainline MCU since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Taggart blew up in the last solo film for the character. So, only Hammer remains, who was last seen in the short All Hail The King. It wouldn’t be a surprise he has already left prison and restart his company as the primary weapon’s dealer, as Stark Tech is still exploring other markets. Now, I believe he will have a new partner that helps him rebuild Hammer Industries, the son of Obediah Stane, Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, or Zeke as everyone calls him, is pretty much the MCU’s Mark Zuckerberg. He is a young entrepreneur, just started his company straight out of college. Even with his father’s legacy, many did not expect his sudden rise in popularity and fortune. He would never give away his secret, but he seemed oddly fascinated with entering the weapon’s market. After reviving Hammer Industries, he suddenly introduces the world to a brand new type of armor, something familiar. He says it is to keep Tony’s legacy alive, but Rhodey knows something is up. Suddenly, various armored criminals are starting to cause havoc across the world, and War Machine is forced into action to ensure they do not stain what was left behind by his best friend.
Along the way, he runs into Riri Williams, who he believed to have also stolen Stark Tech to build her Ironheart armor. She unveils that it is her technology, so he takes her under his wing to ensure her safety as an onslaught of these tech-based villains is after her. They seem to be gathering all kinds of technology for some reason. Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Beetle, Spymaster, and many more seem to be popping out of the woodwork. The armors keep regenerating with nanotech, so they keep regenerating. It also seems their pilots have the Extremis equipped, as their limbs grow back instantly. After a long battle, Rhodey and Riri finally won. They can pry open one of the armors only to realize they have been empty all this time. It wasn’t the Extremis healing them. The whole thing was just a ruse. Each and everyone was fake. At that moment, a familiar voice starts to echo out of the armor’s speakers.
Ezekiel wasn’t the wunderkind we all assumed he was. He wasn’t able to carry on his father’s legacy. Well, that was until he found a discarded piece of armor still containing the remnants of Ultron. Together, they started to find a way to get their revenge on Tony even after his death. They would use his armor tech, which was ingrained into Ultron, to undo everything Stark Tech has done. To besmirch his legacy, they revived the House Party Protocol from Iron Man 3, which was still active on suits that Tony constructed as a way to cope with the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Luckily, Rhodey realized that they are still connected to the Clean Slate Protocol, but Ultron took control over his armor.
However, Riri’s armor was the only one not connected to Stark Tech, which meant she was unaffected. As such, she was their only hope to activate the protocol before Ultron could enable his Imperative. He wasn’t there to help Zeke. Ultron just used him to enact his plans of a metallic future, but he underestimated that someone would be able to keep up with Tony’s tech. In a way, he underestimated the next generation that would continue the legacy in their way. Rhodey finally can take a break and decides to support Riri in forging her path.
Crystal Dynamics teased an update that will be made available as they continue working on the AIM Cloning Labs. We first heard about during last Friday’s dev stream on Twitch. Sadly, as per usual, they were very coy on what exactly it could end up being. Luckily, it seems data miner @mmmmmmmiller has once again found a way to access the system and share a rather interesting audio file. It confirms that something that got teased a while back might be finally nearing its release. The file includes a brand new voice over by Hank Pym, who seems rather frustrated on the appearance of a brand new clone, who might be familiar to those that finished the Reassemble storyline.
The battle against MODOK was probably one of the best aspects of the story. It gave us our first real tease of multi-layered boss battles. Crystal Dynamics did confirm they are working to bring back the boss fight in a future update and going by the audio, we will be facing his clone. The cloning concept allows the developers to reintroduce their main villains as often as they want without worrying them even appearing multiple times. That is even the whole point of the Cloning Labs. At the end of the main campaign, we did see him fall out of the Kree Sentry, which did hint at him returning in the future.
He may have a role in a future storyline while the clone keeps us busy playing with our friends. I wonder if his mission is part of the upcoming Hawkeye DLC, or we could see a bigger launch of the missing multiplayer missions in January. We have been waiting for the Cloning Labs since the launch. So we are getting quite antsy about its release. Right now, the game needs more multiplayer content to keep people returning.
Ever get that feeling of déjà-vu? Well, some have that fear with Marvel’s Avengers’ current DLC plans. There have been many reveals to their decision to kick-off their long-term DLC plans with two archers back-to-back. There was the question of how they would make them unique enough to distinguish their playstyles. Well, our first deep dive on Kate Bishop revealed she has a unique ability based on Quantum technology she stole from AIM. It added a great flair and visual design to make her stand-out, but it did open one question, will they do something similar to Hawkeye?
If you haven’t finished Marvel’s Avengers Taking AIM storyline and want to remain spoiler-free, only continue at your own risk.
Hawkeye is pretty much the original archer, so there is no necessity to add any unique abilities. Yet, the Taking AIM storyline ends on a note that may set-up a potential for Clint Barton to stand-out. His return to the game’s main timeline came at a cost, as he suddenly started to distort. We see him shifting what may be between different times after visiting the future, which will be the focus for his DLC. You can even still find him in his bed trying to recover, as we all wait for the DLC to release in early 2021. Until then, we can only speculate which effect the Time Gate has on the ex-Avenger.
There is a chance that Clint might suffer through the effects of his time on the other side of the Time Gate. To save his life, Tony and Bruce might try to develop a way to contain the Tachyon energy that is most likely causing his distortion. It may not just act as a cure, but he might also use it to his advantage. Clint can harness the Tachyon energy to alter time in small doses, such as returning to an earlier point in time similar to Overwatch‘s Tracer.
It would offer a unique approach to Clint’s repertoire, as Kate is more focused on getting around fast with her Quantum-based abilities. So, to make her former mentor stand out, he is more focused on laying down traps and keeping his distance. The rewind is the perfect opportunity to set an explosive before bowing out and raining down arrows to ensure it takes everyone out. He could even have a unique arrow, which can stop an enemy from being able to move. They get trapped at that moment in time so a group can stack damage before they are unfrozen and receive it all at once. It would be quite a helpful ability when facing challenging bosses, especially Future Imperfect‘s Maestro.
The ability could support a unique build, and it would make sense from a story perspective. The Avengers also have scientist Lyle Getz, who can unwillingly help them develop the technology to harness Tachyon energy. What also supports this theory is that Hawkeye’s iconic darker shade of purple seems to be a similar color to that is used with Tachyon Rifts. It may just be a coincidence, but it is an interesting visual parallel. In a way, Clint is such an established character that he does not necessarily require an energy-based ability of any kind, but the set-up seems too perfect to add that little something special to make him stand-out from his protégé.
So, yesterday I was trying to figure out who the strange Beekeeper might be in the latest WandaVision trailer. There I stated that I believe the main antagonist might end up being Mephisto. So far, we haven’t explored the character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also has much potential connection to other franchises, such as his cameo in Loki‘s trailer. There, we can see a devil-like person in a stained-glass window in the background. So, it seemed like a good guess that these shows might be connected. Yet, it started to make me wonder if he’ll have a major role throughout the series.
To some degree, I think Nightmare and Mephisto will become one character. He might serve as the primary antagonist in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Now, he may also jump from this film into another, the still-untitled Spider-Man 3. Now, why is it noteworthy connecting Spider-Man with Mephisto? Most might have already realized it the moment the webhead was mentioned, as he was featured in the storyline One More Day. It is one of the most unpopular stories told in comic history, but the set-up might already exist for it.
Now, they won’t be adapting the story one-for-one. WandaVision seems inspired by multiple storylines, such as House of M, Vision, and the Scarlet Witch, as well as the suburban storyline of Vision. So, One More Day may play a small part in the story. Plus, the whole point of the original was that Mephisto made a deal with Peter. He took off his mask in front of the world during the Civil War storyline. It ended up getting Aunt May shot in the process. It came at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane. MJ also makes sure that Peter’s identity would remain a secret. Now, I believe if they adapt aspects of One More Day, they will only focus on two things: his secret identity and a deal with the devil.
So, how would the story come together? Mephisto was free the moments the Infinity Stones got destroyed by Thanos. Without a body and waiting for those that inherited their powers to return, he remained in hiding. Now that Wanda was brought back through the Blip, he was able to enact his plan. She inherited the abilities of the Mind Stone, so she would also be connected to her other half, Vision. He manipulates her, which leads to the events of WandaVision. He manages to regain a physical body and his strength, so he enacts his plan. He aims to let horrors from the multiverse infiltrate the mainline universe, which ends up as the main plot for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Yet, his actions also create a Spider-Verse event that forces Peter to face an onslaught of enemies from different universes.
Peter reaches his breaking point. After having faced various enemies, he ends up coming across Mephisto. So, in his desperation for a normal life, he made a deal with the devil. He wakes up in his bed. Aunt May and Ned are all here, but something feels off. The radio talks about incidents that he can’t seem to recall. Spider-Man is still called a menace by J. Jonah Jameson, but no one mentions his real name anymore. He comes to realize that no one has ever heard of Tony Stark or the Avengers. The deal he made came at a price. He was in a completely different universe that was similar to his own. Now, he either had to accept his new reality or try to find a way back to the place he once called home. The movie ends with a fitting title: Spider-Man: Home One Day.
A while back, we got the announcement that Lovecraft Country‘s Jonathan Majors was cast as Kang the Conqueror. Now, the interesting thing was that he was set to appear in Ant-Man & the Wasp sequel, which now has the subtitle Quantumania. It was a bit strange that they announced his casting this early, which had many people speculate if he may show up early on. Well, it looks like our theories might’ve been right as the latest podcast @PostCredPod featuring DisInsider’s EIC Skyler Shuler may have confirmed he will show up in the upcoming Disney+ show Loki.
His potential appearance makes absolute sense with the Time Variance Authority’s heavy involvement. We’ve seen some visuals that already led to a theory that he may have some kind of role in their foundation, which you can check out here. Loki might only introduce the character, so we shouldn’t expect him to appear in multiple episodes anytime soon. We just recently also heard rumblings of Jaimie Alexander‘s Sif returning in the upcoming show, so it’ll be interesting to see who else might show up throughout the show’s series.
The recent trailer gave us an overall better glimpse of the Disney+ show’s story. We will see Loki mess around throughout history while working together with the TVA. The first trailer alone promises a visual spectacle that will dive into some aspect of the multiverse. So, the series builds upon the multiversal throughline in Phase 4 and could even have some influence over the events. After the Avengers played around with time in Endgame, he might be here to correct what they may have screwed up.
Source: Twitter
