It has been a wild ride getting to this point. For months, the game studio WB Games Montreal has been teasing a project. They started releasing cryptic messages on their Twitter profile. It always included the title “Capture the Knight” which pretty much confirmed for most that it would end up being a Batman game. It was the same studio that brought us Batman: Arkham Origins, so it seemed like a shoo-in for them to work on the latest title. Now finally, we got the confirmation that they will reveal their game at the upcoming DC FanDome event. It’s one of the earliest announcements in the publicly released schedule and will put quite the spotlight on the event.
We have been waiting for a new entry in the Batman Arkham franchise since the release of Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015. Now, rumors even seem to be supporting that they will drop the Arkham title. It is a smart decision, as it was a bit restricting in how they approach their stories. This move would give them the freedom they need to tell any story they want to without having to fall back on some Arkham connections.
It has been quite the build-up to this reveal and it is great to have actual confirmation. We will finally find out what they have been working on. There were rumors of a complete reboot to focus on Batman. At one point, they were working on a version that focused on Damian carrying on the mantle. Suddenly, it was a story featuring the entire Bat-family trying to keep a turf war at bay. Whatever it ends up being, this is exciting and cannot wait to see what the game will look like. Alongside the reveal of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, there is some amazing game reveals at the event.
As we were nearing the release of DC FanDome, we got the surprise announcement of a Suicide Squad-focused game by Rocksteady. It has been five years since their last game Batman: Arkham Knight was released. There have been quite a few rumors what they might be working on. A major one revolved around a Superman game that got rejected by Warner Bros. There were even discussions that they might be creating a game focused on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It wasn’t until a tweet earlier this month that they finally revealed they are working on a Suicide Squad game with a poster featuring Superman, as a cute wink and nod to the rumors.
Some thought it might be a little confusing, as the Suicide Squad gmae isn’t a tie-in to the upcoming James Gunn film titled The Suicide Squad. With the release of the official DC FanDome schedule, we now finally got the actual title for the game, which is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This pretty much confirms that it won’t just be a hunt for Superman. We will have to take down the various members of the Justice League, which already sounds quite daunting. Supposedly, this also takes place in the same universe as the Arkham games, so we also might see the return of Batman. It is unsure at what point it takes place. There was a post-credit sequence at the end of Batman: Arkham Origins that introduced Amanda Waller recruiting Deathstroke. So, there is a good chance he will be a part of the main roster. Here’s hoping we get a trailer at DC FanDome and a confirmation for the playable roster. Personally, I would love to have different segments for various characters, like underwater sections as King Shark, or sniper missions for Deathstroke.
We are only a week away from the biggest nerd event of the year, DC FanDome. DC is ready to give the world an insight into their upcoming projects. Many were speculating how big this digital event could end up being. We knew that many major film projects were getting a spotlight. This included Wonder Woman 1984, Black Adam, and The Suicide Squad. Then suddenly, Rocksteady finally revealed their next project Suicide Squad will also be featured in a tweet.
There were also the rumors of the latest Batman Arkham game getting revealed after constant delays. These rumors don’t even include the comic-side of things that may be included. Well, we now finally got the official schedule and it is filled to the brim. Here is the overview of the main panels titled Hall of Heroes
1.00 pm ET – Wonder Woman 1984,
1.30 pm ET – Warner Bros. Games Montreal Anouncement
1.45 pm ET – The Sandman Universe: Enter the Dreaming
2.15 pm ET – Multiverse 101
2.45 pm ET – Introducing Flash
3.00 pm ET – The Suicide Squad
3.45 pm ET – BAWSE Females of Color Within the DC Universe
4.15 pm ET – Legacy of the Bat
4.45 pm ET – Jim Lee Portfolio Review
4.45 pm ET – Surprise DC Comics Panel
5.45 pm ET – The Snyder Cut of Justice League
6.00 pm ET – Black Adam
6.45 pm ET – To Be Announced
7.00 pm ET – Aquaman
7.30 pm ET – SHAZAM! Panel
8.00 pm ET – Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
9.30 pm ET – The Batman
These are just some of the largest panels included, as the event is split up in different event types. There are the Halls of Heroes, WatchVerse, KidsVerse, YouVerse, FunVerse, and InsiderVerse. For example, WatchVerse features a lot of panels focusing on TV shows. Each one offers a unique experience and highlights how massive this event really is. Looking at the main panel above, a lot of the major announced films will get some spotlight. There is a high chance we get a trailer for The Suicide Squad and maybe some small snippets from those that are still in production.
One standout is the finally confirmed reveal of Warner Bros. Montreal’s upcoming game, which is most likely the rumored latest entry in the Batman Arkham franchise. Also, the Rocksteady game is finally given its complete title with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. That one panel titled “To Be Announced” will probably be the one with the most speculation. We do not know if this is for comics, video games, movies or all of them combined. Cannot wait to see what DC has in store for us with this massive event.
Not too long ago, I tried to sleuth what characters would be released as DLC for the upcoming Square-Enix Avengers game. A data leak from the pre-release Beta included a listing for clone characters, like Kate Bishop and War Machine. As the latter appeared in a Lego set that leaked in April, it seemed like these leaks confirmed some new additions. It also retroactively confirmed that Captain Marvel and Black Panther as the last two DLC characters. They would be joining the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man and Hawkeye. Well, now it looks like there is more to this story. A recent update on the Beta gave the original leaker, who goes by “6plus4equals52” another chance to dive deeper into the code. This not only confirms one more DLC addition but adds some interesting tidbits to the game’s coding.Let’s start with what stands out the most. Last entries additions are still included in this list with War Machine, Kate Bishop, and She-Hulk. The biggest reveal is the confirmation that Captain Marvel will be added as a DLC character, as she is also attributed a Hero Card. Sadly, still no sign of Black Panther but this does give more credence to the Lego set including all playable characters.
[
“name”:“AV1_HeroCard_CaptainMarvel”,
“attributes”:[
“Rarity”:“Common”,
“Description”:“Captain Marvel hero card”
]
]
We also get our first look at Spider-Man in this code. He is included with his civilian name Peter Parker. This is important, as it follows the same formula that Hawkeye has. As there are multiple characters that carried this mantle, they are included with their given name to add a distinction. This also confirms that there are plans to include other versions of Spider-Man. Most likely, there are already plans to include Miles Morales in the game to coincide with the upcoming spin-off for PlayStation 5.
[
“name”:“AV1_HeroCard_PeterParker”,
“attributes”:[
“Rarity”:“Common”,
“Description”:“Peter Parker hero card”
]
]
The drawback of the last leak is that it only had these “HeroCard” elements named. At the time, it only included the addition of Clint and the clone characters. The dead giveaway that these Hero Cards aren’t just profile banners, but actual playable characters, was that a War Machine emote was also included in the leak. This helped make the connection with the Lego sets to confirm these additions. The latest leak also includes two ways to confirm they are also playable characters. First of all, the naming for the player cards within the code is confirmed as such. This highlights that the Hero Cards are in fact character-specific season passes.
[
“name”:“PlayerInfoCard_Thor_048”,
“attributes”:[
“Rarity”:“Uncommon”,
“Description”:“Cosmetic Player Card”
]
],
In addition, every playable character has one consistent element. They always include one “HeroCard” and a “HeroToken” element. These tokens also include the naming “AvengersCoins”. It is unclear what exactly these could be. My best guess would be that these are the symbols of the characters that are used heavily in the promotion. They even visually are showcased like coins, so they could have some significance in the game as a collectible confirming they have been unlocked. If the clone characters also have their own versions, they might be slight variations to still distinguish between them.This leak includes multiple emotes that differ from the rest. Each existing playable character has the emote structure “AV#_Emote_Character_#” while War Machine’s naming is longer and includes different categories. These include celebration, social, intro, or victory. All of them are the rarity of “Legendary” and just have a placeholder description. This is rather strange, as characters like Thor, Iron Man, or Kamala all follow the same structure. There is a good chance that they just added placeholders to update once the character is finalized. Yet, there are no emotes added for Clint or Peter Parker as the only confirmed DLC characters.This opens up a very interesting can of worms. If we go by what is available, this would point out to War Machine being the first available character post-launch. Now, if we follow the logic of what was stated in the reveal for Hawkeye, he will be the first official DLC character. This could mean that War Machine and She-Hulk might already be available through playing the main story missions. It would make for a great surprise while playing the game to get access to variations of the main heroes with their own unique abilities.There is just one thing going against this theory. If that were the case, She-Hulk would also have some emotes available in the Beta code. It would at least hint at her being further down in development. Most of these codes seem like placeholders, as they are in some step of development. There is a good chance that they are added as unlockable characters in the expansion of the story missions. They already titled a sequel to the main storyline as Avengers Initiative in the July War Table. The clone characters are probably easier to program so they can keep a consistent output post-launch. This way they can avoid long wait times between full-fledged DLC characters.Just an interesting addition. While playing the Beta, you tend to recycle through two or three different takedown actions. At one point, these would get rather tiring to watch consistently. Luckily, it seems that one can actually purchase or unlock up to five different takedowns in the game. This is a great sign that base characters won’t be left behind as some DLC characters are added throughout the game.
[
“name”:“Marketplace_TD_CA_002”,
“attributes”:[
“Description”:“Takedown Unlock – Captain America 05”
]
]
This has become quite an interesting hunt, as we are about to enter the second Beta weekend. We still don’t know if an August War Table event is planned before the upcoming release. My guess would be after the upcoming early Beta that includes other consoles for a better summary of performance issues. They could use this opportunity to include player feedback, early plans after the launch, and build up some hype for the official launch of Avengers. Hopefully, we will also get more opportunities to uncover what secrets the code has in store for us in the future. Until next time future Avengers!Source: Reddit
One of the first films to start production again during the quarantine was Jurassic World: Dominion. They even had to deny any rumors that production had to shortly stop due to COVID-19 concerns to ensure that everything was running smoothly. In a NY Times article, they revealed that Hollywood is nervously keeping a close look at the production to ensure that their upcoming productions will remain safe with the appropriate quarantine measures. Luckily, this also means they shared some exclusive images from behind-the-scenes that may hint at what we can expect from the upcoming film.
To start off, let’s talk about the rather in-depth article about the production measures. They went all out to ensure the safety of their crew. They created tents with infrared temperature scanners to ensure that everyone involved is healthy. They’ve split up their crew into different categories to keep personnel count as low as necessary. No wonder this could become a template for future productions. Bryce Dallas Howard compared it to a closed set, which is commonly used for intimate sequences and is a practice used for some time now. This will become the benchmark for other productions.
Now, let’s get back to the dinosaurs. The set pieces don’t show too much outside of people entering a forest and a box filled with small dinosaurs. These could be Lost World: Jurassic Park‘s Compsognathus going by their size. The cage they are in is the more interesting tidbit. At the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the dinosaurs were set free on American soil. This ending echoed that of Jurassic Park 3, where Pterodactyls were flying off into the sunset. Alongside a dramatic title drop by Jeff Goldblum, it meant that they were now roaming the world once again. So, the natural evolution would be for an elite team to hunt down these dinosaurs to minimize casualties. Here’s hoping they lean into the horror elements once again as they did in Fallen Kingdom. I’ll be honest, I am mostly looking forward to the moment they have to get the giant Mosasauras out of the ocean.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has come to an end with its seventh season. Our team of misfits had their final confrontation with an alien race of sentient robots called the Chronicoms. The last season was a wild ride featuring time travel, outer-space ship battles, and super-powered fights. In an interview with the A.V. Club, showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell and Jed Whedon revealed some plans that had to be scrapped before starting production. The most significant detail was that they were planning on featuring MODOK as the central villain but weren’t allowed to by Marvel Studios. Here a quote by Jeffrey Bell:
We had a lot of ideas where we were—and I’ll say this, I don’t care—we were given the green light originally to use certain characters from Marvel, and started to break story based on those characters—[Coughs.] MODOK—and then they retracted it. So there were a bunch of things that were going to get a little batshit crazy that were above our pay grade, in terms of the toys we were allowed to play with.
This opens up the question, why weren’t they allowed to use MODOK? He has seen growing popularity, especially with the reveal as the main villain in the upcoming Avengers game by Square-Enix. The most likely reason may be connected to the rumors surrounding Ant-Man 3. Back in April, a rumor started that suggested that he was part of a previous draft of the film. They may still have some plans for the character, especially with AIM already existing in this universe since Iron Man 3. A villain that is just a giant head also seems like a good fit for a more comedy-driven franchise like Ant-Man. A character like MODOK would make for an interesting addition to the franchise and it would’ve been strange to force him into the final season without AIM lurking around. His role was most likely taken over by the Chonicom Sibyl. She acted as the mastermind behind the race, so he may have taken on that role. Still, MODOK joining the larger MCU is a fun prospect and can’t wait to see what plans they have with him. Hopefully, they will balance his ridiculous design and more vicious nature.
Connecting Imaginary Dots are pieces we write here that allow us to be what we all truly are: fans. These should not be taken as scoops, exclusives or facts; just speculation about the things for which we all share a great passion.
Lately, I’ve been kind of trapped on memory lane. I have been revisiting a lot of shows that I spent most of my youth with. Among them was the spandex-wearing superhero team Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Did you know it’s still been running for 27 seasons? Soon the show will continue with its latest season Power Rangers: Dino Fury on Nickelodeon. The franchise has had quite a history. Disney once purchased the series from its original owner Saban. At one point, they bought the rights back to kick start a new era only to sell it to Hasbro a few years later. Now, the future seems uncertain for the franchise. It’s 2017 film bombed at the box office and rumors have it that Hasbro won’t continue the contract with Toei that started the franchise. Fans fear that Dino Fury may be the end of the franchise’s TV run, as Hasbro starts focusing on other ventures.
We know little of what will happen. There has been no official statement regarding the Toei deal. Dino Fury has not aired yet. Power Rangers has been getting more focus from a mature audience, especially with the success of their BOOM Studios comics. This focused on an alternative timeline of the original Mighty Morphin team but the Green Ranger, Tommy, remains evil. It was such a success, the storyline was added as a selling point to the Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid game. The company is no stranger to offering some more mature stories to their audience. Their latest Netflix show Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy SIEGE certainly proves that they aren’t shy of embracing their nostalgia audience.
As such, we may see a stronger embrace of the original Mighty Morphin era. The first proof of this comes in a reveal surrounding the upcoming film reboot. Jonathan Entwistle, the mind behind the dark comedy The End of the F—ing World, is in early negotiations to explore a time-traveling team of teenagers with attitude. The film is to take inspiration from Back to the Future and will see a team of new Rangers end up in the 1990s. That just so happens to be the era that the original Mighty Morphin started. Time travel is also nothing new to this crazy franchise that has multiple different Ranger police forces, time travel agents, and dimension-hopping. What makes it stand out the most, is that its rumored to take place within the actual TV shows timelines. This is where the fun beings and let us see how that would work.
History of Power Rangers
No worries, I won’t recount the entire 28-year history of Power Rangers. My own experience pretty much ended around Power Rangers In Space. Yet, realizing how many seasons there have been, I started exploring what these various seasons have done to continue the franchise’s mythology. After In Space, they started going down a route that each season is a unique story instead of an evolving story. There wasn’t a revolving door of characters switching out with other Rangers. Instead, they started from scratch with a unique villain. It was great to add diversity to the show but it also made it quite confusing for continuity. Every season had to reinvent the mythology but also had to include a callback to a previous one. tTe only connecting element is the morphing grid, the source of their abilities to transform.
To make things easier, let’s focus on Power Rangers that might play an important role in a time-traveling story.
Mighty Morphin will most likely get the most focus. They are the initial team that kickstarted the franchise and the ones getting most of the attention in other media. This season introduced us to the most iconic character in the franchise, Jason David Frank‘s Tommy Oliver. He started as an evil Green Ranger who would eventually become a mainstay to this day. He is also the focus of the Shattered Grid storyline, where he becomes the evil Lord Drakkon.
Lightspeed Rescue focuses on a government organization of the same name. Their job is to protect the earth from demons that want to destroy the fictional city Mariner Bay. The rangers are civilians recruited due to their areas of expertise, may it be lifeguard or firefighter. No worries, it doesn’t make sense to me either.
S.P.D. or Space Patrol Delta features the year 2025 where the earth has become a haven for aliens. The Rangers are a galactic police force makings sure that peace remains between the races from outside forces.
Time Force is the obvious choice. This season introduced us to a group of Rangers from the year 3000 that return to the past to ensure the timeline remains safe.
Hyper Force is set 16 years after Time Force. It features a team of cadets of the Time Force Academy. This is a special addition to the franchise as a tabletop RPG that takes place within the franchise’s canon. It features a variety of actual Ranger actors, including Time Force’s Erin Cahill, who played Jen Scotts.
Why am I naming these various teams? Well, the reason lies in the rumors surrounding the film. It states that while they will be mainly traveling back to the 90s, they will encounter a variety of different Rangers in their travels. Naturally, you can only spend so much time with a limited runtime. This isn’t a 40 episode season where you can take your time to fully explore each era. So, the easiest way to not waste too much time is to include Rangers whose mythology could be interconnected.
Back to the Past
So, how could they set-up an entire film that remains true to the history of Power Rangers but lets a new team take center stage? As mentioned previously, Time Force already focuses on a team that has this ability. As we learn in Power Rangers: Hyper Force, a Time Force Academy was founded to give young cadets the chance to become Rangers. A group of young cadets finds themselves at the museum of Ranger history. There stands the original time travel machine, which led to the foundation of the organization. Suddenly, alongside their mentor, they get sucked into the timestream back to the 90s.
Luckily, their mentor managed to grab test versions of new Morphers that could help her cadets remain safe. These were initially meant to be a gift for their official first training after they learned their history lesson. Out of nowhere, they get attacked by strange grey looking monsters. After morphing and defeating them, they run into the original Mighty Morphin team. Trying to figure out what happened, they start to realize that it wasn’t a malfunction but someone trying to return to the past. They seek out the machine that joined them on their journey to return to their time. After a fierce battle, they do manage to activate it and go forward in time. The only thing is, they didn’t go all the way back home and end up in the Lightspeed Rescue era. They learn how the Rangers went public at the end of In Space and became an important part of keeping the earth safe. Maybe they even get to see aged versions of the original Mighty Morphin team.
As they support the team of that time, the villainous plan starts to unravel. Their machine is being influenced by someone, who is targeting specific eras in Ranger history. It seems he is trying to make sure that they find an early end. The shadowy figure always seems a few steps ahead, as they seem to be targeting someone throughout the timelines. This new team manages to support the Lightspeed team of that era to stay intact and keep the peace. One more time jump sends them to the time S.P.D. was just starting, where they start to realize what is happening. Each era they have visited influenced the next. The small team of Lightspeed started to expand into what would one day be known as S.P.D. in 2025. Their next evolution step would be Time Force by the year 3000. Whoever was forcing these travels through time knew about the technology and was trying to make sure the Rangers of their era never form.
Expanding the Ranger-Verse
After chasing down the villain, they uncover that it was none other than Jen Scotts from further down their timeline. At that moment they realized it wasn’t the actual Rangers of that era she was targeting but rather one singular person. Her goal was to take out Tommy Oliver, someone they’ve been seeing throughout their journey. Scotts starts telling the story of how she fought an evil version of him in an alternate dimension called Lord Drakkon. She feared that there was just a slight chance he may have been affected in her timeline. Her paranoia led to the belief that he might have been building up an army and finding a way to keep himself alive even into the year 3000. As such, she made it her mission to stop him before he even gets a chance, but she was only able to travel for a certain amount of time. So, she tried to use the original machine to go further back in time to accomplish her plan.
She didn’t calculate on the fact that others would be dragged into her plan. They managed to keep the original timeline alive and Tommy got to live his life. During the era of S.P.D., they visit him to have her lose those fears. They are greeted by a friendly former Ranger, who had given up that life long ago. At that moment, Jen finally found peace and they were able to travel back to their time. Little did they know, something else was brewing and this new team might be facing a darker future than they expect once they return home. This film would help fans and newer viewers understand the world they are entering. It pays tribute to the original franchise while also exploring a completely new team of Rangers. The ending would then set-up a completely new storyline that isn’t bound by existing franchises. Unlike the 2017 version, they aren’t forced to go through what we are familiar with. They already visited different eras. So, now they can explore a completely new aspect of the franchise. Many fans want to see a live-action version of Shattered Grid. When a 2018 trailer for the comic run was released, it offered a small glance at the opportunity. It would be a waste not to explore it in a big-budget live-action film franchise.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a childhood classic for many. It’s three-season run left quite the impression on people. We entered a world full of people that could bend the elements to their whim. A diverse cast of characters gave us humor, drama, and plenty of action. The original creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko put a lot of love into this franchise. It was so popular that Nickelodeon continued with the sequel series The Legend of Korra and continued to tell the stories of the original’s through comics. Sadly, the translation to live action didn’t go as hoped. Director M. Night Shyamalan became infamous after he released his version back in 2010. Now, people were looking to Netflix to give fans the live-action adaptation they’ve been dreaming of. Even better, the original creators were given full reigns to create the series but sadly it seems as if some things aren’t meant to be.
On his personal blog, Michael DiMartino had announced that after two years of development, he and Bryan Konietzko are leaving the production. As such, they have backed down as showrunners for the series. He does not offer any significant details on what may have transpired but it seems to be due to creative differences. This is a heavy blow for the franchise, as many hoped that their vision would help keep this live-action version as close to the original as possible. Sadly, this isn’t uncalled for especially with the current climate. They do remain optimistic about the future of this adaptation, and after two years of investment, Netflix won’t just back away from it so easily. DiMartino also confirmed that he will continue his work in this universe, so the stories of Aang and Korra will continue. Now all eyes will be on Netflix and who they announce as the new showrunner for the show. Whoever it may be, they have some big shoes to fill.
Sadly, everything is still heavily delayed without any official update when we could expect the MCU’s first foray into Disney+. To build up some hype again, I watched the short documentary Expanding the Universe. It offered our first look at the future of Marvel Studios. While being mesmerized by the visuals to showcase the various shows, I was curious about some small statements about the shows. The short video gives us a brief rundown of last year’s SDCC panel. Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige invites the actors to the stage and talks about what you can expect from the shows. The segment on Hawkeye piqued my interest the most. A lot of focus since the event was set on the inspiration from Matt Fraction‘s amazing run and the introduction of Kate Bishop. What I somehow managed to forget was that Feige points out that we will explore Clint’s time as Ronin. It’s an interesting aspect of the character that wasn’t fully explored in Avengers: Endgame so it made sense to include. Yet, how does it connect to the strong focus set with the introduction of Kate Bishop? Let’s start connecting some of those imaginary dots on how the show may tackle this storyline.
What We Know So Far
Let’s start off with what we know from Avengers: Endgame. Hawkeye spent many years killing criminals after he lost his family to the snap. It wasn’t until Natasha found him in Japan that his violent rage found its end. We don’t get much in-universe explanation on where this persona came from. Going by the Japanese origins of the name, it would point to him having been active in Japan for quite some time. This would be supported by the Yakuza recognizing him instantly. He also seems to speak Japanese fluently but this could also be due to his training with SHIELD. This is all the information we get on Ronin, as he returns to his original mantle once he rejoins the Avengers. Naturally, there is an entire story to tell that offers us a glimpse into his past.
If we look at the comics for a minute, Clint is only the second person to hold the title of Ronin. The mantle was originally carried by Maya Lopez, who is also known as Echo and has close ties to Daredevil. In the comics, she was adopted by the Kingpin after he killed her small-time criminal father. She started off as a villain to Daredevil before turning over a new leaf. This character is noteworthy as a casting call was sent out for a character that closely resembles Echo. The only thing missing was which show she would make an appearance in. Now, looking at the character’s history, Hawkeye would be fitting through the Ronin connection. The casting states that she would be between 18 to 20, so it’s uncertain if she will be in a flashback or the present day. There is a chance that the upcoming Disney+ series might tell the story with two potential protégés.
Now, the question remains how she would fit into the overarching story that seems to focus on Kate Bishop. While we got some visuals showing both of them, we barely know anything about the show. The only info we have is that it will be heavily inspired by Fraction‘s run. Bishop has an interesting history in the comics. She grew up with an estranged father, who worked with a villain named El Matador. After being saved by the Avengers, she was impressed by Hawkeye because he didn’t have any powers. She became part of the Young Avengers and inofficially took over his mantle. At the time, Clint was dead so it wasn’t until his revival that she would officially receive it. So, she was operating as Hawkeye without his involvement for some time before the actual “passing of the torch” even started.
No Rest for the Archer
The clear goal of the Hawkeye series seems to focus on the passing of the torch. Let’s take the character’s comic origins and what we know to potentially put the story together. Clint Barton has tried to retire quite often throughout the MCU. All he wanted was a quiet life with his family on their farm. Somehow, destiny always arrived and pulled him back into the fold. So, the only way he can finally free himself of this responsibility is to pass it on to someone else. People wondered why they went the Kate Bishop route if we saw him training his oldest daughter how to use the bow. He most likely doesn’t want his daughter to go through this and keep her safe, especially after what happened in Endgame. So, he tries to at least break away from it one last time even if he knows that his luck will just get him dragged back in. To his dismay, he was exactly right about that.
Someone is using his Hawkeye moniker as a vigilante. As everyone assumes Clint is involved, he once again gets pulled back in when a small-time mafia starts attacking him. He gets his family to safety and has to briefly use an apartment to hide out in New York City. On a stakeout, he runs into the person using his moniker and the culprit that got him into this mess. Naturally, this turns out to be Kate Bishop, who wants to take over his mantle. He takes her under his wing, as they try to end the mafia’s career. They start to bond and he sees her as a daughter throughout the series. The tracksuit mafia starts getting taken down by a rival mafia throughout the series. This one is led by a young Maya Lopez under the guise of Ronin, who is the adoptive daughter of the local kingpin.
Echo from the Past
Clint sees the name as a call for him to repent. His killing spree as Ronin still haunts him to this day. To some extend, he always knew that someone would try to take their revenge on him. What unfolds, is a last-ditch effort for him to make up for his mistakes and maybe even save the young woman from this life of crime. His own past as an influence, he does his best to make things right. Yet, Lopez doesn’t wear the Ronin mask as a sign of revenge but admiration. Little did she know that it was Clint that wore the mask of the killer she admired.
There is, however, one person that is using his identity to take revenge. At least, that was the original plan. It was Kate’s father that was involved with one of Clint’s past mistakes. The mafia used her father’s warehouse as cover for their operations. Ronin killed them but was unable to save him. She blamed the man named Ronin for his death. Used her time to research carefully who he truly is before she stumbled upon his real identity. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to do it anymore once she got to know Clint. He ends up passing on the mantle of Hawkeye to her while also giving Maya a second lease on life. That way, she can strive to echo the things he wasn’t able to do. Something that would stick with her as she continues her own journey once she meets another devil vigilante Finally, Clint could return home to his family with the weight of the Avengers off of his shoulder.
Hawkeye’s Potential
This is just an idea of how they could be integrating the Ronin backstory into the overall narrative of Hawkeye. It would play on the concept of Hawkeye’s regret of his time as Ronin and the legacy it left behind. Through this, they can explore what it means to pass on the torch, especially when it happens without your direct influence. It would allow for a parallel between Kate and Maya, as two people affected by the same person’s actions. Ronin and Hawkeye are two sides of the same coin. This way, Clint is forced to face both versions of his past. Especially with Kate, he also comes to understand his imperfections.
There are other directions they could take this story. They could also go down the route that Kate and Maya are rivals trying to be picked as Clint’s successor. I also didn’t touch upon exploring the origin of Ronin, which could be a factor in the story. They could even make some connections between Hawkeye’s story and Daredevil to expand the mythology. If this story takes place in New York City, they could tease his existence without being forced to explore it. There are also rumors of Clint’s brother Trickshot making an appearance. Perhaps the Ronin character is connected to his time with the circus. Maybe they spent a lot of time in Japan before he was found by SHIELD. Speaking of, we don’t know if his history with the spy organization will also play a key factor in this story. Whatever they have planned, we can’t wait to see what direction they will take when it is released on Disney+.
Gaming will soon enter its new generation with the launch of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Some major IPs are being continued as flagship series to sell these consoles. Just recently, we got a major event showcasing the latest entry into the Halo franchise that would help sell the upcoming new Xbox. Halo: Infinite gave us our first good look at Master Chief in action while showcasing the hardware’s potential. At first, it seemed like the perfect showcase of what the console is capable of. That was until some took a closer look, and reactions ended up rather mixed. This was in large part due to the quality issue of the stream but it had some fans worried. Now, in a surprising announcement, the upcoming console seller was delayed until 2021 in a tweet from the official account.
343 Industries, the team behind the latest entry, decided to delay the release in large part due to the ongoing pandemic. It’s shocking to see, as it was going to be one of the launch titles for the new Xbox and help push its sales in the booming holiday business. Game sales have been up all year, so this was the perfect time to get these new consoles out. We still do not have an official release date or pricing. XBox Series X is still rumored to release in November but who knows if there are more delays to be expected.
No matter how one feels, this is a great decision by 343 to prioritize their employee’s health. There have been many discussions around the topic of crunch culture in the industry. Naughty Dog was already heavily criticized for its harsh over time with the release of The Last of Us 2. Nintendo, however, delayed Animal Crossing: New Horizons from its initial 2019 release date to avoid any health risks. Even if we have to wait a little longer, it is good to see these production companies setting their priorities and, in the end, it gives them more time to work on the game.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
This leak includes multiple emotes that differ from the rest. Each existing playable character has the emote structure “AV#_Emote_Character_#” while War Machine’s naming is longer and includes different categories. These include celebration, social, intro, or victory. All of them are the rarity of “Legendary” and just have a placeholder description. This is rather strange, as characters like Thor, Iron Man, or Kamala all follow the same structure. There is a good chance that they just added placeholders to update once the character is finalized. Yet, there are no emotes added for Clint or Peter Parker as the only confirmed DLC characters.This opens up a very interesting can of worms. If we go by what is available, this would point out to War Machine being the first available character post-launch. Now, if we follow the logic of what was stated in the reveal for Hawkeye, he will be the first official DLC character. This could mean that War Machine and She-Hulk might already be available through playing the main story missions. It would make for a great surprise while playing the game to get access to variations of the main heroes with their own unique abilities.
There is just one thing going against this theory. If that were the case, She-Hulk would also have some emotes available in the Beta code. It would at least hint at her being further down in development. Most of these codes seem like placeholders, as they are in some step of development. There is a good chance that they are added as unlockable characters in the expansion of the story missions. They already titled a sequel to the main storyline as Avengers Initiative in the July War Table. The clone characters are probably easier to program so they can keep a consistent output post-launch. This way they can avoid long wait times between full-fledged DLC characters.Just an interesting addition. While playing the Beta, you tend to recycle through two or three different takedown actions. At one point, these would get rather tiring to watch consistently. Luckily, it seems that one can actually purchase or unlock up to five different takedowns in the game. This is a great sign that base characters won’t be left behind as some DLC characters are added throughout the game.
