The amount of praise the Boba Fett character has received ever since his theatrical film debut in The Empire Strikes Back is matched only by the number of doubters who often ask what he has ever actually done (besides looking cool) to deserve such recognition. It’s certainly fair to admit that there just wasn’t much to the character in the original trilogy, but that was something that, fueled by the fan response to the character, would later be addressed in several prequel projects.
It ended up being through the prequels, where we met a young Boba still with his father Jango by his side, that the character was given enough background to allow audiences to fully grasp his role in the grand scheme of the Star Wars universe. Being the popular character that he was – and still is – he then went on to either being mentioned or even appearing in many other Star Wars properties, from comics to video games, from animated shows to novels, thus expanding his own story. But even if relevant details were added to it throughout, elements that made him play a more active role in the franchise as well as make him a more complex and therefore more interesting character, the bookend that Return of the Jedi represented to his life story would always be looming in the background.
Having him seemingly die in the final chapter of the original trilogy playing a standard (albeit very good) bounty hunter-type isn’t exactly allowing for much character growth throughout the years after having initially introduced him, as a child, in a very similar role. This meant that the character could never really escape his destiny of how he found himself when swallowed whole by a Sarlacc. That is up until The Mandalorian came along.
For the first time (?) Boba Fett’s future wasn’t set in stone. But even then we still saw a man trying to get back to his old ways, collecting his armor, his ship, and rebuilding his persona after being forgotten and left for dead on the sands of Tattoine. But now, having him return to the same planet where he was forgotten to take Jabba’s throne seems like the perfect occasion to finally start to deconstruct the character into what it perhaps was always meant to evolve into.
Being the one in charge will probably not live up to Boba Fett’s expectations. As with many things in life, when the chase is sometimes more gratifying than actually achieving one’s goal, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until Fett becomes disillusioned by the expectations of what a Tattoine crime lord is supposed to do and eventually become. His sense of honor and duty, both of which got a few glimpses of in The Mandalorian, will likely kick in as he moves to distance himself from everybody’s expectations of how he should behave in his newfound role. He already stated that, unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t torture and he does not plan to rule with fear; perhaps it’s also in his future to drop either the ‘crime’ or the ‘lord’ from the title he now holds. Either way, Fett is now free from all narrative shackles and can now break the mold of how everyone expected him to present himself.
Following Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land we now wait for the next six episodes as The Book of Boba Fett hopefully answers its most pressing question: Who is Boba Fett meant to become?
One of the biggest movies in the biggest film franchise of all time makes a lot of money.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was greeted with an enthusiasm from audiences all around the world that we probably haven’t seen since Avengers: Endgame. That led to it surpassing expectations in what regards its domestic debut. The incredible reviews it got, coupled with the passionate word of mouth, seems to hint at its box office tally continued growth at a steady rhythm in the coming weeks.
New characters addedto ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’
726 variants of Mephisto are set to debut on the Doctor Strange sequel that’s set to premiere next year. We’ll get Grumpy Mephisto, Sleepy Mephisto, Dopey, Sneezy, and several more. According to a trade report, the movie will be setting up the Multiverse as the MCU takes a deep dive into the concept, after only tip-toeing through it in the more recent projects.
Spider-M4n is a go
The worst best-kept secret in Hollywood outside of everything regarding Spider-Man: No Way Home has been finally made public. Spider-Man 4 is confirmed to be in active development over at Marvel Studios meaning the web-slinger will continue his cinematic journey alongside, should we say, much more likable, powerful and overall heroic characters. Hopefully, this fourth solo outing, that may or may not evolve into a new trilogy (it depends if fans finally start connecting with such an obnoxious and awkward character), will focus more on a struggling Parker as he leaves his vigilante days behind him and gets a real job for once.
Karate Kid spin-off² goes back to where it all started.
Xolo Maridueña is set to become the superhero his Cobra Kai days have shown he always had the potential to be. His debut in the upcoming Blue Beetle has now moved from being an HBO Max exclusive to a full-fledged theatrical release. Hopefully, this not only hints at a hopeful future in what the COVID-19 pandemic is concerned, with audiences back in theaters but at a worthy final product that’ll justify the push to the big screen where expectations are bound to increase. Now just cast Elisabeth Shue as La Dama.
‘Hawkeye’finale being an hour long screws even more healthy sleeping schedules.
This is a bit of news that will probably anger east-coast fans as next Thursday’s productivity might be at an all-time low. For everybody else, besides being cool that we’ll be having more minutes to enjoy, it seems to hint that Hawkeye might actually resolve most of its storylines. The plot twist will probably be that the show will use those extra minutes to develop a few more unresolved storylines and have the MCU never address them ever again.
Jim Mickle is set to adapt one of the best movies you haven’t watched yet.
There’s this guy working at Marvel Comics who, ever since starting at the company, has written some of the most absurdly awesome storylines ever put to paper this century. From Doctor Strange to the Silver Surfer, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Venom, there’s hardly a character he has touched that didn’t instantly become a must-read series. But before all of this he wrote God Country, over at Image Comics. His name is Donny Cates, and he is working on the adaptation that Legendary is putting together, alongside Jim Mickle. Mickle also adapted the iconic comic series Sweet Tooth for Netflix, a series that didn’t get enough attention as it probably was in the top 5 of comic book adaptations in 2021. Meaning he should be good at his job. So being, God Country is on the right path to become a huge disappointment as it seems to have nowhere to go but down, given the quality of the source material and the talent already attached to it.
With Episode 4 ‘Partners, Am I Right?’ Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye is now moving into its third act. Unlike previous episodes where we could find entire sequences taken straight out of the Matt Fraction and David Aja’sHawkeye comic run (introducing Lucky in episode 1, Clint and the Tracksuit Mafia in episode 2, the car chase and trick arrows in episode 3), these references were now a bit more subdued.
Flipping the script Going back to the trick arrows theme that we focused on last week, we got a reference showing us how, at times, the series has managed to flip the script on the comic run. There’s a small gag in issue #3 that starts off with Clint praising the qualities of his Boomerang Arrows. Kate, on the other hand, doesn’t really see the point or how they could ever come in handy on the field. Later on while facing the Tracksuit Mafia, who have a machine gun to Clint’s head, Kate is asked not to engage and to ditch the arrow she has pointed at the Bro who has Clint. She complies, shooting it way above the Mafia Bro’s head, only for the arrow to come back and hit him in the back of the head, thus saving Clint. ‘Boomerang Arrow. It comes back to you in the end.”
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
In the show that initial discussion goes the other way around. Boomerang Arrows aren’t a real thing but Kate kinda wishes they were. Clint, as Kate did in the comic run, doesn’t really see the appeal of having an arrow you shot coming back to bite you in the ass. Kate then mentions there might have a little bit of dodging involved. This might still be setting up a payoff down the line when a Boomerang Arrow is actually used in action but, for now, it serves as an example of how the series is approaching the Clint / Kate dynamic differently than the comic run. In the books, Kate was always the more level-headed of the two. Clint, a single guy living alone in NYC struggled to get his shit together and was often given crap about not doing the right thing. As we’ve been watching in the tv show, things are very differently portrayed.
This might be due to a number of factors with one being that, with the show being used to introduce Kate Bishop to the world, you still need to allow the character to have enough room to grow in upcoming projects. There would be no point in presenting Kate in the place you want her to be in five years from now. Just think of the amount of development you’d have to skip over. At the same time, the series, unlike the comic run, had to deal with preestablished Clint Barton’s background, both in terms of his family life and his past avenging. Even if the comic approach of making the young protégé being the sane one was a welcomed one, both the past and future of the MCU strongly benefit from approaching the Barton / Bishop relationship the way the show does.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 4
LARPers helping out In a pretty good self-aware and self-deprecating bit of storytelling, we got introduced to the LARPers in episode 2, ‘Hide and Seek’. Episode four brought them back in a more active role, making them a part of Clint and Kate’s.. guild? If there’s one thing that the Tracksuit Mafia has over our heroes is strength in numbers and the LARPers could just be the missing pieces in order to level the playing field in the upcoming episodes.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 4
The comic run didn’t feature these characters but still managed to deliver Clint and Kate the help they needed by having Barton’s neighbors step up and help out. Throughout the series, we get to see Clint, hesitantly at first, connect with his neighbors to the point where their well-being becomes as important to him as his own. He helps one of them (Grills, sound familiar?) reconnect with his dad and even babysits Simone’s kids. At the end of the series, as the Tracksuits prepare one final attack on their building, everybody plays a part in defeating them, some with more success than others.
‘Hawkeye’ #1 (2012)‘Hawkeye’ #7 (2012)
In a show that has been so much about family, be it through Clint’s point of view (where you value what you have) or through Kate’s (where she learns that there’s family to be found outside the typical idyllic entity) the development of a family-type unit with the help of LARPers found along the way seems like a welcomed prospect for both characters.
It is said that movies are actually made three times: when writing them, shooting them, and then finally in the editing bay. This process helps solidify what the movie is supposed to be about, striping the project of superfluous details, sequences, or even a couple of redundant plot threads. It works as a bullshit filter, making the final product more concise, streamlining the viewing experience. It’s basically everything a late-night, tequila-induced, fanboy fever dream of a movie pitch isn’t. In that situation, anything goes and there’s room for every single character we can think of, often creating an unbalanced Jenga tower of ideas piled up on top of each other with no real structure to them. All of it is coupled with a vampiresque type of humor, the sort that isn’t likely to survive daybreak. Sadly, that’s the sort of mess that Spider-Man 3 feels like.
Whereas Spider-Man 2is a great (and sadly rare) example of how to further explore a world beyond an already well-received first movie, Spider-Man 3 feels like an over-filled balloon that blows up in the audiences’ face leaving them with a bad case of tinnitus. It brings so much to the table that you hardly get the time to value each of the separate elements, while also not being one of those cases where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Aristoteles would not be impressed
Right at the start of the movie you get the natural progression of Peter and MJ’s relationship as well as Harry’s deep dive into his father’s secret room containing prototypes of Green Goblin’s gear. These threads alone would make for a pretty solid story, building from the relationships explored in the previous movie. The build-up was priming Harry to finally turn into the main villain we all knew he could become. There was no need to bring any more (relevant) characters into the fold unless the aim wasn’t so much making a good movie as it was selling a few more toys.
And so, instead of looking inward, valuing what it already had, Spider-Man 3 looked outward and tried to bite off more than it could chew. In the first ten minutes alone, the movie tries to establish Flint Marko – our future Sandman – and brings the symbiote crashing down on Earth. Soon after we are also introduced to Eddie Brock and Gwen Stacy, characters that never went beyond being a parody of themselves, serving as glorified cameos that could have been easily kept for another occasion. Gwen’s inclusion is especially remarkable since, after all the relationship drama in the previous movies, the decision was to double-down on that by having not one but two love triangles for Peter to be a part of. All with him remaining completely oblivious of how his actions affected people around him, making him incredibly unlikable along the way.
This movie ultimately became a tale of people not being able to do what they set themselves up for. The studio execs couldn’t keep out of the way (their meddling was pretty obvious and only hurt the final product) and the writers couldn’t come up with a consistent story, having to balance an unusually high amount of characters, and subplots. Also … Peter Parker can’t dance, Mary Jane can’t sing, Eddie Brock can’t use Photoshop and Harry Osborn can’t make a freaking omelet!
Above all, Spider-Man 3 just isn’t a fun movie, albeit you can certainly have fun watching it. And that’s one of the only things a Spider-Man movie simply cannot afford to be: dull. But Spider-Man 3 does have one incredibly strong redeeming factor as Stan Lee‘s cameo is probably one of his best, if not the best. “You know, I guess one person can make a difference. ‘Nough said.” I’m extremely happy Kevin Feige got the hint.
Clint already has a history of using several types of arrows in the MCU, suited for each occasion, but Episode 3 takes them to a new level. As with the car chase, these came straight from the pages of Hawkeye #3, one of the most kinetic issues of the entire run. But according to artist and comic series co-creator David Aja, we have Ellio R. Brown to thank as it was his work in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5 published in 1986 that inspired both Fractionand Ajato create the pages that were to become Hawkeye #3.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe V.2 – Deluxe Edition #05
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe V.2 – Deluxe Edition #05
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe V.2 – Deluxe Edition #05
From the 14 arrow-types Browndesigned in the 80s, Fractionand Aja managed to use 12 of them in Hawkeye #3. A few were simply referenced, but most were actually put up to good use against the Tracksuit Mafia. Fast-forward a few years and, out of those 12, Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye re-used 7 of them in Episode 3, most with slight changes to them.
Putty Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
The first arrow that Kate Bishop manages to fire at the pursuing Bros. It initially looks an awful lot like Ego, The Living Planet’s expanding seedlings we saw in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, before turning into a soft and malleable paste that blocks the Tracksuits’ windshield almost entirely. Kate ends up not using it as Clint intended, on the truck’s tires, as it would quickly harden thus definitively disabling the vehicle. The show also goes for a Hawkeye Purple whereas the comics, that have Clint holding the bow, go with a simple black-looking ooze that sort of glues one Bro to the asphalt.
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
Explosive Tip Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
The most obvious and probably one of the handiest arrows in Clint’s arsenal. Not suitable for close-quarter combat but good for basically everything else. Kate still manages to get surprised by the explosion as if she hadn’t witnessed even bigger ones a decade earlier – We all saw the flashbacks, Kate! -. It did the trick though as that Trust a Bro moving van’s DVD player stealing days are as dead as DVD players themselves. In the comics, Clint and Kate were being pursued by Mini Coopers so anything that arrow did to a van, it probably did twice as much with twice the ease to those smallish compact city cars.
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
Suction Tip Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
Initially treated as a gag it ended up as probably the most important (and peaceful) of arrows as it was used not to take lives, but to save them. Just like in the comics Clint uses it so as not to fall from a moving vehicle, saving Kate from having a shorter MCU career than Quicksilver. That would have been a major Bohn.. bummer. The suction-tip arrow proves to be the real MVP.
Ok so, I’m not totally sure on this one but a couple more people agreed that this might be it so here it goes. Kate used a Bola Arrow to get all those pine trees on top of the Putty Truck. It ended up being a bit more effective than the one Clint shot in the comics that managed to get a chuckle out of a couple of Bros. And, seriously, if you can’t hurt a Bro with an arrow with that much potential you should really be contemplating what you’re even doing with your life with a tequila shot in your hand. Point Bishop.
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
Acid Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
Kate proved herself as an incredible archer with these shots alone. Clint, on the other hand, shot a Mini Cooper as it was facing him. Good for him. The subtlety of this specific arrow was better applied in the show as it allowed for a precise and disruptive use of the arrow in a way not many other types could. Since it was Clint’s idea to use it as they did he does end up deserving some recognition. Even if it was Kate doing all the work.
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
Smoke Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
Again with the “Hawkeye Purple”, we get it. Kate manages to shoot it inside the Dodge Challenger which proves a much better idea than using it on the outside as Clint does in the comics. Could it be much worse than the usual NYC air pollution? My guess is Clint ended up doing the Tracksuits a favor. “Bro five!”
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
Cable Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
One of the most well-known types of arrows we’ve seen Clint use over the years. In fact, this was one of the first-ever arrows Kate saw Hawkeye shoot first-hand as she witnessed his escape from the Chitauri in the Battle of New York. This was perhaps the main reason she knew what to do when he jumped off the bridge and therefore managed to grab the bow in order to swing into the train tracks beneath. In the comic Clint uses it to rip through a Mini Cooper, stripping it of its roof (see the Smoke Arrow image above). This probably speaks more of Clint’s upper body strength than the Mini Coopers’ lack of frame reliability.
‘Hawkeye’ #3 (2012)
USB Arrow
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
Not present in Hawkeye #3, we get to see it put to good use seventeen issues later in Hawkeye #20 as Kate searches a computer for financial logs. I don’t know what’s more laughable, the fact that the pen drive only holds 256Mb of data or that the arrow exists in the first place. Either way, it opens up the door for future variations such as the LaserDisc Arrow (similar to the Predator’s Smart Disc) or the Kitchen Sink Arrow for the upcoming Young Avengers vs Looney Tunes.
‘Hawkeye’ #20 (2014)
Pym Particle Arrow III (Goliath Arrow)
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 3
This isn’t something we’ve witnessed in the MCU (yet!) but in the comics, it is said that Hawkeye has three types of Pym Particle Arrows:
Pym Particle Arrow I (The Reduction Arrow) utilizes the famous size-shifting science to decrease the target’s size and strength.
Pym Particle Arrow II (The Growing Barrage) creates a swarm of arrows by releasing an entire shrunken volley at once.
Pym Particle Arrow III (The Goliath Arrow) uses Pym Particles for growth and is used to trigger his transformation into Goliath.
As we see in this panel taken from Hawkeye: Blindspot #3 where Clint is doing his best giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man impression, Clint has used it on himself while the show stuck to it being used on an inanimate object. All kidding aside, it was one of the best moments of the entire episode as it established a sense of the connected universe Marvel Studios intends these shows to have. All in a way that felt so natural, not needing any sort of exposition dump to have it make absolute sense.
‘Hawkeye: Blindspot’ #3 (2011)
Episode four is just around the corner (it’s tomorrow!) so we’ll be getting to the next few From Page to Screen in just a few hours. See you next week!
Following the Episode 1 introduction of Lucky The Pizza Dog, Hawkeye‘s second episode saw Clint go against at least a few vans worth of Tracksuit Mafia bros. This sequence bears some fairly obvious similarities with the one from Hawkeye #6 (probably one of the best issues of the entire run), where Clint Barton presented himself in a way the Mafia couldn’t miss him, inviting a much-needed confrontation.
In the Disney+ series, Clint made this decision as a way of getting to the bottom of the issues Kate stirred up by wearing the Ronin suit out in public. By facing the Mafia head-on, allowing them to take full control of the situation, he managed to get himself caught without much hassle. Finding himself in their hideout will then lead to uncovering the woman making all the calls, someone he’ll have to go through to make it home for Christmas. What he didn’t count on was that by not making his intentions clear to Kate Bishop, his actions might have ended up making her find herself in a much more dire situation than the one he was trying to get her out of.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 2
Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 2
Just like in the series, the comics show Clint placing himself in harm’s way by tacking on the Tracksuit Mafia head-on to protect people he learned to care about. By issue #6, we’d come to realize how Clint had become somewhat protective towards his neighbors with who he shared a building. With the Mafia endangering their enjoyment of the holiday season, he stepped up. As two full vans of Tracksuit bros drove up to the building he, unlike in the Hawkeye series, put up a fight and got himself captured against his will. He is then dragged to the Mafia’s hideout and we see him, much like we did in Episode 2, tied up to a chair as the Mafia brings forth their leader who presents Clint with an ultimatum: Leave the city in 24h or all-out war against himself will be a reality.
‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
Episode 3 isn’t out yet so we’re yet to know what happens to Clint and Kate. In the comics, Barton is released and decides to, once again, stand his ground by not leaving town and living up to the idea of what a hero should do by protecting those who can’t protect themselves. In Hawkeye that would mean again postponing his trip back home and putting an end to the Ronin mix-up once and for all.
The current Avengers comic run written by Jason Aaron has been pretty blatant in terms of focusing on characters that are either gaining new relevance in the movie side of things or that are straight-up joining the MCU in the coming months. After devoting arcs to the Celestials (and introducing a new Avengers HQ similar to the one the MCU might get to in a few movies’ time), Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Echo, Blade, and She-Hulk (all of which are soon to be the focus of their own TV series or movie) we are now getting word that the series is focusing on both Namor and Valkyrie as the duo are joining Marvel’s core Avengers team in 2022.
The current head Valkyrie in the comics is no other than Jane Foster, a former Thor (an arc also written by Aaron and that is a major inspiration for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder) that has had a new part to play in the comics for some time now. As for Namor, he’s known for showing up now and then in the series but is now becoming a full-fledged member as he reunites with his long-time nemesis, Black Panther, in what is another interesting comic-to-movie connection.
These are interesting news in what the comics are concerned, but they can also mean something towards the future of the MCU. Ever since Kevin Feige was named Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Comics, Marvel Television, and Marvel Animation in October 2019, in addition to being President of Marvel Studios, you now can sometimes catch glimpses of what some MCU projects might be focusing on down the line by reading up on the latest issues. This was something that had already been going on for a while, but it was with Feige’s formal appointment that it likely became a more reliable reality.
Avengers #53 will be available on February 9, 2022
Disney+ Day seems to be starting early for some European countries. A few properties have already gone live, and even though there are still several events scheduled for the remainder of the day relating to Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel projects, the Boba Fett special titled Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett is already available.
It’s a 21-minute mini-documentary, cataloging the evolution of the character through the years, from its four lines and six minutes and 32 seconds of screen time in The Empire Strikes Back, to the pop culture icon it evolved into. We get footage of his introduction at the County Fair, in Marin County in 1978, the hows and the whys of its creation, and several small intimate stories of how both fans and people who worked in Star Wars had their lives impacted by the Mandalorian bounty Hunter.
It features interviews with George Lucas, Dave Filoni, Joe Johnston, Ben Burtt (sound designer), some Ralph McQuarrie sketches, and much more, including statements by Duwayne Dunham, who was part of the editing team and became the first man to wear the iconic armor.
A new synopsis for Spider-Man: No Way Home has surfaced on the Brazilian website CineMark. Unlike other screencaps floating around the internet, there is no reference to other cast members other than Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Favreau, and the supposed trailer release date is also notably absent. Fitting with Holland‘s quotes regarding what might be in store for Peter Parker in the trilogy’s finale, where he mentioned the character’s “breaking point”, this new synopsis seems to answer some of the most mentioned critiques of Marvel Studio’s approach to Spider-Man: the way, unlike his comic counterpart, Parker seems to be able to balance his personal life to that of a super-hero, sometimes referred to as “Parker Luck.”
The synopsis reads as follows:
For the first time in Spider-Man cinematic history, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is unmasked and can no longer keep his ordinary life separated from the challenges that go with being a superhero. After asking for Doctor Strange’s help the risks become even more dangerous and force him to discover what it means to be Spider-Man.
In what’s expected to be the most emotional of the three Marvel Studios Spider-Man solo outings, and unfortunately also the most spoiled, we’re sure to witness the growth Hollandwill bring to the character, as it sheds its boyish ways and takes a step forward into the future, and possibly an entirely new trilogy. Spider-Man: No Way Home premieres only in theaters on December 17 in the United States. It’s directed by Jon Watts and features a number of actors portraying several characters that you may or may not have seen before or even heard about.
Sometimes what’s left out of Marvel Studios movies could end up being just as relevant as what’s left in. Most of the time we’re talking about plot points that are explored in forthcoming sequels, either to allow them to gain relevance and weight over time or simply because the runtime doesn’t allow for everything to be touched upon. But what’s not so usual is for certain aspects of a superhero’s background to be left out in order to use it on another IP.
There are rumblings of how Kamala Khan’s powers might be reinterpreted in the Ms. Marvel series, with the reasoning being that they might be too similar to Reed Richard’s, who’s soon joining the MCU. On the other hand, there never seemed to be any issues with the number of super-soldiers running around the MCU, all with similar strengths and weaknesses, so who’s to say if the rumors regarding Ms. Marvel have any truth to them. What is not a rumor, as we’ve now seen in Eternals, is how a pivotal and intrinsic characteristic these characters have in the comics has been mostly disregarded (primarily in terms of easy access to the technology), something that might end up being used when the Mutants come around.
Even the latest Eternals run, written by Kieron Gillen and launched earlier this year, makes it extremely clear why Eternals have the name that they have. They are, as their name says, eternal. They might die but are quickly resurrected with the help of their own Resurrection Machine, hidden underneath the surface of the Earth. Their bodies are restored with their memories intact, meaning they know why they died, and who might have been responsible for it. By apparently leaving such a defining aspect of the Eternals out of their MCU introduction, Marvel Studios could be setting up something quite big.
When relaunching the X-Men books in 2019, Jonathan Hickman introduced a similar concept. As part of the creation of the mutant island-nation of Krakoa, it became possible to resurrect mutants who had met a premature end. A telepath would transfer the mutant’s latest Cerebro backup into a developing body inside a cocoon, allowing it to be reborn with memories up to said backup. Both the Eternals’ and the Mutants’ intended resurrections could still hit a few snags, as both the Resurrection Machine and the Krakoan Resurrection Protocols weren’t without flaws and shortcomings, so it’s not like there would be no stakes involved in whatever storyline that ends up being put to screen.
It’s doubtful that the MCU, which is already sometimes referred to as a universe where nobody stays dead, will introduce the resurrection possibility in two of its Phase-4-and-beyond teams. Even if the Eternals are referred to as being built (therefore capable of being rebuilt when destroyed), the process seems to imply Celestial intervention. So being, and even if this weekend we were all reminded that Salma Hayek signed up for Multiple Marvel films, it certainly appears unlikely Arishem would bring back entities that rebelled against him. Her future appearances might turn out to be through flashbacks (the timeline certainly allows for that) or even portraying a different iteration of the character altogether, not a resurrection per se.
By rejecting to apply the concept of resurrection to the most obvious of characters (or at least the ease of the process we grew used to) we might get to a point where Marvel Studios end up keeping one of the most groundbreaking changes to the mutant status quo in decades in its X-Men storylines. Hickman’s work has always lent itself to the sort of sci-fi glimpses the MCU has evolved into, and this specific choice would be the perfect response to the no-death complaints: Embrace it. For a while at least. With caveats.
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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.
