Category: Features

Marvel Studios Should Explore Asgard’s History on Disney+

Some time ago, it got announced that we are getting a Disney+ series focused on Wakanda. It doesn’t have an official title or story, but there is a good possibility it will offer a closer look at the fictional African city. In a way, it opens up a new avenue of storytelling that goes beyond the usual superhero stories. We see this new direction with other Disney+ shows, like Armor Wars and Secret Invasions. They are no longer bound to focusing on a specific characters’ journey. As such, it feels like the perfect time to explore the fictional world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If we start focusing on the MCU’s history, I believe a series based on Thor’s now-destroyed homeworld, Asgard, should be in the works moving forward.

Thor: Ragnarok teased a long history long before Thor was even born. It introduced us to a very different version of Odin, who seemed quite bloodthirsty. Alongside his daughter Hela, he conquered the nine realms. Anthony Hopkins‘ take on the character introduced us to a level-headed man who tried to learn from his past mistakes. We learn about his battle against the Frost Giants, the banishing of Surtur, and the many acts he has done. We even get a glimpse of his father, Bor, in Thor: The Dark World‘s brief flashback. Throughout each entry, we get a small glimpse into the history of Asgard but never the full picture.

After the events of Ragnarok, the mythical planet is no more. In a way, it feels like the franchise is moving further away from its Nordic routes. There are still so many stories and Norse characters from the comics that deserve more attention. Why not explore a young Odin’s time before he becomes the All-Father. Explore his relationship with his father, who did not return from war. We learn of his family, such as his brother Cul Borson. A tense rivalry, echoing that of his sons, would put them at odds as they try to prove themselves facing the Midgard Serpent, Jormungand.

The series can explore the history of the Nine Realms and reveals how fragile their unity was. Odin’s peaceful nature tries to explore the different realms and find a way to unite them through peace. Yet, his father’s legacy has created a strong divide between them all. In his journey, he starts to raise a young wolf cub, who he names Fenris. The same wolf that would eventually be the one he passes on to his daughter. Cul, however, has his own agenda to gain the throne. His actions start to push the Realms further apart. It forces Odin’s hand to become the man in the hidden mural. We know that he would eventually become a good man, but we’ve never got a chance to explore the sacrifices he had to make to take on to rule over the Nine Realms and condemn his brother for his actions. It also starts a terrible habit of Odin’s to banish his family in some way. It is only one of many possible stories that could be told through a Disney+ series focused on Asgard.

March 15, 2021
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Carlos Navarro Joins the Cast of ‘Hawkeye’

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.

Filming on the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series, Hawkeye, is slowly coming to an end and headed into post-production ahead of an expected late-2021 debut. Filming was done primarily in Georgia but fans will remember that our first look at Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop was captured in a “but it’s too blurry to make out if it’s really her” video taken in New York in December. Thanks to a tip from a fan, we may have identified an additional cast member that has, so far, gone under the radar. We believe actor Carlos Navarro (The Walking Dead, The Outsider) can be counted among the cast of Hawkeye.

After receiving the tip, a quick check of social media indicated that Navarro was indeed in New York City working on an unidentified project in early December, the same time we were blessed with a bounty of Hawkeye set photos from the Big Apple. Further investigation shows a stuntman for Navarro listed on IMDB. Yes, we here are all just as aware as you are that IMDB can’t be taken as confirmation of anything. Around the time Navarro was confirmed to be in New York, set photos show that Hawkeye was filming some scenes involving members of the Tracksuit mafia, though a quick scan didn’t reveal Navarro among the members captured on film. It’s possible that an actor of Navarro’s caliber might have landed a meatier role than just another Bro, however; in early October, The Direct revealed that Marvel Studios was looking for a male in his 40s to play the recurring role of NYC Detective “Sherman.” Navarro fits the bill there just fine, giving us another option for a potential role.

Disney didn’t confirm the casting and they certainly won’t but we’ve struck gold on a couple of these types of potential castings before such as Tyler Dean Flores and Erin Kellyman from the upcoming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. That having been said, as stated above this information has not been confirmed and should be taken as a rumor until official word is given.

March 15, 2021
Sharon Carter: The Story So Far

Now that WandaVision has ended, we already have our eyes on the next Marvel Cinematic Universe entry on Disney+, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. It also means that it is time to retrace the character’s steps, which will take center stage in the upcoming series. Today we will be looking at Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter, who we haven’t seen since Captain America: Civil War. So, it’s going to be quite the treat to see her back in action after almost five years. Let’s take a look back at her journey within the MCU.

We were first introduced to her in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as an agent of the spy organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. She goes undercover to protect Steve Rogers before blowing her cover after Nick Fury gets shot by the Winter Soldier. It is the moment we hear her codename Agent 13 for the first time. Once HYDRA reveals its true identity of infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., she plays a pivotal role in saving various agents. After the spy organization gets disbanded, she joins the CIA’s Joint Counter Terrorist Center. It isn’t until her next appearance in Captain America: Civil War that she reveals her relation to Steve’s old flame, Peggy Carter. Her speech also inspired him to stand his ground against the newly enacted Sokovian Accords.

After they meet up again, she informs them of Bucky’s whereabouts, who got framed for an explosion in Vienna that lead to the death of Wakandan king T’Chaka. They meet up again after his arrest in Berlin, where she is working alongside Everett Ross. She takes on a mind-controlled Bucky alongside Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, and T’Challa, but they are unable to take him down. She ends up joining Rogers’ side and ends on the run from the government alongside the superheroes. In Avengers: Infinity War, we only briefly find out she was among those that got snapped during a quick glimpse at the Avengers’ list of missing heroes.

What’s Sharon been up to all these years? How will being Snapped out of existence for 5 years have impacted her life? What will lead her to cross paths with Sam and Bucky? These questions, and more, will be answered in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, which airs on Disney+ March 19th.

March 15, 2021
‘Superman and Lois’: Checking In With The Kent Boys

On Superman & Lois, a lot of time is spent on Clark Kent juggling being a hero and learning to become a better father. While all of this is happening, Lois Lane is trying to expose Morgan Edge. While all of that is fascinating in its own right, the Kent children tell quite the story of their own. Jonathan and Jordan Kent couldn’t be more different from each other, which adds quite a bit of tension throughout its run.

Jonathan (Jordan Elsass) is levelheaded, comfortable in his skin, and incredibly confident. In the first three episodes, he stands out as the moral center of the show. Sure, we see him teasing his brother, but what teenager wouldn’t? What we learn about him while watching this show is that Jonathan is also incredibly empathetic and reasonable. He sees things in his brother that their father is missing.

When Jordan (Alex Garfin) joins the football team without Clark knowing, Jonathan tells his brother that their father will be upset, as he tries not to beat him over the head with it. Later, when Clark finds out and scolds Jordan, Jonathan is the one that comes to his defense. He ensures to their father that Jordan can control his abilities. Jonathan should have every reason not to be as understanding as he is. He got upended to a small town and suddenly finds out his father is Superman. We haven’t even tackled the fact that his brother has powers while he doesn’t.

Now the one thing Jonathan excels at is football, but now his brother is upstaging him. With all of that happening, he still tries his best to be a good brother. One wonders if that will continue or how that will evolve, as Jordan is the one that needs the most care. He’s emotionally unstable at times, which is a dangerous combination when one possesses abilities as he does. This fact, of course, concerns his parents.

When Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude, Jor-El’s hologram tells Clark that Jordan will never be like him. This revelation leaves his son angry and bitter, which ends up blaming it all on his father. We will look at this as an angst-ridden teenager in any other show, but this is a young man with insane expectations. Imagine being the son of Superman and hearing your grandfather say how you’ll never live up to your father. That’s pretty rough.

On top of all of that, Jordan also has feelings for Lana’s daughter, Sarah Cushing. (Inde Navarette) In the pilot, he kisses her. It leads to a fight with her then-boyfriend, which becomes the catalyst to activate his heat vision. Jordan then spends the next episode not being allowed to go to school. It’s hard to imagine anyone dealing with this well at all. In episode three, both the boys find out that Clark has been eavesdropping on their conversations for a long time. This invasion of privacy is a privilege Superman has through his abilities, but it creates tension with his sons.

Eventually, there’s growth from Jordan once he joins the football team. He’s able to control his new-found strength to some degree. The best part is, he even gets to make some friends. Maybe there’ll be a little bit less angst in the upcoming episodes. Even Clark learns something from prior experience with his Dad that gives him the motivation to let Jordan play. This television show is primarily about Superman, but they confirm his two sons are not just cannon fodder. They’re teaching Clark valuable lessons and growing as young men themselves. Their character development is just as important as the man of steel.

March 14, 2021
How Marvel Studios Plans to Take the Fight to Superhero Fatigue

It probably feels like a lifetime ago but it was only in 2017 that the MCU started releasing three feature films every year. By that time the franchise was approaching its 10th year with 17 movies under its belt and many started wondering just how long could Marvel Studios’ dominance at the box office truly last until audiences’ superhero fatigue managed to creep up on it. The following couple of years presented everyone with a resounding answer to that question as five out of the six movies released in that period surpassed the 1 billion dollar mark at the box-office, with two of those going over the 2 billion dollar mark while making Avengers: Endgame the highest-grossing movie of all time.

By that point, and besides being the final chapter of a story being told since 2008 through 23 interconnected movies, the end of the Infinity Saga had audiences saying goodbye to arguably its two most important characters, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, that had been at the forefront of the MCU since its inception. So being, Marvel Studios had a few problems on their plate as 2019 came to a close: How to reintroduce surviving characters making them a bigger presence within the franchise filling the void of the ones lost, how to make fans care for the new characters being introduced as they did the legacy ones, and most importantly how to maintain global audience interested in the MCU avoiding the aforementioned superhero fatigue to finally become a real thing, in what the MCU is concerned.

A few of the issues mentioned above had already started being addressed head-on by taking a chance on characters like Black Panther and Captain Marvel, allowing for a larger and more diverse audience to feel embraced by the superhero cinematic universe Marvel created, all while keeping longtime fans engaged by diversifying the type of stories being told, the angles in which they were told, and the voices that told them. Phase 4 would be doubling-down on this idea of bringing into the franchise a much more diverse group of filmmakers (Cate Shortland, Destin Daniel Cretton, Chloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta) and introducing characters like Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and the incredibly diverse cast of Eternals that are further living proof that the MCU is trying to evolve and become a much richer and relevant franchise by allowing so much different voices to shine through.

But today, exactly one week after the WandaVision finale and one week before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiere, it’s becoming increasingly clear that, as contradictory as it may sound, another way Marvel Studios is trying to avoid superhero fatigue is by going all out and delivering ten projects in a single year. One would think that that would be against their interests as this means that there’ll be hardly a week throughout the year without some sort of new MCU content, but Marvel Studios is managing to circumvent that by turning inwards and redefining what the superhero genre can aspire to become. This way, instead of only releasing properties that could be described as being the generic superhero production and thus paving the way for audiences to quickly lose interest by the lack of novelty, they are expanding into sub-genres that are already a reality across the industry.

As WandaVision played with sitcom tropes while combining romance, mystery, and drama, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is set to be more of an action-thriller experience. Ms. Marvel could be categorized as a teen drama while Hawkeye (mystery-thriller), Eternals (action epic), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (martial arts action film), and Loki (sci-fi adventure) will each have their particular characteristics, making each project fresh in its own right. Going beyond 2021 we’ll find the same being applied to shows like She-Hulk (courtroom drama) or movies such as Thor: Love and Thunder (space ~~opera~~ rock show). All of this seems to mean that Marvel Studios is thinking that, by diversifying, audiences won’t grow tired of what they have to offer in the same way they don’t get tired of movies and tv in general. Even if all properties are a part of a larger franchise, their particulars will allow all of them to be experienced without the added weight of being presented with the same formulaic concepts and narratives.

Marvel Studios broke the mold for what franchises of this magnitude could become, and by keeping themselves in the public eye year-round but also understanding that a gimmick can only keep itself relevant for so much time, so much so that it’s not afraid to reinvent itself on the go (as we were able to see with WandaVision), is likely doing it again, before our very eyes.

March 12, 2021
EXCLUSIVE: Director Kari Skogland on the Most Important Questions ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Will Answer

In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland discusses what drew her to the project, the key questions this series will address and how developing how the nature of the project allowed the characters to live and breathe without the usual time constraints.

Charles Murphy: “The episode has big action but it also has some beautiful and chilling character moments. The leads are hurting for different reasons and we finally have time to explore them more deeply. Did the opportunity to help define these characters make the project more attractive?”

Kari Skogland: “I don’t know about more attractive. No matter what I was excited. The central idea of it where Sam was handed the shield and what was that going to be and what is that what’s that the exploration of will he or won’t he take on what’s this is going to be for a Black man to carry the shield? What is Captain America’s relevance? Is there a Captain America that makes any sense anymore? All of those questions I thought were very topically important to not just discuss but to go on a real exploration in a deep dive sort of way.”

Needless to say the legacy of Steve Rogers and the weight of carrying his shield and taking up the mantle are major themes in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. When he was handed the shield in Avengers: Endgame, Sam told Steve it felt like it belonged to someone else. The fact that we’re getting a series titled The Falcon and The Winter Soldier tells us he hasn’t resolved those feeling just yet.

Skogland continued on to explain how the structure of the show allowed for her to find the moments in which the characters could live and breathe and struggle, which they do beautifully in the first episode.

KS: “There was that on the one level and on the other level was the nature and the depth of these characters that we were able to in a 6-hour space compared to…I call it the meal vs. the snack. 6 hours is the meal and the feature is now the snack. And there’s plenty of room for snacks but I love the meals because you don’t feel like you’ve got these time constraints where you’re trying to jam too much into too short a space and the characters can live and breathe. And you’re also not sweating the “I better wind this up” too quickly. You’re able to let it gestate and let us worry for the character or be with the character. I really looked for performance opportunities and found from the get go it was going to be a challenge for the actors to find those moments and the table was set for them to do their great work and they did.”

And the actors really did great work delivering on the promise of this extended opportunity to develop their characters, something you’ll all have a chance to see when the first episode streams one week from today!

March 12, 2021
‘WandaVision’: White Vision’s Quest in the MCU

The much-anticipated finale of WandaVision provided us with a deep dive into Wanda’s grief. It was beautifully brought full circle to acceptance in her final scene with her Hex-created Vision. There have been some criticisms of the finale, which unfortunately did seem to suffer from cuts in plotlines for certain characters. That seemed to be mainly due to the production trying to finish up during a global pandemic while sticking to its premiere date on Disney+. However, I would like to tackle one criticism in regards to the White Vision’s behavior, which I will respectfully disagree with.

I don’t agree that it was wrong to have the White Vision just up and leave, and not join Wanda’s battle against Agatha Harkness. The main reason I feel it was the right choice, is that it was really Wanda’s battle to win or lose, not anyone else’s. WandaVision was centered around Wanda’s grief and her mourning. It was about how she handles or mishandles it, and so having someone swoop in to win the battle for her, or demand that she let those people go, or defeat her so that the people of Westview are freed, would have taken away from the overarching theme that the real “big bad” in this story was the profound grief she was feeling.

To “win” this very personal battle, especially in light of what she had done wrong as she’d processed her grief, it was incredibly important that Wanda herself decided to let this fantasy world go and at least try to move on with her life. A promise that she could have the kids or Vision with her in the end, would have undercut the bravery and strength it took for her to do the right thing finally. All this so she can let those people go.

As for White Vision’s sudden exit, it made sense to me that this cold and unemotional android would leave. Even if he consists of Vision’s original parts, he is not the Vision who we came to know and love during the WandaVision series. Yet he isn’t the Vision that we met in Avengers: Age of Ultron either. A sudden influx of memories from his life before Thanos led to an interesting change in his eye color. It went from a cold emotionless blue to the much warmer and human tint that reflected Paul Bettany‘s eyes rather than that of a machine. Even if memories and emotions transferred from the Hex Vision to his synthezoid psyche, it would certainly be a lot of “data” to process, even for him.

So, he took off, bursting through the glass of the library instead of phasing. It’s possible that the director just really liked the explosive and dramatic visual effects of this exit and that’s why. However, I think it’s also very plausible that Vision was distracted by these newly discovered memories and emotions – especially if you remember how the Vision has been distracted by thoughts of Wanda before, such as in Civil War, and Infinity War. My assumption when I watched the scene the first time is that White Vision simply needed to go somewhere to figure all of this out. Keep in mind, this exit and his status being unknown, leaves him in a really interesting place, full of potential for character exploration in the future. Here’s hoping this quote from the Hex Vision’s final scene is a hint that there is much more to come from Vision in whatever form.

I have been a voice with no body, a body but not human, and now a memory made real. Who knows what I may be next?

March 11, 2021
Theory Thursday: How ‘What If…?’ Sets Up ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Marvel Studios is exploring new avenues with this summer’s Disney+ animated series What If..? To those unfamiliar, the anthology comic run that started in 1977 explored alternate realities. It would explore how one detail could change the curse of history. So, now that Marvel Studios is exploring new ventures, such as WandaVision‘s sitcom stylings, the animated series may elevate the MCU to new creative heights by exploring different genres. After Avengers: Endgame introduced the concept of alternative timelines into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it made us wonder if the upcoming multiversal storyline might be more relevant than we might at first expect.

A Multiversal Question

Around a week ago, I discussed the new direction for Marvel Studios’ canonical timeline. At the moment, the main timeline has remained pretty linear over the past decade. Avengers: Endgame changed that two years ago, as we got introduced to this universe’s time travel. The moment they change something in the past, the ripple effect will create a new timeline. As you can see in the visual above, What If is about to split the timeline up into the multiverse. Theoretically, this show might give Marvel fans their first full-on deep dive into the expansion that I believe will be known as The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse moving forward. Not just that, it also will have some deeper implications for the franchise’s future.

Just The Beginning

The first trailer for What If…? gave us a glimpse at multiple alternate universes. If I had to choose, I’m most excited about the one focused on Doctor Strange. I believe that, unlike the other episodes, it won’t retell a previous episode but rather tease one that’s yet to come. So, I firmly believe it will provide a glimpse of his upcoming sequel. Not just that, it will also tease the main villain that will bring madness into the multiverse. He is rather prominent in the trailer, as it teased us with an alternate version of the magical doctor that has fallen to the dark side.

He could bring about the destruction of the world (and possibly the multiverse as we know it). Upon closer examination, he conjures a very familiar form of red magic with black dots swirling around it. I suspect that this may turn out to be Chaos Magic, which we got introduced to in WandaVision. This version of Strange seems to be losing his humanity, as he has tentacles expanding from his hand. I believe that this isn’t Strange but rather someone imitating him. Whoever this individual turns out to be, there is a good chance he might be the main villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After the season finale of WandaVision teased Wanda’s quest, she may have found her way into this alternate dimension. If you take a closer look at the image above, you can see a woman in red staring at this twisted version of Strange. Going by her red outfit, I suspect she could turn out to be Wanda seeking her children.

Anything is Possible

The Doctor Strange sequel is among my most anticipated MCU films to release in the coming years. When the multiverse is involved, pretty much anything and everything is on the table. Perhaps we even get to revisit the alternate realities presented in What If. Just imagine Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff enter an alternate reality centered around Marvel Zombies, which pays tribute to Army of Darkness. It would be a waste not to pay tribute to the film that the same director, Sam Raimi, worked onn. Or, you could have Doctor Strange face off against different versions of characters we know, like a live-action Peggy Carter as Captain Britain. Case in point, you should consider paying attention to What If…?, especially now that the multiverse is about to be blown wide open.

Case in point, you should definitely consider paying attention to What If…?, especially now that the Multiverse is about to be blown wide open.

March 11, 2021
How ‘WandaVision’ Leaves the Door Open for Evan Peters’ Future in the MCU

There are many unsolved stories left when WandaVision ended. Among them is the identity of Jimmy Woo’s missing person. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, I can’t blame you. The line came early in the show’s fourth episode. It was when Woo explains to Monica Rambeau how he discovered the Westview anomaly. He revealed that he was searching for a person in the FBI’s Witness Protection Program, who had recently disappeared. After this, the missing person never got brought up again, understandably overshadowed in the government’s eyes by the giant magical hex encompassing an entire town. Luckily for fans who never stopped wondering, the series finale might have given enough clues to deduce the identity of this protected individual. The best part is that it offers a chance to also to expand Evan Peter‘s role in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ralph, initially introduced as a “recast” version of Pietro Maximoff, was theorized from the get-go to be many different characters from Marvel comics canon. Many assumed the unseen husband of Agnes would get revealed as the big bad Mephisto. There was also the theory that the show’s fake Pietro was Peter Maximoff of X-Men: Days of Future Past fame. All of this was eventually proven untrue, as Monica realizes that Peters‘ character is simply another manipulated Westview resident. It left many feeling a bit underwhelmed, wishing that an actor of Peters‘ caliber would have a larger role in future MCU projects. Well, despite all the interviews to the contrary, I think there is more to Mr. Bohner than meets the eye. Although I’ve been a vocal advocate of letting theories go, I’m here to eat my own words and tell you there may be one more worth holding on to. I believe he might turn out to be Simon Williams at one point.

Williams has tried to join the MCU for years. Director James Gunn cast Nathan Fillion in the role for a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cameo appearance, but it got scrapped. There were hints with his addition, such as a blurry image of the character in the first featurette during WandaVision‘s marketing campaign. It led to many assumptions that he would appear in some capacity during the anticipated nine-episode run. Yet despite this heavy pre-show speculation, the former Avenger never popped up. A recent interview with WandaVision showrunner Jac Shaeffer confirmed that there were never any plans to include Wonder Man in the series. However, Marvel Studios has never shied away from a little retroactive continuity change, as evidenced by All Hail the King‘s “fixing” of the infamous Mandarin twist from Iron Man 3. With this precedent in place, I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to evolve Ralph Bohner into Wonder Man.

There are a few details that could be re-worked to line up with Simon Williams’ characteristics. Firstly, the picture held by Monica in Ralph’s home appears to be a headshot. We never learn what Ralph’s profession is, but the presence of a headshot could indicate prior aspirations towards acting. If this turned out to be true, Agatha would make use of a former actor as her double for Pietro, knowing he’d be capable of pulling the character off in a pinch. Secondly, the way Bohner seems to be unfamiliar with his name. Sure, it probably has something to do with him being under Agatha Harkness’s control, but if Ralph is Woo’s missing person, it stands to reason that he might have picked out a name that appealed to his immature side. The former Mr. Williams might have then relocated to the safe and unassuming town of Westview, unaware he’d soon get swept up in magical shenanigans.

Now, why would a goofy thespian like Ralph even be forced to enter witness protection in the first place? Some fans may be aware that Simon Williams isn’t the only masked member of his family. His older brother Eric is the villainous Grim Reaper. He even was once heavily rumored to be involved with Marvel Studios’ debut series. The antagonist even got a maybe-accidental nod during WandaVision‘s second episode, where the silhouette of his mask was included in the animated opening sequence. With that in mind, one could piece together that Ralph may have gotten caught up in his brother’s criminal activities, forcing him to give up his dreams of acting and join the Witness Protection Program.

We never actually get to see what happens to Ralph after his apprehension by Monica. We know that he got freed of Agatha’s control. The shell necklace gave off a purple glow, which isn’t dissimilar from the energy produced by Wonder Man in the original Marvel books, but nothing is shown after that. Evan Peters’ open-ended plotline is perfect to set-up a return of “Ralph Bohner” in the future of the MCU. Perhaps then he’ll be going by a more familiar name, in a town that doesn’t have dueling witches or philosophical androids running amok in the streets. Or maybe he’ll have to deal with them again, who knows?

March 11, 2021
International Women’s Day: Women on the Rise

It’s International Women’s Day! There aren’t really any special events in the comic book movie world planned to commemorate it a la Captain Marvel’s release two years ago, but that’s okay. A lot has happened to further women in the genre between then and now, and that gives us plenty to reflect on and celebrate today.

I can’t help but be a bit sad taking a look back, though. Last year was supposed to be the biggest year for women in CBM’s yet, but that – like practically everything else in the world – didn’t end up panning out the way it was supposed to. DC and Marvel each had two films set for 2020, all four with women in the starring role and, possibly even more importantly, directed by women. Of all the MCU and DCEU movies before this, only Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel had been directed by women, and the latter also had a male director working alongside the female one. Yes, there were a few other female-led superhero movies before this, but none from the two main “universes” that are known and loved today. There were many awesome women in both DCEU and MCU movies – I particularly liked that Black Panther had so many different women in it because it allowed each of them to be more than “the token girl” who rolls her eyes when the men get silly and fun – but they didn’t get to lead their own franchises until those films came out.

On top of this, Marvel revealed at the beginning of the year they were going to release the Disney+ series WandaVision in the same year. It really seemed as though by the end of 2020, women taking the lead on superhero projects on and offscreen would no longer be a novelty, but rather the norm.

Of course, we all know how that panned out. Due to the pandemic, there was no major MCU release in 2020, as WandaVision was delayed into January 2021. DC’s two female-helmed projects were released, but neither ended up making huge waves. Birds of Prey was admittedly pretty niche from the get-go, but Wonder Woman 1984 would have probably done quite well financially if things had been normal) and the conversation surrounding both circled right back to whether or not women should helm superhero projects.

That being said, I do think the discussion in this area is improving. I saw little to none of this kind of debate with WandaVision, which, while directed by a man, had a female lead and head writer (with several other women on the writing team). There was and is discourse surrounding the show, but it’s about the content and themes of the project rather than the fact that women played key leadership roles in making it happen.

Speaking of WandaVision, that show also brought us the origin story of a new female superhero, when Monica Rambeau became…well, we don’t know her official superhero name yet (she’s had several in the comics, and the frontrunners for which one will be used in the MCU seem to be Spectrum and Photon )but she gained some cool new powers and also used her human abilities to help Wanda face her grief. I can’t wait to see her shine some more in Captain Marvel 2.

I also appreciate that superhero media seems to be moving away from the “men direct male-led movies, women direct female-led ones” mentality. I know some believe projects with female leads should only be directed by women, but I’m okay if not all of them are as long as there are women at or near the top of the decision-making pecking order as well (for example, the aforementioned Matt Shakman-directed, Jac Shaeffer-penned WandaVision).
And I’m all for women-directed male-led projects as well. In fact, you know the next Marvel project, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? The one that a lot of guys are saying is more “for them” than WandaVision because it looks fast-paced and action-heavy? Well, it’s being directed by none other than Kari Skogland, a woman who has helmed a bunch of other TV projects and spoken out about the importance of opportunities for up-and-coming female directors.

Here’s to the further normalization of women in the comic book movie world. They’re not going anywhere, and neither is this woman who writes about them.

March 8, 2021