In July of this year, Marion Dayre, who worked on the acclaimed TV series Better Caul Saul for 5 seasons, indicated she was the showrunner of an upcoming but unknown Marvel Studios streaming series. Following yesterday’s official announcement of the Alaqua Cox-led streaming series Echo, Dayre was excited to reveal that she was the lead runner of the new series.
Nothing is known about what shape the Echo series will take, but with the character, who will debut in Hawkeye, has serious ties to organized crime including, in the comics (and strongly rumored to be in the MCU, too), Wilson Fisk. With Dayre’s years of experience working on one of television’s most successful crime dramas, she seems a good fit. It is strongly believed that Native American writer Bobby Wilson (Reservation Dogs) has joined the writers’ room as well. Etan and Emily Cohen were originally reported by the trades to be head writers for the show, which is tentatively set to go into production this April and is currently searching for additional members for the cast, including several Native American roles.
It’s been quite some time since we got the announcement of an animated special focused on the popular Baby Groot introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. We didn’t know much about the project but heard it might go for a photo-realistic style, which was confirmed during the teases during Disney+ Day. Now, Guardians director James Gunn was asked if he is involved with the series. He has now confirmed that he is an executive producer on the project.
It makes sense that he’s an executive producer on the project. Not only did he introduce the world to the loveable version of the character, but is also actively working on the next entry in the Guardians franchise. He’s also busy preparing a Holiday special that’ll likely release at the end of 2022 ahead of the third film’s release.
It’s very likely that I Am Groot is closer to what Disney+ has released with projects like Dug Days or Olaf Presents. Rather than an actual series, it’s more small vignettes that feature the little tree in hilarious situations. It may still end up being canon, as we bridge the gap between the post-credit sequence from the first film until they are on a mission for the Sovereign in the second part.
A lot of the excitement for Marvel’s Avengers upcoming update surrounds the addition of Spider-Man for PlayStation players. Yet, there’s also the massive addition of the game’s first attempt at a Raid. We’ve had teases that we’ll get to face off against the sound version of Ulysses Klaw one last time. While we got some concept art teasing the game, the latest Crystal Dynamics developer stream offered a clearer picture of what we can expect from this massive mission.
So, the mission is split into two types, as confirmed during the announcement. You’ll have a regular and an Elite version. The latter is accessible once you hit the higher cap of your character’s Power Level. To access it, grinding gear is essential, as you no longer need resources but can use your gear to upgrade others. It’s part of the new system that is quite a promising change to make the endgame worth replaying. They also highlighted that the Elite version is not just a harder version of the original, but things are going to get mixed up in a way that it feels like a different experience.
Now, the dev stream also offered us some insight into one part of the game’s mission, which is going to be the longest piece of content in the game. It continues where the War for Wakanda storyline left off as Klaw got away and the Vibranium continues to spread. So, you’ll be quite busy coordinating with your teammates, as one room forces the team to coordinate. Some of the new gear items also help push co-op, as you’ll be able to share boosts from perks through the new Sonic Conduit. So, you can be a sender or receiver of bonuses, which is the first step to pushing team-based builds that are essential for the Elite version of the game’s raid.
They also highlighted that the game’s supporting cast will play a role in this mission. So, you’ll be in one room where Shuri is trying to help you keep the corruption from spreading. CD teased that you’ll have to think quickly on who takes care of what tasks, such as one player having to take care of something while the others defend Shuri. They also teased that there might be some fun magical elements in the game.
Now, the biggest highlight will be the fight against Klaw. In the initial operation, he teased his giant form but shrunk down for a more manageable fight. So, there was some concern we might have a similar situation. Luckily, Crystal Dynamics confirmed that you will face him in his giant sound form and we might even see him unleash his anger throughout the mission. There was a tease that it might be a few smaller confrontations (alongside some mini-bosses) before you take him face on.
There’s a lot happening with this Raid and it’s quite promising what has been teased so far. The potential of having Klaw looming over you, as you try to get through the various missions and seeing the Vibranium spread sounds like a promising concept to turn into such a massive mission. One of the lead developers highlighted that their goal was always to build towards these big Avengers-level threats, as they also want to get to a point where you have to face off against a Kree Sentry like from the first campaign. Here’s hoping they can make that a reality soon.
The latest dev stream has finally dropped offering our first look at some of the upcoming new Spider-Man skins heading to Marvel’s Avengers. We still haven’t gotten a glimpse of the character in action, but that was confirmed to happen on November 29th’s War Table video. Until then, we’re getting various updates and teases for the major new gear upgrades and the game’s first Raid. Yet, they knew why people were there and kicked it off with a look at various costumes. We got some of the game’s original designs and some inspired by comics.
The highlights are a Steve Ditko-inspired design, one inspired by End of the World, and even the original armored Spider-Man Mark 1 design. A personal highlight is the Spider-Man Noir design, as you can see all the details of the mask being stitched together and even wearing a knitted sweater. In the stream, they also teased that the coat has its own physics built-in, which will be fun while swinging around.
They also shared an additional new skin inspired by Secret War on the updated Developer blog that offers some more insights on the inspiration behind the various skins.
The costumes are quite impressive and Mark 1 showing off reflections or the details on some of the skins highlights the quality that this game has put into bringing these designs to life. Plus, Spider-Man has some of the most variety in comics, which makes him the perfect template to experiment with the various designs.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we met Sylvester Stallone’s Stakar Ogord. He’s a loose adaptation of the comic character Starhawk, who originally was from the 31st century and a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. In the MCU, he’s one of the leaders of the Ravagers and the one who exiled Yondu for his actions working for Ego. They did give him a heartfelt farewell tribute at the end of the film, but it left us with the question of whether they might make a return.
Luckily, we got our first rumor of his return back in July which might build upon the brief post-credits sequence of the older generation of Ravagers working together once again. It’s unclear what role he might have in James Gunn’s third and possibly final entry of the franchise, but it’s great to get a confirmation that he’s indeed in the film.
It’s interesting that they are filming all his expressions to duplicate. In a way, it seems that it’s part of the routine at this point but they might also be considering aging the actor down for flashback sequences. They seemed to hint at the long history the Ravagers shared and might want to explore that in the final entry. Yondu getting a short cameo in a flashback would make for an interesting way to bring Michael Rooker back for a final entry of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy directed by James Gunn. Plus, they might hint at the franchise’s future as well.
Three days ago, reports surfaced online suggesting Eternals director Chloé Zhao was directing the untitled Star Wars movie being produced by Kevin Feige. Zhao, of course, has been very vocal about her love of the franchise and eagerness to direct a Star Wars film. Unfortunately, it appears the initial report is not true.
As part of its weekly Heat Vision newsletter, The Hollywood Reporter went on record stating Zhao is not attached to a Star Wars film – Feige’s or otherwise. Feige, of course, has been working on the unspecified Star Wars film since it was announced in 2019. As a massive Star Wars fan himself, fans have been eagerly awaiting news of the project. We know that Michael Waldron, who wrote both Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios, penned the script. Waldron, of course, joined the project back in January.
With a writer on board, it seems likely a director will join the project relatively soon. Of course, things can and do often change in Hollywood. (Case in point: Patty Jenkins‘ Rogue Squadron being delayed indefinitely.)
As of now, Feige’s Star Wars film does not have a release date.
When Marvel Studios shuffled their release slate for 2022 and beyond, it seemed significant that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first film to be postponed. Now, a new trade report gives some clarity as to why the film won’t be making its intended March 2022 release.
According to Aaron Couch, the film is undergoing a “significant” makeover between now and the end of the year. The film is said to be filming six days a week over the next six weeks in Los Angeles to complete what is being described as both “additional photography” (new stuff) and “reshoots” (new stuff to replace old stuff). Writer Michael Waldron is reportedly writing new material, presumably for the additional photography.
According to the trade, part of the reshoots are simply a function of working around the availability of actors. The production, which took place in London, was also impacted by COVID-related issues that slowed it down. The film is also on its second creative team with Waldron and director Sam Raimi taking over for Scott Derrickson. Despite all the challenges it has faced, the trade says there is still “pervasive enthusiasm” for the project.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now slated to hit theaters on May 6th, 2022.
Marvel Studios unveiled a number of new projects during the recent, massive Disney+ Day event. One of these projects was Marvel Zombies, a brand new animated series based on the comics by Robert Kirkman. The reveal came as a surprise to many fans, and it would seem that Kirkman himself was among the crowd of people with no prior knowledge of the show. The Walking Dead and Invincible creator dropped the news in a response to fans on Twitter:
Because I’m being asked. I’m very excited for this show. If it’s anything like the What If… episode it’s going to be great. But I’m not a writer or producer on it. I learned about the show today with everyone else. I’m happily very busy working on my own stuff. https://t.co/REdzLf3o1k
As mentioned by Kirkman, it’s likely the new series will spin out of the fan-favorite episode of What If…?’s first season as opposed to adapting his comics directly. Although, it still seems interesting that the writer is not involved in any consulting capacity. Especially considering elements from his run was used for the What If…? episode, like the zombified heroes being able to use their abilities and Black Panther losing a leg. It’s possible Kirkman’s busy schedule played a role in his lack of involvement with the series. The creative remains hard at work on another animated adaptation of his work, Amazon Prime’s Invincible, as well as his current comics and multiple live-action versions of his previous work.
The Marvel Zombies concept was first introduced in Mark Millar’s run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, as an alternate Earth plagued by a nasty zombie infestation. The idea then became its own series, penned by Kirkman and illustrated by Sean Phillips. The popularity of the comic led to multiple sequel mini-series, and eventually an adaptation for the MCU. Hopefully, the new series proves to be just as popular with fans.
The Marvel section of Disney’s much-hyped Disney+ Day event came with plenty of exciting first looks and project announcements. Perhaps one of the most surprising announcements was the revival of the 90s X-Men: The Animated Series. It now received the new title X-Men ‘97. Unfortunately, aside from revealing the series’ existence, not much was made known about the creative team behind the big comeback outside of the original voice cast is making a return to bring these characters back to life. Luckily for fans, an Instagram post from artist Chase Conley has confirmed at least one episodic director for the show.
Conley recently made waves in the comic book community when he unveiled a new redesign for Miles Morales. Before that, the graphic designer and storyboard artist worked on projects involving The Death of Superman, Teen Titans, and Black Dynamite. Two years ago, Conley posted a workshop image of the iconic X-Men character Storm to his page. Depending on how long he’s secretly been attached to X-Men ‘97, the artwork could be an indicator of the revival’s style, but we did get the classic designs in the Disney+ special. So, we’ll see how they approached the revival of this iconic series. At the very least, it shows Conley has been a passionate fan of these characters for some time.
Jeff Trammel is tackling the project as executive producer. In his announcement tweet, Singer joined in and shared her excitement working with Trammell on the project. Freshman Year, as the name implies, takes place during the time that Peter Parker turned into the hero we’ve come to love throughout the last few films. It’s quite an interesting surprise, as technically Spider-Man still belongs to Sony. So, it may be the reason it’s an animated project that means they aren’t dependent on Sony’s approval. There’s no word if Tom Holland might be involved with the project, but he also didn’t return for What If…?, which might still be connected to the way his contract works.
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