Yesterday was a day packed with numerous interesting and unexpected announcements regarding some of everyone’s favorite characters and franchises. It was a mixture of brand new surprises and expected announcements. Disney went all out, and it will take a while to unpack everything that they disclosed in their 4-hour long Investor Day presentation. But, we have to start somewhere, and for now, some projects caught our eye, for one reason or another. Here are our team’s picks:
Charles Murphy
For me, it’s simple: the revelation that Christian Bale is playing Gorr the God Butcher. We’ve been all over the map with Bale because we really had a hard time thinking they’d use Gorr after having co-opted parts of his power set with Hela in Ragnarok. Knowing that we are going to get Gorr in this film cements the fact that we are getting a much more direct adaptation of one of my favorite modern-day comic runs in Jason Aaron‘s Thor. I haven’t been able to get my head around what this means: are we going to see the 3 Thors story and see things at the end of time? Is it set in the modern-day? I know whatever it is, I’m ready for it!
Ms. Lizzie Hill
People need something to get behind,” as Bucky Barnes said. Well with kick-ass ladies, exciting action, an ominous intensity, and a fractious buddy cop comedy vibe I can certainly get behind the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Can’t wait for March!
Charles Villanueva
After watching each trailer numerous times, I gotta say that Loki takes the cake in this category. For someone like me who was less than whelmed at the idea of Tom Hiddleston returning for another rodeo as the God of Mischief, that teaser really put me in my place. It’s as if every scene deserves an article on its own just for how intriguing it is. The set design looks crazy. Feige described the show as a crime thriller and I certainly got some Twin Peaks vibes seeing the teaser play out. Color me convinced.
Joseph “The Machine” Aberl
I think the biggest move of the night was to confirm what will happen with Black Panther‘s sequel. It wasn’t about the film but more about how they want to honor Chadwick Boseman‘s legacy moving forward. T’Challa was a big character moving into the next phase of their franchise, so anything could’ve happened. Yet, they took an honorable route and decided they will not recast the character. We will continue revisiting Wakanda in the future with a new generation taking over keeping Boseman‘s legacy alive.
Superhero Theorist
I’m a sucker for anything regarding the Multiverse. So you can guess how excited I was when Feige confirmed that Doctor Strange 2 would not only tie in with WandaVision but Spider-Man 3 as well. This takes me back to SDCC 2019 when Feige confirmed that Phase 4 would tell mini-arc stories based on 3-4 films and shows rather than a bigger story arc based around 23 films. So if the Multiverse is one of those stories based around the events of WandaVision, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange 2, and potentially possibly even Loki and What If?, then I’m all for it.
John Sabato
The best reveal for me would have to be that of the Ahsoka solo show reveal. Something that many of us were hoping would be in the works, especially with how Dawson played to the character to an almost perfect pitch. It’ll be exciting seeing her go after Grand Admiral Thrawn and hopefully see Ezra appear. My most disappointing reveal would have to be that of Shang-Chi. It had nothing to do with the quality of the film it was just that we were shown nothing from the film, not even a sizzle reel while shows like Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, which gave us a better look and they’re not even done filming. While the project still a bit away it would’ve fit to see a first look at the film instead of just confirmation on the cast.
Dalbin Osorio
For me, I loved the announcement that Hayden Christensen was returning as Vader in the long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi show: seeing Vader turn into the menace and homicidal maniac leading into Rogue One and Episode 4 is always good news. He may have been awful in Episode 2 but he was great in Episode 3 and has shown incredible development as an Actor since leaving the Star Wars universe. What disappointed me, though, was not hearing anything about XMen. We got an F4 reveal, so many shows that will undoubtedly impact the very fabric of the MCU, and it feels a little like Feige is toying with us by knowing he has the X-Men in his back pocket. Still, a logo reveals, or even just one word (mutants) would’ve been cool to allude to the future.
João RP
Several project confirmations made me very happy. From the new Alien series to Taika Waititi‘s Reservoir Dogs and the MCU’s Secret Invasion series with Ben Mendelsohn returning. But I’ve got to say that having Patty Jenkins direct her own Star Wars movie is the surprise announcement that really made me gasp. She’s hardly the one to get herself on a project without making it her own in a way that elevates the material, and her personal background with her father having been a fighter pilot will surely make this a special project for her. Having her use that strong affinity to the subject to tackle a story about the Rogue Squadron, a group of fighter pilots initially founded and led by the Original Trilogy’s Wedge Antilles, sounds like a great start to the history of women directing Star Wars feature films.
