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EXCLUSIVE: ‘ARROW’ SEASON 7 TO FEATURE DC VILLAIN JAVELIN

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at That Hashtag Show on September 13, 2018

We know that the upcoming 7th season of Arrow, set to premiere this fall, will see Oliver Queen behind bars, leaving Team Arrow to pick up the pace. While Oliver is sure to have his hand full in prison with former enemies and some less than friendly guards, we now know the big bad that the rest of the team will be dealing with in addition to the Longbow Hunters. DC Comics villain Javelin is coming to town!

DC Comics have typically portrayed Javelin as a German Olympic athlete and a thorn in the side of Hal Jordan. He’s been given a bit of an update here, but interestingly enough his Olympic origins may still come into play as a link to Team Arrow member Curtis Holt.

Described as smart and ruthless, Leonard Gibbons, aka Javelin, is a French chemical weapons trader. In the midst of a huge ongoing deal, he does business with an undercover Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific, bringing Team Arrow squarely into the mix. The studio is currently on the lookout for a French-speaking male in his 30s to take on what was described as a “large principle role.”

Certainly a character like Javelin, with his assortment of tricky spear-based weapons and high level of athletic skill fits in just fine in the Arrowverse. We know that Holt was himself an Olympic athlete, having won a bronze in the 2008 decathlon, so it’ll be interesting to see what shared history, if any, the two men have.

Season 7 of Arrow is set to hit the CW on October 15th!

September 13, 2018
SCOOP: Jenny Slate & Scott Haze’s Characters In ‘Venom’ Revealed

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on January 26, 2018.

Filming on Ruben Fleischer’s Venom has moved to San Francisco for the time being, but during its time in Atlanta we were fortunate to get a look at some photos and videos taken on location. Among the photos were several looks at star Tom Hardy, a handful of co-star Scott Haze (including one of the two men fighting, seen below) and a couple of Jenny Slate (also seen below).

The photo of Slate was reportedly taken outside the American Cancer Center, which is being used as one of the locations of the Life Foundation, an organization crucial to the plot of Venom. We can confirm that Slate’s role in the film will find her working as a scientist named Dora Skirth who works for the Life Foundation. There had been some speculation online that Slate might be playing Dr. Ashley Kafka, the founder of the best spider vein removal los angeles Institute for the Criminally Insane where Cletus Kasady was once kept. As far as we can tell, Skirth is an original character developed for the film, though she turn out to be an amalgamation of several minor characters.

Scott Haze‘s role has also been subject to much speculation with many originally believing he might be portraying Casady. As it turns out, Haze’s character will also be a part of the Life Foundation, though his character is much more firmly rooted in the comics. Haze will portray Roland Treece, the founder of Treece International and a member of the Life Foundation’s Board of Directors along with Carlton Drake, played by Riz Ahmed. Additionally, we can expect to see other Life Foundation members lifted from the pages of Lethal Protector in Dr. Collins and Dr. Emerson. This confirms speculation first made by The Venom Vlog based on set pics and video they were able to find online.

Oh and here’s a first look at Michelle Wiliams‘ Anne Weying!

https://twitter.com/Kulturpat/status/956646847526948867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fscreenrant.com%2Fvenom-movie-set-video-michelle-williams%2F

Weirdly enough, there’s zero word yet on who exactly is supposed to be playing Carnage, the purported villain of the movie for several months now. But with more than 50 days into production, it’ll only be a matter of time until we learn who has the honor of playing Spider-Man’s most violent baddie. Venom, featuring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, will be in theaters October 5th!

January 26, 2018
Beyond Infinity: The Next 20 Films We’d Like to See in the MCU

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on December 1, 2017.

The recent Vanity Fair cover story about the past, present and future of Marvel Studios was loaded with wonderful information but one bit of text has spawned thought pieces just like this one all over the internet: Marvel Studios has 20 more films on their plate, taking them well into the 2020s (and Bob Iger added to the tease by saying they could have done more than that!). We really only know what two of these films are for sure, so we put together a list of those plus another 18 we’d like to see:

1.) July 5, 2019 – Marvel Studios Spider-Man 2

One of only two films we know are certainly happening, this could be one helluva roller coaster ride of emotions for Peter Parker. Marvel Studios sequel to its well-regarded Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to hit theaters July 5, 2019, making it the first film of a distinctly different post-Infinity War MCU.

We don’t know much about the premise other than it will feature Peter trying to return to a normal life (and school) following the universe-changing events of the Infinity War. Not too many people expect Tony Stark to come out of that war alive, so Peter’s going to be moving ahead with a heavy heart, but also with great responsibility. We assume the Mac Gargan/Scorpion set-up from the Homecoming post-credits will be explored, but there are plenty of other options to explore as well.

2.) May 1, 2020 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

This is the only other film that has officially been announced and director James Gunn has heavily hinted at the date, though it has not been confirmed. We know this is the final story for this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy (sad), but we also know that Gunn has been developing sequels and spin-offs that will use a mix of old and new characters (joy!).

We expect MOST of the original Guardians to be in the third film and we’ve heard some pretty crazy early rumors about where this is going and what it sets up, but it’s SO EARLY in the process that even if they were true, there’s no telling what will happen by the time production starts. We’d like to see Adam Warlock finally grace the big screen and for Gunn to continue the masterful job he’s done building Marvel’s Cosmic Universe, but with many of Marvel’s best Cosmic villains (and some heroes too) at Fox, we might be seeing Gunn do something brand new and we certainly don’t mind that idea!

3.) August 7, 2020 – Black Widow

Put this one in the mini-exclusive column. We know that Feige has talked about a Black Widow film. We know that Stan Lee said it was happening at a recent Con. We also know that Stan isn’t crazy. Our source (the same one that gave us Captain Marvel, Nomad, Ronin and more) has told us that a Black Widow movie IS in the works and they fully expect it to happen. Until things are officially announced (which would probably be sometime next summer), we can’t be sure and because of that we are going to hold on to the details of the plot we were given, but suffice to say it’s a film that will both shock and satisfy fans.

4.) November 6, 2020 – Doctor Strange 2

Scott Derrickson knocked it out of the park with 2016’s Doctor Strange. Derrickson created a fantastic world for Strange to inhabit and the guy gets horror (he’s also THE nicest guy and has always been responsive to communication with us!), so we are crossing our fingers that sometime soon he gets the sequel greenlit and gets to explore the idea he had for Nightmare and the Dream Dimension that he had originally intended to use in the first film. At this time, all signs point to him returning and we know he’s the guy!

5.) May 1, 2021 – Black Panther: Atlantis Attacks

Marvel Studios has been teasing Namor for a VERY long time. Wakanda is going to play a major role in Avengers: Infinity War and, from the looks of the trailer, there’s no way it can come out of the invasion in tip-top shape. Wouldn’t that be just the time for a prick like Namor to strike? Having Namor in a film provides Marvel Studios with a tough task (not that they’re not up to it) and it’s more than just showing Atlantis and following up Aquaman. The key to Namor is probably getting everyone to absolutely hate the guy, have him totally destroy Wakanda and T’Challa, but then still find a way to make you like him enough to bring him back and, eventually, make him a hero. We’ve been talking about this in our Slack chat for what seems like forever and we aren’t the only ones. Here’s to hoping Feige and company finally give Namor his time to shine.

6.) July 1, 2021 – Marvel Studios Spider-Man 3

If things go according to plan, this would be Peter’s senior year, right? It’s a long way off at this point and a whole lot of stuff will probably happen before this, but we are holding fast to the belief (hope?) that Spidey in the MCU is a long-term thing and that this film, and potentially many more, will get to happen. It would take some tinkering, but we’d love to see Spidey take on Mark Raxton, aka Molten Man, in this film. First appearing way back in Amazing Spider-Man #28 in an issue whose events nearly made Peter miss his high school graduation, Molten Man would be a fun villain and the kind of callback to classic comics that Feige and company have shown a knack for finding. Of course once he finishes high school, it’ll be time to move on to college where he can FINALLY meet Gwen and Harry and Harry’s dad…maybe Norman has moved up in the world and is building H.A.M.M.E.R. to replace the now defunct S.H.I.E.L.D. Eh, those are different movies.

7.) November 5, 2021 – Captain Marvel: Galactic Storm

Operation: Galactic Storm is a major Avengers crossover arc from the early ’90s that could make the Captain Marvel sequel the equivalent of Captain America: Civil War. A war between the Kree and Shi’ar (hurry up and make that deal already, Disney) spills over onto Earth and teams of Avengers head to space to negotiate peace. This arc involves all kinds of space shenanigans and could be a major event film if it’s something Marvel would like to explore. It could also be tweaked to be a companion piece to the next film on the list.

8.) New Avengers: Secret Invasion

Ever since the announcement that Skrull would appear in Captain Marvel, a film that is set in the ’90s, EVERYONE went on alert and the internet ran wild with fan theories about who has been a Skrull all along. Feige has calmed down some of the more intense theories, but in doing so he did NOT totally discount the possibility that there have been Skrulls on Earth. To some extent this film needs to take place at the right time: the new group of Avengers needs some time to come together; the public has to recover from the events of Infinity War and Avengers 4. We’re not really sure when that time is, but this is a film we fully expect to see at some point.

9.) Annihilators

We know from the Vanity Fair interview that there seems to be a priority placed on stories that take place in setting other than Earth and other than now. An Annihilators film seems like it could solve one or both of those problems. Maybe they’re not called the Annihilators; maybe the team isn’t the collection of individuals shown above (but man would that be cool); however, a new team of Cosmic champions assembled to carry on the work of the Guardians of the Galaxy (that’s the idea I always have when I hear Gunn describe what GotG 3 is going to be) would be a great idea and a way to make the fun, wacky spirit of the Guardians live on. Let’s get Cosmo some line, huh?

10.) Ravagers

Gunn has teased the possibility of a Ravagers film and we would LOVE to see it. We’d be open to it taking place in the past if for no other reason than to give us more time with Michael Rooker’s Yondu. Would flashbacks with Yondu take away from the importance of his death in Vol. 2? That’s going to be to Gunn, but we’re on board for a Ravagers film past, present or future. If Disney and Fox could close that deal, perhaps the Ravagers could take on the Badoon, just like the OG Guardians in the comics or perhaps they could somehow finally incorporate Vance Astro into the MCU! At this point, if Gunn’s hands are on it, we are all for it.

11.) Shuri Solo Film

Letitia Wright is a great example of the kind of casting Marvel Studios is becoming known for. She’s 24 and about to be an absolute star

It’s time for a new Iron Man and you know who we want it to be: Shuri. What?!?!?! Yes, we want this film and we don’t think it’s totally crazy. She’s openly being set up as the MCU’s new tech genius. She’s been designing the Wakandan tech which makes Stark’s stuff look like it was made in a cave with a box of scraps…The Hulkbuster is in Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War which means she’ll have her hands on Stark’s baby and we won’t be surprised to find out that she somehow upgrades it. If Iron Man is going the legacy route it did in the comics, this is a way to make that happen with a character who already exists.

Of course, Shuri could always be the new Black Panther in a third solo film, especially if her brother is forced to leave the position following an Atlantean attack. Shuri had an absolutely fascinating turn as the monarch of Wakanda in the comics and we’d be up for an adaptation of that.

To be honest, we aren’t too picky here about how it happens, we just want Marvel to make it happen.

12.) Thuderbolts

Marvel Studios may have been assembling the pieces of this film right under our noses this whole time (not that many haven’t noticed). With Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo waiting in the wings, it won’t take much more pushing to get him a team. The Shocker lived to fight another day in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost would be another great addition. Starting with those pieces, you’re just a few characters away from having your very own squad of baddies out to do good and giving these underutilized actors time to shine.

13.) Nova

Another Cosmic film! We’ve heard time and again that there’s a heavy focus on developing Cosmic characters going forward and Nova may be the most iconic and unused character to whom Marvel Studios holds the rights. The destruction of Xandar that’s sure to come in Avengers: Infinity War would provide a great opening for the origin story of Richard Rider and could be done without much fuss. Sure it might be too late for the hero to help out in Infinity War or Avengers 4, but a young Rider could be tasked with rebuilding the Nova Corps in the wake of it’s central hub being wrecked by Thanos.

14.) Squadron Supreme

We’ve been championing this film for a long, long time and we aren’t backing down. With DC going forward with their own “Captain Marvel” in Shazam, we would love to see Marvel Studios go forward with their very own “Justice League” film. I’d love for this to be a major event film, seeing the comic book origins adapted as best as can be. The Grandmaster’s Squadron Supreme vs. (please let it be Kang’s) The Avengers! A group of heroes plucked from other dimensions and forced to fight Earth’s Mightiest! If Marvel Studios wants different, these characters provide a great opportunity. Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie up against Thundra would be just one reason to make it happen, so let’s get this bandwagon rolling!

15.) Captain America: Sam Wilson

We hear a lot of stuff and not all of it makes a lot of sense. One thing we’ve heard several times over the past year, however, that makes a lot of sense is that Marvel Studios is leaning heavily towards having Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson take over the mantle of Captain America instead of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky. This isn’t anything we’ve been told has been set in stone, though we have heard that the studio does NOT have major plans for Stan moving forward. Time will tell on all that, but we already know that Mackie has made a major impression on us and we would love to see his story go on.

16.) Power Pack

This one is based off of a recent rumor, but the more we think about it, the more we like the idea. Based on that rumor, if Power Pack is happening, it’s still in its infancy, but it’s something that Marvel has been developing on and off for almost 10 years. It’s a very kid-friendly choice, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have stakes. I still think the film with some of the steepest stakes I’ve seen recently was a kid’s movie: 2015’s Inside Out. No reason that a group of kids can’t get in on the action and, if Disney closes that deal with Fox, this could be the kind of property that would align nicely with the Richards’ children.

17.) Shang-Chi

This one is a little meta humor. Despite the fact that we have been coming through on scoop after scoop after scoop for you guys, everyone still digs at us for the Shang-Chi in Iron Fist business. I can tell you without a doubt that they auditioned for the role of Shang-Chi for that show and for some reason, he didn’t make the cut. Why? Well, Marvel Studios has a fantastic relationship with China and we imagine they’d like to build on that. The Russo brothers went to China in 2015 to do an exclusive interview about Captain America: Civil War and are even opening their own studio over there. How cool would it be to see some sort of effort made to make Shang-Chi into a loosely-connected James Bond-esque property? Crazy, we know, but it sounded good.

18.) Moon Knight

As much as we think this property could be Marvel TV’s Legion, we are coming around to the idea that having Marc Spector on screen might be more important and, we’re told, so do the folks at Marvel Studio. One reason for the delay in a vehicle for the cult favorite character is that the issue of where he’ll appear isn’t quite settled. The character and content seem a little dark compared to typical Marvel Studios fare, but it’s hard not to imagine a fully-realized Moon Knight on the big screen.

19.) Champions

Marvel had to spend some cash to get the trademark rights to the Champions title back and while it’s been a solid comic, it’s possible they also had the bigger picture in mind. Champions is an interesting twist on what it means to be a superhero and it has found the Champions taking on not only powerful villains like the High Evolutionary, but also “championing” significant causes. The film could be the right vehicle for three of Marvel’s most important characters of late: Amadeus Cho, Kamala Khan and Miles Morales. Miles already exists; Cho’s mother survived Avengers: Age of Ultron; Captain Marvel could set up a potential Khan origin. Just a thought, but with Marvel always looking to the future, this is a title that could bring in a ready made crowd of young comic book readers.

20.) Young Avengers

One of Marvel’s great arcs from the mid-aughts, the Young Avengers is another film that should happen and that could already be in the works. With Cassie Lang the only character already in the MCU, some work needs to be done and recent rumors COULD indicate that it is. Speed and Wiccan could be on their way into the MCU and it wouldn’t take much for a Captain Marvel film to set up the events that would lead to Hulking joining the fray. Adding Bishop Publishing to a scene here or there won’t be too hard and then it’s a matter of deciding which other characters the studio wants to add. This was a story ahead of its time in 2005 and it’s time to bring it to the big screen.

We had a hard time stopping at twenty. We want more Thor and more Doctor Strange. We want Hercules. We really, really want to see Taika Waititi direct a Silver Surfer movie. In truth, there’s no end to the things we want and that’s great because it seems there’s no end in sight for Marvel Studios!

December 1, 2017
Connecting Imaginary Dots: ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’ Might Have an Egghead After All

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on November 16, 2017.

It’s been a while since we’ve churned out a Connecting the Imaginary Dots feature, but this seems like the right time for one. For those of you that haven’t read these before, we’re basically taking a piece of information, making some deductions and taking an educated guess at something. We have no inside info; this isn’t a scoop; it’s just as likely to be wrong as it is right.

We like doing this, not because we sometimes get them right, but because it gives us a chance to tell you something you may not already know and then let our fanboy imagination run wild. So let’s get to it, shall we. First of all, here’s the bit of information that got us all started; it appears that actor Michael Cerveris may have joined the cast of Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and The Wasp! You may recognize Cerveris from his role as The Observer on Fringe or from his recent work on The Tick. The IMDB listing (yes, we know it can be totally wrong, that’s why this is a Connecting Imaginary Dots piece) for Ant-Man and The Wasp was recently updated and lists Kent De Mond as a stunt performer for Cerveris:

Operating under the assumption that De Mond jumped the gun in updating his own profile and Cerveris is in the film, we started considering who someone like Cerveris, a VERY singular looking man, could be playing in the film. We reached out to our source to confirm, but at the time of publication, we had not been able to get word.

To be honest, it didn’t take a lot of deliberation to settle on Elihas Starr, aka Egghead. A genius-level atomic scientist, Starr was caught smuggling government plans with the intent to sell them. From there, Starr went on to begin his career as a villain in the service of the criminals who helped him out of prison. Starr first appeared in Tales to Astonish #38 and for most of his time in the comics served as an antagonist to Hank Pym. While much of the plot of the film is still being kept secret, we could see room for a genius like Starr to be in the film working to take on the Ant-Man team.

There really aren’t a lot of great, iconic Ant-Man villains (are there any?) but Egghead would have to be counted among them, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see Reed add him to the film. While you might ask, “Why didn’t we see him in any of the character breakdowns/casting calls?”, that’s actually pretty normal. For a character actor like Cerveris, it’s possible that Reed either had him in mind from the beginning, or picked him from a small group that didn’t require an auditioning process. Either way, we could definitely see Cerveris in the role and hope we hit this nail on the (egg)head.

Source: IMDB

November 16, 2017
4 Things We’d Love to See In Future ‘Thor’ Installments

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on November 6, 2017.

Thor: Ragnarok certainly revitalized the franchise and the character. Not only did it bring some of the more fantastical elements of the Thor comics to the screen, it also saw the character make some bold choices that lead to some major repercussions for him and the people of Asgard. We know we’ll see the God of Thunder again in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 and expect him to play a significant role. While it seems that those films will be the swan songs for stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, it is possible that Chris Hemsworth could continue on in the role; after all, Asgardians age awfully slowly, making Hemsworth one of the few MCU stars whose aging could work out just fine. Furthermore, Tessa Thompson’s turn as the Valkyrie did nothing other than continue her ascension as a star and leave us all wanting much, much more of the character. If Marvel Studios is so inclined, they could potentially use the massive success of Thor: Ragnarok as a springboard to launch not only more Thor films, but also films centered around the Valkyrie. The source material certainly provides enough great stories for several films so we put together a sampling of some that we think would look great on screen!

To Wake The Mangog!

One of the great Thor villains that we’ve still yet to see on screen is the great and immortal Mangog! Seen above in concept art from Thor: The Dark World. the Mangog is a villain for whom the time may actually be right given some of the dark revelations about Odin’s past. In the comics, the Mangog was the sole survivor of his kind with the rest of his race being killed by Odin as he is imprisoned in the depths of the Realm Eternal. Fueled by the their combined rage (“the hatred of a billion, billion beings) the Mangog is released by Ulik the Troll (another Thor baddie we’re dying to see!) and proves an equal in battle for the Odinson.

The Mangog is returning to the comics and the events of Thor: Ragnarok could actually have set the stage for his entry into the MCU. The destruction of Asgard by Surtur could be used to explain how the Mangog escaped prison and a film featuring him could give us some more of the true history of Asgard, one of the juiciest and underserved plot points in Thor: Ragnarok. Of course the Mangog would turn his rage on the new King of Asgard, giving Thor a foe that not only challenges him physically, but threatens his burgeoning rule as well.

Journey Into Mystery

If they are going to give Tessa Thompson her own franchise, and I REALLY think they should, I love this as the title. This is the title that introduced Thor to the Silver Age of comics and told young readers the “Tales of Asgard.” Interestingly enough, any movie featuring the Valkyrie, or Asgardians in general, doesn’t need to take place in the present day, giving Marvel Studios a plethora of options for Journey Into Mystery films. While the title might evoke images of Lady Sif for loyal readers, it’s pretty clear that the studio has larger plans for Thompson than for Jamie Alexander; however, that wouldn’t stop them from making an absolutely fantastic team up film with the two badasses!

We know that Thompson has pitched an all-female film to Marvel Studios and, at this point, we have to think the studio is open to it. This may not be the story she had in mind, but we’d love to see the Valkyrie team up with Sif. A couple of classic Thor villains come to mind as wonderful antagonists for such a film and while their team up would clearly be short-lived, we’d love to see Karnilla, the Norn Queen and Amora finally grace the big screen!

The Undying Ones

Outside of being an absolutely fantastic individual character, one of the great things about the Valkyrie being introduced into the MCU is that we are now just one character away from being able to assemble the comic book Defenders on screen. With Doctor Strange, Hulk and the Valkyrie in the mix, we just need Namor and we have the non-team many of us grew up reading about. It seems like the issues surrounding a Namor solo movie are similar to those associated with the Hulk, so introducing him in a team-up film is probably the only way to go. It also seems that the future of the MCU is in team ups of “unexpected combinations of characters” and this idea certainly falls under that umbrella.

First appearing in Doctor Strange #183 and Sub-Mariner #22, the Undying Ones, a group of inter-dimensional demons who used to rule the Earth, were the threat that brought the Defenders together. Whether it’s in the first Valkyrie film or a Doctor Strange sequel, this Lovecraftian horror movie is the type of genre-bending experiment that Marvel Studios seems more and more comfortable attempting. Thompson’s character already showed a fantastic rapport with Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and would definitely be an interesting foil to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. Additionally, her irreverence would certainly grind Namor’s gears, cementing her as the centerpiece of this team up.

Gorr, The God Butcher

I’m aware that Thor: Ragnarok already introduced some facets of Jason Aaron’s incredible run on Thor: God of Thunder. While I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to which comics should be adapted into Marvel Studios films, I believe that Aaron’s Gorr arc is one of the finest Thor stories ever told. Those things considered, I feel that this is a story that can be told and told well at some point down the road, if Hemsworth chooses to stick around in the role (or if they recast someone else at some point).

In order for this story to be told, it probably makes sense that we are introduced to some other gods from other pantheons at some point. If future films introduce heroes such as Hercules and other characters like Ares and the Eternals, a story taking place in the future featuring an aged King Thor could be the fitting farewell to the character. The story of Gorr transcends time and space and would be perfect for the final, epic Thor story.

November 6, 2017
SCOOP: New Plot Details About ‘Ant-Man & the Wasp’ Revealed

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on October 18, 2017.

After years of starts and stops and a change in directors, fans finally got a chance to see Ant-Man hit the big screen in 2015. The film filled in some gaps in the history of the MCU, showed Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne in action, introduced their daughter Hope and gave us Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, one of the most endearing and relatable MCU heroes to date. Filming is well underway on Peyton Reed’s follow up, Ant-Man and The Wasp, and through set photos and some scoops, we’ve only been able to scrape together very little info about what to expect from the film…until now!

A source of ours has chimed in with a few details about the plot of the film that, in light of the set photos we’ve seen and where the last film left off, seem to make some sense. We are told that the film will take place over a very short amount of time and will see the leads begin the film in very different situations.

From the first photos of Rudd on set fans have been curious about the timeline of the film. Given Lang’s inclusion in the events in Germany, his incarceration in the Raft and subsequent breakout, fans have wondered how he’s operating in public during Ant-Man and The Wasp. According to our source, the film takes place after Lang’s escape from prison and when it begins, Lang finds himself on house arrest. While that sounds bad for a superhero, it seems to be just fine with Lang who is content spending more time with his daughter, Cassie. It seems the events of Captain America: Civil War have soured Scott on the prospects of putting on the suit. When the film begins, Scott Lang is Ant-Man no more. How Scott was sentenced to house-arrest despite destroying an airport and breaking out of prison is unknown at this point.

While Scott finds himself adjusting to his new life, Hank and Hope are hard at work trying to find a way to bring Jan back from the Quantum Realm. The father-daughter team are none too pleased with Lang for taking off to Germany in the middle of their work have spent a lot of time working in their lab. They are using Pym Particles to keep their lab small and mobile (maybe similar to Ant-Man Vol. 2 Annual where Lang’s helmet actually had a lab inside it!) because Hank and Hope will spend a good deal of the film on the run, with all types of folks out for them. Though the source didn’t go into detail about the roles the Walton Goggin’s Sonny Burch, Hannah John-Kaman’s Ghost or Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo, it’s not crazy to think that they’re all involved in the hunt for Hank and Hope at some point.

Set pics have revealed that Lang will ultimately re-team with Hope and that, at some point, Hank is all suited up in FBI gear, so there’s certainly an unknown bridge from what our source shared to those points. However, with so little out there about the film so far, it’s nice to have some idea of what to expect when the film opens. It sounds like we are getting a very intimate film that takes place in a VERY short amount of time and one that is, at least in some part, separate from the major events of Infinity War!

October 18, 2017
SCOOP: Hawkeye To Take On A New Identity in ‘Avengers 4’

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on September 8, 2017.

Fans have theorized the possibility of Clint Barton assuming a new alter ego in Avengers 4. With part of the film taking place in Japan and Jeremy Renner sporting a very different haircut while prepping for the film, speculation has centered on the possibility of Clint Barton shedding Hawkeye and adopting not just a new look, but possibly a new name as well. Thanks to our source, the same source that delivered the goods on the children of Thanos and Steve Rogers’ new look, we can tell you that Barton is set to appear as Ronin (or at least an iteration of it) in Avengers 4!

In the comics, Barton has been known to take on multiple superhero identities. He took on the mantle of Goliath back in the day and underwent a very brooding gun-toting image overhaul in Ultimates 3 when tragedy struck his family. The most notable recent change the character went through happened after the events of Civil War in New Avengers #27. . Donning a totally new costume, complete with a mask to hide his identity like fraudsters would do, Barton, who had been trained with numerous weapons over the years, picked up some samurai swords and became the masterless samurai known as Ronin, a mantle that began with Daredevil ally Maya Lopez aka Echo. Though he eventually resumed his career as Hawkeye, Barton wore the mask for some time, including the events surrounding the Skrull invasion.

As with nearly all things MCU, the film won’t follow the template from the comics. We don’t want to get to deep into spoiler territory here, but we are told that the events of Avengers: Infinity War (one specific event in particular) leaves Barton in a VERY dark place and is the inciting moment in the archer’s shift into this darker superhero mantle. Given the nature of events that cause the shift, it’s possible that they may not make the final cut of the film, but trust us when we say that if they do, you will absolutely know it when you see it.

As always, while we are confident that our source delivered accurate information to us, it’s important to remember that we are talking about a film that is 20 months away from hitting the big screen. In that time, scripts can change, cuts can be edited, things can be added and, of course removed. Things that may have been shot for one film could end up in another. Having said that, this absolutely seems like a series of events the Russos would throw in given their knowledge of the comics and their penchant for throwing things in that the most hardcore fans can appreciate.

What do you guys make of this news? Are you excited to see a different, darker Clint Barton? Let us know!

Avengers: Infinity War will hit theaters on May 4, 2018 and Avengers 4 will drop one year later on May 3, 2019!

September 8, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: New Details About ‘Captain Marvel’ Revealed

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at MCU Exchange on August 2, 2017.

The excitement around the SDCC announcement that Captain Marvel would be a period piece taking place in the 1990s was absolutely tangible. From the time period to the involvement of the Skrulls, people were absolutely blown away but also left asking a lot of questions. We reached out to our most trusted source who helped us out with the Children of Thanos and Nomad stories and were able to land a few details that should hold us over until Marvel Studios is ready to give us more info.

In 2014, Badass Digest revealed that Carol Danvers would make her debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The introduction, they reported, would be an end of the movie cameo that would include Ms. Marvel among the new members of the Avengers. The site included a disclaimer that while it was possible, it was just as possible that the studio was a little concerned about introducing such a major character in a short cameo.

Avengers: Age of Ultron did debut a new team of Avengers (which we never saw in action, by the way) but there was no Carol Danvers. With her own film having been announced in the time between the initial report and the premiere of the film, it seemed Marvel Studios chose to hold off and give her an introduction more in line with her high profile. The reports, however, were confirmed and Marvel even went as far as to shoot VFX plates for her entrance into the New Avengers facility, but those shots were ultimately used on Scarlet Witch’s arrival in her new costume. Kevin Feige explained his decision in keeping Danvers out of the film:

“There were drafts that maybe people somehow got their hands on and read early on that included some characters – maybe others, but certainly one, which is why it’s dangerous to read scripts early on, and talk about them early on…

[Captain Marvel] was in a draft. But to me, it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?’ It’s just not the way we’ve done it before.”

And so Carol Danvers’ introduction to the MCU was put on hold as the minds at Marvel Studios went to work on how to best introduce her, but what was revealed was that Captain Marvel would have been a fully formed, known quantity as a superhero at the time. Now, we at the MCU Exchange have exclusive details on how Kevin Feige, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will bring Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman’s script to the screen and we think you’re going to love it!. As noted above, it is still very early in the process (they won’t film until winter 2018) and all of this is subject to change, but what we currently know sounds absolutely amazing.

Brie Larson’s absence from the filming of Avengers: Infinity War has people asking just where the most powerful of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was when they most needed her. While it was widely believed that Carol wasn’t in the fight because she hadn’t been powered up yet, we now know that’s not the case; however, if she’s been a superhero for 20 years so you think she would show up when the fate of the entire cosmos was at stake!

So where has Carol been all this time? We are told that the comments by Marvel Stuido’s physics consultant, Dr. Spiros Michalakis, about the Quantum Realm playing a major part in Captain Marvel have an awful lot to do with where she’s been and why she sat out the events of Infinity War. With Captain Marvel releasing between Infinity War and the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4, we believe we have an answer to Danvers’ location and see her return to join the fray in Avengers 4.

Long time members of the Carol Corps are going to love the way the story pays homage to her long history. We know the Kree will have a large presence in the film and, according to the source, the film will absolutely include the Kree hero Mar-Vell! It’s well-established in Marvel Cinematic Universe mythology that the Kree have been to Earth before, so we aren’t surprised to find out that Mar-Vell might have been on Earth in the past to observe and report on the activities of humans especially given that film’s plot is expected to be driven by the longstanding Kree-Skrull war.

Though we don’t know if we’ll be seeing him on Earth as Dr. Lawson, we are told to expect to see a version of the Psyche-Magnitron accident from the comics and that accident will be responsible for altering her DNA and giving her powers. Furthermore, we are told that her unique half-Kree/half-human DNA will be used to explain why she hasn’t appeared to age since her disappearance, meaning they won’t need to age/de-age Brie Larson. Just like Thor and the Asgardians before her, Carol won’t necessarily age in the MCU.

Additionally and in somewhat of a surprising move, the earliest drafts of the script include references to her functioning as Ms. Marvel and that there will be a version of her early Ms. Marvel costume seen onscreen. Marvel Studios have been great about updating classic looks that respect the mythology without causing too much controversy and we expect something similar will be done here.

We’ll keep working with our source to find out more, but Marvel Studios has been on lockdown for a long, long time but this is a genius move by Marvel Studios. With the film being set in the 90s it gives them the opportunity to do a lot of things in the 20 years that have passed and also deal with the repercussions of those events.

August 2, 2017
SCOOP: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Will See a Different Steve Rogers

Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy on MCU Exchange on July 17, 2017.

The Avengers: Infinity War trailer shown at D23 was full of a lot jaw dropping moments but one of the ones that seems to have really caught the interest of fans was the appearance of a bearded Steve Rogers. While the secrets of Infinity War have been well-kept, we do have a little info about that bearded Rogers and what you can expect from him when Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters next May!

When we last saw Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War, he had put down the shield after his battle with Tony Stark, broken his buddies out of the Raft and took up residence inside the nation of Wakanda. Having turned his back on his past, Rogers is now a man without a country (even a war criminal?) and, as a result, will be taking on a new alias in Infinity War. The Russo brothers have proven themselves as knowledgeable fans of the comics, finding incredibly deep cuts that only the truest of believers would pick up. We’re told that they’ve done it again and that we should expect Captain America no more as the Steve Rogers we see in Infinity War will be a Nomad!

Comic readers will remember an incredibly short-lived run (Captain America #180-184) where Rogers, disillusioned by the revelation of the Secret Empire running America, took off his Captain America costume and donned a caped blue and yellow uniform. While we won’t be seeing an exact duplicate of that costume in Infinity War, Rogers’ costume will pay homage to his time as Nomad. It’s also worth noting that the bearded look, which is Chris Evans‘ preferred look anyway, does resemble Rogers’ time in Dimension Z from Rick Remender’s recent run.

The move towards Nomad is more than a nice nod to the comics. Rogers, as he did in the comics, has become disillusioned with what he has had to sacrifice to do the things he knows he must. The Russos sowed the seeds of this move early in Civil War and Rogers has had a tremendous personal arc over the course of the films in which he has appeared. His decision to become Nomad is representative of him no longer looking to follow orders or even give them, but to simply do what he believes is right.

Given what we’ve heard about the scale of destruction in Infinity War, there’s no telling if Rogers will ever pick up the shield again or if it’s time for someone else (looking at you Sam Wilson) to take on the mantle of Captain America. What do you guys think of this nod to a classic story line? Are you headed out to find a copy of Captain America #180?

July 17, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: Details on Hannah John-Kamen’s Role & Luis’ New Love Interest in ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’ Revealed

Notes: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at MCU Exchange on June 28, 2017.

The cast of Ant-Man and The Wasp will be heading to Atlanta to begin filming soon, but very little is known about who will be joining the returning stars from the first film. One addition is actress Hannah John-Kamen, who joined the cast earlier this month in an unspecified role. Thanks to a source with knowledge of the production of the film, we were able to get a little more info on the role!

Kamen will be portraying a character named Dawn. Though the exact nature of Dawn’s role was not revealed, she is described as charismatic, eccentric, unpredictable and damaged. It’s not clear if Dawn is a new character created for the film or if she is adapted from the comics; while there are several characters named Dawn from which to draw in the comics, none of them seem to have a rich history as a supporting character in any Ant-Man stories. A character named Dawn Starr does catch the attention of fans of the comics who recognize the last name as the same one as Hank Pym’s nemesis Egghead, or Elihas Starr. However, Dawn and Elihas were not related in the comics, though Marvel Studios could certainly find a way to make that change if they wanted, so we can’t exactly settle on her.

Kamen’s Dawn is one of 3 female roles added to the sequel, joining the yet to be cast Janet van Dyne and one more surprise role. While the role may well be cast at this point, we can tell you that the studio was searching for a Latino actress for the role of Victoria, who will join the cast as the love interest for Michael Pena’s Luis. Described as a bit of a “loose cannon”, Victoria will be a part of the film’s comic relief but is also described as tough and smart with a “dangerous edge.”

With production beginning soon, possibly as soon as this Friday, we can expect some confirmation on these roles soon along with some other additions to the cast. Ant-Man and The Wasp will hit theaters July 6, 2018.

What do you think of these new casting details for Ant-Man and the Wasp? Excited that a new character is being added to the Three Wombats? Let us know in the comments below!

June 28, 2017