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  • The Hypothetical 2025 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    The Hypothetical 2025 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V2

    Trying to predict what 2025 might look like when changes to 2023 are still happening is just ridiculous! But here we go…

    *NOTE* we are no longer tracking animated projects nor including them on the hypothetical calendars.

    Though this has not been officially announced by Marvel Studios, rumors suggest that this is in the works and that it will stream on Disney Plus ahead of Fantastic Four. For now, Fantastic Four is slated for Valentine’s Day so giving the Sentinel of the Spaceways his own project a month or so out would allow plenty of time for audiences to get to know him.

    Fantastic Four was shuffled into 2025 since our last update, but with Matt Shakman on board to direct based on a script from Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, it seems like things are headed in the right direction! Fans are understandably hungry for this movie and by the time it releases, nearly 6 years will have passed since Kevin Feige announced it at SDCC ’19!

    Nova has a writer and is rumored to be a project that’s destined to become a Special Presentation. It’s time for The Man Called Nova to enter the MCU.

    Reiterating old news here, but way back in the day the word was that the studio expected whoever it was that ultimately took on the role of Kamala Khan to shoot Season 1, a movie and Season 2 all in a fairly short amount of time. Iman Vellani is that actress and she’s going to be pretty busy as it’s expected she’ll play a rather vital role in the overall story of the Multiverse Saga, too.

    This is one of the bolder moves on the calendar, but since it’s hypothetical, it doesn’t really matter. I know absolutely nothing about the plot of this movie and the only thing I’ve ever heard was that it would arrive before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Until I know something else, I’ll stick with that nugget. That means shuffling around the slate a bit and bumping The Kang Dynasty to a new spot even though Marvel Studios has it slated for May 2nd.

    Oscar Isaac and Mohamed Diab seem to want everyone to know a second season of Moon Knight is in the works and we believe it is. Logistically, placing it on the slate before The Kang Dynasty makes quite a bit of sense as it would allow the character to emerge from his own shadowy world into the larger shared universe and help audiences understand how he might get involved with the Avengers.

    Tom Holland will have a new deal with Sony and Marvel Studios. Spider-Man 4 is happening and some rumors suggest it could happen as soon as 2024. However, if it really will involved Daredevil and Kingpin, it will have to happen after Daredevil: Born Again streams on Disney Plus and as indicated in version 4 of our 2024 hypothetical calendar, that series may not roll out until mid-2024 and that would have a domino effect on this film. Sony’s done the July 4th long-weekend release before with Spider-Man: Far From Home, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them do it again. Of course, if they do release it then Marvel Studios would have to shuffle one of their release dates just a tad.

    Originally intended to be the May 2025 film, we’ve moved Avengers: The Kang Dynasty down the road a piece as a result of the shuffling of other projects. As it currently stands, August 1st isn’t even on the slate, but if Spidey 4 does drop in early July, Marvel Studios could push the July 25th date a week to let Spidey 4 do its thing before dropping the fifth Avengers film. One would think Spidey will certainly be in it, so having his story first is fine and all nonsense aside, it doesn’t matter when Marvel Studios releases this film. It’s going to make its money in any month on the calendar.

    As of our last update, this project was totally unknown, but given the rush to put together a writer’s room for it before the end of 2022, it would seem like a project that could easily stream on Disney Plus in 2025. We like to think of this one as a little Young Avengers, a little West Coast Avengers and a little “let’s keep Paul Bettany around because he’s that good.”

    This wasn’t even a film the last time we ran this exercise! As far as we know, the story of Armor Wars has always had a role in the Multiverse Saga so until we hear otherwise, the project will stay part of it even as the winds have shifted. Its connection to the events of Secret Invasion also helps us place it here, where it’s not too far away from the 2023 streaming series.

  • Major X-Men Location Rumored to Already Exist in the MCU, Serve as Key Setting for Upcoming Films

    Major X-Men Location Rumored to Already Exist in the MCU, Serve as Key Setting for Upcoming Films

    Marvel Studios has owned the live-action rights to the X-Men for over three years and while they haven’t chosen to introduce any of the major characters associated with the team into the MCU, they have started to sprinkle in some bits and pieces that are connected. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier introduced the lawless location of Madripoor to the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured a Multiversal Variant of Charles Xavier, Kamala Khan’s powers in Ms. Marvel were discovered to be the result of a mutation and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Namor, the MCU’s first mutant (at least for now). Now, a fascinating new rumor suggests they slipped another mutant-related breadcrumb into the MCU without anyone noticing and may change the way audiences look at Eternals.

    New information from insider Daniel RPK suggests that a major mutant location already exists in the MCU and will serve as a key setting in two 2024 films. The new rumor claims that the corpse of the Celestial Tiamut has become an island called Genosha and will be featured in Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.

    Fans of X-Men comics will recognize Genosha immediately and likely have a visceral response. Located in the Indian Ocean, Genosha played a major role in the comics for well over a decade, first as an island full of mutant slaves, then as the first attempt at a mutant nation on Earth and ultimately as the site of the massacre which killed 16.5 million mutant inhabitants of the island.

    Rumors point to Tiamut’s corpse/Genosha, which is indeed located in the Indian Ocean, serving a key role in Captain America: New World Order as governments of the world learn of the presence of Adamantium in or on the island. Then, in Thunderbolts, the titular team will be sent to Genosha to procure the precious metal. The Thunderbolts going in after Adamantium lines up with CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s obsession with Vibranium, as seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and establishing Tiamut/Genosha as a geopolitical hotspot due to its natural resources sets it up to be a key locale in the future of the MCU. Other rumors point to Thunderbolts also serving to show that Super Soldier research is ongoing and it becomes fairly easy to connect the dots from Super Solider research to Adamantium to Weapon X down the road.

  • ‘Black Panther 2’ Director Opens Up on T’Challa’s Original Story

    ‘Black Panther 2’ Director Opens Up on T’Challa’s Original Story

    There will always be the question of “what if” in the back of our minds, as we try to unravel what was the original plans for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. His T’Challa had a big future as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a new direction had to be found after the unexpected developments. In an interview with New York Times, director Ryan Coogler got a chance to open up on what his original plans were for the story that he had envisioned for Boseman to continue on.

    It seems that Coogler’s original plans were for T’Challa to try and connect with his son after the blip. The plan was “for his 8th birthday, they do a ritual where they go out into the bush and have to live off the land.” We get elements from this storyline scattered throughout, such as the reveal of his son in the post-credit sequence and that idea seemingly was explored when Shuri and Queen Ramonda try to work through their grief.

    It’s unclear though if the events would unravel in a similar way. Still, this original storyline also would not have worked with a recasting of T’Challa. Having a story about T’Challa trying to save the world with his son by his side. It wouldn’t just feel right to explore that story with someone besides Chadwick Boseman in the role. Either way, we’re now entering a new era for the Wakandans and the introduction of young T’Challa opens up an interesting future to explore.

    Source: New York Times

  • ‘Black Panther 2’s Script Always Included Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val

    ‘Black Panther 2’s Script Always Included Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Val

    Ryan Coogler had a lot of challenges when it came to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with everything that has happened in the last few years. Many were worried about the inclusion of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the story, but it turns out that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was always part of the story he envisioned for the film as revealed by co-writer Joe Robert Cole.

    Ryan will have a different perspective as the director, but I’ve never had a conversation where I was asked to incorporate something that didn’t feel organic. The dynamic of the U.S. being an instigator and Western powers being an instigator, that always existed. It wasn’t, ‘Oh, we need to find a reason to make this character exist.’ It was, ‘Oh, this is already in here and there’s this wonderful actress available.’ It always starts from the story and the ideas

    Joe Robert Cole

    Ryan Coogler did confirm though that her character’s role had to be dialed back to make room to deal with T’Challa’s death; the film’s way of paying tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

    Yeah, nobody was shoehorned in or asked to be put into the movie or anything like that. Actually, in this version, [Louis-Dreyfus’s role] was pared back in order to make space for dealing with T’Challa’s death. And we had Val in there before she even appeared in any of the other movies, before Black Widow and [the series] Falcon and the Winter Soldier. People assume that we were told to put her in, but she was there from the beginning.

    Ryan Coogler

    He goes on to highlight that the conflict originally had more involvement from Val, who had a more active part in the film. Sadly, he doesn’t go into any details regarding how that would’ve evolved the story.

    Yeah. But it was a combination. Val [the C.I.A. director, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus] was much more active. It was basically a three-way conflict between Wakanda, the U.S. and Talokan. But it was all mostly from the child’s perspective.

    Ryan Coogler

    The film’s ending does imply that the story element that was originally part of this film might be explored in the future in some way. Plus, while it may have made some question why Val was included to begin with, it still gave us a future conflict that fits perfectly into Namor’s own plans moving forward.

    Source: New York Times

  • Ethan Hawke on a Potential Return to the MCU in the Future

    Ethan Hawke on a Potential Return to the MCU in the Future

    Marvel Studios has always had one issue: they tend to kill their villains after just one movie. They have made an effort to move away from that trend but there are scenarios of actors that may only have interest for a limited time in a villainous role, such as Moon Knight‘s Arthur Harrow played by Ethan Hawke. In an interview with The Playlist, it sadly seems like he’s not likely to return anytime soon.

    I really don’t know. There are so many things I want to do [outside of Marvel]. With the pandemic lingering around in the rearview mirror a little bit—knock on wood—I feel drawn to doing a play. I find that top of my mind again as I walk down the street and think, ‘When am I going to get back on the stage again?’ Because that always feels healthy. It turns me on, and it turns my brain on in a way.

    Ethan Hawke

    He also goes on to discuss the difference between being involved in film and television to what he hopes to accomplish by exploring play. Hawke definitely looks quite excited to enjoy that theater experience.

    There’s so much energy in the film community about commercial interests; it’s just so omnipresent. How did the film do? What’s it going to make financially? How’s it going to connect with an audience? And there’s just something wonderful as a storyteller, as you said, not to be concerned with that. Let’s just kind of touch the true flame of it. Let’s get some people in a room together and sing them a song or tell ’em a story. The theater constantly reorients my brain, so hopefully, that’s a thing sometime soon.

    Ethan Hawke

    While it would be a shame not to have Hawke back, Moon Knight did end in a way that could keep the door open for him to return but also make sure that if he’s not interested it was only a one-time venture for the actor.

    Source: The Playlist

  • Ethan Hawke Reflects on How Oscar Isaac Inspired Him to Join ‘Moon Knight’

    Ethan Hawke Reflects on How Oscar Isaac Inspired Him to Join ‘Moon Knight’

    Moon Knight was one of Marvel Studios’ most ambitious projects. While it had its own struggles like any other project, there was something special about just how dedicated everyone was to the project. It even managed to bring some talented actors into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke. Hawke had a chance to reflect on how he was inspired to join the franchise, and it was all Isaac.

    And I saw a real opportunity with Oscar Isaac for Moon Knight. There was a fire inside Oscar about that project. He really wanted to play that part. And that’s a good sign. With Oscar, I could tell he was going to do his damnedest to give an outstanding performance inside a blockbuster [laughs].”

    Ethan Hawke

    He goes on to highlight how they approached it and even praised Marvel for how “they love actors” and just how “very generous” they are, highlighting something that has been always debated online.

    And I thought, ‘Well, hell, I’d like to help him try to do that.’ It was just two actors in the middle of a big swashbuckling event piece. We could at least try to do what we do inside of it. And I really had a great time, to be honest. The exciting thing about the people at Marvel is that they love actors. They’re very generous towards actors, and they really understand that if there’s a likely high correlation—if an actor is really turned on to give an outstanding performance— the chances of the audience responding well to that are very high. What we don’t like is audience members are watching somebody phone it in, right?”

    Ethan Hawke

    There’s something nice to Hawke‘s comments and it seems that the experience was also worth his time. It’s also great to see how open the studio is to embracing the actor’s involvement with their projects.

    Source: The Playlist

  • Winston Duke on M’Baku’s Future in the MCU

    Winston Duke on M’Baku’s Future in the MCU

    Black Panther has made many actors into icons and Winston Duke‘s M’Baku was among the many instant fan favorites. Not only was he a major player in the first film, but even went on to get the spotlight in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. He just recently made his return in the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever, which saw the cast help keep Chadwick Boseman‘s legacy alive.

    Of course, there’s more to the franchise’s future as the Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe continues to further explore these characters. He believes that “The power of what Marvel has become is that it doesn’t belong to any one actor or anyone lead or character.” It was his way of highlighting that he doesn’t know where we’ll see M’Baku next but it mainly depends on when Marvel decides to bring him back.

    Sadly, it seems that he might know exactly where he’ll make his return but he still seems up to potentially returning for more entries. There are a lot of potential storylines that could pick up where Wakanda Forever left off, especially now that the story implies he’s taken over as the king of Wakanda after Shuri passed on the mantle. Whenever Marvel Studios is ready to further expand its universe, it seems that Winston Duke will be back around to give us more of the lovable M’Baku.

    Source: Esquire

  • ‘Black Panther’ Star Believes a Recast of T’Challa is Inevitable

    ‘Black Panther’ Star Believes a Recast of T’Challa is Inevitable

    As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever approaches the end of its exclusive theatrical window, those who persevered in making the film despite the loss of Chadwick Boseman have continued to share their thoughts on how the film evolved following the actor’s death. Winston Duke, whose M’Baku grew to be a close and trusted ally of Boseman‘s T’Challa, has emerged as a rising star in Hollywood and the conclusion of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leaves his character in an incredibly important position: as the new King of Wakanda. While M’Baku holds the throne, for now, Duke isn’t afraid to peer pragmatically into the future.

    In an interview with Esquire, Duke talked in depth about the passing of his friend, how it shaped the sequel and what he believes the future of the character to be. In Duke‘s mind, it’s not a matter of if Marvel Studios will recast the role of T’Challa, made famous by Boseman, it’s a matter of when.

    There’s no way they’ll never remake Black Panther in the future. There’s no way that the saga and interpretation of T’Challa, King of Wakanda, will end. He is canon. So trust that it’ll come. But allow this to be a human experience.

    Winston Duke

    While the near future of the cinematic iteration of the World of Wakanda would seem to be prepared to focus on former Dora Milaje General Okoye and the son of T’Challa and heir to the throne of Wakanda introduced in Wakanda Forever, Duke‘s comments are likely in line with some longer-term plans of Marvel Studios. The Multiverse Saga is currently set to wrap up in 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars, a film that will almost certainly involve familiar heroes from different timelines who may, in some cases, be portrayed by unfamiliar actors. Given that possibility, it’s not hard to imagine Marvel Studios taking the opportunity to cast another actor as T’Challa, a move that would, in a way, not strictly be a recast but still provide the opportunity for more stories about one of Marvel Comics most well-developed characters to be told. Future stories in the MCU could see T’Challa interacting with Reed Richards, Storm and Namor, characters with whom a rich comic book history as been developed. As Duke said, T’Challa “is canon”, but allowing Boseman’s friends and family to go through their own “human experience” rightly took precedent over cinematic stories.

    Source: Esquire

  • The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V4

    The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V4

    Just ahead of September’s D23, we rolled out V3 of The Hypothetical 2024 Marvel Studios Release Calendar. Kevin Feige did nothing to change the outlook during D23, but quite a bit of shuffling has gone on since then that needs to be accounted for and so we present V4!

    *NOTE* we are no longer tracking animated projects nor including them on the hypothetical calendars.

    Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but showrunner Marion Dayre took away your Christmas present when she confirmed that Echo was moving from its Spring 2023 slot. We’ve heard “early 2024” and Dayre’s comments that the show would be out “about a year from December 2022” are close enough to that for a hypothetical calendar Assuming the series keeps what’s currently a very deep connection to the events of Daredevil: Born Again, moving it to 2024 would allow the two series to stream fairly close together.

    Recent reports suggest that Wonder Man may have been bumped up in the queue and take the place of Agatha: Coven of Chaos as the late 2023/early 2024 release. This potential news doesn’t spell doom and gloom for Kathryn Hahn‘s series, however (more on that later). Wonder Man isn’t set to complete filming until August, so an early 2024 start seems much more likely than late 2023, which is why it finds itself here, starting what currently looks like a 10-episode run in mid-March.

    Though it didn’t get a new date at D23, Captain America: New World Order was a big newsmaker at the event. The film will feature the return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader and see Harrison Ford replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross who is rumored to not only be the President of the United States in the film but also make his long-awaited transformation into Red Hulk. The plot is one of the crazier ones Marvel Studios has put together recent memory and is going to tie into several projects both past and future. My most anticipated project of 2024.

    If Echo keeps the relevant plot threads and moves to 2024, Daredevil: Born Again will have to get bumped down the road a bit from the original “Spring” window and from where we slotted in V3. There’s still absolutely no information on how Marvel Studios plans to roll this 18-episode monster out, but we’ll throw a mid-June through an early-October run out there for now.

    Another big newsmaker at D23, Thunderbolts is shaping up to be a Super Soldier-gone-wrong film that’s now rumored to feature an “evil Superman” character that’s widely believed to be Sentry. The events of Captain America: New World Order allegedly play a part in setting up Thunderbolts, making the 2024 slate look like it’ll have a couple of continuous stories being told between projects both theatrical and streaming.

    With Daredevil: Born Again taking over Disney Plus for several months, it will end up bridging the gap from Thunderbolts to Blade. Blade has had a rough start but seems headed in the right direction with a new creative team on board. The multiple reshufflings of this project should actually stand out as an indication of how the release date some projects (perhaps like Agatha: Coven of Chaos) don’t really influence the release of others while other projects (perhaps like Echo and Wonder Man) do.

    Through no fault of its own, Agatha: Coven of Chaos may end up getting bumped down the road a bit and, as it turns out, that’s ok because it could end up kicking off right around Halloween. It’s reportedly a nine-episode series, so a late October start would run it right up until Christmas 2024. Of course, it could also start a little later and end up having some episodes stream in 2025, but this is all hypothetical and likely to change multiple times anyway, so we dropped it right here for now.

    Originally slated for February 2024 (as per V3), this one has gotten a whole lot more interesting since then! Hugh Jackman’s return for what sounds like an adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe sounds pretty wild and something that might make the film something that even those who weren’t fans of the first two Deadpool films might look forward to.


  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Has a Big Advantage Over Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Has a Big Advantage Over Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’

    As Charlie Cox makes the media rounds to hype his upcoming Netflix spy thriller, Treason, he’s spending quite a bit of time answering questions all about another project of his: Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Daredevil: Born Again. The highly-anticipated and ambitious 18-episode series will see Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil take the lead in a project for the first time since bringing the character to the MCU and for the first time since Netflix’s Daredevil was canceled following its third season.

    In the months since the new series was announced, Cox has made it clear that Born Again won’t be a continuation of the Netflix series, calling it a “whole new deal“ and indicating that Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, “has been very clear about it being Season 1, not a Season 4.” He’s also made it clear that fans should expect the Disney Plus series to “tell some of the stories over and over again, in the same way that they do in the comics,” including, potentially, the character’s origin story making it very clear that Marvel Studios has plans to put their own, distinct mark on the character in order to set it apart from the Netflix series that was made without input from them.

    While speaking to Metro UK, Cox related that one big advantage the Disney Plus series will have over the Netflix one is that by being set within the MCU, it has “opened to door” for potential appearances of literally thousands of comic book characters that could never have appeared on Daredevil.

    I don’t know anything. I haven’t read anything from any scripts. So I don’t know. I have no idea. But the only thing that’s fun going forward for the Daredevil show is that of course when we were on Netflix, we didn’t have the opportunity to really have the crossovers other than the characters that we knew we had in that Netflix Marvel world.

    Charlie Cox

    For Cox, the possibility of characters crossing over into Daredevil: Born Again carries a lot of excitement with it because it brings the experience of the show closer to that of reading Daredevil comics, of which Cox is a big fan.

    Now that door is wide open to all sorts of possibilities and that, for me, as someone who’s become a great fan of the comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s really exciting that that door is open and that we can have cameos from other characters that we couldn’t before.

    Charlie Cox

    Of course, unlike the Netflix series, Daredevil comics aren’t all dark, bloody and brooding. In fact, in the comics, Daredevil often finds himself squaring off with ridiculous villains with ridiculous gimmicks. As it turns out, one such character, who Cox refers to as a “ludicrous villain”, is high on the actor’s wishlist to appear in Born Again.

    The one I occasionally joke about – but I probably shouldn’t, because I don’t envision a world where it’s actually realistic that he shows up in our show – but I’ve always thought it’d be funny if Stilt-Man showed up. It’s such a ludicrous superhero, such a ludicrous villain that I just think it’d be funny if we found a way of doing that without it massively denting our credibility as an authentic truthful superhero show.

    Charlie Cox

    Should Cox’s advocacy for Stilt-Man result in the character actually appearing in Daredevil: Born Again, the beloved actor will have played a major role in fulfilling the childhood dreams of many a fan of Daredevil comics. Charlie Cox, Man of the People.

    Source: Metro