Modern discussions surrounding any Marvel Studios project focus primarily on who might potentially appear from the larger mythos. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever mostly focused on highlighting that this story is an emotional rollercoaster paying tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. Yet, that doesn’t stop the Internet from new rumors springing up left and right on a potential high-tier appearance.
In the case of Wakanda Forever, quite early before we even saw the first bit of footage from the film, there was a rumor that Doctor Doom may appear. The iconic Fantastic Four villain has been a popular choice to appear in the Marvel Cinematic ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, but they have shown quite a restraint so far.
With the imminent release, theories started making the rounds even more and it seems in an interview with Phase Zero from ComicBook.com, producer Nate Moore shot down the rumors of his appearance. He doesn’t go into any details, especially with how specific some of the rumors have become over time, but points out that once Namor was locked in, they kept the focus on him.
It wasn’t, to be quite honest, although I get why. He’s such a great character and the world of Latveria is so fantastic and Ryan is a fan. But once we decided Namor was the antagonist, that was always going to be the focus.
Nate Moore
He highlights that Ryan Coogler is quite a fan of Doom and the concept of Latveria. So, perhaps he’ll get a chance to explore the character at a later point, especially with his talent of lending a closer perspective on the cultural relevance of these characters, which a place like Latveria would definitely offer. In a way, Doom could become the antithesis to what it means to lead a country and the dangers of falling down a very specific route to reflect that of Wakanda’s future leader.
One of Marvel’s first characters, Namor, is going through quite a bit of a change in his introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tenoch Huerta will take on the iconic role that is now strongly inspired by Mayan culture. The first teasers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teased his new design and went on to reveal that his own people of Talocan describe him as a God. Yet, we never heard him referred to as Namor.
As it turns out, the team behind Wakanda Forever may have found a clever way to establish his name, as revealed by executive producer Victoria Alonso. It seems that the meaning of Namor’s name is short for “El niño sin amor” which means “the boy who grew up without love.”
It definitely is a clever way to find way to still use his name of “Namor” and tie it once again to the new origin. In some way, it also seems like the title of the name may tie into his story of the Black Panther sequel. He likely is a child of two worlds, especially with a massive tease of a burning home in the first trailer, and that he lost his family before becoming the leader of an underwater kingdom.
Marvel continues to showcase how they can cleverly reinterpret these characters that have existed for countless years. It not only adds new layers to these characters but also offers some unique takes that make them stand out. The Mayan-inspiration also makes one of the most interesting additions that could open up many more new takes on classic Namor storylines for the future. So, we’ll see what the future has in store for Huerta‘s take on the character.
We have gotten quite a few set photos from Ironheart throughout its production. that teases a different kind of series than what some might expect from a tech-based hero. While there are still quite a few details we don’t know about, the story direction seems to be mixing magic into Riri William’s everyday struggle as a heroine.
The latest set photos that have hit the web don’t show off much from the comics, but tease the friendship between Lyric Ross‘s Natalie Washington with Dominique Thorne‘s leading character. It seems that both are wearing jumpsuits of some kind, which could be hinting at both of them working on a project together potentially. It’s still unclear if this series will act as a direct follow-up to her appearance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
What makes these set photos so interesting is if we take a look at the character of Natalie Washington in the comics. She was Riri Williams’ best friend that tragically passes away early in her life. She would live on however as the AI in Riri’s Ironheart suit. Of course, there’s no word if the Disney+ series will follow the same direction as the comics, but there’s a possibility that they could explore a similar concept.
Her inclusion in the series opened many questions if we are seeing a flashback of some kind, or if the AI element isn’t something they will explore for Ironheart, as they would try to avoid too many similarities with Tony Stark. Of course, there’s always a chance that she is featured in flashbacks throughout the series and her loss could be what ties Riri to the Wakanda Forever theme of grief and loss.
Perhaps, it becomes the driving factor for her character in the series. It’s just a theory but that’s what can happen when set photos give us just enough of a glimpse to theorize what Marvel Studios may have planned for the character.
There have been many discussions surrounding Marvel Studios’ first venture into more indie-driven filmmaking with Eternals. While one can discuss in many ways about its quality, the Chloe Zhao film was definitely something of her own and still stands out as part of the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since some of the members were taken away by the Celestial Arishem, we’ve wondered if perhaps we wouldn’t see them back in the franchise.
Luckily, Marvel Studios producer and VP of Production, Nate Moore, offered an update in an interview with ComicBook.com. While he doesn’t give any real details on when we might expect their return but confirms that we definitely haven’t seen the last of these iconic new additions to the Marvel mythos.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but we have not seen the last of those characters.
Nate Moore
The Eternals’ future is quite uncertain, especially with how they may tie into the newly established Multiverse Saga that sees Kang the Conqueror as its main antagonist. They may support the Avengers in their fight against the multiversal conqueror or perhaps his end goal may have a deeper connection with the Celestials.
It would be quite interesting to see if perhaps there’s a closer relationship between Kang and the Celestials. While in the comics he was described as a relative of Reed Richards, they may take a very different approach, especially with the concept of there being multiple Variants out there. Perhaps the Celestial body sticking out of Earth may have a bigger purpose after all.
Amid word that Paul Bettany is set to return as White Vision, who was last seen in WandaVision, in a Disney Plus streaming series currently being called Vision Quest comes an interesting rumor about another WandaVision spinoff. According to a sensationalist YouTube pundit, Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which is reportedly headed into production this November, may adapt the nine-issue Marvel Comics’ event series Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade.
On the surface, The Children’s Crusade provides the perfect opportunity to continue the story of Wanda Maximoff in the MCU. Following her multi-year arc as a villain which concluded in House of M, Wanda Maximoff lived powerlessly and without her memories for years. It wasn’t until her son, Billy Maximoff, aka Wiccan, began to lose control of his own immense powers that a search began for her in earnest. While it’s hardly the same sequence of events, Wanda’s heel-turn as the Scarlet Witch over the course of WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and her apparent death in the final act of the latter provide the opportunity for a similar story to be told within the shared tapestry of the MCU.
The possibility of an aged-up Billy appearing as a lead character in Agatha: Coven of Chaos certainly advances the opportunity for the series to, at the very least, tell the story of the search for the Scarlet Witch. Despite the fact that the Scarlet Witch was last seen seemingly trapped inside the collapsing Mount Wundagore, Marvel Studios One-Above-All Kevin Feige has promised that there is “so much more to explore“ with Wanda, adding that they “still haven’t touched on many of her core storylines from the comics.” Given that Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade falls within the recently revealed 10-year page-to-screen rule, it’s very likely that Agatha: Coven of Chaos could serve to adapt what is unarguably a core Wanda storyline to the MCU.
Interestingly enough, this rumor of a potential adaptation of Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade (and a potential Scarlet Witch solo series follow-up) fall directly in line with word that Murphy’s Multiverse has shared before. Using Agatha: Coven of Chaos as the vehicle for The Children’s Crusade provides the perfect gateway for a solo The Scarlet Witch project to make its way into the MCU before the end of The Multiverse Saga. Of course, not every part of The Children’s Crusade is adaptable to the MCU, but the concept of Wanda suffering from amnesia in the aftermath of her actions and then found in the company of another incredibly powerful sorcerer has been put on a tee for Jac Schaeffer and the creatives behind Agatha: Coven of Chaos. The only question is whether or not Marvel Studios will take the swing.
In the wake of his return to the DC Universe as Superman, Henry Cavill has exited the Netflix streaming series The Witcher. According to an official release from Netflix, Liam Hemsworth will take over the role of Geralt of Rivia in Season 4. Cavill shared the news on Instagram.
It’ll be some time before fans see Hemsworth in the role. Season 3, Cavill’s last, isn’t set to hit Netflix until Summer 2023 and no word has come as to when production on Season 4 is expected to get underway. Indeed the renewal for the fourth season of the series only came today along with the news of Cavill’s departure. Still, Hemsworth also took to Instagram to share his excitement.
Despite the success of Cavill’s time on The Witcher, it’s nearly impossible not to conflate this news with the star’s return as Superman in Black Adam. After years of speculation about the future of Cavill’s Superman, his post-credit scene in Black Adam, word of development on a Man of Steel sequel and the news of James Gunn’s ascendancy to the top of the newly minted DC Studios all seem to portend great things for Cavill’s future as Kal-El.
In 2020, before the onslaught of Marvel Studios’ fourth Phase truly began, the idea of minor side characters getting their own spin-offs was still a little absurd. Major supporting players had already been confirmed for semi-solo projects on Disney+ – mostly paired with related names – in the form of series like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but there had yet to be any announcements for shows like Agatha: Coven of Chaos that would indicate just how loose Marvel was willing to play it. This is why, at the time, it seemed like such a longshot when Dave Bautista revealed James Gunn had pitched a Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off film starring Drax and Pom Klementieff‘s Mantis to Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel.
Speaking with Collider in support of his movie My Spy, the former wrestler stated that he was interested in teaming with Gunn and Klementieff for a side project on top of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. His character and Klementieff‘s shared a surprising chemistry when they met in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Bautista felt Gunn was correct in wanting to mine that relationship for more gold. The revelation came after the actor was asked if he’d be willing to star in his own Disney+ series:
I wouldn’t do a series because Drax as a series would be really rough with the make-up and everything, it would just be too tough. What I would like to do is, honestly, and this is not my idea, I’m stealing this idea, James Gunn had the idea to do a Drax/Mantis movie, and that’s what I’d be up for because there’s just too much fun there.
True. But this was never ruled out. I still think it could be amazing.
James Gunn, in March of 2020
For a year following the news, not much was heard in the way of Drax and Mantis movie. However, there was movement on an entirely different Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off. At the 2020 Disney Investor’s Day presentation, only nine months after Bautista and Gunn had voiced their Drax-based desires, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was unveiled. Marvel pulled the curtain back on a short film, a new type of project they would later dub a ‘Special Presentation,’ that would be written and directed by Gunn for a holiday release, with Bautista, Klementieff, and the rest of the Guardians line-up returning for more intergalactic antics.
The mini-movie seemed to be a completely separate idea at first, something reinforced by more comments made by Bautista in 2021. In an interview with Digital Spy, after once again being asked about the status of a Drax/Mantis film, the Army of the Dead lead was far more pessimistic about the project’s chances of seeing the light of day:
There were talks for a while about a Drax and Mantis film. It was really because it was James Gunn’s idea. He really wanted to do a Drax and Mantis film. He laid it out to me. I thought it was such a brilliant idea, but I haven’t heard any follow-up from the studio. I don’t think they’re very interested, or it doesn’t fit into the way they have things mapped out…
Dave Bautista, in May of 2021
Bautista‘s remark about the studio not fitting the project into their schedule, once again, felt correct at the time. Marvel’s Multiverse Saga is jam-packed with new series, films, and special presentations, and a Drax/Mantis story falling by the wayside in the midst of it all was fully believable. After all, the Holiday Special had been in the works for a good while at that point, and it seemed logical that Bautista would know the extent of his character’s future by then. Furthermore, when the Holiday Special was first announced, Gunn had specifically stated on his social media that it was an idea he had in the tank for a very long while, making it appear as though the short and any other Guardians-related concept pitched in the year prior weren’t one-in-the-same:
One of my favorite stories ever, which I have bugged Kevin Feige endlessly about over the years. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. And, yes, I unironically loved the Star Wars Holiday Special as a kid.
James Gunn, in December of 2020
In another tweet, posted months later, Gunn stated that he had outlined a treatment for the Holiday Special “years ago,” but had only just finished the actual script in April of 2021. Again, this felt completely innocuous and raised no suspicion among fans who might have been trying to speculate the special’s plot. With the script done, Gunn moved to work on Vol. 3, and the Holiday Special would not begin filming until February of 2022.
Then, just this month, the Holiday Special dropped its first round of marketing. The trailer, a hit with fans, showcased the short film’s plot – with Peter Quill sunk into a depression, Drax and Mantis decide they can brighten his Christmas by heading to Earth and kidnapping his childhood hero, Kevin Bacon. While the released footage features nearly every member of the Guardians, Drax and Mantis seem to get the most screen time, haplessly wreaking havoc across Los Angeles in their quest to bring home the Bacon. Additionally, the poster dropped by Marvel to accompany the teaser featured only two members of the titular team:
Drax and Mantis on the Holiday Special poster
Marvel Studios has a long history of repurposing unused ideas and concepts. It seems plausible that, with Marvel unwilling to play ball on a full-blown Drax/Mantis film, Gunn was able to combine the idea with his long-brewing Holiday Special. Although the creative has seemingly had the Special Presentation in mind for years, he did not actually develop its final script until after conceptualizing the Bautista/Klementieff vehicle. In theory, Gunn might have been able to increase Drax and Mantis’ roles in the special after seeing their spark in Vol. 2 and realizing they would not get another opportunity to star in a project together following Vol. 3. Bautista‘s 2021 claims that a Drax/Mantis movie was not happening predate filming by nearly a year and could have simply come from the fact the actor had yet to see the short’s script and was unaware it had largely become focused on himself and Klementieff. Or the Stuber star simply doesn’t consider the Holiday Special a true Drax/Mantis spin-off.
Of course, it’s also possible that none of this is true. It could just be that the Holiday Special organically shifted towards focusing on the featured duo as the story came together, or that the other Guardians play a much bigger role than the trailer suggests. Still, it’s fun to imagine that the Holiday Special is secretly the Drax/Mantis movie that Gunn has spent years asking for. Perhaps when he said he’d been bugging Feige about the Special for a long time, he didn’t mean the Holiday part specifically. Only time, and pure unwarranted speculation, will tell.
It looks like it didn’t take too long to confirm the recent rumor of a Vision Quest titled spinoff of WandaVision. This marks the second continuation of that storyline besides Agatha: House of Harkness, which would later be renamed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos. Paul Bettany will, of course, lead the project and it’ll be another series on Disney+ with the writers’ room confirmed to open next week. Jac Schaeffer, the showrunner for WandaVision, is overseeing the project but it’s unclear if she’ll once again take on the role.
It also seems that Deadline got its hands on some first story hints, as they share that it’ll follow Vision on his path to regaining his memories and humanity. With the writer’s room only opening soon, there is likely only the base concept. There are also expectations that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) may also appear, which would add weight to her surviving the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It seems that while Vision Quest is the likely title, it’s been given the codename “White Vision” due to the version that was introduced at the end of WandaVision.
We played around with the idea of a spinoff back in March of 2021, especially with how it is perfectly set up to further explore this new version of Vision. It’s unclear how this might tie into recent events but if a writer’s room is coming together, it may take Armor Wars‘ place and potentially lead into that project given Vision’s ties to Tony Stark. We’ll have to see once more information comes out from the project.
We’ve all wondered just how long Avatar: The Way of the Water might end up being. James Cameron is famous for trying to incorporate as many shots as he can to offer a living experience through his films. It’s one of the reasons why the first Avatar became such a success in addition to its use of 3D technology; pioneering the model before it became a cinema regular offering.
Now, if a listing from Monterey Lounge Cinema in New Zealand is to believe, the second of many entries in this franchise, The Way of the Water, is likely to run for 190 minutes. That would put the film at a runtime of around 3 hours and 10 minutes. As such, it would be even longer than the first entry, which ran for around 162 minutes when it was released in 2009.
A Chinese outlet, Sohu, also had it at the same runtime, as pointed out by The Direct in their report on the potential runtime. The Avatar director also didn’t mince any words when he discussed that people shouldn’t complain about long theatrical experiences given the current climate of binge-watching multiple hours of television; though one could discuss that being at home gives you more freedom than in a theater. Still, it does seems safe to say that Avatar: The Way of the Water is going to be a lengthy entry.
Ironheart is slowly building up momentum, as not only is the unique direction for the project grabbing quite a bit of attention but it’s also getting set up in the upcoming Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever. Surprisingly, many believed we wouldn’t see her fully realized armor until the Disney+ series, but early toy leaks hinted at her already getting her hands on it earlier than expected.
Yet, early set photos from Ironheart also hinted at her having other armors to play around with and a new image featuring the Disney+ productions wrap gifts hints at the design for two of the armors. Of course, we don’t know how many she may have access to, but it’s quite interesting that we see a grey design that may be the one leaked through the set photos alongside socks with the design that’s closer to her comic design. The images come courtesy of @ironhnews who shared them from one of the crew’s private Instagram account.
A member of the #Ironheart production team has shared new wrap gifts!
This gives us our first look at a faceplate for one of Riri’s newest Armors.
The faceplate on the hat looks like it would fit the design we saw in the first set photos from the Disney+ series. Perhaps she develops an armor that can tank some magic attacks, or she doesn’t have a fitting power source to keep her “main” suit running for long periods of time. So, she ends up experimenting to find the perfect way to make full use of her design. For now, we can only speculate but the more we see from this project, the more promising it gets.
Source: Instagram via Twitter
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