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The Morning After Huddle: May 12, 2022 Edition
Welcome to another edition of The Morning After Huddle where we we bring you the top news from around the NFL each day. Christmas is still over 7 months away, but unlike those socks you opened last year, you’ll be happy this gift came early. The 2022 NFL Schedule has arrived!

Here’s what you need to know:
- The NFL will come bearing gifts of good cheer tonight with the release of the 2022 schedule. You can expect marquee matchups, rivalries and even former flames reunited. (Hello, Mike McCarthy at Green Bay in Week 10) For a preview of some great games to watch, check out the list Nick Shook, of Around The NFL, put together.
- If you’re wondering what sort of impact the top draftees from the 2022 NFL Draft could have on your team, former NFL personnel executive Mark Ross has plenty to say around rookies he thinks are in a position to succeed. He shares his thoughts here.
- Last, but not least, we’ve got your Key Signings Roundup: It seems the Bears have moved quickly to replace Nick Foles who asked to be released last week. They have picked up journeyman Nathan Peterman on a 1-year deal. In other news, the Bills are signing veteran Jerry Hughes to firm up their pass rush.
That’s it for today’s huddle. Catch us on Friday for more top news you definitely need to know!

ICYMI: Wednesday’s Edition – May 11, 2022
May 12, 2022
‘Moon Knight’ Producers Board Marvel Studios’ ‘Fantastic Four’

It looks like two of the producers behind Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight have boarded Fantastic Four.

The news was revealed by Moon Knight‘s head writer, Jeremy Slater, in a new interview with Comicbook. “My execs on Moon Knight are the same guys who are running Fantastic Four, so we had a lot of talks about it,” Slater explained. “Grant and Nick are amazing executives. They’re going to find brilliant writers and brilliant directors. And they don’t need my stink anywhere near that project.”

Grant Curtis and Nick Pepin will help to produce Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four reboot. Along with producing Moon Knight for Disney+, Curtis has produced a fair amount of Sam Raimi projects including his Spider-Man trilogy for Sony and Drag Me to Hell. While Pepin has been working on projects within the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2016 when he served as a production assistant on Captain America: Civil War.

This exciting news comes weeks after Jon Watts exited the project due to a hectic schedule. Watts, of course, is coming off the Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel Studios and Sony. Had he stayed on for Fantastic Four, the director wouldn’t have had gotten much of a break between projects. The split was amicable and it is expected he’ll return for another Spider-Man film. As for who will take over directing duties for Watts, a new director has not yet been announced.

Fantastic Four does not yet have a release date.

Source: Comicbook.

May 11, 2022
Dane Whitman was Nearly in Moon Knight

After months of speculation regarding what the series might have in store, Moon Knight finished its run earlier this month with the reveal of Layla El-Faouly as a superhero and a third alter for the titular hero in Jake Lockley. However, as big as these moments might’ve been, it seems as though Moon Knight underwent a lot of changes throughout what looks to potentially be its first season. In a recent interview with Comicbook, series head writer Jeremy Slater revealed one Eternals character nearly appeared in the Disney+ series.

As Slater explained to the outlet, they considered bringing in Whitman because of his experience in a history museum. Unfortunately, though, they opted not to include him as it would’ve been yet another appearance of Kit Harington‘s Whitman without him suiting up. “We talked about Dane Whitman a little bit just because he works in a history museum and that could be a natural interaction,” he explained. “My feeling was if we got Kit Harington to show up and he doesn’t suit up and he doesn’t kick ass, as a fan I’m pissed off.”

If they would’ve been able to include an appearance by Harrington, Slater would’ve needed to ensure the character was able to don his suit. With a limited six-episode count, though, there simply wasn’t room to properly introduce Black Knight. “There was no space in those first two episodes to have him suit up and play Black Knight in the storyline, so we ultimately decided that it didn’t make sense to make this connection. But it was something we definitely talked about a couple days in the room.”

When or how Harrington finally does suit up as Black Knight is still unknown. However, given the post-credits scene in Eternals, an appearance in Blade doesn’t seem unlikely.

All episodes of Moon Knight are now streaming on Disney+.

Source: Comicbook.

May 11, 2022
Hayden Panettiere Returns for ‘Scream 6’

In a surprising twist, Hayden Panettiere is returning to the Scream franchise.

The news comes courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, with the outlet reporting that Panettiere is returning as Kirby Reed for Scream 6. The actress first appeared in Scream 4, which debuted in 2011 and also starred Emma Roberts as Jill Roberts. Scream 4 marked the final Scream film to be directed by Wes Craven prior to his passing in 2015. The movie also saw Craven reunite with Kevin Williamson who penned the original film and its sequel.

Panettiere’s return comes a day after four more survivors were announced for Scream 6. She’ll join Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega who all starred in the fifth film, Scream. Also confirmed to return for the film is Courtney Cox, and while Neve Campbell has not been announced yet, she has confirmed she was approached for the project.

The sixth Scream film will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. The project will be produced by Project X Entertainment’s Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein and William Sherak. Williamson, who penned the first Scream film, is also on board as a producer.

Principal photography on Scream 6 is slated to kick off this summer. The film is set to hit theaters on March 31, 2023.

Source: THR.

May 11, 2022
‘The Boys’ Spinoff Adds Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi

The Boys has been a smash hit on Amazon Prime, but it’s still been struggling to get its first live-action spinoff to get going. Diabolical, an animated anthology series, did manage to release but their college-focused series has been facing some challenges. Still, it seems that new showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters are kicking the project into overdrive as they’ve added three new cast members.

The spinoff series will focus on a college setting run by the usually corrupted Vought Enterprise. It has now added The Staricase‘s Patrick Schwarzenegger, who will play a character known as Golden Boy. The Tragedy of MacBeth‘s Sean Patrick Thomas joined as Polarity alongside Invisible City‘s Marco Pigossi, who will be Dr. Cardosa.

The series is promised as a college show mixed with Hunger Games, which makes sense given the raunchy nature of the show it’s spinning out from. The cast has gone through some changes, as rewrites led to some of the characters getting a completely new focus. It’s not uncommon for some productions to go through it, but it seems that the show is finally on track if they’re adding to the cast. We’ll see just how they keep the tone of the original while adding the hormonal nightmare that is college-aged youth to the mix.

Source: Deadline

May 11, 2022
Bang The Table, Round 2

Meg Hall

2nd Year Breakout: I’m probably going to sound like a homer, but I’m banging the table for Kwity Paye of the Indianapolis Colts. After being sidelined with a hamstring injury and an ankle injury early, the lights “came on” for Kwity in the second half of the season. He had 4 sacks and was extremely disruptive behind Deforrest Buckner with 10 QB Hits. It seems others noticed Kwity as well, landing him on the 2021 PFWA All-Rookie Team. If he can stay healthy, look for him to light it up.

Team: The Jets have long since been a team that most fans don’t take serious since the infamous “butt fumble”, but I’m banging the table for them to make a huge jump in 2022. I love what Joe Douglas has done. I think he knows that they had to put some talent around Zach Wilson. He went out and got some shiny new “toys” in Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall and Jeremy Ruckert to pair with Elijah Moore (who is criminally underrated), Michael Carter, C.J. Uzomah, Braxton Berrios, and Denzel Mims. There’s a youth movement happening at Florham Park. My bold prediction for the Jets is that they will have their first winning season since 2015.

Dalbin Osorio

2nd Year Breakout: Meg went the homer route, and I thank her for that because it made me not want to do that. I’m going the less obvious route and putting all my chips on the table for Travis Etienne. Now, I know what you’re thinking: he was hurt last year, so even 2 yards is an improvement over zero. I don’t disagree, but I’m going even further than marginal improvements: Travis Etienne will win the rushing title in 2022. Doug Pederson knows QBs, and the Jaguars have added Christian Kirk, Brandon Scherff, and Evan Engram to an offense that didn’t have a lot of talent. Etienne will be the beneficiary of a better Trevor Lawrence in year 2.

Team: this isn’t just because Meg is my partner in print, but I’m going all in on her team: the Indianapolis Colts will win the AFC South. The Texans kind of stink, though they did have a really good draft. The Titans will take a step back until Malik Willis takes Ryan Tannehill’s job. And the aforementioned Jaguars will be better, but, good God, that defense is awful. Enter the rock-steady Colts, with a very good defense, the 2nd best RB in football, and a huge improvement at QB with the acquisition of Matt Ryan. Frank Reich is going to have his boys ready to play, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them add Odell Beckham, Jr. to their WR room. This is as well-coached a team as there is in the NFL, with a GM not afraid to make the big move, and I think they make the playoffs and win the division.

May 11, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Hickman’s Run Inspired ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Take on Mr. Fantastic

Jonathan Hickman always had a way of reinvigorating stories with some of the most popular Marvel characters. While many will remember his amazing work on the crossover event Secret Wars, he also gave us quite the iconic run focused on the Fantastic Four. It brought a new life to Marvel’s first family and redefined their position within the Marvel universe for many. It seems that may have also been a big inspiration for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron.

In an exclusive interview with Charles Murphy, the writer talked about the many influences in the film and it turns out that Hickman‘s run with Reed Richards also played a key part in how he approached the Illuminati’s Mr. Fantastic, who was played by John Krasinski.

Yes and I still have to be deliberately cagey for one more weekend about the specifics about these actors and everything, but it was really trying to draw on that Hickman version of that, of the Illuminati and how they dealt with Incursions. That specific character I love, deeply and was excited to collaborate with that actor on and how to bring him to life.
Michael Waldron

He once again highlights that he worked on bringing the character to life with Krasinski, and it’s great to see that the actor was also able to add to the character even if it’s just a brief appearance.. Though taking a strong Hickman direction is a noticeable addition to the character. Given the character’s long history, there are many iterations to choose from but many might point to Hickman‘s run as a modern definite of the character.

It’s also interesting he made a point to highlight he can’t say much more at this time. So, we’ll see if there’s more information heading our way on Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four in the future. Marvel Studios does have a film planned for the team and outside of Jon Watts dropping out as a director, we don’t know what exactly their plans are just yet.

May 11, 2022
Disney+ Adds 8M Subscribers and Avoids Netflix’s Downward Trend

There has been a lot of worry about the streaming market ever since Netflix faced its first subscriber drop in over ten years. So, everyone was wondering if others in the market would also face a slow down in subscriptions, or even worse, an additional drop. It turns out Disney managed to avoid the trend, as they have added 8M subscribers, beating Wall Street’s estimates.

The service now stands at a total of 137.7M subscribers with its second-quarter growth. As such, its shares went up by 4.5% which definitely shows some of the hesitations that were out in the market. Hulu has also added 300K subscribers to stand at 45.6M while ESPN+ reached 22.3M with one million additional subscribers. So, there’s a general growth across all streaming services currently owned by the House of Mouse.

Disney has taken a hit of $1 billion ending its content licensing agreements, but even while they wouldn’t solidify which ones, Netflix is a definite part of it with their Marvel series. Their only real challenge now remains with Disney+ Hotstar being a cheaper offering of the service that increases its subscriber growth but not the profit pulled from it. Spending will continue to grow, but we’ll see how it continues to move forward in the future.

Source: CNN, THR

May 11, 2022
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Still on Track to Release This Year

Another earnings call has arrived from Disney, which tends to mostly give us some small glimpses of how projects are being developed. They tend to not reveal any big news, but it seems that Disney CEO Bob Chapek has made one statement regarding an upcoming Marvel Studios project. He has revealed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is still on track to hit its November release this year, as shared by Decider’s Alex Zalben on Twitter.

To be fair, he only states it’s “on pace to come out this year” which could still see a potential delay from its November 11th release date. The reason for some concerns came due to the troubled production earlier this year, as an injury forced them to delay the production. Luckily, Letitia Wright, who was injured during production, was able to return to finish production earlier this year.

It’s a relief to know that the film is still eyeing to stick to its 2022 release, as who knows if it might also lead to some further delays to projects that are connected, such as Ironheart is currently being worked on. Director Ryan Coogler is also working on that project alongside other Wakanda-focused Disney+ series that haven’t been announced yet. So, if work delays on the next Black Panther entry, it could affect those projects as well.

Source: Twitter

May 11, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Doctor Strange 2’s Michael Waldron Teases the Growing Multiversal Threat of MCU’s Phase 4

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is quite the self-contained story about Strange overcoming his need for control and Wanda accepting to finally let go. Yet, we can’t deny that it also sets up quite a lot of important elements for the franchise moving forward, especially when it comes to the multiverse that is part of the madness.

The film introduces the concept of Incursions when two realities start colliding with each other and even teases how that ends up looking like when he faces off against a sinister version of himself. Yet, comic readers will quickly realize that the last time we’ve heard about Incursions we were building up to the Secret Wars crossover event. In an interview with our very own Charles Murphy, Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron teases many threats that have been piling on throughout Phase 4.

And there’s the threat. And it’s out there and now it’s out there. There’s a multiversal threat. In the same way that when the MCU first went cosmic many years ago, there was the teed up threat of Thanos. Now it’s probably a matter of you’re setting up some multiversal threats on the board. Whether it’s Kang, Incursions, whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how all those things come together.

Phase 4 has been building up not one but multiple big threats that have the multiverse as a common trait. We technically got the Incursions teased in Loki, where we saw a cartoon hinting at an event where multiverses started fighting for dominance. At the core of all these events was Kang the Conqueror, whose Variant we first met in that very Disney+ series. Perhaps Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will see Jonathan Majors tackle the role and could further set up where

May 11, 2022