While no official announcement has been made, enough rumors and reports concerning Marvel Studios long-gestating Young Avengers project are accumulating that it seems as though some sort of news should be imminent. Whether or not that happens, fans have been and will continue to be excited about the possibility of the studio assembling a team of young heroes even if it happens in a project titled Champions rather than Young Avengers.
While the latest report indicated that telhr studio was closing in on landing a showrunner and had begun locking in the core cast of Champions, it would be foolish to assume that the six heroes identified in Daniel Richtman’s scoop won’t have company from some other young heroes. Though Kamala Khan, Kate Bishop, Billy Maximoff, America Chavez, Riri Williams and Cassie Lang would make a formidable team, there are plenty of other potential Champions-in-waiting.
Given that the rumored roster of the team is a mash-up of comic book Champions and Young Avengers, it’s unlikely that EVERY character from either team who is either in the MCU already or believed to be on the way could possibly play a major role in what’s likely to be a six-to-ten episode series. And so while Eli Bradley, Amadeus Cho, Hulkling, Speed or even Viv Vision might make the team, they aren’t the only options out there. In fact, one potential recruit who supplies the team with something they desperately need may be hiding in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.
Though none of the events Netflix’s two-season run on Luke Cage had impacted the MCU so far, the decision by Marvel Studios to retcon all of the Defenders-verse series into the Sacred Timeline allows for them to ripple through the narrative fabric of the Multiverse Saga and beyond. And with the studio now bringing together a team of young heroes, it might be the right time to explore the legacy of one of Luke Cage‘s most compelling supporting characters.
Over the course of two seasons, Theo Rossi‘s chillingly serene Shades stayed in the game while nearly every other baddie went by the wayside. Though no mention was made of it in the Netflix series, Shades comic book counterpart had a son, Victor Alvarez…and following a terrible tragedy, Victor gained some incredible power, man. And while it might take some creativity on Marvel Television’s part, the perfect opportunity exists to bring Victor into the MCU and give the Champions their Power Man.
In the comics, Victor was the sole survivor of an building explosion rigged by Bullseye. During the disaster, his father’s bioelectric visor shattered with pieces of it embedding themselves in Victor’s skin, giving him the unique ability to absorb chi from his environment and then manipulate the energy similarly to the way Danny Rand uses it in Iron Fist.
Given the disparity between the MCU’s version of Shades and the one from the comics, a new origin story for Victor’s powers would be in order. However, it is very doable and tying a new hero to Luke Cage would be a step in the right direction in ultimately fully embracing it the way the studio has Daredevil and The Punisher. Though Victor Alvarez, aka Power Man, hasn’t racked up the same number of comic book appearances as the other characters rumored to be leading the team of Champions, he has been an Avenger and, for a time, a member of the comic book Champions. If his time isn’t now, it may never be.
As 2025 gets underway and Marvel Studios looks to begin production on two major pieces of the final phase of the Multiverse Saga in Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4, Kevin Feige and the Parliament must also continue to keep an eye on the future of the franchise. Though nobody is quite certain just what to expect from Avengers: Secret Wars in terms of the impact it will have on whatever the next Marvel saga is, rumors and reports of projects in development do provide some pieces of the puzzle.
With Michael Lesslie hard at work on a script for the first Marvel Studios-produced X-Men film, it is safe to say the next saga will have its fair share of mutant heroes and villains. And while most of the focus might fall on whatever version of Charles Xavier’s uncanny team of heroes make their way into the MCU, another project featuring the MCU’s first mutant also looks to be gaining traction.
According to Marvel insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios’ D+ streaming series, Champions, is close to landing a showrunner and has begun locking in key cast members. Richtman reports that in addition to Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld, who appeared together in a credit scene for The Marvels meant to tease Champions, Joe Locke, Dominique Thorne, Kathryn Newton and Xochitl Gomez have also joined the project. Though the report indicates that those six actors are the series’ leads, it does not indicate that other young heroes won’t join the project in supporting roles.
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, following his appearance in Daredevil: Born Again, The Punisher will return to kill more people that need killing in his own Disney Plus streaming series.
It’s already been nearly five years since the second and final season of The Punisher debuted on Netflix and given the pace at which Marvel Television is now developing and producing streaming series, it may be another five before the next chapter in Frank’s story is told. With very few loose threads left hanging from the series’ two-season run on Netflix, it’ll be interesting to see which characters, if any, are brought back into the fold on D+ or if Marvel Television sets up Frank’s new story in Daredevil: Born Again and goes in an entirely different direction.
Few people have been celebrated more for lying than Andrew Garfield. Despite an abundance of credible reports that he was reprising his role as The Amazing Spider-Man in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield showed his true talents as an actor by convincing the world that he was not. In doing so, Garfield joined a long and prestigious list of actors who boldly lied about their roles in Marvel Studios projects. By his own admission, he also “ruined his reputation” for telling the truth.
I mean, like the internet is a big place. I think there’s a lot of people who will just say anything to get clicks. So you might have been duped, I’m afraid.
-Andrew Garfield on his rumored return in Spider-Man 4
In Garfield‘s defense, he truly may have no idea whether or not he will return as Peter 3 because, if rumors are to be believed, Sony and Marvel seem to be unsure exactly what type of movie they plan to make. And so, in a recent interview with GQ UK, the actor didn’t hesitate to once again shoot down the idea that he’ll suit up once more in Spider-Man 4…or to understand that nobody will believe him anyway.
“I’m gonna disappoint you,” said Garfield when asked about a potential role in the next installment in the MCU-set franchise. “Yeah, no. But I know no one’s gonna trust anything I say from now on.”
We all came with our own history and with our own relationship to the character in our own films. I think what really was wonderful, and how it unfolded very early on, was Tobey and I felt very aligned and very clear about what our intentions were for being there. Ultimately, it was to serve Tom as an actor and, as characters, serving Tom’s Peter Parker. I think from that place, everything flowed. It enabled Tobey and me to have a bit more fun maybe than we would’ve had if we were the ones fully carrying the story.
-Andrew Garfield on his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home
It’s impossible to say what role, if any, Garfield may have in any of those rumored plots or in any other direction the studios ultimately decide to move. Whatever the decision by the studios, there can be no doubt that a return by Garfield would be welcomed both by fans and those who worked with him on Spider-Man: No Way Home, so whether or not The Werewolf is dissembling once more or truly doesn’t know, here’s to hoping Sony and Marvel find a place for him in Destin Daniel Cretton‘s upcoming Spidey film.
With the D+ premiere of Daredevil: Born Again creeping closer each day, fans of the Netflix Daredevil series are rejoicing over Marvel Studios’ decision to canonize the Defenders-verse projects. After an admitted period of being “a little bit cagey about what’s Sacred Timeline and what’s not“, the studio’s willingness to embrace the characters, stories and tone from Netflix’s Marvel series–a decision that was heavily influenced by stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D‘Onofrio–seems to have benefitted Daredevil: Born Again both creatively behind the scenes and with fans.
During our restart of all the creative on Daredevil: Born Again, all the creatives got together and said, “Look, this is how we’ve got to do it now.” So we are for sure only speaking about it in terms of being directly connected to the original Daredevil, and that’s a great thing. It brings in a lot of cool stories and all the collateral story that happened in those original three seasons. So we now get to start this Born Again situation with all of that history behind us and the outcome of all that history. So we’re all talking about Daredevil: Born Again in those terms now.
While fans of the Defenders-verse are feeling satisfied with the studio’s change of heart, fans of the MCU’s first TV series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., are still waiting for those same warm fuzzies. After recently rethinking the way its streaming projects were branded and marketed, Marvel Studios has put a significant amount of space between itself and the previous “It’s All Connected” era in which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted.
According to Marvel’s head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, the decision was made to make the ever-expanding MCU more accessible to new fans. “There was a lot of pressure post-Avengers: Endgame on the public to feel obligated to watch absolutely everything in order to watch anything,” Winderbaum explained. “Part of the rebranding was a signal to the general audience that we’re creating a lot of options, and you can follow your tastes within this brand.” And so far, Agents of S H.I.E.L.D. remains part of what the public should not feel obligated to watch.
While Winderbaum enthusiastically supported the canonization of the Netflix series, he’s been unable to give any of Marvel’s ABC series, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the same support. “I want to go down this road with you, you know I do, but we’re just gonna take a deep breath for a second,” said Winderbaum in August 2024 when asked about the series place on the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. Four months later, the Marvel TV boss was no closer to canonizing the long-running series, saying “It’s exciting for me to think about how to square those ABC shows with the canon.” Now a new rumor making the rounds could indicate that Winderbaum has found a way to square things up…or that he’s decided to move even further away from adopting Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. into the Sacred Timeline.
According to the always industrious insider My Time to Shine Hello, Marvel Studios is developing a Ghost Rider streaming series. While there’s no mention of which of several comic book Ghost Riders would be the series’ lead, AoS fans will undoubtedly hold onto hope that the D+ series will feature Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes, who debuted in Season 4 of the ABC melodrama.
I died, and there’s nothing, there’s just darkness. Then I heard a voice, asking me if I wanted a second chance, did I want to punish those who hurt my brother, did I want to avenge my own death. I answered yes, more than anything, yes. I was alive again, and you’re right, there was someone there when I came to. But it wasn’t a Good Samaritan. It was the Devil. Whatever was inside him, he passed it into me.
Should Marvel Television indeed be moving ahead with a Ghost Rider series, it could quietly serve as the final judgement on the Sacred Timeline canonicity of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., putting to rest one of the final lingering debates of a different era of Marvel entertainment.
In April 2021, following the season finale of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, trade reports revealed that a fourth Installment in the Captain America franchise was in development at Marvel Studios. Written by TFATWS scribes Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson and starring Anthony Mackie, Captain America 4 was created to give Sam Wilson the spotlight in a film after years in the MCU’s background. Nearly three years, a few delays and a major overhaul later, Captain America: Brave New World is about to hit theaters and take Wilson on a wild ride.
He is in a new position. Stepping up to be the leader as Captain America is going to be a new set of challenges for him. And in this story, a big part of his journey is how do you define that leadership? That’s the thing that he hasn’t had to deal with just yet. As the Falcon, he was always there supporting the rest of the team, but now he’s the man leading the team and I think that’s going to be a really exciting journey to go on with him.
Originally subtitled New World Order, the new Captain America film developed into something many fans didn’t see coming: a follow-up to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. Though Thunderbolt Ross has had an ongoing presence in the MCU, Ross’s daughter, Betty, disappeared entirely and the promising setup of Samuel Sterns as a gamma-mutated super genius never took shape. To this end, Captain America: Brave New World is truly and unprecedented intersection of quite a few narrative trails which means not only does it have some heavy lifting to do but so also do fans before heading to the theater. With that in mind, we present The Ultimate List of What to Watch before Captain America: Brave New World!
Tier One
Tier One consists of the non-negotiable, bare minimum projects one should be familiar with in order to be dialed into the action in Captain America: Brave New World. While the stories of several characters are more fully fleshed out in other projects, these three would provide enough foundation to enjoy the new Cap film.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
🍅 68%
Long the red-headed stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Louis Leterrier‘s action-packed has come back into fashion over the past few years. While Thunderbolt Ross has appeared in four other projects over the years, every other character and open thread from The Incredible Hulk seemed to have been abandoned until The Abomination appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021. The next year, the character played a much larger role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and the TIH renaissance was on.
One of the things that really drew me to this project is The Leader is a man who operates from intellect. And it’s so great to have an adversary who is working with this incredible intellect to really put Sam through the wringer in this story. And again, it’s a paranoid thriller; it’s this grounded adventure where I think everything that happens in this film feels so real and intense because of who this adversary is. What he’s going to have to go through in this film is because he’s got an adversary who is so terrifyingly intelligent.
Captain America: Brave New World will not only see Sam Wilson face the physical threat of the Red Hulk but also be forced to engage with a different kind of threat: the cerebral Samuel Sterns (don’t call him The Leader, though!). In addition to the wonderful Tim Blake Nelson as Sterns, Cap 4 will also mark the return of Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, daughter of President Thaddeus Ross and former love of Bruce Banner, though it is her antagonist relationship with her father that will be explored in the film. Now, if they’d just let Leonard Samson get his green on…
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021)
🍅 85%
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier thoroughly examined Sam’s reluctance to become the Symbol of Truth and the Sentinel of Liberty. Sam’s hesitance grew into something more and eventually led to the decision to hand the shield over to the U.S. government. Though he’s now resolved his internal conflict over whether or not he should be Captain America, Sam’s shaky relationship with that government will be a factor in Captain America: Brave New World.
Of course, as Captain America, Sam will no longer be part of the supporting cast but instead have his own. One key member of that support network will be Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon, who made his MCU debut in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. He’ll play an integral role in the film as Cap’s wingman, so if you haven’t introduced yourself to the character yet, becoming acquainted is a must.
Sam’s whole thing is: he went on this journey, this Avenger story over six movies with Steve because of his respect and admiration for Steve. When Captain America, he says, when Captain America shows up at your door, you answer in the movie Captain America: Winter Soldier. That being said, it is, you know, it is the pain, the idea of not being able to go on these missions, not going to be able to help his friend. You know, there are still people out there that really appreciate camaraderie and friendship […] Just like everybody else, you don’twant to see Steve Rogers go away. You don’t want to see Captain America go away. Because just like Captain America was your Cap, Captain America was Sam Wilson’s Cap. So, you know, that is why he says at the end of Endgame, it feels like, when he is holding the shield, it is someone else’s. It feels like it is yours. He was a fan like everybody else.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier also introduced Isaiah Bradley, a Korean War veteran who was given the Super Soldier Serum against his will in the 1950s. Bradley, played by the incredible Carl Lumbly, returns in Captain America: Brave New World and plays a major role in getting the plot up and running after he attempts to assassinate President Ross. Lumbly is magnificent as Bradley, who played a key role in Sam’s decision to become Captain America.
If none of the reasons listed above are enough to get you to press play on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, you could always just watch it to enjoy Daniel Bruhl‘s return as Zemo.
Tier Two
If Tier One projects are essential, Tier Two projects are supplemental. Any important events from Tier Two projects are likely to be covered in the body of the film, making watching/rewatching those projects non-essential; however, seeing them in their original context is always better than having them explained to you from someone else’s perspective. Tier Two projects also include all of Sam Wilson’s other appearances for those who’d like to have his MCU history fully fleshed out before seeing Captain America: Brave New World.
There’s a lot we’re going to bring to the table. Again, this is a new set of challenges and a new set of adversaries. I love classic, paranoid thrillers and that’s a big part of the inspiration for this film. We want to find action that is grounded and tactile and give him new things to do that you haven’t seen in those other films. I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say we are planning some really, really exciting things.
Watching Tier Two projects will preemptively answer a lot of “who are those guys?” and “what’s that thing doing there?” types of questions, both for those who haven’t looked back on them for a while and for those who have never seen them before.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
🍅 90%
“On your left.” Sam Wilson’s introduction to the MCU came in one of Marvel Studios’ most complete films and one that director Julius Onah has said inspired some of his choices on Captain America: Brave New World. Though Sam’s personal history is explored much more deeply in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, some key pieces of his past are revealed here, including his time in the military and his work as a counselor.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
🍅 76%
Though he claims avenging isn’t his thing, by the end of this one, Sam Wilson is officially an Avenger! Though he doesn’t have a large role here, the film does help establish Sam’s deep, trusting relationship with Steve Rogers. It’s also the first and only appearance of Dr. Helen Cho, whose son, Amadeus (at least that’s the relationship from th comics), will debut in Captain America: Brave New World.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
🍅 90%
Necessary here because of the absolute comedy that is the Bucky/Sam frenemies routine, Civil War is also worth watching just to remember how magnificent the MCU became as it headed into the final third of the Infinity Saga.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
🍅 85%
If Sam Wilson hadn’t proven himself as a big-timer yet, Infinity War put an end to the debate. First helping take a pair of the Children of Thanos down a peg as part of Cap’s Secret Avengers, then providing air support during the Battle of Wakanda, Sam established himself as one of the MCU’s bravest heroes. And while that reputation will certainly come under fire again in Captain America: Brave New World, never forget the danger a man without superpowers ran toward to defend the Earth!
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
🍅 94%
The first steps on Sam Wilson’s journey to becoming Captain America came when Old Man Rogers gifted him with the shield in the closing moments of Avengers: Endgame. The final conversation between the two friends set into motion a cascading series of events, the fallout of which will still be dealt with in Captain America: Brave New World. As important as this moment is to Sam’s ongoing character development, this isn’t in Tier One because a version of it will certainly be included in the movie.
“At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam never accepted the shield. Sam never said he was going to be Captain America. Sam never said he wanted to be Captain America.”
-Anthony Mackie, Inverse, February 2021
Black Widow (2021)
🍅 79%
Like Avengers: Age of Ultron before it, Black Widow continues to provide meaningful context to other projects. The fall of the Red Room and Ross’s pursuit of Nat will be used, no doubt, to explain how Shira Hass‘s Ruth, a former Widow, finds herself in the employ of the President of the United States. If you’ve never watched it before, Black Widow is a damn good movie for the first 67% of its runtime.
Eternals (2021)
🍅 47%
While Captain America: Brave New World will undoubtedly contain the necessary exposition to explain that the source of the film’s MacGuffin, adamantium, unexpectedly rose from the ocean, it’s better to experience it by watching Eternals. Truth be told, it’s completely fine to skip to the second half of the film to watch the big action unfold because nothing that happens before then will matter to Captain America: Brave New World…or any other MCU project…ever.
Tier Three
Tier Three projects are akin to side quests. Nothing here will depend or enrich anyone’s Brave New World experience, though there are enough loosely connected points to make a case for watching them.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
🍅 79%
In the case She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, those loosely connected points come in the form of the continued efforts to produce more Hulks. The series made a key point about the utility of Banner’s blood compared to Jen’s and introduced Skaar, son of Hulk. The proliferation of Hulks in the MCU is something that’s been discussed for years and is finally happening and this project ties right into it, making it a Tier Three addition.
About Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
The film is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
Captain America: Brave New World opens in U.S. theaters on February 14, 2025.
After a quiet year theatrically in 2024, Marvel Studios has three films scheduled for release in 2025, including its first February release since Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Finally taking center stage in a film, Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson will take on Harrison Ford‘s ragey Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, but despite being a serious threat, the President is only a puppet whose strings are being pulled by far more sinister baddie.
Sixteen years after the next chapter in his story was set up in The Incredible Hulk, Tim Blake Nelson‘s Samuel Sterns returns in Captain America: Brave New World as the nefarious, super-intelligent supervillain, The Leader. And while he’s been hidden in the shadows in all of the film’s marketing materials, a fantastic look at the character has been revealed via new promo art.
Notably, Nelson’s Leader is certainly sporting a subdued and noticably less macrocephalic look than his comic book counterpart, though the case could be made that his cranium could still double as a drive-in movie screen. He is, however, indeed green, so he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Captain America: Brave New World and The Leader arrive in theaters on February 14th!
Despite its worst efforts to entertain audiences with Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movies, Sony finally threw in the damn towel following the dismal response to Kraven the Hunter. It’s an impressive decision for Sony, especially since its CEO, Tony Vinciquerra, delusionally maintains that the films, many of which are widely accepted as some of the worst comic book movies ever made, aren’t bad…
Having learned the wrong lesson from the box office success of Venom in 2018, the studio believed they had found the formula to the Super-Solider Serum when, in fact, they had actually cooked up something more akin to the Goblin Serum. And so, they began a descent into madness that even Norman Osborn couldn’t match, mining their stable of Spidey-adjacent characters in search of diamonds in the rough…and we all know how it turned out.
Incredibly, for every Morbius or Madame Web that did get made, another project of equal or lesser interest rotted in development hell. While the premises some of Sony’s unmade projects sounds reasonable enough, there’s no telling how ghastly they might have ended up. As the calendar turns to a new year free of Sony’s sinful Spidey spinoffs, here’s a look at what might have been, but thankfully was not.
Sinister Six
One of the films originally planned to help Sony launch its Spidey villain-verse in 2013, The Sinister Six was meant to join Venom as a foundational piece. Sony tasked Drew Goddard with writing the script planned for him to direct the film.
Though work on the project began before Sony abandoned Andrew Garfield‘s Amazing Spider-Manfranchise, The Sinister Six continued to be developed over the next several years before being forsaken, though its premise certainly changed once Sony pulled the plug on Garfield’s Spidey. Of all the ideas generated by Sony, thanks to the collaborative relationship with Marvel Studios, this one may still live on in some way despite the studio taking a break from Spidey-related movies.
Nightwatch
In 2017, Sony had plans to develop a film around the little-used Marvel Comics’ villain Dr. Kevin Trench, who turned over a new leaf and became the hero known as Nightwatch.
As first revealed by me in March 2018 while working at That Hashtag Show, Sony had secured a monster creative team for Nightwatch with Cheo Hodari Coker (Luke Cage) writing a script to be directed by Spike Lee. Lee departed the project before the end of the year and Nightwatch never made it to the screen.
Silver and Black
Of all of Sony’s unrealized projects, Silver and Black probably came the closest to being made. Development on a Black Cat solo film ultimately evolved into a film intended to see Felicia Hardy and Silvija Sablinova share the screen in what would have been a pretty wild adventure, full of twists, turns, betrayals and quite a few big name Spidey villains and even a few heroes. You can take a deep dive into what the 2018 version of the film might have been had Sony not abandoned it in 2020.
Jackpot
Following the box office success of Venom in 2018, Sony began developing scripts for several films, including Jackpot. In 2020, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow writer Marc Guggenheim, who wrote three issues of Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot in 2010, was revealed to have been working on the script for two years.
If Sony’s plans to bring a Jackpot solo film to the screen has been an effort to put Mary Jane Watson in the spotlight, they may have been, at the very least, commendable. However, MJ didn’t suit up as Jackpot until 2023 and Sony’s film may have been shelved by then. Instead, Guggenheim‘s screenplay featured one of the other iterations of the character: Sara Ehret (11 comic book appearances) or Alana Jobson (12 comic book appearances). Given that Guggenheim’s Marvel Comics series involved both characters, it’s possible that the film may have followed suit.
So little was ever officially revealed about Sony’s Spider-Woman project that it was widely believed to be another name for Madame Web. While the latter somehow made its way to the big screen, the former–which could not have been any worse than Madame Web–never did.
In February 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped Hollywood in its tracks, Sony began searching for a director for a Jessica Drew-led Spider-Woman film. At the time, the studio was hoping to have Spider-Woman in theaters on October 7, 2021 and by late summer 2020, had locked Olivia Wilde in as director. According to comments by Wilde, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios may have been working closely with Sony on Spider-Woman despite being hands off on the studio’s other Spidey-adjacent fare. But why?
The live-action rights to Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman fall under a very unusual agreement between Marvel and Sony. According to the agreement, Marvel Studios can use Jessica Drew freely with one caveat: without the approval of Sony, they cannot refer to her as Spider-Woman. That doesn’t mean there aren’t great Jessica Drew stories to tell, only that it’s almost certainly in the best interests of both studios to collaborate on a Drew project in a way similar to how they’ve worked together on Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
And then…the trail went cold. It seems all parties have moved on and unless Marvel Studios has plans for Drew, the character may never make it to the big screen.
Hypno-Hustler
Inspired, undoubtedly, by a March 2022 tweet by me, Sony greenlit a Hypno-Hustler movie in December 2022.
Arguably the most bizarre of Sony’s decisions to build a Spider-Man universe without a Spider-Man, El Muerto would have featured Bad Bunny as the in-famous Juan-Carlos Sánchez who, as you undoubtedly know, was a Mexican legacy luchador who wore an enchanted mask which bestowed him with superhuman powers. At the time of the film’s announcement, El Muerto had two full-fledged appearances in the pages of Marvel Comics.
Perhaps the only interesting tidbit to have emerged about what El Muerto may have been came in 2023 when it was revealed that Sony planned to use classic Spidey baddie Tombstone in the film. According to a trade report, Sony planned to have Marvin Jones III, who voiced the character in the animated Spider-Man; Into the Spider-Verse, bring Tombstone to life in El Muerto. WWE superstar Sasha Banks was also reportedly set to play an unknown role in the film. Alas, El Muerto is deceased, if it ever lived at all.
After years of circling the role, Jason Momoa has finally stepped into the biker boots of the interstellar Czarnian bounty hunter, Lobo. Momoa broke the news himself via Instagram by posting a quote from a 2023 interview with Fandango in which he stated that if he was ever called and asked to play the character, he would. He then commented on his own post, simply stating, “They called.”
Shortly after Momoa’s Instagram reveal, Hollywood trades reported that the star would first appear in the all-new DCU in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow which is scheduled to hit theaters on June 26, 2026. The news was then “confirmed” by DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn, who posted a picture of the character across various social media platforms. With principal photography on that project slated to begin shortly after the new year, the coordinated release and confirmation of Momoa’s casting may indicate his role in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow may be larger than a cameo and that the studio expects he’ll be seen on set.
Even as he waxed hopeful that he’d continue as Aquaman in the new DCU, Momoa never shied away from sharing his desire to play Lobo. First appearing in 1983’s Omega Men #3, Lobo, the self-described Ultimate Bastich rose to fame with a very metal redesign as a hyper-violent, spacebike-riding mass murderer. While his role in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is unclear, the two characters do have a shared history in DC Comics. Unlikely to be a true villain in the film, Lobo will almost certainly be introduced as a thorn in the side of Kara Zor-El with the possibility that he’ll eventually help the hero in some self-serving way.
The casting of Momoa as Lobo works incredibly well both in that the actor loves the character and in that he won’t have to act at all. Though there’s been no comment on future appearances by the character, it would seem likely that future appearances, perhaps including a Lobo-centric project, are likely.
As the final season of its first animated adventure, What If…?, comes to a close, Marvel Studios has quickly turned its attention to promoting its next animated project. Beginning on January 29th, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will begin streaming on D+ after years in development.
Originally titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year and intended to be set in the Sacred Timeline, showrunner Jeff Trammell pivoted from that idea once it became clear that the project would be severely limited in terms of characters available to help flesh out Peter’s story. Free from its canonical shackles, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is now set to introduce dozens of characters who have yet to make their MCU debuts, including some who have not traditionally been part of Spidey ‘s cast of supporting characters.
One such character, Pearl Pangan, is relatively new to Marvel, having only been introduced in 2019’s War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas series. A Filipino hero who goes by the name of Wave, Pangan has appeared in fewer than 30 comic book stories, allowing the creative team behind Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man significant room to breathe with the character. And while it’s unclear exactly what role Wave will have in the series, thanks to an official release by Disney, we know who will voice the character.
Per Disney, Cathy Ang, who recently voiced Morgan Elsbeth in an episode of Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, will be the voice actress behind Pearl Pangan.
Updating…
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