While the holidays are a quiet period for Hollywood, we still get some teases here or there to tie us over into the new year. Luckily, DC fans won’t have to wait long until they get their first new property in 2022, as we’ll get a spinoff for The Suicide Squad focused on John Cena‘s Peacemaker. As we’re only 17 days away from its release, director James Gunn took to Twitter to offer a closer look at one of its newest additions, Judo Master.
Nhut Le will take on the role in the HBO Max series, which is taking a lot of inspiration from the original Charlton Comics, which included quite a few iconic characters that would eventually become mainstays in the DC universe. Le‘s upcoming take is quite a departure from the original, especially in the costume department. Instead of his white-red costume, he has one that is fully in green that seems closer to what we saw Nathan Filion‘s TDK was wearing. It’ll be interesting to see how he brings the character to life and how he’ll interact with Peacemaker and Vigilante.
Not too long ago, we’ve noticed that a new Star Wars project may have accidentally leaked through a Lucasfilm’s employee gift. Alongside the logos of already announced projects, there’s the inclusion of something titled Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. We’ve never heard of this project before and it opened the floodgates of what it might be about. Well, it seems some clever Redditors have potentially found an answer.
User CommanderVisor hasnoticed that ICON Creative Studios is employing people for an unannounced animated project. The studio is well-known for its animated projects targeted at a younger audience, which includes The Rocketeer, Elena of Avaltor, and more. They’ve also worked on Disney+’s recent Monsters Inc. sequel, Monsters at Work.
Of course, there’s no concrete confirmation, and even The Bespin Bulletin is mainly speculating it might be this project. Yet, it seems possible that the project they are working on is the unannounced Tales of the Jedi. We’ll have to take it with a grain of salt until there’s a clearer confirmation, but it seems like Lucasfilm is trying to also cater to a younger audience with this new offering.
We’ve all been wondering what the future holds for God of War Ragnarok, as we continue to await its release. The story of Kratos and his son Atreus continues, as Fimbulwinter has arrived to change their lives potentially forever. We were quite excited when we got a glimpse of the sequel’s gameplay and a confirmation it would end the franchise’s Norse storyline. Sadly, the game’s release did get pushed back into 2022 after originally eyeing a release this year, but it seems a new leak may have given us a hint at when to expect it.
In a post by PlayStation Game Size on Twitter, it seems that the PlayStation Database has accidentally leaked the release date slot for the game for September 30th of 2022. As they point out, there’s a chance it is just a placeholder, but it falls on a Friday which is in line with previous releases. If a placeholder is already set, it could be a hint that the next trailer would offer us a clear indicator of when it might release.
🚨 According To Playstation Database , God of War Ragnarök Coming September 30th 2022
September seems like a fitting time to release the game, as it’ll be a big seller for Sony’s PlayStation. Of course, releasing closer to the holidays will make it on the top list for many. Plus, there’s something fun about playing a game that takes place during an endless Winter as of September. Of course, we still need to take this news with a grain of salt, and it’ll be interesting to see if we get an official release confirmation early in the new year.
Following the conclusion of Jonathan Hickman’s 4-issue Inferno, Marvel Comics’ X-Men line will move out of the Reign of X era and into Destiny of X. Launching in 2022, Destiny of X will be comprised of 9 books and is being billed as the “Second Age of the X-Men of Krakoa.” In the weeks since the original announcement, more information about the line of books has made its way online, including creative teams and solicitations for some issues. With that in mind, here’s a look at what to expect from the line of books when they launch next year.
Immortal X-Men
Launching in March, Immortal X-Men will focus on the political machinations of the ruling body of Krakoa, the Quiet Council. Described by writer Kieron Gillen as a companion book to the main X-Men title by Gerry Duggan, Immortal X-Men will deal with the fallout of Inferno and the revelations of Ben Percy’sX Lives of Wolverinie/X Deaths of Wolverine. Artist Lucas Werneck will join Gillen in telling the story behind the scenes of the most powerful governing body on the planet. Immortal X-Men will be available at your local comic shop on March 30th. The full solicitation is available below.
IMMORTAL X-MEN #1 Kieron Gillen (W) • Lucas Werneck (A) • Cover by Mark Brooks Design Variant COVER by Tom Muller Headshot variant COVER by Todd NAUCK Carnage FOREVER variant COVER by TBA Quiet Council Variant COVER by Phil Noto Promo Variant COVER by Leinil FRANCIS Yu Teaser Variant COVER by Lucas Werneck Variant cover by Peach Momoko Variant cover by Oscar Vega WOMEN’S HISTORY VARIANT COVER BY EMA LUPACCHINO IN THE QUIET COUNCIL, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM! The Quiet Council rules the Krakoan age, for better… or worse. Now, shaken by INFERNO and X LIVES / X DEATHS OF WOLVERINE they strive to hold together, no matter how much they want to tear each other apart. Writer Kieron Gillen (UNCANNY X-MEN, ETERNALS, The Wicked + The Divine, Die) returns to the world of X with artist Lucas Werneck (TRIAL OF MAGNETO) to bring us all into the room where it happens. “It” being “the most powerful people on Earth deciding the fate of the whole planet.” Prepare for sinister secrets to be revealed and learn that some secrets are more sinister than others… 48 PGS./Rated T+ …$5.99
Marauders
One of the six titles that launched the Dawn of X era in 2019, Marauders is being relaunched with a new #1 in March. Steve Orlando will take over writing duties from Gerry Duggan and be giving Captain Kate Pryde and Bishop and all-new, all-different crew consisting of Aurora, Daken, Psylocke, Tempo, Somnus and a recently revealed final member: Cassandra Nova. Nova, the evil twin sister of Charles Xavier, will be helping the Marauders as they try to solve a mutant mystery over two billion years in the making. Eleonora Carlini will be handling the art on Orlando’s stories and the duo will actually make their debut on the book with Maruaders Annual # in January. Marauders #1 goes on sale March 30th; the full solicitation for the book is below.
MARAUDERS #1 STEVE ORLANDO (W) • ELEONORA CARLINI (A) • Cover by KAEL NGU Variant Cover by PEACH MOMOKO Design Variant COVER by Tom Muller Variant COVER by Skottie Young Promo Variant COVER by Leinil FRANCIS Yu Teaser Variant COVER by Eleonora Carlini Variant cover by Russell Dauterman Variant cover by Erica D’Urso Variant cover by Lucas Werneck NEW TEAM! NEW VILLAINS! NEW MYSTERIES! Captain Pryde and the Marauders are rededicating themselves to rescuing mutants, wherever they may be, and no matter how dangerous the odds against them are. But Captain Pryde’s crew is not yet complete! Against her better judgment, Pryde comes face-to-face with the final Marauder: Cassandra Nova! One of the most infamous villains in mutant history might be the Marauders’ only chance to unravel a mystery stretching two billion years into the past! 40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
X-Force
Current X-Force writer Ben Percy will stay on for Destiny of X’s X-Force book, launching in April. The official teaser shows X-Force members Wolverine, Kid Omega, Beast, Force and Sage hooked into Cerebrex, which seems to be an upgraded version of the current Cerebro worn by Professor X. Artist Robert Gill, who has been working with Percy on X-Force for the last 4 issues will remain on the book.
Knights of X
Also launching in April, Knights of X will be, is some ways, a continuation of the current Excalibur book that launched during Dawn of X and “ended” with this month’s #26. Excalibur writer Tini Howard will be joined by artist Bob Quinn on Knights of X which, as it turns out, should be read “Knights of Ten” (the teaser reads, “Ten Realms, Ten Knights”). It’s expected to be set primarily in Otherworld and pick up where the events of Excalibur #26, which saw Betsy Braddock remain in Otherworld to fight Merlyn, left off.
X-Men
Gerry Duggan will remain on board the main X-title. The solicitation for X-Men #9, which can be seen below, hints at some big troubles ahead for the squad.
X-MEN #9 GERRY DUGGAN (W) • Javier Pina (A) • Cover by Pepe Larraz Trading Card Variant Cover by Russell Dauterman Promo Variant Cover by Leinil FRANCIS Yu • CARNAGE FOREVER Variant Cover by TBA STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY NATACHA BUSTOS The Quiet Council of Krakoa. The Great Ring of Arakko. The Central Column of Orchis. Three ruling bodies, all about to make vital decisions that will affect their people for years to come…and the X-Men are caught in the cross fire. 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Legion of X
Details have yet to be released on Legion of X, but it seems likely that it will star Nightcrawler and Legion and be a bit of a continuation of Way of X, written by Si Spurrier and drawn by Bob Quinn. A new team, shown above, was teased at the end of X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation, which served as the end of the Way of X story. The team, featuring Juggernaut, Doctor Nemesis, Pixie, Forgetmenot and a newly resurrected Blindfold, who was originally kept out of the Resurrection Protocols due to Moira’s demands that no precog mutants be allowed to be brought back to life. With Destiny having been resurrected in Inferno and Blindfold on the way and Juggernaut, who was banned from Krakoa by Xavier, on the team, it seems like there truly are some big changes coming post-Inferno.
Wolverine
Again, no new details here but Ben Percy, whose run on the book has produced the best work on Wolverine in decades, will continue on. Wolverine will continue in April with issue 20 that will, apparently, feature Deadpool who has been notably absent from the X-line for the most part.
New Mutants
This looks like a potential continuation as well with Vita Ayala and Rod Reis working on issue #25 which is headed to stores in August. The description of the book, which can be read in full below, calls it a “perfect jumping-on point”for new readers.
THE LABORS OF MAGIK START HERE! The big two-five is here – and it’s the perfect jumping-on point for fans new and old! Illyana Rasputin is the Sorcerer Supreme and the rightful queen of Limbo…but she’s been awfully busy on Krakoa. Someone’s got their eye on the throne – and Magik isn’t the only queen in mutantdom. Vita Ayala and Rod Reis rekindle an old flame for a whole new generation of Magik lovers
X-Men Red
A Storm-centric book launching in April, X-Men Red will see Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli team up to tell the story of the Regent of Arakko defend the Red Planet.
Additional Titles
And while they were not teased as Destiny of X books, fans of the X-books can also look forward to a Gambit solo series, which sees the return of legendary X-Men writer and Gambit creator Chris Claremont, who will be working with artist Sid Kotian, and Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird, written by Steve Orlando and Nyla Rose, which will tell the tale of the newly resurrected John Proudstar.
More information on all these titles will be available when the full April solicitations are revealed in January.
The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse is in full-swing and, as it turns out, in a point of transition as it moves from a semi-grounded MCU into the next phase of the content Marvel wants to put out. I’ve long theorized that Phase 4 would be made up of smaller phases building out over one big story, as opposed to the first 23 films where it was all building to Thanos. We have original Avengers transitioning their titles to the next generation of heroes, some of which are even younger than they were when they joined the fray. One transition in particular deserves special attention, both for what it means for the future and how it handled the present in the shadow of the juggernaut that is Marvel’s latest big-screen offering. It also deserves kudos for successfully landing the plane on the mentor-mentee relationship in a way that Peter Parker’s arc really didn’t. We now have a new Hawkeye and that is Kate Bishop.
After being put through the ringer while finding out her parents were willing members of organized crime, the world’s greatest archer ensures that her mother faces some consequences for her actions. The Elder Bishop is last seen asking her daughter if sending parents to jail is what heroes do after she is unable to gracefully exit the Kingpin’s criminal enterprise. It would not surprise me to see the Kingpin enlist a masked vigilante like Madame Masque to take the younger Bishop down if we get a Season 2 or a Hawkeye and Black Widow movie down the line. Whatever form she next shows up in, Kate Bishop won’t be alone.
At the end of Hawkeye, Clint Barton solidified his relationship with Kate Bishop, and completes the arc that began in 2012’s Avengers. His family is safe, his wife’s past life is secure, and he can now finally rest. Not only does he do this, but he brings Kate home with him. At this point, only Nick Fury and the Avengers even knew his family existed. This shows how much he actually cares about Kate, and how much the “your mess is my mess” line isn’t delivered just for kicks, but actually symbolizes a partnership that began reluctantly. It’s a much better partnership than that of Peter Parker and Tony Stark.
Whereas Iron Man recruited Spider-Man out of necessity, he then took the young man into space and watched him die in his arms. Before taking him to space, Stark wanted to have Peter join the Avengers: this was his grand gesture since letting him go against The Vulture alone as a way to clean up the public relations mess after Captain America broke the Avengers out of The Raft. He let a 16-year old kid keep a hyper-advanced suit and it was the way he treated past employees that led to one of them targeting Peter to the point of outing his identity. In a lot of ways, it was Tony Stark’s recruitment of a starstruck Peter Parker that has now led to the multiverse exploding.
Clint Barton is no Tony Stark.
Clint went out of his way to protect Kate from the beginning, and he risked his family just to make sure she was safe. He didn’t want her to get involved, then got to know her and doubled down on protecting her, and even tried to send her home when he realized things got too dangerous. When Kate wanted to confront her mother after receiving the video of the Kingpin, he told her he’d help. Clint taught Kate how to make arrows and how to assess targets. Compare that to Stark, who didn’t take Peter seriously when he told him about the Vulture and who left him (and the rest of the Avengers) absolutely no financial stability after his passing. Given her mentor, Kate Bishop has a chance to be a better Avenger than Spider-Man’s ever been.
It looks like the creator of Netflix’s international smash hit Squid Game is in it for the long game, as Hwang Gon-hyuk has revealed he is currently in negotiations on a potential third season. There were already hints that they have started development on a second season to continue the story of Lee Jung-jae‘s Seong Gi-hun, who has made quite the declaration at the end of the first season after the revelations behind the titular Squid Game. Korean Times was kind enough to translate Gon-hyuk‘s statement on their current discussions:
I’m in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3. We will come to a conclusion any time soon.
Hwang Gon-hyuk
It’s uncertain how they’ll continue the storyline, but there are quite a few open questions left behind with Lee Byung-hun‘s Front Man revelation. They seemingly left a few talking points open on purpose to further explore the history of these games. We met one of its founders, but that won’t stop the games from continuing even as he moved on. We’ll see what the future has in store for Gi-hun, who is about to face an entire corporation down on his own.
After sitting out 2020 due to the pandemic, Marvel Studios returned with 4 films in 2021. Black Widow, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home all took their turns in theaters and introduced fans to new characters who would be a part of the future of the MCU. The first three films also had both mid-credit and post-credit scenes that, upon further review, may have followed a potentially intriguing pattern that serves as the basis of this wildly speculative piece.
Eternals featured a mid-credit scene that seemed to set up an Eternals sequel and a post-credit scene that seemed to set up a spinoff project, in this case, Black Knight. The mid-credit scene following Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings felt like a set up for the sequel, which we recently learned will see the return of Destin Daniel Cretton as both writer and director, while the post-credit scene guaranteed that we’d see the return of the Ten Rings organization, now headed up by Xialing, which could be one of the Disney Plus properties Cretton chooses to develop as part of his new deal. Finally, Black Widow’s post-credit scene set up Yelena Belova’s recent appearance in the Disney Plus streaming series, Hawkeye; however, upon first, second, third, fourth and fifth viewings, the mid-credit scene for the film seemed to be little more than a cute nod Avengers: Infinity War. Upon further review, however, it’s possible that there is more to that scene than meets the eye.
Black Widow takes place in 2016, following the events of Captain America: Civil War, leaving the better part of two years between it and the save-the-day entrance of Rogers, Black Widow and The Falcon in Scotland in Avengers: Infinity War. Could Marvel Studios be setting us up for more adventures with the duo?
Last year, we discovered that Marvel trademarked “Marvel Studios Nomad.” Among the several different trademarks on the property was one specific to “Entertainment services, namely, the development, creation, production, and distribution of digital multimedia and audio and visual content, namely, motion picture films, television programs, and multimedia entertainment…“, a trademark commonly filed when the studio plans to produce a film or series. Other similar trademarks were filed last year at the same time for the slew of projects Marvel Studios announced during their Investor’s Day presentation. Since the news of the trademarking broke, however, there’s been no mention of the development of any sort of a Nomad project at Marvel Studios, though the studio did file an additional trademark for Nomad just 4 months ago.
Shortly after the discovery of the Nomad trademarks, the news broke that Chris Evans was nearing a deal to return to the role of Steve Rogers in two potential MCU projects. Strangely enough, the trade noted that neither of those projects were expected to be Captain America projects. And of note to this wild theory is that, just recently, Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, revealed that Scarlett Johansson was working with Marvel Studios on a “top secret, non-Black Widow-related project.” It’s easy enough to theorize that the return of both Johansson and Evans could be connected and related to either the Nomad project or another one of Evans’ potential projects.
Bringing the two back together would allow Marvel Studios to capitalize on the chemistry between Evans and Johansson, first seen in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It is during the time period mentioned above that Rogers, who put down the shield in Civil War, took on the mantle of Nomad, according the writers and directors of Infinity War. With nearly two full years of time to explore, it’s possible that a Johansson-produced project, starring Evans, could be in the works and would reunite Johansson’s Widow with Evans’ in a way that’s otherwise pretty tough given that one is dead and the other is 100 years old.
Could the project be called Nomad? Maybe. Sure it would feature the Secret Avengers (that’s the name of the group according to Joe Russo), but featuring them in a project called Nomad wouldn’t be any different than featuring the same group in a project called Captain America: Civil War. But the idea of them being the Secret Avengers is interesting enough in and of itself because, like most of what makes the MCU great, there’s a comic book behind it.
In 2010, Ed Brubaker, whose Captain America run has defined the MCU’s Cap as much as anything, began writing an espionage-heavy series called Secret Avengers. In it, Rogers led a team of heroes, including Black Widow, that found themselves up against the Shadow Council, the Roxxon corporation and even Shang-Chi’s evil father. As the title indicates, they had to operate on the down low, much like Rogers’ team in the MCU would have had to do. Walking away from the shield almost certainly didn’t stop Rogers from doing what was right. Just because we didn’t see it on screen doesn’t mean that the MCU’s Secret Avengers weren’t active, but they certainly had to be discrete. And as we found out in Black Widow, Nat has some friends, one in particular that knows how to be discrete.
Black Widow introduced O-T Fagbenle’s Rick Mason, an ex-military character whose brief appearance showed us that he has some prior relationship with Nat and that he’s very, very good at finding things, especially given some time and money, as seen in the mid-credit scene in Black Widow. Fagbenle is charismatic, handsome and a rising star and has teased the return on the character down the road, saying it would be “criminal” for him not to return and that there’s a “great space” for him in the MCU.
And while a guy like Mason could show up just about anywhere, the hints at the relationship with Nat made him that much more interesting. That relationship could come in very, very handy in a Nomad project where Rogers and the Secret Avengers want to go out into the world to do some good, but don’t have Tony Stark bankrolling their projects. And that brings us full circle. When Nat takes off to break her pals out of prison at the end of Black Widow, it’s the beginning of something that we only see the end of two years later in Avengers: Infinity War, leaving a lot of stories to be told in between, the sweet spot for a Johansson-led Nomad project.
Any stories told during this time could bring in any number of villains from Cap’s rogues gallery that could or could not carry over into the era of Sam Wilson’s Captain America. Any stories told during that time could feature a run in between David Harbour’s Red Guardian and Evans’ Rogers. Any story told during that time could set up any number of villains or story lines to be further explored in Phases 4 or 5. Any stories told during that time could even feature Florence Pugh’s Yelena. You can see the pattern: just because these potential stories are told in the MCU’s past does not mean they can’t have a big impact on the MCU’s future, just like Black Widow has done.
Of course, this is all theoretical and, as such, based on almost no evidence. However, should Marvel Studios be planning on a Secret Avengers/Nomad project set in the post-CivilWar/pre-Infinity War time period, at least we have some idea of just how fun it might be.
Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s success at the box office is quite an exciting prospect. It built upon the nostalgia of the original two franchises that came before it, while also offering an emotional gut-punch of a story that is bound to have people clamoring for more. Well, it seems Sony is in the same seat as Deadline is reporting that its $1 billion global release has already gained around $242M net profit. That’s quite the success within just a few weeks, especially as the film continues to grow moving forward.
It just passed that benchmark and tied with Avengers: Infinity War as the second-fastest to do so. Yet, there are some concerns that the Omicron surge could hamper its future development and take away the legs it would’ve had originally if it was released in a non-pandemic time. Unlike most releases, it’s still a steady release and there’s a good chance Sony will make $610M in profit from this single release. As the film is already on its way to pass Far From Home, which managed to nab $1.13B, the current predictions see it making around $1.75B worldwide.
At this rate, it’s sure to beat out the previous entries, which is always a good sign for an ongoing franchise like Spider-Man and has also been quite competitive in the market, which most newer releases not holding a candle to it in its second weekend. Marvel Studios and Disney did renegotiate their terms for this third entry, which means they’ll get a slice of the pie as well. This also solidifies that their continued partnership might be in the best interest of everyone involved, which hopefully ensures a bright future as work is already underway for the fourth entry.
Marvel Studios is going through an interesting phase, as they reintroduced characters from the Marvel TV era into their universe. Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk and Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil made their return in style, which opened the floodgates of others making a potential return. It made many wonders if they’ll also answer some questions left behind from the series, such as Colleen Wing’s new time as the Iron Fist. Luckily, during her press tour for The Matrix Resurrections, actress Jessica Henwick gave her opinion on a potential return.
Look, the way we left Iron Fist, spoiler alert, Colleen has the power and she’s in a really good place. I would love to revisit her. That character meant a lot to me and really changed my life. And I would love to revisit her one day, but it would really have to be the right place, and the right time, and the right script, but never say never
Jessica Henwick
What is interesting to point out is that she was offered a role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but declined due to her hope to revisit Wing’s storyline. It’s unclear if this is even something that Marvel Studios is willing to revisit given the overall reception of that part of The Defenders, but we’ll see if her choice may have sparked an interest to continue further down that path after all.
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