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  • Murphy’s Team-Up: ‘What If…?’ Finale Wish List

    Murphy’s Team-Up: ‘What If…?’ Finale Wish List

    Murphy’s Team-Up brings the team together every Sunday to give their hot takes on a hot topic. This week: the finale of Marvel Studios first animated series, What If…?. Take a look at what the members of the team hope to see in the finale.

    Anthony Canton III

    What If…? episode 8 recap: Ultron brings Infinity Stone-empowered Marvel chaos - CNET

    I want to see what actually defeats this Ultron. In a lot of these scenarios normally you can appeal to the villains humanity but that doesn’t apply here. As far as the Watcher, what will be the price of his interference and the additional interference? I want to see that story be told. Finally, will Supreme Strange have a connection to Multiverse of Madness? He’s seemed like the most important character in these stories.

    Charles Murphy

    WHAT IF...?' Marvel Legends Arrive, Hint at a Live-Action Captain Carter - Murphy's Multiverse

    At this point I’m eager for the series to come to an end. I haven’t loved too many episodes and I feel like in most episodes they’ve made some really weak choices with how they’ve dealt with what could be a really freeing premise. So for me, I’m hoping that as the first season of the series comes to an end, we see some of the heroes step through a portal and morph into the live-action versions of their characters that we are rumored to see in upcoming films. I’m also hoping that once this is over, we get our first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    Mary Maerz

    What If...?' episode 8 review: There are no strings on me | Hypable

    I would like to see Ultron upgrade himself one final time, and that upgrade just so happens to be voiced by James Spader. The series did very well with dark themes and stories without happy endings—so I’m rooting for Ultron. I’d love to watch him take down the array of multiverse Avengers/Guardians we’ll get and be established as an ongoing and genuine threat for the series and maybe even the MCU at large. I would also be a bit disappointed if we didn’t get some sort of tease of how What If… ? can or will connect to the Sacred Timeline.

    Nathan Miller

    Marvel's What If Assembles the Guardians of the Multiverse for New Hyundai Ad

    I hope to see some thematic cohesion between the characters brought together in the What If…? finale. The somewhat abrupt ends of some episodes alongside an unresolved confrontation from What If… Ultron Won? suggest The Watcher will bring together a team to resolve those loose ends. When the Avengers came together they were all lost despite being powerful enough to be Earth’s mightiest heroes. They each found some sort of purpose they had been individually lacking in becoming a team. Whatever team might form in the finale of What If…? does seem like it has a couple of members that are lost like Captain Carter and Supreme Strange. Potential members T’Challa Star Lord, Party Thor and Killmonger each seem content in their universes so it will be interesting to see what the thematic thread between them is that pushes them to join a multiversal team.

    Hunter Radesi

    Marvel Retconned MCU Time Travel Rules For The 4th Time

    If there’s one thing Marvel’s What If…? is lacking, it’s long term consequence. The show has thus far utilized immediate, dramatic effect to highlight it’s differences in universes, but this takes away from the subtle charm that always drew people to the comics. There, a story would often start with an obvious change and end with some unexpected butterfly effect far down the Marvel timeline. If the finale of the show’s first season finds time to revisit any of the worlds it set up in prior episodes, it would do well to show the audience how the likes of Captain Carter’s existence ended up changing the modern MCU time period as well.

    Dalbin Osorio

    What If Episode 8 Ending, Explained: Is Clint Dead or Alive?

    For me, I want to see what comes out of the finale. During Endgame, time-travel was explained to us, but it wasn’t until Loki that we found out that this was just how the Avengers understood time-travel. In Loki, we figured “ok, this is the accepted framework for time.” What If has played in that sandbox, with variants and what have you, but there’s still a little bit that is unclear. Namely, is the Watcher pulling all the Guardians from different universes, or do some of these stories overlap? If so, what does that mean for the overarching MCU story that’s going on right now? I hope What If…? begins to clarify the rules because time is a confusing plot device as is, but it can cave on to itself if it isn’t explained correctly. I expect What If…? to do just that.

    John Sabato

    Chadwick Boseman loved What If...? and reimagining Black Panther's T'Challa - Polygon

    I hope to see the finale episode of What If…? really set the stage for what’s to come. The series has yet to really wow me and I hope they can do that here. I think I’m mostly looking forward to to seeing what could be Chadwick Boseman’s final performance.

    The finale of Marvel Studios What If…? streams this Wednesday on Disney Plus.

  • ‘Venom’ Sequel Kills the Box Office With A $90M Opening Weekend

    ‘Venom’ Sequel Kills the Box Office With A $90M Opening Weekend

    After being projected to debut to a nice $60M domestic box office, Venom: Let There Be Carnage absolutely blew the doors off that number with a $90M open, exceeding projections by 50%. The sequel to the 2018 film started off with a great take at Thursday night’s previews and didn’t slow down one bit and knocked Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings out of the top spot after 4 strong weeks.

    As noted above, Let There Be Carnage outdid its predecessor by $10M and did so in the midst of a pandemic. Speaking of the pandemic, the $90M also marks the highest grossing opening weekend of a film during the ongoing health crisis.

    The first film was a hit with fans, less so with critics, so it’s no surprise to see audiences out in droves to see it, especially with it getting higher marks than its predecessor by many of those same talking heads. The film has also generated substantial buzz around its mid-credit scene which appears to bring Tom Hardy’s Venom to the MCU and face-to-face (kind of) with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Given the huge success the film had, it’s likely the studio won’t wait long to greenlight a third film and make good on the promise of that scene.

  • Charles V’s OMNIBUS #1

    Charles V’s OMNIBUS #1

    I’ve been a comic book reader for as long as I can remember. Given how my dad was a former collector, there’s a good chance I read through a comic before even getting my hands on a coloring book. And I’m still at it reading comics on a daily basis to this day.

    I figured that, with the dozens of titles I read in a year, it might be productive to share my thoughts on them in this new series I’m trying called OMNIBUS. I read a lot of bad comics as much as I read good ones so not all the books you’ll see in this series will be recommendations. Think of this as a comic book diary.

    MAGNETO

    Remember that scene in X-Men: First Class where Magneto visits some Nazis chilling in a bar and gleefully murders them? That’s pretty much the selling point for this Magneto solo run.

    Cullen Bunn and Gabriel Walta’s take on the Master of Magnetism is relatively simple yet so precise. A no-frills John Wick-esque revenge tale of Magneto hunting down people who have wronged mutantkind. There are elements of a forensic procedural to it as the story cuts between Magneto’s bloody road of vengeance with the S.H.I.E.L.D. officers hunting him down. 

    The premise gets muddled halfway when the then-event Axis ties in but Bunn still manages to stay true to the core of Magneto’s pursuit of ending bigotry against mutantkind no matter the cost. If you’re itching to see a relatively standalone arc starring one of Marvel’s greatest villains, this is the book.

    GRASS KINGS 

    A sheriff’s wife vanishes without a trace. With no leads in sight, he places his suspicion on a community of squatters settling in a nearby unclaimed piece of land called the Grass Kingdom, with whom also the sheriff is feuding. That particular piece of land has had its own fair share of troubles, dating back to the pre-colonial days when Native American tribes inhabited the land. In the not-so-distant past, a notorious serial killer may have once lived in the Kingdom too. As the mystery of the missing wife unravels, the Grass Kingdom is forced to look into its own past and come to terms with its secrets. 

    Grass Kings is a part murder mystery, part character drama, and part history lesson written by Matt Kindt, one of the most underrated creators in the business, and drawn by artist Tyler Jenkins. It’s an old-fashioned tale of betrayal and grief, told through Jenkins’ beautifully rustic watercolor drawings and Kindt’s reflective writing. Its characters are a diverse lot and the Grass Kingdom itself feels lived in. It’s a surprise this hasn’t been made into a show yet because it has the makings of a great small-town drama.

    SPIDER-WOMAN

    Jessica Drew can’t catch a break. After remaining in comic book obscurity from the late 80s onwards, the character eventually experienced a renaissance in the 2000s when Brian Michael Bendis made her one of the lead Avengers of that era. There was one catch though: the Jessica Drew of this New Avengers era was a Skrull and had been for quite some time. This Skrull impersonating Drew was, in fact, the Skrull queen Veranke and had orchestrated a decade-long secret invasion of Earth.

    That brings us to the Spider-Woman solo series by Bendis and Alex Maleev, which tackles the aftermath of the Skrull invasion from the real Jessica Drew’s perspective. The miniseries is a spy thriller that has Jessica Drew dealing with the world’s worst hangover. What do you do when you wake up missing four years of life and find out that someone took over the world in your identity? You hunt the remaining people involved in it.

    The comic isn’t remarkable by any means; it starts off great but eventually goes nowhere interesting. Part of me has a hunch that the upcoming Secret Invasion show will have a similar tone to this comic. You won’t miss out on anything if you don’t ever read this.

    MISTER MIRACLE

    Tom King furthered his penchant for turning superhero stories into existential domestic crises with the wonderfully manic Mister Miracle miniseries for DC in 2018. In essence a companion piece to his thematic Marvel counterpart Vision, Mister Miracle is a deeply complex examination of what it’s like to be a son of Darkseid and all the craziness that comes with being a New God.

    The complexities of being a son of Darkseid are examined through the homelife of Mister Miracle, as he lives his day-to-day with his loving wife Big Barda. The story’s vantage jumps from their home to Mister Miracle’s professional life as an escape artist to their duties fighting a war against Apokolips for New Genesis.

    As someone who has never read a comic featuring these characters before, what blows me away is how Tom King and collaborator Mitch Gerads managed to draw me in through the banality of it all. The comic isn’t afraid of exploring the silliness of Mister Miracle calling Big Barda to talk about babysitting in the middle of a war or debating whether the Female Furies would make good party guests the same way it is bold enough to examine heavy themes of suicide and trauma.

    These characters have always been intimidating to my non-DC fan self so see them in this new light is refreshing.

    BLACK ROAD

    You can never go wrong with a good Viking story and Black Road is exactly just that. Somewhat of a spiritual spinoff from Vertigo’s pseudo-historic epic Northlanders, Black Road chronicles the road of vengeance a Pagan warrior named Magnus the Black takes after witnessing a helpless Catholic priest get killed by his kind. Throughout his journey, Magnus reflects on the harsh realities Scandinavia is faced as the Christians forcefully take over all that he has known.

    The comic is absolutely brutal in all regards. It doesn’t mince words in its criticism of Christianity as much as it doesn’t hold back with gore. But even in the face of all that darkness, the book has some really empowering things to say about faith and life.

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Open to Romance Between Katy and Xialing

    ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Open to Romance Between Katy and Xialing

    It’s hard to believe that it has been exactly one month since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings first hit movie theaters. While some thought it would flop, the film received critical acclaim and is currently the highest-earning movie of 2021 in terms of box office performance.

    Over the past month, fans have been able to experience and discuss their favorite aspects of Shang-Chi, including characters that created from scratch solely for the film. The movie highlighted the now-popular friendship between Simu Liu‘s Shang-Chi and Awkwafina‘s Katy, and many fans specifically enjoyed that the two never became romantic. Director Destin Daniel Cretton has revealed that platonic friendship between the two was always the plan:

    Early on… when I did my initial pitch, it was like Sam and Frodo was the relationship that I had, like, in my pitch… that Shang-Chi needed… the Asian-American sidekick…When we started talking together with Dave about that relationship, we started talking about how many girl friends we have, like legitimate friends… and I think that’s something that we both — it’s very normal to us to have friends who are… and they’re not surface friends, they’re real intimate friendship relationships that are not romantic. And that was exciting for us to do.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    Still, romance could still very much be in the future of the Shang-Chi franchise. Another standout character from the film was Shang-Chi’s sister, Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing. When asked about the fact that some fans have been vocal about wanting a romantic pairing between Katy and Xialing, Cretton stated:

    I would not be opposed to that.

    Destin Daniel Cretton

    Whether or not Katy and Xialing pair up, Cretton being open to the idea is a huge. As it stands, LGBTQ+ representation is virtually absent in the MCU. It might also signal Marvel Studios’ growing willingness or intention to include more queer characters or storylines. Eternals will make MCU history next month by featuring Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos and Haaz Steiman’s character as a gay couple raising a family together and kissing onscreen, a long-awaited first for the MCU.

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.

  • Venom & Eddie: A Match Made In Heaven

    Venom & Eddie: A Match Made In Heaven


    “You call it madness, I call it love.”

    In Venom: Let There Be Carnage the examination of Eddie Brock’s relationship with the symbiote is fascinating. In all loving relationships, there’s a level of give and take that exists naturally. With these two, though, the give and take is tested in a way that exemplifies the meaning of love.

    As the film goes along eventually there’s resentment between both Eddie and his alien paramour. Venom feels like it has made Eddie a better journalist and it wants a say in how things get done. (The super strength and healing powers don’t hurt either, of course.) Eddie wants the symbiote to chill out and not eat people’s heads, but instead stick to the chickens. It’s almost like leaving the toilet seat up. Nonetheless, that relationship does reach a crossroads when the two separate.

    Sometimes distance creates perspective. Both parties got to see what it was like without the other. Eddie had a harder time figuring out Cletus Kasady’s story, and the symbiote couldn’t bond with just anyone. Even if they bicker like an old married couple, the two need each other. They’re at least smart enough to recognize that fact and eventually overcome their own issues and Carnage. 

    The biggest thing that the two of them learn is the classic relationship story of compromise. Working together and making the situation not only more tenable but meaningful in reality. These two iconic characters are in it for the long haul. As Venom’s story continues, the lethal protector has to be more together than ever. Whether it’s another Symbiote, or a certain wall-crawler Venom and Eddie will sink or swim together.

    As the saying goes, “We can only learn to love by loving.” This relationship is truly a romance. Eddie Brock and the symbiote are a complete package, and with that comes a world of endless possibilities.

    Venom: Let There be Carnage, starring Tom Hardy, is exclusively in theaters now.

  • Early Drafts of ‘Shang-Chi’ Were “Too Crazy” for Marvel Execs

    Early Drafts of ‘Shang-Chi’ Were “Too Crazy” for Marvel Execs

    In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer David Callaham gave some insight into the development process of the film. According to Callaham, some of the early ideas pitched were “too crazy” to make it into the final cut.

    We were doing some pretty weird stuff at the beginning before (executive producer) Jonathan (Schwartz) kind of pulled us back. He knows the world. I think Destin and I, when we got there, were like ‘We can do anything! It’s Marvel!’ No idea was off the table to begin with, to be honest, which was really cool of Marvel, to let the team explore a little bit, and then eventually they tell you ‘You can’t do that, that’s too crazy’ or ‘We’re doing that somewhere else, but we can’t talk about it,’ that kind of thing.

    One such potentially crazy idea, according to Cretton, would have seen Shang-Chi leave a younger brother behind, rather than Xialing, who would eventually turn into some sort of monster.

    I mean, at one point, there was a moment when Shang-Chi had a brother that was left behind with Dad rather than a sister. That was early on. And there’s inspirations from the comics for that character. And I think the brother, like, turned into a monster at one point.

    As Cretton says, Shang-Chi did have both a half-brother and an adopted brother in the comics, both of whom ultimately did battle with the Master of Kung-Fu. With neither Moving Shadow nor M’Nai, the aforementioned brothers, showing up in the first film, it’s possible that they could have put a pin in the idea and bring the character back in the sequel, seeking to challenge Shang-Chi and or Xialing for control of the Ten Rings (both the objects and the organization.

    It’s always interesting to listen to the creatives behind the projects talk about the developments behind the scenes. Often times, ideas left out of the original films grow over time and find their way into sequels or additional projects; additionally, as Callaham pointed out, they creators sometimes find out that their ideas are already in the pipeline for other projects. Either way, it’s a good idea to file this one away in your memory banks for later as it has the potential to pop up down the line.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is now in theaters and will begin streaming on Disney Plus November 12th.

    Source: Yahoo! Entertainment

  • REVIEW: ‘Paw Patrol: The Movie’

    REVIEW: ‘Paw Patrol: The Movie’

    PAW Patrol: The Movie gives the franchise’s popular characters the feature film treatment. The animation and action supply enough entertainment for the movie’s intended audience, with some particular moments that clearly benefit from a larger budget. PAW Patrol unfortunately leaves a few puppies behind, and rescue events leave some to be desired from the fluffy heroes. Overall, the film sets forth a coherent and organized story that leans on the pre-existing success of its brand. While it is not unforgettable, it is decent, and its portrayal of emotional trauma in its lead character does allow it to stand out. 

    The PAW Patrol is a group of puppies, led by a human boy named Ryder, who specialize in search and rescue-type operations. Each puppy has a specific set of skills that render them big-eyed icons of emergency and/or municipal services professions such as a police officer, a firefighter, or a pilot. There’s even a recycling-focused puppy. More importantly, each puppy has an elaborate vehicle with every possible function and tool in existence that might even put Transformers to shame. 

    The group ordinarily works together on missions in their hometown of Adventure Bay, but they are called to action in nearby Adventure City by newcomer puppy Liberty because the notoriously bad Humdinger has become the mayor of the City and his newfound position generically threatens the City. While Mayor Humdinger has several snafus to keep the PAW Patrol employed throughout the movie, the main threat is his abuse of a cloud-catching machine that ultimately creates a massive superstorm that threatens serious damage to Adventure City. 

    The appeal of PAW Patrol is, obviously, the cute puppies. The movie definitely devotes ample time to watching the puppies frolic around just for the sake of it, and each one has a dedicated identity and color-scheme to distinguish him from the others. Similar to franchises like Power Rangers or Care Bears, the intended audience likely has an easy time picking a favorite and latching on to her. If your favorite is not Chase the police dog, Skye the pilot, or Liberty the brand-new street-smart dog, PAW Patrol might be disappointing. Anyone watching the movie likely has some history with the crew, but if you are not familiar you might not have even learned several of the puppies’ names by the time the credits roll. 

    The PAW Patrol itself is without a doubt an innocent and fuzzy version of a superhero team, and the movie and franchise benefit from the comparison. Instead of fighting or having direct confrontation with a threat, however, the puppies are passive heroes. As rescuers in the form of, essentially, law enforcement, the underlying message of what a “hero” is in PAW Patrol is distinguishable from most of its more mature counterparts. Here, the value is in adhering to rules, following instructions, and knowing your place. 

    Typically, in the “hero” story, the hero’s worth is based on their individual merit and respective skills. In PAW Patrol, that message is greatly diluted if not mostly absent. The Patrol and their work are not actually a product of the puppies’ skills, unless you count driving some sort of car and pushing some buttons. All action in the movie is centered around the wildly extravagant and nearly omnipotent tank-like vehicle they each control. Because there is virtually no function that the vehicles do not have, all problems are immediate solved with some simple paw-to-button effort. Problem-solving or technical skills are not highlighted, and the cars can be better idols than the puppies. 

    But PAW Patrol is still shiny enough and had a satisfyingly organized plot to be effective for its intended viewers. Not only do you have the animation style that emphasizes how adorable baby animals can be, but watching the puppies take on the City with the most high-tech gear in existence provides enough fast-paced excitement. It is simple enough that a younger audience can keep up with it, and the new and larger setting likely distinguishes the movie from the television series. Plenty of the humor seems to rely on running jokes and gags that already-existing PAW Patrol fans would be familiar with, so the comedy in the movie probably hits the right note though does not steal the show. 

    Somewhat surprisingly, the movie depicts “danger” more aggressively than one would think. While there is generally nothing scary about any situation, there are a couple of moments that come across far more destructive and brutal than the puppy energy could match. The final rescue sequence is visually strong between the dark foreboding superstorm cloud in the sky, the rain, the lightning, a glowing puppy-led motorbike scaling a skyscraper, and a giant puppy-caused explosion in the sky.

    Mayor Humdinger is an interesting character. While not unique to the movie, his political aspirations are what make him stand out to an older audience here. He is depicted as grandiose, self-indulgent, politically corrupt, media-obsessed, scientifically ignorant, generally incompetent, and has childlike immaturity. It is somewhat difficult—though maybe not for a child—to not immediately see a potential real-life counterpart. To the extent that a comparison of that sort can actually be made, it does add a curious additional layer to the story considering we are watching young puppies literally clean up his messes. 

    In any event, the real backbone and highlight of PAW Patrol is Chase the police dog’s emotional journey. Amongst the colorful puppy joyrides, Chase is forced to deal with the trauma of his past. Scarred by his abandonment in Adventure City as an even younger puppy, returning means relieving the fear and pain he thought he had left behind. It is a concept that is more than just glossed over, as Chase experiences actual panic attacks that almost cause some of the rescues to fail. The lead puppy ultimately feels worthless and unworthy of being a PAW Patrol member. Of course, it is all resolved by the end of the movie after Ryder’s encouragement allows Chase to accept his past as something that makes him stronger. Still, the movie gave the situation more depth and grit than expected, and the extra attention could potentially lead it to helping a younger audience cope with similar issues.

    While the puppies go above and beyond to protect, PAW Patrol stays fairly average. There are no glaring defects in the movie itself and, in terms of adapting its source material into a feature-length film, it does a fine job at making the story coherent for the PAW Patrol uninitiated and still paced appropriately for those with background knowledge. At the end of the day, PAW Patrol’s key stand-out feature is its surprisingly genuine take on trauma and coping.

  • The Pulse: Collecting the Biggest News of the Week of September 27-October 2

    The Pulse: Collecting the Biggest News of the Week of September 27-October 2

    The Skrulls Are Coming, The Skrulls Are Coming

    Early in the week, I got the go ahead to share just a little bit of information about the roles of Kingsley Ben-Adir and Killian Scott in Marvel Studios 2022 streaming series Secret Invasion. Nobody was going to be surprised that Ben-Adir, who was cast as the villain in the series, would be playing a Skrull; however what puts a little more meat on the bone of his role is that he’s playing one that has a shared history with Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos. Speaking of Skrulls, it looks like Scott will be playing one as well, partnering up with Ben-Adir’s character.

    Fans Have Much More Marvel Studios Content Coming

    Newly promoted Marvel Studios exec Victoria Alonso gave fans something to chew on when she revealed in an interview that the studio has 31 projects currently at some stage of development. Even the hardest of the hardcore have a hard time coming up with all 31 could be, but with 13 films scheduled between 2022 and 2024, a half dozen or so Disney Plus series and some animated shows on the list, we know there’s going to be diversity not only in the type of projects we’ll see, but also in the people creating and starring in them.

    Star Wars Fans Won’t Have It So Bad, Either

    It’s not quite 31, but it’ll do. Disney Plus has plans to release 10 series set in a galaxy far, far away over the next few years. We know that will start on December 29th with The Book of Boba Fett and we know a few other titles, but it seems Disney Plus still has a few surprises up their sleeve.

    ScarJo and Disney Are Friends Again

    After taking a $40M settlement from Disney, Scarlett Johansson is ready to make some more movies with the studio after suing them over the hybrid release of Black Widow. Disney and Johansson are expected to continue their collaboration with the upcoming Tower of Terror film.

  • James Gunn to Introduce “One of the Greatest MCU Characters” in Guardians Holiday Special

    James Gunn to Introduce “One of the Greatest MCU Characters” in Guardians Holiday Special

    As we draw nearer to the release of the Disney Plus series The Book of Boba Fett, it’s appropriate to reflect on the now iconic character’s humble origins. Fett first appeared briefly in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special before having the briefest of appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and then, inexplicably, developing such a cult following that he is now one of the faces…helmets?…of the franchise and set to star in his own series. With Marvel Studios now heading down the holiday special route with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special set for 2022, a fan asked director James Gunn if he would use the show to introduce any new characters to the MCU. Gunn not only answered, he also gave fans a reason to be even more excited about the event.

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1444366802411270159?s=19

    Gunn’s always interacted with fans and isn’t one to make promises he can’t keep, so it’s great to see him come out with this here knowing he’ll follow through. It’s nearly impossible to predict, however, just to whom Gunn may be referring. No corner of Marvel’s comic book universe has been more underrepresented on screen than the Cosmic one, with thousands of characters-and at least a few dozen of them memorable-from which to choose. Should Gunn chose to take inspiration directly from the Star Wars special and introduce a bounty hunter to the MCU, a character like Monark Starstalker (who is 100% tailor-made for Gunn’s buddy Nathan Fillion) could be a possibility. If he wants to go another route and introduce a character he’s expressed his love for in the past, Gunn could bring Beta Ray Bill, a character for whom he has professed his love in the past, to the MCU, making fans incredibly happy. Whoever the character is, they’ll have one helluva time following the impressive trail blazed by Boba.

  • Marvel Studios ‘Echo’ Simply Cannot Be ‘Daredevil’ Season 4

    Marvel Studios ‘Echo’ Simply Cannot Be ‘Daredevil’ Season 4

    Daredevil is trending following a rumor that the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Echo will see much of the cast of Netflix’s Daredevil return and “serve as sort of Daredevil Season 4.” While there’s been some clarification about exactly what the rumored returns would entail, the series is still rumored to heavily feature those characters. That’s a big problem for Disney and Marvel Studios, should they chose to do it.

    Charlie Cox is set to suit up as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home and rumored to suit up as Daredevil in She-Hulk. Vincent D’Onofrio is rumored to be returning as a beefed up Kingpin in Hawkeye. These are great actors whose portrayals of their respective characters were so beloved by fans that they became synonymous enough with the roles to survive and make the jump to the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. Both of these characters have rich comic book histories with Maya Lopez, aka Echo, and should rightly be a part of her story. However, giving one or both of them the spotlight in Echo while also using it as an opportunity to bring some of the rest of the Netflix cast to the MCU would only serve to undo some of the great strides Marvel Studios has made in their efforts to make the recent entries into their cinematic universe more representative of the real world.

    All signs point to newcomer Alaqua Cox having made quite an impression in her role as Lopez in Hawkeye. Cox came in and stood out in a series with returning MCU star Jeremy Renner and multitalented megastar Hailee Steinfeld; stood out so well, in fact, that they made the decision early on to spin her off into her own series. And that series stands to be nothing short of groundbreaking…but not if they decide to go the rumored route detailed above. Echo will feature Cox, a deaf, female, Native American amputee in the lead. The writers’ room is expected to include Native American staff, potentially including Bobby Wilson, who has worked on Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls. These moves by Marvel Studios are truly unprecedented in the superhero/CBM genre. Making Echo the answer to #SaveDaredevil’s prayers would undo all the good will and great strides they’re making.

    With Cox and D’Onofrio reprising their roles, the rest of the “main cast” of Daredevil is comprised of mostly white actors and actresses who, in comparison to Cox and D’Onofrio, just didn’t bring the same sort of unforgettable gravitas to their roles. But to be completely honest and fair, the talent of those actors isn’t really the issue. Surrounding Alaqua Cox, in her own series, by a primarily white cast who don’t look like her would be nothing short of insulting and undermine having made her the star to begin with. Making Murdock and Fisk big parts of the series would steal the spotlight from Maya Lopez’s story. Marvel Studios has the chance to do something special with Echo and making it Daredevil Season 4 is simply not it. Nobody is going to say no to a Marvel Studios Daredevil series, but let that be its own entity. Failing to give Echo the spotlight in her own series would be a giant leap in the wrong direction.