Rektangular’s original information indicated that a comic-based Avengers wave would be hitting shelves in September of this year. It now appears that wave has been moved up to April, meaning it’ll be available for pre-order soon, and with the move comes more information about which figures collectors can expect. According to Rektangular, the wave will contain the following seven figures:
Thor Iron Man Quake Blue Marvel Speedball Madame Hydra U.S. Agent
The inclusion of Quake is sure to get fans of Agents of S.H,I,E.L.D. speculating about Chloe Bennet’s return to the role; however, the wave is comic-based and not related to any of Marvel Studios upcoming projects, so this figure should not be taken as an indication of her joining the MCU. Collectors should still be excited though, as this is the first time the character has been made available in the Legends line. Blue Marvel and Speedball will also make their first appearances as Legends, with Speedball joining fellow New Warriors Night Thrasher and Firestar as characters who have recently been produced.
The current Avengers comic run written by Jason Aaron has been pretty blatant in terms of focusing on characters that are either gaining new relevance in the movie side of things or that are straight-up joining the MCU in the coming months. After devoting arcs to the Celestials (and introducing a new Avengers HQ similar to the one the MCU might get to in a few movies’ time), Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Echo, Blade, and She-Hulk (all of which are soon to be the focus of their own TV series or movie) we are now getting word that the series is focusing on both Namor and Valkyrie as the duo are joining Marvel’s core Avengers team in 2022.
The current head Valkyrie in the comics is no other than Jane Foster, a former Thor (an arc also written by Aaron and that is a major inspiration for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder) that has had a new part to play in the comics for some time now. As for Namor, he’s known for showing up now and then in the series but is now becoming a full-fledged member as he reunites with his long-time nemesis, Black Panther, in what is another interesting comic-to-movie connection.
These are interesting news in what the comics are concerned, but they can also mean something towards the future of the MCU. Ever since Kevin Feige was named Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Comics, Marvel Television, and Marvel Animation in October 2019, in addition to being President of Marvel Studios, you now can sometimes catch glimpses of what some MCU projects might be focusing on down the line by reading up on the latest issues. This was something that had already been going on for a while, but it was with Feige’s formal appointment that it likely became a more reliable reality.
Avengers #53 will be available on February 9, 2022
It’s always fun to take a look back at what could’ve been. Many films go through a variety of scripts before they settle on the one that makes it into cinemas. It looks like Avengers almost was a completely different story, as the new book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe confirmed that Joss Whedon‘s Avengers film was originally going to center on the Wasp. Not just that, they were eyeing New Girl‘s Zooey Deschanel for the role, as highlighted by producer Jeremy Latcham.
It was all about The Wasp. He wanted to cast Zooey Deschanel. [Wasp] was the funniest character in the whole movie, and well-written.
Jeremy Latcham
They go into detail about how the production ended up including Wasp in a major role. It seems after Iron Man 2, no one knew if Scarlett Johansson would return and so they needed to fill the role that was originally meant for Black Widow. Whedon decided to add in Wasp. A quote by Whedon highlights that once Johansson was back on board, they had to rewrite the entire script, especially as they realized the Wasp character took over the story.
The Wasp happened because there was a short period where it looked like we weren’t going to be able to get Scarlett [due to scheduling conflicts], so I was panicking. I thought, ‘Hold on, we could do The Wasp.’ Then I fell in love with that. But we did get Scarlett, and then I realized I had written this entire movie about The Wasp. Oops. I overcompensated there.
Joss Whedon
It’s certainly a little peek behind the curtains and exploring what could’ve been. Deschanel would match a more bubbly version of Janet van Dyne, which some may be familiar with from the animated Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series. Of course, the character took quite a different route as Evangeline Lilly‘s Hope van Dyne would take on the iconic mantle. They turned the title into a legacy story, as she took over the role from her mother, who was cast as Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Still, it’s crazy to imagine if Johansson didn’t find time, the MCU we are now experiencing might’ve been quite a bit different. Perhaps the adventure into the multiverse opens up the possibility for her to tackle the role after all.
As far as an Avengers team for the Russos to direct, let’s get Captain Marvel, Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, Dr. Strange, Monica Rambeau, and Banner as our main team. There’ll be support from others if needed but I like that crew. The villain for a crew like this would be Annihilus. A fun scenario would be an earth takeover as the Avengers take on him and his army.
Charles Murphy
While it’s more likely they’re coming back for something major like Secret Wars, I’d be happy for them to work on a Silver Surfer trilogy. Following the mold they cut on their work with Captain America, I’d love to see them explore the “fallen hero” themes from Stan Lee’s seminal late-60s/early 70s run (honestly some of Stan’s finest writing) without having him confined to Earth. Surfer is probably one of the heaviest hitters in the toy box that Marvel Studios bought from Fox and I hear he may be introduced sometime in 2022 (it’s just a rumor for now, so settle down); the Russos, who have expressed their love for the character in the past, could elevate the character to heights he deserves.
John Sabato
The next team I’d like to see the Russos direct is Captain America, Wasp, Ant-Man, Mighty Thor, Shang Chi, Black Knight, Sersi, and Photon. The villain? AC is right: Annihilus.
Joao Pinto
The Russos have themselves said that the inspiration behind Avengers: Infinity War’s team comprised of Cap, Falcon, Black Widow, and Wanda was Marvel’s Secret Avengers. Even in their debut feature for the franchise, Captain America: The Winter Soldier they managed to get Steve Rogers donning a suit clearly hinting at the one he wore while leading the Secret Avengers in the comics. So with that said, why not give them the keys to their own black-ops superhero team? There are a number of members that have already left the MCU but, hopefully, we’ll soon have brand new characters introduced that would manage to make the cut. Original team members Moon Knight and Nova would be welcomed additions, with Yelena Belova taking Natasha’s place in the team, all while having War Machine serve as the liaison between the team and government authorities. Hank McCoy and Shang-Chi would complete the team, making it extremely diverse in its disfunctionality.
Joseph Aberl
With the Russos potentially returning, it seems like the obvious choice for them to spearhead the project featuring the Avengers fighting Kang the Conqueror, but I’d like to propose a different kind of story. After the aftermath of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the multiverse breaking loose is just a matter of time. They end up realizing that another multiverse is going to try and merge with theirs. A new team featuring Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the new Black Panther, White Vision, and more face off against an Incursion. They meet familiar and new faces of old friends that force their hand in an unlikely war. Yet, at the end of the day, they realize this was just the prelude. Something sinister is waiting for them in the future.
Mary Maerz
I honestly don’t know who my preferred team for a Russo’s feature would be, but I am most excited for Sam Wilson to make his Avengers debut as Captain America, and would love for the Russos to have a hand in that. With all of the more complex storylines going on in Phase Four, he will definitely ground everything. His character also just rocks and will probably make a lot of wild stuff feel more human and relatable. As far as a villain, I would really like Kang to still be the Big Bad by Avengers 5. After he (his variant) appeared in the Loki series, it seems obvious to me that there is so much potential in building him up over time into something really special. The MCU sort of did that with Thanos, but mostly just through teases—we didn’t really see him do anything in particular until Infinity War. Kang, though, with Ant-Man 3 in particular, has the ability to feel like a huge and constant threat for the foreseeable future if they keep him around. It would definitely have an incredible payoff. Plus Jonathan Majors is going to be amazing, so we’d have a villain with some personality too.
Nathan Miller
I’d honestly rather give Chloe Zhao or Nia DaCosta a go at directing the next Avengers film rather than the Russo brothers. I’d like to see the Russos have a go at a Dark Avengers or Thunderbolts Disney+ series instead. So inline with that, the team would be: Zemo, US Agent, Yelena Belova, Abomination, Songbird, Agatha Harkness and Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. I can see them having a rivalry with a team Sam might put together, but not a wholly antagonistic relationship with them, with the bigger fractures likely from within the team itself. As for who they would be taking on, perhaps a villain like Morgan le Fay, or perhaps they might try to lay Siege to New Asgard.
While Eternals is being described as Marvel Studios’ most ambitious project. It’s a tall statement after the insanity that was Avengers: Endgame. Of course, it also opens up the floodgate of questions if they could ever truly top the last entry as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes come together once more. There still hasn’t been an announcement for the fifth entry in the franchise, but ComicBook.com used the chance to discuss it while visiting the set of Chloé Zhao‘s new film. In an interview with producer Nate Moore, he had the following to say on it:
I think you can, or you can not, you know what I mean? And I think, Avengers 4 was called Endgame for a reason. We haven’t really talked in a real way about what an Avengers 5 would be even. We could build towards it or we could just say, ‘Hey, here’s a standalone Avengers movie.’ And I think as long as the story was strong and interesting enough people will come and see it.
Nate Moore
Moore does go on to say that while they could make a standalone project, they love leaving breadcrumbs and letting these crossover storylines grow throughout the films.
We’re kind of nerds so we like to build towards things and we like to spread bread crumbs and see where they come… But yeah, and I think audiences also kind of want to be surprised. So, to some degree, we don’t want to say, ‘You saw that trick, let’s do that trick again.’ What’s the new way to surprise people if, and when we did an Avengers movie, what would be the funnest version of that?”
Nate Moore
When discussing the potential of Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror becoming the franchise’s next main antagonist, the Marvel Studios producer didn’t give a clear answer but teased that the world is their oyster with this new film.
It could be anything. Do you go the opposite and make the stakes really personal and small, because what’s bigger than Endgame? You know what I mean? How do we make the stakes bigger than that?” The universe is going to collapse? I don’t know. Or is it there another way where, ‘Oh, here’s a really clever Mission: Impossible style Avengers movie that gets to be smaller. Again, all ideas we can play with, but I do feel like the door’s a bit open and audiences will be kind of game to follow us
Nate Moore
The potential of a smaller story to bring together the Avengers is an interesting idea. The team has a revolving door of members. So, not every story needs to introduce every single character we’ve met along the way. Of course, they could also do what they did with the first entries by building up throughout various films before the true big bad shows his face.
With over two dozen projects comprising the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of the order through which audiences should experience them. It is, of course, something pretty fluid as personal preferences might have some skipping a couple of projects in favor of their favorite ones. All in all, there are two general viewing orders that contain the entirety of the MCU. A Release Order, which respects the order in which projects were made available through the years, and a Chronological Order, which takes into account when each project’s plot takes place.
Personally speaking, the Release Order should be followed when watching all MCU projects for the first time, with the Chronological Order being something to use on rewatches. This is mostly due to the fact that major plot points would be spoiled if not watching the entirety of the franchise as it was released, similar to the way audiences watching Star Wars for the first time would be spoiled The Empire Strikes Back‘s major plot twist by having previously watched the prequel trilogy.
CHARACTER VIEWING ORDERS
When it comes to following specific characters, we got together individual viewing orders with their appearances through the years. These can be as a central character to the plot or as blink-and-you-miss type cameos, many on mid or post-credit scenes. Keep in mind this is a work in progress, as new characters will keep being added.
Two years after they completed an incredible 6-year run in the MCU, Joe and AnthonyRusso have entered into negotiations to return to Marvel Studios. The Russos struck gold for Marvel Studios with 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and completed the Captain America trilogy with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War before moving on to helm the 2-part conclusion to the Infinity Saga in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The tandem made it clear that they had planned to take a break from the MCU but now, according to The Wall Street Journal, they’ve begun planning their return.
As exciting as that sounds, however, it is worth noting that negotiations with the directing duo recently reached an impasse in the wake of Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney following the hybrid release of Black Widow. WSJ reports that the uncertainty about how films will be distributed and how the talent will be paid in the new landscape carved out by COVID has become a speed bump in the Russos’ return.
In 2019, the brothers made no bones about the project that would be most apt to entice them to return: Secret Wars. With Loki openly teasing a multiversal war and the multiverse breaking open in Spider-Man: No Way Home, a Secret Wars film seems like more and more of a sure thing. Indeed, I’ve heard on several occasions-ranging from 2018 to just a few months ago-that an adaptation of Secret Wars is on the big board at Marvel Studios.
As both studios and creatives navigate these uncharted waters, it’s no surprise that one side or the other (or both) would have concerns about how to share the financial pie. There’s still not enough of a sample size to prove whether or not Disney’s Premier Access strategy, which they employed with Black Widow, can work; on the other hand, it’s hard to imagine large studios continuing to sit on films for years while waiting for the COVID pandemic to “end.” Given the Russos passion for Marvel Comics and their past successes with adapting comic book story lines, let’s all hope Disney can find a way to bring them back into the fold.
It’s been a tradition throughout the first three phases for everyone to include at least one Avengers film. The third phase broke that by expanding with a two-parter as Infinity War would truly find its inclusion in Endgame. This year, we’ve finally entered the franchise’s fourth phase, but there’s no assembly on the horizon.
While it seems impossible to top the previous entry, it seemed like they wouldn’t leave out the big culmination franchise from the equation. IN an interview with Collider, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige offered some insight into why we havenÄt gotten any announcement on a new Avengers film.
I think we want there to be a reasonable amount of time from the Endgame to start a new saga, which is already underway and already started. And then you need time, as you did in Phase 1, to build that saga before you start bringing everyone together.
It makes a lot of sense to take a break, as we’re in a reset for the franchise. Most of the big players that pushed it initially have left the franchise and we’re only really beginning to prepare a new generation of heroes. It’s unclear if we’ll even get a straight-forward Avengers film, or they might venture out with multiple teams. Perhaps it’s time to introduce the West Coast Avengers alongside the Young Avengers.
The clear focus for the fourth phase also seems to be on crossovers, as we see various characters joining others films. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness will include Wanda in a larger role. Thor: Love and Thunder will see our titular hero joined by Guardians in his latest adventure. Just recently, the new character of Riri Williams, who will get a Disney+ show later down the line, will make their premiere in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever first. So, we might even see an Avengers film until Phase 4 or even 5 if they continue to set up for the new saga.
The Infinity Saga saw the average box office of the MCU continue to grow even as Marvel Studios increased output from one film per year to three. They’ve maintained this quality and growth to this day with five additional streaming series on Disney+. This is a result of how this studio approaches its overall innovative process. Yet while these shows have attracted much of the cultural and critical appraisal this year, Marvel Studios collaborated on a massive project, which paves the way to a future frontier of engagement with fans that is, at the moment, unparalleled, the Avengers Campus.
Avengers Campus is an MCU-inspired theme park area created in collaboration between Marvel Studios and Disney Imagineering “that will grow and evolve as [the] cinematic universe grows and evolves” according to Kevin Feige at the opening ceremony. Less than a week after Avengers Campus’ opening alongside Loki’s premiere episode, there were already sightings of Loki Variant L1130 in his TVA arrest costume alongside some Hunters. This continued to progress as the show aired.
Although it doesn’t take place in the MCU itself, Feige noted that the “studio’s filmmakers, artists, costume designers, and production designers have worked in lock-step with the Imagineers and the Parks team to create” much of what visitors experience, suggesting there is a certain amount of coherence between the two types of storytelling worlds. The fact that Marvel Studios have devoted some of their resources normally used in their films and streaming series to an interactive area suggests that they are aware of interactivity and engagement as a key aspect of evolving with their fans.
Marvel Studios’ work on Avengers Campus recognizes their fans “yearning to stimulate the other four senses outside of the visual.” That is according to Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner, a transmedia production company he co-founded with Fabian Nicieza, where they have consulted on worldbuilding for the theme park area Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge as well as the films Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean. Gomez knows what he’s talking about in regards to the rise and fall cycle in thepublic consciousness of these story world franchises and suggests there is a “five-stage cycle” of how both projects are made and received.
It goes through stages of experiments, classics, refinements, reflexives, and deconstructions, where “if we get to stage five … it’s very hard to go back, which means we’re near the end” which is similar to comparisons to the decline of the Western film genre. When talking about where the MCU is in this cycle “if multiple actors show up as a Spider-Man,” referring to the Spider-Man: No Way Home rumors, as a “reflexive element” which Gomez suggests is nearer the latter end of that cycle. While he also refers to WandaVision having self-reflective elements, it’s clear that Wanda Maximoff’s appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be a narrative experiment, as subsequent film appearances from characters in Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki and What If…? will also be part of the same experiments.
Kevin Feige has repeatedly said that the Disney+ series “will tie directly to MCU feature films” and that Marvel Studios is learning as they go with Disney+ their experiments, meaning we can likely look forward to more classics and refinements in the TV-film narratives in the years ahead. All of this is to say, while it seems distant that Marvel Studios has interactivity as a key part of their narrative experiences, they’ve shown they are prepared to integrate new media formats into the main narrative, in order to keep their experiments fresh.
Given the standards, Marvel Studios always aims to improve and it opens up the question of what next media frontier they might explore next after entering streaming? The answer might well be in the clue of collaborating on the updating interactivity of Avengers Campus. Matthew Ball, a venture capital investor, notes that the amount of hours of engagement Fornite attractsprobably dwarfs that of the MCU (it would be a hard maths challenge to actually try and work out the monthly engagement hours of the MCU). In a 2019 earnings report, Netflix stated “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO” suggesting the competition for attention goes beyond the so-called streaming wars. Marvel Studios cannot afford to overlook this type of engagement.
It’s likely these kinds of things won’t happen until the art forms and the technologies have matured, just as Disney did not immediately dive into streaming. But what might the MCU crossing into the frontier of interactivity look like? Narrative space would have to be left for the films and streaming series, but I’ve thought of a couple of ways participants could interact with the MCU outside of those visual experiences.
Firstly, an in-MCU game of sorts could act as an Interactive Live Event (see #8 here) where participants don’t play as main characters but watch the computer generated heroes interact with their storyworld and vote upon their activities concurrently. This kind of integration would lend itself to the kind of behavior in interacting with video game streamers. Another route could take inspiration from The Marvels comic storyline, as players take on the roles of non-heroes amongst a graphical MCU New York, taking part in small activities at The Daily Bugle, Stark Enterprises, or Hellfire Trading Company.
They get to contribute to heroic missions and occasionally meeting our heroes, while witnessing what happens in the world above like Fortnite Events. The outcomes in both of these set-ups could lead to missions participants see play out, and also outcomes that appear in films and series which would allow fans to experience the MCU in an unprecedented way in contributing to the stories of our heroes.
There’s no guarantee that an interactive MCU integration would end up happening either of the ways mentioned above, just as Avengers Campus exists in a Marvel Theme Park Universe so could an online Marvel Gamerverse exist as part of the multiverse. Perhaps we could see existing franchises integrate into the overarching narrative in some way. Even before such a narrative integration could take place there would have to be a breakthrough in computing power, as well a storytelling maturity that is in its earliest stages as streaming competitors like Netflix just starting to move into gaming.
There is however a clear and constant fan desire to spend time in fictional storyworlds, and the excitement around the interactivity of Avengers Campus shows that a Marvel fan that spends many hours a week in a digital theme park contributing to the stories of their heroes is way more valuable to Marvel Studios than even the most regular rewatcher. This kind of evolution toward a Marvel Transmedia Multiverse seems at the start of a journey to that interactive horizon.
Marvel’s Avengers is building up to next week’s release of the War for Wakanda expansion. Black Panther will finally be playable and we’ll get a brand new story to play through alongside additional missions. We’ll get our first full look at the character in action during the game’s latest War Table video. To prepare us for the character’s release, we got various videos hinting at the backstory of T’Challa, the Dora Milaje, and Wakanda.
The latest offers more clues on Ulysses Klaue’s motivation and even reveals a sequence where T’Chaka fought alongside Captain America in the Second World War. We find out they fought against Ulysses Klaue’s father, whose legacy carries over into the DLC. This small detail serves more than just world-building, but might also have bigger implications for the game’s future than we might think. It may be our first hint at the introduction of HYDRA into the game’s universe.
"Klaue promised to finish what his father started."
Zawavari tells the tale of two sons driven by the fatal fates of their fathers. Watch Road to Wakanda: Fathers and Sons to prepare for the War for Wakanda Expansion on August 17. pic.twitter.com/UgyDNPCDqL
Klaue will introduce the game to a new enemy faction. While it seems he is acting in the name of AIM, it was never confirmed if his team of goons gets a unique name. I do not believe War for Wakanda will introduce HYDRA as the main faction, but I do think it’ll potentially give us the first seeds on their inclusion in the game’s future. Ever since the Cosmic Cube dropped, we’ve gotten more hints at familiar villains joining the franchise’s world. It might be possible the ending of this story arc is the beginning of their introduction.
Klaue utilized resources from an underground HYDRA, who’ve been building their army in silence. They’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to take action. He is chasing after vibranium for Monica, who vanished after the events of Cosmic Cube. So, he might need a new buyer and there’s someone on the market, who was waiting for the perfect opportunity. They did share a connection in the comics as well. It would be the perfect jumping-off point for their introduction into the game. The War Table will drop in a two-hour event hosted by Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and Ms. Marvel voice actress Sandra Saad on August 16h at 10 AM PT.
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