Since Bob Iger‘s return as Disney’s top dog, the House of Mouse’s major studios have been reflecting on the work they have been churning out. Chief among those is Marvel Studios, who after a string of projects that were critical and/or financial disappointments, has been mandated to slow down production and get back to the basics of what made the MCU the cultural phenomenon it was. The strikes served as a blessing in disguise in that regard, allowing Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios Parliament to rework several projects that were already in production and get ahead of the curve on others. As a result, it seems as though the end of the Multiverse Saga may ultimately be delayed a bit and while fans wait to find out when it will wrap up and what new projects will join those already known, a new rumor may help put that puzzle together.
According to Marvel Studios insider Daniel RPK, Disney has decided not to move forward with a trio of sequels, effectively killing three Marvel Studios franchises. The scooper reports that the studio has decided not to move forward with more projects in the Captain Marvel and Ant-Man franchises and has “shelved” a sequel to 2021’s Eternals. The moves come as Iger reportedly wants Marvel to put their energy into projects that are sure-fire hits and reduce the number of risky projects in the pipeline.
The Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, was a disappointment at the box office, falling well short of the big money its predecessor made in 2019. The target of a preemptive and hateful social media campaign that was successful in keeping fans out of theaters, the film has been fairly warmly received as it made its way to Disney Plus. The same can not be said, however, for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Plagued by rewrites, the film–which was supposed to be a major cornerstone of the Multiverse Saga–is the most critically panned MCU project. Neither of those projects were as risky as Eternals, which was also well-lambasted by critics. Word of development on a sequel to Eternals had been making its way around for some time but for now, it seems fairly unlikely to move forward.
Currently, projections are down for The Marvels given that the presales didn’t pick up much speed over the course of the last few weeks. It remains a surprise that Marvel Studios didn’t risk pushing the project back further given the current climate and uncertainty surrounding the SAG-AFTRA strike ending anytime soon and how important the main cast is to the film. Yet, it could also be that pushing it back again would’ve made the project even more expensive moving forward.
Initial local projections went from $60M down to $50M, though some even had it at a potential $70M – $80M. BoxOfficePro has also lowered expectations at a potential $45M to $65M opening weekend with a domestic total of $109M. That would put it on track where The Flash ended up and could mean that the film will definitely not make up its $250M production budget at the box office alone.
Is it superhero fatigue? At this point, it doesn’t really matter what it is as the box office in general is struggling. Five Nights at Freddy’s second weekend plummeted in the worst weekend we’ve seen in a long time after a big frontloading by fans. It had a strong forecast going by early presales which is why The Marvels is currently faltering as it seemed to not pick up any pace in the earlier weeks, but also hasn’t had a lot of output by Marvel Studios or Disney outside of a big final trailer push yesterday.
The strikes are definitely hurting this film as its main selling point was the trio cast at the forefront, which was a no-show during any of the film promotions. That means no showcase during talk shows, interviews, or anything else one would hope to promote their film with. Even the long-awaited prequel to The Hunger Games is looking at a soft $38M to $50M opening currently. Who knows if this fall is going to be just a depressing reflection of the summer box office?
Globally, the predictions stand at a $140M opening worldwide, which is on par with what The Flash had in the summer (taking into context an off-season release it hurts just a smidge less than one of the expected biggest blockbuster releases). The big questions in the room are the initial reactions to the film, which are expected to drop some time tonight, and the reviews. As mentioned previously: people are a bit more frugal with their money and after going all-in with Barbenheimer, viewers may be a bit more cautious going into the rest of the year as inflation and the cost of living crisis is a big factor in decision-making nowadays. Plus, if it releases on Disney+ in the coming months it hurts far less than spending upwards of $40 bucks to go to the movies.
It’s not an excuse and it will stand to reason that The Marvels could potentially end up as the worst box office opening for any MCU release so far. Even lower than Eternals which had to fight off COVID during its initial release, but also benefitted from far fewer releases in theaters. It all depends on those previews as if they open to around $6M on Thursday, the film could face a $40M opening weekend. It all depends on word-of-mouth and reviews ahead of time; something Marvel Studios hasn’t been dependent on in a long time.
A big point is that men in the age range of 18 to 34 are the key factor for most Marvel releases, but, oddly, expectations are purely on this demographic given the film’s very strong female leads. If the film hits the right cords with its core audience, women between 17 and 34 could make up for that fact as they are closer to what the film is aiming for going by its leads and core demographic. That may also be one of the reasons its unusual presales core audience isn’t really invested given the current (depressing) political climate. Perhaps showing a special trailer ahead of Taylor Swift’s films may turn out as a surprise push for the release. For now, we have to wait and see just a few more days until the numbers give us a clearer picture.
At the current rate, The Marvels‘ may be facing the lowest opening since The Eternals,w which opened to $71.2M during the pandemic. Of course, it’s not definite but the presales are currently tracing behind Black Adam and The Flash according to a new piece by Deadline. It’s the first MCU film truly affected by the strike, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was still able to promote with its cast before SAG went on strike as well. There’s also the hot debate regarding Marvel and superhero fatigue with the latter showing its fangs with other releases like Blue Beetle, Shazam: Fury of Gods, and The Flash.
Marvel normally pulls in viewership and has strong openings with bigger drops going into its second weekend. So, it’s unclear if it’ll pick up the pace going into its final week, especially with hopes that the SAG strike is wrapped this weekend and the cast can start promoting the film. Whether that’ll make a major change is a different point of discussion and remains surprising that Marvel Studios has yet to postpone the release.
Some are pointing to the “homework” aspect which is a hot debate online. It’s hard to believe that those expectations are set by non-online viewers given that we’re introduced to a variety of characters in films for the first time and not everyone watches every single MCU project faithfully.
Of course, there’s also the potential that current film visits are closer to a “wait and see” approach rather than going all-in with presales. While Five Nights at Freddy’s managed to pull in strong numbers, they were above the initial expectations due to strong word-of-mouth. The same could also go for the MCU’s latest entry. So, all eyes are going to be on those reviews which are also only going to drop shortly before the release. For now, we can only wait until the film releases with the first Thursday preview numbers and its Friday box office hinting at where the film will end.
The headlines surrounding The Marvels are surprisingly harsher than you’d expect from a tentpole summer release like The Flash. DC’s general struggle this summer has led to some mixed feelings on what the future has in store for the superhero genre yet other releases seem to hint that the genre isn’t fully out. At the same time, there are enough examples throughout the entire summer that blockbuster fatigue is a bigger issue looming over cinemas going into a strike-affected 2024.
The current projection for The Marvels have been a bit all over the place. Box Office Pro has a more subdued $50M with a high point of $70M. Its pre-sales trackings are quite a bit behind other Marvel tentpoles, especially 2023 releases. It also simply be a showcase that the frontloading era these films have enjoyed fizzled out early on, as even Elemental proves there are still some legs for Disney releases.
Projections by The Hollywood Reporter are a bit more positive with a potential high of $80M for the Marvel Studios release, which may be quite a bit behind the initial Captain Marvel with its $153.4M. Three female leads are a big selling point of the project, especially after the success of Barbie a few months back It also grew from its initial $70M prediction but word-of-mouth is going to be the deciding factor here. However, the fact that its leads can’t actually promote the film is likely a huge factor.
What also seems to be easily forgotten is that Captain Marvel enjoyed the build-up towards Avengers: Endgame and her potentially major role in that franchise “ender” as some claim it was. So, we might be seeing what the film originally might have opened to plus the name-change could also be a factor that people aren’t seeing it necessarily as a sequel even if trailers try to highlight that aspect (to be fair, barely any MCU entry acts like a true sequel but rather just an additional chapter for a specific character).
Is it the end of Marvel Studios? Who knows at this point, but they are still holding on better than DC is with a questionable reboot. What everyone believed was the “biggest flop” of the year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania turned out to be a high bar barely any major release would reach. Even after the summer blockbuster, the film remains the eight highest-grosser of the year domestically.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie were the exceptions rather than the rule this summer which saw major franchises like The Flash, Dungeons & Dragons, Shazam, Transformers, Indiana Jones, Blue Beetle, and even Mission Impossible fizzle out with huge post-COVID budgets. Exhibitors should be more scared that going to the movies is becoming a rarer occurrence and relying on two or three tentpoles per year is not going to keep the box office afloat long-term; even if some are hailing the end of superhero movies and its fatigue discussions.
It looks like Funko Pops for the next Marvel Cinematic Universe entry is slowly finding its way online. While we still have some time before The Marvels‘ releases in theaters this November, it looks like a sneak peek of what’s to come has surfaced online. To be fair, these don’t include anything majorly new that wasn’t already hinted at in the trailer, but it’s definitely interesting to get a bit more from the project.
As shared on Instagram by IG account funkochaseryeg, a new box set is unveiled that includes a Pop figure of Captain Marvel in her binary form. Not just that, but it also confirms that the kittens we saw in the trailer are indeed the children of Goose, who will definitely leave chaos in their wake; never double-cross a Flerken kitten. The box also includes Ms. Marvel and Photon Funkos.
Goose seems quite dominant as part of the merch push, but that’s not too surprising. The feline was a standout in the first Captain Marvel movie and has been highly anticipated to return to the franchise since he puked out the Cosmic Cube. It’ll be interesting to see how they will explore the storyline with the kittens and if perhaps Goose has a surprisingly more active role in the film moving forward.
Here’s a surprise, but it looks like Marvel Studios wasn’t lying about giving their projects more time to breathe. The Marvels has finally received its first poster as many theorized we’d see a trailer soon given its July 28th release. Yet, the poster reveals comes with one major addition: the film is delayed by quite a few months. It looks like The Marvels won’t release until November 10th
Higher. Further. Faster. Together.
Check out the brand-new teaser poster for Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, coming to theaters November 10. pic.twitter.com/zSlozSfQrz
It does seem like a smart move, as it spaces out their projects more evenly throughout the ear. While Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige always talked about having four films a year, their Disney+ ventures may have shifted that plan to a three-films-a-year cycle moving forward. It would give them some strong box office contenders, and stretch out the future phase while balancing it out with whatever series they have planned.
It should be noted that Disney isn’t keeping that July date open, as they have seemingly decided Haunted Mansion is ready for a summer release. That is quite bizarre given it’s commonly an October/Halloween-centered release for these types of films, but they may just believe it’ll offer the right amount of summer zaniness.
The new HAUNTED MANSION movie previously dated on 8/11/23 moves to MARVELS' 7/28/23 date. https://t.co/NcD5bUegyY
Marvel Studios is still set to make a splash at the box office and still remains a good seller for anyone wanting to follow along. We’ll expect a sizable drop in Quantumania‘s second weekend, as per usual but could also be a bit lower due to the box office not being as grandiose as last year. Interest in Kang the Conqueror will keep people interested and perhaps even if word-of-mouth isn’t hitting an A on the CinemaScore, it could boost future releases. Whatever it might be, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the releases of this year.
There’s been a lot of discussion on what exactly the name will be for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on Monica Rambeau. We were first introduced to her during WandaVision played by Teyonah Parris. Surprisingly, she even received her iconic powers during her mission to save the town of Westview from the hands of a grieving Wanda Maximoff. Yet, this only left us with questions on what it might mean for her future in the MCU, as she’ll have a major role in the upcoming The Marvels film.
In the comics, Monica Rambeau has gone by many different names as a hero. For some time she was Captain Marvel, but she was also better known as Spectrum for quite a long time. That name stuck for many years, but comic writer Eve L. Ewing got the chance to revisit the character in the comics in the comic Monica Rambeau: Photon. It surprised many that she seemingly went with another name and it seems there’s more to this than we at first expected.
As part of the Black Comic Lords Live!, Ewing revealed that she did not choose the name Photon. She reacted to a question in regards to her being called Spectrum in the MCU to which she highlighted that she “did not choose for her to be called Photon in this comic.” Indirectly, this confirms that the character will likely adopt that name in the film adaptation, which would also match their usual attempts to at least keep a synergy between the latest comics and cinematic releases.
Ewing does highlight that these divisions don’t usually coordinate but highlighting that she had no choice in the name pretty much gives away that this was something that was decided, especially as the decision on naming her Photon was very likely due to her upcoming appearance in The Marvels. We’re still a couple of months away, but perhaps we’ll officially hear her name spoken in the eventual trailer release for this film.
As the grand experiment that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe shifted from the Infinity Saga to the Multiverse Saga, familiar faces that audiences had grown to love stepped away and heroes, both old and new, stepped up to take their places. Sam Wilson picked up the shield and became Captain America; Kate Bishop met her hero and now shares the mantle of Hawkeye with Clint Barton; Jen Walters became a better Hulk; and Yelena Belova picked up the torch in memory of her fallen sister.
These new characters seek to continue the legacy of the characters with whom they share a moniker though they don’t always look to keep the course that was set by their predecessors. Most of these heroes look to do better–be better–than the imperfect heroes they followed into the role. Their relationships with the original heroes gave them perspective, allowing them to learn and grow from their successes and failures and ultimately choose their own direction. That’s the beauty of a well-done legacy arc, but what happens when the studio chooses to circumvent the process? Marvel Studios has made two such decisions and had decidedly mixed results. With another project on the horizon in which they may face a similar choice, reflecting on what worked well and what could (maybe should) have gone better might help the Parliament choose a bit more wisely when the time comes to choose the lead for their upcoming Nova project.
Ant-Man
After nearly a decade in development, Marvel Studios released Ant-Man in 2015 as the capstone to Phase 2 of the Infinity Saga. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish began developing the script in 2006 and Wright was scheduled to direct. When Wright left the project due to creative differences just ahead of filming in 2014, Peyton Reed came on board and along with Adam McKay rewrote bits of the script. According to Reed, the “spine” of Ant-Man was still based on Wright’s work which was an adaptation of Marvel Premiere #47’s “To Steal an Ant-Man” story. Published in 1979, “To Steal an Ant-Man” saw Scott Lang steal the Ant-Man suit from original Ant-Man and founding Avenger Hank Pym just like what happened in the movie, sort of.
Though Hank Pym was introduced in Wright’s script and Reed’s film, its protagonist is Scott Lang. Pym certainly has a history as the Ant-Man in the MCU, but it’s one only glimpsed in a few brief flashbacks and outside of inventing Pym Particles the character arguably only exists in name only. The same can be said for his wife, Janet, who was not only a founding member of the comic book Avengers like Hank but also a team leader at one point. Though her role grew in importance in Ant-Man and The Wasp and her time in the Quantum Realm will play a major role in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Janet, like Hank, is Janet in name only.
Wright’s development on the film began in 2006, a full year before Marvel Studios hired Zak Penn to write the script for TheAvengers. In 2010, Joss Whedon signed on to direct and rewrote many iterations of the script, including one that included The Wasp as a key member of the team before removing her in favor of Black Widow. It’s unclear exactly how the slow development of Wright’s film may or may not have impacted the script of The Avengers, but what is clear is that Ant-Man didn’t release until 2015, and by that time a second Avengers film, Age of Ultron, had been released as well. So what did the decision to focus on comic book legacy character Scott Lang as the MCU’s Ant-Man ultimately cost Hank Pym?
Skipping over Hank and Janet in favor of Scott and Hope cost the MCU’s adaptation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes two of its founding members. Additionally, the fact that the long-gestating Ant-Man wasn’t released before Avengers: Age of Ultron meant that Whedon had to replace Pym as the creator of Ultron, the villainous AI created by Hank Pym in the comics. Hank and Janet still got to exist, albeit not in their prime, but the opportunity exists for the adventures of their younger days to be told should Marvel Studios choose.
Despite all that, Marvel Studios seemingly struck gold with the decision to focus on a legacy character rather than the original. The casting of PaulRudd as Lang certainly played a large role in that and the large role Lang was able to play because of Rudd’s overwhelming likability has made the character an MCU fixture. Though Marvel skipped over telling the stories of Hank and Pym, the character of Ant-Man has become so integral that the third film in the franchise features the main villain of the Multiverse Saga.
Captain Marvel
In 2013, Marvel Studios began developing a Captain Marvel project and a year later, revealed it would become the studio’s first female-led film. The script, which initially took inspiration from Roy Thomas‘ classic Kree-Skrull War comics, passed through multiple writers before Geneva Robertson-Dworet, along with co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck finalized it. By that time, the Kree-Skrull War had gone from inspiration to the “backdrop and mythological underpinning” of the film, according to producer Jonathan Schwartz, and Kelly Sue DeConnick‘s 2012 Captain Marvel run became a major source of inspiration for the film.
In 2019, Marvel Studios skipped over five (sorry Skrull imposter, you don’t count) Captains Marvel to introduce Carol Danvers as the hero in Captain Marvel. The first of those Captains was Marvel’s first true Cosmic hero, the Kree warrior Mar-Vell who, over the years, developed a relationship with Carol. In 2012, DeConnick explained that her series would find Carol contemplating the legend of Captain Marvel and what it meant to her before choosing to take the name Captain Marvel in honor of the hero. Between Mar-Vell and Carol, Monica Rambeau, Mar-Vell’s children, Genis and Phyla and Noh-Varr all went by the name Captain Marvel. A character named Mar-Vell, who shared no similarities with the comic book hero, played by Annette Bening, appeared in Captain Marvel and briefly interacted with Carol Danvers.
Captain Marvel majorly overhauled the origin story of Carol Danvers but ultimately the character came outof the oven as a pretty good copy of her comic book counterpart. However, in the rush to establish Carol Danvers as a major player in the MCU, Marvel Studios completely ignored the vaunted history of Mar-Vell and in doing so may have set themselves up for a cascade of alterations to other characters and stories in the future. While there are plenty of strange concepts that are part of Mar-Vell’s comic book history that would be better served being left in the books, the character was inarguably one of Marvel’s greatest Cosmic heroes. At one time, Mar-Vell served Eon as the Protector of the Universe and his ongoing participation in the Kree-Skrull War, which was greatly diminished for the MCU, had consequences that extended beyond his death. So what did the decision to focus on comic book legacy character Carol Danvers as the MCU’s Captain Marvel ultimately cost Mar-Vell and the other Captains Marvel?
At the moment, it would seem the greatest cost to Mar-Vell would ironically be legacy. Mar-Vell died years ago in the comics, but his legend has lived on and his legacy carried by his children. Without greatly retconning Bening’s Mar-Vell, it’s hard to imagine that Dorek-Vell/Hulking/Teddy Altman, Phyla-Vell/Quasar and Genis-Vell will be her children. While they’re all incredibly important characters, Teddy’s hidden heritage as the son of the great Kree hero Mar-Vell and Princess Anelle of the Skrull Empire is one of the great twists in Marvel Comics’ history and a major part of the character’s ongoing arc. Teddy, under the name Dorrek-Vell, now rules over the combined Kree-Skrull Empires after having put an end to eons of war. With the Young Avengers just around the corner in the MCU, it would seem this entire fascinating arc couldn’t be done without undoing quite a bit first.
Carol Danvers is a major player in the pages of Marvel Comics and absolutely deserves to be one in the MCU. Marvel Studios landed a huge star in Brie Larson for the role and it’s expected that she’ll be at the forefront of the action as the Multiverse Saga continues to unfold beginning in The Marvels. That film features Monica Rambeau, who was the second Captain Marvel in the comics, and Kamala Khan who was a legacy character to a legacy character in the comics, taking the name Ms. Marvel to honor her idol Carol. The rush to get Carol in the MCU spotlight also greatly changed the Kamala and Carol dynamic (Carol has never been Ms. Marvel in the MCU) and Kamala’s status as Carol’s biggest fan feels forced given there’s really no reason anyone on Earth would know much about Carol much less everything. To date, other than flying through a ship, Carol’s Captain Marvel has not taken her rightful place as a top tier MCU character, calling into question if the overall ongoing narrative may have been better served by introducing Mar-Vell, focusing more on the Kree-Skrull War and allowing Carol to come into her own over the course of a few years, much in the way they have finally worked Peter Parker into a place where he can be a more comic accurate Spider-Man.
A Man Called Nova…But Which Man?
Though every industry insider has different insight into how the character will enter the MCU, Nova is entering the MCU sometime in the near-ish future. Sabir Pirzada, who worked on Moon Knight, began work on a Nova project early in 2022 and at one point insider KC Walsh shared that production on that project was set for 2023. Whether production on the movie/series/special presentation starts in 2023 or 2024 or not, Marvel Studios has already made a decision that will greatly alter how the project is perceived…we just don’t know what they chose.
With Mar-Vell out of the spotlight, Richard Rider became Marvel Comics greatest Cosmic hero over an amazing multi-year run beginning in 2007. Rider grew from a teen who randomly found himself the recipient of a Nova Corps helmet that gave him incredible powers and bopped around with the New Warriors into a man whose body contained the entirety of the Nova Force, rebuilt the Nova Corps following the destruction of Xandar, led the defeats of Annihilus and Ultron and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the entire galaxy. Rider is a fascinatingly complex character who has developed tremendously over the years and could easily be the face of MCU’s Cosmic corner for a decade.
Introduced in 2011, Sam Alexander is a legacy character in more ways than one. The son of a secret black ops arm of the Nova Corps, Sam became the second Marvel Comics character to go by the title of Nova. Sam grew up with no notion that his missing father was a Nova but with the help of Rocket and Gamora discovered his father’s helmet and begin learning how to master its incredible powers. Sam quickly found himself in some incredible situations, saved the entire Nova Corps and joined the group of young heroes called the Champions. Alexander is still portrayed as arrogant and immature, is essentially about where Rider was as a character during his days as a New Warrior and at this point would seem to fit the MCU better as part of a team of young heroes.
Though it hasn’t been revealed to the public, Marvel Studios has already determined which of these heroes will be introduced to the audience as Nova. Whether Rider or Alexandar is the star of Pirzada’s script, the writer would have some cleaning up to do thanks to James Gunn. Gunn introduced the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy, though they were reduced to mall cops with shiny helmets who held onto the Power Stone until Marvel Studios figure out what they wanted to do with it. There was no mention of the Worldmind of the Nova Force in the movie, two integral components of the Corps in the comics, and they have never been seen nor referenced again. It’s possible Pirzada‘s job was made somewhat easier when the writers of Avengers: Infinity War allowed Thanos to retrieve the Power Stone from them off screen. In a rare case of Marvel writers lobbing a softball to their successor, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have given Pirzada the chance to start from scratch to some extent. Xandar has been decimated more than once in the comics, including by the Annihilation Wave, and been rebuilt from the ashes into something new, an idea that may be central to Pirzada’s Nova project.
If part of the Nova project’s plot focuses on rebuilding Xandar, that’s certainly a job for a more mature, veteran Nova, much like Richard Rider was when he took on the task in the comics. However, Richard Rider hasn’t existed in the MCU just yet, much less become a hardened Nova vet. Then, of course, there’s the issue of addressing the powers given to members of the Nova Corps by the Nova Force, which also doesn’t exist in the MCU. Rider first got his powers when a dying Rhomann Dey (played in the MCU by John C. Reilly) handed off his helmet following the destruction of Xandar. As stated previously, Alexander first got his powers after finding his father’s helmet. While the Dey-Rider handoff could happen, there would have to be some retconning done to explain any powers that come with the helmet. Fortunately, the Nova Corps had possession of the Power Stone for quite some time and any number of experiments could have been done to power up the Corps. Of course, if that had been the case, one would think they’d have done a little better job of stopping Thanos, but Pirzada can only work with what he’s handed. Alexander’s story is a little more difficult to retcon. Even if the Nova project were set in 2026 and his father, Jesse, was a victim of the Snap, Alexander would have to have been born between 2008-2011 or so to be old enough to be a high schooler. As far as MCU lore is concerned, there were no powered Nova’s then, much less a super-powered black ops team. Gunn has left quite a mess to be sorted out.
Major mess aside, the choice Marvel has already made but not shared in terms of which character MCU audiences will come to know as Nova most likely came down to how they plan to use the character. If they want a great Cosmic hero, the choice should be Rider; if they want a teen to team up with other teens, the choice should still be Rider, who was introduced as a teen in 1976, but would probably be Alexander. In skipping over Rider and going straight to Alexander, Marvel Studios runs the risk of not only angering comic book fans (even though it’s only 2% of MCU audiences, including me) but also finding the character written into more corners in the future as they have with Hank, Janet and Mar-Vell. Alternatively, they could follow what’s been a much more successful approach to legacy characters by establishing Rider, allowing him to become a great Cosmic hero, shift to him mentoring Alexander and then having Alexander assume the mantle later.
Truthfully, there’s no logical reason for Marvel to have chosen Alexander over Rider, though the lack of logic won’t have prevented them from doing so. Alexander’s Nova hasn’t sold more comics or been more popular and most MCU fans probably don’t have any idea who either of these characters are, much less favor one over the other. Rider’s story as the champion of Xandar and then the galaxy has already been written and would be incredibly easy to adapt to the MCU. Establishing him as a core hero for a few years and then pairing him with Alexander would ultimately make for two strong characters rather than one as their bond would deepen and enrich both of their MCU narratives. Should Marvel Studios chose to follow the example from the comics and have Rider sacrifice himself to save the galaxy, audiences would be heartbroken and Alexander would find himself in an emotional space ripe for telling compelling stories. Such a choice would allow the legacy character to become a legacy character and allow the legacy character to earn the legacy right in front of the audiences’ eyes. If it’s good enough for Hawkeye, it’s good enough for Nova!
As we all wait to find out together which route Marvel Studios has chosen for Nova, which route would you prefer? We would love to hear your thoughts!
Reshoots have become a common occurrence for any Marvel Cinematic Universe project. So, it’s no surprise that the cast and crew of The Marvels have returned to give the production another go. Nick Fury actor Samuel L. Jackson has revealed that he has begun working on reshoots for the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel in a recent Instagram post. However, Jackson does not offer any details on the reshoots.
As previously mentioned, it is pretty common for Marvel projects to enter some form of additional photography. The purpose of these reshoots is usually to assist the production team by adding elements that either could not get filmed due to scheduling conflicts, or that would help to streamline the project. The majority of modern blockbusters are screen tested, allowing the teams to get a sense for how audiences react, which they use to tweak the film.
The Marvels is an interesting type of sequel, as it technically continues what was set up in Captain Marvel back in 2019, while also incorporating two characters that were introduced in Disney+ shows. Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani are set to make their MCU silver-screen debut as Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan respectively in the film.
So, it is going to be quite the challenge to bring these projects together while still keeping the story focused on whatever threat they are going to face. But with recent rumors suggesting the film will partially be a musical, fans can expect a wild ride when The Marvels hits theaters on July 28, 2023.
Ms. Marvel just recently came to an end and wrapped up the Disney+ series on a high note. What started off with some of the most memorable entries for Marvel Studios’ venture into long-form storytelling, introducing the world to one of its most culturally relevant. We even get a fun version of Kamala Khan’s time admiring Captain Marvel and see her cosplaying as the hero during Avenger Con.
Now, artist Karla Ortiz took to her Twitter page to share a new look at some alternative Captain Marvel cosplays that Kamala would’ve worn. Considering Brie Larson‘s hero wore a surprising amount of costumes throughout, it does seem like they played around with which color tone they’d might take with the character.
Here’s hoping we get some more concept art that teases how the original plan was for the series to develop. You never know what may have changed from the conceptual time mapping out the project to bring it to life. Ms. Marvel was also affected by COVID which likely led to quite a few changes happening as they mapped out their scripts but adapted to whatever was possible.
It’s still crazy to think that our first look at Ms. Marvel was during 2020’s Disney Investors Day before we even saw a single thing from Hawkeye. They likely had to adapt some aspects of the project and were adjusting to whatever the pandemic had heading their way. So, who knows just how much it may have changed, which is always an exciting prospect as well.
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2 years after last activity
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Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
