Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Fantastic Four

  • ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Writer Reveals a Surprising Inspiration for the Illuminati

    ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Writer Reveals a Surprising Inspiration for the Illuminati

    *SPOILER WARNING*

    By now, it’s pretty widely known that the Illuminati appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The superhero team were teased in the final trailers for the film, but the exact part they played in the plot remained a mystery until the full movie hit theaters. When the group was ultimately introduced on screen, audiences were ecstatic. They seemed mighty, confident, and unbeatable. Patrick Stewart made a triumphant return as Charles Xavier; John Krasinski surprised everyone with his debut as Reed Richards; and Anson Mount was finally able to bring Black Bolt to the big screen. Then, after only a few moments of glorious screen time, every single one of them died.

    Screenwriter Michael Waldron recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss some of his choices while developing Multiverse of Madness, and the Illuminati were among the central topics. He revealed the inspiration behind the team’s role in the film, and how their scenes played out, came from another famous sequel released in 1986:

    I was watching Aliens a lot as I was writing. Because just tonally this movie is a thriller and a [feature-length] chase. I just love how Aliens goes to great lengths to tell you how badass the space Marines are – and then they just get slaughtered. Then you are really scared of the Xenomorphs for the rest of that movie, and that’s what I wanted to accomplish with Wanda. At the end of the Illuminati sequence, I hope you were truly terrified of the Scarlet Witch. It’s been awesome being in the theater hearing the cheers, then the gasps and the groans. [Laughs] I mean, you know, people were feeling something at the movies. That’s good!

    Michael Waldron

    The tactic was definitely successful, with Wanda’s single-handed killing of Earth-838’s Mightiest Heroes instantly solidifying her as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest threats. Head to the theater now and relive one of the most talked-about moments in Marvel movie history, and bring a friend to see if Waldron‘s writing strategy works just as well on them.

    Source: Rolling Stone

  • Solve Everything: Analyzing John Krasinski’s Future as the MCU’s 616 Reed Richards

    Solve Everything: Analyzing John Krasinski’s Future as the MCU’s 616 Reed Richards

    One of the biggest surprises coming out of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the inclusion of John Krasinski portraying Reed Richards in the Illuminati. Having been one of the most popular fancasts for a number of years, Marvel Studios’ latest theatrical release gave audiences a brief tease of him and his flexible action. Naturally, the next question worth asking would be ‘Is Krasinski now set to portray Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four film?’

    The Case For It

    The most obvious case for Krasinski to be portraying Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four film is that we’ve now officially seen him play the role in a Marvel Studios-produced film. As opposed to before the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the idea of Krasinski playing the role is no longer simply a hypothetical based on online speculation. A factor that would lean towards this being more than a one-off cameo is Kevin Feige and company not leaning towards using an actor from a previous Marvel project in the role like the rest of the Illuminati members. Assuming one of them would’ve been available, it’s logical to think Marvel Studios would’ve made the call to one of the previous actors that portrayed Mister Fantastic in Miles Teller or especially Ioan Gruffudd. 

    As well, it certainly isn’t unprecedented for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to use a different film as a backdoor introduction for a future lead character. This method dates all the way back to the introduction of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow during the events of Iron Man 2 and was used to introduce some of the most popular characters in the MCU with Spider-Man and Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War. Having that be the way Reed Richards was officially introduced wouldn’t be completely out of the ordinary. And with that, using a multiversal Variant to introduce audiences to the character would be an interesting subversion of this MCU trope. It’d let Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness serve as an introduction point for Mister Fantastic while letting whatever creative direction for the character is being planned remain unfettered by his portrayal in the May 2022 blockbuster. Hypothetically speaking, you could easily reintroduce Krasinski in any upcoming film as a normal Reed Richards and that would alert fans to the imminent arrival of the Marvel Studios’ take on the First Family.

    And of course, the recent news about the end of the Krasinski-led Jack Ryan series after this upcoming season of production has further expedited conversations on if the actor will be playing Reed Richards. It’s definitely worth having the conversation with Krasinski in theory having what was previously a major part of his schedule cleared up.

    The Case Against It

    And yet, it can’t be said with 100% certainty that John Krasinski will have the time in his calendar to make a long-term commitment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Immediately production wraps on Jack Ryan’s fourth season, Krasinski will begin work on Imaginary Friends for Paramount Pictures. This is a film that he wrote, is directing, and will be co-starring in alongside Ryan Reynolds and Steve Carell (meaning a lot of his energy will be focused on this project). And following that, there remains A Quiet Place – Part III which would seemingly enter production not too far after Krasinki wraps on his previous film. While his involvement or role in the third film of this franchise isn’t announced, one would think that he would have at least some significant role in the production based on his large involvement in the previous two entries (alongside being the one to officially announce the film at CinemaCon this year). With rumors circulating of a potential 2023 production start date, this could certainly cause major scheduling issues for a potential involvement in the Fantastic Four film.

    Additionally, the argument can be made that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would’ve provided John Krasinski some slightly more substantial material while part of The Illuminati if the had future plans for him. If he was going to portray Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four film, one would think Marvel Studios and the team behind the film would give a more concrete characterization of Reed Richards in the film for audiences to latch onto beyond passing references to his lore. And while the argument of why him NOT being a previously used actor in a Marvel project makes him stand out from the rest of the Illuminati, him solely portraying the character in a one-off nod to the online community is certainly well within the realm of possibility as the rest of the team don’t seem like locks to return in meaningful roles anytime soon. On that subject, there’s not much merit in the idea that it’s a cut and dry case that John Krasinski is playing Reed Richards solely because he was used as a multiversal Variant. The same logic can be applied to Patrick Stewart’s role as a fellow Illuminati member. Is that supposed to serve as an indicator that he will be the main universe portrayal of Charles Xavier in the MCU? Absolutely not. The first season of Loki clearly established the idea that there can be different faces for different Variants.

    The Verdict

    While it may not be the most exciting answer, it’s too soon to make a declarative answer on whether or not John Krasinski is playing Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four film. And it will continue to be the case until we get some more conclusive evidence on what the actor-director’s schedule will look like in the future (namely how involved he is with the third installment of the Quiet Place franchise). If I had to make a personal guess, I truly think we’ve met the main MCU version of Reed Richards with John Krasinski. At the end of the day, deals can be made and scheduling conflicts can be resolved, especially when it comes to being involved in what is bound to become one of Marvel Studios’ flagship franchises. As well, it’s never really been the nature of Marvel Studios to do this type of one-off cameo for an actor/character solely predicated from online discourse. Ultimately though, it now remains a waiting game to hopefully get an official announcement at an event such as San Diego Comic Con 2022 for further news about the direction being take with the Fantastic Four.

  • Directors That Could Take on Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    Directors That Could Take on Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’

    For those living under a tardigrade fold in the Quantum Realm, a new help wanted sign has been posted at Marvel Studios. Jon Watts, who successfully helmed the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, is departing the Fantastic Four reboot. The project was announced by Kevin Feige at SDCC 2019 and Watts had been attached to lead the project since Disney’s December 2020 Investor Day; however, Marvel Studios will now have to explore new options and we have some ideas for who could sit in the directors chair.

    Bryce Dallas Howard

    Howard is still new to the directing game, having only directed a handful of shorts, music videos, and episodes, but she’s quickly proved that she has what it takes to helm an ambitious project such as The Fantastic Four. Her episodes of The Mandalorian and episode of The Book of Boba Fett were among the best of each of those highly-scrutinized series, causing fans to rally for her to be given the reigns to a Star Wars feature film. While she may still be waiting in line for one of those as Lucasfilm keeps its focus on streaming series, this could be a golden opportunity for both Howard and Marvel Studios.

    Brad Bird

    Its hard to deny that The Incredibles are incredibly (pun somewhat intended) similar to the Fantastic Four, sporting very similar power sets but with an entirely different dynamic. The understanding of that dynamic is what could make Bird such a good pick for The Fantastic Four. Nailing their family dynamic is key to the project’s success. Bird has done that. If he can work with Marvel Studios to understand the core values of these characters, he can get creative within those parameters and put together the first good FF film.

    Sam Raimi

    The man behind Spider-Man 2, arguably one of the best comic book films of all time, has made his return to marvel with the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. Raimi has made it clear that after a LONG break from the superhero genre, he’d be willing return to collaborate with Marvel Studios. The Fantastic Four could be a great route for him. Raimi has similar qualities to that of Brad Bird, where he looks to find relatability in these characters like what he did with Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four is a chance to do that with a whole new dynamic.

    John Krasinski

    Before the reboot was even announced, fans had already made up their mind as to who they wanted to see play Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: John Kransinski. What if he directed the project instead? The former star of The Office has made his move into directing these past few years with the Quiet Place films and has shown an understanding of the craft. Kransinski could be a great choice to sit in the director’s chair for this one, and who knows, he could even be the first star to also direct an MCU film.

    The Daniels

    One of the most important things that the next Fantastic Four film must do is set itself apart from the past live-action iterations of the team. The Daniels could be the chance to make something really special here. Following the release of Everything Everywhere All At Once, all eyes are on the duo to see what they tackle next. The Fantastic Four could be a great project for them. The two were recently in talks to direct Season One of Loki, but opted out in order to develop their most recent release. The Daniels could spark life in the project, offering a creative new spin on the team and dive into that weird side of the Fantastic Four that we previously suggested should be the avenue Marvel takes with the team.

  • BREAKING: Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’ Without a Director Following Jon Watts’ Exit

    BREAKING: Marvel Studios ‘Fantastic Four’ Without a Director Following Jon Watts’ Exit

    Here’s a surprise to many, but after being announced as the director for Fantastic Four in 2019, it seems that Jon Watts has pulled out of the project. This is quite the surprising move considering he just cemented his standing with Marvel Studios after his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home. It seems that the reasoning is that the director wants to take a break after completing the trilogy and it wasn’t intended to be his next film.

    The director has been quite busy, as he’s been busy with production, directing, and promoting the Spider-Man films since he finished work on his 2015 Cop Car. So, he wants to take a break and all parties have confirmed the exit is amicable. Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige shared the following statement:

    Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure. We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.

    Kevin Feige

    Watts has shared the following statement on the exit:

    Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life changing experience for me. I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for seven years. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again and I can’t wait to see the amazing vision for Fantastic Four brought to life.

    Jon Watts

    It’s great to see Marvel Studios give the director time to focus on himself and take a step back. Not only that, but it opens up new opportunities for them to find a new voice to join the MCU, especially with the strong sci-fi direction this project might take. There’s a lot of potential with many talented directors that might be perfect for the film.

    Source: Deadline

  • How ‘Doom Patrol’ Could Serve as a Template for Marvel Studios Future Plans

    How ‘Doom Patrol’ Could Serve as a Template for Marvel Studios Future Plans

    When Disney purchased 21st Century Fox in 2019, Marvel Studios gained access to the live-action rights of a treasure trove of Marvel Comics characters. The X-Men. The Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom. Galactus. The Silver Surfer. Annihilus. The list goes on…and it really goes on. However, 3 years after the deal was sealed, we’ve only seen a Variant of Kang the Conqueror and some Skrulls, which were already kinda-sorta useable anyway, while Marvel Studios carefully constructs their plans for the mutants and The First Family.

    To date, very little is known about said plans. At SDCC ’19, Kevin Feige announced that a Fantastic Four film was on the way and teased the arrival of the mutants. Since then, however, other than announcing that the new FF film would be helmed Jon Watts, whose recently completed Spider-Man trilogy integrated the Sony-owned Webslinger into the MCU, there has been no official news. Word did come that Marvel Studios was seeking pitches on The Mutants and minor tidbits have surfaced here and there about the Fantastic Four, but nearly 3 years later fans are still in the dark. And that’s ok. It’s ok because, as Feige well knows, Marvel Studios has to proceed carefully with both properties because, simply put, they have to get it right.

    As with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and X-Men have had previous and relatively recent films. In the case of the FF, the most recent attempt to bring the characters to resulted in one of the most despised superhero films of all times; in the case of The X-Men, Fox’s love affair with Wolverine and inattention to continuity left some of the best characters on the bench, some others poorly adapted and fans feeling fairly frustrated with the end result. As Marvel Studios attempts to reboot these properties, fans are going to carry their experiences with these previous iterations with them into the new projects. In a way, that means Feige and the Parliament are starting in a hole they didn’t dig, but if they don’t get it right out of the gate with these projects, they’ll bury what should be two different properties that could each generate a decade’s worth of stories.

    Fantastic Four Star Blames Fox for 'Goofy' Doctor Doom: 'It's a Shame'

    As mentioned previously, fans will be be wary of these MCU reboots as they carry the trauma of the previous versions with them into theaters. If the MCU versions of these properties start to follow familiar arcs or feel similar to what Fox did, fans will find themselves triggered and the aforementioned decade of projects will be DOA. In this case, doing it right almost certainly means they need to do it very differently to separate the MCU versions from the Fox versions as much as possible. That’s no easy task, given that both the Fantastic Four and The X-Men franchises have each been “rebooted” once already, however, Feige and The Parliament could find some inspiration in an already established property that has been incredibly successful: Doom Patrol.

    The three properties are a great example divergent evolution in comics, so while their modern day iterations don’t seem to be incredibly similar, Doom Patrol, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are fairly inexorably entangled and have been for nearly 50 years. The group of metahuman misfits that came to be known as Doom Patrol first appeared as The Legion of the Strange in the pages of 1963’s My Greatest Adventure #80. Just 3 months later, The X-Men #1 introduced comic readers to the world of mutants whose strange powers kept them from being accepted by society. If the similarities of a team of weirdos being led by a wheelchair-bound doctor/professor hadn’t ever occurred to you, they certainly did to Doom Patrol creator Arnold Drake, who once stated his belief that his plans for the team somehow made their way to X-Men creator Stan Lee, allowing him to launch his book shortly after the Doom Patrol first appeared. While Drake’s stance on “insider trading” softened over time, the reality is that other than some superficial similarities, the books didn’t truly have much in common. The X-Men dealt with themes of social injustice while Doom Patrol found themselves caught up in the incredibly strange types of adventures that fans of the HBO Max streaming series have come to know and love. And in that regard, it’s another group of Marvel heroes that have much more in common with Doom Patrol than the X-Men really ever did.

    As Marvel Studios prepares to bring the First Family to the MCU, they could certainly take a few cues from the way that DC has brought Doom Patrol into live-action. Most importantly, Jon Watts and the creatives behind the project should embrace the strangeness that really defined the early days of The Fantastic Four and has made Doom Patrol a streaming hit. The Fantastic Four has been drastically redefined over the years, but their roots grew through stories about Mole Man and Monster Isle, Skrulls being turned into cows, traveling through time and having Ben Grimm be mistaken for Blackbeard, meeting the Impossible Man and many more ludicrous adventures that often take a back seat to Doctor Doom.

    In order for Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four to be successful, it has to be different from its predecessors. Embracing the weirdness of the Puppet Master, The Red Ghost and His Indescribable Super Apes, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android ensures that nobody will mistake this iteration for one of Fox’s attempts. Doom Patrol has provided a template for doing so successfully, not just because of the weirdness, but because the series has captured something that is also central to the story of the Fantastic Four: a family.

    Sure, Doom Patrol isn’t a family in the same sense that the FF are, but they share a sense of tragedy and loss and loneliness that unites them. Over the course of several seasons, the characters of Doom Patrol have come to know, care for and rely on one another as a result of their crazy adventures and this idea is, at its core, what Marvel Studios could-maybe even should-do with their Fantastic Four. A family of explorers going on the type of weird adventures not previously seen in the MCU, but in the DCEU.

  • Deep Thoughts: Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2024 Release Calendar, V1

    Deep Thoughts: Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2024 Release Calendar, V1

    With so much uncertainty remaining about exactly when which projects will stream in 2022, and only some known quantities for 2023, it would be crazy to start thinking about 2024. Without further delay, here’s a look at what Marvel Studios’ 2024 release slate COULD be.

    Marvel Studios has not acknowledged the existence of this Hulk project; however, KC Walsh broke the news publicly in October of 2021, supporting information shared with Murphy’s Multiverse 3 months prior. While it seems like a safe bet to be the first 2024 film, given Walsh’s info that it will film in late-2022, all that can be done now is to make a wild prediction that it’ll land here.

    As discussed at length here, Charlie Cox is going to be included in a lot of Marvel Studios projects over the next several years. It’s been great for Cox to take off the gloves lately and start discussing his future more and more and, as recent reports have indicated, a Daredevil solo project is among those. At the moment, it looks like that one could go into production as soon as late 2022 or early 2023, but with an already packed 2023, it’s reasonable to expect Daredevil hits Disney Plus in 2024.

    The news that Shawn Levy had signed on to take the wheel for Deadpool 3 and the lack of news about other theatrical projects put this one firmly on the board for 2024. Fans are rightly curious about exactly what to expect from this film, but with the writers from the first two films getting a pass at the script, a steady flow of dick jokes is probably on the menu.

    While the title of this series is up in the air, from a simple Okoye to a more indicative Midnight Angels, it’s expected that it will spin directly out of the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and possibly focus on not only Okoye but also a group of elite Dora Milaje warriors on a VERY special mission. Ryan Coogler has created expansive mythology connected to Wakanda and this series should explore more of that while setting up the future of the franchise.

    At one point, this film was on the docket to film in 2021. Recently, Murphy’s Multiverse was informed that production was officially postponed until 2023, putting it among the top contenders for a 2024 release. Thematically, Cap 4 could tie into a number of Marvel Studios projects, including Armor Wars and the Okoye-centric series. Could this be the beginning of a New Avengers team in the MCU?

    2024 is the 60th anniversary of Wanda’s first appearance, so what better time for her first solo project to debut? Recent rumors of a solo project The Scarlet Witch seem to be supported by multiple sources and word of a 2023 start of production has reached our ears. A Fall release would align the series with the Autumnal Equinox, one of several major celebrations for Wiccans. Let’s put it here for now.

    A late-2023 start of production for this one falls in line with more than a decade’s worth of data that indicates Marvel Studios likes to give creatives a 2-year window from green light to film. Destin Daniel Cretton, who helmed Marvel Studios’ best origin story since Black Panther, is back for the sequel and should benefit from Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi dropping in here and there in between films.

    Discussed a couple of times in the most recent 2023 hypothetical calendar, the ability for Marvel to synergistically link theatrical releases to streaming series is a powerful marketing tool. With that tool in the toolbox, a beautiful bridge could be built from Shang-Chi 2 to a Xialing-centric The Ten Rings series. Could the two projects blow open the door for some other hidden cities to enter the MCU?

    Note: The latest version of our hypothetical 2023 calendar can be found right here.

  • Alex Ross to Write and Illustrate ‘Fantastic Four: Full Circle’ Graphic Novel

    Alex Ross to Write and Illustrate ‘Fantastic Four: Full Circle’ Graphic Novel

    It looks like Alex Ross has set his eyes on a new project, as the creator will tackle his first graphic novel, Fantastic Four: Full Circle. It’ll release on August 2nd, 2022, and is the first part of a new MarvelArts collaboration between Marvel and Abrams ComicArts. In an exclusive by Comic Book, it’s also highlighted that it’ll be larger than the usual graphic novel size to showcase his artwork inspired by Marvel Graphic Novel’s 1980s format.

    The story will also include their origin in a color-painted foldout poster. Charles Kochman, who was his longtime editor and now work was editorial director for ComicArts. He’s working on the project alongside Tom Brevoort, Marvel VP of Publishing. Ross shared his excitement for the project with ComicBook.com:

    This is the Fantastic Four story I have been wanting to tell for years, and visually it is one of the greatest artistic experiments I have attempted. I’m excited to share this work with everyone, as it unites the two great publishing forces of Marvel and Abrams ComicArts in a bold new collaboration.

    Alex Ross

    He’s also taken to Twitter to share a first look at the new series and a tease of the amazing artwork that’ll bring this project to life.

    The highlight of this project is that not only is Ross bringing the full project to life, as he’s writing and illustrating it, but it’s the first time Marvel has licensed a graphic novel from another publisher in 40 years. The best part is that it’s just the beginning of many collaborations moving forward.

    Source: Comic Book, Twitter

  • REPORT: Marvel Studios’ ‘Nova’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ Eyeing 2023 Production Start

    REPORT: Marvel Studios’ ‘Nova’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ Eyeing 2023 Production Start

    Marvel Studios just had quite the shuffle today, as they reorganized their 2022+ schedule. As the pandemic has slowly loosened its grip on the box office, it made sense that they would try to readjust the films to better fit the usual release schedule. Sadly, it also pushed quite a few films back, such as Doctor Strange’s sequel now premiering in May instead of March. Interestingly, Geeks WorldWide’s KC Walsh shared another interesting detail regarding Fantastic 4 and the long-teased Nova project.

    According to his latest tweet, both these projects are eyeing a production start in 2023. It gives us a clearer picture of when we can expect these new entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plus, Nova is a character that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased back in January. A potential production start could also be the first hint that we get an announcement for the project in the near future.

    https://twitter.com/TheComixKid/status/1450129195024060419

    Production starts in 2023 would hint at a potential 2024 release for both projects. Of course, the question also remains what their exact plans are moving forward. We have quite the line-up until that point so we aren’t missing out. Plus, it also gives the new adaptation of Fantastic Four time to separate itself from the last entry in the franchise from 2015.

    The fact that Nova is also moving forward opens up quite a lot of questions and possibilities. With the growing focus on young heroes, perhaps we’ll finally explore the aftermath of Thanos’ attack on Xandar and how this may ripple across the galaxy. The Nova Corp. was quite distinct from its comic counterpart, which means we might get to explore some new mystery surrounding the origins of Richard Rider’s abilities.

    Source: Twitter

  • How Marvel Studios Solved Everything

    How Marvel Studios Solved Everything

    It’s been already heavily discussed how the fact that Marvel Studios not having the rights to its current catalog of characters from the start was probably a good thing. It allowed for a number of trilogies devoted to specific characters to have the room to be developed, something that was crucial to the relevance those same characters achieved, not only whiting the MCU itself but in pop culture as a whole. From there, with its Cinematic Universe already established and with a need to infuse it with new characters, Marvel Studios had to figure out how to do so all while also giving audiences a pretty good reason why those characters didn’t show up earlier, at times when the Earth needed every helping hand it could find.

    So being, Marvel decided to tackle introducing new characters in various ways. These were either someone wanting to keep a low profile (Ant-Man), others were in outer space (Guardians of the Galaxy), another was in a secluded African nation that wanted nothing to do with the outside world’s problems (Black Panther), one was a kid from Queens that kept mostly to his part of town (Spider-Man), another was introduced through a prequel meaning she was there all along, just not on earth (Captain Marvel), while a neurosurgeon turned sorcerer managed to fulfill his duty behind the scenes (Doctor Strange). All in all, it went pretty smoothly, but with its growing catalog of characters, and specifically referring to most of the ones Marvel got back from Fox, Kevin Feige, and the Parliament (Marvel’s unifying creative committee) wouldn’t have such an easy task.

    How to introduce both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to the MCU was always a bit of a head-scratcher, more so with each passing year. Both have an almost inherent need to have been there from the start and, especially in the case of the Mutants, it’d be hard to have them stay away from the public eye since the beginning of the MCU. They have always been the outcasts, the marginalized, enduring a lifetime of being seen as less than they’re worth, which eventually leads to a breaking point. But for this stage to be set, you would need a different context than the one the MCU holds at this time.

    Going back to the Fantastic Four, it would also be tough to swallow that Reed Richards, one of the smartest men on the planet, would be left out of the story being told so far, even if Marvel’s First Family hadn’t gained its powers yet, only to show up now. And even if the route chosen would be to have the team vanish in the middle of the space race that started in the 50s, only to return in the present day, there should be references, technology left behind, something that would have already alerted audiences to their presence in the MCU.

    But after Loki, by going the route we all saw, what Marvel Studios has done is allow for all the optimal scenarios one might conjure to introduce the former Fox residents to the MCU. Ever since the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney we all knew it was coming, but there always seemed to be a few tough decisions left to be made to make the overarching story make sense. One of those would be Magneto’s origin. Someone who was so clearly defined by the horrors of Nazi Germany and their concentration camps. Introducing such a character beyond 2022 would make him an elderly man, far from the ideal age for such a relevant character in the MCU’s coming decade. But now, both this, the issues raised above, and many others, are almost magically solved, without much compromise

    With slight deviations to the Sacred Timeline at specific points in time, you could create these character’s origin stories free from all the constraints more than a decade of MCU projects have ultimately created. With the timeline-hopping we’re probably in store for in the next few years, it won’t take much to get already fully-formed characters with specific backgrounds we already know of (much like we pretty much skipped Spider-Man’s origin in Captain America: Civil War) into the main timeline, with their development from then on being specific to the MCU.

    I’m sure the upcoming Multiverse Saga ended up being developed partially because, much like Reed Richards himself in Jonathan Hickman‘s Fantastic Four run, Feige and his team were on a quest to “solve everything”. To figure out how to best move forward beyond the Infinity Saga by following a different structure, and at the same time deciding on how to best integrate two of the most iconic comic book teams into the character playground the MCU has become. Knowing that arriving late to the party might be a downside, by choosing the Multiverse route they are not only allowing their entrance into the MCU in a fairly straightforward fashion but also for it to become the home of the best versions these characters have ever seen on the big screen.

  • MCU Production Timelines: Infographic & Methodology

    MCU Production Timelines: Infographic & Methodology

    In this piece I’m just going to explain a few of the finer points behind the data I put together for the Phase 3 and Phase 4 production timeline infographic, which João has again so excellently put into a graphic.  My purpose in working with João on this one is just to help people understand another piece of the puzzle of how MCU movies tend to get put together.  Fans understandably love to obsess over the release slate, particularly what’s coming next and when it is coming.  It can get a little confusing as to what is and isn’t further along in the timeline. Hopefully, we’ve laid that out in an understandable format.

    A couple of notes I want to make on the data.  First of all, this is a relatively imprecise set of information.  What I’ve put into the spreadsheet is largely the dates as combed from the Wikipedia entries for each film (I did trace back the references in those articles to trade reports in most cases). Now if a director is hired in a forest and it doesn’t make a sound, are they still the director?  In other words, these dates for when writers and directors are hired are based on trade reports.  It may be that someone was hard at work for weeks or even months before the media found out.  I’m taking the information that is publicly available.  In particular, I assume the “filming start” dates are very approximate.  Captain Marvel, for example, filmed a few things before the official start of filming for weird tax purposes.  Also, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did some kind of plates filming already this year, but the filming hasn’t really started in earnest yet. Again, I’m taking the Wikipedia dates in most cases and there will be some imprecisions there.

    As far as director and writer hirings, I have listed the first hiring for each in most cases.  Directors in the MCU haven’t changed that much in recent years.  The major exception that will come to mind for most astute readers is the change from Scott Derrickson to Sam Raimi for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.  As such we’ve included that change as a separate item.  Writers, however, switch with much more frequency.  The process for hiring writers, managing rewrites, and then deciding who gets the final credit for both writing and story is byzantine at best.  To keep it simpler, we just took the first report of any writer or any director, regardless of their final involvement or non-involvement in the project.  I also am somewhat arbitrarily determining what counts as this production.  For some projects, development on the IP might have happened decades ago, but I’m treating those as a different project altogether.

    It’s worth noting that sequels are pretty obviously different.  Often the director and lead actor are already in place and returning for the sequel.  As such directors get “named” essentially as soon as the project is greenlit.  This is also the case of writer/directors like James Gunn.

    Release dates are a little tricky on this graph, given the interference of COVID.  We’re giving you both the original date and the final date in most cases.  Black Widow, for example, was almost totally finished when the pandemic started.  As such it isn’t that the production really took longer, it just all got delayed.  Sorting out a movie like Thor: Love and Thunder is a much more complicated matter.  We’ve done our best to give you a sense of the normal operating procedure and hide the confusion pandemic delays caused.

    Two other major exceptions deserve a mention.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is another one that looks rather weird due to the firing and rehiring of James Gunn.  The movie never officially got a release date, but I think before the whole mess it was likely that the May 2020 date would have been Guardians Vol. 3’s planned landing spot.  Also, Avengers: Endgame was shot pretty tightly with Infinity War, so there is some weirdness in its extended production time.  I think it is highly likely that those two Avengers productions mixed and mingled quite a bit.  Certainly, the screenplays seemed to happen at the same time.

    I think that is all the details. I hope you all enjoyed this. Again, this is all an exercise with approximation. I’m sure some slight variance in the data is possible if you look at different reports. Enjoy!