Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • A Potential ‘Moon Knight’ Season 2 Could Feature ‘Werewolf By Night’ Characters

    A Potential ‘Moon Knight’ Season 2 Could Feature ‘Werewolf By Night’ Characters

    After the raging success of Marvel Studios’ first Special Presentation, Werewolf by Night, fans are anxiously awaiting Jack Russell’s, Ted Sallis’ (Man-Thing), and Elsa Bloodstone’s returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The special itself appeared to open the door to the MCU’s monsterverse, but it has also been confirmed that Werewolf By Night has no intention of being a pilot for future series. Of course, there are Midnight Sons and Legion of Monsters rumors and theories. And there’s always Blade, though the film is in a rough spot after recently losing its director. But perhaps the answer—or one of the answers—is a bit less obvious. After star Oscar Isaac’s comments that there is more Moon Knight in the MCU’s future, it may not be too farfetched to think that characters from the monster special could appear in a potential second season of that series.

    The most obvious connection Moon Knight has to these characters is that his first appearance was as an adversary in Werewolf by Night #32 in 1975. Originally, Moon Knight was written as a mercenary hired to capture Russell, which explains his moon-themed persona and silver weapons. By the end of his original two-issue appearance, Moon Knight changes course and helps the titular werewolf instead. From here, the character went on to have his own solo and team-up careers unrelated to Werewolf by Night. Moon Knight’s connections to Man-Thing and Elsa Bloodstone are less obvious, though the three of them were all part of a relatively recent Midnight Sons lineup in the Damnation crossover event. Still, Man-Thing’s connection to the Nexus of All Realities makes his general presence in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga make sense, and Jack and Ted were set up as a pair in Werewolf by Night.

    While Marc Spector has a colorful resume, he is not particularly well known for his connection to monsters. As such, there are not many clear storylines from the comics that a Moon Knight Season 2 could adapt from the comics. But without a doubt, Moon Knight is the first character aside from Doctor Strange to truly open up the paranormal and supernatural worlds of the MCU. That aspect of the universe is gaining more steam, but in terms of seeing Werewolf by Night or related characters sooner rather than later, there do not seem to be a lot of obvious options at this moment. Phase 6 is almost entirely unannounced, and so is a second season of Moon Knight. Still, an appearance in the series might be fundamental to the steady rise of the monsterverse and its related projects.

    While Moon Knight is not generally found constantly battling or working with monsters, the vigilante is certainly not foreign to them. In the series alone, the character had to face some rather monsterous Ancient Egyptain-themed creatures, and the finale was aptly titled, “Gods and Monsters.” The supernatural angle of the character was definitively established in Moon Knight. In the comics, the actual existence of Khonshu is sometimes debated as the stories play around with Marc Spector’s unique mental state. But in the MCU, Khonshu’s presence and related supernatural truths are presented as fact. While, so far, the live-action of the character has been limited to the very specific Egyptian god-focused aspect of the supernatural, Moon Knight has ample reason to encounter more. After all, a key component of the vigilante in print is that, as the Fist of Khonshu, he is a protector of those who travel at night—and plenty of things go bump in the night.

    While nighttime is clearly special for Moon Knight and monsters alike, the concept also highlights the stylistic compatibility of characters like Werewolf by Night and Moon Knight. Both rely on supernatural themes, but the series and Werewolf by Night are noticeably some of the MCU’s darkest projects both literally and figuratively. The potential seedy and gritty vigilante life of Marc Spector, Khonshu’s ghostly presence, and surreal psychological components could easily accommodate some additional bizarre components. Even more, Moon Knight’s character and Werwolf by Night have a reputation of (by MCU standards) particularly brutal or gruesome violence.

    For these reasons, it would not be entirely surprising if Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, or other related characters made some type of appearance in a second season of Moon Knight. They likely would not be a major part of the full season, but rather could be integrated in a similar way to Moon Knight’s comics introduction. If the MCU’s Marc Spector does take on the vigilante lifestyle as expected, perhaps he has run ins with various beings causing havoc, including an out-of-control Werewolf by Night. It is easy to picture Marc Spector being hostile to monster-type creatures before understanding that they are not necessarily villains, which could be a vital moment in the building of teams like the Midnight Sons or Legion of Monsters or crossover of related characters. Or, perhaps the hero gets caught up in the Bloodstone’s longer narrative in the MCU, as the likely alien relic ties together the MCU’s supernatural side before the big events of Avengers: The Kang Dyanasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

    Only time will tell if Marvel Studios announces a second season of Moon Knight. Either way, fans will get much more of all of these characters in the MCU’s future.

  • Chloë Grace Moretz Has Met With Marvel Studios, Interested to Play a Villain

    Chloë Grace Moretz Has Met With Marvel Studios, Interested to Play a Villain

    Another young rising star in Hollywood has confirmed to have met to potentially join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While on press tour for her upcoming role in Amazon Prime’s The Peripheral, Chloë Grace Moretz has confirmed that she’s had talks with Marvel Studios to discuss a potential role in a project. Not just that, the young actress brought up a desire to play a role more on the darker side of morality.

    Yeah, we’ve talked a little bit about it. I mean, I think for me, I would be really interested in playing a villain in Marvel or DC, and jumping into more of the darker side of the role. I love a superhero. I think that’d be really fun, too, but I think it’s just all about finding the one that really matches what you’re wanting to get across, and the scope of the character. I think it’d be really fun if it was the right role and the right project.

    Chloë Grace Moretz

    While it hasn’t been confirmed which role she may have met for, there are two options based on relatively recent Marvel Studios newcomers. Firstly, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Moretz met to potentially play Yelena Belova in Black Widow before they signed on Florence Pugh. She’s in the same age range as Pugh and it’s the type of role that could light the interest in playing a more morally grey figure. And potentially more likely, Moretz could have met to discuss playing the aged-up version of Cassie Lang in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. It’s certainly a role that fits her general archetypes and she’d have met the drawing power Marvel was seemingly looking for when they ended up casting Kathryn Newton.

    Ultimately, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Mortez have an interest in a superhero project. They are massively financially beneficial for actors and are the types of roles that have ascended performers into true “A-List” status in Hollywood. Though with her having already met with the studio, Chloë Grace Moretz should be put on the radar of having a possible future with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • Jessica Gao Discusses Daredevil-Centric ‘She-Hulk’ Episode

    Jessica Gao Discusses Daredevil-Centric ‘She-Hulk’ Episode

    The moment a large swath of Marvel fans had been waiting for finally arrived last week: Frog-Man made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. In addition, the penultimate episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law saw Charlie Cox return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as both halves of Matthew Murdock and Daredevil. The episode has thus far been met with overall rave reviews for Daredevil’s appearance and how much he fits in the world of She-Hulk. And this is certainly a concept that was prevalent as far back as the writer’s room for the series as confirmed by Jessica Gao.

    It just made so much sense that he would be on this show because both he and Jen are lawyers by day, Super Heroes outside of the office, even though Jen is doing it reluctantly. What better character to kind of show how this struggle she’s having is possible?

    Jessica Gao

    This episode especially did a strong job of creating a strong dynamic between the two characters in each of the different settings they intertwine. A large portion of credit belongs to the episode’s writer Cody Ziglar for successfully translating Matthew Murdock, the spirit of the Netflix adaptation of the character, and the aesthetic of Mark Waid’s comic run. And the notion of comic accuracy was taken into account according to Gao.

    When we first heard that we could use Daredevil and we started trying to break this episode, during that first conversation, at one point, Cody (Ziglar) pulled a Daredevil comic out of his backpack. It was somehow already opened to the page he was talking about and was waving it around and pointing at the panels that he was referring to. So this episode was written by somebody with a lot of Daredevil love.

    Jessica Gao

    Charlie Cox is confirmed to be returning in Daredevil: Born Again in the Spring of 2024 (with reports that production will begin in New York City early next year). The eight-episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+ with the finale scheduled to release on October 13.

    Source: Marvel

  • Charlie Cox Calls ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ a “Whole New Deal”

    Charlie Cox Calls ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ a “Whole New Deal”

    Even in the midst of the Multiverse Saga, accepting Multiversal Variants continues to prove difficult for fans. While an entire series can be built around a Variant of a dead character hanging out with a genderswapped Variant of himself and meeting a villain who defends the timeline against Variants of himself, apparently there can only be one Daredevil. An All-New, All-Different Daredevil recently appeared in the eighth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, full of new tricks, a new personality and a new suit, but the debate as to whether or not this MCU Daredevil is the same guy fans met in Netflix’s Defenders-verse continues.

    However, as fans of the Netflix series continue to search for definitive evidence, star Charlie Cox continues to make it sound as though it’s going to be harder and harder to find. In an interview with ET following D23, Cox seemed pretty firm in his belief that this Matt Murdock isn’t EXACTLY that Defenders-verse guy. When asked about the recently announced Daredevil: Born Again, Cox spoke pretty plainly, saying, “Kevin has been very clear about it being Season 1, not a Season 4, so it’s a whole new deal.” Fans shouldn’t need enhanced senses to hear what’s being said by Cox there. Even so, Cox continued on indicating that he’d like to see Murdock’s journey retold back to the origin, as often happens in the comics.

    What’s great about that is that we potentially get to tell some of the stories over and over again, in the same way that they do in the comics. Every now and then they start back in the beginning of Murdock’s journey as a little boy and they tell the whole origin story again, so maybe we’ll get to do that. I don’t know.

    Charlie Cox

    Not even Peter Parker got his origins retold as he joined the MCU and given the way the concept of Variants works, it’s hard to imagine a new Matt like the one seen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law diverged from Netflix Matt as far back as the hero’s origin story. Cox’s words paint a pretty clear picture of where he believes Feige stands, who would of course have FINAL say on just how different the anyo one Variant is from another. However, until Feige says it to a camera, plenty of fans will be reticent to believe Cox’s words. Whatever the case, Daredevil is in the MCU and Cox is having a blast in the role. So no matter which Variant you think you’re getting, you should be happy!

    Source: ET

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’ Confirmed to Take Place Post-Endgame

    ‘Werewolf By Night’ Confirmed to Take Place Post-Endgame

    Unlike nearly every other Marvel Studios project, Werewolf By Night took place entirely in its own corner of the MCU. No cameos. No callbacks. Just a self-contained special presentation that introduced a neatly retrofitted history of monsters and those who hunt them. As wonderful as it was, however, its ability to stand on its own (short of a 2-second reference to the Avengers) made it tough to determine just where it exists within the MCU’s ever-expanding timeline. Fortunately, Disney Plus has put it in its place.

    Outside of a few dates on the graves of the Bloodstone family, there was really nothing given to place WHEN the events of Michael Giacchino’s project took place and the black and white presentation of it certainly makes it feel “longer ago” than when it actually was…which as it turns out, is right now in Marvel Studios’ present day. According to Disney Plus, the events of the night depicted in Werewolf By Night take place just around the same time as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Ms. Marvel and Thor: Love and Thunder. That means that not only does the MCU have a long history of monsters, it has a present which means it could have a future!

    With Werewolf By Night’s timeline established, it leaves Black Widow as the only Phase 4 project set outside of the present day as its events took place prior to Avengers: Infinity War, making them part of the Infinity Saga. It’s of note that since Werewolf By Night does take place in the present day, the idea that the Bloodstone could play a role in the coming events in projects such as Avengers:The Kang Dynasty remains firmly on the table.

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’ A First for Marvel Studios in More Ways Than One

    ‘Werewolf By Night’ A First for Marvel Studios in More Ways Than One

    Marvel Studios Werewolf By Night debuted to praise from fans and critics alike, being hailed as a unique project for the studio in terms of both content and tone. The first of what’s expected to be many more Special Presentations for the studio, Michael Giacchino’s horror homage introduced a world of monsters and those that hunt them and was a little more violent than typical Marvel Studios’ fare. But being the first Special presentation and opening up a whole new world of characters and stories wasn’t all for the project as it also became the first Marvel Studios’ project on Disney Plus NOT to include some sort of post-credit tag.

    Dating back to WandaVision, Marvel Studios has included at least one post-credit or mid-credit scene in every one of their Disney Plus streaming series, both live-action and animated. An argument can be made that the post-credit scenes have become a distraction, often taking away from the discourse around the body of the project and focusing on “what’s next.” And so despite rumors that actor Jaycob Maya would appear as lycanthrope Jake Gomez in a Werewolf By Night tag, he was nowhere to be found.

    Giacchino recently stated that he had no intention of his project serving as a pilot for future horror installments, so it’s not entirely surprising that he put a bow on the story without teasing anything more. Sure, fans can wonder what Elsa, Jack and Ted might get up to next and exactly what the nature of the Bloodstone might be, but there were no promises made via a post-credit scene and that’s ok. Not even a “Jack will return” text appeared on screen. Too often, those promises aren’t kept or generate speculation that ultimately leads to disappointment. So while it might not mark the END of the tradition, it’s nice to see that the creators don’t feel beholden to it, allowing for them to use them as they see fit.

  • Vin Diesel Says Marvel Studios Interested In a Groot ‘Planet X’ Movie

    Vin Diesel Says Marvel Studios Interested In a Groot ‘Planet X’ Movie

    Fans are preparing to bid farewell to everyone’s favorite band of intergalactic misfits, with Summer 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 potentially marking the end of the Guardians as we know them. However, one of the group’s stars may believe that the end of the road for Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not yet arrived.

    Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot actor Vin Diesel shared a post on Instagram where he seems to indicate—or joke—that he believes Marvel Studios has plans to develop an MCU movie based on the talking tree’s homeworld. 

    After noting his niece’s love for the recent I Am Groot Disney+ shorts, Diesel ended the post on an interesting note:

    “So my niece called me and said… thank you uncle Vin for making I Am Groot, haha… the shorts written and directed by the talented Kristin Lepore. It was a blast making, but it’s also a blast watching it with my angels. No wonder Marvel wants to make the Planet X movie. All love. #FloraColossi #AlphaGroot #PlanetX”

    Vin Diesel

    Planet X is the homeworld of the Flora colossus, the alien race from which Groot is descended, where the simplistic but loveable language of Groot is spoken. Fans may also recognize “Planet X” as the X-Men comic storyline by the same name, or the mutant safe haven also coined Planet X. While fans gets excited about an X-Men news, it is unclear how Diesel’s post would relate to mutants at all. 

    Diesel easily could have been joking about the potential for a Groot-centered film, as a solo film starring the loveable character seems unlikely in the currently known MCU slate. Still, nothing can ever be ruled out as a future installment given the rapid expansion of the MCU in the past couple of years.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’: Tracing Ted’s Excellent Adventure in the MCU

    ‘Werewolf By Night’: Tracing Ted’s Excellent Adventure in the MCU

    Marvel Studios Werewolf By Night might be the first time Man-Thing has been present in the action, but breadcrumbs, hints and Easter eggs of the existence of the creature have existed for the better part of a decade. With Man-Thing, who Jack so lovingly refers to as Ted, now in the spotlight, a brief look back at his history, both recorded and imagined, is in order.

    Iron Man 3

    No, you didn’t miss Man-Thing in Iron Man 3; however, clues to his origin story could be found. In the comics, Ted Sallis was a scientist working on Project Gladiator, one of a billion attempts to recreate the Super Solider Serum flowing in the veins of Steve Rogers. Sallis’ research partner and lover, Ellen Brandt, was turned by A.I.M. and eventually tried to steal the research. Ted said no, Ted drank the formula, she shot Ted and Ted fell into the swamp. When he emerged from the swamp, he had become Man-Thing, obviously. Ted and Ellen had a less than happy reunion that led to Ellen’s face becoming horribly disfigured by the touch of Man-Thing because, as we all know, whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing!

    In an MCU that’s seen a few attempts at recreating the Super Soldier Serum, it wouldn’t be too surprising to find out that Project Gladiator went down at some point in time. More than that, however, A.I.M. agent Ellen Brandt had a gnarly facial scar and a missing arm that could easily be retconned to have been the result of an encounter with Man-Thing! Given that Iron Man 3 took place in 2013, we can deduce that Ted has been Man-Thing for at least a decade assuming Werewolf By Night takes place in the MCU’s present day of 2025.

    Thor: Raganarok

    Having (not really) established that Ted operated as Man-Thing as early 2013 really does little to explain away how his face ended up on the Grandmaster’s palace on Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok. As the Grandmaster says, time works a little differently there, but what you can be sure of is that at some point before the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Man-Thing was one of the Grandmaster’s Champions. It’s not clear under what circumstances he found himself participating in the Contest of Champions, but from Jack’s dialogue in Werewolf By Night, it’s clear that Ted has a bit of a habit of getting himself captured. Perhaps he found himself unwillfully part of the Contest, became champion and won his freedom. Whatever the case may be, assuming Werewolf By Night takes place in the MCU’s present day, Manny eventually found his way back to Earth.

    Werewolf by Night

    Man-Thing finds himself the prisoner of the vile Verusa as the events of Werewolf By Night begin to unfold. And while he has his revenge on her by burning her up and tossing her body across the great room of Bloodstone Manor, what’s more important in giving us clues about Ted’s excellent adventure is his heart-warming relationship with Jack. Michael Giacchino did a fantastic job of retrofitting Jack, Ted, Elsa and other characters, both seen and unseen, into the MCU’s history. The timeline isnt’ clear, but Jack’s been around for a while and he’s known Ted long enough to not only become besties with him but also save his butt more than once.

    What’s Next

    The existing relationship between Jack and Ted makes one ponder what other monsters exist within the shared universe who have also been on the receiving end of Jack’s help. If saving monsters, like Ted, is what Jack does in the MCU, it seems like he, Man-Thing and their new friend Elsa, might be likely to team-up again at some point. Putting those 3 together is enough for the foundations of The Legion of Monsters.

    It’s also possible that Marvel Studios chooses to explore Man-Thing’s identity as the guardian of the Nexus of All Realities, a gateway located at a point where all of the many realities of the multiverse interest and can be accessed. The Multiverse Saga has just begun and isn’t set to end for three more years, meaning further exploration of the concept is sure to happen. Perhaps Man-Thing could appear in a project such as Loki Season 2 in a little less-monstrous capacity.

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ – Monster Hunters Ranked

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ – Monster Hunters Ranked

    Marvel Studios’ first Special Presentation, Werewolf by Night, introduced fans to an unknown world of monsters, and perhaps just as important, the secret cabal of hunters who’ve spent their lives tracking them down. As one might expect, this collection of killers is both terrifying and eccentric, quickly making their mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a group not to be reckoned with. However, some of these menacing murderers are more masterly than others, begging the question of who might be the best of them all. As such, Murphy’s Multiverse – home of fandom’s spookiest minds – has taken the liberty of digging in and breaking down every Monster Hunter the special has to offer, ranking them by order of skill and appearance.

    6. Barasso

    Daniel J. Watts‘ quiet monster hunter is ranked dead last for a few reasons, but none of them have to do with performance. Watts is actually quite charming in the role when he has his brief moments of dialogue and interaction, but otherwise, he doesn’t get to do very much. Despite surviving longer than most of the other characters on this list, Barasso sort of just stands around for most of Werewolf by Night‘s runtime. When he finally does get to put his skills to use, he’s slaughtered by the titular monster pretty quickly. The fact he sort of just exists without doing anything especially memorable puts him behind the rest of the pack, but maybe one day he’ll get to make a return appearance in another project. After all, Marvel Studios is scheduled to do quite a bit of time-jumping over the next few years.

    5. Azarel

    Eugenie Bondurant‘s Azarel is in a similar boat to Barasso, but gets the slight edge for at least having a memorable character design. The David Bowie-esque monster hunter is striking, and has a looming presence through the entirety of Werewolf by Night. Although they don’t get to show off their fun scythe-like weapon until the special’s climax, and are promptly expired by Marvel’s wolf-man, they do seem to have a suspicious beat on Gael Garcia Bernal’s Jack Russell from the very start. That alone shows signs of Azarel being pretty sharp, a trait that any good hunter should possess if they hope to make an impact in their field. Unfortunately, Azarel doesn’t get to do much more than look great and die trying, so they fall toward the bottom of the list.

    4. Jovan

    Kirk Thatcher‘s bombastic Jovan boasts frequently about his fifty-seven confirmed monster kills. His big personality and entertaining role as Jack’s first on-screen foil earn him a higher spot on this list than his fellow fallen hunters, even if he wasn’t able to make it out of Bloodstone Manor’s intricate maze alive. The axe-wielding maniac certainly makes an impression by befriending Mr. Russell before immediately trying to chop him in half, and his delightful comments about wishing he had a signature look likely endeared him to fans right off the bat. Also, being the first person killed by Man-Thing in the MCU is a pretty nice thing to have on the ole’ monster-hunting resume – if he were still among the living for it to matter.

    3. Verussa Bloodstone

    The true big bad of Werewolf by Night. At first, Harriet Sansom Harris’ Verussa Bloodstone appears to only be a mouthpiece for her recently deceased husband. However, circumstance leads to the revelation that Verussa is quite capable of hunting monsters on her own, and might have even been the true mastermind behind the Bloodstone dynasty. She’s certainly the most bloodthirsty of the bunch and might have killed her own step-daughter if Man-Thing didn’t intervene. The Bloodstone matriarch ranks third on the list as a perfectly cheesy villain with some of the best shots throughout the special.

    2. Liorn

    Leonardo Nam’s Liorn got to the second spot on this list by way of being oddly interesting without too big of a role. Helping matters, he happens to have the best death in the entire special, and his cool factor is undeniable. Another mostly silent monster hunter, Liorn gets a full-blown fight sequence with Laura Donelly’s Elsa Bloodstone that’s equal parts grotesque and breathtaking. It ends with him losing a hand and taking his own arrow through his head, which is awesome. Of all the hunters in Werewolf by Night who aren’t being obviously set up for a future in the MCU, Liorn is the one who probably most deserved a little more screen time. Rest in pieces to a true legend.

    1. Elsa Bloodstone

    This was a no-brainer, but it’s still worth throwing out there. Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodstone is the runaway Most Valuable Player of Werewolf by Night, which is saying something when one considers how good Bernal and Man-Thing are throughout. She has some of the best fight choreography the MCU has ever seen, and could probably rival either Black Widow in hand-to-hand combat. She’s also ridiculously charming in an Addams Family sort of way. Hopefully, there will be plenty of Elsa in Marvel’s future. The world deserves more of whatever her deal is.

    Special Mention: Ulysses Bloodstone

    Ulysses Bloodstone is dead by the time Werewolf by Night begins, but he deserves a special mention if only because he was supposedly the greatest monster hunter to ever live. Viewers never get to see him in action, but a manor full of mementos and a legacy that haunts the entire monster-hunting community is probably enough evidence to prove he was as good at killing monsters as he was at graveyard humor. The comic book version of Ulysses was just as prolific as his MCU counterpart, and while fans may never get to see him as more than a talking corpse in live-action, it’s worth giving him the nod here as a genuine player in Marvel’s mortuary scene.

  • What to Expect From Michael Waldron in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    What to Expect From Michael Waldron in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’

    With the official announcement that Michael Waldron will be writing Avengers: Secret Wars, a large swath of reactions has been formed. Fans have questions as to what this will mean for what has the potential to be Marvel Studios’ most ambitious projects. With his previous experiences working on the first season of Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Waldron feels primed to take this next step in telling the story of the Multiverse Saga. By dissecting Michael Waldron’s previous works in the Marvel Cinematic Univers, one might be able to Inuit how they can inform the directions audiences should expect from Avengers: Secret Wars.

    Centralized Focus

    Arguably the most distinct aspect of Michael Waldron’s writing for Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is creating a centralized focus on the main characters and their arcs. Despite the expansive stakes and scope of the multiverse that surrounds them, the main characters are never lost within the script. One of the many praises sung about Loki was the amount of character building for the titular protagonist. As the story moved to numerous vastly different locales and settings, Loki and his interpersonal dynamics with the likes of Mobius and Sylvie remained at the forefront. 

    When it comes to Multiverse of Madness, both Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch had complete arcs that were logical for where they had been prior to the film. For Strange, the narrative was crafted of him being able to not be in the driver’s seat and trusting others, such as America Chavez, to ultimately save the day. Wanda’s arc was the continuation of her themes of teetering between morally just and unjust while dealing with the grief seen in WandaVision (or at least the themes that were present for most of the series).

    Writing an Avengers film, the centralized focus will of course need to expand to fit whatever the team roster will be for Secret Wars. This is certainly doable for Waldron if he follows the general style that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely used when writing Infinity War and Endgame. After managing to do so in the back two-thirds of the Captain America trilogy, the duo also adeptly managed to keep the focus on individual characters in the foreground of universe-shifting events in their films. Theoretically having at least a year to write Avengers: Secret Wars with the same studio behind the duology wrapping up the Infinity Saga, there shouldn’t be much doubt Michael Waldron can do the same as his predecessors.

    Expansive Multiversal Background

    While the foci for his two previous Marvel Cinematic Universe projects were micro-level of character studies, it shouldn’t be ignored that Michael Waldron has indeed helped create an expansive multiverse for Marvel Studios. That universe feels primed to be much further extrapolated in Avengers: Secret Wars (among other multiverse-based projects). A misunderstanding seems to have been propagated that the events of Loki and Multiverse of Madness are incongruous with the rules of the multiverse; however, there aren’t any tangible instances of the two projects contradicting themselves. If anything, the partially disparate nature of the series and film feels intentional in creating the understanding of how vast the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse is. 

    Waldron’s writing on Loki was focused on building the framework and the primary core of Marvel’s multiverse. Usage of the Time Variance Authority helped to introduce the general concepts and histories of the multiverse that, at points, seemed intentional to allude to the upcoming Secret Wars event. Meanwhile, the Doctor Strange sequel moved towards providing viewpoints of distinct alternate universes and how they’ve been dealing with the maddening multiverse. The threat of Incursions being introduced continues Waldron’s trend of planting seeds for one of the next two major “Avenger-level” events. There’s likely to be a combination of these writing themes in Avengers: Secret Wars. Interpersonal conflicts between the different universe fragments mixed with the chaos of quite literally everything breaking around them.

    Deep Marvel Lore

    Michael Waldron has also shown a penchant for including deep-cut references out of Marvel historical lore, from both on-screen and comic versions. Two distinct examples from both of Waldron’s writing credits best symbolize how he could very well implement these references. The Void in Loki is home to a vast array of references that add to the background atmosphere for casual viewers while being enjoyable treats for the more hardcore superfan (ie. Qeng Tower, the Living Tribunal, and the infamous Thanos-Copter). Though in the foreground of The Void, audiences meet characters such as Kid and Classic Loki, both of which resonate with both casual and hardcore fans at the same time. This is something that may be critical for the writing of Secret Wars to succeed. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Earth-838-specifically The Illuminati-represent what to potentially expect for the second-to-next Avengers film. First and foremost, the writing of the alternate New York City and secret council quickly created the concept of a lived-in world that has a history some audience members will want to learn all about (namely, the alternate version of Infinity War including The Illuminati and various teams yet to form in the main Marvel Cinematic Universe). In addition, Waldron balances both a reverence for the alternate legacy characters involved, especially Patrick Stewart’s Professor X reprisal, while also being willing to aggressively mess with the status quo to highlight the fragility of multiversal conflict. Expect Avengers: Secret Wars to combine and expand on these different types of lore establishments for a potential Battleworld.

    Inspiration From Classic Media

    While his knowledge base for Marvel history has shown to be expansively deep, Waldron certainly has found additional inspiration from various classic pieces of media. For Loki, many have found the narrative and aesthetic similarities to stalwarts of science fiction such as Brazil, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Doctor Who. Meanwhile, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Waldron’s script provides Sam Raimi the semi-Lovecraftian basis for the director to create a film visually akin to his work on the Evil Dead franchise (while being accessible as a PG-13 Marvel Cinematic Universe entry). While the argument can be made that these elements are more so from the directors of said projects, filmmaking is inherently a collaborative process and it’d be errant to believe that Waldron didn’t also have a hand in establishing the visual identities of these properties. And that type of perspective can be even more beneficial for helping whoever directs the sixth Avengers film to create their vision. 

    When it comes to Avengers: Secret Wars, it certainly will be interesting to see where inspiration may be drawn for this type of story. Based on Jonathan Hickman-written 2015 version, and even the more basic 1984 story, there are numerous cinematic and literary epics that could be used to inspire Marvel Studios’ Secret Wars.

    Conclusions

    All in all, the hiring of Michael Waldron as the writer for Avengers: Secret Wars seems to indicate a massively high concept and fast-paced ride of a film. Much like the process for Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely on Marvel films, Waldron has been writing projects with elevated stakes and scope for Marvel Studios’ central saga. If the positive momentum and seed planted from season one of Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness can be followed through upon, the script of Avengers: Secret Wars has real potential to successfully culminate Phases Four through Six in a majorly impactful fashion.