Tag: Marvel Studios

How ‘SHANG-CHI’ Connects the Mandarin to Genghis Khan

Since the Ten Rings first appeared on screen in 2008’s Iron Man, fans have eagerly anticipated the arrival of Iron Man’s nemesis, the Mandarin. While Ben Kingsley’s impostor in 2013’s Iron Man 3 didn’t sit well with many, Marvel Studios All Hail the King One-Shot set the stage for the true Mandarin to make his way to the MCU one day and, as we learned at last year’s SDCC, that day is coming soon with the Mandarin set to appear in Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings played by Tony Leung. A film with the word “legend” in its title certainly seems to give the promise of a trip through history and we’ve come across some information that indicates we will see just that and the implications of WHEN we’ll see could be pretty interesting.

While the biggest rumors surrounding the plot of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings surround a martial arts tournament taking place in the present day, we’ve found evidence that the film will be partially set during China’s Song Dynasty and the Turko-Persian Seljuk Dynasty both of which shared the interesting fate of being invaded by the Khans of the Mongol Empire. It’s possible that these connect to a casting call that circulated in 2019 which indicated Marvel Studios was looking for “the ruler of a distant ancient kingdom.” That casting was rumored to be a call for Namor, though given this new information that seems unlikely. For those wondering what might connect Shang-Chi to some ancient dynasties and the Khans, the answer, at least in the comic books is, The Mandarin, himself a descendant of Genghis Khan.

Khan’s place in China’s history remains controversial as does the the traditional interpretation of the Mandarin, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel Studios handles these in the film. One possibility is tying the invading Khan armies to the acquisition of the Ten Rings themselves and tying the Mandarin’s motives to his ancestors. Further speculation here benefits nobody, so we’ll stay away from it, but there’s certainly some interesting connective tissue here between the Mongol Empire, the Ten Rings and the Mandarin.

June 26, 2020
RUMOR: Alpha Flight Bound for the MCU

According to a Caleb Williams of Knight Edge Media, Marvel Studios is keen on introducing Alpha Flight to the MCU. Normally one tweet wouldn’t get me to turn on my laptop and type up a story, but this tweet resonates with some things I’ve heard and discussed on the podcast in the past.

Small Tidbit: Coming soon to the MCU… #AlphaFlight pic.twitter.com/qQvULUu9L7

— Caleb Williams (@KnightGambit) June 22, 2020

Created by John Byrne and first appearing in 1979’s Uncanny X-Men #120, Alpha Flight is a Canadian super team that plays a key role in the the long history of Wolverine; in fact, their first appearance saw their team leader, Vindicator, who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #109 where he failed in his solo effort to bring the Canucklehead back into the fold, lead his team in to atone for his failure. The original team, which included Sasquatch, Shaman, twins Northstar and Aurora and Snowbird under the command of Vindicator-characters Byrne had developed long before his tenure at Marvel-were chosen to provide the X-Men with a real challenge. In 1983, Byrne wrote a solo Alpha Flight series that introduced one of the team’s most beloved members, Eugene Judd, aka Puck. Recently Puck lead a different version of Alpha Flight into space working alongside Carol Danvers before the original team returned just this past Fall.

This rumor is incredibly interesting to me because, as Charles Villanueva and I have talked about on the podcast several times, it lines up with some information I heard quite some time ago, so while I am in no way confirming this, it’s definitely something I will keep an eye on because one of my most trusted sources told me that Alpha Flight was a property that Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, believed to have great potential. This information was from a time before Disney Plus was a factor, so I have no idea what the plans might be, but if we speculate a bit, you can see there are a lot of options.

Obviously, everyone will eagerly focus on Wolverine’s past with the team as they eagerly anticipate the MCU version of Logan, but there are more options here than him. In Avengers: Endgame, Hulk mentions that part of the process of him merging his two personalities was spending some time in his “gamma lab” during the 5 year hiatus; I’m curious to see if Dr. Walter Langkowski, aka Sasquatch, might have been a part of his team or if, like in the comics, he was doing his own work on the Hulk’s experiment. Either way, Sasquatch, who played an interesting role in Al Ewing‘s The Immortal Hulk, brings another gamma related character into the mix in addition to She-Hulk.

Mutant twins Northstar and Aurora are more than just copies of the Maximoff twins. Jean-Paul Beaubier is the first major Marvel character to be openly gay and his sister, Jeanne-Marie, has struggled with dissociative identity disorder throughout her years in the comics. Michael Twoyoungmen, aka Shaman, is a powerful First Nations mystic who has taken some harrowing journeys throughout the years and aided in the birth of Snowbird, a demigod and daughter of the Inuit goddess Nelvanna. As Marvel Studios continues to make their films more representative of the world, you can see how Alpha Flight provides a great opportunity to diversify their character lineup.

Again, this is all speculation based off a single tweet, so temper your expectations and be cautious and careful in how you spread the news. I am NOT confirming the rumor, only sharing that I heard 2 years or so ago that Feige saw great promise in the group and speculating on how they might fit in. For all we know, it might not even be the original team and, instead, the tweet is about the version that served with Captain Marvel. As always, time will tell.

June 22, 2020
Marvel Studios May Be Casting Their Echo

As the production wheels start turning again, news has started trickling over the past couple of weeks. Today brings what might be some of the biggest news to date as it looks like Marvel Studios may be in the early stages of casting for one of Marvel’s more extraordinary characters and one time Avenger Maya Lopez, aka Echo.

Sarah Finn put out the call for a deaf female, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous or Latinx, 18 or older, to play the role of “Malia” in an upcoming Disney Plus series set to shoot this Fall. Finn is looking for someone “independent, athletic and bright” to play a 20 something character.

It’s obviously important to note that this casting call does not indicate what series the role is for, so we can only speculate that it’s for Echo, one of Marvel’s most prominent deaf characters, speculation made much easier by the fact that the description checks just about every box on the Maya Lopez checklist. However, while Finn is Marvel Studios casting director, she has also worked on Star Wars projects as well including The Mandalorian, so it’s possible the role could be for one of the Star Wars series in development as well.

A top level martial artist with photographic reflexes and co-created by Joe Quesada and Dave Mack, Echo first appeared in 1999’s Daredevil #9. Raised by Kingpin after he murdered her father, Echo fell in love with Matt Murdock while simultaneously trying to take out Daredevil. After besting Daredevil and discovering he was Murdock, Echo turned on Fisk, shooting him in the eye, and then fled the country.

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Marvel Studios will have full control of the rights to Daredevil back from Netflix by November 2020, making it possible that this is the first sign of their plan to reboot the Man Without Fear. However, there have been no signs of development on a Daredevil series and there is another part of Echo’s comic book past that may point in the direction of her showing up in Hawkeye, a series that was, at one point, on track for a late-Summer/early Fall start of production and may still get a chance to do the cameras of things go well. In Brian Michael Bendis 2004 New Avengers, Maya fought anonymously alongside the Avengers in Japan as the mysterious Ronin before revealing herself to them. Of course Clint Barton later took on the same persona, one we saw on screen in Avengers: Endgame.

Though it might necessitate quite a retelling of her origin story, it’s possible that Echo could show up as an antagonist in Hawkeye, presenting an interesting parallel to Kate Bishop, before finding her way back to the light. Again, all we can do is speculate here, but the potential certainly exists for Echo, a character whose dark journey might be pretty similar to Barton’s and who bore the same mantle as the Avenging Archer, could show up in the series, especially given Kevin Feige’s statement that we would, in fact, see more of Barton’s time as Ronin.

I’ve been working hard trying to dig up more information on the casting call, which I’ve now seen circulating on Twitter, but at the time of publishing this article, I’ve been unable to find anything more. Stay tuned as I will update this situation as it changes.

June 18, 2020
‘Wonder Man’
Premiere: December 2025

A June 2022 trade report announced that a Wonder Man Disney+ series was in development over at Marvel Studios with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang–Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as executive producer and Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community) serving as head writer.

Little else is known about the project besides the fact that it’s seemingly looking at a 2023 production start, possibly hinting at a 2024 release. Considering both the subject matter, and the team Marvel Studios is gathering to develop the project, it would perhaps be fair to expect a show with a lighter tone similar to She-Hulk‘s, with similar episode lengths and numbers.

Following persistent rumors in mid-October, Yaha Abdul-Mateen was finally confirmed as being the MCU’s Wonder Man through a trade report later that same month. Production on the project kicked off in 2023 but was delayed due to the WGA strike. Following some time to reframe the project, production restarted in January 2024.

The Marvel Television series will debut on Disney Plus in December 2025.

Cast
- Yaha Abdul-Mateen as Simon Williams / Wonder Man
- Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
- Demetrius Grosse as Eric Williams/Grim Reaper
- Ed Harris as Neal Saroyan
- Lauren Glazier as a to-be-confirmed character
June 18, 2020
Victor Mancha: Hulu’s ‘RUNAWAYS’ Reject, Future MCU Big Bad

Going back through some old notes recently, I came upon some info I had collected about Season 1 of Marvel’s Runaways, a show which recently concluded its run following its third season. Those notes, accompanied by an early project breakdown and casting grid, indicated that one of the most interesting characters from the comic series was intended to be a part of Season 1 and, according to the notes, the studio may have even had an actor lined up for the role. That character, Victor Mancha, never physically appeared in the Hulu streaming series and his presence in the show was reduced to his last name appearing on a note in the final episode of the series. How did a character, who during pre-production in 2017 was, apparently, supposed to play a significant role in the series, end up being a being an afterthought? I’m not sure and I’m not really here to think too much about that. I am, however, interested in how Marvel Studios might now be able to use the character now that Runaways has ended.

A little background first and I do mean a little. Victor Mancha first appeared in Runaways Vol. 2, #1 in 2005. A cyborg combining some cloned DNA with some of Ultron’s metal bits, Mancha was destined to become one of the Avengers greatest villains (there was a lot of time travel in Runaways) but, for the time being, has mostly stayed on the heroic side of things showing up in Avengers A.I. and Tom King’s solo Vision series among other places before returning as a head in a box in the recent Runaways book.

We know that Marvel Studios The-One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, isn’t big on panel-for-panel remakes from the comics and, in Victor’s case, that works to everyone’s advantage. Keeping Victor who he is at his core (basically Ultron’s sleeper agent, but a hero at heart) makes him the perfect big bad to square off with the Young Avengers in their first big team outing. Whether it’s in Ant-Man 3 or the solo Young Avengers project currently in development, having the Young Avengers come together by taking on a villain with ties to the villain who tore the Avengers apart would be poetic. Maybe they destroy Victor; maybe they find a way to reprogram him and add him to their ranks; maybe he lives to fight another day. Whatever way it goes, the resonance is intriguing and very “comic booky.”

I have no idea what the Runaways show runners had in store for Victor, neither in his season one appearance that never was nor with the neat little note they left as the show went off the air; however, what is clear is that Feige has an opportunity to put a new spin on an intriguing character and who could be a powerful, teenage villain who fits the Goldilocks model for the MCU adaptation of the Young Avengers. Sure, people want to see Kang and Iron Lad, but I wanted to see Starhawk and Vance Astro. We don’t, every time, get what we want but in some cases (not Starhawk, definitely not Starhawk), the version we do get is an upgrade. Victor Mancha might just do that for the Young Avengers.

There is, of course, another way for Victor to make a splash in the MCU: turning up in the upcoming Disney Plus streaming series, WandaVision. If Victor were to become aware of his unique nature, he would certainly seek out Vision, as he did in the comics. If you’ve read King’s run, you know that Victor was sent by the Avengers to spy on Vision and, though his intentions weren’t evil, he was responsible for the death of Vision’s son, Vin and met his “end” at the hands of Vision’s wife, Virginia, who is kind of a serial killer. While this particular story is unlikely to unfold, it’s entirely possible that we could see Victor introduced in WandaVision, a project we know to be a central hub from which the stories of Phase 4 and beyond will be spun, acting, as he was in the comics, as a sleeper agent of Ultron’s sent to wreak havoc on Ultron’s great dissapointment: his Vision.

As always, it’s far more likely we don’t see Victor in the MCU at all or, if we do, it’ll be in some way altogether different from either of these options. It’s interesting, nonetheless, to think about how a character like Victor, who checks an awful lot of MCU boxes, might be used by Feige as he expands the universe.

June 17, 2020
What I Heard This Week: Ms. Marvel Auditions

Every now and then I come across some information the veracity of which can be confirmed by a second source. What happens FAR more often is that I come across some information that while believable and from trustworthy sources, cannot be confirmed by other sources for various reasons. Typically, when the second scenario occurs, I move on and forget about the information unless, in rare instances, it turns out to be proven true somewhere down the road. The news about Peyton Reed working on Season 2 of The Mandalorian came from an article just like this, but I’ve also heard some pretty wild stuff of which we have no proof, like Doom showing up in Black Panther II. Over the past week, we’ve seen unions give guidelines for safely returning to work, plans start to come together for projects to resume filming and an increase in the number of actor/actresses who are signing on to new projects as the film industry attempts to get the big wheel spinning once again.

It’s been mostly quiet on the Marvel Studios front, however, as we still don’t have any definite timeline for when they will finish production on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (though yesterday did bring some good news on that front), Loki or Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. And while we heard that Spider-Man 3 is aiming to start up in late-September or early-October, we still don’t know when other projects which missed their intended start dates, such as Ms. Marvel and Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, will get the green light. However, there is another glimmer of hope that was shared with me and that I’m happy to share with you now… What I heard this week: after shutting the process down due to the pandemic, casting has resumed for the role of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel! The casting process for this one has been wild and taken a long and winding road but I was told that actresses were recently being called back in to continue the auditioning process. The casting of Kamala Khan is certainly one that is of great interest to many (my Twitter DMs are proof as they are filled with questions about when and who and if) and one that Marvel Studios is clearly taking great care to get right.

The timing of the resumption of the process is also of note. As the state of Georgia begins to open back up and film and TV production gets rolling again in and around Atlanta, where Ms. Marvel is slated to film, it’s possible that an imminent casting could lead to cameras rolling on the Disney Plus streaming series before the end of Summer! This is one to keep an eye on over the next several weeks. Should Marvel Studios land the actress for the role, a casting announcement via the trades would be major news and lift the spirits of fans who have had little good news the past few months.

June 16, 2020
‘SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS’: How The Tournament Could Really Introduce Everybody

Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is my most-anticipated MCU movie coming down the line. I’m a big Eternals fan, cannot wait to see sequels to Black Panther and Captain Marvel, am curious where they take Spider-Man, but Shang-Chi is the only MCU movie (that we know of) that is set in the aftermath of The Blip. The Avengers were essentially disbanded for five years, with Iron Man hanging up his suit, Captain America leading support groups, Thor drinking himself into a stupor, and Hulk merging him and Banner into one person. It stands to reason that other threats popped up during this five year gap from when Thanos first snapped his fingers to 2023, where the Avengers eventually brought everybody back. Keep in mind: Thanos’s snap disintegrated half of the life in the universe, and it also stands to reason that were some pretty serious consequences. With Tony’s snap at the Endgame, I’d wager there were some other unintended consequences too, though I will save that for another article.

During the five year time gap, my thinking is that Shang-Chi is one of the heroes that popped up during that time. I, also, believe that the time gap they implemented in Endgame was deliberately implemented in order for Marvel to use Disney+ and other feature films to fill in those gaps. One of the things we did not see a lot of in Endgame was how the rest of the world was dealing with the Avengers disbanding. The Sokovia Accords most likely remained in place, and it is a very different world than when the Avengers first fought Thanos in 2018. That means whatever heroes and villains popped up had to do so in secret. Wakanda had no King, as far as we know. The Defenders vanished (even if Feige wants to pretend those Netflix shows did not happen). Ant Man learned the Quantum Realm, and who knows what other fantastic things he ran into while he was trapped in there. Needless to say, there is a lot of story to tell, and Shang-Chi’s tournament feels like the right place to start re-populating this world with heroes and villains alike.

Backstory:

Shang Chi #112 revolves around Shang-Chi fighting in an underground martial arts tournament. While Marvel has been loose with the adaptations, this feels like something that could directly translate into making this movie very different compared to other Marvel movies, and our own Charles has found evidence to support that there will be a tournament in Shang-Chi. The basis of the film will most likely see an exiled Shang-Chi is trying to do whatever it takes to get to the Mandarin, aka his Father, and stop the reign of terror he has inflicted with his 10 Rings of Power. With no Avengers to lean on, especially on this side of the world, he enters this tournament to go after him himself. The tournament is held in Madripoor, an island in Southeast Asia that is shrouded in mystery. This island, we already know, plays a role in the upcoming The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Disney+ series, but I do not think Kevin Feige would use such an iconic Marvel location one time. Looking through the comics, there are countless characters that have crossed paths with this location and Shang-Chi, and they’d do well to make up the other participants of this tournament.

Who Fights?

Let’s kick this off with Wolverine, but he’s not known as Wolverine but as Patch during this time. The ageless X-Men has very often been depicted as the same age as the other X-Men, but he is actually 103 years old when he first encounters the X-Men in 1993. I think Feige honors this part of Wolverine’s origin and doesn’t let him cross paths with the X-Men until much later in his story. For this story, I believe Wolverine is on a mission to hunt the man responsible for blowing up the embassy during the signing of the Sokovia Accords and starting Civil War and after attempting to visit Wakanda and not finding any answers as to Bucky’s whereabouts, he travels 4300 miles East to an island in Asia and ends up in Madripoor, where he falls in love with a mutant operative named Leiku Rose Wu, and befriends a daywalker named Blade.

Blade is in Madripoor for two reasons: Blade has heard that one of the Mandarin’s 10 Rings, the Remaker, can rearrange the atoms and molecules of a substance, or speed up or slow down their movement, so as to produce various effects. With Blade refusing to feed on human blood, he believes this ring can help him speed up the effects of the animal blood he has been feeding on. The other reason he ends up in Madripoor is that he felt this could be the safest place for him to be given General Ross and SHIELD’s interest in his blood. This is a storyline, at least SHIELD’s hunt for Blade’s blood, derived from the 8^th issue of Blade.

You, then, have a master archer by the name of Bullseye, who after killing Hugo Kostas Natchios and his wife Christina Natchios in 2018, leaves the United States and ventures to Madripoor seeking refuge. He enters the tournament because the Mandarin has offered to keep him safe if he wins, provided he kills Shang-Chi in the process.

Following Bullseye to Madripoor after he murdered her parents, we have Elektra. Elektra first went searching for Bullseye in K’un-Lun and, believing that he was being hidden by monks, slaughtered everybody except one fighter and left. She uses her family’s resources to track Bullseye to Madripoor, where she is convinced to enter the tournament by a mysterious character.

Danny Rand aka Iron Fist (after ascending to Iron Fist) leaves K’un Lun in search of the female assassin he saw murder his family. He believes it was Elektra, and receives a message from the Mandarin that leads him Madripoor.

King M’Baku, who ascended to the throne in T’Challa and Shuri’s absence, ends up in Madripoor when T’Challa vanishes after The Snap: he ventures there because Patch tried to enter Wakanda looking for Bucky. M’Baku wants answers, as he is frightened after the alien invasion in Wakanda and wants to keep his people safe. He enters the tournament to fight Patch and get answers from him.

Lastly, a mysterious fighter named Mister X, also, enters the tournament, though his intentions are a bit unclear. He is, later, revealed to be Taskmaster, who worked with Zemo to orchestrate the events that led to Civil War and who actually survives his fight with Black Widow in the upcoming Black Widow movie.

Tournament Results:

First Round:

Wolverine beats Mister X pretty soundly but, while sleeping, is captured by the Thunderbolts, who want to hand him over to Weapon X

Blade defeats Bullseye but is stopped by Elektra before he can kill him, and Bullseye escapes. As Blade goes to kill Elektra for stopping him, Iron Fist stops Blade from killing her with the thinking that he wants to be the one to kill Elektra.

M’Baku beats Iron Fist, who is still reeling from earlier fight with Blade

Shang Chi and Elektra fight to a draw, Mandarin orders there must be a winner, they escape once Elektra confirms she wasn’t in K’un Lun.

2^nd Round:

Blade advances because Patch is gone

Shang-Chi defeats M’Baku and tells him what happened to Patch

Finals:

Shang-Chi defeats Blade and shows him how to escape Madripoor.

The End

Mandarin descends and fights Shang-Chi, revealing that he was the one that turned Wolverine into Weapon X because of Wolverine’s relationship with Shang-Chi’s sister. The Mandarin, Taskmaster and Zemo are revealed to have orchestrated the events that led to all the fighters in the tournament ending up in Madripoor in order to capture Blade to steal his blood, torture Iron Fist for the location of K’un-Lun, kill Elektra to ensure she receives the blame for the killing of the monks when it is revealed that the new Black Widow was really responsible, rescue Bullseye so he can join the Thunderbolts, and capture Shang-Chi if he happened to take possession of the 10 Rings. Shang-Chi and the Mandarin fight and Blade, M’Baku, Iron Fist, and Elektra fight the Thunderbolts while Shang-Chi and Mandarin fight one on one. Shang-Chi defeats the Mandarin and, not willing to let him live, kills him. The Thunderbolts escape.

Post Credit Scene:

Zemo returns to Madripoor to recruit a wounded Bullseye and Bullseye joins Thunderbolts (who now have Zemo, Red Hulk, Taskmaster, Black Widow, and Bullseye)

Post Credit Scene 2:

Wolverine in a tent washing his wounds, after escaping from Weapon X, when he hears a voice in his head say “Logan”

June 15, 2020
The Real Deal with Ogun

After sitting on it for months, we recently released an image from the Madripoor set of Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier that revealed what appeared to be a biker gang logo. Shortly after running the story, we were contacted by Twitter user and Murphy’s Multiverse reader @AmzingShite, who believed he had a match for the face on the jacket; he believed (and in subsequent conversations on Twitter it became clear that a lot of folks share the same opinion) that the face was incredibly similar to a red demon mask worn by one of Wolverine’s oldest acquaintances: Ogun.

First introduced in the 1984 series Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, Ogun is a ninja who once served as friend of Logan’s and mentored him in the Art of the Samurai. During their time together, Ogun revealed to Logan that he had mastered the forbidden art of cheating death. Ogun could copy his psyche and then upload it into the bodies of others where it would slowly begin to erase their personalities and install his, a process he intended to do to Logan before the X-Man departed. Following Logan’s departure, Ogun fought all over the world wearing the red mask seen in the picture above, one that presents a common depiction of demons in Japanese art.

That connection to Logan has people plenty excited as fan-generated rumors were already circulating that Wolverine would pop up on location in Madripoor, but what’s more interesting is the relationship Ogun himself as to the island, specifically to an underground tournament fought there at one point…

Apparently bored killing people on his own merit, Ogun joined the Yakuza as an enforcer. Already shown in Avengers: Endgame, the Yakzua are expected to appear in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in the episode where the gang visits Madripoor. In that regard, it’s possible that we see Ogun as the head of a Yakuza biker gang, thus explaining the symbol on the jacket.

There is, however, one more interesting possibility that could connect The Falcon and The Winter Soldier not only to someone from Logan’s long history, but also to a long-standing rumor about the plot of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings! During an arc in Wolverine, Vol. 2, Ogun found himself in Madripoor at the time a secret, underground martial arts tournament was being fought. It’s a crazy tale that involves him trying to take over Madripoor by taking over the body of Viper, but it checks enough boxes to at least bring it up here.

Admittedly a blurry picture of a biker jacket is absolutely not enough evidence to suggest that Ogun is showing up and that’s not what I’m suggesting here. It’s likely that this is either just an Easter Egg for Ogun or completely unrelated; however, to me, the images are similar enough that not taking the time to point out the potential connections would be silly given we originally published the picture and had some great followers from our community (including @hradesi14 who gave a nice summary of Ogun’s character) point it out to us.

This is one we’d love to hear about in the comments. Do you think we’ll see Ogun in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier? Are we just a few degrees of separation away from the MCU version of Wolverine? Get a discussion going in Disqus and let us know.

June 15, 2020
The MCU’s Best Storytelling Days Are Still To Come

As part of the relaunch of Murphy’s Multiverse, we invited several friends, old and new, to write some guest features. This was written by our friend and longtime supporter, Joao Pinto.

Avengers: Endgame marked the end of an era. We said goodbye to several characters in more ways than one, as the MCU rode into the sunset at ease with what it had accomplished for over a decade. A couple of months afterward, Spider-Man: Far From Home served as an epilogue to the Infinity Saga, one that showed us that going forward things will have definitively changed and that nothing will be as it once was. As fans look forward to what’s coming next, from Disney+ shows to theatrical releases, from sequels and spin-offs to entirely new IPs, there is no way not to wonder if the connection with the new characters we’ll be welcoming, and with old ones now under a brighter spotlight, will run as deep as the ones many had with the characters that won’t be along for the ride. Will their stories be able to hold their own when compared to a 23-movie-long behemoth of a storyline? Nostalgia will manage to creep in, but there are a couple of hints that make it believe that the MCU’s best storytelling days are still ahead.

Since 2008 the MCU has expanded and gotten bigger with every single chapter. And every few years since the first Avengers movie it was time to bring the team back together, with more members, bringing new franchises into the mix, until we got to the point in Avengers: Endgame where there were 25+ superheroes suiting up for that final battle. So, how do you top that? You don’t. And so there would be little sense in even trying to do so.

Late last year we were hearing that an Avengers-like event movie would have to wait another five years. Considering what 2020 has been like, it’s easy to understand if we now have to wait until at least 2025 to get something like the now-iconic Alan Silvestri theme back in theaters. And what this self-imposed five-year waiting period tells us is that Marvel is very confident about their new strategy, the stories they want to tell, and how they want to tell them. The Avengers movies were always a chance to touch base, to get people to the theaters in droves, to hype up the brand, and continue to make a solid argument for both the commercial and cultural relevance these movies had earned. But nowadays, they seem comfortable enough to take a chance and live off of some “smaller” franchises, some brand new ones and even some tv shows for a while. So what can we expect in terms of their new approach towards storytelling for the next few years?

Strange Alchemy 2.0

If you’re here on Murphy’s Multiverse you probably know what “Strange Alchemy” means in the context of the MCU. It’s basically what Avengers: Infinity War‘s writer’s room called the process of bringing characters together, trying to figure out the most interesting pairings to, as they once did in medieval times, try to turn base metals into (cinematic) gold.

This has always been one of the most interesting aspects of the MCU. The way they manage to flip the status quo through these interactions and keep coming up with something fresh that keeps most characters (some that find little moral adversaries in their solo outings) on their toes. By reshaping pre-established power structures, characters (and therefore storylines) take a step forward, forcing themselves to become a bit more layered in order to keep up with the growing complexity of their surroundings.

With huge team-up movies on standby, Marvel will maybe make up for it by sprinkling even more cameos throughout both the theatrical releases and the Disney+ shows, making it easier to get characters to show up on several projects instead of being mainly allocated to their little corner of the MCU, enriching the interconnected narrative. This connectivity has always been a hallmark of Kevin Feige‘s MCU and getting characters from Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel to show up on WandaVision might just be a small hint of things to come.

Deeper dives with substance

It’s not that we haven’t had TV shows that reference the movies and their events, but the reality of it is that the opposite has been negligible. But now, Disney+ will finally give the theatrical side of MCU the chance to interlink with made-for-TV content, allowing the story to go back and forth, and maybe expanding the MCU into even bigger and better heights.

This time we’ll get to go deeper, in a more intimate light, into the stories of characters introduced in the movies, both by continuing plot points that were set up in a movie (Falcon and The Winter Soldier; Loki) or by setting up a plot point of its own and then having the big payoff play out in theaters (WandaVision). This will allow for longer, more complex stories to be told, with varying paces and scopes. We’ll also get to see some new characters brought into the mix through Disney+, by giving them the time equivalent of two or three movies to introduce themselves into this universe. Stereotypical origin stories, something that the MCU has been trying to avoid (we haven’t had one of those since Doctor Strange in 2016), will have the chance to be treated in a different light, with perhaps also a greater ability to bring in established characters to help make the show feel like part of something bigger. For the sake of example: If you give Bruce Banner a 30-minute cameo in a She-Hulk movie you might risk him upstaging Jennifer Walters. But if you give Banner and entire She-Hulk episode to be on, she still has at least another 5 episodes to have everything be about her story. This way, if the story could do with the presence of another, more established character, the writers can always choose what’s best for the plot without the concern of deviating too much from the focus of the show.

By deciding to make most shows a single season event, Marvel Studios also shows their intentions of keeping the stories moving forward. By the end of the season, each character might not be where they were at the beginning in such a way that a second season would need to be reframed and relabeled. This doesn’t mean that every character will either die or indefinitely move to the movies at the end of each show, it just means that after Ms. Marvel is done, Kamala Khan could easily move into a Champions limited series or something of the sort. This means that we won’t get stuck into a routine of endless seasons from each show, always with similar foes, similar sidekicks, and now have the change of always leaving on a high note, with characters constantly evolving within the MCU.

Broader events

One of the most common complaints when it comes to how Marvel Studios decides to adapt the comic stories to the big screen is the number of details they tend to leave out. Sometimes they even decide to get bits and pieces of a couple of storylines in the same movie together, leaving even less screen time for most things readers would have expected to be able to see. This all comes down to time. Not only the available run time for the movie, but also the number of years they have available with the character and the actor that portrays it. We can’t seriously expect Marvel to address every single bit, of every single major storyline of any given character. They’ve been picking and choosing while being concerned with the overarching story, making sure characters are all moving at the exact pace that allows for all the pieces to be in place when the time comes for them to get together in some major event.

Even these events, that are the ones that on the comic side of it tend to have a huge amount of setup, countless side stories that focus on specific characters and their own path through it all, are more often than not streamlined so that the story told is done in a way that is compatible with the blockbuster runtime. And even if they mostly end up getting a similar amount of runtime as a “regular” movie, some of these stories run so deep they could be a trilogy on their own.

But now, with both movies and streaming shows at their disposal, Marvel might finally take their major, and not so major events to another level. Having each medium being able to support the other, while having all the talent contractually on board can allow for an even more immersive experience that mirrors what comics have been doing for decades through tie-ins. Imagine if, when the time comes, when they decide to get an Annihilation movie into production (for real this time), we get a Disney+ limited series with an episode dedicated to each character that’ll play a big part in the main theatrical event. We probably won’t have Ronan available, and Drax really isn’t the same character, but after having them introduced in previous projects, we could get Nova, Super-Skrull and Silver Surfer episodes setting up the movie.

Interconnected episodic segments, on the big and small screen, telling different sides to the same story, focusing on both the grand scheme of things and the smaller details of some personal struggles. The possibilities are as exciting as they come.

All of this is nothing but an opinion. On paper, it might have everything going for it, but it will still come down to the quality of the scripts, of the performances, of the directing, and so on. But the MCU hasn’t gotten as big as it has because people took to it because of their pretty faces and explosions. They’ve done their job and they’ve done it well. They’ve been competent. Even nowadays, with so many projects being put on hold, release dates shifting all the time, considering the way they’ve handled themselves over the years, there is no reason not to think that the final products might actually be better because of the waiting time. Scripts can be polished, visual effect don’t need to be rushed, plans can be improved. These 10+ years of content can give Marvel a bit of extra tranquility, but surely also remind them of the added responsibility to not just maintain but to raise the bar on what a shared cinematic universe can really aspire to become

June 13, 2020
Jeff Lemire’s HAWKEYE May Be A Big Influence on Upcoming Series

Even though we don’t know when production will begin much less when it will air, fans are very excited for the Marvel Studios series Hawkeye to drop on Disney Plus. Kevin Feige has told us two very important things: it will introduce Kate Bishop and it will feature some more of Clint Barton’s time as Ronin. Rumors have swirled about other potential plot point and characters, but those two tidbits from Feige are key. Additionally, if we’ve learned anything from the limited information available to us about the other Disney Plus series, it’s that they will truly build a world, full of supporting characters, around the leads. For The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, that means we’ll meet Sam Wilson’s family and get some more details about Bucky’s history; the same is very likely for Hawkeye.

Executive Producer Trinh Tran has promised that the show will paint a picture of Clint Barton’s past and while it’s been retconned a few times over the years, there are some parts and people that seem to stand the test of time. Clint’s story is rooted in an abusive childhood, depends on a relationship with his older brother, Charles Bernard “Barney” Barton and time spent at a carnival where the brothers met some criminals who influenced the rest of their lives. It’s also likely we’ll see a deeper dive into Kate Bishop’s history which means a look at her father, Derek, and his dirty dealings.

We already know that Matt Fraction’s acclaimed Hawkeye run is going to heavily influence the series. What you’ll see here are some panels from other classic and recent runs that could help us get deeper into the pasts of our Hawkeyes. I have no insider knowledge here, just a lot of comic books, a decent memory, a subscription to Marvel Unlimited and a little more free time than normal. So, enjoy the read and let’s see if we can spot these influences when the show airs!

Hawkeye, Vol. 3 (2003). Fabian Nicieza and Stefano Raffaele.

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Why They Might Use This Run

As you’ll see, each of the books here that take a deep dive into Clint Barton’s background will have a few things in common. First of all, they’ll focus on the relationship between Clint and his older brother, Barney, Secondly, the books will show the time the Barton boys spent living the carnival life. Finally, they’ll tell some version of how they were influenced by Swordsman and, in almost every instance, Trick Shot, a couple of carnival showmen with criminal proclivities. In this case, this is probably my favorite iteration of the Clint/Barney relationship, which could make for a really interesting plot device.

Possible Influential Panels

The flashback, as many do, starts with Clint stumbling upon Swordsman embezzling money from the carnival. In this version, Swordsman chases Clint, causes him to fall and break his legs and prepares to kill him before he’s stopped by Trick Shot.

Following the unfortunate series of events, Barney invites Clint to join him in enlisting in the Army. Clint, at first reluctant to go, changes his mind but misses the bus. Barney goes on to become an FBI agent after leaving the service and, in a cruel twist of fate, meets up with his brother while undercover and is shot in the chest by Clint!

Hawkeye: Blindspot (2011). Jim McCann and Paco Diaz.

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Why They Might Use This Run

McCann’s series, as many of the others here, give us some insight into the early days of the Barton boys. We get a little different version of things each time, but here their abusive father dies and the boys run away and, of course, end up at the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders. While the carnival life really seems like an odd thing to put into the series, it’s hard to imagine the boys not being influenced by Swordsman and Trick Shot. This limited series gives us a brief look at the original Trick Shot, Buck Chisolm, training Clint. It also sees Clint square off with Barney, who is working for Zemo as the new and improved Trick Shot. Should Barney feature in the series, it’s possible they go with this version of the character and take the sibling rivalry to a new level.

Possible Influential Panels

All-New Hawkeye, Volume 1 (2015). Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez

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Why They Might Use This Run

This 5-issue limited series details (and retcons) the early days of Clint Barton and his brother Barney and Jacques Duquesne, aka the Swordsman, as their paths converge at the Carson Carnival of Travelilng Wonders. The events that take place here, during Clint’s formative years, put him on the road to becoming Hawkeye. While this retcon removes Trick Shot from the early days, it makes Duquesne an even bigger part of Clint’s early years and considering that we saw Barton’s skill with a blade in Avengers: Endgame, it seems very likely that we’ll see Duquesne’s early influence on the Bartons and this version is a little more mild than some of the other options.

Possible Influential Panels

Lemire’s run made some alterations to the Barton boys’ history as told in Hawkeye: Blindspot but he did shine a little more light on the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father and, after his death, their foster dad. The flashbacks show us the day where Barney has finally had enough and fights back. The ordeal leads to the boys running away and stumbling upon the Carson Carnival.

After the boys fall in love with the wonders of the carnival, their foster father shows up and begins to rough them up until he’s interrupted by Duquesne. Duquesne runs their foster father off and immediately becomes a hero to the boys.

Duquesne takes Clint under his wing, teaching him to shoot a bow and quickly realizes the skill of the young man. In fact, Duquesne begins to train Clint to join his act. Unfortunately, Duquesne takes Barney under his wing, but instead of teaching him archery, he teaches him to become a criminal. Clint discovers what’s going on and confronts Duquesne. Thought it doesn’t turn violent, it leads to Clint and Barney going their separate ways.

All-New Hawkeye, Volume 2 (2015-16), issues 4-6. Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez

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Why They Might Use This Run

These 3 issues give new insight into Kate Bishop’s early years and establish just why she and Clint Barton have such an incredible bond. Just like the 2015 series, the events that take place in Kate’s formative years put her on the road to becoming Hawkeye.

Possible Influential Panels

Lemire continues to use flashbacks to give us the goods. The second half of the series fills in some serious gaps in Kate’s past. We find out her father, Derek, hasn’t made all his money through his publishing company and that he’s involved with some dangerous-though-D-list-criminals, mostly notably the infamous El Matador. Kate decides to snoop on her father’s dealings, finds herself stranded in the top secret meeting location, found by someone who looks suspiciously like Tarantula and then held for ransom by the wily Matador!

As it turns out, Clint and the Avengers have been tailing El Matador and rescue Kate. After being saved by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Kate is fascinated that Hawkeye, using just a bow and arrow, can hold his own a team of super-powered or suited up heroes. Given a few tweaks here and there, these scenes could easily be retconned into the MCU. We know that, for at least part of Hawkeye, we will see some more of Clint’s adventures as Ronin. We also know, thanks to Rhodey’s exposition in Avengers: Endgame, that one of Clint’s adventures ended up leaving a bunch of dead criminals in Mexico. It doesn’t take much imagination to tie that brief description to the first meeting of the Hawkeyes!

These final issues of the series build up to the Hawkeyes going their separate ways after sharing some honest moments about how much each one means to the other. The great takeaway here is that Clint, through all his troubles and daddy issues of his own, has provided Kate with the positive father figure she was never going to have in Derek.

When you’re dealing with a character like Clint Barton, who has been around for so long, there are so many possible stories from which to draw. If you’re looking for one that seems most ready made for Disney Plus and that keeps as many of the key points as possible, it’s certainly Jeff Lemire’s. Lemire’s work on Kate Bishop’s background is equally well-done and likely to inform the MCU version of the character. At this point it’s likely to be a while before we start to uncover some plot points for the series, so as we sit around and speculate, it’s great to have these panels in mind!

June 13, 2020