Tag: Marvel TV

EXCLUSIVE: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set Videos Hint at New Team Joining the Series

Earlier this week, a video taken on the set of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier seemed to show Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes liberating some people from NYPD vehicles while Wyatt Russell’s John Walker fought a group of masked thugs. Though exciting, the video came without much context. Now, in footage, photos and a firsthand account obtained exclusively by Murphy’s Multiverse, we are able to get a MUCH clearer picture of what we were seeing.

At this point, I would caution anyone who is spoiler sensitive from continuing on as what follows my very well revolve around a major plot point. Also, I offer my gratitude to @Loburger for being generous enough to share these pics, videos and details exclusively with Murphy’s Multiverse and to @MsLizzieHill for her tireless work to help provide our readers with the best content!

Twitter user @Loburger was on set Saturday, February 29th and managed to snag several set photos, including one below that seems to add some context to what we see in set videos.

The set photo below indicates that at least one major set piece in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will revolve around a hostage situation taking place at the 2023 G20 Summit in New York. G20 is an annual summit that was first held in 1999. Representatives from 20 countries assemble to discuss means to achieve international financial stability. Recently, actor Demi Castro was added to the IMDB Page as “G20 Leader #1” and, if I’m processing all these videos correctly, it seems that the villains of the series will mount an attack on G20! Scroll through the images below to see some exclusive set videos.

The four new set videos below give us much more complete picture of just what’s happening in this scene. According to @Loburger:

“The 2 armored vehicles come to a stop and 4 people run toward them. You can’t tell from the this but all 4 of them appeared to be females and they all wore masks. One of the ‘bad guys’ with the masks had brilliantly bright, long red curly hair.”

And so, as you can see in the first video, the 2 NYPD SWAT vehicles pictured above are stopped in the road by the gang of females.

The next video is similar to the video from the other day, but from a different angle. It gives us another look at Walker’s brutal fighting style and also shows him taken down by the gang of women. This gang of women look like brawlers to me and that’s something I’ll speculate on shortly.

The final video shows Bucky rushing to the aid of Walker after liberating who we assume to be G20 hostages from the SWAT vehicles.

There are 2 major takeaways here:

1. At this point it seems safe to say that Bucky and Walker are indeed working together to rescue the G20 leaders.

2. Are we seeing the Grapplers? In the comics, the Grapplers are a group of female wrestlers who, similar to John Walker, are powered up by the Power Broker, but then went on to pursue a life of crime. The group consisted of Titania, Letha, Poundcakes and Screaming Mimi, aka Songbird! Like many other characters and plot points from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the Grapplers were created by writer Mark Gruenwald, so it’s not entirely unreasonable to think the might show up to cause some trouble for our heroes.

While there are still MANY, MANY questions about what’s going on here, there’s no doubt that these new photos and videos shed a little more light on this past weekend’s production! Please feel free to sound off on what you think is going on in the comments!!

September 11, 2020
What I Heard This Week: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’

This piece was originally published on August 18th. That day, a decision was made to take it down after fans became aggressive in their disbelief of it. With Labor Day being today, we wanted to share the original information again.

As has always been the case, “What I Heard This Week” pieces should never be taken as more than rumors until they’re proven true or false.

As mentioned here, Marvel Studios production crews recently returned to Atlanta to prepare for filming to resume or begin on several projects. Crews for the Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Solider, Loki and Hawkeye joined crew from the Untitled Spider-Man Sequel in constructing sets, getting the offices back up and running and preparing general pre-production routines in advance of the cast and directors heading back at an undisclosed date. Now, it looks like we might have a very good idea of just when they’ll roll cameras again and we should all be as hyped as this dude is when he high fives John Walker!

This isn’t one-size fits all info and, as I’ll detail after sharing the info, it could lead to two possible timelines, but it’s still worth a share. Cast members for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will begin arriving in Atlanta as early as this weekend (August 21st-23rd) to get ready to resume production. This doesn’t mean we should expect to see everyone in Atlanta this weekend because, as you probably know, the whole cast doesn’t always need to be everywhere all the time; however, this weekend will mark the beginning of their return meaning filming is just around the corner…though we can’t quite be sure how long it’ll take to round that corner.

Given the ongoing pandemic, a return to Atlanta does not mean an immediate return to set for the cast, so there are a couple of options here. Option one would be that the cast lands in Atlanta this weekend, clears a quick result COVID test, gets ready to roll and starts filming next week…and that would make us all really happy; however, that might not be how it works out. Option two would be that the cast lands in Atlanta this weekend, goes into a 2-week self-isolation period, and begins filming after the September 7th Labor Day holiday. Unfortunately, I was unable to get clarification on whether or not the cast will be required to self-isolate or not, so I can’t tell you which option we’ll see, but I can tell you that we are almost there and, if things go well, we might even get to see The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in 2020.

September 7, 2020
Marvel TV and the Recasting Dilemma

2020 marks the 5th year since the Marvel-Netflix universe debuted with Daredevil. The year also coincides with the “reverting” of the character rights to Marvel, 2 years after the first set of shows were canceled abruptly. Because of this and rumors of Kevin Feige having an interest in bringing back some cast members like Charlie Cox, loyal fans of the shows are optimistic in seeing these characters played by the same actors in potential movie appearances moving forward.

It’s the age-old question among MCU fans since the inception of Marvel Television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2013 that keeps coming back: when are these characters going to appear in the films? After all, they’re deeply beloved among fans and the actors themselves have it in their contracts to appear in films if the opportunity arose. But in the 11 years of the MCU, this question has never been outright addressed by the powers that be. Kevin Feige has either dodged or politely answered fluff to every hard-hitting Marvel TV question asked. For example in 2015, when asked point-blank about any movie appearances, he said:

Into the movies? No. Well…. Right now, what Jeph Loeb and the TV guys are doing is focusing on those shows. And certainly with Daredevil coming out last night and being so well received. The next one’s already in production and the one after that has been announced. So I think they’re doing quite well for themselves in that medium. We’ve certainly had discussions on where down the line, who could show up where. But I think they’ve been very smart in saying, “Let us establish this here first.” They’re off to a very good start.

That’s just one of the handful of fluff answers the mastermind of the MCU has given to the press. If you count him purposefully avoiding any Marvel TV answers in a Reddit AMA a couple of years back, his feelings on the matter are telling. During the 2015 same press tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon candidly, albeit jokingly, spoke about the film division’s true feelings about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saying, “I think actually the movie people were a little bit cross about the TV show. They were sort of like ‘Well you can have this but not this. And this but not that.’ It’s complicated enough as it is without me adding another layer of complication.” Just last December, when all these brand spanking new Disney+ shows were getting announced, Kevin Feige shadily affirmed that it would be the first time TV content would interlink with the MCU.

Of course, diehards have always known why it’s always been like this; the feud between Kevin Feige and his former boss and overlord of Marvel Television, Ike Perlmutter, that made collaboration between the two divisions near-impossible. But that all changed several months ago when the current iteration of Marvel Television was disbanded following those Netflix cancelations. Right then and there, Disney announced that Kevin Feige was being promoted to Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Entertainment, practically making his rival Ike’s position obsolete in the company. The announcement’s fine print stated that all creative decisions for any property – be it in comics, animation, TV, or film – would go through Feige. This was, in many ways, the biggest status quo change for the Marvel Studios system. All of a sudden, the keys to Marvel TV’s future were now handed to Kevin Feige.

As all the Marvel Netflix characters await their return into the hands of the MCU’s showrunner, two new questions beg to be raised. Should the characters be rebooted from scratch or should they live on with continued stories in the MCU?

Believe it or not, the answer is a very complicated one and starts with the man himself, Kevin Feige. It shouldn’t come as a surprise now, following the billion-dollar success the Infinity Saga became, that Kevin Feige loves being able to do what he wants. His system at Marvel Studios has always prided itself on having the freedom to go bold and big whenever and wherever regardless of the cost. Marvel TV’s creative decisions, however, have remained separate from Feige’s purview and a lot of them haven’t been exactly great.

An amazing character like Iron Fist made his live-action debut in a show that was nothing short of lackluster. Iron Fist‘s second season was an undeniable improvement but the first season’s stench dwarfed the corrections they made that it was too little, too late. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher all started out as very strong shows but slowly diminished in quality as their stories progressed. Even the highly-publicized Defenders team-up show that was the epicenter of Marvel’s multimillion deal with Netflix failed to live up to its hype despite having all the tools to make it great. And in light of reports of Jeph Loeb’s racist mandates that derailed the creative process for these shows, the whole thing seems like one wasted opportunity after another. It’s honestly a miracle that Daredevil managed to stay consistently solid amidst all that.

With hundreds of hours of content, these shows have already established their own set of rules and canon. Even though the canon initially revolved around the events of the first Avengers movie or the Incident, they’ve pretty much taken their own steps to where they wanted this corner of the Marvel universe to go. This might not lineup with Kevin Feige’s idea of a Marvel street-level universe, especially now that street-level properties like Moon Knight and Blade have been greenlit. Kevin Feige likely has his own idea of K’un L’un and Shou Lao, his own take on Frank MIller‘s iconic Hand/Bullseye/Elektra saga, his own version of Luke Cage that is primed for the Avengers, and his own vision of how he wants these characters to be. It’s hard to imagine any interest from Kevin Feige in continuing and tieing into stories that he had no hand in shaping.

People have brought up the idea of doing a soft reboot i.e. continue with the cast but start from scratch. This makes more sense than straight-up continuing the established Marvel-Netflix status quo; the fans win by getting to see their favorite actors play their favorite characters and Marvel Studios gets a fresh start on where to take them. However, going this route has its own set of problems. Netflix is, by and large, a competitor of Disney, especially now that the House of Mouse has its own streaming service. Even though the live-action “rights” of all the Defenders characters revert to Disney this year, that doesn’t preclude Netflix from airing all the existing Defenders shows, which they legally own.

To continue the cast puts Disney in a tough spot. Say they bring back Charlie Cox as Daredevil or Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin in a new Daredevil film. It’ll be the shit because both of them are absolutely great in that role. You go out of the theater and say to yourself, “That movie was amazing. Charlie and Vincent were killer. I sure would love to see more of them together.” Well, guess what? You can see them together in the comfort of your own home. Just queue up the show on Netflix and enjoy 39 hours of Charlie and Vincent at your behest.

Therein lies the biggest problem with continuing the cast. To continue this iteration of Daredevil will inevitably drive audiences to check out Charlie Cox’s other appearances as Daredevil and where else will they find more of that but on Netflix, Disney’s #1 competitor in the streaming wars? “But the fans! Disney has got to listen to the fans!” Fans are great and play a big part in why these things get made but at the end of the day, it’s corporate interests that drive the decision making. Remember, this is Disney we’re talking about. There’s a reason why they refuse to even give Universal the time of the day even if its to make a highly-demanded Hulk solo film. There’s a reason why the Sony-Spidey talks broke down last year. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Disney becomes cool with its content driving audiences to Netflix.

Logistically and fiscally, it’s more sensical to just completely start from scratch. Get a new face to play all these characters and tell the stories you want right from the beginning. Avoid the trouble of turning audiences towards your competitor. Get rid of the baggage of having a pre-established canon. Yes, losing the cast members, who’ve done exemplary work on these shows, will sting hard but it’s the easiest way to move forward.

Ultimately, the one guaranteed silver lining here is that these characters will live on no matter what. Regardless of the cast returning or not, we’re a hundred percent going to see the Marvel Studios version of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones down the road under Marvel Studios. The Netflix shows may have clocked in longer than all the MCU films combined but there’s actually a lot in the comics the shows didn’t get to explore. A lot of that had to do with budgetary constraints, so the creative teams had to opt for a more grounded, real-world gritty tone. While that’s not a bad thing, it’s important to remember that these stories are based on source material that’s grand and exciting. Dragons exist! Sorcery exists! Demonic ninjas exist! A villain called Stilt-Man has hydraulic legs! Daredevil should be able to traverse high-rise buildings like he would in the comics. Danny Rand needs to fight an actual dragon. With the budget Marvel Studios invests in their projects, these things are all possible now.

As for the other defunct Marvel TV shows, they’re in a slightly better position than the Netflix shows. For one, they don’t have the competitor problem the Netflix shows pose since ABC, Freeform, and Hulu are all under the Mouse House. Now that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has ended and in light of rumors of a S.W.O.R.D. Disney+ show happening, Chloe Bennet reprising her role as Quake is certainly a possibility. It’s logistically a lot easier to soft reboot someone like Quake and incorporate her into the MCU without worrying about helping the competitor. If anything, a film appearance might boost the syndication deals ABC has with international networks. Of course, it’ll be a matter of Marvel Studios being interested in that idea. But judging from stuff that’s been said, it’s clear that the fan demand to see the Marvel TV actors appear in the films might not be as mutual as some people think. However, stranger things have happened. We all at one point thought that neither Spider-Man nor the X-Men would ever make it to the MCU. Yet here we are.

August 17, 2020
REVIEW: ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Season 7
It is hard to believe that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is over. After seven years the show has finally aired its final episode. It has been quite the journey. Somehow, Marvel TV’s first major series has survived quite a few hurdles. It saw strong ratings drop throughout its first season. Each season got shifted around the schedule to make way for other shows. Its fifth season finale was even titled “The End”. Suddenly, it gets renewed for two more seasons. Against all odds, SHIELD has now outlived all other Marvel TV shows. At the same time, it signifies the end of an era. Kevin Feige took control to expand into streaming services. As we enter the new Disney+ era, let’s talk about the final mission for our favorite SHIELD agents.

As you continue reading, please keep in mind that there will be spoilers. Only continue at your own risk.

An Adventure Through Time

The story starts us off where the last season ended. Our team ends up in the 1930s. The Chronicoms, a race of synthetic aliens, are trying to destroy SHIELD before it was even truly founded. As such, our ragtag team of agents is forced to chase them down throughout history. On their trip, they have to ensure that HYDRA is established. They infiltrate Area 52. At one point, they even have to stop project INSIGHT centuries before it happened in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Luckily, they have an LMD Coulson to keep them company on their travel through time.

Even after Mack’s warning, they keep changing history. SHIELD’s history gets rewritten multiple times. Wilfred Malick, the before-mentioned HYDRA founder, lives long after his expiration date. His son, Nathanial Malick, wasn’t sacrificed to Hive. He even steals Daisy Johnsons’ quake powers. Afterlife is invaded by HYDRA, where Daisy meets her sister. She was supposed to kill herself but is interrupted by Nathanial. They even invite multiple characters unto the Zephyr-One. Luckily, only Agents Carters‘ Daniel Sousa stays on board beyond his time.

Throughout the season, one of the major mysteries is the whereabouts of Fitz. Simmons has an implant in her neck that keeps her from remembering. He doesn’t show up until the final episodes. Luckily, to fill the void a lot of familiar faces appear throughout the season. Daisy’s mother Jiaying helps Yo-Yo get her powers back. Patton Oswalt returns as the Koenig’s great-great-grandfather. One particular highlight is the return of the first seasons’ main villain John Garret. Tragically, Bill Paxton sadly passed away a few years ago. His son James Paxton took on the role in his honor. He gives us an amazing performance that felt like a younger version of the character. Still, I was expecting more cameos and callbacks. With six seasons to choose from, it felt a little lackluster. I was hoping for a grand return of Brett Dalton‘s Grant Ward or Jason O’Mara‘s Patriot.

Highlights of the Season

As I am looking back at the entire season, there is a lot to cover. Instead of giving recaps of every single episode, I want to talk about my favorite episodes and the moments that made them standout in this season. A general highlight is that each episode had a different opening title depending on the era they were in. It was a fantastic touch that just made this season just a bit more special.
- #701 The New Deal kicks off the season and is our real introduction to what we can expect. It is always great to see the return of Coulson and him getting used to not being fully human. What sold this episode was our LMD agent meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was a calm moment. Our former historian got to geek out to meet a historical figure.
- #704 Out of the Past embraced the classic film noir storyline. I love the in-universe reasoning for Coulson’s inner monologue and that everything is in black and white. Sousa was a highlight throughout the season. He is fleshed out much better here than in Agent Carter, which made me happy to see him join the team long-term.
- #707 The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D gave us Mack at his lowest. The twist from the previous episode of his parents death was heavy but it was this episode that let it sink in. We’ve never seen Mack like this. It was kind of depressing and it was so great when the episode just suddenly turned into an 80s slasher flick. It was jarring at first but with Deke anything is possible. Also, respect that they managed to add as much blood as they did.
- #709 As I Have Always Been was probably the darkest and funniest episode of the season. It’s a bit of a cliché to have a time loop storyline nowadays. Yet, I do believe they really added some perfectly dark humor to make it stand out. The ongoing joke of them getting killed by Enoch was hilarious. Speaking of, Enoch turned into one of my favorite characters in the show. So, this was a rather sad farewell to a fantastic character.
- #711 Brand New Day was a bit of a filler episode. It set up mostly everything for the finale but it really turned the tables at the end. Suddenly, the Chronicoms destroy every SHIELD facility. The moment we see the Triskelion getting blown up was a shocking sequence. It also just highlighted how great the effects work is on this show by Mark Kolpack and his team.
- #713 What We’re Fighting For has some amazing scenes. The reveal that our team was in the hazmats suits from the last season’s finale was great foreshadowing. The action sequences were done incredibly well. The reveal of Fitz and Simmons’ kid was beautifully done. The sequence through the Quantum Realm surprised me quite a bit. Also, ending the series the same way the first episode ended was a nice touch.
Overall, this was one of the best seasons. The time travel antics made me wish we had more episodes to explore this concept. Sadly, you do realize they ran out of budget later in the season due to a stronger focus on indoor scenes. Still, they managed to make this season feel like they had no restrictions. After seven seasons, they mastered the balance between action, comedy, and heartfelt drama. Especially as the show entered the more fantastical realms of the MCU, they always managed to keep a focus on their characters.

The season’s weakest link is the villains. Nathanial Malick works in theory. It helps to have a HYDRA connection but he feels underdeveloped. Also, the Chronicom’s lose their edge after a few episodes. Sibyll was a great addition. It gives the evil alien race a face. It even makes sense with the reveal that they planned on including M.O.D.O.K. at one point. They just don’t do much with her. She gets killed off-screen without a true resolution. It felt like it was trying to balance a new storyline while also paying tribute to the previous seasons. Yet, it lacked the focus to bring it together. Still, it’s a great season. I am more upset that we don’t get more time with this concept beyond these 13 episodes.

All About the Agents

Clark Gregg‘s performance as Coulson is as iconic as ever. It still makes me wish he will continue this role no matter what. We got some amazing additions throughout the seasons. Chloe Bennett‘s portrayal of Daisy Johnson has truly evolved since her initial appearance. To see her become a superhero throughout the show added a great heroic element. This season especially highlighted her arc and character development. Hopefully, these two will continue to have a future in the MCU.

Fitz and Simmons were the glue of the team. Their romance was just iconic and it was especially a highlight this season. The revelation that they were able to spend time with their daughter had me in tears. Who would’ve thought we’d miss Fitz this much. Iain De Caestecker is a fantastic actor. So, it was a bit disappointing that he only appeared for about two episodes. I was this close to retitling this show “Finding Fitz” and doubted he would ever actually make an appearance.

The rest of the cast is also fantastic. Standout performances this season go to Henry Simmons as Mack and, as I already mentioned, Joel Stoffer‘s Enoch. I’ve always been huge of Mack throughout his appearances. He was the perfect choice as director of SHIELD after Coulson’s death in the show’s fifth season. Enoch was a surprise. I believed he was a one-off character at first. As soon as he kept reappearing, I started to care for this character. His performance of a robot alien slowly with growing empathy was incredible. The moment he called Fitz his best friend was both heart wrenching and funny.

Broken Timeline

I loved this season quite a bit. The ending is a great touch. The ending showed us a world where SHIELD lives on. Mack has stolen Fury’s wardrobe to continue as a director. Daisy is in space with Sousa and her sister, Kora. Fitz and Simmons left this life behind to raise their daughter. May works as a teacher at the SHIELD Coulson Academy and Yo-Yo is still out there doing missions. The one who started it all has a rather somber moment. Coulson flies off in Lola to just do what he always wanted to do. It’s a fitting ending for this show. It echoes Coulson’s words from the first season when the spy organization fell apart at the hands of HYDRA. They are agents of SHIELD not the agents of nothing.

My only gripe is, this takes place about two years after The Snap should’ve happened. We saw that in Avengers: Endgame that the world never really recovered from that event. This show kind of glanced over that moment as if it never happened and now it doesn’t match the world we saw previously. There is a good chance that their escapades in the fifth season splintered them off into a different timeline but until an official word comes out we might never know. For now, most people can only go by their headcanon. Especially with the end of Marvel TV as we know it, this would’ve been a great way to kind of put a nice ending on it all. It still is a great ending. I respect that the showrunners Maurissa Tanchaeron, Jed Whedon, and Jeffrey Bell focused on their stories rather than let the larger MCU determine their direction. It just ends with more open questions that necessary. It could lead to some disappointment as people are expecting these characters to return in the future.

A Spy’s Goodbye

At the end of the day, it has been a fantastic seven-year run. Every show has its issues and SHIELD is not exempt from that. My only gripe is that they never did anything with the Secret Warriors. Still, I think a show does something right if the ending gives you peace. Yet, at the same time, you wished it would continue. It’s a strong testament to the writing and the team behind it. We were here for the characters and the show never forgot that. So let us raise a glass to bid Agents of SHIELD goodbye and hope for a bright future for these actors. Hopefully, we might see them again in the MCU one day.

Source: Digital Spy
August 15, 2020
12 Comic Writers Who Will Shape the MCU’s Future

A couple of weeks ago, we published a piece on the most influential comic writers and artists who shaped the first 10 years of the MCU. This is the other half of that piece. Here are some of the writers who will shape the next 5 years of the MCU. If you want an idea of how the MCU is going to look like, check out these writers and their books.

NEIL GAIMAN

Arguably the most recognizable name on this list, a lot of people don’t know that author Neil Gaiman dabbled in Marvel Comics amidst his successful stints as a novelist and graphic novelist. In 2006, Gaiman, with the help of famed artist John Romita Jr., revitalized the classic Kirby-creation, Eternals, a title obscured from comic shelves of the time.

Gaiman plucked out characters like Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi, and Thena and reimagined them as people living normal lives, unaware of their dormant cosmic powers and origin. The story isn’t by any means amazing but it did check enough boxes for Marvel Studios to use it as the basis for their upcoming film.

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MATT FRACTION

Matt Fraction is on this list for a couple of reasons. His Iron Man run has a fantastic Mandarin story ripe for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to draw from. The Iron Fist run he co-wrote with Ed Brubaker was the seminal story for the character. But the thing that Fraction is truly celebrated for is his iconic Hawkeye run.

Fraction deconstructed the myth of being in the world’s biggest superhero team through the eyes of the team’s most human member, Hawkeye. The superhero life isn’t as glamorous or high flying as we thought it was. Clint Barton wasn’t a big superhero saving the world from an alien invasion in this comic. No, Clint was just a guy who wanted to get the lights of his house fixed. Add a feisty partner in Kate Bishop and some neighborhood goons to that scenario, and you have what is the most fun comic in recent memory.

The comic was such a seminal depiction of the character that it’s not at all surprising to see that they’re using it as a template for the upcoming Hawkeye series. Goons included. Granted, there are some changes to be expected. Clint Barton, in the comics, is a single childless man while he’s a family man in the films. He lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere while in the comic, he lives smackdab in the city. It’ll be interesting to see just how faithful they get in this retelling of the Fraction comic.

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TOM KING

Former CIA agent-turned comic writer Tom King has only ever written one Marvel comic in his esteemed career but it’s already up there as one of the genre’s most inventive and unique. Simply titled Vision, the book was a character drama about the Avengers’ resident android and his attempts to hold together a family of like-minded androids living a suburban life.

Though stylized as a superhero, this story is a study on familial dysfunction and identity. What transpires in this 12-issue run is a heartbreaking unraveling of who these androids really are underneath the nuts, bolts, and suburban normalcy. One look at Wandavision’s premise and you can already envision how Tom King’s run could serve as an inspiration. And if this comic is any indication of how good Wandavision could really be, we’re in for a treat.

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G. WILLOW WILSON

Kamala Khan is inarguably one of Marvel’s biggest successes in the past 10 years. The character has amassed a huge fanbase and become an inspiration for people of different religions, garnered critical acclaim and multiple awards, and is already on track to have a solo series on Disney+ all in under 6 years.

The success of the character can be attributed to the minds of writer G. Willow Wilson and editor Sana Amanat who sought to tell the Muslim-American experience not through overtly religious lenses but through a teenager’s quest for self-identity and self-worth. Amanat described the events of the first Ms. Marvel volume as, “what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self.”

Last we heard, the production of Ms. Marvel was knee-deep in their search for the next big MCU star that will play Kamala Khan. The character has a treasure trove of inspiration to draw from in the comics so it won’t be hard to imagine how amazing this show can be. Much like the MCU version of Peter Parker, we have the opportunity to see this live-action Kamala grow from being a teenager struggling with who she is to an Avenger standing next to all her heroes.

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JEFF LEMIRE

Of all the Marvel street characters, Moon Knights seems like the trickiest to write. With a complicated origin and an even more complicated mental state, it’s extraordinary to see Marc Spector be such a celebrated character today. The success of Moon Knight can be attributed to writers like Jeff Lemire, who really deconstructed the character’s mental state and its connection to Spector’s allegedly mystical origins.

With the help of artist Greg Smallwood, the resulting comic is nothing short of amazing as the comic brilliantly chronicles, in Chuck Palahniuk fashion, Spector’s efforts to get to the bottom of his origins, all the while trying to survive in a mental institution run by literal monsters. If you take this premise and combine it with the classic Batman trappings of Marc Spector, you have the formula for a potentially amazing series.

On top of his work on Moon Knight, Lemire also took over Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye run as soon as it wrapped and wrote some pretty cool Clint Barton and Kate Bishop moments that the upcoming Hawkeye could use for inspiration.

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MARK GRUENWALD

With all the attempts to modernize and keep the MCU as contemporary as it can be, modern comics tend to be easily favored over some of the older runs. You’ll notice that the majority of writers listed in this two-parter are people who have actively worked in the industry in the last 15 years or so. So it’s an extraordinary thing to see the work of late writer Mark Gruenwald inspire the next few years of the MCU.

Gruenwald loved challenging the idealism of what it meant to be Captain America. He brought into question the myths of being symbols of patriotism. In the 1980s, Gruenwald introduced several villains that would become villainous staples of the Captain America mythos. Crossbones, the Serpent Society, and Flag-Smasher were all villains Gruenwald created to be idealistic foils to Steve Rogers’ colors.

None of it is more evident than with the introduction of the Super-Patriot. Gruenwald toyed with the idea of having a version of Captain America minus the innate goodness of Steve Rogers. What if a hard-headed patriot from the south became Captain America? Someone wouldn’t think twice to chant “USA!!” at any given moment. Therein lay the impetus that led to the creation of John Walker, the Super-Patriot, a character we now know today as US Agent.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize how influential Gruenwald’s work is for Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Creations of his like John Walker and Battlestar are already expected to show up. The show is set to tackle the very same themes Gruenwald sought to question.; what does the shield mean politically? What does patriotism truly mean? Gruenwald may no longer be with us but his vision lives on in the future of the MCU.

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JASON AARON

Who could have predicted that a Southern boy from Alabama would one day write one of the most out-of-this-world, larger-than-life comic runs starring a Norse god with a hammer? Jason Aaron’s Thor run, beginning from 2012’s Marvel NOW relaunch all the way up to 2019’s King Thor finale, has been nothing short of legendary.

Aaron broke the era’s streak of Midgard-centric stories like Siege and kicked off with a story about three generations of Thor battling a being called the God Butcher. Thor: God of Thunder returned to the grandiosity of the classic Thor books and soon saw the Odinson face off against classic Walt Simonson villains like Malekith and Mangog.

Aaron further broke the mold by doing the unthinkable; making Thor himself unworthy of his hammer. Suddenly, the character was in untouched ground and the fans were all for it. But it wasn’t until Jane Foster’s transformation into new Thor that Aaron truly changed the mythos.

Come 2022, we’ll see the fruits of Aaron’s labors on the big screen with Thor: Love and Thunder. Natalie Portman is back with a vengeance as she’s been confirmed to take on the mantle of Thor this time around. Famed Batman actor Christian Bale is also set to make his MCU debut in this movie, with fans speculating his character to be either the God Butcher or Dario Agger, an Aaron creation.

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JEPH LOEB

It’s easy to forget that Jeph Loeb was a comic writer before he dabbled in TV. And he wasn’t just some writer. Loeb wrote seminal books like Spider-Man: Blue and Superman: For All Seasons, and Batman: Hush. But just like his track record with his television work, his comic work has been also widely hit-or-miss. For every amazing Loeb has done, he has an Ultimatum (roughly the worst comic Marvel has put out in 20 years) to even it all out.

In the late 2000s, Loeb wrote a 25-issue long Hulk run which brought some very interesting changes to Hulk’s status quo. Loeb turned the supporting cast’s world on its head when he turned staples like Betty Ross and Rick Jones turned into giant monsters. Villains like MODOK and Leader found new prominence. But arguably Loeb’s biggest change to the Hulk canon was turning Thunderbolt Ross into the Red Hulk, a change that reinvented the character, who found his way into the big leagues like the Avengers and Thunderbolts.

The fate of Thunderbolt Ross in the MCU has long been speculated on. There have been rumblings of him possibly becoming the Red Hulk in the upcoming She-Hulk series. While that remains to be seen, it’ll be interesting to see how much of Loeb’s writing makes its way onto the first Hulk outing since 2008’s Incredible Hulk.

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KURT BUSIEK

The 90s was a very controversial period for comics. It was a time of excess of the highest order, comics were selling like crazy regardless of quality, and some of the magic of the eras that came before went and disappeared. Kurt Busiek was one of the few writers who kept that magic alive.

In 1993, he and artist Alex Ross penned Marvels, a slice-of-life comic that followed the life of a photographer named Phil Sheldon as he witnessed from the ground level events that changed the course of Marvel history. In 1997, Busiek created the Thunderbolts and shocked the world with a twist that was unthinkable; these heroes weren’t good guys at all but the Masters of Evils in disguise. The twist was regarded as one of the industry’s best and it propelled the title to prominence.

Of course, throughout the years, the core idea of a team composed of bad guys trying to do good remained despite constant line up changes. Rumblings of a Thunderbolts appearance in the MCU has been around since Zemo was introduced in Captain America: Civil War. And with his return in Falcon and the Winter Soldier imminent, it’s about time he bands with the surviving villains of the MCU to start an evil team.

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JONATHAN HICKMAN

There’s something cinematic with the way Jonathan Hickman writes his stories. Be it his epic Avengers run leading to his Marvel masterpiece, Secret Wars, or his title defining Fantastic Four run, or his high-concept take on the X-Men, Hickman sure knows to ripen a story for any potential live-action adaptation.

Case in point, during his Avengers run, Hickman plucked Shang-Chi out of the D-leagues and painted him in a way that had never been seen before. Hickman turned him into a Bond-like globetrotting agent of the Avengers that oozed badassery. With Avengers: World, Hickman took Shang-Chi to another level. Shang-Chi was no longer just a man who mastered kung-fu. He was a warrior that could go toe-to-toe with a kaiju. It’ll be hard to imagine the Shang-Chi film not at least taking inspiration from some key Shang-Chi moments in Hickman’s run.

Shang-Chi is merely one of the many stories Hickman has done that will likely make it onto live-action at some point. Some of the best Doctor Doom and Fantastic Four stories are from him and come their live-action due, they’ll likely draw from it as well. When asked about his return to Marvel following his departure after wrapping Secret Wars, Hickman gave a very peculiar quote that may pertain to the Fox acquisition by Disney. Hickman said, “What I’d like to do if I came back, what he’d like for me to do, and some vertically-integrated opportunities at the company that were not available when I was there last.”

Some of his work has already made it onto the MCU. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler cited Hickman as one of the inspirations for the script. His work on the Secret Warriors was used on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And more recently, both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame featured his creations the Black Order.

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NICK SPENCER

Having Sam Wilson take over the mantle of Captain America was never gonna be an easy job but writer Nick Spencer sure made it look easy. Nevermind the naysayers whose pitchforks were raised when the idea was announced or the “I-told-you-sos” when the mantle had to return to Steve Rogers. Spencer did a fantastic job of reshaping what Captain America meant to the world.

It goes without saying that Sam Wilson was always gonna have a very different view of America than Steve Rogers and that America was always gonna have a different view of Sam Wilson wielding the shield. Spencer tapped into the current political zeitgeist pervading our news cycle and morphed into something that was compelling, meaningful, and kick-ass at the same time.

Arguably the biggest status quo change at the tail end of Avengers: Endgame was the passing of the shield to Sam Wilson. The ending put to rest the long-standing Falcon vs. Winter Soldier debate among fans and for good reason. Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to tackle the very same issues the made the Sam Wilson Captain America run so fantastic. Expect the show to be as political, if not more, as the comic.

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ALLAN HEINBERG

Like his contemporaries Joss Whedon, Jeph Loeb, and more famously, Kevin Smith, Allan Heinberg is a writer who has managed to traverse both Hollywood and the comic industry. Heinberg has multiple TV credits to his name, wrote the massively successful Wonder Woman movie, and more relevant to this piece is the creator of the Young Avengers, a superhero team composed of teens with connections to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The book was a breakout success as fans quickly gravitated towards the team’s roster. The dynamic of Patriot, Hulking, Wiccan, Speed, Hawkeye, Stature, and Iron Lad breathed new life into the Avengers brand, as the book tackled themes of drug use, sexuality, abuse, and identity. Heinberg’s stint with the team also provided some much-needed spectacle as the team crossed paths with heavy hitters like the actual Avengers, X-Men, Kang the Conqueror, and Doctor Doom.

If you’ve been following all the rumblings about upcoming MCU properties, then you’re likely aware of the seeds that are getting planted for Young Avengers. The Hawkeye series is set to star Kate Bishop. Wandavision will feature Wanda’s twin sons as evidenced in the teaser. Isaiah Bradley, grandfather to the Young Avengers’ Patriot, is rumored to have a role in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Kang the Conqueror, who is an alternate version of the Young Avenger Iron Lad, is rumored to appear in the Loki series. And last but not least, Cassie Lang is in the right age to take the mantle of Stature.

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July 21, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: New ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set Videos

Just as we get word that filming on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is set to restart in Prague this Fall, we have gotten our hands on some videos of prior footage. Filmed last year by James Brown, the new videos give us another look at a familiar scene and the different angle provides a closer look at one of the female villains and a better view of Bucky’s hostage rescue that raises an interesting question.

The first video is more of a behind the scenes look at Sebastian Stan and his stunt double preparing for a scene and Stan gregariously shaking hands and hugging crew members on set. While it doesn’t give away too much, fans always love to see this kind of BTS action!

Another behind the scenes video which shows either Wyatt Russell or his stuntman preparing for action as John Walker, aka U.S. Agent, preparing to jump in and help out with what we believe is a hostage situation taking place around the 2023 G20 Summit (you can check that out more here).

This next video shows Stan working on some of those moves he was practicing as he takes on one of what we believe to be a hostage taker before heading towards the SWAT vehicle where the hostages are held.

https://youtu.be/aR8jG0E8TuE

The next video gives us a look at U.S. Agent fighting one of the female villains we first saw in our earlier post and suspected might be the Grapplers. Though it’s really hard to see, it’s possible that the female taking on U.S. Agent could be Erin Kellyman, who we believed joined the production, possibly as Thunderbolt member Melissa Gold, aka Songbird.

The final video is the most interesting. While we’ve seen another angle of this scene before, this look provides a clue that one of the hostages being released from the vehicle might be more important to the plot than the others. Around the 9 second mark, a hostage stumbles and falls. After she’s helped up, you can clearly see the crew lower a boom mike over her head so that her conversation with Bucky and Walker can be recorded. Given the situation at hand (hostages taken at the G20 Summit), it’s highly unlikely this is casual, “thanks guys type of comment and more likely that this unknown character is someone of significance in the series.

It’ll be incredibly interesting to see just what these set videos turn out to be when we finally get to see The Falcon and The Winter Soldier when the Marvel Studios production airs on Disney Plus!

July 1, 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
EXCLUSIVE: Evan Peters Playing Mystery Role in ‘WANDAVISION’

The world needs some good news. Thanks to a familiar and trusted source (the same L.A. based source who told me about Peyton Reed signing on for Season 2 of The Mandalorian), I have learned that Evan Peters (American Horror Story, X-Men) signed on for a key role in the Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series WandaVision. The 33-year old Peters landed the role late last year and filmed his scenes shortly after.

The nature of Peters’ role is being kept under wraps and that is likely to generate a great deal of excitement and confusion among fans given that the actor has thrice portrayed Wanda’s brother, Pietro, in Fox’s X-Men franchise. Of course Peters is also well-known for his portrayal of several terrifying villains over the course of 8 seasons of American Horror Story, opening up the possibility that he’s landed a role as WandaVision’s big bad. Given the nature of the series, Peters could be playing anyone from Nicholas Scratch to Mephisto.

The waters would seem to get muddy quickly should Peters be reprising his role as Pietro and then crossing over into the MCU, but rumors have persisted that WandaVision will somehow feature Wanda’s deceased brother though Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who played the speedster in Avengers: Age of Ultron, has made it very clear that we shouldn’t plan on seeing him suit back up as Quicksilver any time soon. So if Taylor-Johnson isn’t back and Quicksilver is, that would mean a recast, something Marvel Studios has done successfully in the past, and Peters would be an interesting choice given the majority of fans seem to gravitate towards his portrayal of the character. This is just one possible option, of course, and perhaps not even the most likely, but it’s the one that quickly comes to mind.

Time will tell exactly what role Peters is playing, but given his American Horror Story fan base and his resume as a superhero, this is, most definitely, some good news!

June 1, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Set Photos Give A Closer Look at Madripoor

In late 2019, it was revealed that a portion of the now delayed Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier would take place in Madripoor. Murphy’s Multiverse had some exclusive set photos which were followed by a great look at the action in photos which can be seen at the Daily Mail.

Now, thanks to a Murphy’s Multiverse reader known as Danny, we have an unprecedented look at Atlanta set that became Madripoor. The photos reveal new locations and give us a sense of the scope of the set. While it’s possible that these locations may just be Easter Eggs, there’s always the possibility that one of them may end up being a spoiler of some sort, so proceed at your own risk.

The first photo gives another, closer look at a location that first indicated to me that the set was indeed Madripoor. Patrons of mine might remember that in mid-December, before the set leaks confirmed Madripoor, I teased that there was a spoiler in one particular set photo that I had shared.

The above photo gives us a look at a sign for Stinger’s Strip House. It was this Stinger’s sign that first gave away Madripoor to me and that now, in light of the recent news of Marvel Studios developing a slew of new shows, might turn out to be more than a great, obscure Easter Egg.

During Jonathan Hickman’s 2009-2011 run on Secret Warriors, he introduced some appendices that included some “top secret” information about the team and a slew of secret bases kept by Nick Fury. Top on the list and indelibly etched into my mind despite never playing a big role in the series is Stinger, a safe house located in…you guessed it…Madripoor.

The inclusion of Stinger’s Strip House is either an incredible coincidence or an example of some deep cuts being added into The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Given what we’ve already seen from the production, I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter and, I think that if Stinger’s is actually one of Fury’s safe houses, it works nicely to move the plot along. We’ve all wondered just what the boys (Bucky, Sam and Zemo) are doing together in Madripoor; maybe now we know that they hit up this safe house while on the run (and they’re not running from who you think they are! Their pursuer was actually seen in those Daily Mail set photos).

The idea of Stinger’s being one of Fury’s safe houses is even more interesting when we consider that since these shots were taken, Marvel Studios has begun development on a Secret Warriors project meaning we might just get even deeper into Nick Fury’s world! All speculation of course but it’s really hard not to start connecting those dots.

In addition to Stinger’s, there’s one more location in Madripoor that I believe to have been taken right from the pages of the comics: the Brass Monkey Saloon. The saloon, which has also been called the Bronze Monkey, made it’s first appearance in Captain America #363, Moon Over Madripoor, and written by Mark Gruenwald whose run is clearly the basis for much of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. The Brass Monkey also popped up recently in Mark Waid’s Invisible Woman series and while it’s never been a major location, it’s a place where Lowtown’s shady characters assemble, punches get thrown and no questions get asked.

In the first picture above, you’d be hard pressed not to notice that the original sign of the bar was a brass monkey head. You may notice a similar, less subtle motif in this next set of exclusive set photos.

If that’s not an outdoor version of the Brass Monkey, then I don’t know what it is. It’s possible that the boys pass through here and may even come into conflict with some of Lowtown’s less desirable inhabitants; it’s also possible it’s just a very cool nod to Gruenwald’s 2 issue arc that saw Cap chasing Crossbones into Madripoor after he had abducted Diamondback. Either way, these photos show an incredible level of detail and preparation that went into a temporary set.

There are several more photos here that show a Casino, a tattoo parlor and do a great job of showing the fine details on the Madripoor set.

The level of detail and effort to build Madripoor into a multicultural crime den is incredible. We don’t know right now when we will see The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but for MCU fans who aren’t avid comic book readers, it looks like their introduction to Madripoor is going to be memorable!

May 8, 2020
What I Heard This Week: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Doing Rewrites Due to Pandemic

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. For instance, on February 19th, I wrote this piece relaying some rumors I’d heard about Marvel Studios updating its Disney Plus slate; the next day, the news broke that a special Disney Plus event would be held in London on March 5th where it is expected that Marvel Studios and Star Wars slates will be updated.

A thing I heard this week: The extended shooting schedule of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Atlanta might be due to some rewrites of the plot and it all might just have happened because of the coronavirus.

In a potentially disturbing case or art imitating life, the plot of the upcoming Disney Plus series may have been altered as the coronavirus has continued to spread through the world and approaches being considered a pandemic. As many of you know, the production company for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is Pandemic Productions LLC. The earliest of plot “leaks”, speculation and made up stuff all shared a common thread: some sort of of device unleashing a pandemic on the populace. In some cases, it was the Madbomb; in others, it was a terrorist group unleashing a bioweapon. Whichever one you liked best, the rumors were certainly out there that the show was set to feature something of the sort.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve head a growing number of whispers that this is no longer the case. The coronavirus has already taken the lives of nearly 3,000 people worldwide, is causing long-term shut downs of schools and businesses and is wreaking havoc on the global economy. By the time The Falcon and The Winter Soldier streams in August, it is likely that the disease will have met the criterion to be considered a true pandemic (the last global pandemic was the H1N1 virus which killed as few as 151,000 and as many as 575,000 people worldwide, according to the CDC). From what I’ve been hearing, Disney may be proactively trying to get ahead of what could be a potential disaster for the studio by rewriting and, as a result, reshooting parts of the series, with a heavy emphasis on the seasons first couple of episodes.

If any of these whispers are true or not is going to be really hard to prove. I don’t find it terribly likely that Disney is going to give an official press release that says something like, “We were going to do this, but did this instead because of this real world tragedy.” However, if it is true, it gives some insight into the types of behind the scenes decisions that have to be made at studios and how, as I am so fond of saying…things change all the time! If this is accurate, it’s obviously a show of empathy from the world’s largest media marketer. Given Disney’s strong relationship and presence in China, ground zero for the virus and the place where its terrible toll has had the largest impact, and with Disney set to launch its service to the rest of Europe where the virus is currently spreading rapidly, its not hard to believe these rumors. Taking into consideration the widespread panic that exists now and will continue to grow throughout the next several months and choosing not to add to it by changing the plot of its upcoming series, the one that will launch Marvel Studios streaming presence, is a bold, yet humanitarian move.

February 27, 2020