Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Marvel TV

  • ‘Iron Fist’ Star Open to Return in a ‘Heroes for Hire’ Series

    ‘Iron Fist’ Star Open to Return in a ‘Heroes for Hire’ Series

    There have been many theories on what the future has in store for the Netflix Marvel characters. Not only did Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio returned to play their iconic characters from Daredevil, but they also got their very own series heading to Disney+ in 2024. With theories abound about others returning, it seems former Danny Rand, Finn Jones, is also down to return.

    In an interview with ComicBook.com, the actor revealed that he’s definitely down to play the character from Iron Fist again. He even has an idea how he’d like to see him return and that would be in a TV series based around the Heroes for Hire, especially to get another chance to work alongside Mike Colter.

    I would love to continue playing that character. I think there’s a lot of room for growth. Personally, where I would like to see the reintroduction of the character would be something like a Heroes for Hire TV series. I think that would be the most dynamic and fun way to reintroduce those characters. I loved working with Mike and I loved the on-screen chemistry between Danny and Luke. I think it’s a really interesting creative place that show can be taken in. I’d love to pick up that mantle again and keep moving this character forward and make the best possible Iron Fist there could be.

    Finn Jones

    Of all the Netflix series, it’s easy to say that Iron Fist was definitely the most controversial. Outside of the initial reactions to the casting, there were also a lot of discussions surrounding its quality, at least in its first season. Scott Buck infamously has a bad track record and concerns grew when he was set to showrun the first season; which he’d continue to prove with Inhumans.

    It wasn’t until Raven Metzner took over in its second season that the project was given any momentum. It wasn’t able to give us a shot at more due to Netflix ending its deal with Marvel but it did leave the character in an interesting direction.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ From Page to Screen: Episode 6

    ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ From Page to Screen: Episode 6

    Welcome back to yet another From page to Screen focusing on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In the show’s first week, we looked at the differences between the comics’ and series’ versions of Jennifer Walters’ origin story. The following week, viewers got a live-action introduction to Jen’s new legal job, taken straight out of Dan Slott’s and Juan Bobillo’s 2004 She-Hulk run—Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway (GLK&H). Episode 3 introduced a reimagined version of comic book villains and in its fourth week, the show decided to focus on Jen’s love life and, the following week, on Jen’s nemesis, Titania.

    Episode 6 presented itself as a tricky one when it came to finding a strong enough connection to She-Hulk comics. Both Mr. Immortal and Intelligencia had a somewhat meaningful presence in it but were already the focus of a couple of features from the past week. It was then time for something different. And much like Jen herself stated, in the starting sequence, that episode 6 was a “self-contained wedding episode”, why not try and make this a self-contained P2S feature? If an engagement featured in a She-Hulk comic can also be referenced, then that’s enough to justify the option. Let’s go with that.

    Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 6
    Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 6

    In 1989 Marvel published a two-part story entitled She-Hulk: Ceremony, that focused on Jen and Wyatt Wingfoot getting engaged. In the midst of it all both also had to help stop a madman attempting a mystical world conquest. Much as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law tries to focus on the comedic side of the character, this was a story that was initially intended to be a romantic comedy. But what began with the best of intentions turned out to be one of Marvel’s most clumsy attempts at giving feminism a much-needed spotlight. 

    She-Hulk: Ceremony #2 (1990)

    The basic plot goes a little something like this:

    While watching a TV soap opera, She-Hulk feels the need to become a mother. She decides to look for something to fill that “void she has discovered in her life” because she “feels empty.” In a baffling decision, she somehow sees her ex-boyfriend Wyatt Wingfoot (who she briefly dated when She-Hulk was a member of the Fantastic Four) as the only one who can help her. Wingfoot, a native American, is just beginning his legal education while still residing in the Baxter Building and is utterly shocked by being approached by Jen and being asked to father her children out of the blue.

    By trying to appease the usual rom-com structure and conflicts, the story also ended up following the same clichés the genre usually features. She-Hulk thus ended up being portrayed as extremely bashful and uneasy about sharing her thoughts, very much unlike her usual honest, straightforward, and forthright character when it comes to her emotions. Another characterization that seems incredibly outdated is how the comic shows Jen as being very ambivalent regarding the right to choose to have an abortion or not, something she clearly states following a bomb threat at a local abortion clinic. This sort of tactlessness when it came to her character perhaps only came second to the disrespect towards native American culture with it being depicted in the most stereotypical fashion, filled with mystical nonsense, reducing it to a caricature.

    She-Hulk: Ceremony #1 (1989)
    She-Hulk: Ceremony #1 (1989)
    She-Hulk: Ceremony #1 (1989)
    She-Hulk: Ceremony #2 (1990)

    In the end, and after finally defeating the big bad, Carlton Beatrice, Jen and Wyatt realize that they weren’t really in love with each other. They become aware that their engagement was (at least primarily) a result of a mystical basket (the story’s McGuffin) connecting them. They choose to separate with Jen making use of her legal expertise to assist in recovering Wyatt’s Keewazi Reservation which had been affected by the entire ordeal.

    What does this have to do with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? Not much. There’s Jen, there’s She-Hulk, there’s the idea of a wedding, there are fights and lots of nonsense (both the good and the wrong kind). But what ultimately sticks when revisiting such a story is just how much She-Hulk eventually evolved into a proper Marvel feminist icon, and how the Marvel Studios’ show manages to address several of the same issues in a much more respectful and gracious manner. With the show having such a strong sense of self-awareness, explicitly criticizing the misogynistic trends that, particularly on social media, surround female superheroes and female-led initiatives, She-Hulk has indeed come a long way in what it can add, as a character, to not to what comics and TV are concerned, but more importantly to the general discourse.

    Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 6
    Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 6

    The first six episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are now streaming on Disney+.

  • How ‘Werewolf By Night’ Slighted VFX in Favor of Practical Effects

    How ‘Werewolf By Night’ Slighted VFX in Favor of Practical Effects

    Marvel Studios’ first Special Presentation, Werewolf By Night, has been widely discussed as a love letter to monsters that was inspired and pays homage to the Classic Universal Monster movies of the early 20th Century. Among the first rumors about the project were that star Gael García Bernal’s lycanthrope appearance would be entirely practical in order to cement that “classic” aesthetic. In a recent interview with Phase Zero, director Michael Giacchino confirmed the rumors and detailed the work-intensive process.

    The trailer for Werewolf By Night gave fans ample opportunity to check out the look, including a portion of it where Bernal’s Jack Russell changes into the werewolf, a shot that Giacchino said took months to plan and execute.

    Now the other thing about that shot is it was all done in-camera. That’s not a visual effect, that shot. That was all done in-camera and that took months to design and figure out how we were going to do it, but Joe Farrell, our visual effects supervisor, was incredible in helping put that together. But that is almost exactly as I storyboarded that moment, exactly that… so wherever we could do practical, in-camera effects, we did it, and I would say there [are] a ton of them in there, you just would never even know.

    Michael Giacchino

    The use of practical effects absolutely paid off in setting Werewolf By Night apart from other Marvel Studios projects which rely heavily, if not entirely, on VFX. Those effects, in addition to the project being screened in black and white and the campy nature of the writing, have been among aspects of the project listed in what amounts to effusive praise for the project ahead of its October 7th release on Disney Plus. With Giacchino teasing more monsters in the future, perhaps what is old is new again and fans should prepare for a second age of practical effects!

    Source: Phase Zero

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’ May Be Paving the Way for Marvel Studios ‘Legion of Monsters’

    ‘Werewolf By Night’ May Be Paving the Way for Marvel Studios ‘Legion of Monsters’

    While it’s already been screened by select members of the media, fans around the world are just more than a week away from being able to stream Marvel Studios’ first Halloween Special, Werewolf By Night. Starring Gael García Bernal as lycanthrope Jack Russell and Laura Donnelly as monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, the nearly hour-long live-action special has been described as a love letter to monsters by director Michael Giacchino. Filmed in black and white and intended as an homage to the Universal monster movies of the 1930s and 40s, Werewolf By Night has been racking up monster reviews from those who have seen it. According to Giacchino, this special is just “peeling back the corner of monsters in the MCU” and fans can expect them to “pop up again.” And though Giacchino stopped short of revealing when and where they might pop up again, there’s one interesting potentiality with connections to several of the project’s characters: The Legion of Monsters.

    One of Giacchino’s goals with the project was to establish that “for centuries there have been monsters within the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they’ve been being tracked or hunted or kept at bay by these hunters.” Those monster hunters, including Bloodstone, are heavily featured in the trailer for the project and, from what can be gleaned from the footage, end up hunting and capturing Russell, who seems to be attempting to hide in plain sight amongst them. Giacchino also noted that there are “different species and types” of monsters, some of whom are also featured in the project either as trophies or in the artwork found on walls within the monster hunter mansion. As pointed out by Maximillian Marvel, one such creature may have made the briefest appearance in the trailer, though the identity of the monster may not be the one many have come to believe.

    Seen in the briefest of glimpses, the creature in the screenshot above has yet to be properly identified but a popular theory making its way around is that the unidentified creature is Marvel’s Nosferatu, a powerful and ancient vampire who would potentially link Werewolf By Night to Blade, Marvel Studios next “monster” project. And while that may indeed by Nosferatu, it’s worth adding another name into the mix of possibilities: Manphibian.

    Co-created in 1975 by Marvel horror master Marv Wolfman, X-Men legend Dave Cockrum and Tony Isabella and first introduced in Legion of Monsters #1, Manphibian is essentially Marvel Comics take on the classic Universal monster the Creature from the Black Lagoon. In that sense, Manphibian would make a nice trophy in a tank in a project inspired by Universal Classic Monsters (Creature from the Black Lagoon was produced and released by Universal in 1954), whereas Nosferatu is not associated with Universal. Given it’s just the briefest of glimpses, it’s hard to discern exactly who the character might be, but the creature does seem to have Manphibian’s trademark big, round eyes and a mouthful of teeth other than the two sharp teeth of Nosferatu. This is far less about “who is right and who is wrong”, however, and much more about what is possible.

    Interestingly enough, if it is Manphibian rather than Nosferatu, the character would join Werewolf By Night, Elsa Bloodstone and Man-Thing, who is said to play a key role in the project, as members of comic book Legion of Monsters who appear in the project. In a recent interview with One Take News, Giacchino name dropped another member of the team: Frankenstein’s monster. With Giacchino also insisting that Werewolf By Night is just the tip of the iceberg for Marvel monsters joining the MCU, perhaps it’s possible that rather than building up to a Midnight Sons project, as so many assume, Giacchino and Kevin Feige are planting the seed for a Legion of Monsters adaptation.

    As is the case with most of Marvel Comics “teams”, the roster of the Legion of Monsters rotated over the years as did their purpose. One potential pathway from the comics to a Legion of Monsters MCU project, however, could be the team’s pact to protect monsters from hunters out to kill them. Obviously this would have direct ties to Werewolf By Night and could even go so far as to explain why Jack Russell is posing as a hunter in the first place. WIld speculation, to be sure, but with Giacchino keen on brining more monsters into the fold and Marvel Studios loving its team ups, this one can’t necessarily be counted out. If, as Giacchino stated, monsters have inhabited the MCU for centuries there’s no reason that other Marvel monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, N’Kantu the Living Mummy and even Simon Garth/Zombie couldn’t “pop up” and everyone is already expecting Dracula. Let’s just hope it’s not too late for poor Manphibian!

    Source: Interview with Michael Giacchino courtesy of The Direct

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ Director Teases “Fun Horror” But Promises Plenty of Scares

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ Director Teases “Fun Horror” But Promises Plenty of Scares

    While a lot of eyes are on the upcoming release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the current Disney+ series She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, we also have a Halloween Disney+ special on the horizon. Werewolf by Night will offer something very new, as Marvel Studios ventures out into its new Special Presentation territory and promises a Hammer-inspired black-and-white horror spectacular.

    Early reviews have been very positive and that is quite exciting for Michael Giacchino, as this project marks his first true directorial debut. He’s seemingly been quite interested in tackling the character and was even approached by Kevin Feige on if there was a character he’d love to bring to life, which led to him tackling a character he dearly loves. In an interview with Empire, he highlights how he grew up with the character’s comics and teases how the idea evolved to become a “love letter to monsters and the humanity behind them.”

    I still have the comics that I bought when I was a kid. Kevin and I kept talking about it, and it’s evolved into this love letter to monsters and the humanity behind them.

    Michael Giacchino

    He’s also teased that this will be a “fun horror” adaptation of the popular character. He does highlight that this is still a horror story and jokingly reveals that his nephew couldn’t sleep the night he was able to watch it. So, it seems we’ll get that MCU story that can take a bigger bite out of the R-rated territory; something we’ve seen growing ever since Moon Knight offered us a small tease of what they might do.

    Source: Empire

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’ Director Michael Giacchino Addresses Rumors of an Appearance by Blade

    ‘Werewolf By Night’ Director Michael Giacchino Addresses Rumors of an Appearance by Blade

    There’s only one thing that fans of the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe love more than the half-dozen or more projects that Marvel Studios puts out each year: rumors. The online dialogue about which characters might cameo in Marvel’s next project has grown to the point where fans often find themselves more excited about a character cameo than they are about the project’s lead character. Unfortunately, due to bogus rumors, changes during production and just plain poor theorizing, fans often find themselves frustrated when the thing they’ve imagined in their head doesn’t materialize in said project.

    One such project that seems to have been the focus of just that type of speculation for quite some time now is the upcoming Marvel Studios Halloween Special, Werewolf By Night. It seems like every character from the horror corner of Marvel Comics from Blade, to Ghost Rider to Vampire By Night, has been discussed as possibly appearing in the project all while overlooking the titular character and the rest of the crew.

    Following his voice-only cameo in Eternals, fans have been particularly eager to pin down Mahershala Ali’s next appearance as the aforementioned Daywalker and Werewolf By Night certainly became a sensible focal point of speculation for that appearance. Over the past several months, rumors first swirled that Ali’s character would indeed show up in the project; then, more recently, that due to scheduling conflicts, he would not. In an interview with One Take News, director Michael Giacchino was asked about those rumors and it turns out he’s been paying attention to the online discourse.

    You know what, rumors are insanely inaccurate I would say…99.9% of the time. The thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is everyone thinks that every single thing is going to be connected. EVERY single thing. And it doesn’t mean that we’re not connected. But, I didn’t feel the need to blatantly say we were.

    Michael Giacchino

    We’ve run the numbers and it turns out Giacchino’s percentage is actually a little on the low side of things. And while the director didn’t ACTUALLY address whether or not Blade was on track to appear, he did go on to explain that part of what drew him to developing Werewolf By Night was the the character could exist in isolation in the comics and didn’t need to be a part of every event.

    You know, every other show has done that and they’ve done it brilliantly and I thought “you know what?”, when I was a kid, I would pull a comic off the shelf and this particular Werewolf By Night issue had nothing to do with anything else in the Marvel Universe. What’s wrong with that? That’s okay! You know, they can all live together but we don’t need to always show them together. You know, let’s have a moment where we’re dealing with this. One of the shows that was a huge influence for me growing up was The Twilight Zone and what I loved about it was each one was its own thing and each story was something that you had to think about for days afterwards and I said “Let’s do that! Let’s just worry about this”. You know, in the future, who knows? We’ll see where the characters go, we’ll see where we take them but for now, let’s just worry about this one thing right here.

    Michael Giacchino

    Was Blade supposed to be in it? We don’t know. But we do know that he is not and that according to all the first reactions to the project, Giacchino seems to have made exactly the type of project he set out to: one that stands among the crowd of “Marvel formula” projects and that exists within its own little pocket of a much larger universe.

    Werewolf By Night debuts on Disney Plus on Octobrer 7th.

    Source: One Take News

  • ‘Werewolf by Night’ Producer Teases More Monsters in the MCU’s Future

    ‘Werewolf by Night’ Producer Teases More Monsters in the MCU’s Future

    We’re only a few weeks away from the release of Werewolf by Night, Marvel Studios’ first exploration of the horror and will pay tribute to the classic Universal monster era. It being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe opens up the possibility that we’ll see even more from that corner of the world, especially with Blade on the horizon. Luckily, The Direct got a chance in an interview executive producer Brian Gay, who teased that we’ve not seen the last of these beastly creatures.

    I think one of the very cool things about the special is it’s just peeling back the corner of monsters in the MCU, right? So there’s not just the monsters that are part of Werewolf by Night, but the ones that were up on the wall, there’s some of that artwork as well. What all this lends to is the idea that for centuries there have been monsters within the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they’ve been being tracked or hunted or kept at bay by these hunters.

    Brian Gay

    It interestingly opens up the possibility that perhaps the events of this special could unleash the beasts upon the MCU as the hunters face their biggest threat yet. Perhaps even Blade is not a vampire hunter in the traditional sense but generally acts as a monster hunter in the MCU.

    And I think, well, we don’t know exactly where they’ll pop up next, the idea is that, with this wide swath of different species and types, they’re going to pop up again. You’re going to see these guys in different ways, of course.

    Brian Gay

    It’ll be interesting to see how they further explore this part of the MCU and how it might even potentially tie into the Multiverse Saga. Of course, they may be purposefully setting up concepts and ideas that don’t become relevant until future phases but it does seem curious how they are tackling this project and what it might mean for just how crazy the MCU becomes.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Werewolf By Night’ Runtime Revealed

    ‘Werewolf By Night’ Runtime Revealed

    Next month sees the release of Marvel Studios’ first special presentation on Disney+ with Werewolf By Night. Not too long after that, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will follow suit. Marvel Studios’ dive into special TV presentations has long been a point of interest among fans with many wondering just how long these specials will be. Fortunately, we may have an idea based on how long Werewolf By Night is.

    https://twitter.com/bigscreenleaks/status/1573344790338740225

    Given James Gunn‘s comments on the Holiday Special’s runtime and this confirmation of Werewolf By Night’s own runtime, it’s safe to say that future MCU D+ Specials won’t reach the lengths of the infamous 2-hour Star Wars Holiday Special. Nonetheless, an hour’s worth of schlocky black-and-white horror content in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is hard to complain about. If anything, the MCU could use more one-off presentations like this.

  • REVIEW: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 6

    REVIEW: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ Episode 6

    She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has now revealed two-thirds of its nine-episode season. While Episode 6 was a proclaimed “self-contained wedding episode,” it was actually one of the most significant episodes in the series’ second act in terms of moving the ball. Albeit through teases, the serious end game of She-Hulk is becoming somewhat more clear despite the insistence that each week is unique to itself. The sixth episode was strong in the same areas the show has been strong: humor, absurdity, and Tatiana Maslany. But its ending cannot help but signpost that the series’ third act may be drastically different from what we have seen.

    First, the wedding plot was enjoyable, and it managed to incorporate several different unrelated elements into one space. Of course, Jen’s delicate relationship to herself as She-Hulk is prominent, but her dating life, professional success, and feelings of not being recognized or valued enough all play a major role. On top of that, Titania manages to stay involved, fan-favorite cousin Ched gets more screentime, and Patti Harrison is just a general gift in pretty much any project.

    What was perhaps most interesting about the wedding stems from the fact that it remained noticeably vague and we have not seen it end. Of course, the mysterious guy Jen connects with seems to be a prime candidate for Thunderball, the member of the Wrecking Crew we met in Episode 3. The fact that he seems to know the wedding party raises interesting questions as to who else in Jen’s life is in on the ultimate scheme to get her blood. The actual groom of the wedding was never revealed or shown, so it seems like there is a strong chance that the reveal could be significant. Still, if it is a “self-contained” episode, that would imply the wedding plot does not have much more to it, but yet it absolutely seems as though several major villains are lurking (or, in Titania’s case, very openly present) in the event.

    Given that it seems obvious that getting Jen’s blood is the goal of the mysterious “super” villain behind the scenes of She-Hulk, Titania is shaping up to be quite the assistant for the more scientifically-associated (“Science Villain”) teased villain. Titania has her own personal grudge against Jen (and their battle was almost comics-worthy), but her presence at the suspicious wedding suggests that she may also be in on a larger plot. It is in Titania’s comic book nature to work with other villains, including the Wrecking Crew. In her comic book origin story, she was more or less created by Dr. Doom. Perhaps the Science Villain is who gave her her superstrength in the first place. And if, as the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to hint at, the Science Villain is all about hulks, what is to say Titania is not a result of related experiments?

    The speculation of who the Science Villain could be at this point is relatively mundane given the eventual return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader in Captain America: New World Order, but She-Hulk could always surprise. Of course, fans are still anxiously awaiting Daredevil’s arrival, and how he will fit in is still somewhat mysterious. Will he be mostly in a legal plot, or will he be a major force in helping Jen take on the final threat? It could be both, but one thing is certain—Charlie Cox is not in this episode. In any event, despite some posturing, it is hard to imagine that She-Hulk does not have significant ramifications on the wider universe after the end of the series. Even just the fact that Jen leaves a voicemail for space Bruce is making a point about other huge stories going on in this series’ orbit.

    Outside of the main agenda, the B-plot with Mr. Immortal was the type of charming that only She-Hulk can deliver. It gave Nikki and Mallory more time to shine in their own rights, and Nikki as a character seems to consistently deliver more each episode. The series is able to tap into strange, funny, and out-of-pocket concepts from the comics without having to make a major statement on the MCU. In another project, the introduction of Mr. Immortal might have had greater ramifications. Here, it was a way to send a teasing love note to the type of source material that mostly does not make it into live-action. Still, the amount of superhumans occupying Earth-616 is clearly vastly more than anyone would have guessed before She-Hulk, and that may still have at least indirect implications going into Phases 5 and 6.

    As She-Hulk finishes its second act, it is only clear that its own universe is expanding rapidly. While it still at times feels inconsistent or choppier than needed given the episodic structure, it delivers a unique charm and experience that no other MCU project has, and it does so through its overall tone but also its little details. Enjoying comicbook-y material, having multiple developed women characters, diving into humor a bit off-kilter than the MCU is used to, and taking an incredibly fun and bold swing at the series all pay off for She-Hulk. Those elements are as present in Episode 6 as ever. Still, it is a disservice to not call out the “self-contained wedding episode” as being one of the most plot-fluid episodes yet. The real villains are about to appear, and the superhero part of this MCU show is surely about to take off with it.

  • ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Connection Explained

    ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Connection Explained

    Episode 6 of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law pulled back the curtain on the series’ one ongoing mystery just enough to send theory-loving fans scurrying on a search for answers as to just who is orchestrating the attacks on Jen. The episode name-dropped a pretty impressive group of villains from the Marvel Comics and linked them directly to the quest to get Jen’s blood. Was it just an Easter egg mean to set fans on a wild goose chase, or did Marvel Studios just give fans their first hint at the plot of 2024’s Captain America: New World Order?

    That name which was so casually dropped is Intelligencia. In the MCU, it’s a website run by “manbabies”, but in the pages of Marvel Comics, it’s a loose-knit group of some of the most brilliant and terrible minds to ever oppose Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Geniuses such as Egghead, M.O.D.O.K., the Mad Thinker and, most relevant to this line of thought, The Leader were among the masterminds who chose to team up to share knowledge, build some cool stuff and, interestingly enough, engineer a way to turn General Thunderbolt Ross into the Red Hulk as a means to combat Hulk when he returned to Earth in the pages of World War Hulk.

    With rumors of a World War Hulk movie in development at Marvel Studios and the return of Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader in Captain America: New World Order, the episode’s reveal of the Intelligencia’s HulkKing working with the still mysterious people behind the Wrecking Crew’s attempt to get Jen’s blood seems fairly significant. Is The Leader the HulkKing? Or is the HulkKing someone more familiar to the series? One potential candidate is clearly slimeball Todd Phelps, who is incredibly interested in Jen’s abilities. Todd certainly is not The Leader, but could he be another member of the Intelligencia that was known to have an alias or two in his time? It would make for an interesting twist if Todd turned out to be The Mad Thinker, a Fantastic Four villain who came up against She-Hulk many times and whose creation, the Awesome Android, eventually became a staple of She-Hulk comics.

    Whoever these people behind the curtain turn out to be, it seems that as the final third of the season of She-Hulk gets underway next week, fans will need to pay much closer attention. Will The Leader make an appearance in She-Hulk? Maybe a name drop? What state of mind will Bruce be in when he returns from his trip to Sakaar and what will he have learned while he’s there? And, most importantly, with the series wrapping up in nine episodes, where will these stories be picked up? Right now, it certainly seems like the connection to the Intelligencia makes Captain America: New World Order the prime candidate to continue the story. Perhaps it’s a World War Hulk movie in disguise. Of course, given She-Hulk’s irreverent tone and disregard for sticking to the comics when it comes to bringing characters to the MCU (the Wrecking Crew, Mr. Immortal and Titania are all far cries from their comic book counterparts), it remains possible that the MCU’s Intelligencia are truly just a bunch of manbabies of little significance.