Tag: MCU

Connecting Imaginary Dots: Owen Wilson Is…Ugh…Kang
If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character and, more recently, one in which I tried to connect some dots that would allow Spider-Woman to be a Sony/Marvel Studios cooperative effort much like the two most recent Spider-Man films. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…
I’m on the verge of tears as I write this. Arriving at this conclusion, no matter how speculative in nature it may be, is the thing my own recent, personal nightmares are made of; however, as information has continued to make its way through my inbox and my phone, I’ve forced myself to at least accept this as one possible outcome out of many: Owen Wilson may just be playing the role of Kang the Conquerer in the upcoming Marvel Studios streaming series, Loki.

Recently Daniel RPK revealed that the series, now in production, was set to introduce the Master of Men to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, if we are being honest with ourselves, there is plenty of evidence to support the insertion of Kang into the MCU in this series. As many of you know, the production company for the series is called Limbo Productions I LLC. In the comics, Limbo often served as a home base of sorts for Kang, all the Kangs really, and plays a large part in his own, personal stories. While we don’t know specifics about the series, we do know that Loki will see the titular trickster travel through time and become an influence on human history. All sorts of times and locations are rumored, some of which (Egypt and Times Square) could easily be tied back to places that were quite important to Kang in the comics (credit to my friend @3vry1lvsgdstry for digging up some of that information!). Finally, the events of Avengers: Endgame not only put the finishing touches on the Infinity Saga, but also opened multiple storytelling pathways for the future of the MCU and, as Tony Stark said, “when you mess with time it tends to mess back.” In summary, I don’t think anyone will be entirely caught off guard is Kang is introduced to the MCU in the near future. However…

Owen Wilson as Kang the Conqueror would have to be up there with the absolute longest of longshots. It’s not something anyone would ask for and it’s certainly not something fans of the Lord of the Seven Suns have had their hearts set on for some time. So why am I, someone who finds Wilson’s involvement in the MCU an affront to my fandom, connecting the dots that lead to an actor I am not a fan of assuming the role of a comic book character I’ve been wanting to see on screen for roughly a decade? Because there are at least to facts out there that started my mind down this pathway and, as awful as it sounds, I want to offer the evidence up to the rest of you so that you can think it over for yourselves.

We know Wilson’s role in Loki is a major one. It’s a lead role and while it’s probably a very common occurrence with many of the actors who sign on for these Marvel Studios Disney Plus series, Wilson’s contract includes an option for a to be determined number of film appearances. As I said, film options are likely the case for many cast members but I do find it interesting that Wilson’s contract leaves it open ended. It indicates to me that not only can we possibly rule out an obscure character like Justice Peace or another member of the TVA, but also that Marvel Studios wants to lock Wilson into place for the next 3-5 years but, at this point, they aren’t locked in as to what films they might use him in. This jives with some other information I’ve been hearing recently that some changes to the future of the MCU took place as recently as October of 2019, which is why until recently we didn’t have a confirmed Captain Marvel sequel and we still don’t know just what to expect in 2022 and beyond. It’s possible that those decisions were very recently made or remade and that Kang now plays a large role in them.

Admittedly that’s not very good evidence and since this is just a speculative piece, it doesn’t really have to be, but there is one more thing of interest. We know that while Loki is using Atlanta as its home base so they can use the stages, they’ll be going on location all around the U.S. over the next several months. Wilson’s character, whoever it may be, is set to appear in at least 5 episodes and will be traveling to locations with star Tom Hiddleston. Going on location means potentially exposing your leads to fans and paparazzi and I am told that Marvel Studios is taking every precaution to make sure that Wilson’s character is not revealed during these on location shoots because it would be considered a major spoiler. Again, if he’s playing a character such as Justice Peace, someone heavily speculated on since the TVA reveal in the Super Bowl spot, I’m not sure the studio would be very worried about him being seen in costume. However, if Wilson’s costume looks anything like the very unique get up Kang likes to trot around in, you can see why they won’t want that out there.

Kang is one of Marvel Comics greatest villains and a key component of the deal they made with Fox. There is no doubt they’ll be introducing him at some point and his involvement with the Young Avengers, a team which has been heavily rumored to assemble on screen shortly (and the evidence sure is building there, isn’t it?) makes it very easy to believe he’s coming soon. As hard as it is for me to swallow that it’s Owen Wilson who will be filling the role, it is one possible conclusion that can be drawn from the evidence that I’m starting to accumulate. I’ve always treated these Connecting Imaginary Dots pieces as fun speculative pieces and I’ve never been worried about being “right” or “wrong” about them; however, as soon as I hit publish, I’m going to spend the next several months hoping that someday we can all sit down and laugh as we label this theory as “WRONG.”
February 18, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Sony’s ‘SPIDER-WOMAN’ Film Will Be Set in the MCU

If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

I know there’s a lot of conflicting info out there and a lot of theories, so I am hoping to shed some light on that here.

Over the past week, I’ve read that Spider-Woman is set in the MCU, that it’ll feature Julia Carpenter and that there is no Spider-Woman film, but that there is just a Madame Web movie using the character.

Here’s what I can tell you:

Spider-Woman is a Sony Pictures film and it is entirely separate from Madame Web. But there is something very interesting. Amy Pascal is producing the film for Sony, but it’s also being overseen by executive producer Rachel O’Connor. This is interesting because O’Connor has not been associated with Venom, Morbius or Venom 2, but she has been associated with both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. I don’t think you need me to tell you why this is interesting, but at the moment, all I can do is speculate as to what this might mean.

Jessica Drew is set to be the star of the Spider-Woman film. That is a stone cold fact. The character is co-owned by Sony and Disney. Marvel Studios can use Jessica Drew but cannot call her Spider-Woman. In conjunction with the information I stated above, this situation becomes much more interesting to me. I have to leave open the possibility that Sony and Marvel Studios could be working together on this film, meaning we could get a fully realized Jessica Drew rather than a half ass one from either Sony or Marvel Studios.

Be careful though because, as of now, there’s no proof of this. The closest we can come is tying O’Connor to it and speculating that the October 7, 2021 release date that Sony just claimed was actually a sign of cooperation by Marvel Studios, who had originally claimed that date. Of course this would put Drew on the board for some of the big, upcoming MCU story lines, including a potential Secret Invasion adaptation, so…fingers crossed.

My guess is that if there is something to this, we will know very soon.

February 15, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Evidence for Kraven as the Villain in ‘Spider-Man 3’

If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

Plenty of people have written up plenty of spec pieces on how and why Kraven is the perfect villain to take on the Web Slinger in the upcoming MCU Spidey film. I’m not here to rehash all that because, for the most part, I agree. I’m here to discuss one SMALL piece of information that may have, to this point, have been overlooked.

The recent report from The Illuminerdi indicated that Sony’s plans for a Kraven solo film revealed that Sony was reimagining the character as a “Bourne-like bounty hunter.” That’s a great take. Sounds tough. But one detail that stands out to me is that as of last Spring Sony had hoped to get production on Kraven rolling no later than the 2nd quarter of this year. That means that their original plans were to begin filming by June…which as of today is just 4 months away. And Sony REALLY wanted to get this film going, but there’s no record anywhere of it being close to filming. So unless Sony is going all JJ Abrams on this production and hiding everything, Kraven isn’t filming any time soon.

It’s the fact that Kraven-a film Sony was so eager to get moving at one point that they had started trying to line up some big name directors (Antoine Fuqua comes to mind)-is NOT filming in June which I find interesting. I find it even more interesting because in addition to Kraven not filming this summer, the third Spider-Man film is.

So, connecting the dots here, I think it’s highly likely that Sony’s plans for a Kraven solo were derailed when they went back to the bargaining table with Disney, at which point the Hunter became the villain of Spidey 3. To me, the nearly year-long lack of any movement on Kraven is as good of an indicator as any of what we can expect to see when Spidey 3 hits theaters in 2021.

Now, as to what role he’ll play and if he’ll be the only villain in the film, I’d say that’s a discussion for another time…

February 7, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: Another Potential Addition to ‘SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS’

If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

Last week I was able to get my hands on some Shang-Chi info. As you probably know by now, I was able to confirm that Leiko Wu, Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr, allies of the Master of Kung Fu, were all in the script. For the last week, I’ve been doing some thinking about another character and I think I may have figured it out.

I’m writing this as sort of retelling of my thought process and I also want to be clear that the best I’ve been able to do here is connect some dots using my pre-existing knowledge of Shang-Chi comics and the info I was able to get last week.

Here we go…

In addition to the characters mentioned above, the studio was also casting for a character named “YAEKIO.” Now there is no Marvel Comics character of whom I am aware named Yaekio. There’s a Yukio and I’m sure a lot of people would have made the jump to this being that character, but there’s more to the story: they’re open to any ethnicity for this AMERICAN character and, as you know, Yukio’s Japanese origins are crucial to developing that character. None of that is really the important information here, but it is background info that will help fill out the rest of the story. The important information is that Yaekio is described as the partner of a character referred to as Su-Mi.

I spent a few days doing some thinking that kept taking me down the same path. Between Yaekio sounding like Yukio and Su-Mi being similarly constructed to Shang-Chi, I was sure that these were Asian characters who were just codenamed and I was just not thinking of the right ones. Then, I started to go down an different path, focusing more on the “American” and “partner” aspects of the casting and it was down that path that I found the character who I think makes the most sense. Rufus Carter, aka Super-Midnight!

Rufus Carter is a CIA agent who first appeared in Master of Kung Fu #96 who met Shang-Chi and Leiko Wu when their separate missions intersected on a mission in London. Shang-Chi and Wu were already left MI-6 at the time and were working for the private consulting firm known as Freelance Restorations (the name of this film’s production company). Carter left the CIA and continued to occasionally cross paths with the gang from Freelance Restorations and was an ally to Shang-Chi in the way the Felix Leiter often was to James Bond.

For those reasons alone, Carter makes a lot of sense for Su-Mi, but there’s one more thing about Carter that really helps push me closer to believing it’s him. Carter is an elite fighter, skilled in both kickboxing and martial arts. If this “tournament” leak is true and the Ten Rings are the prize, you can be sure that the CIA would do what they could to send an undercover agent in to fight for the prize. If we connect ALL THOSE DOTS, and to be sure that’s all this is, some really crazy guess work, Super-Midnight is the guy! 15 Likes

February 6, 2020
Sam Raimi in Talks to Lead Doctor Strange into the Multiverse of Madness

Director Sam Raimi is in talks to board Marvel Studios Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness, according to a trade report.

Raimi, who directed Sony’s 00’s Spider-Man trilogy, would replace Scott Derrickson who left the project after developing it for the past several years. The sequel is expected to have horror elements and Raimi has a long history working in the horror genre dating back to his 1978 short film, Within the Woods, which he later remade into the horror classic The Evil Dead.

Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness is set to begin production this Spring (I’m hearing an April start is possible) and will appear in theaters May 7, 2021.

February 6, 2020
What I Heard This Week: ‘LOKI’

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.

A thing I heard this week: actress Angelica Ross was up for a role in the Disney Plus Marvel Studios series Loki.

The nature of the role is interesting as it is said to be a strong supporting role (aka the actor/actress who landed it will be in every episode) and because the studio was open to having either a male or female in the role, which is described as a “strong leader.”

The thing that I can’t be clear on is exactly what role it is. Earlier this week, a report indicated that Loki would feature Sera, a transgender angel associated primarily with Thor’s sister Angela. Given that Angelica Ross is a transgender actress, it’s easy to make the jump that this is the role she was up for, but there is no evidence to support such a conclusion at this time. Earlier this week, I reached out to representation for Ross to inquire about her association with this project, but at the time of publication, no response had been received.

As for Ross, her Instagram stories indicate that she has landed a physically demanding role as she has been working overtime with a personal trainer. However, while filming on Loki has been ongoing for a couple of weeks, Ross has not been in Atlanta, casting a shadow on any suspicions that she did land the role given the fact that she should appear in every episode. That said, it takes several weeks to film one episode, so there’s still a chance Ross can show up on time.

February 2, 2020
Marvel Studios Disney Plus Series ‘LOKI’ Adds Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson has joined the cast of Marvel Studios upcoming Disney Plus series, Loki. Comicbook.com revealed that the 51 year old actor, who had recently been spotted in Atlanta alongside star Tom Hiddleston, had landed a “major” yet unknown in the MCU.

Wilson joins Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino in the series which is now in production and is expected to stream on Disney Plus in the Spring of 2021.

February 1, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: ‘SHANG-CHI’ Confirmed to Introduce Multiple MI-6 Characters

Production on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to get underway shortly in Australia and some casting information has begun to leak including some very exciting, if not expected, news: the film will introduce MI-6 agents Leiko Wu, Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr.

MI-6 or Military Intelligence, Section 6 is the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service and has played a major role in the Master of Kung Fu comics on which Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based. After coming to understand the true nature of his father, international terrorist and crime lord Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi worked alongside and then with MI-6, most frequently teaming up with agents Clive Reston, Black Jack Tarr and Leiko Wu, with whom he also had a romantic relationship.

The film will apparently introduce the idea that Shang-Chi worked for MI-6 at one time, but has since made his “departure from the world.” Reston (whose now confirmed presence in the film was first rumored by HNE) is described as Shang-Chi’s old partner and friend who is now married to Leiko Wu, an elite MI-6 operative who once had “strong feelings” for the Master of Kung Fu. Fellow MI-6 agentBlack Jack Tarr, always up for a fight in the comics, is described as an “elite martial artist who enjoys the thrill of the battle.”

The studio was searching for a Caucasian male, 45-50 for Reston; a Chinese female, 26-39 for Wu; a Caucasian male 30-49 for Tarr. It is believed that these roles have been filled at this time though I was unable to get responses from representatives of several actors.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will hit theaters February 12, 2021.

January 31, 2020
What I Heard This Week (Well, Not Really THIS Week But This Is the Week I’m Talking About It): Emily Blunt

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.

So, thing I heard this week (well, I heard it months ago but this is the week I’m talking about it): While filming the Disney picture Jungle Cruise, Emily Blunt met with Marvel Studios about a role in an upcoming film.

That’s it. That is all I heard. Don’t know if she signed or passed on yet another Marvel Studios role. I don’t even know what the role they discussed was. However, with the new character description (which many of us are ASSUMING is Clea) now out there, it seemed the right time to mention the meeting.

This is a story that maybe isn’t really a story because if nothing ever comes of it, then it was nothing. It is, however, interesting and I’m choosing to share it now after not doing anything with it for several months because of the latest round of Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness casting calls which call for a VERY strong “leading lady type”. late-20s to early 40s, who can be a “contemporary” to Strange.

Blunt is 36 years old and one of THE premiere female action stars in Hollywood. She not only fits the age requirement, she has all the chops and a long list of hits to be the new “leading lady” and certainly someone who can go on screen with Benedict Cumberbatch and be seen as his “contemporary.” She can do more than that. She can go toe-to-toe with Cumberbatch and knock his Stephen Strange down a few pegs when the time is right. Strange fans have longed for Clea to be a part of this sequel and a part of Strange’s MCU journey; Emily Blunt might be just the right actress for the role.

Of course there’s no way for me to know if she was talking about Clea, Sue Storm, Medusa (just in case those Inhuman reinvention rumors were true) or even a character in Eternals or another property I don’t even know about. What I do know is that the more I think about a list of actresses who can give what it takes to portray Clea appropriately, I can’t make that list without her on it.

January 30, 2020
Connecting Imaginary Dots: ‘THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER’ Might Introduce Isaiah Bradley to the MCU

If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

A recent update to IMDB (which I am well aware can be unreliable) produced some information that, if true, could be considered incredibly interesting. The update indicated that actor Olli Haaskivi had joined the upcoming Disney Plus series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier as Dr. Wilfred Nagel.

If you find yourself asking who Dr. Wilfred Nagel is and why he might matter, don’t feel bad because he’s certainly not a popular character and not one that has accumulated a lot of appearances. First appearing in the 2003 limited series, Truth: Red, White and Black, he is however notable for one incredibly important thing: in an attempt to carry on the work of Project: Rebirth begun by Dr. Abraham Erskine, Nagel, under the alias Josef Reinstein, experimented on a group of 300 African-America soldiers, including one by the name of Isaiah Bradley.

Bradley, the only soldier to survive the trials, takes a Captain America costume and goes on a one man mission against the Nazis. The mission, unfortunately, fails and Bradley is captured and experimented on by the Nazis as they try to reverse engineer the new batch of Super Soldier serum. Though freed from his captors, Bradley is court-martialed and imprisoned for nearly 20 years before being pardoned. The legend of Bradley, the “Black Captain America”, however, had taken root in the Marvel Comics Universe and Bradley became well-known and respected in the African-American community.

Upon meeting Bradley, whose physical and mental states had deteriorated significantly, Steve Rogers began to learn more about Project: Rebirth.

If we are seeing Nagel, it seems very likely that he’s either there for the same reason he was introduced in the comics OR they’ve greatly altered his story and the MCU version will be responsible for production of the Super Soldier serum used by John Walker.

Here’s to hoping it’s the former. As fans know, if we get to meet Isaiah Bradley, his grandson Elijah might not be too far behind. And that’s another Young Avenger and…well, that’s another story.

January 30, 2020