As the only one of Marvel Studios’ projects that hit pause during the strikes to resume production, the untitled Deadpool threequel had all eyes on it when cameras began to roll again in England. That meant–much to star Ryan Reynolds’ dismay–that quite a few incredibly spoilery set photos made their way online in early December. Those newest photos are in addition to some from July that revealed not only Reynolds‘ new costume for the film but also Hugh Jackman‘s incredible Wolverine costume which is the comic-accurate look fans have been pining for over the last 20 years. Now, as production on the film likely draws near to its end, Reynolds has shared the best look yet at the new look the Merc with a Mouth will be sporting in the film.
As part of an Instagram post and story celebrating the past year and ringing in 2024, Reynolds shared a behind-the-scenes look at Deadpool’s look in the new film and it’s one that is certainly much brighter and a little more aligned with the character’s comic book look than the ones from the previous two films.
A side-by-side-by-side comparison of the new suit with those from the 2016 and 2018 films shows not only a much brighter shade of red but also that the character will sport the iconic and comic-accurate belt buckle.
L to R: Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018) and the Untitled Deadpool Movie (2024)
The move to comic-accurate Deadpool and Wolverine costumes for the film is interesting and opens the door to some of the rumored cameos in the film potentially featuring their own classic costumes. The Untitled Deadpool Movie is on track for a July 26th, 2024 theatrical debut.
The House of Ideas. That moniker has been with Marvel Comics for much of its nearly 85 years in the publishing business. Beginning with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The House of Ideas created a multiverse full of some of the most beloved fictional characters in the industry. For 15 years now, those characters have been at the center of pop culture as the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to unfold across screens big and small. However, in that time, for all the liberties Marvel Studios took with characters and stories from the pages of Marvel Comics, they had never created an original superhero…until now.
On display in Episode 6 of the second season of What If…?, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” was, for the first time, the type of unbridled creativity that gave Marvel Comics the House of Ideas nickname in the first place. Set in North America’s Haudenosaunee Confederacy at an undefined time in pre-colonial America, the episode introduced the MCU’s first original superhero, a Mohawk Wolf Clan woman named Kahhori, and then quickly followed that up by introducing a dozen or so more powered-up Kanien:ke people. Throughout the episode, the Mohawk people–whose way of life is being threatened by Spanish conquistadors–speak authentically in their native Kanien’kéha thanks to the studio’s collaboration with historian Doug George and Mohawk language expert Cecelia King. Never in the history of comic book projects has a Native American people been treated so reverently. But the creativity hardly stops with a wonderful new hero and some closed captions.
From start to finish (well, almost–they did drop dickhead Strange in there), the episode blazes its own trail. Beginning with Surtur’s successful Ragnarok set at some undisclosed point in time before Odin placed the Tesseract in the care of the people of Tønsberg, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” features nary a single familiar beat from the MCU. Beginning with the fate of the Tesseract, creators Bryan Andrews and Ryan Little played very liberally with the premise of What If…? in this episode and the payoff was monumental. With the butterfly effect in full effect, the creatives were able to get schwifty with the possibilities of the Space Stone and its spacetime powers. The inventiveness led not only to a beautiful, new in-universe mythology that introduced the Mohawk Skyworld but also a wonderful powerset resulting from exposure to the Tesseract-powered waters of the Forbidden Lake.
As teased in the closing moments of the episode, Kahhori’s story hasn’t come to a close. While she has a larger role to play in Season 2 of What If…?, it would feel like a missed opportunity if the studio didn’t include the character in one or both parts of the two-part finale to the Multiverse Saga. With some interpretation of one or another of Marvel Comics’ Battleworld stories sure to take place, the inclusion of Kahhori–now one of the most powerful heroes in the Multiverse–doesn’t seem like a bridge too far. Though she was voiced by Devery Jacobs in What If…?, Jacobs is already holding down a live-action role in the MCU. That opens the door for Amber Midthunder, who in 2022 made it clear she was ready to join the MCU and told us her hopes to continue to push for indigenous representation in Hollywood blockbusters, to possibly fill the role.
While the MCU cannot and certainly should not look to create brand new heroes, mythologies and universes in every project, “What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” serves as a wonderful reminder of what creators can do when they find true inspiration. Here they have delivered undoubtedly the best episode of What If…? and opened the door for a fascinating new hero to join the best of the rest in the Multiverse should those calling the shots have the courage.
Season 1 of What If…? introduced the novel idea of Peggy Carter becoming the test subject of Project Rebirth rather than Steve Rogers. The result, of course, was Captain Carter, a Union Jack-wearing Super Solider who led the Allied Forces against Hydra in an alternate universe in “What If…Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?”, the first episode of the animated series. Carter went on to be one of the main characters of Season 1, joining Uatu’s Guardians of the Multiverse, and a Variant of the character made her live-action debut in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The original Captain Carter is back for Season 2 of What If…? and as the ending of the Carter-centric Episode 5, “What If…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?” teased, she’s going to continue to play a large role in the Multiverse. As Captain Carter creator and What If…? head writer A.C. Bradley explained, there are some compelling reasons why the character is the centerpiece of the series.
“Captain Carter holds a special place in my heart. I’ve never loved a fictional character as much as I love her,” said Bradley. “When season one was happening, a colleague asked me if I’d researched the treatment of women during World War II. As a woman in Hollywood, I’ve got plenty of my own stories to draw from.” It’s safe to say that this alt-universe Variant of Carter, voiced by Haley Atwell who has portrayed the live-action version of the character since 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, has become one of the most popular and transcendent characters from the series.
For me, Captain Carter stands tall not just due to her physical strength or her combat abilities—it’s her undeniable presence, her capacity to take charge and command respect, or at the very least, equal treatment.
A.C. Bradley
As the MCU continues to introduce new heroes, fans continue to have more and more options from which to draw inspiration. To that end, Carter has certainly made quite a few fans, including one near and dear to Bradley’s heart. “I have a two-year-old daughter,” says Bradley. “She walks into [daycare] with her foam Captain Carter shield. That I could give her that role model, that symbol of strength and feminism—I’ve never been prouder as a mother or writer.”
The first 6 episodes of What If…? are now streaming on Disney Plus with a new episode debuting daily through December 30th.
In an infinite multiverse, an infinite number of stories exist including those that might be incredibly similar to others…but that doesn’t mean they need to be told. Episode 5 of the second season of What If…? is, unfortunately, such a story. The episode, “What If…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?”–much like its predecessor, “What If…Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?”–treads far too closely to the familiar ground of the Captain America franchise rather than allowing the character the opportunity to blaze her own trail.
While it’s logical that early parts of Peggy Carter’s story might mirror that of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger, in the vastness of the Multiverse it would seem that another Variant of Captain Carter would have gotten up to something more interesting than another 70 years of adventures that end up with her simply continuing to step into the footprints first put down by Rogers on the Sacred Timeline. After founding the Avengers and taking down Loki, Carter’s next chapter as seen in Episode 5 paralleled Rogers’ so closely that the working title for it was “The Winter Widow”, as revealed by writer A.C. Bradley.
Peggy ends up on the other end of the car joke from the Winter Solider, finds herself aboard a ship at sea and even ends up sharing a scene with Brock Rumlow. A brainwashed Steve takes the place of a brainwashed Bucky and the Red Room and Melina Vostokoff take the place of Hydra but right down to pairing her up with Nat, the episode just keeps giving Peggy things to do that Steve has already done. Carter is the lead of the series and this particular Variant seems destined to make a live-action appearance down the road (one Variant made a brief appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). The character deserves her own story.
Fortunately, the creative team remedies the situation and sets the character on what’s hopefully a singular path by plucking Captain Carter out of her modern-day setting and dropping her in 1602 where she’ll have a major role in the two-part season finale. With a new head writer set to take over for Season 3, here’s to hoping they find something more original and exciting for Peggy to do than to star in the slightly altered Reader’s Digest version of Captain Carter: Civil War.
Bob Iger‘s return to Disney and a pair of strikes have rendered nearly everything we once thought we knew irrelevant. Movies once slated for 2023 or 2024 have been moved to 2025 and the domino effect has probably only just begun. With so much having changed since last we ventured into the waters of the hypothetical calendar, it’s high time to relaunch them anew…and adifferent.
January 8th-March 5th: Daredevil: Born Again, Episodes 1-9
Following a major creative overhaul, the first episodes of Daredevil: Born Again–which were originally slated to debut in the Spring of 2024–are now TENTATIVELY on track to drop in January 2025. Though they didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, it sounds like showrunner Dario Scardapane and new directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are going to take their time and make sure the MCU’s first Daredevil project does the character justice and given Bob Iger‘s demands that the projects live up to the high standards previously set for Marvel Studios, that might mean this gets pushed even further. We’ll know more shortly after the first of the year as we’ve recently heard that production is meant to get underway in January.
February 14th: Captain America: Brave New World
Reports of significant reshoots on Cap 4 lined up with Disney’s decision to move the film into 2025. Those reports suggested that the film will undergo roughly 5 months of additional photography which is a longer period of time than the film was in production for the first time around. Now, the studio has brought on a brand new writer in Matthew Orton and though they are targeting a mid-2024 restart, production will not resume until his work on the script is done. Throw in the amount of time it’ll take to make the VFX hold up–especially with an appearance by the Red Hulk in the cards–and the February 2025 date makes all the sense in the world.
May 2nd: Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four was announced at SDCC ’19 and two long work stoppages have kept pushing it further and further down the road though it’s continually in the news cycle. At this point, all anyone wants is for the casting rumors around this project to come to an end and for cameras to roll. According to a relatively recent interview with director Matt Shakman, production should get underway next Spring and be ready to serve as the studio’s tentpole film for 2025 and launch the summer movie season…just as it should.
June 27th: Spider-Man 4
No project on this hypothetical calendar is more hypothetical than this one. If all the rumors are true, its release is partially dependent on Daredevil: Born Again–and that’s IF the creative threads that originally tied the two projects together stay in the series with the new showrunner taking over. Throw in that there’s been no official announcement from Sony about this project and that Tom Holland‘s “new deal” hasn’t been officially announced either and you’ve got even more reason to think this one may not happen in 2025 at all. However, a script has been in the works for most of the year, Sony has this date on the calendar for a Marvel film and, at the moment, doesn’t have any other projects that seem to fit the date. On the other hand, rumors persist that Jon Watts may be on board to direct and plans are being made to film next summer…
July 25th: Thunderbolts
By the time production finally starts on this project, the entire plot will have been leaked online. Despite multiple creative retoolings and a revolving door of writers, Thunderbolts is ultimately only delayed by a year from its original July 26, 2024 release date. Production is currently set to get underway in the spring with a TENTATIVE April start on the books.
September 3rd-October 8th: Ironheart
A project that has been in the can for quite some time, Ironheart is on track to release 2 full years after it was originally slated to hit Disney Plus. It’ll be interesting to see if Disney ever addresses exactly why this series took so long to release (not even VFX touch-ups and reshoots can explain away a 2-year move), especially when the footage shown at 2022’s D23 looked pretty fun.
All in all, this is a major revamp from the last time we rolled out a hypothetical 2025 calendar. With things at Disney never having been in flux more than they are now, it’ll be fun to see just how much of this holds true.
It would be easy to believe that Marvel Studios Thunderbolts would feature General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. A common misconception is that the comic book team, which first appeared on the page in 1996, was named for the character or that he started the squad. In fact, the team was first formed by the villainous Baron Zemo who chose the title because it was “crypto-fascist and friendly”, so it would be easy to believe that Zemo might appear in the 2025 film as well. There’s been plenty of speculation and debate online as to whether or not they’ll show up and different insiders have reported on both sides of the debate. Now, one of the film’s stars has spoken out about whether or no either of those characters will show up.
In an interview with The Playlist, Wyatt Russell, who will reprise his role as John Walker in Thunderbolts, indicated that he doesn’t expect either of the characters to appear…unless they’ve been included in an updated version of the script. “Daniel [Bruhl] is not going to be it, [but] he could play a part in it. I don’t know. I haven’t read a script yet, but as of now, I’m not sure,” said Russell when asked if the actor behind Zemo’s mask was set to return after his last appearance in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
So if Zemo won’t appear, surely Ross–who was a member of one iteration of the Thunderbolts in the comics–will, right? Afterall, when Harrison Ford’s deal to play the character became public, it was widely reported he’d show up in Thunderbolts after starring in Captain America: New World Order Brave New World. Not so fast. “Harrison’s in Captain America 4, I think,” said Russell. “I don’t know, I haven’t read a script, so I don’t know who exactly who’s in it,” he continued, before switching gears to talk about actors he’s sure ARE in the film.
I know Florence [Pugh] is in it, I know Sebastian’s [Stan] in it. I know David Harbour is going to be in it. David Harbour is another guy who’s, like, so good. I love everything he does. I love his NHL commercials. He plays this, like, insane NHL fan guarding the Stanley Cup. I love everybody in it so much. And the director, [Jake Schreier], who [directed me in HBO’s] Lodge 49 or [directed] a lot of ‘Lodge 49’— I feel very, very lucky. I hope it ends up being as good as I feel lucky. And yeah, I’m really excited.
Wyatt Russell on the cast and director of Thunderbolts
The script has gone through multiple drafts–originally it was very much a sequel to 2021’s Black Widow and Zemo was definitely not in it–and, asRussell stated recently, has come close to staring production multiple times. It’s currently slated to get underway next April ahead of its July 25th, 2025 release date.
Iron Man. Nick Fury and Maria Hill–or rather Talos and Soren. Doctor Strange. In each of the films in the MCU-set Spider-Man trilogy, Tom Holland’s Web-Slinger has teamed up with a Marvel hero to help save the day. The deal that Sony and Disney struck to co-create these films was all about the tradeoff: Marvel Studios can use Spidey in their films as long as some Marvel characters show up in the Sony Spidey films. And with a fourth installment in the franchise already in development—and probably already drafted by now despite having been webbed up a bit by the WGA strike–fans have been speculating which character(s) might show up next.
Among the most talked about potential partners for a team-up is Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. Cox made his MCU debut in Spider-Man: No Way Home and there have been plenty of rumors that the streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again, will set up part of the plot of Spider-Man 4. Those rumors certainly make sense given their extensive history of working together in the comic books and Daredevil turning up in the next film feels like a real possibility given Kevin Feige’s revelation that he and Spidey would lead the studio’s “street-level” heroes. Now, a new rumor from a credible MCU insider indicates that Cox may indeed be suiting up for the next MCU-set Spidey film…but he won’t be the only one!
According to insider Daniel RPK, who has had a torrid stretch of hitting big on Marvel Studios-related scoops, Spider-Man 4 will indeed feature Daredevil teaming up with Holland’s Spidey and, in a very unexpected twist, the film may also include Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang. Should Daredevil: Born Again set up Kingpin as the villain of the fourth Spidey film–something star Vincent D’Onofrio has gone on record as desiringon more than one occasion–including Daredevil makes sense but where would Scott Lang, who recently returned from an adventure in the Quantum Realm where he faced off with Kang, fit in?
Though it’s expected to undergo significant reshoots, photos from the set of Daredevil: Born Again taken in March 2023 were full of paraphernalia with the Pym van Dyne Foundation logo. If the rumor is true, it’s possible that Lang’s role in the film wouldn’t be major and that it could simply follow up on whatever role the Foundation has in Born Again. Though Lang and Spider-Man don’t have a long history of teaming up in the comics, they have worked together on occasion in the past and he has taken on a handful of Spidey’s villains and served as a street-level hero from time to time, even joining one iteration of Heroes for Hire. Of course, the appeal is less Ant-Man and more Rudd, who brings his trademark smarm to the role and would fit in nicely with Cox and Holland.
Following a screening of two episodes of Season 2 of What If…?, Marvel Studios head of streaming, television and animation, Brad Winderbaum, gave an update on the studio’s animated projects. In addition to revealing Eyes of Wakanda for the first time, Winderbaum revealed that the studio’s upcoming Spider-Man animated series now has an all-new, all-different title and remains on track for a 2024 release.
It follows the pattern that you see in [Captain America:] Civil War. Down to Peter getting the broken Blu-ray player from the trash and he walks into his department for the famous moment where Tony Stark is waiting for him to offer him the stark internship and take him to Berlin. But because of things that happen in the multiverse because of new, random occurrences, it’s not Tony Stark who’s waiting for him there. It’s Norman Osborn and that sends his life in an unexpected trajectory that collides him with many unexpected characters in the Marvel universe
Peter Parker’s life, while getting ready for his High School orientation, is forever changed by events that send him on a journey like none before. In the first episode, we discover that the new era of Spider-Man begins here!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will feature the voices of Hudson Thames as Peter Parker,Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln, Grace Song as Nico Minoru, Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius, Kari Wahlgren as Aunt May and Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn
Jeff Trammell served as the head writer and executive producer.
With Marvel Studios untitled Deadpool and Wolverine film continuing to bring back all sorts of characters from previous Fox Marvel films and the plot clearly revolving around time travel/multiversal hijinks, it’s easy to believe that just about anything is fair game for the 2024 films. The Fox X-films were certainly not known for their attention to continuity details so any plot thread left dangling could be in play as well as continuing some stories that were ongoing when Disney and Fox struck a deal for the live-action rights to the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and related characters. Foremost among those, it would seem, would be the events of the post-credit scenes to Deadpool 2 in which Wade Wilson used Cable’s time-traveling tech to undo some damage done in the film, including saving the life of his fiancée, Vanessa, played by Morena Baccarin. Earlier in the year, the actress explained that she had not finalized terms to return but that’s all changed now.
In an interview with CBM, Baccarin confirmed that she had struck a deal with Marvel Studios to appear in the film. “It did work out! I finished my shooting days on it, already,” said Baccarin, indicating she’s most likely finished work on her part well before the mid-summer work stoppage. “I think the film is now underway again after the strike and I think it’s going to be quite good! Yeah, I think fans are in for a fun surprise.”
Given the rumored presence of the TVA in Deadpool 3, and what is already known about the organization, it’s a safe bet they’d be pretty unhappy with the Merc with a Mouth’s actions in Deadpool 2. The threequel is shaping up to be quite something and with it being Marvel Studios only 2024 film, it’s sure to be under intense scrutiny. Whatever director Shawn Levy and stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have in store, it’s rumored to be tightly tied to the overarching Multiverse Saga narrative and lead into the events of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Let’s see if any of the film goes unspoiled before its July 26th, 2024 release.
Since rumors about a potential World War Hulk(s) film circulated a couple of years ago, information about a second Marvel Studios-produced Hulk film has dried up almost entirely. With Red Hulk believed to be set to appear in Captain America: Brave New World, the stage seems set for the studio to put together some sort of Battle of the Hulks project; however, it’s not so simple as putting together a script and starting production when it comes to the Hulk and associated characters.
Similar to Spider-Man, yet unique and a little different, the live-action rights to the Hulk have always been tied up in a deal that now involves NBCUniversal. While it’s thought that perhaps some settlement has been reached during negotiations over Hulu that would allow Disney to take over the rights to the character, nothing official has ever been shared. If the old deal were still in place, Marvel could make the film but would ultimately share profits with NBCUniversal. Still, Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo has expressed the desire to continue to evolve the character on the screen and has made it known he’d love to do another solo Hulk project. While talking with Comic Book, Ruffalo was asked if there was a change of possession of the live-action rights following the Disney an NBCUniversal deal.
“Not that I know of,” Ruffalo began before adding that he’d “been asked not to comment on it, that specifically.” Once a fountain of MCU spoilers, it seems that Ruffalo has been the subject of some recalibration by Disney. While he wasn’t able to reveal any major updates on the status of the live-action rights, he did, however, share that he was as hopeful as anyone that another Hulk film might happen and that if it does, he’s got some ideas about what it should be. “Hopefully, one day though they’ll work it out,” he said of the right’s exchange. “I think [another MCU-set Hulk film] could be really cool and I’ve been putting a lot into what it could be to be cool, but I don’t know yet.“
If such a project is officially in the works at Marvel Studios and part of the Multiverse Saga, perhaps Disney will find a way to share some news in 2024.
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