Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is arguably the best movie in the MCU Phase 4 slate. It is critically acclaimed as Marvel Studios’ Magnum Opus, and currently stands at an 84% critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score is even better with an approval rating of 94%, and a CinemaScore of ‘A’. So far, it has made nearly $800M at the global box office as it nears the end of its exclusive theatrical window.
The film hinted at where Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine will be headed in Phase 5, with this being her 3rd appearance in just under 2 years. The character is heavily rumored to play a prominent role in Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts. The movie also marked the first appearance of Ironheart in the MCU; Riri Williams will continue her journey in the 2023 series Ironheart, which wrapped filming in late October.
Like the original film, Wakanda Forever brought the rich history of a hidden civilization to the MCU with the reveal of Talokan, an underwater kingdom. An enormous amount of work went into creating a culture for the hidden city in incredible detail.
‘Wakanda Forever’ Costumes
Namor’s costume, as seen in Black Panther 2Namora Attuma’s iconic outfit and headgearNamor’s traditional outfitM’Baku
On their official Facebook page, Wētā Workshop showcased their work for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in collaboration with Academy Award-winning Costume Designer, Ruth Carter. The post featured richly detailed costumes for Namor, M’Baku, Attuma, Namora, and the warriors of Talokan.
The character designs for the Talokans, which received wide praise, were derived and inspired by Mesoamerican artwork. The costumes were entirely physical, which was quite a hassle for the actors.
“The headpiece is very heavy and under the water you can feel beauty in the costume, in the movements, and in all these things,” Namora actress Mabel Cadena said on the Cup of Soul Show. “But the first time, to me, was like ‘This costume is going to kill me under the water.’”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now playing in theatres.
Marvel Studios has owned the live-action rights to the X-Men for over three years and while they haven’t chosen to introduce any of the major characters associated with the team into the MCU, they have started to sprinkle in some bits and pieces that are connected. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier introduced the lawless location of Madripoor to the MCU, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featured a Multiversal Variant of Charles Xavier, Kamala Khan’s powers in Ms. Marvel were discovered to be the result of a mutation and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Namor, the MCU’s first mutant (at least for now). Now, a fascinating new rumor suggests they slipped another mutant-related breadcrumb into the MCU without anyone noticing and may change the way audiences look at Eternals.
New information from insider Daniel RPK suggests that a major mutant location already exists in the MCU and will serve as a key setting in two 2024 films. The new rumor claims that the corpse of the Celestial Tiamut has become an island called Genosha and will be featured in Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts.
Fans of X-Men comics will recognize Genosha immediately and likely have a visceral response. Located in the Indian Ocean, Genosha played a major role in the comics for well over a decade, first as an island full of mutant slaves, then as the first attempt at a mutant nation on Earth and ultimately as the site of the massacre which killed 16.5 million mutant inhabitants of the island.
Rumors point to Tiamut’s corpse/Genosha, which is indeed located in the Indian Ocean, serving a key role in Captain America: New World Order as governments of the world learn of the presence of Adamantium in or on the island. Then, in Thunderbolts, the titular team will be sent to Genosha to procure the precious metal. The Thunderbolts going in after Adamantium lines up with CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s obsession with Vibranium, as seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and establishing Tiamut/Genosha as a geopolitical hotspot due to its natural resources sets it up to be a key locale in the future of the MCU. Other rumors point to Thunderbolts also serving to show that Super Soldier research is ongoing and it becomes fairly easy to connect the dots from Super Solider research to Adamantium to Weapon X down the road.
Black Panther has made many actors into icons and Winston Duke‘s M’Baku was among the many instant fan favorites. Not only was he a major player in the first film, but even went on to get the spotlight in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. He just recently made his return in the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever, which saw the cast help keep Chadwick Boseman‘s legacy alive.
Of course, there’s more to the franchise’s future as the Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe continues to further explore these characters. He believes that “The power of what Marvel has become is that it doesn’t belong to any one actor or anyone lead or character.” It was his way of highlighting that he doesn’t know where we’ll see M’Baku next but it mainly depends on when Marvel decides to bring him back.
Sadly, it seems that he might know exactly where he’ll make his return but he still seems up to potentially returning for more entries. There are a lot of potential storylines that could pick up where Wakanda Forever left off, especially now that the story implies he’s taken over as the king of Wakanda after Shuri passed on the mantle. Whenever Marvel Studios is ready to further expand its universe, it seems that Winston Duke will be back around to give us more of the lovable M’Baku.
As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever approaches the end of its exclusive theatrical window, those who persevered in making the film despite the loss of Chadwick Boseman have continued to share their thoughts on how the film evolved following the actor’s death. Winston Duke, whose M’Baku grew to be a close and trusted ally of Boseman‘s T’Challa, has emerged as a rising star in Hollywood and the conclusion of Black Panther: WakandaForever leaves his character in an incredibly important position: as the new King of Wakanda. While M’Baku holds the throne, for now, Duke isn’t afraid to peer pragmatically into the future.
In an interview with Esquire, Duke talked in depth about the passing of his friend, how it shaped the sequel and what he believes the future of the character to be. In Duke‘s mind, it’s not a matter of if Marvel Studios will recast the role of T’Challa, made famous by Boseman, it’s a matter of when.
There’s no way they’ll never remake Black Panther in the future. There’s no way that the saga and interpretation of T’Challa, King of Wakanda, will end. He is canon. So trust that it’ll come. But allow this to be a human experience.
Winston Duke
While the near future of the cinematic iteration of the World of Wakanda would seem to be prepared to focus on former Dora Milaje General Okoye and the son of T’Challa and heir to the throne of Wakanda introduced in Wakanda Forever, Duke‘s comments are likely in line with some longer-term plans of Marvel Studios. The Multiverse Saga is currently set to wrap up in 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars, a film that will almost certainly involve familiar heroes from different timelines who may, in some cases, be portrayed by unfamiliar actors. Given that possibility, it’s not hard to imagine Marvel Studios taking the opportunity to cast another actor as T’Challa, a move that would, in a way, not strictly be a recast but still provide the opportunity for more stories about one of Marvel Comics most well-developed characters to be told. Future stories in the MCU could see T’Challa interacting with Reed Richards, Storm and Namor, characters with whom a rich comic book history as been developed. As Duke said, T’Challa “is canon”, but allowing Boseman’s friends and family to go through their own “human experience” rightly took precedent over cinematic stories.
Charlie Cox couldn’t be more excited about continuing to portray Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After bringing the dual personalities to life in 2015 on the Netflix streaming series Daredevil, which was canceled after 3 seasons, Cox was given new life as the character when Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, reached out ahead of production on 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“Kevin Feige called and said, ‘We’d like to bring you into the MCU’”, said Cox of the fateful call in an interview with NME. “I was over the moon,” said the star. “I love this character.” That call ended with Cox agreeing to cameos in No Way Home and the 2022 streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Beyond that, Cox’s future as the character was undefined. That’s all changed now as Cox is scheduled for a fairly large role in the Disney Plus streaming series Echo ahead of starring alongside Vincent D’Onofrio in the 18-episode streamer, Daredevil: Born Again.
Cox’s appearance in She-Hulk, where he played the character as “quick-witted and funny and charismatic and carefree at times“, according to Cox, probably isn’t the template for the character going forward. Cox knows that fans of Netflix’s Daredevil loved the brooding, bloody and brutal tone of the show, but he also knows this new series is headed for Disney Plus. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared toward a slightly more mature audience,” said Cox, while cautioning, “my instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.” So what exactly is Daredevil: Born Again going to shape up to be?
Cox has gone on record before, calling Daredevil: Born Again a “whole new deal“, a sentiment he reiterated to NME. “This has to be a reincarnation,” said Cox of Born Again. “It has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” So what should the fans who fell in love with the iteration of the character whose story was told over 3 seasons on Netflix? “I would say to those people, we’ve done that. Let’s take the things that really worked, but can we broaden? Can we appeal to a slightly younger audience without losing what we’ve learned about what works?”
That’s not exactly encouraging news for fans of the TV-MA version of the character; however, it’s consistent with what Cox has been saying all along.
Daredevil: Born Again will be Marvel Studios’ first project featuring Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock as a lead character, and we are all for it. Following the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s appearance as his lawyer persona in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the costumed Daredevil made got his first taste of MCU action in the 2022 series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. In the show, Matt headed to the West Coast to defend superhero tailor Luke Jacobson.
In October, DiscussingFilm founder Jacob Fisher went on Twitter to share news regarding Daredevil: Born Again‘s production. He reported that “the series is planning to begin filming in February and last for pretty much the entire year”, which was unsurprising, considering that the series will span 18 episodes.
In an interview with NME, Charlie Cox talked about returning as the Man Without Fear. He confirmed the filming schedule for Born Again, stating this:
“They said to me, ‘We’re going to be shooting in 2023’, I said, ‘Great, when?’ They said, ‘All 2023’. I start shooting in February and finish in December.”
Charlie Cox, via NME
Daredevil: Born Again will be one of Marvel Studios’ lone projects to film in New York, rather than Atlanta. This makes set media more probable, which will definitely reveal more about where Matt heads in this series. Daredevil: Born Again is currently expected to stream on Disney Plus in 2024.
For nearly two years, fans of the MCU took to social media to voice their concern that Marvel Studios’ post-Infinity Saga era lacked direction. Those criticisms seemed misplaced at the time (imagine pretending to know that Thanos was coming following 2011’s Thor) but once Kevin Feige rolled out the first look at the Multiverse Saga at SDCC ’22, they became completely irrelevant. Feige’s ambitious plan for the new saga included another double-dip of Avengers films among the current total of 13 unreleased films (expect Spidey 4 to join that number eventually).
Even with the One-Above-All’s plan laid out in plain sight, it’s still a bit hard to see how the MCU gets from here to there. After all, at this point in the Multiverse Saga, only a handful of projects have been…Multiversal. So which projects in Phases 5 and 6 are shaping up to be the most important on the road to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty? Here’s our best guess…
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
This one isn’t much of a guess as it’s all but confirmed to lead directly to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. But how? Our best guess is that the events of Quantumania won’t actually result in Kang getting turned loose into the world just yet. Why not? Because there’s just too much story to get through between Quantumania and The Kang Dynasty to have Kang running about all willy-nilly in the MCU for 2 years. What Quantumania can and will do, however, is establish Kang the Conqueror as a major threat to the Multiverse and it might also serve as the Multiverse Saga’s “Thanos is coming” moment. Whichever members of the Ant-Family make it out of the Quantum Realm will surely relay their knowledge of the villain to whoever it is that makes up the new team of Avengers. Sounds like it’s going to be Cassie Lang’s turn to follow in her father’s footsteps and make up for a big mistake…
Loki, Season 2
Season 2 of Loki both is and is not exactly what you think it is. As details about the villain of the series start to trickle out, fans are starting to put together some pretty great theories about what might happen…but most of those theories get off to a false start. Though Season 1 lead writer Michael Waldron is off working on Avengers: Secret Wars, Eric Martin (who did a great deal of work on Season 1), took the lead. The continuity from Season 1 to Season 2 is going to pay major dividends as Season 2 picks up directly where Season 1 left off. It’s just that Season 1 didn’t leave off in the way many believe it did. Season 2 will also deal with the now out-of-control Multiverse and see Sylvie faced with the consequences of the choice she made when she shanked He Who Remains. He warned her. She didn’t listen. What happens when she finds out just how bad it’s gotten? Finally, Season 2 looks to include Jonathan Majors‘ Kang. Is he the same Kang as the one in Quantumania? Has he escaped from the Quantum Realm or is this before he became trapped there? Is he a new Variant? Season 2’s gonna be a trip.
The Marvels
It’s likely that every project in Phases 5 and 6 will have something that is ultimately somehow related to one or both of the Avengers’ films in the Multiverse Saga. Whether it be plot points, character developments or threads left hanging, most of the projects will tie into them one way or another. The big rumor for The Marvels is that it will actually delve pretty heavily into the idea of incursions that was introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That’s a pretty important bit as Reed Richard’s explanation of what they are might not have given the entire picture, but just what he knew about them at the time.
Captain America: New World Order
Don’t expect Kang to pop in here or for a world-ending incursion to happen in the first act. Do expect this to be the first global-level story of the Multiverse Saga and for it to clarify some details that have been fairly casually thrown into different Phase 4 projects. The Sokovia Accord were established in Captain America: Civil War and the Avengers spent an entire movie fighting over them; those same accords were casually revealed to have been repealed in one line of dialogue spoken by Matt Murdock in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. So what happens when there’s something worth fighting over now? The present-day MCU has no Avengers. But they’ll need some in 2025 otherwise calling it Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would be pretty silly. Will the New Avengers be formed during this movie? Or will this movie be the pivot point for the Multiverse Saga in that it will make it clear that the time has come for the New Avengers to come together?
Deadpool and Wolverine
Hugh Jackman‘s revelation that whatever this movie is called will involve time travel all but confirms that it will be an incursion-fest. I actually love the idea of Deadpool causing a whole mess of incursions that accelerate the destruction of the Multiverse. He’s not a serious character who should be trying to face off against Kang, but it is in keeping with the character that his actions, as noble as he may think they are, would create a major mess that others would have to clean up. If this film becomes the adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe which has been theorized here and there, it would be a wonderful way to build a true, all-inclusive Multiverse while capitalizing on Ryan Reynolds‘ popularity and love for Deadpool.
Fantastic Four
It’s hard to imagine a Fantastic Four film taking place in the MCU that doesn’t somehow connect to the Multiverse Saga. The current rumblings around the plot point toward it shaping up to be a little Cosmic in nature and to involve the Silver Surfer. Of course, at this point in the game, there’s no context for what his purpose in the film might be. Whatever the case, he’s certainly no villain but one of his comic book powers might serve an interesting purpose in Fantastic Four. When gifted with the Power Cosmic by Galactus, the Cosmic Wanderer gained Cosmic Awareness. This power allowed him to sense things about the universe that others couldn’t. He could perceive changes in energy in the universe and determine the location of said changes. If the 616 reality were in some jeopardy through an incursion, it’s incredibly likely that the Surfer would know about it first. From there it’s not much of a…stretch…to think he might find himself working with one of the smartest people on the planet to determine the nature of the incursion. From there it follows that Reed might create a device that would allow him to peer into other realities to see if they’re in similar danger. From there it’s possible he might meet other Reeds. Having a plan for dealing with incursions and/or Kang would seem like a pretty major deal. Could an evil Reed be the villain here? Another version of Kang, such as Immortus? Too many unknowns at the moment, but if Marvel Studios wants to set this apart from Fox’s efforts with the First Family, this would do the trick.
Shang-Chi 2
The rumored title of Shang-Chi and The Wreckage of Time opens up some fascinating possibilities for the sequel to 2021’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. More importantly, it also established one of Marvel Studios’ newest heroes as one of the key figures in the Multiverse Saga. The Wreckage of Time would seem to point directly at Kang’s involvement in this movie and, as indicated earlier, he still has to get out of the Quantum Realm somehow. I still think this movie takes place before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, though the current slate does not show that. I’ve been asking for a Shang-Chi and Ms. Marvel team-up and this could be it. Theories that those two characters have weapons that are ultimately a major part of the Multiverse Saga might be on to something, but instead of them being part of taking down Kang, what if they somehow end up being part of how he’s freed from the Quantum Realm. Just because Kang can’t get out doesn’t mean he might now have allies on the outside. Once freed from the Quantum Realm, Kang would certainly be at liberty to do some serious damage to the timestream.
Is Nomad even happening?! There’s still no official word on the project that we first reported was in the works over 2 years ago, but it really is…right? Is it a TV series? A film? Nobody seems to know but if it were a film about Steve Rogers’ time returning the Infinity Stones, it could turn into an incursion-palooza that, much like Deadpool and Wolverine, could speed up the timeline toward Avengers: Secret Wars. As detailed here, a guy like Steve Rogers visiting these other timelines could be a way worse idea than you’d think. If he chose to right some minor wrong while he was in each of those alternate timelines (as nicely detailed in the image from MCU Exchange), this project could serve as the ultimate connecting piece between Marvel Studios’ two Sagas and show fans just how time messes back, as Tony Stark warned.
It’s not exactly the Yellow-Brick Road, but these projects could easily set the stage for the events of The Kang Dynasty. How does the story go from there to Secret Wars? Stay tuned, True Believers…
The hype for Marvel Studios’ untitled Deadpool and Wolverine film has been steadily growing over the past couple of months. Following the official announcement of the return of Hugh Jackman as Logan, rumors of the plot of the film began to populate the usual channels. One of the more interesting and sensible rumors indicated that Owen Wilson‘s Mobius and his employer, the Time Variance Authority were set to play a key role in the film. It looks like those rumors stand a strong chance of being proven true down the road.
While explaining in an interview with Sirius XM how his character, who died in 2017’s Logan, would be able to make an appearance in the new film, Jackman gave a pretty simple answer…time travel!
But all because of this device they have in the Marvel world of moving around timelines, now we can go back because, you know, it’s science. And so I don’t have to screw with the Logan timeline, which was important to me, and I think probably to the fans too.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman has revealed that ‘DEADPOOL 3’ will utilize a Time Travel device throughout the film. 👀
That handy little device Jackman referenced could well be one of the TVA’s TemPads, first seen in Season 1 of Loki. Jackman’s comments also indicate that, according to MCU logic, the events of the Deadpool and Wolverine film are going to create an alternate timeline and, most likely, an incursion. Given the most popular theories about the film include Deadpool visiting timelines from past Marvel films like Fantastic Four and the Fox X-Men franchise, it’s possible that his meddling in those timelines creates a number of incursions. Deadpool creating a mess that the new team of Avengers would end up having to clean up sounds like just the right way to bring the Merc with a Mouth into the MCU.
The newly-formed DC Studios has continued to cause pure chaos and make the DC Entertainment brand messier than ever—which is hard to do. But perhaps better days are on the horizon for the studio, as co-CEO James Gunn told Twitter this week that DC Studios has a new slate set, and he plans to unveil the first part of it in early 2023. With that announcement, though, came the news that Superman actor Henry Cavill will in fact not be returning to play the character in the future. Cavill announced his return in October with his post-credits scene cameo in Black Adam to much fanfare. Black Adam, for a few reasons now, has become a fairly awkward moment in DC’s history. It probably does not help that Dwayne Johnson’s team reportedly leaked the film’s profit report based on false assumptions to try and prove to the public that the movie was profitable.
With everything happening at DC Studios, it begs the questions of whether the four remaining DCEU films with scheduled releases will actually happen, or alternatively, matter. If The Flash does go forward, it apparently cut Cavill’s and Gal Gadot’s cameos in its most recent cut, which would suggest that DC’s flagship characters across the board will likely get recast in a hard reboot situation. In that reboot scenario, it is very unclear how films like Blue Beetle will play any role in the studio’s grand new plan, but you can read the first official synopsis of the film here. It could be all we get.
This week, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased more mutants in the MCU’s near future. During the Q&A after the CCXP event showcasing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked on if we can expect more mutants in the near future and he definitely seemed optimistic: “No, look, we’ve already met a few. There’s a new Mutant named Namor that you might’ve met recently. So, more to come.”
Of course, the head of the production company is not going to give away what we can expect. We do know that Deadpool 3 will give Hugh Jackman one more chance to play Wolverine; hopefully finally wearing his iconic outfit. And, there are many opportunities to slowly introduce various versions of these characters throughout upcoming projects. Now, we just have to wait and see if the X-Men will get their time int he spotlight or if they even existed throughout MCU’s history to begin with.
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