Tag: Movie Features

New ‘ETERNALS’ Trailer Hints at Earth-X Influence

Marvel Studios caught fans off guard with their early morning drop of the first full trailer for their upcoming film, Eternals. The trailer not only showcased the beautiful scenery we’ve heard so much about alongside impressive displays of power from the group, but also seemingly gave a major clue as to what exactly the ancient aliens will be fighting against in the film.

While the trailer finally showcases the Deviants, the changing people who are forever pitted against the Eternals, it also indicates that while they pose a formidable threat, they’re not the biggest threat to Earth. In the trailers opening moments, Salma Hayek’s Ajak explains that when Bruce Banner snapped half of the Earth’s population back into existence, it provided enough for something called “the emergence” to begin. The way the trailer is cut, it’s easy enough to believe that the emergence refers to a new wave of Deviants coming forth to threaten the Earth; however, given the trailer’s heavy emphasis on Celestials and the fact that part of the film seems to be about assembling the team for a larger threat, it seems like a more terrifying, underlying threat may be looming.

Underlying may be the key descriptor for the film’s true threat, if comic book (alternate) history is to be followed. In 1999, Marvel Comics published Earth X, a limited series from creators Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and John Paul Leon. Taking place on Earth-997, Earth X was notable for Ross’ incredible redesigns of several characters who inhabited a wild dystopian possible future. Central to the series’ plot (and potentially to Eternals) was the seemingly crazy idea that the Celestials had implanted an egg at the center of Earth that, after eons of gestating and being protected by the Eternals would “emerge” and destroy the Earth. Interestingly enough, the Celestial eggs are also used to explain why that universe’s Galactus (revealed to be Franklin Richards) gets busy eating planets.

Earth X was enormously popular and spawned three additional series, the most recent having been published in 2020. That said, it’s still relatively unknown, as are the Eternals, so it would provide a wonderful bit of influence for Marvel Studios big screen adaptation. If the “emergence” Ajak is talking about is indeed that of a Celestial emerging from the Earth’s core, the Deviants are going to seem like small potatoes to the team of Eternals.

Eternals is set to hit theaters November 5, 2021.

August 19, 2021
How ‘ETERNALS’ Hints at Thanos’ Revamped Origin for the MCU

Finally, the new trailer for Eternals has arrived. It offers a closer look at the unique take on a Marvel Cinematic Universe story. After remaining hidden for centuries, they return to face an event known as the Emergence. Yet, we also get the confirmation that they are only allowed to interact with humanity to protect them from the evil Deviants. It’s the franchise’s way of explaining how they weren’t there to take on Thanos and other world-ending catalysts. The trailer gave us our first look at these twisted creatures that are a far cry from the humanoid figures we’ve grown up with within the comics. Yet, these small details may have confirmed that the Mad Titan has a very different origin from the comics.

Thanos was the son of Eternals A’lars and Sui-San alongside Eros on the moon of Titan. We briefly visited his destroyed home, but it’s still uncertain if the race has a connection to this planet. Thanos’ purple skin turned out to be the result of him carrying Deviants gene. His mother Sui-San feared what he became and tried to kill him. Yet, she got stopped even though she warned them what he might become when he aged. In his early years, he was a pacifist until he fell in love with Death.

So, if he is, in fact, part of the Deviants, wouldn’t that constitute that the Eternals would have to stop him? Yet the designs, even that of the only humanoid Deviant, are far removed from what we know from the race. So, it almost seems safe to say that they won’t explore his direct connection to the Eternals and the Deviants. There are also no signs of others from this race outside of the core group teased in the trailer.

So, who knows if the Eternals even exist beyond these members, which means Thanos’ parents and family might simply be from the planet Titan. When talking about his past, he implied they lived for quite some time on the planet before it met its untimely end. He could still have a genetic defect that makes him stand out from his race but has no direct connection to the Deviants.

The big question is also why the Eternals can only act when Deviants are involved. It almost seems like the Celestials, who gave them this order, are just trying to hide the genetic mistake they’ve unleashed upon the world. The films didn’t focus much on his past, which we thought might get explored in the Eternals film. Yet, this approach lets them tell a unique take on these characters and the Celestials’ influence over them without treading old ground. In reality, there’s no necessity to connect this race with Thanos.

As much as the Marvel universe intertwines, we’ve seen them take unique approaches to bring the comics to life. The unique take also opens up the question of how they might approach his brother Eros, also known as Starfox if he makes an appearance at some point in the MCU. We also have rumors that we’ll get introduced to other alien races that are known as “Gods” to humans. Perhaps, their introduction is the set-up to further exploring the concept first introduced with Thor’s arrival on Earth. Either way, it’ll be interesting if the trailers are hiding some details that might connect them after all.

August 19, 2021
How Avengers Campus is the Foundation for MCU’s Next Frontier

The Infinity Saga saw the average box office of the MCU continue to grow even as Marvel Studios increased output from one film per year to three. They’ve maintained this quality and growth to this day with five additional streaming series on Disney+. This is a result of how this studio approaches its overall innovative process. Yet while these shows have attracted much of the cultural and critical appraisal this year, Marvel Studios collaborated on a massive project, which paves the way to a future frontier of engagement with fans that is, at the moment, unparalleled, the Avengers Campus.

Avengers Campus is an MCU-inspired theme park area created in collaboration between Marvel Studios and Disney Imagineering “that will grow and evolve as [the] cinematic universe grows and evolves” according to Kevin Feige at the opening ceremony. Less than a week after Avengers Campus’ opening alongside Loki’s premiere episode, there were already sightings of Loki Variant L1130 in his TVA arrest costume alongside some Hunters. This continued to progress as the show aired.

Although it doesn’t take place in the MCU itself, Feige noted that the “studio’s filmmakers, artists, costume designers, and production designers have worked in lock-step with the Imagineers and the Parks team to create” much of what visitors experience, suggesting there is a certain amount of coherence between the two types of storytelling worlds. The fact that Marvel Studios have devoted some of their resources normally used in their films and streaming series to an interactive area suggests that they are aware of interactivity and engagement as a key aspect of evolving with their fans.

Marvel Studios’ work on Avengers Campus recognizes their fans “yearning to stimulate the other four senses outside of the visual.” That is according to Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner, a transmedia production company he co-founded with Fabian Nicieza, where they have consulted on worldbuilding for the theme park area Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge as well as the films Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean. Gomez knows what he’s talking about in regards to the rise and fall cycle in the public consciousness of these story world franchises and suggests there is a “five-stage cycle” of how both projects are made and received.

It goes through stages of experiments, classics, refinements, reflexives, and deconstructions, where “if we get to stage five … it’s very hard to go back, which means we’re near the end” which is similar to comparisons to the decline of the Western film genre. When talking about where the MCU is in this cycle “if multiple actors show up as a Spider-Man,” referring to the Spider-Man: No Way Home rumors, as a “reflexive element” which Gomez suggests is nearer the latter end of that cycle. While he also refers to WandaVision having self-reflective elements, it’s clear that Wanda Maximoff’s appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be a narrative experiment, as subsequent film appearances from characters in Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki and What If…? will also be part of the same experiments.

Kevin Feige has repeatedly said that the Disney+ series “will tie directly to MCU feature films” and that Marvel Studios is learning as they go with Disney+ their experiments, meaning we can likely look forward to more classics and refinements in the TV-film narratives in the years ahead. All of this is to say, while it seems distant that Marvel Studios has interactivity as a key part of their narrative experiences, they’ve shown they are prepared to integrate new media formats into the main narrative, in order to keep their experiments fresh.

Given the standards, Marvel Studios always aims to improve and it opens up the question of what next media frontier they might explore next after entering streaming? The answer might well be in the clue of collaborating on the updating interactivity of Avengers Campus. Matthew Ball, a venture capital investor, notes that the amount of hours of engagement Fornite attracts probably dwarfs that of the MCU (it would be a hard maths challenge to actually try and work out the monthly engagement hours of the MCU). In a 2019 earnings report, Netflix stated “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO” suggesting the competition for attention goes beyond the so-called streaming wars. Marvel Studios cannot afford to overlook this type of engagement.

It’s likely these kinds of things won’t happen until the art forms and the technologies have matured, just as Disney did not immediately dive into streaming. But what might the MCU crossing into the frontier of interactivity look like? Narrative space would have to be left for the films and streaming series, but I’ve thought of a couple of ways participants could interact with the MCU outside of those visual experiences.

Firstly, an in-MCU game of sorts could act as an Interactive Live Event (see #8 here) where participants don’t play as main characters but watch the computer generated heroes interact with their storyworld and vote upon their activities concurrently. This kind of integration would lend itself to the kind of behavior in interacting with video game streamers. Another route could take inspiration from The Marvels comic storyline, as players take on the roles of non-heroes amongst a graphical MCU New York, taking part in small activities at The Daily Bugle, Stark Enterprises, or Hellfire Trading Company.

They get to contribute to heroic missions and occasionally meeting our heroes, while witnessing what happens in the world above like Fortnite Events. The outcomes in both of these set-ups could lead to missions participants see play out, and also outcomes that appear in films and series which would allow fans to experience the MCU in an unprecedented way in contributing to the stories of our heroes.

There’s no guarantee that an interactive MCU integration would end up happening either of the ways mentioned above, just as Avengers Campus exists in a Marvel Theme Park Universe so could an online Marvel Gamerverse exist as part of the multiverse. Perhaps we could see existing franchises integrate into the overarching narrative in some way. Even before such a narrative integration could take place there would have to be a breakthrough in computing power, as well a storytelling maturity that is in its earliest stages as streaming competitors like Netflix just starting to move into gaming.

There is however a clear and constant fan desire to spend time in fictional storyworlds, and the excitement around the interactivity of Avengers Campus shows that a Marvel fan that spends many hours a week in a digital theme park contributing to the stories of their heroes is way more valuable to Marvel Studios than even the most regular rewatcher. This kind of evolution toward a Marvel Transmedia Multiverse seems at the start of a journey to that interactive horizon.

Source: YouTube, DisneyParks Blog, Pop Insider, YouTube, The Guardian, Walt Disney Company, NewZoo, Matthew Ball, Netflix, Matthew Ball, IGN, NWN, Financial Times

August 18, 2021
How ‘WHAT IF…?’ Confirms a Hela and Gorr the God Butcher Connection

There’s been a burning question for many comic fans when Thor: Love and Thunder announced it will introduce Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. The iconic weapon of the alien was the infamous All-Black the Necrosword that turned out to be the original symbiote forged into a sword by Knull. Yet, we’ve already gotten introduced to the weapon in Thor: Ragnarok through Thor‘s sister, Hela. At least, we believed it was the same weapon and didn’t get a confirmation until now.

She wielded an unnamed blade that seemed to be based on the comic’s design of the Necrosword rather than her usual Nightswords. Her summoning them into her hands seemed to stem from the comic version. It opened up the question of if she was even wielding the same weapon and, if she was, how it might connect to Gorr in the upcoming sequel. Well, the latest episode of What If…? may have given us the set-up to that very answer.

In a part of the multiverse where T’Challa became Star-Lord, the Collector became the new galactic crime boss after Thanos joined the good side. In his collection, he has a bunch of familiar weapons. It includes Mjolnir, the arm of Korg, and even Captain America’s shield. Suddenly, he pulls out the headpiece of Hela. The moment he wars it, he confirms that it is, indeed, a Necrosword. It also confirms she was using this weapon through the headgear rather than inherent ability. Of course, there’s no mention of All-Black or symbiote, but the first name drop seems relevant even in a What If scenario.

Now, the only question remains if Gorr gets his hands on this version of the Necrosword. There’s a good chance that after the events of Ragnarok, her helmet flies off into space and the hands of Gorr. While the Collector doesn’t seem to change its shape when putting it on, the heat from Surter could have warped it in the aftermath. There’s only the question about Hela’s connection to Asgard, which the What If…? episode negates with Collector wielding it. We’ll see if they potentially utilize this connection or take a different route, but it is our first naming of the Necrosword in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Source: Disney+

August 18, 2021
Connecting Imaginary Dots: The Return of the Ancient One

With more than a month since the season finale of Loki and with the story-altering events of What If…? well underway, the prospect of an ever-expanding multiverse mens countless possibilities for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It appears that all this talk about character variants, alternate timelines, and multiple universes will all come to a climax during the highly anticipated film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange is set to face the consequences of the events set into motion during WandaVision, Loki, What If…? and Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, even with all of these discussions about the branching timelines across the multiverse, very few details are actually known about the Doctor Strange sequel. However, some evidence indicates that there’s a good chance that we could potentially see the return of one of the most important characters during Stephen Strange’s upbringing in the mystic arts.

According to an IMDb listing, Julia Schunevitsch has been added to the stunts team for the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel as a stunt performer. What makes her addition particularly interesting is that Julia also participated in the MCU previously in 2016’s Doctor Strange as Tilda Swinton’s stunt double for the role of the Ancient One. At this point in time, it is merely speculation that Swinton could return as the Ancient One, given that her character is already technically dead given the events of Doctor Strange. However, even past her death, Swinton has returned to the MCU on a number of occasions. She reprised her role in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and she is also set to make an appearance during an upcoming episode of What If…?. So, her death in the main timeline of the MCU may not have completely sealed the fate of this character.

With the number of events that have transpired in the MCU regarding the timeline and the multiverse, it’s no doubt that Doctor Strange will need all the help he can get to face what’s coming, and having the former Sorceror Supreme on his side would potentially make a great asset as both he (and us) navigate across the Multiverse of Madness when it hits theaters March 25, 2022.

Source: IMDb

August 16, 2021
Taking a Closer Look at the Many Potential Stories Beyond MCU’s Phase 4

The next overarching stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be determined by the outcome of the currently dated projects. Having assessed how well these outcomes might go for our heroes, it becomes easier to make a projection about what overarching stories could happen across the next few years. So let’s take a look through the different power-threat levels of street, supernatural, global, cosmic and multiverse to see where we could be heading before the next major crossover.

Trails of Crime

With Hawkeye introducing more street-level characters and stories later this year, it’s easy to imagine that there might be a money trail involved in hiring the goons that are going after Clint. In the comics various mob bosses, including the Kingpin, hire Kazimierz Kazimierczak the Clown to kill Clint. So, it stands to reason there might be an overarching story of organised crime that carries through into She-Hulk and further in Echo. We’re probably only witnessing the beginnings.

In the midst of more coordinated criminal activity, more local heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, as well as the Heroes for Hire will have to find ways to protect people in their neighbourhoods and eventually confront those mob bosses. Other street level heroes like Darkhawk or Squirrel Girl could join them. Maybe even Toni Masters (formerly Dreykhov) becomes involved, relying on her photographic reflexes to train low-level thugs as a way to get by on her search for her place in the world.

Whether those confrontations with the crime syndicate triumph or not, there will be multiple rivals looking to succeed the current Kingpin of Crime. It’s reasonable that in such a scenario the Kingpin might be looking towards collaboration with supportive international governments like Latveria. I wonder whether a potential successor named Parker Robbins might flourish in the Kingpin War, aftering having found a demon’s cloak belonging to Dormammu and becoming The Hood

Supernatural Streets

Wanda Maximoff being enticed into using The Darkhold, we’ll likely see an uptick in supernatural events around the world. No doubt that the streets and ley lines of New York City make it a hub of metaphysical activity that the cult forces of Dracula and Lilith, Mother of All Demons will be drawn to. Heroes like Doctor Strange, Moon Knight and Blade will need to team-up with adventurers, which includes Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Elsa Bloodstone, daughter of a famous monster hunter, and Werewolf by Night, who is reported to be have a series in development, to save people from paranormal activity.

At this point, it’s only a question of time before a full explosion of demonic cults spring up. Especially as Ghost Rider might join Marvel Studios’ filmography sooner than later. Alternatively, another scenario these heroes could find themselves allied with crime syndicate boss The Hood who discovers a zombie-esque virus. It’s enacted by Dormammu to conquer Earth. Although the Cosmic Conqueror is likely to be defeated in this endeavour, as it feels like the Mindless Ones might be more of a magic threat that the Midnight Sons and the Avengers might have to team-up for.

Global Witch Hunt

Another street level meets supernatural event could be the formation of the Young Avengers. There are few events in the MCU that cause new teams to form, especially comprising street level characters and assorted other power levels. A missing Avenger might be one of those causations. It’s not hard to imagine that Cassie Lang, Kate Bishop and Eli Bradley might know each other through online Avengers tracking communities or even an early get-together with Teddy Altman. He’s hidden on earth with the Lang family, in the midst of Kree/Skrull attacks as they search for a ‘hybrid’ on Earth.

It’s not hard to imagine these young heroes might be alerted if Wiccan and Speed are on a global search for their missing multiversal-mother. It’s also possible Billy and Tommy are joined by their new friends from recent adventures with Kid Loki and America Chavez. They might need to face-off against Kree and Skrull units as they go on a children’s crusade that could take them across the globe. Perhaps it leads them to the once faded but now rising from the ashes country of Latveria. We explored the idea of an adaptation of the Children’s Crusade storyline, which you can check out here. The uniting of such an assorted team on such an adventure could possibly bring them into the sights of other global players.

New Global Avengers

From where we are now we can see that there might be two action-espionage teams forming within a global scale. While Sam Wilson has stepped up to claim the mantle of Captain America, he will likely still be put under a lot of scrutiny. Perhaps some of this could be alleviated with Sam publicly leading a team, and even getting his “Avengers Assemble’” moment. So, the question remains who this global time might consist of.

Shang-Chi seems likely to join forces with those that can help him achieve his goals. Perhaps Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor might be compelled to protect New Asgard, which has imbued her with power while her namesake is on cosmic adventures. Similarly there might be aliens like Hercules who have been chased from their homes by Gorr The God Butcher, and now want to set-up home on the planet. It could lead to the return of Sersi and Dane Whitman, who’ll get called into action due to their past.

Whether this team will be joined by a Wakandan hero on the international stage is still very much an open question. Of course this team could easily be rounded out by regulars like Bucky, Ant-Man, The Wasp, and War Machine. Rhodey will have recently tangled with the possible results of Sharon Carter’s Power Broker after she sold off Stark Tech plans. Regardless of who joins this team, it seems they will likely have a rivalry with another global team.

Rival Dark Avengers

Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is recruiting a team and we met its first true member. She tells John Walker, the slightly unstable super-soldier that “things are about to get weird.” She also refers to Baron Zemo as “our friend,” indicating she might have some plans for him as well. Yelena Belova is the final recruit knwon about, and it seems Yelena has been working for Val for some time already, jokingly asking for a raise and saying she shouldn’t be bothered on holiday.

It makes you wonder if Val knows about Agatha Harkness being trapped in Westview as ‘Agnes’ and what kind of bargain she might strike for freeing her. Whatever Val’s aims are, they seem an antagonism to our heroes, which could set up a rivalry between these newly formed teams. The only question is what would lead to them confronting each other. Is Val already looking to head off the Secret Invasion? Is a war brewing between Kree and Skrulls once again in their hunt for a ‘hybrid’?

There are many possibliites they might take with this new team. She might plan a siege on New Asgard, or other iconic locations from the comics. Perhaps a new type of humans have been steadily growing in numbers that need more control. Her machinations will surely become clearer over the next year or two. This global rivalry between these two teams will surely have to give way eventually as another global threat too big for one team alone emerges.

Cosmic Politics

There are likely to be various cosmic conflicts that could coalesce into a wider galactic struggle. As there are a significant number of Eternals, it stands to reason that some of them might stay protecting Earth while others adventure off into space in search of their creators, the Celestials. The ancient Celestial experiments could become the catalysts for a wider galactic war. New Asgard can be the connection point between Earth and the Cosmos, especially now that Thor Odinson ventured out with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

It is possible that he might continue his adventures in space while Jane Foster uses a repaired Mjolnir on Earth. Gorr The God Butcher will undoubtedly interrupt this space adventure. His rampage might introduce us to other pantheons like the Olympians and Tuatha De Danann, as they are attacked and in search of new habitats across the universe. Perhaps New Asgard can become a home for all of them? Will Valkyrie and her queen be able to unite peoples beyond Asgardians?

Cosmic Invasion

It’s likely that similar political negotiations might fall on the heads of Nick Fury, Talos and Captain Marvel with each of the three of them having a crossover stake in the Kree-Skrull conflict that will likely engulf the galaxy. With the Skrull invasion of Earth and the Kree Empire trying to get it’s hands on Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan and Teddy Altman for various reasons suggest there will be a continued focus on Earth within the wider politics of the galaxy. It’s not hard to imagine, when taken, to extremes this might include open invasion and attacks that combined cosmic and earthbound heroes.

We might see the involvement of characters like Nova, Abigail Brand and The Fantastic Four to keep these threats at bay. The Guardians are likely to split up and some of their remaining members could pop-up elsewhere. Perhaps in the deepest quarters of space at a catina we might see the Starjammers, as we explore new locations across the galaxy. Both the exploration of Terrans into deeper parts of space and the Kree-Skrull-Earth conflict spreading across galaxies might attract the attention of cosmic threats like Galactus or Annihilus, who will require a bigger team up than just the cosmically powered heroes.

Mutliversal Conquest

It looks like the multiverse will get more chaotic and dangerous throughout the next dimensional-timeline adventures of Loki, Captain Carter, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man. Each of these characters can suffer heavy tolls from their impending exploits. The multiverse won’t disappear and the impact of different branching timelines won’t halt after what we can see on the horizon.

As the Loki Variant L1130 witnesed the cracking of the multiverse, it seems his next adventures could involve escaping a Variant of Kang the Conquerer that has taken over the TVA while trying to find the more revolutionary version he left Mobius and Hunter B-15 with. They might form a version of the Exiles to fix the broken timelines, as different versions of the TVA face each other. Whatever the answer is, it will likely be entwined with how Loki and Sylvie heal their rift.

Multiversal Madness

As Captain Carter continues to try and guard the multiverse, perhaps her further feats with Uatu might lead her to Merlyn and Roma. From there it’s easy to envisage how she might become first of the Captain Britain Corps with a duty to guard the wider omniverse. Along the way, it’s highly likely she will encounter our favourite heroes. Her actions might also echo from Strange’s upcoming adventure.

While he will tackle the various timelines intersecting, there are a few new paths before him. For one, there are likely to be new supernatural threats on the streets of New York that could require him to assemble a team. His experiences might also force him to realise that there needs to be a small cabal watching over the multiverse in the hopes of sparing their own timeline at the cost of others while saving all of them from those who might use time as a weapon. Lastly, in noticing the appearance of young heroes, it might be the time to gather those with mystical abilities to guide them through the mystic arts in a Strange Academy. It seems like the doctor is going to have a busy period.

While Scott Lang’s tussle with Kang is not likely to go well for the Lang and Pym families, it’s possible Scott and Hope will return to earthly protection and warding of the Young Avengers. The Variants of Kang may form a council and are likely to be making plans to further expand their influence across the timelines even if it means the incursions of some into others. It looks like the future is going to be quite rough.

Many Stories to Come

In view of how these stories might play out across the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, it’s clear that the peaks of the next few years will include story threads that will lead to bigger confrontations that require multiple teams. There is an inevitability that these bigger confrontations will crossover themselves in their power levels and impact, suggesting that once the above stories have begun to play out, we might start to see a wider crossover between all the new and hold heroes of the MCU as a unavoidable threat emerges that everyone must join in to tackle.

August 16, 2021
How ‘SUICIDE SQAD 3’ Could Build Upon ‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’s Aftermath

After the explosive success that was The Suicide Squad, the team is bound to make a return at some point. When that day eventually comes, Gunn has taught us how much value this franchise gains from a new writer and director. While keeping the films subtly separate, I believe it’s time to explore what happened between The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, which allows Rick Flag and Captain Boomerang to return for one of the many other missions hinted at by both them in the opening of James Gunn‘s film.

The premise for this pitch would follow Amanda Waller sending out a team to Pozharnov, Russia. If the location sounds familiar, it’s where the Justice League faced off against Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons. However, the location would now be the temporary base of operations for Intergang, who’ve moved in on the terraformed territory and salvaged leftover Apokolyptian tech. They’ve started reengineering it for sale to capitalize on the tragedy. While they’ve been a mostly Superman antagonist, the group should take a Hydra-like role in the DCEU, acting in the shadows with its ties to Apokolips.

The latest verison of the gang would be lead by Bruno and Moxie Manheim, Doctor Polaris, Neutron, Toyman, and Deathstroke, who were sent to keep things on track by the one bankrolling the operation, Lex Luthor. Deadshot returns with another team consisting of hand-picked members especially suited for this mission to search and and shut down Intergangs operation.

The roster could include Poison Ivy, Killer Frost, Rick Flag, Count Vertigo, Parasite, Nightshade, Killer Moth, Clock King, Captain Boomerang, and Copperhead. This time around, there’s no diversion with a team but rather two groups with specific missions to accomplish. In typical Waller tradition, she doesn’t inform them of each other’s existence, which leads to an unexpected confrontation.

The one notable absence in this film would be Harley, and while she’s been a staple in the past two films, it’s time to move on. Captain Boomerang teased he’s been on different missions when he asked her surprised what she was doing back in prison. I think exploring those missions getting to know some past fan favorites, even more, would be much more beneficial. Placing it during Birds of Prey also gives a good reason why Harley is absent and gives us a new perspective on the team that might also explore why Waller continues to fall down a darker path.

August 15, 2021
‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’s Dance Off to Save the Galaxy

Editor’s note: This was written by our good friend, Pierre Chanliau.

Years ago, there was a brief and odd time when people derided Peter Quill’s dance-off with Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy. Claiming it devalued the tension of the scene by reducing it to a joke. On the whole, the scene in question is one of the best in James Gunn’s debut MCU film. So, before he begins work on the threequel, let’s talk about that dance-off.

After the Dark Aster crashes into Xandar, Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians emerge from the rubble unscathed thanks to Groot’s sacrifice. A sacrifice that Rocket mourns, holding several twigs of what remains of his friend. Ronan suddenly rises from the crash, equality unscathed, to the horror of everyone. After repelling a futile attack from a furious Rocket, Ronan begins to give an overtly verbose and hammy speech to the citizens of Xandar about enacting his vengeance. He raises his hammer to destroy the planet but before he can, he’s interrupted by singing from none other than Peter Quill. That song that’s actually playing in this scene is from The Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child.” An uplifting song about how “things are gonna get easier” in times of strife.

It isn’t a mistake that this song is the last one from Peter Quill’s first mixtape. Meredith Quill likely included this last song specifically for her son when she was first diagnosed with brain cancer. One way to look at this scene, is that she inadvertently helped her son save the galaxy since it was this song playing that prompted Peter to improvise his distraction. So even in death, Meredith was there for her son.

What also isn’t talked about enough is how this desperate ploy by Quill actually made Ronan a tad more interesting as a character with one single delivery from Lee Pace. As if breaking character, Ronan looks on, confused, at Quill’s display, asking him in an uncharismatically quiet voice, “What are you doing?” Not only is it one of the funniest line reads in the entire film, but it showcases the “real” Ronan. Thanos was right when he called the Accuser a “boy” with the demeanor of “a pouty child.”

Looking at every one of Ronan’s actions in retrospect, he was always putting on an act. He’s so desperate to be taken seriously, that he literally bathes in the blood of his enemies with no sense of irony. Not to mention his desperate need to be taken seriously, such as when he killed The Other, the voice of Thanos. This interpretation of Ronan is reaffirmed when he asks the question again, but with Pace returning to the Accuser’s typical cadence. It’s as if Ronan is trying to save face and regain control of the scene after his (obviously prepared) speech was rudely interrupted.

Regardless of the massive difference compared to his comic book counterpart, this one moment gives this adaptation of Ronan a bit more character than other low-tier villains in the MCU, like Christopher Eccleston’s abysmal Malekith. After Quill’s distraction succeeds, the rest of the scene is far more self-explanatory. It blatantly symbolizes Peter accepting his mother’s passing as he finally grabs her hand. Something he didn’t do as a child years ago because it meant acknowledging her impending death. Despite what one might think of Gunn, he nails the emotional beats in his films when they matter most, and he’ll hopefully be able to match this in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

August 15, 2021
How Chinese Mythology and Marvel History Could Set Up a ‘SHANG-CHI’ Sequel Featuring Iron Fist

The trailers for Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have so far done a pretty good job of showing us a lot and divulging very little. Nevertheless, we here at Murphy’s Multiverse have been hard at work analyzing every little detail we can. Recently, the team published a few articles speculating on the inclusion of important Chinese mythology in the film. If true, it could open the doors to the future of the franchise in some big ways. If the next installment in the Shang-Chi saga decides to lean further into this mythology, it could set up a sequel featuring a partnership everyone has been wanting to see. Some further digging and a whole lot of reading, reveals an interesting connection between the titular Master of Kung Fu and another popular Marvel martial artist, the Immortal Iron Fist.

It seems incredibly likely, even if it’s not yet confirmed, that Shang-Chi‘s first solo film will end with him in possession of the Ten Rings. It’s been strongly hinted at in the footage and posters we’ve seen released for the movie, and it would be a fun new way for the MCU to “power up” a character who’s already pretty dangerous on his own. As human machine Joseph Aberl pointed out in his own prospective piece, the origins of these mystical rings could have a pretty heavy connection to the film’s Great Protector and the other dragons of importance in Chinese folklore. If Simu Liu‘s protagonist were to end up the owner of this immense ancient power, it would be a great starting point in a journey to discover more about where this energy comes from.

The theory here is that the “Great Protector” is actually the White Dragon of Qinghai Lake, one of the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas in Chinese legend. Not just that, he’d also be the creator of the Ten Rings. This idea stems from the shots in the movie’s trailers that show the Great Protector, a white dragon, submerged in water and interacting with a fully-uniformed Shang-Chi, presumably in a climactic moment of the story. He is also historically associated with the element of metal, which plays into the concept of molding the rings. If this theory turns out to be correct, it would allow for the other Dragon Kings to play a role in future Shang-Chi projects concerning our hero and his efforts to understand his past. This is where things get interesting. If a person were to dig far enough into Marvel lore, they would discover that one of the other Dragon Kings once played a vital role in the origins of the mystical city K’un L’un and it’s champion, the Iron Fist.

Long before the days of Matt Fraction‘s famous run, which rewrote the history of the character and made his title a generational mantle, there was a little tale by the name of Power Man & Iron Fist #118-122. This comic attempted to give Shou-Lao the Undying, the dragon from whom Danny Rand received his powers, a new origin more closely tied to mythology. In it, we find that Shou-Lao was once a mortal resident of K’un L’un who began a romantic relationship with a dragon in her human form. Unfortunately for him, this dragon turned out to be the sister of the Black Dragon, who was unpleased with Shou-Lao’s actions. As revenge, he turned Shou-Lao into an immortal beast, confined him to a cave, and ripped out his heart. Eventually, killing this dragon and plunging his fists into the removed heart is what would give Rand his supernatural abilities. In the story, Rand and Luke Cage would have to confront the Black Dragon.

This has since been retconned, but the MCU could use it as a jumping off point for a meeting between Shang-Chi and Rand in a potential sequel. If the Great Protector is a Dragon King, and our newly formed hero ends up searching of the other dragons and the power they bestow on Earth, it could lead him directly to the doorstep of K’un L’un. A famous Iron Fist story involves Danny Rand and the other champions of the Heavenly Cities fighting back against a corrupt K’un L’un leader known as Yu-Ti. The comic Black Dragon once took the city over by force. Perhaps these concepts could be combined to make the film’s antagonist, as he disguised himself in a human form as Yu-Ti.

Another possibility is that the dragons are tied to the Heavenly Cities themselves, with Wenwu and the Ten Rings’ base of operations functioning as a Heavenly City in the MCU. The decade-long disappearing act often pulled by Heavenly Cities could help explain why the Mandarin has not yet been seen in the MCU, and why Shang-Chi was given “ten years” to discover himself separate from the organization. It would also align with Michelle Yeoh‘s comments about portraying the protector of a “mythical city”. If this is true, and Shang-Chi becomes the city’s new champion, it would stand to reason that he might have to use his Ten Rings to compete in a future Tournament of the Heavenly Cities. Either way, a future team-up between Shang-Chi and the Iron Fist is starting to feel a little less far-fetched.

Source: Echoes From Old China, Comic Vine

August 14, 2021
How Marvel Studios Continues to Push Innovation Through the MCU

Marvel Studios is on the verge of the longest run of A-letter grade Cinemascores. If Shang-Chi, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home each achieve at least an A-, the MCU will take the lead from Pixar with 23 theatrical releases in a row that garnered that audience rating. It’s no easy claim to release films that people enjoyed consistently. Beyond being tuned in with their audiences, whose tastes might change, this level of consistency requires a dedicated approach to improvement and innovation. Let’s take a closer look at how the once small-time production company continues to innovate.

Kevin Feige typifies Marvel Studios’ approach to improvement. In an interview with Vanity Fair in the lead-up to Avengers: Infinity War, he noted that a childhood hobby of his was being disappointed with sequel films he’d seen, then creating better versions in his head and with his action figures. He’d often think to himself:

I gotta fix it. I gotta come up with a better [version].

Feige’s path mirrors a journey many Marvel Studios’ employees would later go on. He was rejected five times from film school at the University of Southern California before getting in and interned for Lauren Shuler Donner. She eventually took him on as her personal assistant and he would go on to become an associate producer on 2000’s X-Men. His approach to gradual improvement would eventually turn into the MCU.

This improvement also bears itself in the first films of the MCU through their innovative use of visual development. In an interview with Kevin Smith earlier in 2021, Marvel Studios’ Director of Visual Development, Andy Park, notes that Marvel Studio’s leadership trio of Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Victoria Alonso made the hiring of the in-house visual development team rather “unique” in its approach to a shared universe. In the film industry, freelancers are often changed between films, allowing a progression where the artists can work on characters “through the years” and even in advance of writers working on a project.

Although not all of the key art drawn by the visual development will make it into a film or show, Park emphasizes just how in tandem the teams work by stating that:

It was also our art that they plaster along the wall [of the writers room as a] source of inspiration.

It would also be accompanied by the comic book source material to offer writers a full picture for inspiration. This innovative setup is just one of how it helps writers, directors, production designers, and actors develop and improve upon projects as they go.

A more recent innovation process seems to have evolved from Kevin Feige’s experiences early in the industry. The Parliament is a group that is partly made up of six executive producers, who each produce individual Marvel Studios films while marshaling the cohesion of the shared universe. Stephen Broussard, Eric Carroll, Brad Winderbaum, Nate Moore, Trihn Tran, and Jonathan Schwartz have each been at Marvel Studios for over ten years often dating back to the first MCU films. They started their careers with roles like assistant as early as 2005.

Nate Moore was working managing the Marvel Studios Writers Program, having never produced a film before when Kevin Feige offered him the opportunity to co-produce Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He describes this experience as being similar to all the other producers at Marvel Studios in an interview with Vanity Fair’s Still Watching podcast:

That’s sort of been the experience of every producer who has ever made a Marvel Studios film and one point they were untested, hadn’t done a film and then Marvel said ‘here’s your giant blockbuster kid, make your movie.’

This encouragement for adaptation and improvement is such a facet of the company that when Harvard Business Review “analyzed 338 interviews with producers, directors, and writers and 140 reviews from leading critics” to assess the reasons behind Marvel Studios’ success, they concluded that one of their leading principles is “selecting for experienced inexperience” just as Feige went from interning to becoming an associate producer under Lauren Shuler Donner.

While each Marvel Studios project always had individual producers attached to them from beginning to end, The Parliament is an overarching collaborative group that allows the producers of each project to share notes on casting, script, costume, and visual effect iterations. It ensures a cohesive shared universe of script connections and overall character arcs, as well as the development of future stories. When talking about how Loki will impact Spider-Man: Far From Home, Head Writer Michael Waldron notes that:

Your producing teams are constantly communicating with those producing teams to make sure that you’re not screwing each other up.

Each of Marvel Studios’ recent Disney+ streaming shows Wandavision (Mary Livanos), The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Zoie Nagelhout) and Loki (Kevin Wright) each had a producer working with the writers. They act as a creative partner to the head writer and the writer’s room in the most creative and impactful way possible. At the same time, while guiding them through other projects. Again, each of these up-and-coming producers was at one point an assistant who has been promoted to the point where they are executives producing a project for themselves. Malcolm Spellman, Head Writer of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier notes that:

Marvel wants you to create first and they want you to do it without worrying about […] if there is obvious threads to the greater MCU.

Then at some point, they might say that something written as innocuous can become something more meaningful in the wider MCU. Derek Kolstad, another writer on the show, notes that they “meet at the beginning of the day and the end of the day” to coordinate and deal with the overlapping complexity of the shared universe. That way, the creative talent doesn’t have to and can focus on their main jobs. This level of coordination accelerates the balance of iteration, improvement, and innovation at Marvel Studios.

Marvel Studios is in the relatively early stages of having a shared universe between various media. Just as we saw improvements in their films going from the origins to the classics we’re likely also going to see a similar journey. This time, it’ll be in combination across film and TV formats. With innovative processes in place within their set-up, it seems inevitable not only that more classics are on the way, but eventually later on down the line we’ll see both an evolution of these improving processes and perhaps even more media formats joining the MCU.

Source: Vanity Fair, YouTube, Vanity Fair (Moore), Harvard Business Manager, Collider

August 14, 2021