Tag: TV Features

Connecting Imaginary Dots: Ethan Hawke is Playing The Profile in ‘MOON KNIGHT’

The Moon Knight Disney+ series that is currently filming in Budapest has, ever since its announcement, been at the top of the list for many fans. That is solely due to how the character might allow for some of the most eccentric pieces of storytelling Marvel Studios has ever put on the big or small screen. Those expectations surrounding the show were later increased when Oscar Isaac signed on to play Marc Spector as well as early this year when academy nominee Ethan Hawke joined the project in, at the time, an undisclosed villainous role.

But last night, while being interviews on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Hawke might have given us enough clues to finally figure out who he’s playing in the upcoming Marvel Studios show. While recalling how Isaac was the one who approached him personally to join him on the project, he said:

I was at a coffee shop and he came up to me and (…) he went “Hey want to be The… want to be in the Moon Knight [series] with me?” and I was like “Yeah!”
Ethan Hawke

It almost slipped out after he had just mentioned how he had to sign several non-disclosure agreements before joining the show. And here, he seemed to have stopped mid-sentence, backtracked a little, and then and rephrased the encounter in another way, but that “The” still sticks out. Going back to a rumor from last September, Moon Knight was looking for an actress to play “a manipulative operative in a secret organization”. Given how this hints at The Committee, “a secret organization of anonymous businessmen and financiers”. Connecting these dots, Ethan Hawke could potentially be playing a character with deep ties to The Committee, and who usually is referred to as The Profile.

Being a character that has the ability to read people, this is something that also goes along with another tidbit shared by Hawke in the interview. He claims to have based his character on David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians cult behind the Waco massacre in 1993. Koresh managed to manipulate his congregation leading to their demise, displaying a personality that allowed for people to open themselves to him, perhaps sharing what they didn’t intend. And this is yet another aspect that might connect to The Profile’s abilities. Another one being his slick look from the comics, similar to the look Hawke is sporting.

The Profile is known to have been both an ally and an enemy to Moon Knight. If we’re indeed having an actor of Hawke‘s caliber play a character with such duality to it can only mean good things regarding the upcoming series. Of course, Moon Knight has quite an extensive rogue’s gallery and there are many other candidates that he could play, but The Profile would make for an unconventional enemy for the Marvel hero to face. We’ll still have to wait for a confirmation on who he is playing, but if you are interested in checking out the interview, you can do so here:

Source: YouTube

August 13, 2021
How ‘SWEET TOOTH’ Season 2 Could Take a Different Route From the Comics

Netflix gave us the sweetest bit of news announcing Sweet Tooth will be returning for a second season on the streaming service. The series, based on the popular comic of the same name made its debut to outstanding reviews from critics. It even became one of the streamers highest viewed series with over 60 million accounts tuning into the series. Sweet Tooth was only two million away from The Queens Gambit‘s viewers.

It follows a hybrid deer boy named Gus, who is off looking for his mother. In his journey, he is accompanied by a human named Jeppered. Together traverse the end of the world. While no adaption follows its source material 100%, Sweet Tooth seems to be heading in a similar direction as the original comic going by the first season ended. So, let’s take a closer look at what the second season has in store for us.

If you want to remain completely unspoiled, we will discuss the ending of the comics in this section. Only continue at your own risk.

The end of the first season saw Becky pick up a signal on a walkie-talkie, but can’t make it out. The voice on the other side of the transmission turns out to be Gus’ mother, Birdie, who made her way to Alaska in search of a cure. It’s the same place they end up in the comics to uncover the truth behind the recent events. With Gus captured by the last men and Jeppered MIA, it might take a bit before they can head that way. Alaska is where the story culminates to reveal the truth behind Gus. Essentially, he is a god or rather the clone of one.

In the comics, we’re taken back to 1911 when Dr. James Thacker set off to Alaska to find his brother-in-law, Louis Simpson. He found a home in Alaska and chose to stay, marrying and eventually fathering a child with one of the Inuit women he found there. The child was like Gus, a deer-boy, but was the reincarnation of Tekkietsertok. The being is known as the native god of hunting.

Thacker and his men massacre the Inuits and throw the child into a cave, disturbing the resting place of many ancient native gods. It’s these events that release the plague. All the men ended up dying and the plague would end there. Yet, it returned when all of the gods were cloned into new hybrids once again and started the events of the comic.

This revelation essentially answers the question of what came first, the hybrids or the plague. It could very well be the direction the series is heading in, but there is one thing the series has yet to touch. In the comics, it’s the religious influence that drives the story forward with Dr. Singh finding Gus’ dad’s book. He’s the reason they make their way to Alaska in the first place.

With Birdie already there, we could see another origin for Gus play out, especially since he seemed to be the only bi-product of his mother’s initial experiment. As of now, the other native god clones are absent. They could take a less religious influence and simply see the plague as a result of them playing god.

Source: THR

August 12, 2021
The Brilliance Behind ‘WHAT IF…?’

Ever since disclosing its Phase 4 lineup, Marvel Studios has been pretty straightforward in that it’s making the Multiverse a reality within the MCU. From the Doctor Strange sequel title to the way Loki played out. We also can’t forget the cameos set to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, as we are heading down a very strange yet fascinating rabbit hole. It’s a concept that, if done right, can propel the MCU to new heights, but that comes with a few hurdles along the way. And What If…? seems like the right way to try and overcome some of those.

As we’ve heard many times, the possibilities in terms of storylines are now pretty much endless. There’s an infinite number of universes with an infinite number of characters defining their own paths in an infinite number of ways. In order to capture the magnitude of all of this, Marvel Studios needs to step up and not limit itself in terms of what it will and will not feature in upcoming projects. To barely scratch this concept’s surface would feel like a disservice to audiences that have now been led to believe that anything can happen. This means bringing into the franchise a significant number of new characters, stemming from all those infinite possibilities the MCU has opened itself to.

By introducing those new characters, or Variants as we’ve learned to call them, that’ll end up playing an important role going forward, you now need to make sure audiences acknowledge the differences between them. You need to make sure those same differences are felt on a deep level in order to make them appear singular. As such, it becomes more meaningful. Spider-Man: No Way Home is somewhat bypassing all those concerns by bringing back variations of characters people already have a connection with, which is certainly one way to go about it. It is something that might happen with a few more characters down the line. But as for all the others, you needed a vehicle to let them shine and present themselves before bringing them into the larger picture. And that’s where the What If…? concept proves a worthy one.

By giving us an anthology-like format, where every week we’ll be presented with updated characters with new motivations, as well as coming from new universes with different paradigms to them, you allow for a higher number of character introductions at a faster pace. There is no need for a long-form story. We’re basically being given plot beats that are already familiar, but that still need to be seen in a different light. As we eventually approach an event where most universes are brought together in live-action, the time given to all these variants will be worth it as it will make their introductions all the more impactful.

In terms of the style of the show, you can’t hide from the fact that we’re getting the first animated MCU series. And even though it may help in terms of bringing in a whole new segment of younger fans, it’s a choice that ultimately respects the scale and scope of the universes these characters must live and thrive in. Following a decade of movies where the MCU has gone to outer space, featured battles with armies of thousands, introduced time travel and magic, you needed to maintain the level spectacle that we‘ve come to expect from Marvel properties. Through animation, it’s easier (and cheaper, thus making it viable) to bring to life all the sets and setpieces needed to elevate each reality to the grand scale of their Sacred Timeline counterpart.

By going the animation route also makes it feasible to bring back so many familiar faces, even if not all of the actors are returning. Not mentioning the money that would have to be involved to get entire casts to return had these been live-action roles, the sheer magnitude of the scheduling would probably prevent many of the appearances we will end up getting on the show. By allowing each role to be recorded at a convenient time (perhaps lending to some lackluster vocal performances), scheduling conflicts are averted, and the story can go wherever it wants to with no limitations in terms of who can and cannot make an appearance.

So being, What If…? is instilling the MCU with a much-needed variety of universes that seem to manage to live up to the possibilities the MCU opened itself to. On paper, it seems to be just what the MCU needed going forward. With both its format and its style pointing in the right direction, all that’s left to be seen is if what matters most, the character development that’s been at the heart of the MCU’s success manages to deliver.

August 11, 2021
Marvel Studios’ Phase 4: A Study in Loss and Tragedy

With the conclusion of Loki‘s first season, a theme is emerging in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. Our heroes might not win as much as we’d like them to. Even victories could turn out costly at this point. Between episodes 4 and 5, I began to think about how Ant-Man and the Wasp would fare against Kang the Conqueror in his earliest introduction. By the time the Disney+ series had concluded, I was beginning to feel like maybe our heroes might experience a lot of loss in the coming projects.

With no major crossovers confirmed, and Kevin Feige saying “Phase Four was always about continuing in new ways,” it seems Marvel Studios could be allowing room for our heroes to lose more than they win for the foreseeable future. Let’s look through the Phase Four projects and estimate what chances our heroes have, may it be a costly victory, an outright loss, or even an outright win. It could give us a glimpse of what shape Phase Four might take. In counting costly wins in opposition to clear wins, I am weighing that the toll from a conflict undoes a sense of achievement and damages long-term progress.

What If

With the official trailer showing hints of an interconnected story that might not be solved in this season and the rumors that we’ll see a live-action Captain Carter in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it can be suggested the Guardians of the Multiverse might not win clearly in their first team-up. Will they mistakenly unleash something that will tangle with Doctor Strange? Will the whole team make it to the film? We’ll have to tune in from August 11th to find out.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

As Shang-Chi is drawn into a confrontation with his father Wenwu and the Ten Rings organization, in an attempt to escape from his past, it’s clear as all superhero daddy issues are, that there will be some loss even in victory. However, with this particular tale, it seems there could be a reasonably high chance of a respectful conclusion to this father-son conflict.

Estimated Verdict: Clear win.

Ms. Marvel

Kamala Khan will gain polymorphous abilities and uncover a new side of what it means to be a hero. She’ll also probably be tracked and chased by people fearful of those powers. That is not all, as she will also be dealing with being a teenage Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. While she’ll be heading onto a cosmic adventure in The Marvels, it’s hard to imagine Kamala losing or winning at a cost.

Estimated Verdict: Clear win.

Eternals

As a race of immortal beings who have shaped Earth’s history, it’s difficult to see how the Eternals could truly lose. However, in the comics, there is often a traitor in their midst. Plus, despite their cosmic power levels, some members decide to be amongst humans while others prefer to take their places amongst the stars. It’s easy to imagine the team splitting and the stories continuing in different Earthbound and cosmic locations.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win.

Hawkeye

It could be a bad time for Clint, as the series will take inspiration from Matt Fraction and David Aja’s My Life as a Weapon comic run. Luckily, it seems as though his protégé Kate Bishop and Pizza Dog will be there to support him. He’ll face attacks from Kazi and the Tracksuit Mafia. Even Yelena Belova joins the fray, who will be out to avenge her sister and Clint’s friend, Natasha, due to a misunderstanding. They’ll also come across Echo, whose comic connection as Kingpin’s adoptive daughter could suggest an upcoming overarching story at the street level of the MCU. While Kate Bishop will undoubtedly continue as Hawkeye, maybe Clint will finally retire at the third time of trying.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Spider-Man: No Way Home

With Peter Parker’s identity being released publicly at the end of Far From Home, it stands to reason that the villains will target Peter personally, which could result in a heavy cost even in the event of a win. With the rumors of classic villains from other Spider-Man franchises joining the film, it looks like Peter has a tough battle ahead.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win.

She-Hulk

Besides having to deal with superhero-oriented legal cases, Jennifer Walters will have to take on the Abomination, Titania, and reportedly even The Wrecking Crew. All that while watching out for an Infinity Gauntlet-injured Professor Hulk. Don#t forget, she also has to balance her professional life with what will likely be at least one career-defining case. I would not be surprised if She-Hulk smashing the money trail of one of her cases leads to a much wider street-level conspiracy, leading to a bigger and more dangerous confrontation.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

With Loki unleashing the multiverse and the Scarlet Witch prophesied to have “power [that] exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme,” it’s clear to me Doctor Strange will have a tough time on his hands. I don’t expect any major deaths, but I think it’s unlikely Wanda won’t get what she wants. The bigger question is, who will face the biggest loss throughout the multiversal adventure.

Estimated Verdict: Clear loss.

Moon Knight

Moon Knight’s complexity as a vigilante suffering from dissociative identity disorder with multiple distinct personalities is only matched by the problem of possibly being the chosen avatar of Egyptian God, Khonshu. Or is it all in Marc Spector’s head? If he is real, would his goals come at the price of his sanity? In all likelihood, the situation will get worse for Marc before it gets better.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Thor: Love & Thunder

Gorr The God Butcher is coming for the pantheons of aliens that claim to be gods. While Thor will have lots of support, his track record in clean wins is not high, and it’s easy to see how Gorr will cause some damage that could be hard to recover from. As Thor: Ragnarok taught us, Thor’s victories always come at a price. Hopefully, this time it isn’t something the Asgardians have to pay as well.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

By opening up to the world Wakanda has risked quite a lot, and alongside having to manage a new throne succession process, they will reportedly have to deal with Prince Namor and his oceanic kingdom. If this conflict goes anything like how it goes down in the comic, the Wakandans tribes will need to band together to withstand the waters coming at them.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Secret Invasion

This will clearly differ from the comic arc of the same name. For now, little is known about how it might turn out and what new twists they’ll add to the iconic storyline. However, Nick Fury and Talos discovering that a secret sect of Skrull has every level of life on Earth seems like a scenario that can’t be won cleanly. It also feels like it could lead to a galactic clash in The Marvels.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

The Marvels

Although Carol defeated the Kree Supreme Intelligence, which is seemingly no longer in charge of the Kree Empire in modern times, there are almost certainly still extremists roaming the galaxy. Ronan The Accuser was most likely not the only one believing in their old traditions. It seems like Carol, Monica, and Kamala could be caught in the start of a reignition of the massive galactic war between the Kree and Skrull, where there are few winners.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Echo

Amidst Maya Lopez debuting as Echo in Hawkeye, there is a reasonable chance her comic father issues could extend into an overarching story in her own show. Having such closely tied connections pointing in a direction she will likely be turning away from suggests any about-turn could be painful for her.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Ironheart

Little is known about what genius inventor Riri Williams’ first adventure as Ironheart will entail. Although, there are some theories we might see her sooner than her own show. It’s fair to assume that Riri will be able to solve any problems thrown at her initially. She might get a slow introduction into the dangers of being a hero.

Estimated Verdict: Clear win

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania

While Ant-Man and the Wasp will likely be joined by Cassie Lang’s Stature, it’s hard to envisage that they’ll truly defeat Kang the Conqueror. Even if they do manage to strike a blow upon him, surely another Kang Variant will appear from a Timedoor to continue the previous Variant’s mission. It may only be our first introduction to how fearsome the Conqueror truly is throughout the multiverse.

Estimated Verdict: Clear loss.

Armor Wars

Rhodey has already suffered quite a bit in his tenure as War Machine, but his best friend’s legacy doesn’t feel like something that could be easy to put to bed, especially when Star’s technology falls into the wrong hands. Although Rhodey will likely solve the imminent danger, some of the nastier technologies Tony created are bound to persist and make his life a living hell.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

This outing is likely to be the last of this iteration of the team, so it is easy to envision that they might be heading for a split. Even if they do defeat whatever threat they are up against, there might also be some major deaths from the Guardians’ ranks, making this adventure a high-priced victory. We’ve seen in the past that James Gunn doesn’t shy away from exploring a story of loss.

Estimated Verdict: Costly win

So having looked at how our heroes might fare in their next adventures, I think it’s fair to say that the majority of confirmed Phase Four projects are not clear wins for our heroes. While this being the start of a new saga, many heroes are continuing from previous arcs. There is a decent amount of room for them to suffer major setbacks. Perhaps in some ways, this part of the second saga is in tribute to The Empire Strikes Back. At least in the way, it might dish out painful truths and physical humblings. It could also set the stage for even more powerful emotional moments and team-ups than the Infinity Saga before multiple teams have to find a way to band together against an even worse threat eventually.

Source: YouTube

August 10, 2021
Multiverse Discourse: Exploring 5 Potential ‘What If…?’ Stories

The upcoming Disney+ series, What If…? is set to explore vast new realities in the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse. It’ll flip the scripts on the many films and stories we’ve witnessed over the years. The show can truly pan out in several unexpected ways, and it’ll leave the imagination to wander in how many ways events could have gone differently. We already know a couple of the scenarios that are meant to take place, like Agent Carter receiving the Super Soldier serum, and Yondu picking up T’Challa instead of Peter Quill. But with an infinite number of realities, there are so many potential concepts and events that this show could explore. This is why we turned to the wonderful people in our Knowhere Discord server and asked them to come up with possible new What If scenarios they would like to see play out in future seasons of the show.

What if Wanda Maximoff Became the Sorcerer Supreme?

In this alternate reality, Wanda Maximoff would have gone through the same journey as Doctor Strange. She sets out to search for Kamar-Taj in hopes of looking for an understanding of her power. Upon finding it and meeting the Ancient One, rather than meeting Tilda Swinton‘s version of the character, it is Agatha Harkness holding the mantle. This is would set up quite the twist on what the audience would normally come to expect. The idea of Harkness defeating the Ancient One and taking her place as the Sorcerer Supreme has many implications. She transformed Kamar-Taj into a new coven to train the next generation of witches. Wanda taking on her mantle and follow in the witch’s footsteps would be quite a fascinating storyline.

What if Mysterio’s Original Plan Worked?

In this particular scenario, we explore a universe in which Quentin Beck’s identity was never figured out by Peter in Far From Home. In this reality, the audience would get the opportunity to see what a world with Mysterio in a position of power, similar to the likes of Iron Man or Captain America, would look like. If his plan had worked, the governments of the world would grant him access to power and weaponry. He would continue his fantasy of being a hero and fight fake enemies all around with illusions and such. As time would go on, however, and given how unstable he was, he could have potentially fallen prey to his own illusions and end up escalating the situation. It could even lead to governments potentially taking nuclear action and plunging the world into potential chaos.

What if Quicksilver Survived?

This was an idea that had always been played around with since the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Given how the MCU played out following the events of the film, it would have been interesting to see what role Pietro could’ve had in Captain America: Civil War. Imagine a scenario in which Pietro joins Tony’s side after understanding his guilt. The idea of Pietro and Wanda being on opposite sides of the confrontation would add a curious twist to the original storyline. And if Pietro continued to survive even into Avengers: Infinity War, it opens up the question of how he would move on with his life after losing his sister to the Snap. What could he have done in those past 5 years?

What if the Villains Fought Thanos?

Fan-Art piece by Saif Z.K and Leroy Fernandes.

Our Discord very much supported this idea and had many concepts as to how this particular scenario could have played out. In a world where every single hero failed to defeat their proper villain, it introduces a scenario in which each respective villain dominated an aspect of the MCU. Yet, if Thanos threatened the villains’ way of life by continuing with his plan to wipe out half of the universe, it would be an interesting play on the events of Infinity War with all the villains joining forces to ultimately do an act of good, not to save the universe, but save themselves.

What if Coulson Died in Captain Marvel?

One of the pitches from our Discord members centers around an important character when it comes to the formation of the Avengers. If Coulson had died in Captain Marvel, then the ripple effects of this would have led to Fury remaining a lower-ranked SHIELD agent, leaving Earth defenseless against the Chitauri Invasion. As such, Loki becomes the King of Midgard. He would take control of Black Widow, Iron Man, and Captain America, much like he did to Hawkeye in the first Avengers film. Following the battle, Fury would have to take the lead and form an unlikely team consisting of Thor, Hulk, the Ancient One, Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Black Panther (King T’Chaka), and Captain Marvel. It ends up with a battle against Loki and his own team of superpowered villains.

August 10, 2021
‘Y: The Last Man’’s Turbulent Journey to FX

After what seems like an eternity, the Y: The Last Man trailer finally got released. With a little over a month to go before its September 13th premiere on FX, it feels like a good time to go back and remember just how difficult it was bringing the Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra iconic comic series to the small screen. In 2015, the series was announced to enter development over at FX. Since, the show has not only gone through different showrunners, a different main cast, but also a different title. From just the initial Y, it has since moved back to the source material’s original title, Y: The Last Man.

Michael Green (Smallville, Heroes, American Gods) was once slated to serve as showrunner, and was co-writing the pilot with Brian K. Vaughan., After working on the show for four years, he left the production in 2019 following “creative differences” being replaced by Eliza Clark (Extant, Animal Kingdom). With principal photography for the pilot taking place in 2018, it’s perhaps fair to assume that, following the changes to the leadership behind the show, we’ll be getting little to no footage of that period to show up in the final product.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming got postponed to later 2020. It only concluded last month, July 2021. Around the time filming began, it was also announced that the show would feature an almost entirely different cast from the one initially announced in 2018. Barry Keoghan (Eternals), Diane Lane, Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Juliana Canfield, Marin Ireland, Amber Tamblyn, and Timothy Hutton were all set to star in the show, but perhaps due to delays and the way the approach towards the show evolved, some ended up getting replaced. Ashley Romans and Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) stepped into the roles which initially belonged to Lynch and Poots. Ben Schnetzer replaced Keoghan as Yorick Brown, the series lead. Paul Gross also joined the show at a later stage as Hutton, another of the big names from the original cast list, left following a restructuring surrounding his role.

Getting the show off the ground was obviously an extremely turbulent affair, something that might probably end up hurting the series’ quality. But it’s rather poetic if a show that focuses on a global cataclysmic event, that got postponed due to a global pandemic, somehow found redemption to its lackluster development story in a series that does justice to the brilliant, Eisner Award-winning comic series it’s based upon.

As stated above, the show focuses on the aftermath of a cataclysmic event that ends up killing every single mammal on planet earth with a Y chromosome. In layman’s terms, only females survived. Enter Yorick Brown, who mysteriously manages to survive with no idea of how that came to be. Alongside Ampersand, his pet monkey, he becomes involved in a world of governmental espionage and international intrigue. All of this with the backdrop of humanity possibly being on the verge of extinction for simply not being able to reproduce. We’re led in a globetrotting adventure, across multiple continents as Yorick, the Last Man, fights not only for his own future but also for his race. It is set to premiere on September 13th, 2021, on FX.

Source: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety, Deadline, GameSpot, Collider, Deadline, ScreenRant

August 5, 2021
Our Pitch For a ‘Superior Foes’ Series In the MCU

I promised myself I’d swear off writing one of these on account of them taking so much of my headspace for weeks at a time but I just had to write it down because I dug the idea so much. One of the best things I’ve read in the past 5 years was Nick Spencer‘s Superior Foes of Spider-Man, a screwball spin-off featuring the Seinfeld version of the Sinister Six. The comic saw several D-list villains come together to try tried to make it as a supervillain team all the while dealing with each other’s bullshit. The comic’s unique tone reminded me of the works of the Coen Brothers and shows like Better Call Saul. How it deftly bridged the wacky irreverence of characters, the despicability of their actions, and the absurdity of the situations they get themselves in. So it was only natural for me to imagine this show as a dark comedy, in the vein of the shows I mentioned above, should it ever make it to the MCU. And yeah, I went the extra mile and tried to plot an entire season.

SETTING

Ever wondered what it was like to live in the 5 years when half of the universe disappeared? I have, which is why this Superior Foes story is set in that timeframe, approximately a year before Scott Lang escapes the Quantum Realm. That time gap is so ripe for interesting stories and themes. The main thing I wanted to figure out was what the quality of living was like in a world that essentially nosedived into chaos and oblivion. Does it feel post-apocalyptic? Does the world look like an episode of The Walking Dead? With half of the world gone, imagine how crippled law enforcement would be and how remaining criminal organizations would fill the void left by their rivals. How does one make a living in a period like this? It already sets up an immensely intriguing arc. This story tries to address those ideas while staying true to the spirit and irreverence of Nick Spencer‘s comic.

Mind you, this iteration of the team is a reimagined one with none of the characters from the comics with the exception of Beetle. Because the comic was super Spidey-centric, I wanted a team made of up villains that didn’t necessarily belong to one particular rogue’s gallery. Also given how finicky the live-action rights of Spidey characters are, I figured to just try to keep most of the characters within the legal rights of Marvel Studios. However, l think what made the comic so good was the type of characters it included; Overdrive and Boomerang are legit D-listers that added a fun irreverence to the story. The characters that show up in this story are in that vein and are some of the most ridiculous characters in Marvel’s history.

PLOT

EPISODE 1

Prologue: Paladin’s origins

Arms dealer and crime syndicate boss Sonny Burch gets word that a highly dangerous, “world-changing” piece of hardware is stashed in an abandoned AIM base in Arizona. Fearing the hardware falling into the hands of rival organizations, he commissions washed-up mercenary Paladin to form an extraction team of his own. Paladin brings his partner-in-crime Jeb into the fold along with four down-on-their-luck schmucks – Stilt-Man, Paste Pote-Pete, Jester, and Beetle. Jester is quickly kicked out of the team for being an asshole. Expecting some resistance from rival factions, Sonny Burch contacts former Stark employee William Riva to arm the team. The team heads to the hidden AIM base in Montana where they encounter a rival faction led by Grizzly. The two groups engage in a piss-poor firefight with Paladin’s team escaping with the hardware. The group takes shelter in one of Nick Fury’s hidden bases in the state. They open the hardware and see that it’s the severed head of Ultron. It awakens instantly and becomes sentient.

EPISODE 2

Prologue: Paste-Pot Pete origin story

The robot’s awakening sends the entire team into a panic. They angrily debate on whether to surrender Ultron to Burch, who they think is planning to use the robot to take over the world. Fearing another world-ending catastrophe just after the snap, conscience strikes the team and they all agree to betray Burch and come up with a new plan: bring the head to the Avengers HQ and get compensated handsomely. The team departs Fury’s hidden base and soon after that, Burch gets an anonymous message informing them of their plans.

EPISODE 3

Prologue: Stilt-Man origin story

Tensions rise between the team as they make their way to Roswell, New Mexico, where Jeb has set up a rendezvous with a contact, a former Hammer Industries agent codenamed K, to get them to New York as soon as possible. Paladin and Beetle grow distrustful of one another, believing each other to have their own agendas while Stilt-Man and Paste-Pot Pete take a liking to Ultron, who is now an active participant in the team’s discussions, helping them navigate through the trip. They also meet Gary the Cameraman, last seen in Iron Man 3, who they befriend. The team makes an effort to keep Ultron a secret from K to stay out of trouble but is futile as K manages to see Ultron. Learning the full extent of their situation, K agrees to take them to New York. As they prepare to depart for New York, the team is ambushed by Jester and Grizzly’s crew, who are now working for Burch. The fight goes poorly once again and much to everyone’s dismay, Beetle escapes with Ultron in the middle of the fight.

EPISODE 4

Prologue: Beetle origin story

The fight abruptly ends as everyone races to find Beetle. Both Paladin and Jester’s team make several attempts to outpace one another. Beetle rushes through the streets of Roswell when she is suddenly stopped by K, who reveals himself to be a Skrull named K’ravt. Both teams arrive in the nick of time just as K’ravt is about to steal Ultron from Beetle, much to their shock at the revelation. Nonetheless, they band together and have their own little Endgame moment, a posse of ragtag misfits against one evil alien. That sense of relief quickly goes away when a small Skrull aircraft hovering above them decloaks and beams down three more Skrulls, revealing the Skrull Kill Krew. Jester’s team zooms past everyone leaving Paladin’s team to fight them. Against all odds, the Skrulls are defeated by Paladin’s team but not without repercussions. Stilt-Man and Paladin are wounded in the fight. The aircraft they were supposed to use to fly to New York, which is actually a Skrull ship, has been destroyed. But most important of all, Jeb makes an earth-shattering revelation and reveals himself to be a Skrull.

EPISODE 5

Prologue: Jeb origin story

With two members injured, having no resource to move on with their plan, Beetle having just betrayed them, and the revelation that Jeb is a Skrull, the team reaches an all-time low. They are helped by Iron Man 3’s Gary the Cameraman, who they meet in Roswell earlier. Gary helps them find shelter in a warehouse outside the city. This episode mostly has the team dealing with their trust issues and coming to terms with how screwed up they are. Paladin gets outed by Beetle for trying to secretly contact Burch throughout their trip. Paladin comes clean with his debt problems with Burch, but claims he didn’t sell the team’s location to him. Jeb is confronted by the team on whether he planned to surrender Ultron to the Skrulls.

Ultron helps them devise a plan on how to deal with their two dilemmas: getting to New York and dealing with Burch chasing them. They decide to have Burch come to them under the pretense of surrendering Ultron. In actuality, they plan to steal Burch’s repurposed Quinjet, who has been seen using it in the first episode. They make the call and set a rendezvous. Burch makes several calls to various mercenaries to help him out but is unsuccessful. With no other option, Burch brings out a mysterious weapon. As Ultron helps the team strategize, we cut to an undisclosed laboratory where we see a kid sitting in front of several huge monitors mimicking and controlling what Ultron is saying through a mouthpiece in real-time. The kid turns out to be Amadeus Cho.

EPISODE 6

Prologue: Amadeus Cho origin story

The episode opens with 8-year old Amadeus Cho walking around the Avengers compound. He peeks out of a window to see Captain America and Falcon boarding a Quinjet. He walks by Bruce Banner’s office and looks inside to see if his favorite Avenger is in the room. Jump to 3 years later where he, his sister, and his mom, Helen, are living in the city. The snap happens and his sister and mom disappear. Cut to 3 years later, Amadeus is in a makeshift laboratory tinkering with something on his computer. We see him help law enforcement raid an illegal arms cache through remote hacking. Satisfied with the raid, Amadeus continues with studying the schematics of a redacted Ultron file he uncovers. He tracks the file’s origin to Arizona. On his computer, he parses through files of wanted active crime bosses. On the list is Sonny Burch among several others. Amadeus manages to remotely access the head of the Ultron bot and anonymously puts the word out that the head is up for grabs.

We then see various points of the season through Amadeus’ perspective; the heist, talking to the team, manipulating them to go through certain routes and locations, pinging Burch on their whereabouts, the arrival of the Skrulls until we get to the present. The team is now holed up in a bunker in Arizona awaiting Burch’s arrival. Expecting Burch to arrive with a slew of mercenaries, the team prepares a plan to take down Burch’s crew efficiently with Jeb masquerading as Paladin and Paste-Pot Pete planting a slew of traps. Things turn upside quickly when Burch arrives with his secret weapon: the Super Adaptoid. Of course, the fight doesn’t go as well as Burch had hoped as the Adaptoid doesn’t have any formidable abilities to adapt from his enemies.

The tide turns in favor of the team as they gain the upper hand. But just as they’re about to defeat the Super Adaptoid, the fight is interrupted by the intervention of an unexpected challenger: Bruce MF Banner, who is now Smart Hulk. The Adaptoid’s power level increases and the fight becomes a lot harder. But the team manages to come together and help Professor Hulk destroy the Super Adaptoid. Burch tries to make his escape but is stopped by Gary. The destroyed head of Ultron is uncovered in the rubble.

Burch is arrested once more and is shipped off to the Raft. Professor Hulk tracks down Amadeus Cho’s location where they meet in person for the first time. It is revealed that Cho was instrumental in Bruce’s success in merging both his and Hulk’s personalities as he anonymously corresponded with Bruce and sent formulas. Cho admits to taking a liking to Paladin’s crew and asks Hulk what happened to the team. Bruce reveals that he let the team go under the condition they attend Steve Rogers’ group counseling session on a weekly basis. Cut to the team sitting in a circle with Steve Rogers.

CHARACTERS

Paladin – a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who excelled in the boot camp and wowed superiors but failed to be amount to anything on the field. Needless to say, Paladin peaked way too early. His days on the field as a SHIELD agent were a dud as several missions he was involved in were botched due to his incompetence. The collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. became Paladin’s opportunity to prove himself elsewhere so he turned to private military contracting where he failed as well. Desperate to finally win in life, he sets up an elaborate operation with the help of his friend Sonny Burch’s finances where his team is intended to come out successful. Paladin, once more, takes another L as the snap happens during the mission, leaving him as the only survivor. Paladin becomes in debt to Burch.

Jeb/J’bronii – A shy soft-spoken Skrull who has assimilated on Earth for several years. Jeb was originally sent to Earth alongside countless others to help facilitate the pending Skrull Invasion. His task was to infiltrate Hydra to learn the ins and outs of the organization. However, a misunderstanding leads Jeb to join an industrial company called Hydro. Jeb manages to work his way up the career ladder and is an assistant regional manager when the snap happens. Having not heard from his superiors or allies in years, Jeb starts feeling guilty – thinking the Skrull Empire has somehow failed the invasion of Earth – and starts a journey of self-discovery to reclaim the Skrull in him once more.

Stilt-Man – A henchman whose claim to fame was that he squared off with Captain America in the Lemurian Star, an encounter that left him permanently injured. He befriends Jeb and Paste-Pot Pete after a chance encounter and the three begin hanging out regularly. When he gets the invite to join Paladin’s team, he is given a suit of armor that allows him to extend his height. Neither malicious nor decent, Stilt-Man is a bit of a dummy who thinks hanging out with supervillains would elevate his chances of being a famous superhero one day. Gets along with Ultron and Paste Pot Pete really well.

Paste-Pot Pete – The everyman of the group. Paste Pot Pete began dressing up and fighting crime in his youth inspired by the adventures of Captain America. Unlike his teammates, Paste-Pot Pete has no ambition in power or wealth. Now, he’s a mild-mannered 60-year old man urged his late grandson who perished in the snap to relive his glory days as a cheesy costumed fighter from the 80s. Arguably the nicest member of the group.

Beetle – Daughter of a retired crime boss called the Beetle. The Beetle in his heydey was one of the west coast’s most powerful crime bosses until the 21st century came along, where his traditional organization was left in the wind by the more tech-centric organizations like AIM. The Beetle eventually had to sell off most of his assets to a rival group, leaving him and his family broke. The power struggle left by the snap convinces the now-retired Beetle to urge his daughter to help rebuild his criminal organization. He sends her on a path that leads her to Paladin’s team.

Amadeus Cho – a boy-genius who grew up in close proximity with the Avengers thanks to his mother Helen Cho’s involvement with the team. Cho exhibited breathtaking intellect at a young age, impressing the likes of Bruce Banner. Cho is instrumental in Bruce’s eventual transformation into Professor Hulk, anonymously corresponding with Bruce in every step of the experimental process. With no one left to assist the Avengers after the snap, Cho takes it upon himself to round off the remaining criminal organizations as a vigilante hacker. His masterplan essentially is to put a stop to Burch’s operation so he comes up with an elaborate scheme to entrap Burch.

Sonny Burch – Since getting arrested by Jimmy Woo and the FBI, Burch has managed to slither back into society and is up to no good once more. Since we last saw him in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Burch has gone up the ranks of criminality and is now the top dog in his organization.

Bruce Banner – Avengers: Endgame glossed over the finer details of how Bruce managed to merge his personality with the Hulk so I thought it neat to fill in some of the blanks of his transformation and build Bruce’s world a little bit. An Endgame deleted scene also showed Bruce rescuing a family in a burning building, which would have teased the Hulk actually doing some day-to-day superheroics. I figured what better way to showcase Bruce’s full transformation into a real hero by him going on missions himself to stop bad guys.

December 3, 2020
Welcome Back, ‘FARGO’

Movies that get turned into TV shows tend to be a mixed bag. More often than not, they fail to live up to the glory of their cinematic counterparts and end up being forgotten in the bargain bin like The Exorcist and Minority Report series. Occasionally, you get shows like Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and From Dusk Till Dawn; shows that decently live up to their cinematic predecessors but somehow fall short from the impact their films made. Rare is when a TV show actually stands up on its own and lives up to the film it’s based on. Fargo is one of those rarities.

Released in 1996, the film the series is based on introduced the Coen brothers’ distinct eccentric style of storytelling to a mainstream audience and immortalized Frances McDormand as one of the greatest performers of her generation and her character Marge Gunderson as one of cinema’s best protagonists. Its absurdist yet deeply dark take on a kidnapping-gone-wrong set in the blinding winter of the Midwest was wildly original, turning genre conventions on its head at every step of the way. Almost 30 years later, the film is now widely regarded as one of the greatest crime films of all time. So when it announced that they were adapting the film for television, eyebrows were understandably raised.

Season one, which premiered in 2014, was about the woeful tale of the meek Lester Nygaard’s descent into corruption and the trail of bodies left behind by his Faustian deal with the devilish Lorne Malvo. At the heart of all the violence was the steadfast yet gentle pairing of Molly Solverson and Gus Grimly, two unlikely officers who take it upon themselves to make sense of all the chaos. The show was funny, dark, well-acted, and most important, really well-written. The series premiered to critical acclaim and ended up amassing more than 200 nominations from awarding bodies all over the world. With so many duds out there, no one ever expected one more TV adaptation of a beloved film to be any good. But Fargo surpassed all expectations and for a while, its success seemed like lightning in a bottle.

The second season proved that its success wasn’t a fluke. It expanded the Fargo formula as it explored more themes, introduced a more varied ensemble of characters, and got bolder and weirder with its storytelling choices. Set in the twilight of the seventies, this time it was about the Gerhardt family and their crime empire at war with itself and a ragtag couple who, as fate would have it, would cross paths with the family in the most unfortunate way possible. Season 2 was hilarious as it was Shakespearean. It had a lot of killing, a lot of betrayals, a lot of laughs, and a lot of heart. It was a masterclass on how to ingeniously push the boundaries of something that was already close to perfection. When Stephen King describes one of the episodes of Season 2 as “the best thing on TV in the last three years,” you know Season 2 means business. And you betcha, it meant business.

A deadbeat parole officer’s plot to steal a childhood stamp from his more successful business-owning twin brother goes sideways, his swindling ex-con girlfriend gets entangled with a sinister international criminal empire and a technologically illiterate officer at the heels of it all. Fargo’s third season may seem like business as usual but it was anything but. The plot was more complex and philosophical. Themes and symbolism were more abstract. Its social commentary was darker than ever. There was a heightened degree of surrealism to the narrative which made the season’s tone more eccentric than usual; the season opens with a wholly unrelated interrogation scene in Berlin, animated vignettes about a lost robot make up half of an episode, and a mythic Jewish apparition played appears throughout. The season didn’t get as much love as its predecessors but in an era of countless cookie-cutter crime shows, Fargo Season 3 still stood out from the pack.

I love Fargo for a lot of reasons. The comic nerd in me loves the worldbuilding in the show; how each season builds on one another and how these decade-spanning midwestern crime stories all connect in some way. I love the cautionary nature it posits; Fargo. in many ways. reminds me of the fables I grew up hearing. Fantastical anecdotes on life, morality, and values with cute animals to represent each and every one of us. With Fargo, it’s the same albeit with lots of violence and crime. I love the simple anthological nature of the show; the accessibility and digestibility it provides audiences with each new season. I love how the show is something me and my grandmother can bond over. Never in a million years did I imagine a show as bloody and hilarious as Fargo would be something to enjoy with a 78-year old woman. Ultimately, I love the show because it’s simply a great show. And like the film before it, what truly makes Fargo a fantastic piece of fiction are the creatives and talent behind it. Showrunner Noah Hawley and his band of like-minded writers have crafted a show that unapologetically carries the spirit of the film. The show proudly wears its namesake on its sleeve, compounding every quirky strand of the film’s DNA to tell Fargo’s story in a new way for a new generation of media.

The characters the actors bring to life feel like worthy extensions of those characters in the film: Marge Gunderson, Jerry Lundegaard, Carl Showalter, and Gaear Grimsrud. Cast members like Billy Bob Thorton, Martin Freeman, Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead imbue so much life to the eccentric characters they inhabit and all perform at a level on par with McDormand’s Oscar-winning performance. And that’s not to mention the supporting characters that help realize this world. Nick Offerman’s role as the verbal-jousting drunk lawyer stole the show in Season 2. Season 1 had Bob Odenkirk playing a dim-witted police chief. And of course, Ray Wise as the Wandering Jew of Season 3 was a highlight for Season 3.

For this upcoming fourth season, I’m not quite sure what to expect. I haven’t seen any trailer save for the first one they put out in the pandemic nor have I fully been caught up with the who, what, and where of Season 4’s premise. It’s easy to set one’s self up with immensely high expectations especially with Fargo, a show that has been consistently good throughout the years so with Season 4, I’m keeping an open eye and mind. It’s always a pleasure to revisit the wild midwest the Coen brothers and Noah Hawley created. I cannot wait to see it return this Sunday.

September 23, 2020
Marvel TV and the Recasting Dilemma

2020 marks the 5th year since the Marvel-Netflix universe debuted with Daredevil. The year also coincides with the “reverting” of the character rights to Marvel, 2 years after the first set of shows were canceled abruptly. Because of this and rumors of Kevin Feige having an interest in bringing back some cast members like Charlie Cox, loyal fans of the shows are optimistic in seeing these characters played by the same actors in potential movie appearances moving forward.

It’s the age-old question among MCU fans since the inception of Marvel Television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. back in 2013 that keeps coming back: when are these characters going to appear in the films? After all, they’re deeply beloved among fans and the actors themselves have it in their contracts to appear in films if the opportunity arose. But in the 11 years of the MCU, this question has never been outright addressed by the powers that be. Kevin Feige has either dodged or politely answered fluff to every hard-hitting Marvel TV question asked. For example in 2015, when asked point-blank about any movie appearances, he said:

Into the movies? No. Well…. Right now, what Jeph Loeb and the TV guys are doing is focusing on those shows. And certainly with Daredevil coming out last night and being so well received. The next one’s already in production and the one after that has been announced. So I think they’re doing quite well for themselves in that medium. We’ve certainly had discussions on where down the line, who could show up where. But I think they’ve been very smart in saying, “Let us establish this here first.” They’re off to a very good start.

That’s just one of the handful of fluff answers the mastermind of the MCU has given to the press. If you count him purposefully avoiding any Marvel TV answers in a Reddit AMA a couple of years back, his feelings on the matter are telling. During the 2015 same press tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon candidly, albeit jokingly, spoke about the film division’s true feelings about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saying, “I think actually the movie people were a little bit cross about the TV show. They were sort of like ‘Well you can have this but not this. And this but not that.’ It’s complicated enough as it is without me adding another layer of complication.” Just last December, when all these brand spanking new Disney+ shows were getting announced, Kevin Feige shadily affirmed that it would be the first time TV content would interlink with the MCU.

Of course, diehards have always known why it’s always been like this; the feud between Kevin Feige and his former boss and overlord of Marvel Television, Ike Perlmutter, that made collaboration between the two divisions near-impossible. But that all changed several months ago when the current iteration of Marvel Television was disbanded following those Netflix cancelations. Right then and there, Disney announced that Kevin Feige was being promoted to Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Entertainment, practically making his rival Ike’s position obsolete in the company. The announcement’s fine print stated that all creative decisions for any property – be it in comics, animation, TV, or film – would go through Feige. This was, in many ways, the biggest status quo change for the Marvel Studios system. All of a sudden, the keys to Marvel TV’s future were now handed to Kevin Feige.

As all the Marvel Netflix characters await their return into the hands of the MCU’s showrunner, two new questions beg to be raised. Should the characters be rebooted from scratch or should they live on with continued stories in the MCU?

Believe it or not, the answer is a very complicated one and starts with the man himself, Kevin Feige. It shouldn’t come as a surprise now, following the billion-dollar success the Infinity Saga became, that Kevin Feige loves being able to do what he wants. His system at Marvel Studios has always prided itself on having the freedom to go bold and big whenever and wherever regardless of the cost. Marvel TV’s creative decisions, however, have remained separate from Feige’s purview and a lot of them haven’t been exactly great.

An amazing character like Iron Fist made his live-action debut in a show that was nothing short of lackluster. Iron Fist‘s second season was an undeniable improvement but the first season’s stench dwarfed the corrections they made that it was too little, too late. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher all started out as very strong shows but slowly diminished in quality as their stories progressed. Even the highly-publicized Defenders team-up show that was the epicenter of Marvel’s multimillion deal with Netflix failed to live up to its hype despite having all the tools to make it great. And in light of reports of Jeph Loeb’s racist mandates that derailed the creative process for these shows, the whole thing seems like one wasted opportunity after another. It’s honestly a miracle that Daredevil managed to stay consistently solid amidst all that.

With hundreds of hours of content, these shows have already established their own set of rules and canon. Even though the canon initially revolved around the events of the first Avengers movie or the Incident, they’ve pretty much taken their own steps to where they wanted this corner of the Marvel universe to go. This might not lineup with Kevin Feige’s idea of a Marvel street-level universe, especially now that street-level properties like Moon Knight and Blade have been greenlit. Kevin Feige likely has his own idea of K’un L’un and Shou Lao, his own take on Frank MIller‘s iconic Hand/Bullseye/Elektra saga, his own version of Luke Cage that is primed for the Avengers, and his own vision of how he wants these characters to be. It’s hard to imagine any interest from Kevin Feige in continuing and tieing into stories that he had no hand in shaping.

People have brought up the idea of doing a soft reboot i.e. continue with the cast but start from scratch. This makes more sense than straight-up continuing the established Marvel-Netflix status quo; the fans win by getting to see their favorite actors play their favorite characters and Marvel Studios gets a fresh start on where to take them. However, going this route has its own set of problems. Netflix is, by and large, a competitor of Disney, especially now that the House of Mouse has its own streaming service. Even though the live-action “rights” of all the Defenders characters revert to Disney this year, that doesn’t preclude Netflix from airing all the existing Defenders shows, which they legally own.

To continue the cast puts Disney in a tough spot. Say they bring back Charlie Cox as Daredevil or Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin in a new Daredevil film. It’ll be the shit because both of them are absolutely great in that role. You go out of the theater and say to yourself, “That movie was amazing. Charlie and Vincent were killer. I sure would love to see more of them together.” Well, guess what? You can see them together in the comfort of your own home. Just queue up the show on Netflix and enjoy 39 hours of Charlie and Vincent at your behest.

Therein lies the biggest problem with continuing the cast. To continue this iteration of Daredevil will inevitably drive audiences to check out Charlie Cox’s other appearances as Daredevil and where else will they find more of that but on Netflix, Disney’s #1 competitor in the streaming wars? “But the fans! Disney has got to listen to the fans!” Fans are great and play a big part in why these things get made but at the end of the day, it’s corporate interests that drive the decision making. Remember, this is Disney we’re talking about. There’s a reason why they refuse to even give Universal the time of the day even if its to make a highly-demanded Hulk solo film. There’s a reason why the Sony-Spidey talks broke down last year. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Disney becomes cool with its content driving audiences to Netflix.

Logistically and fiscally, it’s more sensical to just completely start from scratch. Get a new face to play all these characters and tell the stories you want right from the beginning. Avoid the trouble of turning audiences towards your competitor. Get rid of the baggage of having a pre-established canon. Yes, losing the cast members, who’ve done exemplary work on these shows, will sting hard but it’s the easiest way to move forward.

Ultimately, the one guaranteed silver lining here is that these characters will live on no matter what. Regardless of the cast returning or not, we’re a hundred percent going to see the Marvel Studios version of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones down the road under Marvel Studios. The Netflix shows may have clocked in longer than all the MCU films combined but there’s actually a lot in the comics the shows didn’t get to explore. A lot of that had to do with budgetary constraints, so the creative teams had to opt for a more grounded, real-world gritty tone. While that’s not a bad thing, it’s important to remember that these stories are based on source material that’s grand and exciting. Dragons exist! Sorcery exists! Demonic ninjas exist! A villain called Stilt-Man has hydraulic legs! Daredevil should be able to traverse high-rise buildings like he would in the comics. Danny Rand needs to fight an actual dragon. With the budget Marvel Studios invests in their projects, these things are all possible now.

As for the other defunct Marvel TV shows, they’re in a slightly better position than the Netflix shows. For one, they don’t have the competitor problem the Netflix shows pose since ABC, Freeform, and Hulu are all under the Mouse House. Now that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has ended and in light of rumors of a S.W.O.R.D. Disney+ show happening, Chloe Bennet reprising her role as Quake is certainly a possibility. It’s logistically a lot easier to soft reboot someone like Quake and incorporate her into the MCU without worrying about helping the competitor. If anything, a film appearance might boost the syndication deals ABC has with international networks. Of course, it’ll be a matter of Marvel Studios being interested in that idea. But judging from stuff that’s been said, it’s clear that the fan demand to see the Marvel TV actors appear in the films might not be as mutual as some people think. However, stranger things have happened. We all at one point thought that neither Spider-Man nor the X-Men would ever make it to the MCU. Yet here we are.

August 17, 2020
12 Comic Writers Who Will Shape the MCU’s Future

A couple of weeks ago, we published a piece on the most influential comic writers and artists who shaped the first 10 years of the MCU. This is the other half of that piece. Here are some of the writers who will shape the next 5 years of the MCU. If you want an idea of how the MCU is going to look like, check out these writers and their books.

NEIL GAIMAN

Arguably the most recognizable name on this list, a lot of people don’t know that author Neil Gaiman dabbled in Marvel Comics amidst his successful stints as a novelist and graphic novelist. In 2006, Gaiman, with the help of famed artist John Romita Jr., revitalized the classic Kirby-creation, Eternals, a title obscured from comic shelves of the time.

Gaiman plucked out characters like Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi, and Thena and reimagined them as people living normal lives, unaware of their dormant cosmic powers and origin. The story isn’t by any means amazing but it did check enough boxes for Marvel Studios to use it as the basis for their upcoming film.

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MATT FRACTION

Matt Fraction is on this list for a couple of reasons. His Iron Man run has a fantastic Mandarin story ripe for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to draw from. The Iron Fist run he co-wrote with Ed Brubaker was the seminal story for the character. But the thing that Fraction is truly celebrated for is his iconic Hawkeye run.

Fraction deconstructed the myth of being in the world’s biggest superhero team through the eyes of the team’s most human member, Hawkeye. The superhero life isn’t as glamorous or high flying as we thought it was. Clint Barton wasn’t a big superhero saving the world from an alien invasion in this comic. No, Clint was just a guy who wanted to get the lights of his house fixed. Add a feisty partner in Kate Bishop and some neighborhood goons to that scenario, and you have what is the most fun comic in recent memory.

The comic was such a seminal depiction of the character that it’s not at all surprising to see that they’re using it as a template for the upcoming Hawkeye series. Goons included. Granted, there are some changes to be expected. Clint Barton, in the comics, is a single childless man while he’s a family man in the films. He lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere while in the comic, he lives smackdab in the city. It’ll be interesting to see just how faithful they get in this retelling of the Fraction comic.

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TOM KING

Former CIA agent-turned comic writer Tom King has only ever written one Marvel comic in his esteemed career but it’s already up there as one of the genre’s most inventive and unique. Simply titled Vision, the book was a character drama about the Avengers’ resident android and his attempts to hold together a family of like-minded androids living a suburban life.

Though stylized as a superhero, this story is a study on familial dysfunction and identity. What transpires in this 12-issue run is a heartbreaking unraveling of who these androids really are underneath the nuts, bolts, and suburban normalcy. One look at Wandavision’s premise and you can already envision how Tom King’s run could serve as an inspiration. And if this comic is any indication of how good Wandavision could really be, we’re in for a treat.

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G. WILLOW WILSON

Kamala Khan is inarguably one of Marvel’s biggest successes in the past 10 years. The character has amassed a huge fanbase and become an inspiration for people of different religions, garnered critical acclaim and multiple awards, and is already on track to have a solo series on Disney+ all in under 6 years.

The success of the character can be attributed to the minds of writer G. Willow Wilson and editor Sana Amanat who sought to tell the Muslim-American experience not through overtly religious lenses but through a teenager’s quest for self-identity and self-worth. Amanat described the events of the first Ms. Marvel volume as, “what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self.”

Last we heard, the production of Ms. Marvel was knee-deep in their search for the next big MCU star that will play Kamala Khan. The character has a treasure trove of inspiration to draw from in the comics so it won’t be hard to imagine how amazing this show can be. Much like the MCU version of Peter Parker, we have the opportunity to see this live-action Kamala grow from being a teenager struggling with who she is to an Avenger standing next to all her heroes.

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JEFF LEMIRE

Of all the Marvel street characters, Moon Knights seems like the trickiest to write. With a complicated origin and an even more complicated mental state, it’s extraordinary to see Marc Spector be such a celebrated character today. The success of Moon Knight can be attributed to writers like Jeff Lemire, who really deconstructed the character’s mental state and its connection to Spector’s allegedly mystical origins.

With the help of artist Greg Smallwood, the resulting comic is nothing short of amazing as the comic brilliantly chronicles, in Chuck Palahniuk fashion, Spector’s efforts to get to the bottom of his origins, all the while trying to survive in a mental institution run by literal monsters. If you take this premise and combine it with the classic Batman trappings of Marc Spector, you have the formula for a potentially amazing series.

On top of his work on Moon Knight, Lemire also took over Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye run as soon as it wrapped and wrote some pretty cool Clint Barton and Kate Bishop moments that the upcoming Hawkeye could use for inspiration.

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MARK GRUENWALD

With all the attempts to modernize and keep the MCU as contemporary as it can be, modern comics tend to be easily favored over some of the older runs. You’ll notice that the majority of writers listed in this two-parter are people who have actively worked in the industry in the last 15 years or so. So it’s an extraordinary thing to see the work of late writer Mark Gruenwald inspire the next few years of the MCU.

Gruenwald loved challenging the idealism of what it meant to be Captain America. He brought into question the myths of being symbols of patriotism. In the 1980s, Gruenwald introduced several villains that would become villainous staples of the Captain America mythos. Crossbones, the Serpent Society, and Flag-Smasher were all villains Gruenwald created to be idealistic foils to Steve Rogers’ colors.

None of it is more evident than with the introduction of the Super-Patriot. Gruenwald toyed with the idea of having a version of Captain America minus the innate goodness of Steve Rogers. What if a hard-headed patriot from the south became Captain America? Someone wouldn’t think twice to chant “USA!!” at any given moment. Therein lay the impetus that led to the creation of John Walker, the Super-Patriot, a character we now know today as US Agent.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize how influential Gruenwald’s work is for Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Creations of his like John Walker and Battlestar are already expected to show up. The show is set to tackle the very same themes Gruenwald sought to question.; what does the shield mean politically? What does patriotism truly mean? Gruenwald may no longer be with us but his vision lives on in the future of the MCU.

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JASON AARON

Who could have predicted that a Southern boy from Alabama would one day write one of the most out-of-this-world, larger-than-life comic runs starring a Norse god with a hammer? Jason Aaron’s Thor run, beginning from 2012’s Marvel NOW relaunch all the way up to 2019’s King Thor finale, has been nothing short of legendary.

Aaron broke the era’s streak of Midgard-centric stories like Siege and kicked off with a story about three generations of Thor battling a being called the God Butcher. Thor: God of Thunder returned to the grandiosity of the classic Thor books and soon saw the Odinson face off against classic Walt Simonson villains like Malekith and Mangog.

Aaron further broke the mold by doing the unthinkable; making Thor himself unworthy of his hammer. Suddenly, the character was in untouched ground and the fans were all for it. But it wasn’t until Jane Foster’s transformation into new Thor that Aaron truly changed the mythos.

Come 2022, we’ll see the fruits of Aaron’s labors on the big screen with Thor: Love and Thunder. Natalie Portman is back with a vengeance as she’s been confirmed to take on the mantle of Thor this time around. Famed Batman actor Christian Bale is also set to make his MCU debut in this movie, with fans speculating his character to be either the God Butcher or Dario Agger, an Aaron creation.

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JEPH LOEB

It’s easy to forget that Jeph Loeb was a comic writer before he dabbled in TV. And he wasn’t just some writer. Loeb wrote seminal books like Spider-Man: Blue and Superman: For All Seasons, and Batman: Hush. But just like his track record with his television work, his comic work has been also widely hit-or-miss. For every amazing Loeb has done, he has an Ultimatum (roughly the worst comic Marvel has put out in 20 years) to even it all out.

In the late 2000s, Loeb wrote a 25-issue long Hulk run which brought some very interesting changes to Hulk’s status quo. Loeb turned the supporting cast’s world on its head when he turned staples like Betty Ross and Rick Jones turned into giant monsters. Villains like MODOK and Leader found new prominence. But arguably Loeb’s biggest change to the Hulk canon was turning Thunderbolt Ross into the Red Hulk, a change that reinvented the character, who found his way into the big leagues like the Avengers and Thunderbolts.

The fate of Thunderbolt Ross in the MCU has long been speculated on. There have been rumblings of him possibly becoming the Red Hulk in the upcoming She-Hulk series. While that remains to be seen, it’ll be interesting to see how much of Loeb’s writing makes its way onto the first Hulk outing since 2008’s Incredible Hulk.

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KURT BUSIEK

The 90s was a very controversial period for comics. It was a time of excess of the highest order, comics were selling like crazy regardless of quality, and some of the magic of the eras that came before went and disappeared. Kurt Busiek was one of the few writers who kept that magic alive.

In 1993, he and artist Alex Ross penned Marvels, a slice-of-life comic that followed the life of a photographer named Phil Sheldon as he witnessed from the ground level events that changed the course of Marvel history. In 1997, Busiek created the Thunderbolts and shocked the world with a twist that was unthinkable; these heroes weren’t good guys at all but the Masters of Evils in disguise. The twist was regarded as one of the industry’s best and it propelled the title to prominence.

Of course, throughout the years, the core idea of a team composed of bad guys trying to do good remained despite constant line up changes. Rumblings of a Thunderbolts appearance in the MCU has been around since Zemo was introduced in Captain America: Civil War. And with his return in Falcon and the Winter Soldier imminent, it’s about time he bands with the surviving villains of the MCU to start an evil team.

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JONATHAN HICKMAN

There’s something cinematic with the way Jonathan Hickman writes his stories. Be it his epic Avengers run leading to his Marvel masterpiece, Secret Wars, or his title defining Fantastic Four run, or his high-concept take on the X-Men, Hickman sure knows to ripen a story for any potential live-action adaptation.

Case in point, during his Avengers run, Hickman plucked Shang-Chi out of the D-leagues and painted him in a way that had never been seen before. Hickman turned him into a Bond-like globetrotting agent of the Avengers that oozed badassery. With Avengers: World, Hickman took Shang-Chi to another level. Shang-Chi was no longer just a man who mastered kung-fu. He was a warrior that could go toe-to-toe with a kaiju. It’ll be hard to imagine the Shang-Chi film not at least taking inspiration from some key Shang-Chi moments in Hickman’s run.

Shang-Chi is merely one of the many stories Hickman has done that will likely make it onto live-action at some point. Some of the best Doctor Doom and Fantastic Four stories are from him and come their live-action due, they’ll likely draw from it as well. When asked about his return to Marvel following his departure after wrapping Secret Wars, Hickman gave a very peculiar quote that may pertain to the Fox acquisition by Disney. Hickman said, “What I’d like to do if I came back, what he’d like for me to do, and some vertically-integrated opportunities at the company that were not available when I was there last.”

Some of his work has already made it onto the MCU. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler cited Hickman as one of the inspirations for the script. His work on the Secret Warriors was used on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And more recently, both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame featured his creations the Black Order.

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NICK SPENCER

Having Sam Wilson take over the mantle of Captain America was never gonna be an easy job but writer Nick Spencer sure made it look easy. Nevermind the naysayers whose pitchforks were raised when the idea was announced or the “I-told-you-sos” when the mantle had to return to Steve Rogers. Spencer did a fantastic job of reshaping what Captain America meant to the world.

It goes without saying that Sam Wilson was always gonna have a very different view of America than Steve Rogers and that America was always gonna have a different view of Sam Wilson wielding the shield. Spencer tapped into the current political zeitgeist pervading our news cycle and morphed into something that was compelling, meaningful, and kick-ass at the same time.

Arguably the biggest status quo change at the tail end of Avengers: Endgame was the passing of the shield to Sam Wilson. The ending put to rest the long-standing Falcon vs. Winter Soldier debate among fans and for good reason. Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set to tackle the very same issues the made the Sam Wilson Captain America run so fantastic. Expect the show to be as political, if not more, as the comic.

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ALLAN HEINBERG

Like his contemporaries Joss Whedon, Jeph Loeb, and more famously, Kevin Smith, Allan Heinberg is a writer who has managed to traverse both Hollywood and the comic industry. Heinberg has multiple TV credits to his name, wrote the massively successful Wonder Woman movie, and more relevant to this piece is the creator of the Young Avengers, a superhero team composed of teens with connections to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The book was a breakout success as fans quickly gravitated towards the team’s roster. The dynamic of Patriot, Hulking, Wiccan, Speed, Hawkeye, Stature, and Iron Lad breathed new life into the Avengers brand, as the book tackled themes of drug use, sexuality, abuse, and identity. Heinberg’s stint with the team also provided some much-needed spectacle as the team crossed paths with heavy hitters like the actual Avengers, X-Men, Kang the Conqueror, and Doctor Doom.

If you’ve been following all the rumblings about upcoming MCU properties, then you’re likely aware of the seeds that are getting planted for Young Avengers. The Hawkeye series is set to star Kate Bishop. Wandavision will feature Wanda’s twin sons as evidenced in the teaser. Isaiah Bradley, grandfather to the Young Avengers’ Patriot, is rumored to have a role in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Kang the Conqueror, who is an alternate version of the Young Avenger Iron Lad, is rumored to appear in the Loki series. And last but not least, Cassie Lang is in the right age to take the mantle of Stature.

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July 21, 2020