Vincent D’Onofrio’s work as Wilson Fisk on the Netflix streaming series Daredevil is held in the highest of regards by Marvel fans, with many believing his Kingpin sits firmly within the top tier of modern live-action Marvel villains. Rumors of D’Onofrio’s return to the role have been rampant for months and with Hawkeye, the project at the center of those rumors, set to stream soon, fans are becoming anxious to see if the Emmy-nominated actor will indeed reprise the role in the MCU.
D’Onofrio recently talked with Jake’s Takes and when asked what Marvel hero he’d like to see Fisk go toe-to-toe with should he return to the role, the actor had a reply at the ready saying, “it definitely has to be Spider-Man. One day…I’m hoping. We’ll see if they ask me to do it.” Obviously a well-read man, D’Onofrio continued, “Kingpin lived in a world of Punisher, Daredevil and Spider-Man so that would be the one.” Fisk, of course, debuted in 1967 in issue #50 of The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years and especially at the hands of Frank Miller, the character evolved from a stereotypical crime lord into the monstrous threat and the archenemy of Daredevil.
It’s those connections to the Daredevil comics, specifically to the character of Maya Lopez/Echo, that have fans on (king)pins and needles as to whether D’Onofrio will return as Fisk in Hawkeye. In the comics, Fisk raised Lopez as his own daughter after killing her father. With the character of Lopez, played by Alaqua Cox, getting her own spinoff series, sentiment is growing that Fisk MUST play a part in her life and that D’Onofrio is the man for the job.
Watch the entire video interview below and watch D’Onofrio reprise the role of Kingpin (hopefully) in Hawkeye, which begins streaming on Disney Plus with a 2-episode premiere on November 24th.
In March, it was revealed Marvel Studios was developing an Echo series as a spinoff from Hawkeye. The news was officially confirmed by Marvel Studios and Disney+ on Friday as part of Disney+ Day. While details remain sparse on the series, we have since learned a bit more regarding the behind-the-scenes of Echo.
We previously reported on social media clues suggesting Bobby Wilson and Rebecca Roanhorse were part of the Echo writers’ room. Marion Dayre yesterday confirmed that she was the Lead Writer on the show, and has now revealed the writers’ room. Native American and Deaf representation in the room matches the intersectionality of both its lead actor Alaqua Cox and title character Maya Lopez. Writers in the group have worked on Netflix’s Daredevil and The Punisher, as well as shows such as Supernatural,This Close,Reservation Dogsand Stranger Things.
The group features two Deaf writers in Shoshannah Stern, who also starred in Supernatural, and Josh Feldman, who with Stern co-created and wrote the Sundance showThis Close. This suggests the Deaf element of Echo’s identity will be explored further beyond Hawkeye. Of the other accounts tagged in Dayre’s post, many of the writers are Native American. Bobby Wilson has worked as a writer on Rutherford Fallsand Reservation Dogs, the first two TV shows with Native American showrunners. Rebecca Roanhorse is a science fiction author and is currently writing an Echo comic series for Marvel in Phoenix Song: Echo. Alongside Kaitlyn Jeffers, Steven Paul Judd and Jason Gavin it will be great to see more about Echo’s Native American background on the show. Ken Kristensen wrote on The Punisher, Dara Resnik has written episodes ofPushing Daisies andDaredevil, and Jessica Mecklenburg has written onStranger Things. The mix of drama and comedy within this group suggests that Echowill be emotionally impactful and entertaining.
It’s exciting that Deaf and Native American voices have helped craft Maya’s story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To have a Deaf, Native American amputee as the lead actor in Alaqua Cox is a particularly innovative and thrilling choice that will hopefully push the industry forward. Marvel Studios must have known they had a star on their hands with the Echo’s LLC being incorporated a month before Hawkeye started filming. With Echo officially announced and scheduled to film in early 2022, we should begin to learn more about the series in the upcoming months perhaps.
Just recently, we finally found out who the actors are that’ll play the live-action versions of the Straw Hats in Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of One Piece. The story will explore the East Blue, which means we’ll get introduced to the first five members of the crew. Among them is Taz Skylar, who’ll take on the role of chef extraordinaire, Sanji. While future Zoro, Mackenyu, has quite a bit of experience with sword fighting through his work on Rurouni Kenshin: The Final to bring his character to life, Skylar has quite the challenge ahead of him to bring the signature kick-only style of Sanji to life.
We’re still waiting for an official start of the production, but To showcase what he’s been working on, the actor took to Instagram to share his training. As Instagram Stories are only limited for a certain amount of time, @OP_Netflix_Fan was nice enough to provide the video of his training. The actor is certainly excited about the role and is sharing it with others through his page.
We’ve seen others do the same, such as the future Luffy, Iñaki Godoy, sharing his research on Instagram. We saw the excitement for the cast in the announcement video, especially Emily Rudd, who’s a long-time Nami fan, wearing a necklace with her character’s name on it and Jacob Romero Gibson shouting some classic lines. Skylar has actively teased some inspiration, such as British chef Marco Pierre White being one of his inspirations for his take on the character in a previous post. He’s also actively interacting with the fanbase, which is always great to see. Here’s hoping the wait for any future announcement isn’t too far now.
Prior to Disney Plus Day, Disney held their fourth quarter investors’ call. While these things aren’t always worth covering, in this case fans got some tidbits! One such tidbit was that Andor, the 12-episode streaming series that will serve as a prequel to Rogue One, has a release window! According to Disney CFO Christine McCarthy, the series will stream sometime between July and September of next year.
‘Ms. Marvel’ Moves to 2nd Half of 2022
McCarthy also mentioned that Ms. Marvel, a Marvel Studios streaming series set to introduce Kamala Khan to the MCU, will debut during that same window. Originally set to stream in late-2021, Ms. Marvel will now debut a little closer to Secret Invasion and The Marvels, project with that share cast members and maybe even some plot points with the teen drama series. Like many other Marvel Studios streaming series, we got a new look at the series and a synopsis on Disney Plus Day. We got some cool glimpses, including the clan of bad guys destined to give Kamala a hard time.
Ms. Marvel introduces viewers to Kamala, a 16-year old Pakistani American from Jersey City. An aspiring artist, an avid gamer, and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, she is a huge fan of the Avengers — and one in particular, Captain Marvel. But Kamala has always struggled to find her place in the world — that is until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to.
Stallone Returns to Grumble Through More Lines in Vol. 3
Sylvester Stallone was so excited to return to the role of Stakar Ogord for the next installment of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that he let everyone know in a video from the set of the film. Here’s to hoping he continues to nail his spot-on interpretation of the comic book character that he’s allegedly bringing to the big screen.
‘One Piece’ Pieces Together One Cast
The Netflix adaptation of One Piece has been making more and more news over the past several weeks but none bigger than the cast being accidentally leaked by the Latin America Netflix account. Inaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar and Mackenyu were revealed to be key players for the series.
‘Moon Knight’ Looks Loony…and That’s Good
As part of Disney Plus Day, Marvel Studios streaming series Moon Knight got a synopsis and a brief teaser. While neither revealed who Ethan Hawke would be playing, the synopsis might just give a little hint.
Moon Knight is a new globetrotting action-adventure series featuring a complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The multiple identities who live inside him find themselves thrust into a deadly war of the gods against the backdrop of modern and ancient Egypt.
Interestingly, the brief teaser seemed to show off not only the traditional costume, but also the newer Mr. Knight version as well. We’ll see how they split time on screen when it debuts next year.
‘She-Hulk’, Brought to You by Dan Slott
Tatiana Maslany, who vehemently denied that she was in She-Hulk, briefly appeared in the first look at Marvel Studios streaming series She-Hulk as…She-Hulk. The series, like MoonKnight, got a completely uninformative new synopsis. And, as the title says, it looks to be HEAVILY inspired by Dan Slott’s run.
She-Hulk follows Jennifer, a lawyer who specializes in superhuman-oriented legal cases. She-Hulk will welcome a host of Marvel characters to the series, including the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, and the Abomination, played by Tim Roth.
An Animation Renaissance is Underway at Marvel Studios
In probably the most exciting of all of the Disney Plus Day announcements, fans learned that Marvel Studio has not 1, not 2, but 3 new animated series in the works for the streaming service.X-Men ’97 will reunite the cast of characters of the beloved 90’s X-Men: The Animated Series on a new mission;Marvel Zombies will bring the undead, first seen in What If…?, into their own series; Spider-Man: Freshman Year, will tell a canonical tale about Peter Parker “on his way to becoming Spider-Man.” Additionally, the studio pretended that they hadn’t already told us about the second season of What If…? and gave us an “official” announcement. A lot of the people who currently dish out a lot of money to Marvel Studios projects grew up on animated projects, so it is absolutely fascinating to see them embrace that generation with the X-Men revival, try to capture the hearts of a generation with Freshman Year and eat the hearts of others with Zombies.
Marvel Studios Pretended They Didn’t Give the Trades Info and “Officially” Revealed Two “New” Series
In the least surprising announcements of the week, Marvel Studios REVEALED that spinoff series for Agatha Harkness and Echo were headed to Disney Plus. Of course, we’ve all known this for a while now but, to make up for that, we got some cool logos that won’t be the logos we see when the shows actually hit D+. Echo and Agatha: House of Harkness are “coming soon” to Disney Plus. Despite the heavy sarcasm, both shows have the potential to explore fascinating corners of the MCU and introduce some great new characters.
‘Prey’, The Next Installment of the Predator Franchise, Will Debut on Hulu
Dan Trachtenberg’sPredator movie has been retitled Prey and slotted for a 2022 streaming debut on Hulu. The moves were announced as part of Disney Plus Day because, yeah, Disney owns the rights to Predator now! The new film’s premise sounds incredible as it focuses on a Predator going up against a Comanche Nation teen around 300 years ago.
Ever since the announcement came that Marvel Studios is reviving the popular X-Men animated series from the 90s. With the new title X-Men ’97, it’ll join a bunch of animated projects announced during Disney+ Day. After their first venture with What If…?, it was clear that they saw a future in this new direction and it seems some from that team are even joining the newer projects.
What If…?‘s Lead Character Designer Amelia Vidal has shared on Twitter that she’s also carrying over her role in bringing the classic 90’s incarnations of the X-Men to life. It does open the question if she’ll return for an eventual third season of What If…? or she will juggle both projects moving forward. Still, it’s great to see the team continue to work with their talent and let them test out their talents on other projects.
It’s great to see Marvel Studios venturing out of the MCU and developing projects that won’t be connected directly to the original franchise’s timeline. Of course, there’s always the chance it is part of the ever-expanding multiverse introduced in Loki. We’ll see how the projects develop but, for now, we’re getting a clearer picture of how long these projects may have been in development, such as artist Chase Conley promoting his love for the original series only to confirm his involvement recently.
Showtime has been working on an adaptation of LisaTaddeo‘s Three Women since 2019. The story of three women’s sexual and emotional experiences across the United States became a best seller in its debut. Even more impressing if you consider it was Taddeo‘s debut publication. The story of Lina, Maggie, and Sloane caught Showtime’s eye and it wasn’t until July that they gave it a series order with Shailene Woodley, DeWanda Wise, and Betty Gilpin taking over the role of our main trio. We can now exclusively share that the production has added Tanzanian-American filmmaker Ekwa Msangi to direct an episode of the series.
Msangi made a name in the industry for her work on the TV movie All My Friends Are Married, and her work on the film Farwell Amor back in 2020. Her work featured strong female leads exploring their place in the world, which makes her a perfect addition to the creative team aiming to bring Three Women to life. Her TV movie All My Friends Are Married explored women in their thirties trying to avoid turning into spinsters in New York City. Farewell Amor explored the story of an Angolan woman, as she bonds with a stranger through their love for dance.
Taddeo spent around eight years working on the novel and explored the locations that are the focus of each character’s life. Lina is a suburban mother from Indiana while Maggie is a high school student from North Dakota. Sloane lives in the Northeast of the United States, where she has a very peculiar relationship with her husband.
The episode is set to film late this year and into 2022. The series began production earlier this Fall and currently has no set release date.
Disney+ Day finally gave us our first look at Moon Knight. Oscar Isaac takes on the role of schizophrenic mercenary that becomes a brutal vigilante. We were given a brief teaser of the upcoming series that teases his fractured perception of reality with some beautifully done shots, especially when the camera pans into a room where Moon Knight is beating the hell out of someone. Luckily, it seems we also now know who’s involved with the project as The Green Knight‘s director of photography, Andrew Droz Palermo, announced his involvement with the DIsney+ series in an Instagram story during the Dsiney+ Day madness.
It’s funny that he moved on from one Knight-focused project to another, but given that film’s visual fidelity, his addition is an exciting prospect. He’s also worked n a variety of other projects like 2017’s A Ghost Story and 2019’s The True Adventures of Wolfboy. He’s also worked on a few TV projects like Strange Angel in 2019, where he also worked as director of photography. He is sure to add an interesting visual style to make the series stand out from the rest alongside director Mohamed Diab.
Moon Knight might be our first true window into the darker and mystical side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’ll be interesting to see. if the series might end up connecting to Mahershala Ali‘s upcoming Blade project that’ll introduce us to vampires. Marc Spector is no stranger to fighting supernatural beings and with his mind fractured, it might become quite the challenge to understand whatever he is facing is real or not.
Disney+ Day offered some great surprises including the official announcement of an animated series adapting the iconic Marvel Zombies comic storyline. The timing was perfect as they were riding off of the popularity of the What If…? episode that introduced the concept into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The theories were that they’d continue where that episode left off, as a zombified Thanos took over Wakanda but it turns out they’re inspired by the comics and might take a different look at the flesh-eating heroes.
Marvel Studios’ producer Brad Winderbaum discussed some of the new announcements, especially with their new animated ventures. He briefly touched upon the potential the return of the 90s animated X-Men project will offer with X-Men ’97 but also offered some insight into what Marvel Zombies will offer. In it, he may have confirmed that it’s not a direct continuation of Marvel Studios’ first introduction of the zombies.
And then, of course, we revealed that we’re doing a series all about Marvel Zombies, continuing the universe that was set up in What If…? and just like the way Marvel Zombies was introduced in the Ultimates in the comics and then introduced a parallel universe of zombies that was explored and its own series, we’re doing a similar thing where we introduced in What If…? and now we’re going to take a look at that universe with a different lens.
Brad Winderbau
So, it seems that we’ll explore a different part of the multiverse where another zombie virus has spread, or they might stick to the What If…? timeline. His statement is vague because he confirms continuity, backtracks on it before connecting it again. He says it’s a continuation of that universe, but also says they’ll do something that the comics did. So, they might leave the origin of the virus the same, as the Quantum Realm does technically exist outside of the multiverse. So, maybe this is the current plan that changes as production continues.
They also might want to explore this story in a way that isn’t shackled by pre-existing MCU canon and build their own storyline around the existence of superpowered zombies. They might also not want to rely on the 3D animation and give it a unique design. Sadly, the creator of the original comics, Robert Kirkman, isn’t involved with the project but they might consult him once production starts on it.
X-Men ‘97 is Marvel Studios’ first X-Men production. As a continuation of the ‘90s animated series that many adults grew up with as kids, the show has an in-built fan base. The announcement along with creative collaborators and returning cast means there will be more opportunities to talk about the project with the public. Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios appeared on Marvel’s podcast This Week in Marvel to talk about some of their animation announcements.
Winderbaum suggested that the original animated series has been a “touchstone” for many filmmakers Marvel Studios had conversations with over the years. He also talked about how head writer Beau DeMayo pitched the show, teasing an emotional shift at the end of the ‘90s and an important event that seemingly frames the new series:
He pitched us a show that didn’t just honor the original series, but also brought it into the modern world and talked not only about the 90s, but about the emotional shift that happened at the beginning of the new millennium, and how the show is actually going to explore that and see how the characters change, you know, after a very impactful event. And he talked about the soap opera of it all and was really compelling to us, but also the true emotional stakes to these characters.
Brad Winderbaum
All of that seems like an intriguing set of circumstances with which to evolve the original series. We’ll have to wait quite a while longer to see it play out as the show is set to release on Disney+ in 2023. As animation takes quite a while, it can perhaps be expected the show is already reasonably far into production so we might start to hear more from the creators soon!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded in so many ways, it’s quite difficult to keep up with where everything takes place across its timeline. Marvel Studios still refuses to provide a definite map to keep an overview, but the new Disney+ shows and films shave been hinting at where everything might take place. There are visual cues that commonly hint at where exactly it takes place or even just an outright confirmation such as Eternals‘ Ajak openly discussing the battle of Thanos. Disney+ Day offered us a glimpse into what 2022 has in store for us with the highlights being Moon Knight and She-Hulk. The latter will have the most connective tissue due to Mark Ruffalo‘s Bruce Banner having an active role in the story. The teaser also hinted at Jennifer Walter’s origin story and also may have given us a glimpse of when it takes place.
In the trailer, we don’t get a clear look at Tatiana Maslany as the titular character. We do get a tease of her iconic outfit from the comics, but not her actual transformation. In a brief sequence, we see Professor Hulk discussing with Walters what it means to be a Hulk while she is in a containment field. Most likely, Banner used this lab to fuse both personalities together and crate his current alter ego. Yet, what stands out is if you take a close look at both of his arms. In Avengers: Endgame, Hulk makes the sacrifice and snaps half the universe back into existence but sacrifices his arm in the process. While he still can use it, we can see heavy burns that scarred him. Those wounds are noticeably absent here.
There’s always a chance they haven’t finished work on this scene and might add it in post-production, but the detail does offer a look into the series timeline. It’s also worth highlighting due to Bruce Banner’s last appearance post-Endgame in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In the film’s post-credits sequence, we see a hologram version of Banner (not his Professor Hulk form mind you) talking about the ring’s mysterious origins. As soon as we get a full view of Banner, he is still recovering from using the Infinity Gauntlet. The sling is also noticeably for his right arm, which is absent above.
Is this a confirmation that her origin takes place before the events of Endgame? Not necessarily, as there’s also the story that She-Hulk builds up a film spin-off exploring the World War Hulk storyline. So, there’s a chance that we catch up with Banner at a point where his wounds have finally healed. Banner’s arm in Shang-Chi does not show any visual scarring, but it’s just interesting that he still has a sling to keep it steady. He’s also back to being a regular Banner again, which simply adds to the confusion. So, perhaps Walters gets the blood transfusion while he is Professor Hulk during an incident. He then tries to help her control the abilities but ends up joining the Avengers briefly. Once he retruns, he learns that she has fully embraced her Hulk-side and makes her way back to her normal life.
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