Tag: TV

“Expect to See Him Everywhere”: What’s Next for Charlie Cox’s Daredevil
Following the cancellation of Netflix’s streaming series, Daredevil, fans united under the #SaveDaredevil movement to make it clear that Charlie Cox’s iteration of the character shouldn’t be retired. In late 2020, the first reports of Cox’s return to the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home circulated and sparked a debate among disbelievers that wasn’t truly settled until nearly a year later when Kevin Feige finally declared that Cox would be returning in the role. Though his appearance was brief, it was met with thunderous applause in theaters and has fans wild with anticipation about when they might see him again. Several months ago, a source who confirmed Cox’s return to the MCU last December shared something that should add to that anticipation. When asked where Cox might appear again, the response was, “expect to see him everywhere.” With a recent run of rumors lining up with that statement, let’s take a look at what’s next for Cox’s character.

She-Hulk
Rumors have persisted that the next place we’ll see Charlie Cox is in Marvel Studios yet-to-be-dated for 2022 streaming series, She-Hulk. This rumor (is it even still a rumor at this point) makes too much sense for it not to happen and promises that Cox will have quite a bit more to do than catch a brick. Rumblings have Cox showing up in the court room as Murdock, where he’ll probably go up against Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters. The two, of course, faced off in Charles Soule’s 2014 She-Hulk, and had quite a fun relationship. It is worth noting that while the rumor has them facing off in a court case involving a superhero tailor, issue #9 of Soule’s run found the two on opposing sides of a case involving an old, depowered Steve Rogers. With Chris Evans rumored to return for two non-Captain America projects, his presence would make for one helluva surprise.

Of course that’s only half the rumor and the other half sounds a whole lot more fun. Probably also inspired from the same Soule run, the rumor suggests that Cox, sporting a shiny, new, yellow suit and kicking some ass as Daredevil. It looks as though Cox’s reintegration into the MCU is going to be step-by-step with She-Hulk giving fans their first chance to see Daredevil hit the skyline again. So we’ll see the character at least once in 2022, though there is a rumor he has some role to play in Moon Knight as well.

Echo

Daredevil is also rumored to be appearing in the Marvel Studios streaming series, Echo, which is currently slated to go into production in April. Echo will feature several new Native American roles and a couple of new, female villains but there’s definitely room for Daredevil. Whatever role Cox’s character plays in the series, it’ll be markedly different from the source material. Echo was first introduced in Daredevil Vol. 2 and was trained and sent out by Kingpin to take out Daredevil, who he blamed for the death of Echo’s father; along the way, she met and fell in love with Matt Murdock. While the two did battle, Murdock was able to convince her of the truth before she killed him. Echo went on to take her revenge on Kingpin by shooting him in the face, similar to the scene we saw at the end of Hawkeye.

Even though that story seems like it’s off the table (we could always see a flashback if Marvel really felt the need to tell it), there’s plenty of room for the two to run into one another. The end of Hawkeye is just the beginning of Echo’s journey. Everything she once thought to be true about her life was revealed as a facade that came crashing down. It’s likely that her journey will lead her back to New York and the Kingpin and that her path will intersect Murdock’s along the way. This should be the first of at least two 2023 appearances for Cox.

Armor Wars

Armor Wars is still a long way off and very, very little is known about it but the premise is that a group of villains mysteriously come into possession of Stark Tech and that James Rhodes will have to deal with the fallout. One of those villains is engineer Wilbur Day who uses the tech to upgrade his original suit. It would represent a major missed opportunity not to include Stilt-Man, originally a Daredevil villain who first appeared on the page in 1965, in Armor Wars and have Rhodey enlist the help of Daredevil in taking him down. Assuming we also see Cox in Echo, this will mark at least his second 2023 appearance (there’s also a rumor he’ll appear in Ironheart, which would come out before Armor Wars).

Spider-Man 4

Spider-Man: No Way Home gave fans the first onscreen meeting of two longtime comic book friends: Spider-Man and Daredevil. Although they only met as Peter Parker and Matt Murdock, hope remains that the two will team-up again down the road to take on a shared foe: Kingpin. While he’s best known as Daredevil’s archenemy, Kingpin first entered the world of Marvel Comics in 1967’s Amazing Spider-Man #50. The stage is set up perfectly for an adaptation of that arc where Fisk united crime bosses into the international crime syndicate known as the Maggia.

Both Tom Holland and Vincent D’Onofrio have expressed their interest in their respective characters coming into conflict, making Fisk a very likely possibility to appear in the next Spider-Man film. With Spider-Man now known to be sticking close to his new NYC neighborhood and Daredevil likely patrolling the city as well, it’s only a matter of time before these two bump into one another and unite to take down the head of NYC’s organized crime. With Kevin Feige revealing that they have already begun work on the next Spider-Man film and Sony’s eagerness to have the character appear every two years, it’s possible that this film could make it into theaters for late 2024.

Daredevil

The final rumor is that a solo Daredevil project is now in development at the studio. I’ll caution (though it’ll do absolutely no good) that being “in development” never, ever means a project will get made but, given the enormity of the popularity of Cox in the role, this odds that this ends up getting a green light have to be high. It it happens, it’s probably 2 to 3 years off but given the possibilities outlined above and Cox’s other contractual obligations, it may well be that long before he can lead his own project. At this point, all we really know is that it is not currently slated to enter into production in 2022.
December 31, 2021
‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Premiere Provides Room for Who Boba Fett is Meant to Become

The amount of praise the Boba Fett character has received ever since his theatrical film debut in The Empire Strikes Back is matched only by the number of doubters who often ask what he has ever actually done (besides looking cool) to deserve such recognition. It’s certainly fair to admit that there just wasn’t much to the character in the original trilogy, but that was something that, fueled by the fan response to the character, would later be addressed in several prequel projects.

It ended up being through the prequels, where we met a young Boba still with his father Jango by his side, that the character was given enough background to allow audiences to fully grasp his role in the grand scheme of the Star Wars universe. Being the popular character that he was – and still is – he then went on to either being mentioned or even appearing in many other Star Wars properties, from comics to video games, from animated shows to novels, thus expanding his own story. But even if relevant details were added to it throughout, elements that made him play a more active role in the franchise as well as make him a more complex and therefore more interesting character, the bookend that Return of the Jedi represented to his life story would always be looming in the background.

Having him seemingly die in the final chapter of the original trilogy playing a standard (albeit very good) bounty hunter-type isn’t exactly allowing for much character growth throughout the years after having initially introduced him, as a child, in a very similar role. This meant that the character could never really escape his destiny of how he found himself when swallowed whole by a Sarlacc. That is up until The Mandalorian came along.

For the first time (?) Boba Fett’s future wasn’t set in stone. But even then we still saw a man trying to get back to his old ways, collecting his armor, his ship, and rebuilding his persona after being forgotten and left for dead on the sands of Tattoine. But now, having him return to the same planet where he was forgotten to take Jabba’s throne seems like the perfect occasion to finally start to deconstruct the character into what it perhaps was always meant to evolve into.

Being the one in charge will probably not live up to Boba Fett’s expectations. As with many things in life, when the chase is sometimes more gratifying than actually achieving one’s goal, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until Fett becomes disillusioned by the expectations of what a Tattoine crime lord is supposed to do and eventually become. His sense of honor and duty, both of which got a few glimpses of in The Mandalorian, will likely kick in as he moves to distance himself from everybody’s expectations of how he should behave in his newfound role. He already stated that, unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t torture and he does not plan to rule with fear; perhaps it’s also in his future to drop either the ‘crime’ or the ‘lord’ from the title he now holds. Either way, Fett is now free from all narrative shackles and can now break the mold of how everyone expected him to present himself.

Following Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land we now wait for the next six episodes as The Book of Boba Fett hopefully answers its most pressing question: Who is Boba Fett meant to become?

December 29, 2021
2021: What We Learned From ‘WandaVision’

After sitting out 2020, Marvel Studios returned in a big way in 2021 with 4 films and their first 5 streaming series. That all kicked off in January with WandaVision, a 9-episode series that paid homage to eras gone by and changed the way MCU fans consumed and processed media. It’s not overreaching to say that nothing has been the same since the series concluded its run, so as the year comes to an end, let’s reflect on what we all learned from WandaVision.

To Appreciate Character-Driven Projects

While fans initially disapproved of the slow pace of the first few episodes of WandaVision, they also noted the incredible work by stars Lizzie Olsen and Paul Bettany. Bettany got to show off his comedic chops while Olsen put on a master class, essentially playing a new character in every episode (which also served as interesting meta commentary on changes made to the ways women have been portrayed in sitcoms over the decades). It’s not as if these were talents we didn’t know they possessed, it was just that they hadn’t been allowed to exhibit them in the MCU as they were overshadowed by the actors whose characters were headlining the films in which they appeared.

Upon deeper reflection, however, it wasn’t only because they were finally getting their starring roles. Marvel Studios was making a different kind of product for their fans and they bravely and boldly proved that by releasing 3 episodes of WandaVision with almost no trace of the big action associated with the brand. In short, they let their actors act. The trend continued in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, where Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan gave a depth to their characters that they would never have gotten on the big screen and Daniel Bruhl actually got to perform; it continued into Loki where the bond between Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson became the heart of the show and Jonathan Majors laid out the gauntlet for the future of the MCU in one of the best performances in its history; it concluded in Hawkeye, perhaps the strongest character work yet, with Jeremy Renner’s subdued performance while his character embarked on a redemptive arc, Hailee Steinfeld’s star-making work as a new hero and her incredible chemistry with Florence Pugh and great turns by Vera Farmiga and Tony Dalton. By simply letting the actors act, Marvel Studios found the key to making its streaming world go round: keep the focus on the characters.

That Expanding the Universe Is Good

With characters who had previously served as supporting characters taking the leads in their own series, new characters had to be inserted into their stories to help flesh out them and their worlds. Undoubtedly one of the best gifts given to fans in 2021 came in the form of these new, supporting characters. And it wasn’t just the new heroes that fans learned to appreciate, the expanded universe and the time to breathe gave life to incredible new anti-heroes and villains, too.

WandaVision gave us Teyonah Parris, who will co-star as Monica Rambeau in 2023’s The Marvels, and Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness, who will now lead her own series, Agatha: The House of Harkness. We also met Tommy and Billy Maximoff, who were the first of the MCU’s Young Avengers to enter the universe, and who will serve as the catalysts for the next steps taken by Wanda. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier gifted us with Julia Louis-Drefus’ Val, Wyatt Russell’s punchable John Walker and Erin Kellyman’s Karli and Carl Lumbly’s Isaiah Bradley, who made Sam question what being a hero really means. In Loki, we were introduced to the concept of Variants and with that met two whose impact extended far beyond the confines of the series. The confrontation between Sophia Di Martino’s vengeful Sylvie and Jonathan Majors‘ He Who Remains changed the MCU forever but also had a profound impact on Loki himself. And, in Hawkeye, Marvel Studios created a street-level corner of the universe that gave us Maya Lopez and Wilson Fisk, who is likely to show up again in the Lopez-centric Echo series in 2023.

As 2021 comes to a close, the roster of heroes and villains, and those who toe the line, is fuller than it has ever been and it’s hard to argue that the MCU is worse for it.

The Weekly Format is Good

As was the case with The Mandalorian, Disney eschewed the binge watching preferences of streaming audiences in favor of the old fashioned weekly format for the Marvel Studios streaming series. In review, the weekly format allowed for an incredible amount of content and conversation around the projects which can only be a good thing. A careful schedule was created that began with screeners sent out to media outlets. Outlets had strict scheduled to follow, first sharing social media reactions, then later full reviews ahead of the premiers, building hype for the first week’s release. Following that, the studio arranged weekly interviews with the cast and crew, something that would have previously only happened in pre-screening junkets for films. Whether fans loved or hated the episodes, the conversation was constant and engaging. However, the weekly format also had some pitfalls, notably…

To Separate Rumors from Theories and Speculation…Well, Some of Us

More than any project before or after it, WandaVision fueled an insane amount of speculation on a weekly basis. Speculation led to theories and then, somehow, theories led to disappointment and, even more damaging, disbelief in the obvious. Mephisto was everywhere, but when he wasn’t, that meant that there was no way Sharon Carter could be the Power Broker? The trail of cookie crumbs leading to Kang’s presence in Loki couldn’t have been easier to follow, but because Evan Peters was Ralph Bohner, that meant there was no way Kang was showing up and that, instead, Loki would be meeting himself at the Citadel at the End of Time. It was easier for fans to believe that the big boss running organized crime in NYC, Maya’ “uncle”, was either Val or, worse yet, Jack Duquesne, even AFTER seeing and hearing Vincent D’Onofrio in Episode 3. The lack of critical thinking trickled over to the film side of things where, despite an incredible amount of evidence that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were in Spider-Man: No Way Home (and absolutely no evidence of any other potential plots that did not include them), fans persisted in their beliefs that they would not appear and that the film’s plot would not include the multiverse…DESPITE IT FEATURING CHARACTERS FROM THE SONY FILMS!

WandaVision changed the game in the way some fans perceive information now. Because Reed Richards didn’t make Monica’s suit and because it was Agatha all along, there has never been more refutation of reliable sources of information. It’s not all bad, however, as other fans have learned to be scrutinize more and think more critically about what to believe. For that second set of fans, the MCU might actually be more enjoyable in the future as there will certainly always be wild rumors, speculation and theory leading up to Marvel Studios’ projects. If there’s anything we should all have learned from WandaVision, it’s that knowing how to separate them into their appropriate categories makes a big difference.

That the “Big Reveal” in the Last Episode Doesn’t Always Work

In some cases, despite the fact that the were making streaming series, the projects were put together like longer films. What was sometimes lost in translation there was the fact that in most all films, the villains are revealed early on. Beginning in WandaVision, Marvel Studios seemed to really embrace the idea of last act/last episode reveals and it really was hit or miss. Agatha Harkness, He Who Remains and Kingpin all came onto the scene late in the game with only one really getting enough time to make a major impact on the series. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier took a different approach, developing Karli over the course of the series alongside the other characters, allowing her to be much more impactful to the overall story. As they move into 2022, their decisions on WHEN to do things with their villains will be something to watch closely.

Moving forward into 2022, it’s likely that Marvel Studios has learned a significant amount about how to move forward with their projects. We’re already seeing an increased level of secrecy with upcoming projects like Moon Knight, Werewolf By Night and, to a lesser extent She-Hulk. Let’s all meet back here next year to see how what they’ve learned from WandaVision changes things again.

December 29, 2021
REVIEW: ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Chapter 1 – Stranger in a Strange Land

After a long wait, The Book of Boba Fett has finally premiered on Disney+. After making his grand return as the titular character in The Mandalorian, Temuera Morrison continues the story in the first of many spinoffs that’ll expand the galaxy far, far away. The first episode “Stranger in a Strange Land” takes a very different approach to what you may expect from what was teased as Star Wars‘ take on the Godfather. While we still get those elements that hint at the series’ bigger picture, it takes a few steps back to build up the character we always knew surprisingly little about. Does it falter under the weight of expectation, or shine new light upon the Mandalorian clone?

Most of the episode is spent with the aftermath of 1983’s Return of the Jedi, as we finally find out how exactly Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc Pit. It was almost expected that they’d fill in the blanks that were left purposefully vague before, as it strengthens the character we’re about to see grow throughout this series. Yet, we already know he survived and it left us questioning what these extensive flashbacks will bring to the series’ overarching narrative. The actual plotline revolves around Boba’s new role as the daimyo after taking over from Bib Fortuna. Yet, we spend very little time with him in that role.

The biggest mystery set up in this episode is the identity of the “Mayor.” He’s hinted at as Boba’s biggest threat, especially when he’s the only one who refuses to not pay tribute to the new underworld leader. There’s an interesting conflict brewing between these two parties, but the episode doesn’t effectively use its runtime to focus on the world-building of Tatooine’s underbelly. We see a casino, he gets attacked (and his ass handed to him) before we move back to the flashback. While it worked as an opening segment to tease future development, it is trying to build something up that has no clear goal.

The Book of Boba Fett‘s opening is sadly more lukewarm than exciting due to the first episode not set up many future plotlines to explore. The cliffhanger we are left with is Boba back in his flashback. There’s a lost momentum to what exactly the show is trying to be or even set up. We have no clear indication if these flashbacks and his time with the Tusken Raiders might connect to the current storyline. It’s good they don’t give too much away, but it leaves you wondering what exactly the show is going for after the credits roll.

It’s strange how often Morrison gets beaten up in this first episode. While it makes sense in the flashbacks, he makes his grand entrance as the new Tatooine Kingpin only for random stragglers to pretty much beat him so badly, he needs to go back to the Bacta tank. I am not sure if him quitting halfway early on was a hint that he’s out of it, but when he and Ming-Na Wen‘s Fennec Shand get surrounded, it seemed odd they couldn’t get out without help. It does fall back on the “jetpack” fallacy, as he could’ve easily flown out of there, but he didn’t even give it a thought.

The action still has its moments, his fight at the end was well done and gave Boba a moment to finally shine. Shand’s chase sequence was probably a highlight, as she uses clever – even if unclear – tactics to outmaneuver their attackers. Yet, it felt like something was missing throughout the show, especially with how little its titular character is used. He does get a cheap shot in, which is potentially to highlight his conflict on ruling with fear or respect, which is very likely going to be his character arc. We’ll see if future episodes will offer a clearer picture of where the show is heading.

December 29, 2021
‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Episode 1 Primer

Famous Star Wars Bounty Hunter, Boba Fett, is finally getting the spotlight in his own show. The series The Book of Boba Fett streams tomorrow on Disney+! After being briefly teased in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, Boba played a key role in Season 2. He reclaimed his armor and helped Din Djarin protect Grogu before heading back to Tatooine and forcefully taking the former throne of Jabba The Hutt, with Fennec Shand by his side. That is where we will find him at the beginning of Episode 1.

Boba Fett will be trying to transition from bounty hunter to crime lord and this road he’s going down is going to be a little bit rockier than he thought. So what’s in store for Boba as the series goes on? Lucasfilm has been especially secretive, refusing to send out media screeners to keep as many secrets protected as possible. However, we do have some idea of what is going to happen thanks to trailers, rumors, and information from the cast.

Star Temuera Morrison has revealed that the show is going to go back in time. In the trailer we can see Boba climbing out of the Sarlacc Pit fans believed he died in during Return of the Jedi. That will give us some idea of how he got back on his and catch us up to the point where we saw him in Season 1 of The Mandalorian. Rumored appearances of other Empire-era bounty hunters, Crimson Dawn and even Luke Skywalker have made their way through fandom, but with fewer than 12 hours to go, we truly don’t know what to expect.

Arlyn’s Assumptions

Based on what we can see in the trailers, Boba and Fennec are going to have to do a lot of fighting despite Boba’s wishes to the contrary. They are also going to meet a few of the galaxies most dangerous bounty hunters along the way, not all of whom are friends with Boba. Given Lucasfilm’s secrecy we should expect Grogu-sized suprises.

December 28, 2021
James Gunn Offers New Look at ‘Peacemaker’s Judomaster

While the holidays are a quiet period for Hollywood, we still get some teases here or there to tie us over into the new year. Luckily, DC fans won’t have to wait long until they get their first new property in 2022, as we’ll get a spinoff for The Suicide Squad focused on John Cena‘s Peacemaker. As we’re only 17 days away from its release, director James Gunn took to Twitter to offer a closer look at one of its newest additions, Judo Master.

https://twitter.com/jamesgunn/status/1475884327279816704?s=21

Nhut Le will take on the role in the HBO Max series, which is taking a lot of inspiration from the original Charlton Comics, which included quite a few iconic characters that would eventually become mainstays in the DC universe. Le‘s upcoming take is quite a departure from the original, especially in the costume department. Instead of his white-red costume, he has one that is fully in green that seems closer to what we saw Nathan Filion‘s TDK was wearing. It’ll be interesting to see how he brings the character to life and how he’ll interact with Peacemaker and Vigilante.

Source: Twitter

December 28, 2021
RUMOR: ‘Monsters at Work’s Studio Working on Lucasfilm Project, Potentially ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’

Not too long ago, we’ve noticed that a new Star Wars project may have accidentally leaked through a Lucasfilm’s employee gift. Alongside the logos of already announced projects, there’s the inclusion of something titled Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. We’ve never heard of this project before and it opened the floodgates of what it might be about. Well, it seems some clever Redditors have potentially found an answer.

User CommanderVisor has noticed that ICON Creative Studios is employing people for an unannounced animated project. The studio is well-known for its animated projects targeted at a younger audience, which includes The Rocketeer, Elena of Avaltor, and more. They’ve also worked on Disney+’s recent Monsters Inc. sequel, Monsters at Work.

Of course, there’s no concrete confirmation, and even The Bespin Bulletin is mainly speculating it might be this project. Yet, it seems possible that the project they are working on is the unannounced Tales of the Jedi. We’ll have to take it with a grain of salt until there’s a clearer confirmation, but it seems like Lucasfilm is trying to also cater to a younger audience with this new offering.

Source: Reddit via Bespin Bulletin

December 28, 2021
‘Hawkeye’: Clint Barton Succeeds Where Tony Stark Failed

The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse is in full-swing and, as it turns out, in a point of transition as it moves from a semi-grounded MCU into the next phase of the content Marvel wants to put out. I’ve long theorized that Phase 4 would be made up of smaller phases building out over one big story, as opposed to the first 23 films where it was all building to Thanos. We have original Avengers transitioning their titles to the next generation of heroes, some of which are even younger than they were when they joined the fray. One transition in particular deserves special attention, both for what it means for the future and how it handled the present in the shadow of the juggernaut that is Marvel’s latest big-screen offering. It also deserves kudos for successfully landing the plane on the mentor-mentee relationship in a way that Peter Parker’s arc really didn’t. We now have a new Hawkeye and that is Kate Bishop.

After being put through the ringer while finding out her parents were willing members of organized crime, the world’s greatest archer ensures that her mother faces some consequences for her actions. The Elder Bishop is last seen asking her daughter if sending parents to jail is what heroes do after she is unable to gracefully exit the Kingpin’s criminal enterprise. It would not surprise me to see the Kingpin enlist a masked vigilante like Madame Masque to take the younger Bishop down if we get a Season 2 or a Hawkeye and Black Widow movie down the line. Whatever form she next shows up in, Kate Bishop won’t be alone.

At the end of Hawkeye, Clint Barton solidified his relationship with Kate Bishop, and completes the arc that began in 2012’s Avengers. His family is safe, his wife’s past life is secure, and he can now finally rest. Not only does he do this, but he brings Kate home with him. At this point, only Nick Fury and the Avengers even knew his family existed. This shows how much he actually cares about Kate, and how much the “your mess is my mess” line isn’t delivered just for kicks, but actually symbolizes a partnership that began reluctantly. It’s a much better partnership than that of Peter Parker and Tony Stark.

Whereas Iron Man recruited Spider-Man out of necessity, he then took the young man into space and watched him die in his arms. Before taking him to space, Stark wanted to have Peter join the Avengers: this was his grand gesture since letting him go against The Vulture alone as a way to clean up the public relations mess after Captain America broke the Avengers out of The Raft. He let a 16-year old kid keep a hyper-advanced suit and it was the way he treated past employees that led to one of them targeting Peter to the point of outing his identity. In a lot of ways, it was Tony Stark’s recruitment of a starstruck Peter Parker that has now led to the multiverse exploding.

Clint Barton is no Tony Stark.

Clint went out of his way to protect Kate from the beginning, and he risked his family just to make sure she was safe. He didn’t want her to get involved, then got to know her and doubled down on protecting her, and even tried to send her home when he realized things got too dangerous. When Kate wanted to confront her mother after receiving the video of the Kingpin, he told her he’d help. Clint taught Kate how to make arrows and how to assess targets. Compare that to Stark, who didn’t take Peter seriously when he told him about the Vulture and who left him (and the rest of the Avengers) absolutely no financial stability after his passing. Given her mentor, Kate Bishop has a chance to be a better Avenger than Spider-Man’s ever been.

December 28, 2021
‘Squid Game’ Creator Already in Talks With Netflix for a Season 3

It looks like the creator of Netflix’s international smash hit Squid Game is in it for the long game, as Hwang Gon-hyuk has revealed he is currently in negotiations on a potential third season. There were already hints that they have started development on a second season to continue the story of Lee Jung-jae‘s Seong Gi-hun, who has made quite the declaration at the end of the first season after the revelations behind the titular Squid Game. Korean Times was kind enough to translate Gon-hyuk‘s statement on their current discussions:

I’m in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3. We will come to a conclusion any time soon.
Hwang Gon-hyuk

It’s uncertain how they’ll continue the storyline, but there are quite a few open questions left behind with Lee Byung-hun‘s Front Man revelation. They seemingly left a few talking points open on purpose to further explore the history of these games. We met one of its founders, but that won’t stop the games from continuing even as he moved on. We’ll see what the future has in store for Gi-hun, who is about to face an entire corporation down on his own.

Source: Korean Times

December 28, 2021
‘Hawkeye’ From Page to Screen: Episode 6
With the finale in the rearview mirror, Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye series has come to a close. Each week we have looked at ways in which the live-action series has adapted parts of the Matt Fraction and David Aja Hawkeye comic book run. Between the origins of Lucky the Pizza Dog, Clint’s capture by the Tracksuit Mafia, Episode 3’s car chase and trick arrows, the connection between the live-action LARPERs and the comics’ neighbors, and Kingpin’s role, the series has covered a lot of ground. Looking at the finale episode of Hawkeye, a few things stand out as having strong ties to the source material: (1) the importance of Kate taking on the “Hawkeye” mantle; (2) the six-day Christmas-themed adventure; and (3) Kate’s parents’ role in the organized crime that the Hawkeyes go up against.

Hawkeye and Hawkeye

Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 6

Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 6

A clear goal of the live-action Hawkeye series was to introduce and establish Kate Bishop as the next “Hawkeye.” While the show follows Kate from her pre-superhero days through her first adventure with Clint, in the Hawkeye comic she is already established as Hawkeye alongside Clint’s own Hawkeye persona. While the series finale ended just shy of officially referring to Kate as Hawkeye, it’s almost certain that the next time we see Hailee Steinfeld’s character there won’t be any question about her superhero identity.

The live-action and comic Hawkeye stories also both seem to have built a greater appreciation for Kate’s character over time. While both the series and comic are premised on Clint Barton’s story, Kate is a major character throughout his story. The Hawkeye series of course ends in a way that reflects Kate’s new role in Clint’s life and as a hero. The Hawkeye comic ends with a similar acknowledgment of the significance of the relationship between the two. On its final page, it also calls the Hawkeye comic run a “Clint Barton/Kate Bishop Comic Book,” giving further credit to Kate being deserving of the Hawkeye mantle on the same level as Clint.

‘Hawkeye’ #2 (2012)

‘Hawkeye’ #22 (2015)

Six Days of Christmas

Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 6

Hawkeye made itself a Christmas show, and it made sure you knew how Christmas-y it was as often as it could. The series was clever to use its six episodes to cover the six days leading up to Christmas, which served as a countdown for Clint to get home to his family for the holiday. Not only did the second issue of Hawkeye explore a heavy Christmas theme, it also specifically looked at the six days of Clint’s life during that time. The comic version of the six days of Christmas had cameos from Tony Stark, Wolverine, and Spider-Man, which obviously the series did not. But it did heavily feature Kate, as well as the Tracksuit Mafia like the live-action series, did. In Hawkeye, the six days were presented out of order, and that added to the intrigue of the narrative––it’s interesting to think about how the Hawkeye series would have played out if its reveals and investigative themes were similarly distorted in order.

Both six-day stretches end with Clint having company for Christmas. In the Hawkeye series, Clint makes it home to Missouri with Kate to spend Christmas with his wife and kids. Comic Clint has a much different family life than MCU Clint, though. He is divorced with no children and is living alone. At the end of his six days, a family that lives in his apartment building comes to keep him company in a warming moment for the self-deprecating and down-on-his-luck archer.
- ‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
- ‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
- ‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
- ‘Hawkeye’ #6 (2012)
Bishop Family Values

Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 6
- ‘Hawkeye’ #20 (2014)
- ‘Hawkeye’ #20 (2014)
‘Hawkeye’ #22 (2015)

One of the major reveals of the Hawkeye series was that Kate’s mother Eleanor Bishop was working for Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin, and her ties to New York City’s criminal underground was essentially the catalyst for the entire series. In the comics, Kate Bishop’s mother is the one who is presumed dead, and her father Derek Bishop raised her. In the live-action series, of course, the parents’ statuses are reversed, but in both iterations, they made deals with Kingpin among other criminal figures and organizations that ultimately impacted Kate and her safety.

In any event, the Bishops were a wealthy family which gave Kate the status as a socialite on top of being a superhero. As a result, we get to see Kate bring Clint to a fancy event in a skyscraper in order to investigate some criminal activity in both the comic and the series.
- Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’ Episode 6
- ‘Hawkeye’ #2 (2012)
December 27, 2021