Tag: X-Men

Most Anticipated Comics from Marvel’s August 2022 Solicitations

Over the past week, Marvel has released their monthly solicitations for their August 2022 comics. Here’s a brief look at what books have me most excited and are sure to end up on my pull list, if they’re not already there:

A.X.E.: DEATH TO THE MUTANTS #2 (OF 3) KIERON GILLEN (W) • GUIU VILANOVA (A) • Cover by Esad Ribić

VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS The Celestials said “Correct excess deviation.” Now the hour of judgement is upon the Eternals. Have they done enough? And does overcompensating at this late hour make it better, or make it worse? 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Kieron Gillen has been absolutely knocking it out of the park at Marvel, with his runs on Uncanny X-Men, Young Avengers, and more recently, Eternals. I’m a bit late to the Kieron Gillen hype-train, but ever since reading his inventive run on the Eternals, Gillen has become a favorite. If Gillen writes it, it’s a must read. Aside from Gillen’s involvement, and Guiu Vilanova’s stunning artwork, what intrigues me the most about A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #2 is the pairing up of Cyclops and Kro: a team-up you never knew you needed until now.

IMMORTAL X-MEN #6 KIERON GILLEN (W) • MICHELE BANDINI (A) Cover by MARK BROOKS

Quiet Council Variant Cover by PHIL NOTO BEYOND AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VARIANT COVER BY CAFU STAND FOR JUDGMENT – AN A.X.E. TIE-IN! Judgement comes and the Quiet Council grows suspiciously quiet. An exception: Do you think a man so devoted to the Hellfire cares one jot? Let’s find out. 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I couldn’t choose just one Gillen written solicit, now could I! Beginning back in March, Gillen’s Immortal X-Men run has since become my favorite mutant-related book currently running, and my main source of hype for Marvel’s upcoming “Judgement Day” event. Gillen has crafted a plethora of characters that are both complicated AND relatable; what more could you want from a mutant series! Marvel, here’s a little word of advice: just give Kieron control over everything pertaining to mutants.

DAMAGE CONTROL #1 (OF 5)
ADAM F. GOLDBERG, HANS RODIONOFF & CHARLOTTE FULLERTON (W) WILL ROBSON & JAY FOSGITT (A) • COVER BY CARLOS PACHECO

Variant Cover by WILL ROBSON
FROM THE CREATOR OF TV’S THE GOLDBERGS!
Marvel’s Unsung Heroes finally get sung! After the mega-powered battles and Hulk-level catastrophes, Damage Control is always there to clean up the mess and get things back to normal. But Damage Control is much more than just a glorified cleanup crew, and this new series will pull back the curtain and reveal the secret inner workings that were previously only available to people with Clearance Level Eight. And we’ll witness it all through the eyes of Gus: a fresh-faced, eager newcomer to the company who has no idea how chaotic his life is about to become.
ADAM F. GOLDBERG (TV’s The Goldbergs) and HANS RODIONOFF team up with WILL ROBSON to take you into the secret labyrinth of Damage Control, where it’s totally common to run into familiar faces like Moon Knight! Nightcrawler! She-Hulk! And more!
Plus: A second story by DAMAGE CONTROL creator Dwayne McDuffie’s McSpouse, Charlotte Fullerton, as the Damage Control crew must clean up after the Infinity Gauntlet!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

A group of individuals that have to deal with the aftermath of superhero-related disasters will always be an idea with unlimited potential in the Marvel Universe. This new Damage Control series seems like an interesting way to explore dynamics between different characters that wouldn’t necessarily interact under normal circumstances. The possibilities are endless. Knowing that Marvel loves its corporate synergy, and with the return of Damage Control in the MCU with Spider-Man: No Way Home, and seemingly Ms. Marvel, could a Damage Control show á la “The Office” possibly be in our future? Well, with an obvious choice like Adam F. Goldberg to helm the project, it seems like a no-brainer – but only time will tell.

DAREDEVIL #3
CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • RAFAEL DE LATORRE (A) • Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO

Variant Cover by ALEX MALEEV • PROMO VARIANT COVER BY PAULO SIQUEIRA
DAREDEVIL SAVES THE WORLD!
With more ambitious and aggressive goals than ever before, DAREDEVIL has started putting together a team — but not everyone wants to be a part of Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios’ vision of the future. As Matt and Elektra grow increasingly distant from the super hero community and closer to one another, DAREDEVIL will once again be at odds with heroes and villains alike…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

After concluding his acclaimed Daredevil run with the Devil’s Reign event, Chip Zdarsky’s new run on the Man Without Fear looks to explore the ramifications of this event of the Marvel Universe. With the world believing him to be dead, Matt Murdock is able to focus completely on being Daredevil, and, along with Elektra Natchios, is assembling a team to defeat the Hand for good. What’s exciting about the 3rd issue of Zdarsky’s new series is the prospect of bringing some of Marvel’s most underused street level heroes into the spotlight as members of Daredevil’s new team. And with the Punisher now leading the Hand, Daredevil and Elektra will certainly need all the help they can get.

EDGE OF THE SPIDER-VERSE #3 (OF 5)
DAN SLOTT AND MORE! (W) • MARK BAGLEY AND MORE! (A)
Cover by JOSEMARIA CASANOVAS • Variant Cover by KRIS ANKA

Design Variant Cover by KRIS ANKA
IN THIS ISSUE! SPIDER-MAN: INDIA! AND NIGHT-SPIDER!
Wait, WHO IS NIGHT-SPIDER?!
48 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Dan Slott’s greatest contribution to Marvel Comics is the Spider-Verse, of which Spider-Gwen was the breakout character. Spider-Verse and Dan Slott fans everywhere can now rejoice, because Slott is returning to the Spider-Verse with a new Edge Of The Spider-Verse series (which is where Gwen Stacy original appeared as Spider-Woman). Edge of the Spider-Verse #1 or #2 – which tease the return of Spider-Gwen, Peni Parker, Araña, and Spider-Man Noir, as well as a new female Spider-Man UK (Spider-Woman UK, if you will) – could easily be on this list in place of Edge of the Spider-Verse #3. However, #3 stands out as it teases a potential breakout star: Night Spider, a.k.a. Felicia freakin’ Hardy.

AMAZING FANTASY #1000
NEIL GAIMAN, ARMANDO IANNUCCI, JONATHAN HICKMAN, DAN SLOTT, HO CHE ANDERSON, KURT BUSIEK, ANTHONY FALCONE, RAINBOW ROWELL AND MORE! (W)
JIM CHEUNG, OLIVIER COIPEL, MICHAEL CHO, GORAN PARLOV AND MORE! (A)
Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.

WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY JOE QUESADA
VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
RETRO VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VARIANT COVER BY STEVE MCNIVEN
VARIANT COVER BY TAURIN CLARKE
VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO
The comic that brought you SPIDER-MAN hits issue #1000!
We’re going big to celebrate in this, our thousandth issue of AMAZING FANTASY! An ALL-STAR roster of creators are coming together to celebrate Peter Parker and Spider-Man’s birthdays!
72 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T …$7.99

New Spider-Man stories by Neil Gaiman, Armando Iannucci, Jonathan Hickman, Dan Slott, Ho Che Anderson, Kurt Busiek, Anothony Falcone, Rainbow Rowell, etc (WHO ISN’T A PART OF THIS?!?)!?! Just inject this into my veins right now!!!

This is just a glimpse of what’s available out there and just scratches the surface of what I’ll be ordering for the month of August.

May 20, 2022
How An MCU-616 Earth vs ‘X-Men ’97’ Showdown Could Be the Multiverse Saga’s Endgame

On the heels of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, much of MCU fandom is focused on the phases to come, particularly the next Avengers: Endgame-level event. For most of them/us, “Secret Wars” seems to be the destination. But trying to figure out exactly what form the MCU storytelling will take as it prepares to adapt Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 epic has been thorny, especially because the most recent Doctor Strange film gave us another thing to chew on: The Illuminati.

New Avengers #2 (2013)

The Illuminati featured prominently in the Hickman New Avengers run that preceded Secret Wars, but unlike in Marvel Comics, where the Fantastic Four and X-Men have been mainstays since the 1960s, the appearance of Reed Richards and Charles Xavier in the MCU (albeit in its Earth-838 universe) was a momentous event, one that jump-started speculation as to how and when we’d see both the F4 and mutants properly introduced into the narrative. And while I do have my ideas about the role the Fantastic Four will play, I think that the bigger question centers on the mutants, and their biggest brand, the X-Men.

Back in November 2021, Marvel announced during its Disney Plus day special that a revival of the popular 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series, often referred to as “X-Men ‘92,” would debut in 2023 under the title X-Men ‘97. Storylines and continuity from the original series would be picked up on, as the timeline would press ahead. However, now that the MCU Multiverse is firmly in play, questions about the canonicity of these new episodes abound. Which brings us back to Secret Wars.

Avengers #44 (2015)

In Hickman’s “Time Runs Out” storyline, the narrative that led directly into Secret Wars, “incursions’” of alternate universes into the main 616 universe led to the Illuminati, among others, taking drastic steps to eradicate those universes so that ours would survive, until only two universes were left — the 616 and the Ultimate Universe, designated 1610, home to Miles Morales, the evil Reed Richards known as The Maker, and others. The finale, which immediately preceded Secret Wars, was an all-out battle between the two universes, which, although ultimately fruitless for both universes, was epic.

The MCU doesn’t have an Ultimate Universe; if anything its 616 universe, what with its Samuel L. Jackson-inspired Nick Fury and its teenage Peter Parker, shares quite a few similarities to it. And with a 15-year head start, there’s no time for Marvel to build up a new Marvel Universe for us to grow attached to. But what they can do is bring back a universe that we have a preexisting attachment to: the X-Men animated universe.

Once that classic theme song hits, our nostalgia feels will come rushing back, and an audience that has been fed a steady diet of uneven live-action X-Men content by Fox will be reminded of how good they once had it, and how good it could be again. By the end of the first season, I’m sure that fans will be fully reinvested in the characters and their universe. By the end of the second or third season, when their universe faces an incursion by the 616 MCU, fans won’t be eager to see that universe be sacrificed. And if that means X-Men battling Avengers, so be it.

Introducing X-Men into the MCU this way has many advantages. For the mutant concept to maximize its potency, the weight of history — of a world where they have been hated and feared for years, and where some characters have formed relationships over decades — should be maintained. That can be highlighted and reinforced, and the animated series can do that far better than the Fox films, which admittedly still have some goodwill, but are nowhere near as universally loved and revered.

Now, will it be tricky to eventually bring the characters from that animated series into live-action? For sure. But one needs to look no further than Marvel’s Disney Plus sister property, Star Wars, to see that it can be pulled off, and be well-received by audiences. And given the stakes of this universe-destroying cataclysmic battle, Marvel can be forgiven for a stunt casting or two alongside longer-term castings of characters who will return after Secret Wars and the eventual Multiverse realignment. But many of us have been waiting decades to see comic-accurate, iconic looks in live-action, so one should expect the fan reaction to those characters making the transition be massive.

After Avengers: Endgame, fans and media alike have been trying to figure out how Marvel could top itself, and Secret Wars could definitely be that. But more so than seeing different versions of the MCU heroes squaring off against one another, seeing Avengers face X-Men with their respective universes at stake would be a spectacle unlike any we’ve seen to date. And X-Men ‘97 could play a vital role in bringing that about. Both universes can encounter Kang variants, and both could experience Incursions that would lead the heroes of their respective universes to do whatever it takes to preserve them. It would be a massive, epic storyline, with the potential to energize and galvanize fans. And of, course, it could be the biggest Marvel event of all time.

May 17, 2022
‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Writer Reveals a Surprising Inspiration for the Illuminati

*SPOILER WARNING*

By now, it’s pretty widely known that the Illuminati appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The superhero team were teased in the final trailers for the film, but the exact part they played in the plot remained a mystery until the full movie hit theaters. When the group was ultimately introduced on screen, audiences were ecstatic. They seemed mighty, confident, and unbeatable. Patrick Stewart made a triumphant return as Charles Xavier; John Krasinski surprised everyone with his debut as Reed Richards; and Anson Mount was finally able to bring Black Bolt to the big screen. Then, after only a few moments of glorious screen time, every single one of them died.

Screenwriter Michael Waldron recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss some of his choices while developing Multiverse of Madness, and the Illuminati were among the central topics. He revealed the inspiration behind the team’s role in the film, and how their scenes played out, came from another famous sequel released in 1986:

I was watching Aliens a lot as I was writing. Because just tonally this movie is a thriller and a [feature-length] chase. I just love how Aliens goes to great lengths to tell you how badass the space Marines are – and then they just get slaughtered. Then you are really scared of the Xenomorphs for the rest of that movie, and that’s what I wanted to accomplish with Wanda. At the end of the Illuminati sequence, I hope you were truly terrified of the Scarlet Witch. It’s been awesome being in the theater hearing the cheers, then the gasps and the groans. [Laughs] I mean, you know, people were feeling something at the movies. That’s good!
Michael Waldron

The tactic was definitely successful, with Wanda’s single-handed killing of Earth-838’s Mightiest Heroes instantly solidifying her as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest threats. Head to the theater now and relive one of the most talked-about moments in Marvel movie history, and bring a friend to see if Waldron‘s writing strategy works just as well on them.

Source: Rolling Stone

May 10, 2022
Patrick Stewart Teases a Potential MCU Return for Professor X

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made big waves with some of its character inclusions. Perhaps most exciting for fans was the inclusion of Patrick Stewart’s return from the X-Men franchise as Charles Xavier. The inclusion of Professor X marks the first mutant we’ve seen in the MCU, as Disney only more recently acquired the film rights to the X-Men characters.

As a fan favorite in the X-Men movies, as well as his portrayal of the character in Logan, fans were overjoyed at his re-introduction as an alternate universe variant in the Doctor Strange sequel. Stewart himself was a little unsure about returning to the iconic role, but he just teased that there could be more to come. Speaking to Variety, Stewart said:

Charles Xavier? Yeah. There may be [more apperances]. You know, the whole X-Men comic series is so huge, so vast, there might be an opportunity in which he comes back. We’ll see.
Patrick Stewart

Marvel Studios is expected to eventually introduce previous 20th Century Fox-owned characters such as X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four into its Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Stewart mentioned, the X-Men universe is incredibly rich and expansive in the comics, and Charles Xavier is one of the biggest characters in that realm. If the MCU does introduce an MCU live-action Xavier, it does not necessarily mean that he will be portrayed by Stewart. Only time will tell, but the acclaimed actor has put in decades of time with the character, and may not wish to return in a major way. Marvel Studios may also be interested in a younger character or simply starting from scratch.

Source: Variety

May 6, 2022
‘X-Men ’97’ Head Writer on Disney+ Series’ Place in the MCU Canon

If there’s ever a question on everyone’s mind when a new Marvel series or project is announced: is it canon? As it is a continuation of the original 90s series, it seems very unlikely that the series is connected, but in an interview with The Direct, head writer Beau DeMayo may have hinted that there is more to this than may meet the eye. While he doesn’t confirm anything, he does hint that their place within the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe could be revealed.

The one thing I can say towards that is, I know sometimes we say, No comment,’ and it’s like, ‘They’re just being obstinate.’ I’m gonna go with no comment here because part of the surprise will be finding that out when you experience the show.
Beau DeMayo

It definitely would make for a great surprise to find out that the X-Men have been around since the 90s. It is the first time that Marvel Studios gets to work with the IP since Disney purchased the rights back through 20th Century Fox. It’s still unclear how exactly the X-Men might arrive within the ever-expanding MCU at this point.

What does stand out is that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature the return of Patrick Stewart as Professor X. We’ve gotten glimpses of what looks like his iconic yellow chair from the animated series and comics. So, the show might potentially lead to the events of his upcoming introduction. For now, we’ll have a lot of fun speculating.

Source: The Direct

May 2, 2022
Oscar Isaac Reflects on His Time in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’

The leading man of Disney+’s Moon Knight opened up recently to the New York Times about his first role in a superhero property, X-Men: Apocalypse. The third film in the second attempt for Fox to adapt the popular X-Men is generally considered one of Fox’s weakest efforts. Isaac played the title villain in a bulky costume that diverged from the presentation of the traditional comic. In the interview, he gave his thoughts on taking on the role and what it’s like looking back.

No, I don’t disown it. I know exactly what I went in there wanting to do and the reasons why. “There were these amazing actors involved that I really wanted to work with, [James] McAvoy and [Michael] Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. I collected X-Men growing up, and I loved Apocalypse, I just found him such a freaky, weird character. And then you get there and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got all these prosthetics on. I’ve got a suit on. I can’t move. I can’t see anybody. All these actors I wanted to work with — I can’t even see who they are.
Oscar Isaac

Following the first two entries of the Fox X-Men series, First Class and Days of Future Past, it seemed like Apocalypse was primed for success, as the trio of lead characters had successfully taken the mantle of Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique. While Apocalypse was ambitious in its scope, it introduces too many new characters to develop them in any meaningful way before the massive final battle. “I still think back to that time with fondness,” Isaac said. “I wish it would have been a better film and that they would have taken care of the character a little better, but those are the risks.”

Source: Variety

May 2, 2022
‘X-Men ’97’ Head Writer On Keeping the Spirit of the Original Series Alive

While most of our focus remains on the many live-action projects from Marvel Studios, we also have some exciting animated offerings on the horizon. While we know very little about the Marvel Zombies adaptation, the X-Men ’97 adaptation is quite exciting for those that grew up with the original animated series from the 90s. Adapting such a cult classic, head writer Beau DeMayo and his team have quite the challenge ahead of them.

In an interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, the series head writer talked about their approach to bringing the original to life while also talking about what elements they want to carry over from the original. The core of the potential lies in “honoring that earnestness” and keeping the emotional core of that original story.

And so I think the challenge to me was honoring that earnestness, that emotional sincerity in the show where it wasn’t just about the big bad of the day. That was almost, in some cases, an afterthought. It was really about the relationship of this found family, and how they cared about each other and had disagreements. And I always just come back whenever we’re talking in the writer’s room, or we’re talking to the directors, it’s just like, we have to have earnest emotion in every scene. Cause I really do think that was the secret sauce to the original series.
Beau DeMayo

He goes on to highlight that they aren’t approaching the project to “improve” upon the original. Rather, they have a simple message that truly reflects what the X-Men have always stood for in the comics.

And so, it is more a question of, what does that show look like knowing what we know now? And how it looks like, in today’s world, with everything that has changed, and everything that hasn’t changed, sadly—in our world.
Beau DeMayo

It certainly sounds like the team is definitely sticking to what made the original so iconic. So, we’ll get more than just the iconic opening but the same heart that made the original so memorable. With most of the cast also returning, it does add that special feeling once we get our first look at what this animated continuation has to offer.

Source: The Direct

April 26, 2022
How ‘Doom Patrol’ Could Serve as a Template for Marvel Studios Future Plans

When Disney purchased 21st Century Fox in 2019, Marvel Studios gained access to the live-action rights of a treasure trove of Marvel Comics characters. The X-Men. The Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom. Galactus. The Silver Surfer. Annihilus. The list goes on…and it really goes on. However, 3 years after the deal was sealed, we’ve only seen a Variant of Kang the Conqueror and some Skrulls, which were already kinda-sorta useable anyway, while Marvel Studios carefully constructs their plans for the mutants and The First Family.

To date, very little is known about said plans. At SDCC ’19, Kevin Feige announced that a Fantastic Four film was on the way and teased the arrival of the mutants. Since then, however, other than announcing that the new FF film would be helmed Jon Watts, whose recently completed Spider-Man trilogy integrated the Sony-owned Webslinger into the MCU, there has been no official news. Word did come that Marvel Studios was seeking pitches on The Mutants and minor tidbits have surfaced here and there about the Fantastic Four, but nearly 3 years later fans are still in the dark. And that’s ok. It’s ok because, as Feige well knows, Marvel Studios has to proceed carefully with both properties because, simply put, they have to get it right.

As with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and X-Men have had previous and relatively recent films. In the case of the FF, the most recent attempt to bring the characters to resulted in one of the most despised superhero films of all times; in the case of The X-Men, Fox’s love affair with Wolverine and inattention to continuity left some of the best characters on the bench, some others poorly adapted and fans feeling fairly frustrated with the end result. As Marvel Studios attempts to reboot these properties, fans are going to carry their experiences with these previous iterations with them into the new projects. In a way, that means Feige and the Parliament are starting in a hole they didn’t dig, but if they don’t get it right out of the gate with these projects, they’ll bury what should be two different properties that could each generate a decade’s worth of stories.

As mentioned previously, fans will be be wary of these MCU reboots as they carry the trauma of the previous versions with them into theaters. If the MCU versions of these properties start to follow familiar arcs or feel similar to what Fox did, fans will find themselves triggered and the aforementioned decade of projects will be DOA. In this case, doing it right almost certainly means they need to do it very differently to separate the MCU versions from the Fox versions as much as possible. That’s no easy task, given that both the Fantastic Four and The X-Men franchises have each been “rebooted” once already, however, Feige and The Parliament could find some inspiration in an already established property that has been incredibly successful: Doom Patrol.

The three properties are a great example divergent evolution in comics, so while their modern day iterations don’t seem to be incredibly similar, Doom Patrol, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are fairly inexorably entangled and have been for nearly 50 years. The group of metahuman misfits that came to be known as Doom Patrol first appeared as The Legion of the Strange in the pages of 1963’s My Greatest Adventure #80. Just 3 months later, The X-Men #1 introduced comic readers to the world of mutants whose strange powers kept them from being accepted by society. If the similarities of a team of weirdos being led by a wheelchair-bound doctor/professor hadn’t ever occurred to you, they certainly did to Doom Patrol creator Arnold Drake, who once stated his belief that his plans for the team somehow made their way to X-Men creator Stan Lee, allowing him to launch his book shortly after the Doom Patrol first appeared. While Drake’s stance on “insider trading” softened over time, the reality is that other than some superficial similarities, the books didn’t truly have much in common. The X-Men dealt with themes of social injustice while Doom Patrol found themselves caught up in the incredibly strange types of adventures that fans of the HBO Max streaming series have come to know and love. And in that regard, it’s another group of Marvel heroes that have much more in common with Doom Patrol than the X-Men really ever did.

As Marvel Studios prepares to bring the First Family to the MCU, they could certainly take a few cues from the way that DC has brought Doom Patrol into live-action. Most importantly, Jon Watts and the creatives behind the project should embrace the strangeness that really defined the early days of The Fantastic Four and has made Doom Patrol a streaming hit. The Fantastic Four has been drastically redefined over the years, but their roots grew through stories about Mole Man and Monster Isle, Skrulls being turned into cows, traveling through time and having Ben Grimm be mistaken for Blackbeard, meeting the Impossible Man and many more ludicrous adventures that often take a back seat to Doctor Doom.

In order for Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four to be successful, it has to be different from its predecessors. Embracing the weirdness of the Puppet Master, The Red Ghost and His Indescribable Super Apes, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android ensures that nobody will mistake this iteration for one of Fox’s attempts. Doom Patrol has provided a template for doing so successfully, not just because of the weirdness, but because the series has captured something that is also central to the story of the Fantastic Four: a family.

Sure, Doom Patrol isn’t a family in the same sense that the FF are, but they share a sense of tragedy and loss and loneliness that unites them. Over the course of several seasons, the characters of Doom Patrol have come to know, care for and rely on one another as a result of their crazy adventures and this idea is, at its core, what Marvel Studios could-maybe even should-do with their Fantastic Four. A family of explorers going on the type of weird adventures not previously seen in the MCU, but in the DCEU.

April 23, 2022
Episodes of ‘Agent Carter’, ‘Duck Tales’, ‘X-Men’ and More Missing on Disney+

It looks like Disney+ is doing a lot of work behind the scenes. Not too long ago, it suddenly looked like they were censoring shows such as Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s bloodier sequences getting cleaned up. What started as fears it is them openly moving away from embracing the current inclusions of darker storylines, especially with the addition of Marvel’s Netflix series, but they swiftly revealed it was a technical error that led to it. Surprisingly, it seems that it happened again and ended up leading to various episodes getting lost.

Deadline is sharing that various series such as Duck Tales, Agent Carter, X-Men: The Animated Series, Owl House, Lizzie McGuire, and other shows are missing episodes. It was first noticed by fans on Reddit complaining about the series missing from the service. Disney has responded and that they are working on correcting this, as the episodes were excluded due to a technical issue on the service which glitched out the episode’s inclusion in the list.

The good thing is that nothing is lost, but it definitely got people’s attention. It seems like the fix might take some time but they ensure it’ll be added once again. Of course, this isn’t a good sign for those that have been hesitant about streamers’ lack of sharing physical releases of their original franchises. Here’s hoping it can be resolved sooner and we’ll find out more later on.

Source: Deadline

April 19, 2022
James McAvoy Swiftly Shoots Down any ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Rumors

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘s name already comes with high expectations, as it seems like the multiverse opens up the franchise to countless potential cameos. The final trailer including the voice of Patrick Stewart just further sparked that potential, as now people are wondering who else might appear. Nicolas Cage recently denied that he would have a potential appearance in the upcoming MCU film, but it looks like we can add one more legacy actor to the list.

James McAvoy was asked during an Instagram live stream if we can expect him also to return as Charles Xavier in the upcoming MCU sequel. Yet, he swiftly shot down any theories with a loud “No” before moving on with the topic. So, it seems we might only expect one version of Charles Xavier to make his debut in the MCU with the upcoming film, even if even Stewart had some fun denying that the voice clip was from him before finally confirming.

pic.twitter.com/xDaqhbHP7w
— ScreenTime (@screentime) March 24, 2022

It’s kind of funny rewatching the video in just how fast he responds to the question. While it’s a shame, it does make sense they might not want to stuff the film with every single character that was ever shown in a past Marvel film. While we’re excited about the potential, the film’s core narrative should remain its main focus. It’s uncertain what we can expect but the wait won’t be too much longer as the film finally releases on May 6th.

Source: Instagram via Twitter

March 24, 2022