Tag Archives: Marvel Studios

Oct 15 2023

Daredevil Dead Again & Other MCU TV Shows Blues

Things just seem to be going from bad to worse for the Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV shows. For the most part, some of the recent MCU TV shows have been poorly received by fans and critics who griped about the inconsistent tone of the episodes, half-finished scripts and poor special effects. The MCU TV shows hit their lowest point with Secret Invasion, which should have been a lot better but instead turned out to be the worst MCU presentations. There have been a lot of reports and rumors about how Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is going out of his way to right the ship with the MCU. This has led to substantial delays and cancellation of projects. But the news last week that the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again has been essentially scrapped created a lot of concern for fans.

Daredevil: Born Again has been one of the most anticipated MCU projects since it brought back Charlie Cox as the title character. He won so much acclaim for his performance as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the Netflix TV series Daredevil, which was about a blind superhero with enhanced senses fighting crime in Manhattan. That series ran for three seasons and was considered to be among the greatest superhero TV shows based on a Marvel Comics charater. Fans wondered if the TV show would ever be revived and saw reason to hope when Cox reprised his role in the film Spider-Man: No Way Home and the TV show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Naturally, many were excited when Kevin Feige announced that a new Daredevil TV show was being produced by Marvel Studios.

Not a lot was known about Daredevil: Born Again other than aside from Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio would reprise his role as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin, the brutal crime lord that rules New York’s criminal society. Supposedly, the overall plot had to do with the consequences of Fisk being elected as the mayor of New York. But there were some aspects about the show that put off fans, namely that Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll would not return to play their beloved characters Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. In fact, there have been leaks that both characters were killed off in Daredevil: Born Again. Also, there seemed to be an effort by the executives to not associate it with the Netflix series. This did not make sense since Daredevil was so revered and it was only logical to continue that show instead of doing a reboot given that the same lead actor was returning.

Production came to a halt with the TV show due to the writer and actors strikes, which has crippled film and TV productions this year. At the onset of the strike only a few episodes had been completed and it was supposed to have an eighteen-episode run.

Marvel Studios has been having issues with the quality of many of their projects, especially the TV shows, and this resulted in diminishing returns. As we all know, Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige had been stretched very thin by mandates by Disney to produce more product and there are only so many resources and time available to consistently produce quality products. This is how we got poorly received films and TV shows like Secret Invasion, Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Naturally, this has forced Marvel Studios to take a hard look at their current and upcoming projects and honestly assess them.

This assessment and the realization that the market was being flooded with too many films and TV shows have led to delayed releases for their projects. In some cases, projects have either been scrapped or will undergo significant revisions. Unfortunately, this included Daredevil: Born Again.

According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Feige reviewed what had been filmed with the new Daredevil TV show and admitted that it was not working. It was turning out to be a procedural lawyer show that de-emphasized Daredevil and Matt Murdock did not even don the Daredevil suit until the fourth episode. This has led to the dismissal of the writers and directors and the show is now back to square one.

But Daredevil: born Again is not the only casualty. It has been rumored that a planned TV show, Visionquest, based on the android hero, the Vision, has been cancelled. Echo, which has been completed and feature Daredevil, keeps being delayed because it’s supposedly not well done and Marvel Studios is trying to fix it through editing. Agatha: Darkhold Diaries also seems to be a victim of constant retinkering given that the TV show based on the witch Agatha Harkness has had so many title changes. Ironheart, has been completed for some time, yet there isn’t any clear indication of when it will stream on Disney+. Rumors for upcoming MCU projects featuring Nova, Okoye and the Silver Surfer have stopped giving the impression that they also have been scrapped.

On the one hand this implosion of MCU TV shows is cause for concern given the high reputation Marvel Studios has with fans and most critics (excepting snobs like Martin Scorsese). Some panicking fans will use this situation to declare that superhero fatigue is upon us. But that is not necessarily so. The reason for diminishing returns in metrics and box office returns is due to diminished and inferior product that is not up to par with past MCU projects. If a film or TV show is great, people will seek it out, for the most part. Look at how well some recents films and TV shows performed. These include Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, WandaVision, Loki, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Werewolf By Night. Right now, Loki, which began its second season a couple of weeks ago is removing the sting of the dismal Secret Invasion. However, it’s early for the show and it could wind up becoming an uneven disappointment. Another problem for Marvel Studios is that they do not have a lot of experience creating TV shows and it can be seen with their finished products. Most of them seem like overlong films instead of TV shows that are a different medium with a distinct method of storytelling.

On the other hand, these delays, cancellations and retoolings are a sign that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have acknowledged that things are not working for their projects. It is far better to course correct now with Daredevil and be willing to go back to the drawing board. Otherwise, can anyone imagine what would happen if Daredevil: Born Again turns out to be another Secret Invasion? One thing Marvel Studios should do is bring back the folks who were behind Daredevil like Drew Goddard. He and the other creatives behind Daredevil knew how to handle the character and his world, and it would reassure fans. Anyway, with less projects to deal with, Marvel Studios now has more bandwidth to ensure that they create superior films and TV shows that will be up to their usual high standards. So, while we may have to wait longer to see the full return of Daredevil, we can be comforted knowing that it will be worth the wait.

Oct 15 2022

She-Hulk Smashes Her TV Show

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law just completed its season at Disney + with a literal smashing finale that went all out with comedy, guest stars, and unexpected meta moments as She-Hulk destroyed the fourth wall in her TV show.

Tatiana Maslany starred as both Los Angeles-based lawyer Jennifer Walters and her alter ego, the sensational She-Hulk. In the pilot episode, Jennifer is involved in a car accident with her cousin Bruce Banner aka the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and his gamma-infused blood is mixed with hers, which turns her into She-Hulk. Unlike Banner, Jennifer is able to maintain her personality when she transforms into She-Hulk, and is able to continue her career as an attorney, who now represents superhumans in court.

The Disney + show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is supposed to be the first comedy series for the MCU as numerous guest stars and new characters popped into the show. Many of them were obcure Marvel Comics characters, others were more notable MCU personalities like the Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) and Emil Blonsky/Abomination (Tim Roth) and most recently Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Many of these guests are welcome, though with his many appearances in recent MCU projects, Wong is starting to overstay his welcome. Meanwhile, with his charm, Cox practically stole the episode he first appeared in, which was one of the best in the series.

It was alarming that the Daredevil-centric episode was one of the best because it was the second-to-last episode. Many episodes felt flat and too cute, and worst of all, a couple were not funny, which is deadly for a comedy. There was a feeling throughout most of the series that it was playing things too safe and holding back its punches. A good example was when She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall during episodes. For anyone who does not understand, breaking the fourth wall is a narrative technique where a character in a story directly addresses the audience and steps outside of the story to do so. We’ve seen this done in the Deadpool films and comics, though She-Hulk did this first in John Byrne’s The Sensational She-Hulk Marvel Comics series to great effect.

In the TV show, the fourth-wall breaking was sparingly done to add some wry commentary to what was going on. While the comments were humorous the show did not run with this technique until the final episode, which happened to be its the best. During the third act, a frustrated She-Hulk has had enough with a predictable slugfest that made little sense and actually left the series, broke out of the Disney + menu and entered the real world looking for Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios. Antics like this often occured in the comic books and should have happened more often in the TV show. These antics were not the only hysterical moments, but the opening credits for the episde was a hilarious recreation of the 1970s TV show The Incredible Hulk, but with Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk acting out scenes originated by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno. Things like that should have happened more often in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which turned out to be a very light-hearted legal dramedy. To be honest, if the show was not set in the MCU and was just a regular legal comedy, most of us would not bother to watch it.

Another thing that was deadly at times for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law were its special effects. It had its moments, but many times, the CG was quite dodgy and rushed. There were reports about how overstretched special effects companies were with MCU properties and this show is evidence of that. It’s a shame because MCU films and TV shows have great special effects. But here with this show, it had to convince us that this ultra tall, green woman actually existed, but on too many occasions the show failed to trick us. It might have been better if they use more conventional tricks like makeup and tall body doubles instead. Let’s hope Marvel Studios goes back and patches up the effects in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law because it is sorely needed.

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Sep 30 2022

The Return Of Hugh Jackman As Wolverine In Deadpool 3!

The news lately about Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a series of downers as fans have become frustrated by delays, non-announcements and disappointing films and TV shows. However, most were elated this week when Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds announced that not only was Deadpool 3 officially being made but that it would co-star Hugh Jackman returning to his iconic role as Logan/Wolverine.

This was very exciting news considering that Hugh Jackman’s last performance as the famous X-Men hero was in 2017’s Logan and the character died in that film. At the time Logan was released, Jackman announced that he would no longer play the role, which saddened many, but led to wild speculation about who would eventually replace him. This speculation went into overdrive when Disney acquired Fox Studios and the film rights to the X-Men characters in 2019.

One thing frustrating fans of the X-Men is that although Disney and Marvel Studios has had the film rights to the X-Men and associated mutants since 2019, very little was done with the characters. Not even the recent announcements about Phase Five and Six of the MCU revealed anything hinting at the X-Men or even mutants. Sure there have been some revelations that Ms. Marvel, Namor and possibly the Scarlet Witch are mutants in the MCU, but nothing else.

What also made the recent Phase Five and Six disappointing was that Deadpool 3 was not part of the announced MCU films and TV shows even though Ryan Reynolds had been quite vocal about wanting to reprise the role and reports he was in negotiations with Marvel Studios for a possble Deadpool 3.

Well, it turns out that our patience has been rewarded, as Deadpool 3 will begin filming for a September 6, 2024 release. Of course, sweetening the announcement was Jackman’s return as Wolverine. Just the announcement of a third Deadpool film was fine enough, but this added bonus is enough to make the film one of the most anticipated films coming out that year.

As to what would the film be about and how it would fit in with the MCU is anyone’s guess at this point. Reynolds confirmed that the Wolverine that appears in Deadpool 3 would be a separate variant than the one seen in Logan. This is similar as Professor X’s (Patrick Stewart) appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where it was fairly clear that even though Stewart played Professor X, the one seen in the film was different from the one featured in the Fox X-Men films. It is possible that Deadpool and Wolverine will appear in the Fox X-Men universe, which has conflicting continuity, and somehow crossover into the MCU. Perhaps the two will tour various universes in a loose adaptation of Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth. It is also possible that Deadpool’s time-traveling antics at the end of Deadpool 2 causes the deadly interdimensional incursions introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Hopefully Deadpool 3 will actually turn out to be a superhero version of a cop/buddy film as Reynolds hinted because it would be hilarious seeing Wolverine playing a straight man to Deadpool’s zaniness.

There are questions about the Fox X-Men film universe though, namely will other characters from that film series appear? Will that film universe be destroyed in an incursion? Will Deadpool 3 serve as the swan song for the Fox X-Men film universe or will some characters become part of the MCU or take part in Avengers: Secret Wars? Deadpool himself is a definite character who will appear in that epic Avengers film. But the most important question is will Wolverine finally don a comics-accurate suit?

One thing to keep in mind is that while it is terrific that Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as Wolverine, his appearance just kicks the can down the road as to who will eventually play the character in the MCU. Not only that, but it keeps reinforcing the notion that only Jackman can play Wolverine, which will make the re-casting of the mutant superhero harder for fans to accept.

This dilemma is something to worry about for another time, and should not detract from our celebration of the news that Deadpool 3 is coming and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will be part of the package.

Sep 10 2022

D23 Expo 2022: A Great Disappointment For Marvel

For some time, fans expected the presentation by Marvel Studios at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) to pale when compared to this weekend’s D23 Expo 2022. The last D23 convention was jammed with exciting announcements about Marvel Studios. Being that D23 is prepared by Disney and devoted to its properties, one would think all mind-blowing announcements and presentations about Marvel Studios would be revealed at D23 after this summer’s SDCC. For weeks, the rumors have been flying fast about pending casting announcements for upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) projects. Supposedly, Deadpool 3 was to be announced with a special appearance by Ryan Reynolds; Henry Cavill, Denzel Washington, Jodie Comer, and numerous actors were to be announced as being cast for several MCU films and TV shows; the cast for the Fantastic Four would be revealed. Did any of that happen? NOPE.

There weren’t any major, new announcements, except that Matt Shankman has been officially announced as the director of the Fantastic Four film, and Armor Wars has been re-confirmed as going into production. The Marvel Studios presentation consisted of films and TV shows that we knew about. We did get some casting announcements such as Ke Huy Quan appearing in the second season of Loki, and that Tim Blake Nelson will appear in Captain America: New World Order as the Leader, With that last revelation does this mean that the Hulk will appear in Captain America: New World Order? The Leader is a Hulk villain, after all.

We did learn that a lot of footage and trailers were presented at D23 about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Echo, Loki, The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Ironheart. Too bad, most of us cannot see them. Based on Twitter and other social media feeds by those lucky enough to have attended the presentation, the footage sounded great, but no one else could see the footage. All we received were TWO trailers. One for Secret Invasion, which has the look of a solid spy thriller, and Werewolf By Night, a one-shot film coming next month on Disney +. It is both surprising and concerning that Werewolf By Night will stream on October 7, less than a month from now, but it is only now we are seeing any footage. Honestly, the black-and-white trailer makes Werewolf By Night look very campy while evoking the mood of an old Universal horror film and a grindhouse film. But it could be good.

Perhaps the most intriguing news coming out of the Marvel presentation was the revelation of the Thunderbolts lineup. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Basically, the lineup seems like a reunion of cast members from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Black Widow, plus a return of a villain from Ant-Man and the Wasp. So, no Abomination or Baron Zemo as everyone expected. Still, just the inclusion of the Winter Soldier is enough to get excited over the Thunderbolts.

As it can be seen, there wasn’t any announcements about other MCU projects. No news on Blade, Deadpool 3, zilch about the X-Men, not even anything on the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which is supposed to be streaming in a few short months, or Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3. Keep in mind that an exclusive trailer for that film was shown already at SDCC. They could have at least released it to the general public.

Even if Disney could not show exclusive footage to the general public for their MCU projects, at least release an image. Let us see a better look at Namor or Kang! Releasing two trailers does not cut it.

On the other hand, the Star Wars presentation was better, with its highlight being the release of the trailer for the third season of The Mandalorian. With the Star Wars presentation, not everything was shown to the general public, but at least enough was released. Even the Disney animated films presentation from yesterday was more interesting.

Blame it on our unrealistic expectations and for giving in the hype and speculation, but aside from the few thousand people who attended D23, the Marvel Studios presentation was a disappointment for everyone else. This was the first live D23 since the pandemic and the excitement was wild, Disney could have made some exciting and surprising announcements on the level of Avengers: Secret Wars at SDCC, but nothing new was revealed. Overall, the Marvel presentation was almost as disappointing as the presentation by Warner Bros. about their upcoming DC films and TV shows at SDCC. Yes, that bad.

Disney definitely dropped the ball at D23 with Marvel Studios and the MCU. Hopefully, future conventions and presentations will improve, but we should temper our expectations and be realistic.

Jul 29 2022

Questions About The Future Of The MCU

The aftermath of Marvel Studios’ announcement of their upcoming films and TV shows at last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con is still ongoing. All the complaints about Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) have been vanquished as fans now contemplate Phase Five and Six,which will start early next year.

Although the reaction to the new MCU projects has been positive, many questions did come up about the films and TV shows or rather what was not announced. Observers pointed out there were gaps in the official release schedule for the upcoming phases, especially with Phase Six. In that phase only three films were announced (Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars), but there were slots for eight more releases. So, what could they be? Let’s examine further…

Where are the Mutants?

The mutant characters in the X-Men and other assorted X-teams were particularly absent during the Comic-Con announcement. Ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and its film properties in 2019, which included the film rights to X-Men, fans have been anxious to see Marvel Studios’ take on the mutants. And some are becoming impatient. But given the many mutant-related films and TV shows over the last few years, it is for the best that the mutants be given a rest to build up demand and recharge the creative energy of those who would bring about more live-action mutant films and TV shows. Marvel Studios played it smart with drip, drip, drip Easter eggs and references to the mutants in the MCU. In last year’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, part of the action took place in the fictional country of Madripoor, a location well known as Wolverine’s incognito stomping grounds. It has been heavily implied in WandaVision, that Wanda Maximoff was a mutant. Professor Xavier, founder of the X-Men, turned up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, albeit this was an alternate variant. In the most recent MCU TV show, Ms. Marvel, it was revealed at the end that the title character was a mutant, though that word was not actually used.

It has been reported that Ryan Reynolds, who plays Deadpool, will reprise the role in a Deadpool 3 film for Marvel Studios, and it has been rumored the film will be part of Phase Five. Whenever the film comes out, it is bound to be a hit and increase demand for more X-Men-related films.

Secret Wars and Followups

Perhaps the mutant superhero team will be one of those unannounced films in Phase Six. One possible clue was the recent announcement that the director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would not be Joe and Anthony Russo but instead the director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Destin Daniel Cretton. It was expected that the Russo Brothers, who directed the last two Avengers films to great success, were the go-to guys for future Avengers films. But in the past, they’ve expressed a desire to do their own take of the X-Men. Perhaps, they were offered their dream assignment and this will be announced at the D23 Expo in September. Or the X-Men won’t turn up until Phase Seven. It was reported earlier this week that Disney cannot recast the X-Men until 2025 and Marvel Studios will probably want to run out the clock until then before even starting work on the MCU version of the mutant superheroes. At this point it’s anyone’s guess.

Once Cretton was announced as the director of the next Avengers film, people began wondering who would helm Avengers: Secret Wars. It could go to the Russo Brothers, but that seems unlikely, given the possibility they could be busy with the mutants. Then again they could be tapped to direct Avengers: Secret Wars if it turns out the film will actually be a two-part saga. The original Secret Wars mini-series in 2015 was a sprawling epic that will be difficult to pull off with just one film. It could turn out that the story of Avengers: Secret Wars will have to be continued into Phase Seven, which could be called the Battleworld Saga. During Secret Wars, various patches of reality were merged into a world created by Doctor Doom. The Phase Seven films could explore these separate realities before coming to a concluding epic film.

Getting back to the director of the sixth Avengers film, if the Russos don’t direct it then another possibilty is Jon Watts, the director of the MCU Spider-Man trilogy of films. The concludng film of the trilogy, Spider-Man: No Way Home, was one of the most succesful films of all time and its head-spinning plotline about multiversal variants and characters from different film franchises meeting each other was well directed by Watts. This makes him an obvious contender for an Avengers film dealing with characters from alternate universes meeting and battling each other. This could be the reason why Watts left the Fantastic Four reboot he was supposed to direct. His success with Spider-Man: No Way Home demonstrated he had the skills to take on an even more epic film.

Putting aside speculating about directors and mutants, let’s ponder what other MCU offerings are coming up. It was a surprise that the previously announced Armor Wars TV mini-series was not part of the announcements at Comic-Con, yet Marvel Studios insist that mini-series will still be made. It is possible Armor Wars will be part of Phase Six.

It has also been reported that a TV series based upon Wonder Man will be produced and if so Wonder Man can be part of Phase Six. Other live-action TV series could include second seasons for Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and maybe a third season of Loki that could coincide with the upcoming Avengers films.

As for other films, a no-brainer would be a second Shang-Chi film, as well as a third Doctor Strange film. After all the last Doctor Strange film ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and was strongly tied to the Multiverse Saga. There are rumors that Marvel Studios is considering a followup to Eternals, but since that film had a mixed reaction what is more likely is that some of its characters will be important players in other films, perhaps one about the cosmic superhero Nova. Supposedly, Marvel Studios is developing a Nova film, which could not only feature the Eternals, but tie-in with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course, this depends on how the third and final Guardians of the Galaxy film concludes.

The Spider-Man Wild Card

Given the humongous success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, a new trilogy about the MCU Spider-Man should be a given. Yet, nothing has been announced. As many know, Marvel Studios does not have the film rights to Spider-Man and Spider-Man films were never made part of Marvel Studios’ big announcements. They just pop up and a spot on the crowded MCU schedule is found for them. Expect the same thing to happen with Phase Five and Six.

The big question with future MCU Spider-Man films is will Jon Watts return to direct them? If not him then who else can direct a Spider-Man film? Marvel Studios cannot make that decision because that will be up to Sony Pictures, which holds the film rights to Marvel’s most popular character. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on more Spider-Man films, Sony is obsessed with mining other Spider-Man-related properties. The problem is that what they have planned does not sound promising aside from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So, fans will have to wait and see what Sony decides.

No matter how this all ends up with Phase Five and Six of the MCU, fans will end up happy, upset or somewhere in between. Either way, there will be something for everyone.

José Soto