Category: Features

FEATURE: What The Future Holds For Marvel's 'X-Men' Reboot
Posted on in Features

FEATURE: How Marvel’s ‘X-Men’ Reboot Can Update & Separate Itself From The Fox-Era

With Marvel’s development on “X-Men” finally in full swing, we have some thoughts about the direction of the new project and how it could strive to establish itself as different from what happened in the 20th Century Fox era of feature films alongside fixing some longstanding grievances and limitations.

Last week saw the confirmation (via Deadline) that British screenwriter Michael Lesslie (“Now You See Me 3”) is indeed “in talks” with Marvel Studios to pen their upcoming “X-Men” reboot (previous reports suggest there were multiple contenders in the mix). Lesslie’s credits include “Macbeth,” “Assassin’s Creed,” the recent “Hunger Games” prequel, and wrote four episodes of the John Le Carre spy series “The Little Drummer Girl” that starred MCU actress Florence Pugh (“Thunderbolts,” “Black Widow”) and directed by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (“Old Boy”).

A director has yet to be named for “X-Men,” however, we’ve been pushing the idea of recruiting from within and mentioned years ago about considering Ryan Coolger (“Black Panther”) for the gig after extending his deal with the studio as he’s involved with “Eyes of Wakanda” and has been long assumed to wrap up a trilogy with “Black Panther 3.”

MULTIVERSE MUTANT VARIANTS: While we are still a bit in the dark about the studio’s main plan for the X-Men, we’ve seen variants appear in various recent films with Charles Xavier/Professor X (Patrick Stewart) in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” dying in Earth-838, in “The Marvels” we see a CGI variant of Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) where he mentions another variant of Xavier, and “Deadpool & Wolverine” brings in the TVA from “Loki” alongside with the tease of Wade Wilson (Previously existed in his own universe outside of the Singerverse since he had variants of both Colossus and Juggernaut) and a mysterious Logan variant (We don’t know for sure if both are making the jump to Earth-616 the film until we see how it ends).

“Fantastic Four” is expected to take place in a retro-futuristic universe, but it remains to be seen how mutants will be joining the fold as Marvel has yet to telegraph what the plan actually is. However, the internet has plenty of theories, none of which have been confirmed, including the rumbling of an MCU reboot after “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

There is the obvious notion that “Deadpool & Wolverine” is simply saying goodbye to Fox’s era of Marvel films, hence why Jennifer Garner’s Elektra is set to appear in the project when she had zero connection to the “X-Men” movies and even less likely to join the MCU for the foreseeable future.

MCU MUTANTS ALREADY EXIST: King Ch’ah Toh Almehen/Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is referred to as a mutant in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” it’s also worth mentioning that he’s part of an X-Men roster in more recent comics and is heralded as Marvel Comics’ first mutant. He’s not the only one either, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) also had been teased in her Disney+ series as being a mutant while incorporating the “X-Men” animated theme, and Damage Control seemed to be developing an early version of the Sentinel Program (via Stark/Mysterio drones) as a government response to combat meta-human threats.

Having Namor or Kamala becoming a cohort of the X-Men wouldn’t be a bizarre notion.

FIX GLARING PROBLEMS OF THE SINGERVERSE: It’s hard to not be aware that Kevin Feige is precious about his time working on the original run of “X-Men” films, but they clearly weren’t great adaptations of the characters or their comic book adventures while they were still mostly entertaining installments.

Mutants like Cyclops, Rogue, Storm, Callisto, and a few others barely resembled their comic book counterparts during the Fox days. Hopefully, fans will finally get authentic versions, and we’ve already seen that Marvel is open to finally putting them in their iconic costumes. Hugh Jackman, of course, wearing a version of the Jim Lee-era suit (still waiting to see footage of the cowl) in the upcoming “Deadpool” sequel.

Some of the problems weren’t just improper takes on various mutants. Shoehorning them in the movies without much of an introduction, exploration of their origins, or much character development without an impact on the story. A good amount ended up being included just to kill off, used in the background, or simply added as an Easter Egg/cameo for the die-hards.

When director Bryan Singer returned to tackle two more movies, “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “X-Men: Apocalypse,” a big issue started to materialize and conflict with the canon of the previous movies. ALL MUTANTS now, suddenly, without explanation, had a slow-aging power set when that was once relegated to a handful of specific mutants. It was a lazy method by producers to keep the “X-Men: First Class” cast together while the movies jumped decades spanning four different decades (starting in the 1960s and ending in the 1990s with “Dark Phoenix”) while the actors never really actually aged, which was frustrating for fans. Since the MCU is already filled with characters that don’t age normally, if the reboot decided to only make this a characteristic for a few like Wolverine, Magneto, Mystique, Mister Sinister, Apocalypse, and Sabretooth, we’d be all for it.

In the end, consistency or continuing established franchise canon wasn’t a prime concern, adding to the habitual confusion audiences experienced over two decades. There is the optimism that the team over at Marvel Studios would be way more dedicated to make sure everything clicks and fits together.

Christopher Marc on X: "I am not saying that Marvel needs to be competing with STAR WARS or DUNE, but they have a chance to do their own big space opera via

EXPAND THE COSMIC SIDE OF THE MUTANT SAGA: Another thing that the Singerverse really never got right was the X-Men’s connection to space opera elements via The Shi’ar Empire and The Imperial Guard. Allowing them to take pages from “Star Wars” and “Dune” without having to strictly rely on The Guardians of The Galaxy for future cosmic adventures. Cyclops’ father/brother are members of the space pirate team The Starjammers. Marvel even has their own take on the Xenomorph with the deadly invasive alien species, The Brood, and the other big space invaders, The Phalanx.

An expansion could also mean exploring a heap of other mutant-related teams on Earth, such as Alpha Flight, X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur, The Morlocks, and Exiles.

RECASTING FOR A NEW GENERATION: Recasting Wolverine would certainly be Marvel’s main priority as the character, thanks in part to Hugh Jackman’s run as the Canadian mutant, is easily as popular/well-known as Spider-Man or anyone on the Avengers roster. Despite all the teases from “Deadpool & Wolverine” of Jackman’s variant making the jump to the mainline MCU in Earth-616, there is a strong common sense expectation he’s not going to be playing the role for Marvel over the next 10-plus years.

There have been plenty of fan-castings online featuring a laundry list of genre-friendly actors such as Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter”), Taron Egerton (“The Kingsman”), Karl Urban (“Dredd,” “The Boys”), Zac Efron (“The Iron Claw”), and even one that had Jackman’s public endorsement, Tom Hardy (after director Matthew Vaughn attempted to cast him as Young Wolverine during his time making “X-Men” films). My own opinion is that folks on the rise like Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear,” “The Iron Claw”) and Austin Butler (“The Bikeriders,” “Dune: Part Two”) might be more in-tune with the kind of actor that Marvel should be seeking out.

I’m not too worried about Marvel recasting the X-Men lineup, mainly, from seeing how they’ve handled “Fantastic Four.”

X-Men '97 - Official Trailer (Marvel)

Many fans enjoying “X-Men ’97” feel that Marvel should simply move forward with a live-action incarnation of the animated show and place that version within the mainline MCU. But the problem with that idea is that they’ve killed off characters and explored storylines that could still be reworked for the big screen. Even with the show’s popularity, I don’t see a huge reason to start this new era of the X-Men by having to adhere to a 30-year-old pre-existing canon when this should be a true REBOOT. It’s exactly why I think a reset from the Singerverse is a must, too. Then again, there are some neat character choices that could be carried over.

We’re sure to get some more updates on “X-Men” in the coming months as Marvel Studios looking to make a presentation this summer at the D23 event.

Posted on in Features, Film News

Hollywood Franchises Faced Audience Apathy In 2023 That Goes Beyond Comic Book Movies

In 2023, studios across the board had a good amount of their blockbusters tank or have underwhelming results at the global box office. At this point, the phrase “franchise fatigue” is maybe the more accurate term we should start using here over “superhero fatigue.” Mainly, because it’s not just comic book movies that are struggling to make an impact at the box office, earn as much as the last installment, or turn a profit. In this piece, we’re going to spotlight many of these box office hiccups from last year. 

Indiana Jones 5' Ending Explained: Indy Reunites With Marion & More – Hollywood Life

Disney saw a massive ding to their 2023 slate with “Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny,” with a $300 million budget and the fifth installment of the “Indiana Jones” franchise, which didn’t click with audiences in the way that Lucasfilm/Disney had hoped earning a less than stellar $383.9 million. Speaking of Lucasfilm, a studio built on the juggernaut “Star Wars” franchise hasn’t shot a feature film since 2019 with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Their pause on the feature division comes after “Solo: A Star Wars Story” had a weak box office take that scared Lucasfilm from pursuing other spinoff films and pivoted to focusing on their streaming series division at Disney+ instead. There have been endless promises of new films by Lucasfilm from filmmakers such as Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi, Dave Filoni, James Mangold, Shawn Levy, and a mystery trilogy from Rian Johnson. However, we’ll believe all these “Star Wars” movies are happening when the trailers drop considering how many films were turned into series or never happened at all like “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” that had a release date of December 22,2023 and then the Patty Jenkins-directed pic just vanished. 

MIssion: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Already Certified Fresh With High Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

It’s not just Disney and Warner Bros. undergoing a stress test other studios saw some of their popular franchises taking dings in 2023. Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of The Beasts” had a somewhat difficult time attracting audiences to the point that it made even less than 2018’s “Bumblebee” with $438.9 million and $166.5 million less than “Transformers: The Last Knight.” Another big stumble for Paramount was “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and one nobody really saw coming after “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” earned Paramount a whopping $791.6 million back in 2018. The most recent outing led by Tom Cruise only managed to make $395.4 million over the summer which is nearly half of what “Fallout” did. The studio is now abandoning the “Dead Reckoning Part Two” title for “Mission: Impossible 8” entirely.

Expendables 4' Box Office Eyes $15 Million-$17 Million Opening Weekend – Deadline

While I think folks at Lionsgate are happy that their “Hunger Games” prequel has made $322.6 million, yet, that would still be a drop of $338.8 million from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.” The fourth installment of “The Expendables” distributed by Lionsgate ended up putting up some of the worst numbers with an embarrassing $21.2 million compared to the last pic’s $214.6 million. “Expendables 4” wasn’t the only disappointing Jason Statham film either as Ben Wheatley’s “Meg 2: The Trench” dropped down by $134.3 million.

Renfield' Review: Dracula, Worst Boss Ever - The New York Times

Universal has many plans for expanding its Universal Monsters franchise with various features tackling different horror characters. However, in 2023 the studio struggled to get folks to watch either of their high-profile Dracula films with both the comedy “Renfield” ($26.4 million global earnings vs $65 million budget) and the grittier “The Last Voyage of The Demeter” ($21.7 million global earnings vs $45 million budget) which took decades to make it to the big screen failed to scare up an audience outside of the Halloween season. Some of the few horror films that struggled.

The Marvels release date, trailer and more

Meanwhile, on the superhero front, there were indeed signs of audience apathy. Both “The Marvels” ($46.1 million domestic opening weekend) and “Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom” ($27.7 million domestic opening weekend) were follow-ups to billion-dollar successes that failed to make a big splash by not covering their production/marketing costs.

Of course, the headaches that Marvel Studios experienced in 2023 are obvious with “The Marvels” dipping a massive $925.8 million compared to “Captain Marvel” and “Ant-Man 3” saw a significant drop of $146.6 million in contrast to “Ant-Man & The Wasp.” Although, it wasn’t all bad for the MCU since “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3” topped the superhero releases at $845.5 million with a minor slip of $18.2 million.

The final installment of the DCEU, “Aquaman & The Last Kingdom,” had a soft opening weekend as mentioned above, and has only mustered $258.2 million which is another colossal hiccup. A difference of $893.8 million when put up against the original. Ultimately, the “Shazam!” sequel ended up with one of the worst turnouts for major superhero blockbusters. At $133.8 million (Made a fraction of what the original did when it earned $367.7 million in 2019) and given its hefty budget of $300 million, “The Flash” was another catastrophe for WB at $270.6 million. With the DCU set for a big reboot in July 2025, starting with “Superman: Legacy,” there are some expectations that the reset could help with the studio’s rebranding post-Snyderverse. Then again, “Blue Beetle” (Not technically a sequel/follow-up) was retroactively added to the DCU by DC Studios around its release despite a weak $129.2 million at the box office. 

Then again, it’s not all bad since there were a handful of upticks in 2023, and some of these include “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” hitting $690.5 million, a big jump from the Oscar-winning first installment’s global box office of $384.2 million from 2018. “Creed III” saw a $61 million boost which sounds good for the prospect of a fourth film. When it comes to more mature franchises, “John Wick: Chapter 4” also handed Lionsgate their best numbers over four feature films at $440.1 million. “Saw X” and “Scream VI” did well compared to their last installments too. 

Every movie is as different as the reasons for them not becoming massive earners.

Deadpool 3' Production to Start Before Thanksgiving as Strike Ends

We can’t really expect studios to pump the breaks completely on the superhero movies given that it’s still a lucrative venture. There is an overload of sequels on the horizon at Marvel with “Deadpool 3,” “Captain America: Brave New World,” and director Destin Daniel Cretton exiting “Avengers 5” to focus on “Shangi-Chi 2.” “Deadpool 3,” an R-rated sequel, is expected to be the only MCU feature film released this year and gives the studios a bit of a cooling-off period.

While these pics haven’t been given official release dates or announced by Marvel themselves, there is an expectation that we’ll be getting “Spider-Man 4,” “Doctor Strange 3,” “Thor 5,” “Captain America 5,” and possibly “Eternals 2.” There are also a bunch of reboots on the way with things like “Fantastic Four,” “Blade,” “X-Men,” James Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy” shooting in 2024, and a new Batman film with “The Brave & The Bold.” 

Sony’s adjacent Marvel films in 2024 include “Madame Web,” “Kraven The Hunter,” and the final solo outing for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock in “Venom 3.” We don’t know how much appetite audiences have for these movies without Tom Holland’s involvement and a disaster like “Morbius” harkening back to the era of the 2000s when studios were rushing half-cooked superhero films into theaters to meet the demand. 

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga trailer drops. Here's what we know about it - ABC News

A bunch of non-comic book blockbusters or follow-up installments coming later this year include “Dune: Part Two,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Gladiator 2,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Inside Out 2,” “Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes,” “Alien: Romulus,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” “Mufasa: The King King,” “Sonic The Hedgehog 3,” “The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim,” ‘Smile 2,” “Saw XI,” “Transformers One,” “Beetlejuice 2,” “Wolf Man,” “A Quiet Place: Day One,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Bad Boys 4,” “Ballerina,” “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” and Radio Silence’s Universal Monsters film. Hopefully, these do a lot better with audiences.

Solutions? Well, spending $200-300 million a pop for these films is simply going to be unsustainable, and trying to market every blockbuster as an event continues to be difficult for studios when their slate is mostly these kinds of films in an oversaturated market. Studios would likely benefit from seeking out filmmakers who can deliver genre films at lower costs and potentially scaling back the overreliance on VFX. An adjusted expectation for these movies could be closer to a cume of $300-500 million and studios would be smart to think about going back to budgets closer to/under $80-100 million. The bigger the movie the pricier reshoots and overhauls will be to fix hiccups in the editing/post process which has contributed to a lot of these bloated budgets making it tougher for studios to recoup their overall costs.

Some other factors include that COVID is still ongoing with people avoiding crowded theaters/malls and a lot of audiences don’t have to wait long for releases to drop on streaming services they’re already subscribing to. The latter seems a lot more damaging because the shortened theatrical windows mean studios have to deal with not only folks waiting out to get movies for “free” on streaming via subs and diminishes the importance of the theatrical experience. Warner Bros. during the early days of the pandemic attempted to do day-and-date releases which was detrimental to their film division it led AT&T’s John Stankey to bail on the company by handing over the reins to David Zaslav/Discovery (His tax write-off scheme leading to the erasure of films and shows is equally imbecilic). 

A good example of this was Disney, who dumped three straight Pixar films “Soul,” “Luca,” and “Turning Red” on Disney+ and seemingly did large brand damage as they’re trying to fix in retrospect by releasing them all in theaters in 2024 (See teaser trailer above). This comes ahead of the release of “Inside Out 2” in June, a follow-up to a $858.8 million hit, that may aim to curb some of the weak box office that “Toy Story” semi-spinoff “Lightyear” saw in 2022.

Barbie' movie release date, cast list, more: Read up on 2023 remake

It’s worth mentioning that things like “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Super Mario Bros.” surprised us all with their massive earnings as when these movies were first announced they weren’t slamdunks to the point we were expecting them to be the Top 3 films of 2023. Their theatrical windows gave those pics plenty of time to accumulate a bunch of cash. Also, doesn’t hurt that both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” (Still playing at my local theater in December) came from visionary filmmakers, Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan respectively. Selecting creatives that can contribute to the script or elevate the material to make something appealing to an audience when a lot of genre projects can blend together or seem generic might help. Nolan and Denis Villeneuve have been extremely vocal on the importance of theatrical windows.

We shouldn’t be all doom-and-gloom about the situation. I’m mostly optimistic since there were plenty of good box office stories in 2023 and studios aren’t suddenly going to stop making these movies. Yet, potentially trimming the volume of releases, not trying to manufacture event status for all films, and using their abundant resources more carefully should be a good start. Marvel/Disney have already signaled they’re looking to pivot and make constructive changes. We’ll see if other studios make similar adjustments with their own franchises that are seeing dwindling interest.

Here is a rundown of franchise releases in 2023 to give you an idea of how lopsided the box office of 2023 actually was: 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 ($845.5 million)

FAST X ($704.8 million)

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE ($690.5 million)

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE ($567.5 million)

ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA ($476 million)

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS ($438.9 million)

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES ($322.6 million)

MEG 2: THE TRENCH ($312.4 million)

CREED III ($275.2 million) 

THE FLASH ($270.6 million)

THE NUN II – ($268 millon)

AQUAMAN & THE LOST KINGDOM ($258.2 million) 

THE MARVELS ($205.6 million) 

PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE ($200.7 million)

TROLLS BAND TOGETHER ($198.7 million)

THE EQUALIZER 3 ($190 million)

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR ($189 million)

SCREAM VI ($168.9 million)

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS ($133.8 million)

GODZILLA MINUS ONE ($81 million)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM ($61.9 million)

EXPENDABLES 4 ($21.2 million) 

*Global box office numbers were sourced from Box Office Mojo. 

Posted on in Features

FEATURE: Avengers Facing The Formidable Squadron Supreme In Next Two Event Films Is More Compelling Than An Overload Of Fan-Service Variants/Cameos

Marvel Studios is attempting another two-part Avengers event with “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” coming from director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi,” “Wonder Man”), and “Avengers: Secret Wars” is currently without a director (That will change in the near future). The latter film has slowly turned into an extremely uninspired reason for fans online to speculate on the avalanche of variants/cameos that may show up in “Secret Wars” from actors who nearly played roles or brought old ones back. Marvel already did this with “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” and is expected to do the same with “Deadpool 3” using various Foxverse actors before an assumed reset of the franchise ahead of the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” reboots.

A fourth attempt to cram in variants or toothless actor cameos in such a bigger film than those would sort of feel like recycling something they’ve already done too often. It would be so much more compelling if they instead used characters that specifically could be used for the next two “Avengers” films that make sense and aren’t just an extended piece of fan service with a movie’s runtime. I’m not sure having a bunch of random actors/variants that won’t really contribute to the story/plot/character development will actually do very much to propel the film other than play out some action-figure dreams of a niche group of fans that just want to see things appear rather than think about how it would actually improve things.

Now, how do you try to outdo a villainous threat like Thanos and The Black Order after they instituted the Infinity Gauntlet, the snap killing half the universe as a cliffhanger, and time travel? Thanos wasn’t just solo in those films as The Black Order or The Children of Thanos did minion work for him in “Avengers: Infinity War” and returned for the climax action sequence at the end of “Avengers: Endgame.” It would have been nice if they had more character depth to them though beyond alien henchmen.

Marvel is under the impression that the Multiverse and Kang The Conqueror will still be engaging enough with audiences to get the excitement levels growing in the next two event films.

I think people were genuinely excited when a Kang variant was introduced in the first season of “Loki” and that character attempted to foreshadow the doom and gloom of unleashing his more dangerous variants with his death. However, Marvel seemed to undercut that promising threat with the wishy-washy audience reaction to Kang being the main villain of “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania.” This might signal that they’ll need something more to make Kang a bit more compelling/threatening when we’re talking about him going after the entire team roster after tangling with one of the less powerful heroes. It seemed like a big miscalculation on Marvel’s part and exposed that their new event-level villain might need help beyond his horde of variants (I don’t know how compelling this angle is going to be).

Thankfully, Kang has access to the endless possibilities of the Multiverse and other points in time, making him able to assemble his own competing team that could cause extra trouble for The Avengers if need be.

He’s connected to a team that might be worth exploring on the big screen and that would be The Squadron Supreme (I’ve been campaigning for their MCU debut for many years now). A group of characters mirroring DC Comics’ Justice League that were introduced in Avengers comics as The Squadron Sinister, back in 1969, and originate from the Multiverse being from Earth-712. Making them a way more sensible narrative choice than overloading a film with variants of existing characters. Of course, the Multiverse would have a team that could go toe-to-toe with The Avengers and potentially kill some of them in the process. They were first put together by Jeff Goldblum’s The Grandmaster to combat Kang’s champions (The Avengers), however, the MCU incarnation would most likely see Kang being that puppet master or could easily be the team that fills the void of The Illuminati on Earth-838 after Scarlet Witch killed them. I first mentioned Earth-838 potentially becoming a threat to the main MCU universe last year after seeing “Doctor Strange 2” and theorized Baron Mordo gathering a new team or unleashing something as destructive as Dormammu against that universe to avoid any future murderous encroachments from those inhabitants.

That lineup of Squadron members consists of Mark Milton aka Hyperion (Superman proxy that is an Eternal), Zarda aka The Power Princess (Wonder Woman proxy that is sort of a Multiverse version of an Inhuman as the Utopians were another Kree experiment), Kyle Richmond aka Nighthawk (Batman proxy that became a member of The Defenders) Kenji Obatu aka Doctor Spectrum (Green Lantern proxy), Kingsley Rice aka Amphibian (Aquaman proxy), Skymax aka The Skrullian Skymaster (Martian Manhunter proxy that is a heroic Skrull), Stanley Stewart aka Blur (Flash proxy), Acranna (Zatanna proxy), Wyatt McDonald aka Golden Archer (Green Arrow proxy), Linda Lewis aka Lady Lark (Black Canary proxy), Thomas Thompson aka Tom Thumb (Atom proxy), and Thundra (Femizon from Earth-715 that was introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four as part of the Frightful Four).

Seeing Earth-838 taking revenge or aligning themselves with Kang to see two different universes going to war is another way this could go. Potentially taking place on a version of Battleworld (an abandoned alien world could be fun) to avoid any major collateral damage on their versions of Earth, the losers seeing their universe essentially erased from existence could make for good stakes (“Loki” has established the pruning method). Folks have also talked up the potential of DC Studios and Marvel Studios coming together for a massive Marvel/DC crossover film in the future…since that feels like a decade away using The Squadron Supreme against The Avengers could be a nice substitute to that idea.

Marvel would have a chance to establish The Squadron as a much more deadly group than The Illuminati by having them possibly kill a handful of members in their first skirmish or at least put a serious beating on them as they sort of first reunite since the events of “Endgame.” I don’t think we’re going to see them be as cohesive as they once were and might have to step up a bit over the two films.

I wouldn’t be that terribly shocked if they attempted to beef up the roster by replacing some of the less exciting Justice League proxies with members of The Agents of Atlas since they’ve sort of altered the lineup in more recent comics allowing for some of the older members to potentially make the jump to the Squadron.

AGENTS OF ATLAS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL. 1: Parker, Jeff, Glut, Don, Yu, Leinil, Lashley, Ken: 9781302911294: Books - Amazon.ca

It’s a Marvel team featuring some extremely old/obscure comic characters that pre-date the Avengers and even the main Marvel brand. Making them perfect fodder for a Multiverse team being put together by Kang.

Led by a very different incarnation of Agent Jimmy Woo (1956) than we’ve been introduced to in the MCU and also features Namora (1947) last seen in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Some of those other members that could be added to The Squadron Supreme include Kenneth Hale aka Gorilla-Man (1954), M-11 aka Human Robot, Venus (1948), Robert Grayson aka Marvel Boy/Uranian (1950), Chuck Chandler aka 3-D Man (1977), and their pal Jane Hastings aka Jann of The Jungle (1954).

The first incarnation of the team appeared in a What-If…? issue published in 1977 that explored the idea of what The Avengers would have looked like if they had been formed in the 1950s instead of the 1960s.

Having The Squadron Supreme as the main formidable obstacle for this new version of The Avengers, which will have to endure without the likes of Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and potentially more fallen heroes feels slightly more menacing than simply having Kang variants overwhelm them or have to kill/defeat them one-by-one. There would be a little more complexity with pulling from Squadron/Atlas since they wouldn’t simply be variants like with the Illuminati and could have their own unique power sets alongside character designs that would move beyond simply the variants of existing Marvel heroes/villains.

I’m not really going to get into the current speculation/rumblings about where/when the Squadron could be showing up. But it is worth mentioning it was once rumored they’d first appear in Season 1 of “Loki” and that never happened, so always take unconfirmed rumblings with a pinch grain of salt. Possibly more of that rumor/guessing is going to keep happening until their involvement is actually confirmed by the studio but, to me, the most sense is when The Avengers have to combat a Multiverse threat like Kang.

We have to assume that things like “The Marvels,” “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Deadpool 3,” “Armor Wars,” and “Loki” Season 2 might give us a better sense of what to expect from these next two “Avengers” movies.

Posted on in Features, Film News

Keanu Reeves Down To Make ‘John Wick 5’ According To Chad Stahelski But The Director Needs A Good Idea/Thread To Avoid Treating The Audience “Like Idiots”

**** WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ‘JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4’****

Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have put together quite an entertaining group of action films with the four installments of the “John Wick” franchise. Earlier in the year, “John Wick 4” ended up becoming the highest-grossing film in the batch which is likely why it’s a bit puzzling why the team decided to end “Chapter 4” with the way they did. If you haven’t seen the film, there is a duel in Paris that is assumed to have left John dead from multiple gunshot wounds. While we do see Winston looking down at John’s grave, we don’t actually see the master assassin die on camera, or his body laid to rest for that matter. Potentially, this could have been a constructed way to both end the films there or leave a hypothetical window open for Wick’s “resurrection” in a couple of years by stating the coffin was empty with Wick going off to rest/recover in peace away from The High Table after settling his debt to them.

Despite earlier plans to shoot both “John Wick 4” and “John Wick 5” back-to-back in Germany, they ultimately only made one film and gave everyone involved an out if they truly wanted it. Stahelski recently spoke about the sequel to Josh Horowitz on his podcast (Horowitz suggests we follow Wick into the afterlife/purgatory), Happy Sad Confused, where it was explained that while Keanu Reeves would happily make another one, the director is a bit more apprehensive about it and says waiting for a good reason/idea before jumping into production is key. Citing his worry that it could be seen as treating the loyal audience like idiots for doing a death fake-out.

“If you asked [Keanu] right now, he’d say ‘fuck yeah.’ But, then he’d look and go ‘Well, what is it? I have no fucking clue.’ Look man, we’re going to do our other stuff for a little bit but if…an idea hit me within 30 seconds I’d be on the phone with Keanu and we’d be riffing. We have a lot of set pieces. We have a lot of ideas that didn’t go or we didn’t do. I have no doubt we’ve come up with a lot of great [action} pieces, its just what’s the main thread?…But if we found that moment and found that thread, yeah. I don’t think you’d find anyone invovled with ‘John Wick’ that wouldn’t want to do another one,” the director told Horowitz.

Stahelski still has his own concerns about rushing into it as he brings up the ambiguity of the western “Shane,” where the audience isn’t exactly sure if the hero actually has died, but it’s assumed he has. While also harping on the fact they haven’t cracked a great idea for that return and likely would hinge on that aspect before moving forward.

“I don’t think we bring John Wick back without a real reason. It can’t just be a hook, it’s got to draw people back in. Cause I think most of the audience would like to see Keanu back they just don’t want to be treated like they’re idiots. They don’t want to be treated like ‘Gimmie your fourteen bucks and we’ll bring back the dude to shoot people in the head.’ I’m part of the audience and I would feel ripped off if I did something like that. None of us are opposed to doing five but we just don’t know how to do it, we’re not that smart.”

Interestingly enough, the upcoming spinoff film “Ballerina” starring Ana de Armas and helmed by Len Wiseman (“Underworld”) sidesteps this issue as it takes place between the end of “John Wick 3” and the start of “John Wick 4” allowing for characters like Charon and Wick to appear despite their on-screen deaths (many of us are still mourning Lance Riddick’s tragic off-screen death). There could be room to go back into John’s past with the Ruska Roma and explore those events, even if that means hiring a younger actor to fill Keanu’s shoes. What “John Wick 5” ends up looking like might depend heavily on how audiences receive things like “Ballerina” and potentially other spinoffs like the one teased with the end credit scene telegraphing an Akira-centric movie that possibly sees her attempt revenge against Caine for killing her father in Osaka.

It’s also worth pointing out that “other stuff” Stahelski mentions is an ever-growing number of unmade film projects he’s previously attached himself to over the years that he wants to make before tackling a “John Wick 5.” Some of those that standouts include a reboot of the “Highlander” franchise with British actor Henry Cavill still attached for a key role, the “Rainbow Six” movie at Paramount that would see Michael B. Jordan reprise the role of C.I.A. operator John Clark, and another ambitious project, a feature film adaptation of the samurai PlayStation video game, “Ghost of Tsushima.” The latter would see an all-Asian cast with the hopes that it could be done mainly in the Japanese language.

You can watch/listen to that full interview below.

SOURCE: HAPPY SAD CONFUSED PODCAST

Posted on in Features, Film News, News

‘Thor 5’: Taika Waititi Teases A More Formidable Villain Than Hela, Here Are Some Contenders

While it looks like we won’t be getting any massive lineup updates about the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon there are some early seeds being planted for a hypothetical “Thor 5” and what could interestingly be a sign we might be heading back to more Thor-focused comic book mythology being the inspiration for it. Some new quotes from an upcoming “Thor: Love & Thunder” tie-in book (via ScreenRant) reveal writer/director Taika Waititi’s feelings on where things should be heading for the God of Thunder in a fifth potential film.

“What is left to do to him? It’s got to be something that feels like it’s carrying on with the evolution of the character, but still in a very fun way and still giving him things to come up against that feel like they’re building on the obstacles that he has to overcome. I don’t think we can have a villain that’s weaker than Hela. I feel like we need to step up from there and add a villain that’s somehow more formidable”

BHOC: MARVEL SPECTACULAR #18 – The Tom Brevoort Experience

It’s a project that hasn’t been made official by Marvel Studios but is likely to happen given Chris Hemsworth’s willingness to return to the role and the last film establishing Valhalla as another MCU realm where both Jane Foster and Heimdall now reside after their on-screen deaths. It’s the location of the mythical great hall of fallen heroes where the Valkyries take the dead warriors from the battlefield to prepare for victory at Ragnarok.

Valhalla opens the door for all sorts of Norse characters to potentially make their MCU debuts such as Balder The Brave, Karnilla The Norn Queen, Amora The Enchantress, Angela, Sigurd, and even an even more obscure villain like Harokin who is one of The Einherjar, the fallen undead heroes of Asgard/Valhalla that are expected to be called upon by Odin to fight the Jotun as part of his army.

Another option could be Thor’s uncle Cul Borson, aka The Serpent, who more or less could end up becoming the movie version of the Midgard Serpent. In Norse mythology, the Midgard Serpent, aka, Jörmungandr (recently seen in the “God of War” games and tied to Marvel’s Multiverse villain The Black Winter) is a massive snake-like creature and child of Loki that is destined to kill Thor in the events of Ragnarok with its deadly venom. Jörmungandr does kill Thor in Norse legends and might be exactly the kind of “formidable villain” Waititi is referring to in these teasing statements.

We’ve actually already experienced one of these deadly end-of-the-world beasts in the past. “Thor: Ragnarok” featured Fenris Wolf (a version of Fenrir), a giant wolf that kills Odin during the final battle of Ragnarok. But this version was the undead companion of Hela and was dispatched by Hulk as Odin had died earlier in the film. Hulk flung Fenris off the edge of Asgard into the void of space.

Of course, there are even more outlandish contenders like Ulik The Rock Troll, the long-rumored Mephisto (Marvel’s cosmic take on the Satan that is a longtime foe of Thor), and in a hilarious episode of “She-Hulk,” it’s been established Asgard’s allies, the Light Elves, are walking around Midgard.

While some may be in the belief that Brett Goldstein’s Hercules and the Greek pantheon of gods should be antagonists, it feels sort of like small potatoes compared to what Waititi is talking about. Plus, circling back to the Norse elements would be super refreshing after Marvel goes out of their way to avoid tackling all the existing unused material this whole time (light elves, rock trolls, giants, Midgard serpent).

The filmmaker also reiterates the importance of focusing on Thor’s comic book mythology which hopefully means they may return to untapped Norse/comic elements they’ve been avoiding this entire time.

The director also revealed that there is one aspect that he thinks is more true to Thor than any other MCU character, and that is “the mythology that he originates from.” Waititi believes pitting Thor against “more and more outlandish and crazy beasts, monsters and aliens” as he continues in the MCU stays true to Thor in the comics and his mythological origin.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Waititi has given the impression in previous interviews he might be moving on from making future “Thor” installments himself. And it wouldn’t be that surprising given the negative reaction to “Love & Thunder” alongside the filmmaker’s increasingly large dance card that includes a remake of “Flash Gordon” at 20th Century Studios, “Klara & The Sun” based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, an adaptation of Jodorowsky/Moebius’ sci-fi fantasy graphic novel “The Incal,” and finally a long-gestating “Star Wars” film at Lucasfilm.

I guess we’ll have to be patient about any future developments concerning “Thor 5.”

SOURCE: TITAN’S THOR: LOVE & THUNDER THE OFFICIAL MOVIE SPECIAL

Posted on in Features

Dangers Of The MCU Relying Too Heavily On Multiverse Gimmicks

Yesterday evening we saw Sony Pictures finally drop the second trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home as the pic focuses on Peter Parker having to deal with at least five villains from previous Spider-Man films with Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Electro, The Lizard, and Sandman seen in the last two incarnations of the franchise.

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero’s identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

While the Multiverse can be a fun thing to explore, there are some landmines that Marvel Studios needs to avoid so audiences don’t get bored or exhausted by the new plot device that is expected to play a huge role in multiple films and television shows.

Story and character development shouldn’t take a backseat to Easter Egg hunts and cameos.

It’s hard to deny that the potential return of existing Marvel characters/actors has seemingly overshadowed projects like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange In The Multiverse by focusing on cameos rather than the movie itself being able to stand on its own. Feeling like more of a marketing gimmick than doing something that serves a story, the Marvel Cinematic Universe allows for plenty of existing cameos without pulling from the Multiverse at all times.

Bringing back characters from the dead lessens the impact of those on-screen deaths.

The neverending merry-go-round of resurrecting fallen characters sort of downplays the sacrifices in previous projects. It would be a really bad idea to trot out endless versions of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff just so fans can see those actors back for fan-service reasons. Deaths become meaningless and the stakes of the universe vanish.

An example would be seeing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine showing up for a random fan-service cameo via the Multiverse which wrecks the excellent emotional send-off in Logan and would make it harder for the next Wolverine actor to be accepted.

The Multiverse becoming a plot device that will be abused just as quickly as if time-travel was the crux of an entire Phase of the MCU. Instead, letting them go and having other characters take up those mantles is sort of how it normally works in the comics and how we get multiple incarnations of those characters, to begin with.

Relying too much on nostalgia and not giving audiences new villains by recycling old ones can give the impression of a lack of ideas or imagination. While something like Loki is giving more new things by setting up a major character like Kang The Conqueror (will be fully introduced in Ant-Man 3) and the TVA. Establishing a new wing of the MCU and pushing things forward should always be the goal of these projects.

Not every superhero group or new wave of characters needs to be introduced via The Multiverse.

One problem that could develop story-wise is that instead of coming up with organic ways to introduce things like X-Men/Mutants, the Fantastic Four, Ka-Zar/Savage Land, Agents of Atlas, and Squadron Supreme in an existing MCU, they end up getting default Multiverse additions because Marvel gives up on explaining how these factions can exist in the same universe.

“Everything happens because of the Multiverse” will become dull very quickly.

Adapting alternative universes/settings like Earth X or 2099 for live-action in the future becomes less interesting or viable because the studio has already squeezed all the juice and goodwill out of the Multiverse at that point.

Posted on in Features

‘Eternals’ & Olympians Essentially Same Sect Of Immortal Aliens In The MCU?

The next big Marvel Studios release to grace the big screen will be Chloe Zhao’s Eternals, which will see the MCU version of the team. We already know that the film incarnation will be different than their comic book counterparts and a new detail might help link them to a similar group of god-like aliens.

Marvel’s Nate Moore recently revealed to Comic Book another slight tweak to the Eternals origin, stating the group of immortals are from an alien planet called Olympia.

“In the past we see the Eternals, who, in our version of the mythology, are immortal aliens from a planet called Olympia. [They’ve] been asked by the Celestials to come to Earth to rid the Earth of creatures called the Deviants. The Deviants are these parasitic aliens who go from planet to planet, and as they kill the apex predators on a given planet, they sort of take the characteristics of those predators and wipe out intelligent life. Well, the Eternals are heroes, so they’ve come to earth to eradicate the Deviants and allow humanity to thrive.”

In the comics, Olympia aka High Olympus was set on Earth in Greece.

Interestingly enough, The Olympians (Marvel’s cosmic version of the Greek pantheon of gods) will be officially introduced in Thor: Love & Thunder after Australian actor Russell Crowe revealed he’d be playing the MCU version of Zeus in the sequel.

I don’t exactly see why Marvel wouldn’t have Zeus and The Olympians also being from this planet of Olympia as a streamlined way to be less confusing to audiences by making the groups essentially interchangeable. This might also be why Zuras (Thena’s father) isn’t in the film, both Zeus and Zuras have similar character designs in the comics.

Zeus, of course, is the father of demigod Hercules Panhellenios aka The Prince of Power, who just happened to be on The Avengers roster around the same time as Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman aka Black Knight.

Adding a bit of fuel is that director Chloe Zhao told Empire Magazine that the Eternals are “akin to stories of Greek and Roman gods, who live very human lives with human traits, rivalries, jealousies and frailties.”

It’s hard not to notice this information only further distancing themselves from Thanos and Titan. In the trailer, Ajax (played by Selma Hayek) explained that The Mad Titan wasn’t a Deviant, which prevented them to interfere with his dastardly plan to kill half the universe (addition of Olympia could suggest he’s not an Eternal either). This line was also likely out of convenience because Marvel wasn’t even thinking about bringing Jack Kirby’s obscure creations, The Eternals, into the MCU until Chloe Zhao pitched them on the idea.

However, nothing stops them from making Titans like Starfox part of the Eternals/Olympian group.

The MCU version of Deviants could also have a larger connection to Lemurians and world of Namor/Atlantis, if Lemuria and Atlantis both were sunk during The Great Cataclysm (potentially shown in Eternals). This might explain why we see Deviants coming out of the ocean in the trailer footage and possibly where they’ve been hiding out for 5,000 years until the events of the film.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see when Eternals releases on November 5.

Posted on in Features

The Xian & Seven Capital Cities Of Heaven Could Play A Large Role In ‘Shang-Chi 2’

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOTH SHANG-CHI & POST-CREDIT SCENES

After the recent box office performance of Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and the stinger at the end of the film, it’s obvious that Marvel Studios will be moving forward with more films, possibly even a Disney+ series.

In the post-credit scene, Wong seems baffled by the Ten Rings and the objects’ origin alongside a possibility they’re now calling upon an outside force using a beacon.

One strong possibility might be The Xian or pantheon of Chinese gods in Marvel Comics.

They could be part of the expansive secret interdimensional inhabitance that Michelle Yeoh’s Auntie Nan was talking about when giving a rundown of Ta-Lo. Wenwu’s Ten Rings may have come from their dimension and might explain why there is a beacon calling to them, potentially because it’s a weapon of their making and Shang-Chi activating them in the village set it off.

One of the first instances of Ta-Lo in Marvel Comics was in the pages of Thor. There we are introduced to the Jade Emperor, aka, Yu Huang when the God of Thunder is traveling to the various pantheon of gods.

Basically, a group of powerful immortal beings that could easily either be friends or foes to Shang-Chi/Earth. There is a heap of characters that could be introduced some that jump out is Guan Yu The God of War, Yen-Lo Wang The God of Death, Zhurong The God of Fire, and Xi Wangmu The Goddess of Immortality.

Another interesting Xian character that might conflict with either Shang-Chi or Xialing could be the Demi-God Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). Best known from the iconic Journey To The West tale. In recent Marvel Comics, Sun Wukong is a crime lord that could easily cross paths with Shang-Chi on Earth with a magical staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, making him a formidable adversary.

The Immortal Weapons of Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, could also have a connection to The Xian and allow Marvel Studios to do a hard-reboot of Iron Fist/Danny Rand, K’un-Lun, and Shou-Lao The Undying after the lackluster Netflix series.

Iron Fist and K’un-Lun don’t really have to be that far apart from the new Shang-Chi franchise and could allow the new Avenger to have another MCU character that might have some insight into this secret world of gods and martial arts.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s love for the genre was highlighted in the first Shang-Chi film and it would be a fantastic excuse to reboot Danny Rand, unless they feel he’s too similar to the version of Shang-Chi they just gave us.

The Seven Capital Cities could expand the interdimensional realm of Ta-Lo beyond the village seen in the first film. The cities include K’un-Lun, K’un-Zi, Tiger Island, Peng Lai, Kingdom of Spiders, Z’Gambo, and Under City each having their own protector (maybe even their own dragon too?).

While not the traditional threat in Secret Wars, The Xian testing the might of heroes from various realms and The Multiverse seems like an interesting version the studio could with instead of simply rehashing the comic book incarnation.

Posted on in Features

‘Loki’ Production Designer Kasra Farahani Would Be Perfect For ‘Blade’

Marvel’s Blade reboot goes back to 2013 when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a script (after the rights reverted from New Line Cinema) was being worked in-house at the studio as part of their writing program alongside Ms. Marvel (would later turn into Captain Marvel). Six years later and it was announced that two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Predators, Alita: Battle Angel, Luke Cage, True Detectives) would be starring in a brand new movie, In turn, officially rebooting the Blade franchise that was launched back in 1998 with Wesley Snipes.

This year it was revealed by trades that writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters) is currently writing the film’s screenplay and Deadline first reported over the summer that Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to direct the reboot.

An excellent creative combination.

Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world.

With Marvel’s increased budgets, it allows this new incarnation of Blade became more of a globetrotting franchise and we could see vampires in various countries, we’ve seen Asian vampires teased in the original and it would be neat to see Blade in Japan, Hong Kong or….even they newly established island nation of Madripoor.

I would love to see Loki production designer Kasra Farahani work on Blade as he’s someone who I think could be the perfect person to help bring the world of the Vampire Nation to the modern MCU.

He brought such a cinematic value to Loki as it was cited that Faranhani was influenced by Mad Men and Ridley Scott’s benchmark sci-fi film Blade Runner. Kasra previously contributed concept art to Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, Star Trek into Darkness, and even the unmade BioShock movie (has Guillermo del Toro feel to it) for director Gore Verbinski.

It wouldn’t be the first time that someone from Disney+ series making the jump to the feature films as Loki cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw is officially working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, giving that film a striking visual palate.

The Ronin has spotted that director Bassam Tariq (hasn’t officially closed his deal) is now following Farahani on Instagram, which could suggest there is a shot the production designer may indeed end up working on the Blade reboot, if Tariq signs on to direct.

You can check out of Kasra Farahani’s excellent work on the Loki series below.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

Posted on in Features

Marvel Studios Needs To Make A Western Series On Disney+ With ‘The Rangers’

Marvel Studios has been doing an excellent job of jumping between varied genres from war, espionage, action, supernatural, comedy, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and space operas.

There seems to be one particular notch in their belt missing, that is a western. 

Many have compared superhero films to the western genre being the most dominant/popular genre before making way to other trends. What would happen if Marvel Studios tackled a group of western superheroes? It’s something that doesn’t come that often when folks are talking up future projects or their wish lists. 

We’re now this deep into the MCU and Marvel has not started adapting their western characters. Those include a large string of heroes from their old Wild West/Mighty Marvel Western comics and the rarely mentioned superhero team The Rangers. 

I think you could do a Rangers series where you essentially get a mash-up of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, The Magnificent Seven, Young Guns, Tombstone, True Grit, and many more. Marvel could end up combining their various western heroes and placing them in the 1800s. 

Here is a rundown of characters that jump out to me as solid contenders for a hypothetical Rangers roster set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Phantom Rider is the original incarnation of Ghost Rider, who was later renamed when the blazing skulled biker version was thrust into pop culture a decade later with Johnny Blaze and obviously is still the better known of the two. 

There have been many people that took on the superhero persona such as Carter Slade, Jamie Jacobs, Lincoln Slade, Reno Jones, Hamilton Slade, J.T. Slade, and Jamie Slade (Hamilton’s daughter).

Reno Jones was a black incarnation of the hero and going that route in the MCU could be a huge nod to Bass Reeves, the real-life black lawman that inspired The Lone Ranger and in The Watchmen series on HBO had a huge impact on Hooded Justice.

Phantom Rider appeared in the original Ghost Rider film played by Sam Elliot.

Like with their major Asian superhero Shang-Chi, Marvel Studios could do some modernization and image repair of their lesser known Native American characters as seen with a new character like Demon Rider.

Native American heroes like Red Wolf and Apache Kid (Alan Krandal) don’t deserve to be completely erased because their comics were made by culturally/racially insensitive people, the former has been given a modern update and I think Red Wolf most certainly could be a mantle passed down generation to generation we’ve seen with Baron Zemo and Union Jack.

You could also add a character like Spirit Rider/Demon Rider, aka, Kushala. She was around in the 1800s and could add a supernatural/horror element. 

How you change things is bringing Native American writers and creators into the writers’ room/creative process. A recent example is the Taika Waititi-produced FX series Reservation Dogs, which hopefully will lead to more mainstream projects featuring indigenous actors/creatives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHewFAkrWU

The Kid Trio are likely Marvel’s best known gunslingers with Two-Gun Kid (Clay Harder/Matt Hawk), Kid Colt (Blaine Colt), and Rawhide Kid (Johnny Bart/Johnny Clay). They also did multiple team-ups in the comics and could easily get their own spinoff series.

Rawhide Kid is an openly gay character and could make for some major inclusion.

There are only of a couple of female characters with Avenger member Firebird (Bonita Juarez), Arizona Annie, Shooting Star (Victoria Star), Swift Cloud (Jackie Cassidy), and Spotted Doe. However, Marvel could easily create new characters like Demon Rider or gender swap the excessive amount of male characters since not all of them would likely get starring roles.

Similar to Marvel’s expansive horror character lineup, the studio has just as many of these outlaw, gunslinger, and bounty hunter characters from the old west to pull from for years to come.

The many other characters in their back pocket include Black Rider/Black Mask (Matthew Masters), Kid Slade (Matt Slade), Outlaw Kid (Lance Temple), Gunhawk (William Downing), Kid Cassidy (Richard Cassidy), Ringo Kid (Rand), Western Kid (Tex Dawson), Boom Boom Brown, Tarantula (Clay Riley), The Raven (Thorn Trask), Wolf Waco, Hurricane (Harold Kane), Richard Trask, Tall Bear, Caleb Hammer, Wyatt Earp, Iron Mask (Don Hertz), and super-powered Rangers team member Texas Twister (Drew Daniels).

Marvel Studios could take advantage of Alberta’s growing film and television production industry (alongside the Canadian dollar and tax incentives) as the Canadian city could double for many western American terrain. Alberta was used for Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, The Revenant, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Little Big Man, Shanghai Noon, Brokeback Mountain, Legends of The Fall, Let Him Go, and Predator 5.