Tag: Department H

Posted on in Features

Marvel Should Tackle ‘The Invaders’ In A Project Set During WWII or The Cold War

Yesterday, it was revealed by Deadline that Chris Evans was nearing a deal to reprise Steve Rogers aka Captain America in a small supporting role (similar to Robert Downey Jr. in Spider-Man: Homecoming) for an undisclosed MCU project. They also mention Evans might be returning for second thing, possibly a film but didn’t reveal what that could be either.

There are a couple of obvious options such as old Steve Rogers becoming a mentor to Sam Wilson in Captain America 4 as he takes over the mantle. Also, seeing what Steve was up to while hiding between Captain America: Civil War to Avengers: Infinity War, not unlike where Black Widow takes place in the MCU timeline. There is the multiple years between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, I’m sure there would still be threats in the wake of Thanos’ snap.

There is another option to add. Thanks to Avengers: Endgame, that Steve was able to go back in time to be with Peggy Carter and stayed there starting in 1948 just when The Cold War begins. Steve as an old man ends up handing Sam Wilson the shield at the end of the film and launching the events that will be covered in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

The Multiverse also opens the door to other timelines allowing to them return to WWII.

I think it’s hard to imagine with all the threats surrounding him during that timeline and Peggy Carter’s work at S.H.I.E.L.D. that he doesn’t eventually jump back into the fray between his return and Avengers: Endgame. What would make a lot of sense would be Rogers leading his own team which has previously happened with The Invaders, a group mostly made up of WWII era heroes such as Namor McKenzie aka The Sub-Mariner, Union Jack, Spitfire, the original android version of The Human Torch aka Jim Hammond, Blazing Skull, and multiple other wartime heroes that could get some live-action love.

It’s worth noting that Wyatt Russell’s John Walker aka U.S. Agent, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes have been established members on the roster.

There is another superhero that was kicking around during WWII and The Cold War that has teamed-up with Captain America the comics that could make for another excellent addition to those ranks, that being the Canadian super-soldier Wolverine.

Luckily, since Logan doesn’t really age he can be able to time-hop to various eras of the MCU including something like WWII or even futuristic setting like with Old Man Logan.

Rebooting Wolverine is clearly a huge priority to the studio alongside the X-Men and having the anti-hero connect to various MCU characters beforehand wouldn’t be shocking since he’s, like Steve Rogers, he is part of a super-soldier program via Weapon. When his origin takes places in the MCU doesn’t seem to be set in stone and Marvel can certainly tinker with it to fit their needs but I’d personally like to see him running around WWII without his indestructible skeleton and then get it during The Cold War.

It might be a good idea to introduce Wolverine as a supporting character elsewhere so that he doesn’t dominate the main X-Men films as much. The fictional X-Men locale of Madripoor is going to be introduced in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, which had many fans jump to conclusions that Wolverine is connected to the Disney+ series, although, there hasn’t been credible information backing up these fan desires. However, it becoming a stomping ground for the mutant eventually wouldn’t a surprise.

If they’re genuinely going to bring Chris Evans back I think it is worth considering giving him another period project since while Captain America: The First Avenger canonically takes place during WWII, it felt like they copped-out by limiting how much fighting he did against the actual Axis. The Cold War era could be another fine option as Steve combating the new threat of The Soviet Union during the height of the nuclear arms race feels just as a plausible of a setting for another adventure.

X-Men villain Omega Red could be a good baddie to use as well given his connections to Soviet Union super-soldier experiments.

It’s worth mentioning we’ve previously seen Easter Eggs to canonical members of The Invaders lineup in previous Marvel Studios films.

Union Jack was teased via Iron Man 2 as Joey Chapman was listed as one of the racers going head-to-head with Tony Stark. The Human Torch is seen encased in glass and Namor’s Atlantis was briefly teased in Captain America: The First Avenger at the Stark Expo (blink and you’ll miss the underwater city nod). The S.H.I.E.L.D. boat called The Lemurian Star in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a direct nod to Namor villains The Lemurians, a sign that something nefarious was happening onboard.

I’m sure we’ll start to get confirmation what Evans is actually going to show up in but I think fans are also quite comfortable leaving old Rogers alone as well given his satisfying ending.

Posted on in Features

‘Deadpool 3’ Should Consider Adding These Mutants

Back on Friday, there was finally an update on the status of Deadpool 3 with Marvel Studios moving forward on the sequel by hiring The Molyneux Sisters (Bob’s Burgers) to write the script. Along with it reaffirmed that the project will keep it’s R-rating, which is something that Disney/Marvel brass have been relaying to the press for years now, although, every couple of months it becomes newsworthy again.

I’ve come up with a list of mutants I’d personally like to see in Deadpool 3 and that would fit this R-rated corner of the MCU very nicely. The rating should discourage Marvel from trying to cram the main X-Men lineup into a violent Deadpool adventure which seems like bad idea when they have access to all these other cool X-Men characters that would fit the mature tone. I still suspect they’re going to allow them to work with a larger budget than the 20th Century Fox films.

Anyways, here is who I’d like to see show up in Deaddpool 3.

PSYLOCKE: Psylocke or Kwannon has a bit of a checkered past as the body of the Japanese woman that Betsy Braddock (sister of Captain Britain) inhabits was once an assassin under the purview of both The Mandarin (as Lady Mandarin) and The Hand/Yakuza. The character is more than weird and I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if they simply go with the Kwannon character instead of the messy body-swap stuff.

Kwannon is sort of more interesting given the connections to The Mandarin (the villain of Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings) and The Hand via Yakuza boss Matsu’o Tsurayaba (Wolverine villain). Having Psylocke start out as a villain for criminal syndicates then redeemed to become a superhero joining the ranks of the X-Men and the more violent X-Force would make for an interesting character reboot since she didn’t even get an origin in X-Men: Apocalypse. Actress Olivia Munn has gone on the record with her frustration with Simon Kinberg and Brian Singer’s lack of knowledge.

Psylocke also has ties to the country of Madripoor which is being introduced in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. The fictional Southeast Asian island nation could become a pivotal locale in future projects like X-Men films or something like Deadpool 3, as I think it’s about time they moved filming outside of Vancouver and explore some more different locations.

It would also be nice to see another Earthbound female Asian character outside of the Shang-Chi franchise kicking some ass in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, I wouldn’t rule-out having her moonlight as an assassin for the Atlas Empire or The Ten Rings. Then again, when Deadpool 3 shoots they’ll have full access to The Hand again.

OMEGA RED: Interestingly enough, Matsu’o Tsurayaba also connects to the next mutant.

Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich aka Omega Red originally had a bigger in Deadpool 2 as there was concept artwork making the rounds suggesting he was going to be a bruiser like The Juggernaut but he did briefly “cameo” in the mutant prison scenes. I’m not sure anyone would have noticed unless has had pointed it out and means the villain could get a second chance in the MCU.

In the comics, Arkady was a failed super-soldier experiment cooked-up by the Soviet Union and is considered to be one of the most dangerous mutants, giving Wolverine a run for his money. He’s worked has muscle for criminal syndicates like The Hand and feels within the wheelhouse of both Wolverine and Deadpool. I’m not shy about my desire to get this character on the big screen.

Since he’s Russian it could be a good excuse to connect him to Colossus’ time there.

X-23: Ryan Reynolds has been desperate to make his Wolverine vs Deadpool film, while Hugh Jackman isn’t likely return to the role anytime soon, Marvel is going to recast the role for the MCU making that a possibility in the future.

There is zero sign that Wolverine will be ready to go for Deadpool 3 but there is an established character they might want to use in the meantime that could make for an excellent surrogate, X-23.

We’ve seen Marvel Studios give second chances to J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson and Jamie Foxx as Electro for their Spider-Man franchise, so there is some hope they could soft-reboot Laura Kinney aka X-23 while keeping Dafne Keen in that role for their X-Men/Deadpool franchises. It’s a bit of stretch to think they’d ask Keen to return but if they’re unable to use the new Wolverine, X-23 would be an excellent surrogate as her origin has already been covered in James Mangold’s Logan and you can fill in the blanks later.

MISTER SINISTER: There had been some suggestions that Sinister was going to be part of the never-made Gambit film starring Channing Tatum and he certainly is an untapped X-Men baddie that Marvel Studios could use for multiple films. He essentially could become the less conflicted than Magneto and take secure reigns as the main villain of the X-Men franchise before they attempt to bring in Apocalypse or others.

You could easily have Sinister, a former human geneticist turned mutant, be one of the people behind “the Workshop” from the first film and we ultimately see what has happened to those collared mutants that were sold-off as weapons on the black market. Possibly having him as a puppet master of a character like Sugar Man leading to Sinister being a bigger threat in other X-Men films.

ALPHA FLIGHT: Wade is Canadian and there happens to be Canadian Government sanctioned group of mutant heroes called Alpha Flight that have been long over due for a live-action adaptation. Adding Department H to the MCU could be one way to give a better origin to Wolverine and potentially expand the X-Men universe by including the obscure Canadian mutants. I’ve been championing that Alpha Flight be given their own Disney+ series as there is enough there to deserve a series over a feature film. Wilson is eventually going to get on Department H’s radar and could attempt to recruit him to disastrous results, they’re also goofy enough that they’d add to the comedic nature of the film.

CABLE & DOMINO: I’m still of the belief that Marvel will ultimately keep actors like Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz in their respective franchise roles while potentiality giving their character designs a soft-reboot to look a little more like their comic book counterparts. They’re lower on the list because I think it’s less of a worry that they’ll get tossed. Although, hiring new actors wouldn’t be shocking given that Marvel can replace them if they chose to do so.

There are now plenty of examples of actors playing dual roles in the MCU and having Brolin return to the Cable part after playing Thanos wouldn’t be the strangest move they could make.

I’m sure we’ll start learning more about Deadpool 3 once Marvel Studios does an official panel for it.