Tag: Kang The Conqueror

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Avengers 5’: Marvel Studios Officially Fires Kang Actor Jonathan Majors After Guilty Verdict In Assault & Harassment Trial

For months now Disney and Marvel Studios have been walking on eggshells by attempting not to comment or spotlight the legal woes of actor Jonathan Majors, who just yesterday was convicted of reckless assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment. This is from a two-week trial in NYC that stemmed from a March altercation between the Marvel actor and his ex-partner, Grace Jabbari. Sentencing for Majors will take place on February 6, 2024, and will shed light on what kind of consequences he’ll be seeing for his actions.

Within hours of the verdict being announced trades like The Hollywood Reporter learned that the studio had finally decided to drop Majors from his contract and sever their ties with him for future MCU projects. Majors had been playing multiple variants of the Multiverse Saga villain, Kang The Conqueror, and was expected to become a rather key aspect of both “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” as well. The quickness of the announcement was more than likely prepared months in advance and the studio had just been waiting for the trial’s outcome to make the firing public.

Kang had been mostly confined to variant appearances on two seasons of the Disney+ series “Loki” and played the main villain of “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania,” the latter project not exactly supported by either critics or audiences. Recently there have been some creative hiccups on the next project said to feature Kang as Jeff Loveness (“Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania”) reportedly exited as the screenwriter on “Avengers 5” with fellow “Rick & Morty” writer Michael Waldron (“Loki,” “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness”) stepping in to do rewrites on the script after being previously assigned to “Secret Wars” too. This coming around the same time as director Destin Daniel Cretton also left the “Avengers” pic to focus on his “Wonder Man” series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Watchmen,” “Aquaman 2”) and a gestating sequel to “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” led by Simu Liu (“Barbie”).

It’s clear “Avengers 5” is getting an overall but what that will look like isn’t being revealed officially and we’re still going to have to wait for more concrete details on how much they’re actually changing.

What remains unclear is what Marvel is expected to do about the character of Kang and if they’ll simply recast, given the Multiverse villain has many variants (“Loki” has established that variants can both look like the original character or completely different) allowing for a brand new actor to be placed in the Kang role without much narrative headaches. General audiences likely didn’t get too attached to Majors as Kang after the underwhelming reactions to “Ant-Man 3.” Plenty of names have been thrown around online as potential wishlist replacements such as Oscar-winner Denzel Washington (“Gladiator 2,” “The Equalizer 3”), his son John David Washington (“Tenet,” “The Creator”), John Boyega (“They Cloned Tyrone,” “Star Wars”), Damson Idris (“Snowfall”), and many others. Using the villain’s other variant aliases like Rama-Tut or Immortus could also be a way to distance themselves from using the Kang name alongside retitling the next “Avengers” installment.

Pedro Pascal is expected to play the variant of Reed Richards in “Fantastic Four” after we saw John Krasinski play him as the Earth-838 incarnation in “Doctor Strange 2.” So, Marvel isn’t above recasting these parts and the Multiverse gives them a narrative excuse to do it. We saw a backlash against Marvel’s choice not to recast T’Challa for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” after the sudden death of star Chadwick Boseman due to a private battle with colon cancer, which might have been understandable from a grief perspective among the director, cast, and crew. What I don’t think fans want to see is the erasure of black characters becoming a trend within the MCU and finding another actor doesn’t seem like that much of an ask since the Multiverse angle gives the studio a lot of wiggle room.

Loki Season 2 Ending Explained | The Direct

“Loki” Season 2 also just wrapped up and the ending of the series downplayed the 616/Majors version of Kang allowing for them to pivot to a new variant/actor or simply find another villain altogether, given Loki‘s renewed popularity having him potentially meddling with the Multiverse with his new gig at the TVA might be another way to go here.

Some online have convinced themselves that Marvel is going to “pivot from Kang The Conqueror” entirely to focus on a character like “Fantastic Four” baddie Doctor Doom because he had been an antagonist in a more recent comic incarnation of “Secret Wars.” However, given that the “Fantastic Four” reboot hasn’t even been established it feels odd that the studio would be rushing Doom to shoehorn him into two “Avengers” installments before he’s been properly fleshed out in the “Fantastic Four” films. While many still look to the comics for what might end up happening in the MCU, the studio isn’t exactly known for making one-to-one adaptations of the source material they ultimately do their own thing. It’s worth noting that we still don’t have official confirmation that Doom is even showing up or being cast for the Matt Shakman-directed reboot, Doom’s involvement has only been speculation going back to when the project was first announced by the studio and previous rumors of his involvement in other MCU projects didn’t pan-out.

Before the merger, Noah Hawley (“Legion”) had been quietly developing a solo “Doctor Doom” film for 20th Century Fox but seemingly has moved on with the latest season of “Fargo” and production on his Earthbound “Alien” series at FX/Hulu set to resume in the new year.

🔥 The Avengers #148 9.6 CGC White Pages George Perez Squadron Supreme Iron Man | eBay

There are villain surrogate options for Marvel besides Doom such as “X-Men” Multiverse villain Mojo, who on the Fox Kids animated series (being continued via “X-Men ’97” on Disney+) kidnaps the X-Men forcing the team of mutants to appear on his interdimensional TV station in Mojoverse/Mojo World as a massive boost to their ratings. A plot point that could be easily applied to the MCU version of Battleworld given that the “X-Men” are expected to be coming to the MCU after the events of “Deadpool 3” which is said to involve a Multiverse/TVA angle to it.

In my personal opinion, a group of Multiverse villains perfectly suited for these next two installments would be The Squadron Supreme. Not only do they originate directly from the Multiverse in the pages of “Avengers” comics but including them may remove the need for variant/cameo overloads as Marvel’s version of Justice League would be a compelling pack of antagonists for our heroes to go toe-to-toe with and wouldn’t need to be explored beyond the two event pics. Allowing for some slightly more self-contained threats that don’t need to be established over time in a dozen other projects.

Marvel has yet to announce a director for either “Avengers 5” or “Avengers: Secret Wars,” but the current assumption is that we could end up seeing whoever is hired for one to shoot both films. The next film is slated to be released on May 1, 2026, but we won’t hold our breath that it sticks to that date.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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 Film News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Ant-Man 3’ Filmed At The White Pocket Trail In Arizona

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, aka, Ant-Man 3 is currently shooting in the London area with a cast that includes Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet, and Jonathan Majors playing the villain big bad, Kang The Conqueror.

We can now share another filming location for the Marvel Studios pic.

The Ronin has exclusively learned that the sequel spent time filming in Arizona at the White Pocket Trail, however, unlikely involved any cast members as it look place months before filming had officially started at Pinewood Studios UK in July.

What exactly the footage is going to be used for is unclear, but you could easily imagine it being used for the Quantum Realm or even an alien planet. The area is gorgeous and might have been shot for plates, perhaps, for Pinewood’s version of The Volume.

Director Peyton Reed confirmed they would be using The Volume on the next Ant-Man installment and he previously worked with the fantastic technology from Industrial Light & Magic during the shoot on Season 2 of The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm.

Back in April, we first reported that a portion of filming would be returning to San Francisco, which was later confirmed by local postings.

The superhero film’s impressive crew is expected to consist of production designer Will Htay (No Time To Die, Rogue One, Solo, Andor), cinematographer Bill Pope (The Matrix Trilogy, Shang-Chi Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy, Alita: Battle Angel), second unit director Dan DeLeeuw (Eternals, Avengers: Endgame), and costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ (Eternals, Jurassic World: Dominion, Ant-Man, X-Men: First Class, Hellboy II: The Golden Army).

There have been signs the next installment will be much bigger in scope than the previous two movies and having Kang’s true introduction will likely be part of that. It’ll be interesting to see if the Quantum Realm and the Multiverse will intersect.

Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, is currently shooting at Longcross Studios (recently used for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness) in Surrey, England and the Secret Invasion series also began shooting in the area with an expectation to spend time in Scotland.

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

Posted on in Film News, News

Could Dan Levy Be Joining ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’?

The MCU might be adding another Canadian actor.

Asma Khan has posted a pic on Twitter of actors Paul Rudd and Emmy-winner Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek enjoying a meal at her London restaurant, Darjeeling Express.

Is there a chance that Levy is joining Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania?

There are examples of these hang-outs signaling potential roles.

This normally wouldn’t be worth noticing, however, we saw Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi hanging out with Russell Crowe in Sydney only for the actor to confirm he is playing Zeus in Thor: Love & Thunder.

Benedict Wong was also spotted with Simu Liu at a restaurant in Australia and he’s now confirmed to have a major role as his MCU character Wong in Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.

Director Peyton Reed has an affection for comedians previously giving cameos to Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington in past Ant-Man installments. Dan Levy, like Simu Liu, both had hit comedy shows on Canadian network CBC meaning that Marvel Studios/casting team are aware of those shows. The popularity of Schitt’s Creek skyrocketed before it’s final season.

Levy has teased an openness to play mutant and Alpha Flight member Northstar on Twitter.

This is just speculation and could be simply two friends hanging out. However, Levy seemingly doesn’t have anything shooting in London and interacting with Rudd would suggest the two are potentially in the same bubble (it’s expected Marvel cast members are sticking with people from the set to avoid spreading COVID-19).

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania has finally started shooting at Pinewood UK Studios under the working title Dust Bunny and we’ll see Jonathan Majors playing the film’s big villain, Kang The Conqueror. The evil variant of Majors’ Loki character He That Remains and is expected to become the next Thanos, being an antagonist in multiple MCU movies.

The rest of the cast includes Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The sequel will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRfRtJciK22/

SOURCE: ASMA KHAN/DAN LEVY

Posted on in Film News

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ Director Peyton Reed Announces Filming Has Finally Started; Plus First Set Photo

2021 will see one of the largest group of MCU movies shot as Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home wrapped earlier this year. Stuff such as Thor: Love & Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels (Captain Marvel 2), Ant-Man 3, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 will have kicked-off filming.

While we’ve had a few teases that production was underway before this week, it looks like Monday has seen cameras begin to roll on Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (Dust Bunny) and director Peyton Reed posted on Twitter that production has started (spotted by Ant-Man News) but was sadly deleted. It included our first set photo that had Cassie’s ugly rabbit doll in a lab set.

You can check out that post/image from Peyton Reed below.

The cast includes Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jonathan Majors playing the film’s villain Kang The Conqueror (the evil variant of Loki’s He Who Remains).

The title suggests a return to the Quantum Realm and having Kang involved would give the impression that this will be another MCU film that will incorporate The Multiverse, as Loki has introduced audiences to the idea of variants and different universes interacting with each other. Kang and his variants are expected to become the successors to Thanos becoming the MCU’s big bads for years to come.

We previously revealed the film’s production designer is Will Htay and they return to San Francisco to shoot various exterior scenes. Main production is taking place at Pinewood Studios UK and they’ll have access to The Volume/StageCraft that director Peyton Reed previously used on Season 2 of The Mandalorian.

Ant-Man & The Wasp will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

SOURCE: PEYTON REED VIA ANT-MAN NEWS

Posted on in Film News

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ May Have Already Started Shooting In London According To Paul Rudd

As Tom Hiddleston’s Loki series could help introduce audiences to Jonathan Major’s Ant-Man 3 villain Kang The Conqueror, the sequel shooting under the working title Dust Bunny might have already started filming in England.

Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd mentioned on an Instagram post on NFL player Tyreek Hill’s account (spotted by The Direct) that he’s filming the sequel in London (Pinewood Studios UK). Franchise co-star Evangeline Lilly had previously stated on Instagram it would have a July production start, so, it’s possible Paul Rudd meant he’s simply in London to film Ant-Man 3 (actually filming happening later as he doesn’t say it specifically started) or it may have indeed already started production. Either way it’s exciting stuff for Ant-Man fans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQHcrvRhfxb/

SOURCE: TYREEK HILL

Posted on in Television News

‘Loki’: Jonathan Majors Expected To Indeed Appear In The Disney+ Series

Back in December, Senior Entertainment Reporter Brandon Katz of the Observer dropped a juicy rumor on the Post Cred Podcast that Jonathan Majors (Da 5 Bloods, Lovecraft Country), who had been recently cast as Kang The Conqueror in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, was going to be showing-up first in Tom Hiddleston’s Loki series in June.

Well, The Ronin has recently come across similar information independently of Katz/Observer, which would bolster his original claim that we’ll see Jonathan’s MCU introduction in the Disney+ show before the release of Ant-Man 3. However, the size or scope of the appearance has yet to be determined but given the character’s connection to the Time Variance Agency, it could have plot importance to future MCU projects beyond the Ant-Man sequel set to shoot this summer at Pinewood Studios UK.

KC Walsh from Geeks Worldwide also backed up Brandon’s claim back in December.

Last month, Katz outlined in a piece for the Observer how Kang could be introduced in Loki.

The visually-striking show is said to help establish some of the ground rules of The Multiverse, which will be explored again in future releases such as Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and possibly even more. I personally hope that Marvel Studios doesn’t overuse the Multiverse too much as the sci-fi narrative tool could become a storytelling crutch similar to time-travel.

It’s head writer is Michael Waldron (Doctor Strange 2, Rick & Morty) with Kate Herron (Sex Education) directing the episodes as production took place in Atlanta, Georgia.

Loki will debut June 9 on Disney+ with subsequent episodes dropping regularly on Wednesdays.

LOKI – Picking up immediately after Loki steals the Tesseract (again), he finds himself called before the Time Variance Authority, a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space, forced to answer for his crimes against the timeline and given a choice: face deletion from reality or assist in catching an even greater threat.

Posted on in Film News

Peyton Reed’s ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ Coming To Theaters On February 17, 2023

Marvel Studios also revealed the release date for Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania for February 17th, 2023.

The Ant-Man sequel is expected to shoot primarily in the United Kingdom at Pinewood Studios UK under the working title Dust Bunny (via Production Weekly).The Pinewood facility is said to have The Volume, which Peyton Reed got experience using on the two episodes of The Mandalorian he directed for Season 2. As we previously revealed, the production designer will be Will Htay (Andor, No Time To Die, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One, Solo).

The growing cast that consists of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet, Kathryn Newton as the new Cassie Lang, and Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors playing Marvel Comics baddie Kang The Conqueror.

Posted on in Features

Marvel’s Justice League Knock-Off Team Squadron Supreme Could Appear In ‘Eternals’ Sequels or ‘Secret Wars’

Marvel Studios has been recently tapping into their obscure roster of heroes with a feature film based on Jack Kirby’s god-like superhero heroes the Eternals on the horizon this fall from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao and Taiki Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder introducing The Olympians via Russell Crowe’s Zeus appearing in the sequel.

Another group of obscure heroes from Marvel Comics that could be ready to the make the jump to the big screen is The Squadron Supreme. The team includes a heap of characters that are a cheeky pastiche of DC Comics’ Justice League such as Hyperion, Nighthawk, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Thundra, Whizzer, Amphibian, Tom Thumb, Golden Archer, Lady Lark, and Arcanna.

A version of Hyperion’s origin in the comic has him being part of the Eternals and could see them join sequels as another sect that may have alternative motivations. Another way to get them into Eternals sequels could have Squadron Supreme retrofitted into The Olympians (cosmic versions of Greek gods from the realm of Olympus), who have a conflict with Eternals that could be explored in future installments. Some of the Squadron Supreme’s power-sets are meant to mimic Greek/Roman gods already, so having them the children of an older generation of Olympians could be a way to explain them without having to give everyone on the team an Earthbound origin.

With director Chloe Zhao’s Oscar wins over the weekend there is a good shot that Marvel Studios will attempt to secure her for at least two more Eternals movies. Having The Olympians and Squadron Supreme part of that franchise could help introduce those characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading to various spinoff shows and movies.

We could see the Eternals movie attempt to explain things like Atlantis, Olympians, and even the origin of the mutant gene that will eventually give us the X-Men.

The Multiverse could easily be another way to bring them into the MCU as they were originally introduced in the Avengers comics as The Squadron Sinister, a villain group created by The Grandmaster (played by Jeff Goldblum) that was pitted against The Avengers in some game with Kang The Conqueror (played Jonathan Majors) siding with the heroes.

They could also be pulled-out of the Multiverse by Kang or Grandmaster for a giant event like Secret Wars. The Russo Brothers have suggested that Secret Wars would be a project that could bring them back to Marvel and they stated last year it could bigger than The Infinity Saga.

 JOE RUSSO: “You know, I read that when I was 10 or 11, and it was the scale of getting all of the heroes together. It was one of the first major books to do that — that was really event-storytelling to me at its finest. And what happens when you put all of those personalities together. I also like the idea of villains having to team up with heroes. Anth and I like complicated relationships between heroes and villains, we like villains who believe they’re heroes in their own stories, so it’s all sort of built into this notion of Secret Wars. To execute something on the scale of Infinity War was directly related to the dream of Secret Wars, which is even larger in scale.”

ANTHONY RUSSO: “It would be the biggest movie you could possibly imagine, so that’s what really excites us about the story — the ambition of it is even bigger than the ambition of the Infinity Saga.”

Loki and What-If…? will be our first true introductions to the Multiverse in 2021 ahead of Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, however, it’s unknown if we’ll see Squadron Supreme will appear in those projects or if they’ll attempt to pull other teams out of the Multiverse such as X-Men. There has been a longtime fan theory that one way Marvel could usher-in mutants is simply bring them in from another Earth in the larger Multiverse, however, as the Loki series seems to establishes that the Time Variance Agency aren’t big fans of people tinkering with timelines. However, Kang seems to be an exception and could get his hands on the Squad to use against the Avengers, potentially in a Secret Wars event.

Another way to go is having them become a cosmic team assembled by multiple alien planets to combat future Thanos-level threats and they could bump into The Guardians of The Galaxy in a fourth film. However, James Gunn has stated he’ll be ending his run on the franchise with Guardians of The Galaxy 3 and the Disney+ Holiday Special, it’s unclear if Marvel Studios will continue the franchise without him.

Plenty of options for Squadron Supreme outside of their own solo project.

Posted on in Film News

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ Working Title Is ‘Dust Bunny’

Production Weekly has listed the working title of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania as Goat Rodeo, a slang term meant to be used when things go really bad aka a shitshow. Fitting given that Jonathan Majors will be playing the Marvel Comics villain Kang The Conqueror.

UPDATE: Production Weekly seemingly got their wires-crossed as Goat Rodeo is Captain Marvel 2 and Dust Bunny is the working title of the Ant-Man sequel.

A goat rodeo is a slang term for something going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and there’s nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the trainwreck. In other words, a goat rodeo is a chaotic situation, fiasco, or, more vulgarly, a shitshow.

Filming according to actress Evangeline Lilly, will begin sometime this summer.

We can confirm that production is mainly taking place in England and they’ve hired production designer Will Htay (Andor).

Other recent working titles for the Marvel Studio films include Blue Bayou (Black Widow), Sack Lunch (Eternals), Steamboat (Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings), The November Project (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Stellar Vortex (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness), and The Big Salad (Thor: Love & Thunder).

Peyton Reed returns to direct after tackling two episodes of The Mandalorian in it’s second season including it’s finale that featured a de-aged Luke Skywalker.

Marvel/Disney has yet to give the sequel an official release date, even if it’s said to be aiming a for date in 2022.

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY