MCU Megathread

[CaptHayfever]

Spoilery confirmation about the live-action Disney+ shows today:

Spoiler.

They're set post-Endgame. Yes, even Loki's show.

We're halfway through Cloak & Dagger S2.
Agents of SHIELD S6 premieres next week.
Far From Home opens in almost exactly 2 months.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[ScottyMcGee]

WHOOO

I saw Endgame yesterday.

Whoa, buddy.

So much to unpack here.

Spoiler.

My first question/point of discussion is how the time travel works.

From what I understand, there is now an alternate universe without a Thanos, Nebula, and Gamora. The Avengers went back in time to get the power stone from Morag. But then Thanos found out about their plan and went to their future. But the way the time travel works is not that timelines are "rewritten" à la Back to the Future; rather, an alternate universe is created. With past Thanos defeated along with past Nebula, and Gamora (assumed?) to have run off again, THAT past they left behind now exists as an offshoot without those characters.

THAT is how I understand it.

The question now comes at the very end with Cap. Does the movie trip over its own logic? The way I assumed it worked was that Cap went back in time to put the stones back and then be with Peggy. Then when she died of old age, he went forward in time again to his own parallel universe. But the problem with that is that it's assumed you need to come back via the quantum tunnel, which he didn't - he just appeared there as an old man waiting for them to find him. So does this mean there was another Cap behind the scenes the entire time? How does---what---I don't know. That wouldn't make sense either because this movie follows the alternate universe theory of time travel. Cap wouldn't be in that timeline anymore - he would be in a new timeline where he made the choice to be with Peggy.

I was slightly disappointed that Nick Fury wasn't present when Tony died. I thought that the guy who hired him and started the Avengers should have been there. In fact, we didn't see Nick Fury in the final battle at all (Did we? There was a lot of **** going on so maybe I blinked and missed it?). I would have thought he'd come in with the helicarrier or something.

I also was disappointed at Hulk's story. I was expecting him to return to the old Hulk in the final battle. My theory for why he couldn't turn into the Hulk in Infinity War was that his Hulk personae was afraid of Thanos, because Thanos was the only villain to beat him. In here, we get this Smart Hulk hybrid and I thought the storyline was going to go to a certain place where he overcame his fear of Thanos and returned to the good old Hulk.

You know what actually killed me the most? It wasn't Iron Man dying or Cap returning to Peggy. It after the end credits when you heard Tony making the Iron Man suit from the 2008 film. THAT killed me. It's so simple - just those dull clangs, and it warped me back to 2008 when I entered college and the MCU just started. It was a real tearjerker for me, man. It's also somewhat fitting that this is the one MCU movie without a post-credits scene.

EDIT: I'm suffering from ALL THE FEELS right now because it just occurred to me that I saw the first Iron Man movie way back exactly 10 years ago on DVD in my dorm with the girl who would much later become my now-girlfriend. And we saw the end together too. Oh man. This whole thing gives me so many feels. Like I never thought I'd say that I "grew up" with something even after I became 18. You usually say you "grew up" with something like Harry Potter when you were kids, or like with Toy Story or some other thing you read/watched as a child. But even though I started watching the MCU when I was 19 onward, it still feels like I "grew up" with these movies.

[CaptHayfever]

^Re: your question:

Spoiler.

Yes, there is now an alternate universe without Thanos, Gamora, or Nebula.
Likewise, there is now another alternate universe where Steve reunited with Peggy a few years after the war. He then warped back to his original universe at the end, since Peggy had already passed on by then anyway.

Of course, I prefer to pretend that everything is a stable time loop other than Loki's escape.

Speaking of spoilers, Tom "Spoilers" Holland himself warns us about them at the start of this new Far From Home trailer, & he's not kidding:

Spoiler.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[ScottyMcGee]

^Re: your question:

Spoiler.

Yes, there is now an alternate universe without Thanos, Gamora, or Nebula.
Likewise, there is now another alternate universe where Steve reunited with Peggy a few years after the war. He then warped back to his original universe at the end, since Peggy had already passed on by then anyway.

Of course, I prefer to pretend that everything is a stable time loop other than Loki's escape.

Speaking of spoilers, Tom "Spoilers" Holland himself warns us about them at the start of this new Far From Home trailer, & he's not kidding:

Spoiler.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Spoiler.

Someone sort of kind of actually answered my question about Cap's return as an old man. I totally forgot that Cap and Iron Man zipped to 1970 using their suits without the need for the launchpad. So the assumption is that you don't always need the launchpad to go through time. Even still, I guess it's just a bit confusing then why they act as though the launchpad is the only way back at the end. I'm going to rewatch it tomorrow actually.

[CaptHayfever]

In not-MCU-but-still-Disney-owned-Fox-Marvel news:
--Surprising no one, Channing Tatum's Gambit has been completely removed from the Fox production schedule. (They hadn't even started the script yet, so whatever.)
--Likewise, New Mutants has been delayed again, this time with its release set for April 3rd of next year. Next year's MCU releases are almost certainly Black Widow & Eternals, so this delay is probably just to do with the ordered reshoots not having started yet.
--Three "untitled" Fox Marvel releases have been dropped from the production schedule as well.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

Kevin Feige did a surprise Reddit AMA today. He did not answer my question. He did however confirm that

Spoiler.

there are plans to revisit the Ten Rings & the Mandarin, following up on the surprise reveal of "All Hail the King"

which feeds the rumor that

Spoiler.

the Mandarin will be the villain of Shang-Chi.

In other news, Netflix is starting to tease season 3 of Jessica Jones, so it's probably no more than a couple more months out. Maybe June or late-July? Surely they wouldn't open it against Spidey in early July.


Meanwhile, we still have:
3 more episodes of C&D S2,
12 more episodes of AoS S6, &
51 more days until Far From Home.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[ScottyMcGee]

Kevin Feige did a surprise Reddit AMA today. He did not answer my question. He did however confirm that

Spoiler.

there are plans to revisit the Ten Rings & the Mandarin, following up on the surprise reveal of "All Hail the King"

which feeds the rumor that

Spoiler.

the Mandarin will be the villain of Shang-Chi.

See. . .

Spoiler.

I'm really bummed out that RDJ Iron Man never got to REALLY face the Mandarin. I always expressed my discontent with Iron Man 3 because of what they did with the Mandarin. I grew up reading the Iron Man comics and was pumped for when he'd face off against his nemesis. When I first saw Iron Man 3 trailer I was like "YES FINALLY THIS IS GONNA BE SICK".

Lots of my friends loved Iron Man 3 and pointed out the outdated/racist implication with the villain "The Mandarin" - which, okay, I get it. Red Scare and the fear of China at the time. Yeah. Okay. But at the same time you can have a non-white villain and not be racist about it. They pushed away the possibility of recreating a non-white villain in favor of a white villain and for some reason everybody was okay with it - and that's because the movie was good. I don't think people care about these things unless the movie were to truly suck. Same thing with Star Trek: Into Darkness. Khan was originally Sikh but then replaced by whitey mcwhite bendy cucumberman. Thanks, I hate it. They could have made the Mandarin truer to the comics but not be racist about it and also not refer to him strictly as "The Mandarin" either. For example, we all know Anne Hathaway was Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises but she was never actually referred to as "Catwoman" in the movie.

And that's the end of that rant.

[CaptHayfever]

^Considering the Iron Man films were all thematically about militarism,

Spoiler.

a real, magic-using Mandarin would've just undermined things, whereas the fake Mandarin fit the themes perfectly. He'll go great in Shang-Chi, though.

News: The Falcon & the Winter Soldier has a director, and in addition to Mackie & Stan, it will also co-star Daniel Bruhl (Helmut Zemo) & Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter/Agent 13).

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

Jessica Jones season 3 is officially on Netflix's release schedule for June, albeit with no exact date listed yet.

The S2 finale of Cloak & Dagger is next week. This week's episode had a reference to Luke Cage that helped cement the timeline better, too.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

We've got that exact date (& teaser) for Jessica's finale now: June 14th.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

I don't usually go in for reporting rumors, but this one comes from the ONLY leaker who was right about Endgame:
As we already know, Tom Holland is contracted for a full Spidey solo trilogy, so he's got at least one more movie left. A lot of people who don't get how optics work have been pushing for Deadpool to show up in Spidey 3. This isn't that, but he confirmed two things based on it...
1) Deadpool will NOT show up in mainline MCU films, only his own solo pieces (just like with the old X-Films).
2) Sony really wants Tom Hardy as Venom in Spidey 3, because they have learned NOTHING from their past two failures of shoving extra things into Spider-Man sequels against the production teams' wishes.

In not-rumor news, Black Widow began filming today in Norway.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

Last night was the chair-clenching S2 finale of Cloak & Dagger.
Next week, SHIELD is off for the NBA finals, which is convenient because I'll be out of town.
The following week, SHIELD returns and the last season of Jessica Jones drops.
Then it's just 3 more weeks after that until Far From Home opens & the Infinity Saga concludes.
Season 6 of SHIELD lasts until August 9th, but after that we're on another drought, probably until Runaways S3 (or maybe New Warriors).

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

Mindy Kaling has been talking with Marvel about a Ms. Marvel adaptation. (Kaling obviously wouldn't play Kamala herself.)

SHIELD is back tomorrow.
Jessica Jones S3 drops tomorrow too.
Far From Home opens in 3 weeks.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[March]

Spoiler.

Can they leave FitzSimmons alone?

[CaptHayfever]

^I know, right?

Endgame is currently only $40 million away from taking Avatar's crown as top-grossing film ever (without adjusting for inflation). Unfortunately, it's losing steam & losing screens, looking as though it will fall just short of that record. Sorry, guys.

The good news is that Jessica Jones S3 is very good, so the Netflix sub-franchise is going out strong.

Next week is the halfway point of SHIELD S6.
The week after that is the opening of Far From Home.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

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Spoiler.

Endgame will be re-released next weekend with bonus material at the end. Screw you, James Cameron.

[CaptHayfever]

Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out...today, actually. Enjoy!

The Endgame re-release made a nice little splash; Marvel is now only $23 million short of Avatar's record, in less than a third of the time (10 weeks vs 34 weeks).

Speaking of non sequiturs, the other day Kevin Feige said that he can't say anything about the possibility of the Defenders-franchise characters popping up on the big screen, at least not until Netflix's contractually-mandated 2 years of exclusivity expires.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

Anybody have thoughts on Far From Home?

Spoiler.

Ok, so OBVIOUSLY Mysterio turned out to be lying, because that's who the freaking character is. But the illusion sequences were absolutely incredible! The Spidey-sense gauntlet at the end was really something special.
I also really enjoyed how MJ was fleshed out in this one.

As for twists that actually surprised me:

Spoiler.

O hai Talos.
It looks like the real Fury is up in space right now* founding SWORD. But how long has he been there?
Mysterio's death video was a shocker too, but...o hai J.K. Simmons!

*by "right now" I mean "in the year 2024, which is now the present-day of the MCU; Agents of SHIELD is now playing catchup"

Meanwhile, Black Widow has moved on to its 3rd major filming location.
We have 5 more episodes of Agents of SHIELD S6.
No premiere date yet for Runaways S3, but rumor mill says Cloak & Dagger will finally appear for their canonical crossover (even though the show is so far off track from what they should be doing right now, ugh....). We'll see how that scrambles the timeline (it can't much, other than moving C&D from 2015 to 2017).

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Calamity Panfan]

I enjoyed Far From Home a lot!

Spoiler.

I think Homecoming is overall a superior film, but the Spidey-Mysterio illusion sequence just might be my favorite action sequence in the entire MCU. It's absolutely stunning and outside of Doctor Strange I don't think there have been many sequences that have been THAT visually mesmerizing.

Tom Holland continues to be the perfect Peter Parker. His entire conflict between wanting to be a normal kid and his obligations as Spider-Man was very well-sold. He and Zendaya have FANTASTIC chemistry as Peter and MJ. It's difficult not to smile whenever they're both on screen.

While I complimented the Mysterio-Spidey illusion sequence, I do think the big battle was a little TOO overwrought and the stuff with Spidey and the drones was sometimes so dizzying it gave me a headache.

I'm not sure if I liked Jake Gyllenhaal in his role or not. At times he seemed inspired and other times he seemed to be going through the motions. I dunno.

I popped HARD for J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson at the end. Especially because they're doing the "JJJ as Alex Jones Infowars" thing that worked so well in the PS4 Spider-Man game. I'm excited to see Simmons do that for a longer time in the next movie.

The Skrull/Fury twist at the end was crazy. I'm very interested in seeing where it goes and what it means for the next Phase. What's all announced so far? Black Widow/Doctor Strange 2/Black Panther 2/Captain Marvel 2/GotG3/Shang-Chi? I'm down. Obviously with the cosmic implications Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and GotG3 could all be huge.

[CaptHayfever]

What's all announced so far? Black Widow/Doctor Strange 2/Black Panther 2/Captain Marvel 2/GotG3/Shang-Chi?

CM2 technically isn't announced yet (but it's totally gonna happen, because duh).
Next year's films are Black Widow (filming now) & The Eternals (filming next), both of which are prequels--one Earth-bound, one cosmic.
2021 is most likely to be Panther 2, Strange 2, & Shang-Chi, because those are all scheduled to film soon.
2022 will probably be GotG 3 (production starts basically the instant Gunn finishes Suicide Squad 2), Spidey 3 (the only confirmed film left), and one more (I'd guess CM2 too).
Nothing has been spoken of for 2023 yet, not even release dates. I'm gonna spitball Ant-Man 3, Avengers 5, & Fantastic Four; rumors are also going around about Blade, Power Pack, & Moon Knight, though.
X-Men is gonna happen, but it's gonna be a few years; they'll want the old X-Films to fade a bit from public consciousness first.

Oh, yeah, I forgot the SDCC news: The next slate of films will be OFFICIALLY announced, and there will be a SHIELD panel. Those are the only MCU presentations; the rest of Marvel's time will be spent on comics, cartoons, & games.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Calamity Panfan]

A Blade MCU movie would be a ton of fun. Assuming they'd have Snipes go back into the role (nobody else can be Blade. Nobody). Of course I also think the success of that movie would also be dependent on how willing the MCU would be on an R-rating (or at least a borderline/SUPER DARK PG-13 like, say, The Dark Knight) for it. Given the critical AND commercial success of Deadpool/Logan for the Fox X-Mean films I wouldn't be surprised to see them give it a chance.

Plus, if all goes well in the initial talks for Blade, you can start talking about the possibility of Del Toro doing work in the MCU. There are obvious concerns that his vision would clash with corporate Marvel like Edgar Wright or others, but if they'd be willing to risk "hard-R Guillermo Del Toro MCU Blade movie with Wesley Snipes" in its possible glory I am ALL THE F*** IN. That's a lot of conjecture though.