Hey Everyone,
Paul here…
The annual D23 Expo was held over the weekend. With major presentations from Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm showcasing high profile projects coming down the pipeline over the next few years. Many fans speculated big reveals for upcoming projects like Fantastic Four or X-Men, like finally revealing the cast for FF or ANY information about Mutants in The MCU and when we can expect the first X-Men related project from Marvel Studios. While major X-Men and Fantastic Four revelations would have certainly been cool, this year‘s Expo did manage to deliver some solid material to get excited about. So sit back and relax because, as usual, World’s Best Media’s here to give you the highlights.
Marvel Studios
Secret Invasion
Out of all the footage of upcoming projects that Marvel released to the public, this trailer got me most exciting. I love Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, so I’m very excited to see a MCU project where he takes center stage. It’s Nick Fury’s very own Miniseries. We see Don Cheadle return as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Colbie Smulders as Maria Hill, and a bunch of other new characters. It looks like a really intense, paranoid thriller and it’s definitely one of my most anticipated projects for 2023. Another interesting tidbit, was the reveal that Secret Invasion leads right into Rhodey’s miniseries Armor Wars, which begins filming soon. So it’ll be really cool to see what the MCU looks like softer Secret Invasion and how that affects Armor Wars.
Werewolf by Night
Marvel’s first Halloween Special, Werewolf By Night, based on the horror comic of the same name is coming to Disney+ this October. It actually look genuinely scary and a little gooey at time, which I love. Anyone else spot Man-Thing in this trailer? That’s a hell a deep cut, but an exciting one!
Echo
Honestly, I have little to no interest in this series. While I thought the character of Maya Lopez/Echo worked fine in Hawkeye, I certainly didn’t think there was anything about the character special or memorable enough to warrant her own Disney+ series . So I was a little surprised that Marvel still intended to move forward with this project. The only aspects of Echo, that make me want to tune in, are Vincent D’Onofrio reprising his role as Wilson Fisk in the series and the heavily rumored, but unconfirmed appearance of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. Plus, I like the idea of the show focusing on Native American culture in The MCU. It’s something we haven’t seen in The MCU yet.
Disney’s official synopsis “The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward.”
The audience was shown some footage from the upcoming series, which hasn’t made its way on line yet. However, those in attendance to see the footage I have reported a few interesting little moments included in the brief sneak peek shown at D 23. With one shot in particular Pekin street from the comics. Last time we saw Wilson Fisk in Maya Lopez together was in the Hawkeye Season (Series?) Finale, where Maya seemingly shot her former mentor, when it was revealed that The Kingpin had been responsible for the death of Maya’s father. A similar confrontation plays out in the comic books, with the injuries Fisk sustained from Maya’s attempted murder leaving him blind. It looks as if Echo will adapt this part of Wilson Fisk’s story. According to people who saw the footage, the show even goes out of its way to directly replicate this memorable image from comics.
Thunderbolts
The line up for Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts movie was revealed, as you can see below…
LUCASFILM (Star Wars & Indiana Jones)
The Mandalorian (Season 3)
Andor
Tales of The Jedi
Besides The Mandalorian Season 3, this is the upcoming Star Wars project I’m most excited for. I love the idea of a Star Wars animated anthology like this. Especially featuring, stories before The Phantom Menace, like Count Dooku before he went to The Dark Side, along with his young padawan Qui Gon-Jin. Even Yaddle makes an appearance. I’m really psyched for this one!
Indiana Jones 5
It’s great to see the famously grumpy and curmudgeonly Harrison Ford show some emotion and excitement. I think this bodes well for those of us hoping for a kick ass Indiana Jones 5! Plus, they have the perfect director to tell an excellent story about an aging iconic hero with James Mangold, whose last film was Logan. This guy knows how to make an action movie about an older hero who’s past his prime and still tell a thrilling, exciting, action-packed, adventure story.
Also, you gotta love the reunion of Indy and Short Round. As great as it would be for Short Round to make an appearance in Indy 5, Ke Huy Quan (whose enjoying a well deserved career renaissance) has joined the cast of Loki for Season 2, which is awesome, and attended the expo to promote the show with his cast mates. But he still had the time to snap this amazing reunion picture with his former costar from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
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-Paul
World’s Best Media 