Black Panther: Wakanda Forever! New Trailer! New Images & More!

Published on October 4, 2022October 4, 2022 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

The Final Trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has just dropped and this looks like one hell of an exciting film! In addition to the new trailer, which you can check out below, Wakanda Forever is introducing quite a few new characters and concepts into The MCU. With the movie’s release fast approaching, it seemed like a good idea to give you all a much better look at two of the new characters making their MCU debut in the film: Namor The Submariner and Riri William a.k.a. Iron Heart. In this article, we dive into how these exciting new characters affect the world of Wakanda, as well as the rest of The MCU. But first, watch the new trailer, right here:

As we’ll get into later in the article, to bring the character of Namor and his world to life, South American culture and mythology were huge influences for the filmmakers when it came to costumes, set design and more in the new film. Something you can see on display in the beautiful image below. Them gorgeous cover for this month’s issue of the excellent Empire Magazine, features (from left to right) Queen Ramonda, Shuri, and Namor.

NAMOR: THE SUBMARINER

Namor is one of Marvel’s oldest characters. Often featured in comics fighting alongside Captain America in WWII. He’s basically Marvel’s Aquaman, if Aquaman were a massive asshole who blurred the line between hero and villain.

Like Aquaman, Namor is usually portrayed as the King of Atlantis. However, in Wakanda Forvever, while Atlantis still exists, Namor (played by Tenoch Huerta) will be the king of a different lost undersea kingdom called Talocan from Aztec mythology. This change takes nothing from the character, while adding a whole lot of potential. The filmmakers have created the opportunity for Namor himself, set design, costumes, VFX, and more to be inspired by Mesoamerican and South American mythology. From what we’ve seen in trailers and photos released from the film. The costume design and visuals for Namor, his people, and his kingdom, have looked spectacular. Wakanda was so richly and beautifully brought to life for these films, so it’s only appropriate that they attempt to do the same thing with Wakanda and Black Panther’s South American, antagonistic, counterpart. This has the added benefit of helping Namor stand out against the already successful and well established big screen version of Aquaman over at DC. We’ve already had a very successful Aquaman film with it’s own unique visual language, and by adding these beautiful flares to Namor’s world, it helps differentiate the two characters.

Namor and T’Challa arguably have one of, if not, the greatest rivalries in The Marvel Universe. The characters have a long history of animosity and bad blood, which is just another reason it’s a shame that we won’t see T’Challa appear in this film.

Until recently, it was unclear if one major part of Namor’s backstory would be translated into The MCU. However, it was recently revealed by Namor himself, actor Tenoch Huerta, that like his comic book counterpart, the Namor of The MCU is a Mutant. In the comics, Namor has often been referred to as one of “the first mutants”. His mother was Atlantean and his father was human, who passed the X-Gene on to him. Atlantean’s are already born with enhanced abilities from evolving at the ocean depths. The combination of his Atlantean heritage and his mutation, make Namor extremely powerful character with abilities far beyond those of normal Atlanteans. Namor is without question one of the heavy hitters of The Marvel Universe. Anybody who can go one on one with The Hulk is not to be taken lightly.

RIRI WILLIAMS: IRON HEART

Namor isn’t the only new character to make their debut in Wakanda Forever, Riri Williams a.k.a. Iron Heart (played by Dominique Thorne)will also apppear in the film, with her own Disney+ show to follow. A much more recent addition to The Marvel Universe, the character was created by Brian Michael Bendis in the pages of Invincible Iron Man. Riri is a teenage prodigy and a genius on par with Tony Stark or Shuri. While attending MIT, she reverse engineered the Iron Man armor and build her own armor out of materials taken from the MIT campus. She’s mentored by characters like Pepper and goes on to team up with other young heroes like Kamala Kahn’s Ms Marvel and Miles Morales.

A brief glance at the Iron Heart armor from the new trailer

She was shown briefly in the 1st trailer for Wakanda Forever, working alongside Shuri in her lab. There are a few quick shots in this new trailer, showing her working own her suit and flying into battle. Considering that the character is from Chicago in the comics, I suspect she’ll have begun working with Shuri through one of the Wakanda Outreach Programs T’Challa implemented at the end of the first Black Panther. Below we have the best look yet at the Iron Heart armor Riri will be wearing in the movie. Like a lot of superhero movie/TV reveals, this one came from promotional material for toys connected to the movie. You’d be surprised how often we get our first look at major comic book characters on film through toy advertisements.

Here’s Marvel’s official synopsis for Wakanda Forever: In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as , king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters November 11th

Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017, and our Facebook Page, Worlds Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for the podcast, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul

PODCAST: COMIC-CON 2020, Black Panther, Life Philosophy, & More

Published on August 11, 2022August 11, 2022 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

On this episode, Mike Cole returns to The World’s Best Podcast as we discuss the biggest news to come out of COMIC-CON 2022! Among the many topics touched upon in this episode, Mike and I pick out our favorite trailers and chat about some of the other major announcements made at COMIC-CON. Along the way, we have an in depth discussion about Black Panther and the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. We offer up several different view points and give our conclusions regarding the question: Should Marvel have re-cast the role of T’Challa after Boseman’s tragic death? Plus, we ponder some the greatest and most profound of life’s philosophical questions! All this and so much more on The World’s Best Podcast!

We also want to recommend Mike Cole’s new podcast, Talking About The Big Stuff with Michael Cole! Available on all of the apps where you listen to your podcasts including iTunes and Spotify, to name a few. I’ll be making a a guest appearance on the show in the coming weeks, sos start tuned! Thanks for listening and enjoy!

Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/50754612 Or…

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?i=1000571645076

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3n9xCzxTHoew6cHMK6ZPS1?si=1bST5eM-SqetphcZBQj9Ng

Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?c=sharelink&af_dp=stitcher://episode/205316335&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/205316335&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/205316335

We’d love to hear your feedback about anything discussed on the show! What had you most excited from this year’s COMIC-CON? Do you think Marvel should have re-cast Black Panther or not? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017, and our Facebook Page, Worlds Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for the podcast, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul

Who Will Be THE NEW AVENGERS?

Published on August 7, 2022August 10, 2022 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

When The Infinity Saga came to a close, The MCU began premiering new movies and Disney+ projects as part of Phase 4. One the biggest questions left unanswered for fans, was the status of The Avengers. With Tony, Steve, and Natasha gone, was there even a team anymore? If so, who was on it? As we’re heading into the end of Phase 4, the films and Disney+ shows have made it pretty clear that The Avengers are still very much a staple of The MCU. We’ve just been left in the dark about some of the details. Now that the team will be officially assembling again with not one, but two new Avengers movies on the horizon, who will make up the New Avengers roster? I thought it would be fun to try to answer that question. These picks include, characters that I think Marvel Studios will likely want on the team, some less obvious, but potentially interesting inclusions, as well as some personal favorites that I’d like to see pop up. We would love to hear your thoughts, so please leave your ideal Avengers roster in the comments below! Anyway, let’s get into it…

The New Avengers

Captain America (Sam Wilson) & The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)

You can’t have The Avengers without Cap and Sam Wilson has shown he’s more than worthy of the mantle. The team also needs someone to fill the leadership role left by Steve (but I think there are a couple of other worthy candidates for team leaders as you’ll see below). When it comes to Bucky, he and Cap are a package deal (whether Cap is Steve or Sam) and frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Shang-Chi

This one’s a no brained for a couple of reasons. In the marketing for Shang-Chi, the trailers would often say something along the lines of “Get ready for the next Avenger.”. Marvel has always had big plans for this character. Plus the director of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, Destin Daniel Cretton, is also directing the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. So this one’s pretty much a lock.

Captain Marvel

The Avengers need a powerhouse and Carol Danvers certainly fits the bill. She’s another character I could see filling the leadership vacuum in the absence of Cap and Tony. She also has another movie on the way with The Marvels premiering next year.

Ant-Man

Who would have thought that Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man would become such an integral part of The MCU? Compared to some other characters on the list, Scott Lang is a veteran Avenger at this point. Going up against Kang The Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will make him even more important to The Avengers and The MCU.

Hulk, She-Hulk, or Both

If I had to pick one Hulk that I think Marvel would want to use, it’d be She-Hulk, which would be fine by me. I like the character a lot and I think her new show looks really cool. But one thing we’re missing from this line up, is a scientific genius, so the team needs Bruce Banner. The more Hulk’s the better I always say!

Spider-Man

Tom Holland’s continued role in The MCU is a bit of question mark, but his participation as an Avengers in the Multiverse spanning, Secret Wars, is damn near guaranteed.

Wong

The team needs a big time magic user and Wong is Sorcerer Supreme, after all. It should also be noted that Wong has taken a very proactive role in keeping an eye on the major events and players in Phase 4. Hell, Wong has basically been the Nick Fury of Phase 4. So far he’s already made major appearances in Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, and She-Hulk. He’s even seen as a part of mini-Avengers alongside Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner in the Shang-Chi post-credits scene.

Doctor Strange

While many fans saw Dr.Stephen Strange as the natural choice to take up an active leadership role within The Avengers, Marvel recently came out and said that he’s technically not even on the team, let alone one of it’s leaders. Having said that, obviously Doctor Strange is going to be one the main characters in any Avengers film. Doctor Strange is a key character in Secret Wars particularly. Strange and Wong are the mystical Stark and Rhodey.

Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

C’mon he’s a founding Avengers! The Avengers have never lost a battle where Hawkeye was present. He can definitely play both a mentor and leadership role. He’s a clutch member and could be the heart of the team in this new era.

Other Likely Contenders

Without going into too much detail, based on skills, experiences, abilities, and seniority, I think it’s a safe bet that Marvel will include, some or all, of the heroes on The Avengers roster:

Rhodey aka War Machine

Ms Marvel

One of the Eternals?….

Phastos (his power is basically control of technology, a technopath, and the team is out of the big science guy with Tony Stark gone)

My Top Picks To Join The Avengers

Loki

This would be so much fun. At this point Loki has done a complete 180, going from villain to anti-hero to full-blown hero. Loki was the reason The Avengers had to form in the first place! Making him an official member of the team would create so many interesting character and storytelling opportunities. Loki was the first major MCU character to understand the threat that Kang poses to The Multiverse. Much like Banner in the beginning of Infinity War, Loki could show up early in the story to warn the rest of Earth’s protectors of the coming threat.

Daredevil

Daredevil is by far my favorite Marvel superhero and I love that the character has left Netflix purgatory and is poised to become a major player in The MCU. Matt Murdock made his first canonical MCU appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and he’s already confirmed to have major roles in multiple upcoming projects. Including She-Hulk, Echo, the animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year, and his new Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again in 2024. In addition to being one of the best hand-in-hand combatants in the world, he’d also bring some unique abilities and skills to The Avengers. It would be pretty sick to see The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

So which MCU characters do you will make the New Avengers lineup? Do you have a favorite character that you’d love to see on the team? Let us know in the comments below!

-Paul..>t

COMIC-CON 2022!!! Marvel Studios! DC! The Sandman! & Much More!

Published on July 26, 2022July 26, 2022 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwright1 Comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

*EDITOR’S NOTE: A lot of interesting content was revealed at this year’s COMIC-CON, so I’ll be updating this page with new content over the next several days.

Its that time of year and Comic-Con is upon us once again! This the venue where audiences get a sneak peek at some of the most exciting and anticipated projects in the superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy genres. There were quite a few notable announcements, trailers, and first looks, so let’s dive right in!

MARVEL STUDIOS

After The Infinity Saga came to a close, fans have been eager to see where The MCU would go next. The head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Fiege, did not disappoint. As we’re heading towards the end of Phase 4, Marvel debuted the films and Disney+ shows that would make up not only Phase 5, but Phase 6 as well!

As you’ll notice, not all of the films and TV shows that make up Phase 6 have been revealed. Some of these projects could hidden beceause even their title would spoil certain surprises that Marvel has in store. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those spots taken up by sequels for characters like Shang-Chi and Doctor Strange or even an X-Men related project. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a film about the main Marvel Universe version of The Illuminati or even a Doctor Doom solo movie. We’ll have to wait and see. Like The Infinity Saga before it, Phases 4, 5, and 6 will collectively make up…

Culminating in not one, but TWO Avengers films, with monumentally exciting titles…

Exciting stuff, but there’s more MCU where that came from…

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

The 3rd installment in the Ant-Man franchise marks the beginning of Marvel’s Phase 5. The big news in this movie is Jonathan Majors appearing as Kang The Conqueror. When we met He Who Remains, a much nicer variant of Kang, in Loki Season 1, we were warned that his variant’s are dangerous to put it mildly. When it comes to The Avengers’ the greatest foes, three names top the list: Thanos, Ultron, and Kang. Considering that the next Avengers movie is called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, you get the idea that Kang is as bad and as dangerous as they come. Jonathan Majors did a fantastic job of playing a variant of Kang in Loki Season One so I’m very excited to see what he does with a much more malevolent version of the character in this film. Below Marvel revealed an exciting poster for the upcoming movie, where you get a good look at not only Ant-Man and The Wasp, but Kang The Conqueror in his traditional comic book attire, along with Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie as her superhero alter ego, Stature.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3

While some of the Guardians of The Galaxy panel is available to watch on YouTube, the brief teaser James Gunn cut together for the audience in Hall H , hasn’t made it’s way online yet. However, there were some cool reveals, it was officially confirmed that the film’s villain will be The High Evolutionary. The character will be played by Chukwudi Iwuji. Earlier this year, Iwuji played Clemson Murn in the spectacular “Peacemaker” series. He made a hell of the entrance by taking a page out of Tom Hiddleston’s playbook and showing up for the panel in character and costume.

Chukwudi Iwuji on stage in Hall H as The High Evolutionary.

The High Evolutionary is Doctor Herbert Wyndham, a geneticist who specializes in creating human/animal hybrids. Rocket has been frequently referred to as the central character in Vol.3., so going on some sort of journey of self discovery to find his ”creator” or ”father”, makes a lot of sense. Many fans have speculated that The High Evolutionary would be revealed to be Rocket’s creator. This reveal seems to have confirmed this running fan theory.

Daredevil: Born Again

Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio return as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk in the first 18 Episode Disney+ series. Notably, Fiege referred to this as the show’s “First Season”, implying that this isn’t a one off, like WandaVision, for example. Born Again refers to one of Daredevil’s most iconic stories, however Season 3 of the Netflix Daredevil series was largely an adaptation of this classic Born Again storyline. Even if the Netflix shows aren’t completely considered canon in The MCU, I doubt Marvel would rehash a story that we’ve, mostly, already seen, canon or not. Especially with Cox and D’Onofrio returning. If i had to guess, I’d say this is probably a Civil War or Age of Ultron situation, adaptations in name only and vastly different from the source material. I think that’s the most likely situation with Daredevil: Born Again. Out of all the projects revealed at COMIC CON this year, this is the one I’m most excited about.

In this video, IGN does a great job of explaining what Daredevil’s future in The MCU looks like. Check it out:

DC ENTERTAINMENT

The Sandman

Neil Gaiman, the celebrated author and creator of The Sandman comic series that the new show’s based on, breaks down the trailer in the video below.

SHAZAM: Fury of The Gods

Black Adam

-Paul

FIRST LOOK: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever!

Published on July 15, 2022July 16, 2022 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

When The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with Iron Man, each subsequent film was building towards 2012’s modern classic, The Avengers. When The Avengers proved to be a smash hit, it was clear that The MCU wasn’t going anywhere. As they continued to build their mythology, the characters I wanted to see on the big screen more than any others were Doctor Strange and Black Panther. When they finally made their debut in The MCU, they didn’t disappoint. There’s still so much to look forward to in the comics.

T’Challa has an amazing rivalry with Namor The Submariner, The King of Atlantis (Basically Marvel’s more villainous version of Aquaman). Seeing a conflict between the two characters play out was high on the list of things I wanted to see come to life in The MCU.

I’m still unsure exactly how Marvel is going to handle Black Panther after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic and untimely death. I’m fairly certain it’s been stated that Marvel Studios doesn’t plan on killing off the character in The MCU. The sequel to Black Panther, titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to premiere in November. It looks like the plan is to shift the focus to the ensemble supporting cast from the first movie like T’Challa’s sister Shruri, Okoye The Head of The Dora Milaje, Nakia, a Wakandan spy and T’Challa’s former love interest, and M’Baku, leader of The Wakandan Mountain Tribe. This official promo art from the upcoming film shows how, both Shuri and Okoye will appear in the movie.

I’ve always maintained that Marvel should have waited a respectable amount of time and then recast the character. These characters are bigger than one actor who inhabits them. As much as we would love to see Chadwick Boseman in the Black Panther costume again, he’s in his family has come out to say that Chadwick would want the character to continue on after his passing. After speaking to Boseman’s brother, Derrick, TMZ reported “…Chadwick knew the power of the character, and the positive influence it carries. Derrick says there’s so much power in seeing a Black king — especially in a superhero capacity, like in the Marvel flick — which has a huge impact on African-American youth.” It’s like saying we should never have The Joker appear on screen again because Heath Ledger died.

What’s bittersweet for me, is that the new films story seems to be about a conflict breaking out between Wakanda and Atlantis. Which is awesome, but if Marvel wants to tell that story, T’Challa should be a part of it.

Actor Tenoch Huerta has a large, but unspecified role in Wakanda Forever. Most sources say that Huerta is indeed playing Namor. The character rides the line between anti-hero and villain, so I assumed he was the Big Bad in Wakanda Forever. However, new promo material for the upcoming movie has me thinking the film will portray Namor in a more heroic light. New promo images and an official character description has revealed that another long time Atlantean Marvel villain is appearing in the movie. A powerful bad guy named Attuma. Take a look at the character design and the character description below.

“Attuma was born into the tribe of Homo mermanus who eschewed civilization to live as nomadic barbarians. For some unrecorded reason, Attuma was endowed with strength far surpassing that of his people. Nearing adulthood, Attuma learned of a prophesy, in the lost Atlantean Chronicles, of a conqueror who would take the empire of Atlantis by force. Believing he is that conqueror, Attuma has launched numerous attacks on the city of Atlantis and its regent Namor the Sub-Mariner.”

As apprehensive as I am about this film, I must admit that this sounds very exciting. Marvel is once again pulling back the curtain on an entirely new part of the rich tapestry that makes up The Marvel Universe. I’ve always said that Black Panther’s best adversaries are characters like Namor and Doctor Doom because they’re all kings. The best hero and villain dynamics occurt when the characters are reflections of one another. Being King of Wakanda is one of the most fundamental aspects of who T’Challa is. He feels great responsibility to his country and his people. He’s more than just a King, he’s a great leader.

So putting him up against somebody in the same position, who has gone down a darker path, makes for some incredible storytelling opportunities. I think Ryan Coogler is a fantastic director, and he certainly has an absolutely stacked cast to work with. The first Black Panther film was excellent, Marvel knows what they’re doing. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, Marvel Studios will come to their senses and give us a new T’Challa/Black Panther. Not just for the fans, but to also honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman and the character we saw him create and bring too life. As I mentioned before, from what I’ve heard, the character of T’Challa is not being killed off, so it will be interesting to see how they handle his absence. Almost the entire cast of the first film is returning for Wakanda Forever, not to mention that Wakanda itself is such a cool and unique setting, that it’s almost a character in its own right, so the filmmakers definitely have a lot to work with here. Every time I’ve had serious doubts about a decision Marvel Studios under Kevin Fiege has made, I end up eating my words. Hopefully that streak will continue and this will be the spectacular sequel that Black Panther deserves!

-Paul

FIRST LOOK: The Marvel Cinematic Universe – PHASE 4!

Published on May 11, 2021 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

First things first, if you haven’t seen it yet (and even if you did, watch it again), take look at this incredible video Marvel Studios put out, giving us a look at its upcoming films and reminding us why we love going to the movies in the first place! Watch it here:

My God, those sons of bitches at Marvel have done it again! Goddamn if this isn’t one of the most effective pieces of marketing material I have ever seen. The use of Stan Lee’s voice over, coupled with the images of all of the amazing MCU films we’ve seen so far was genius.

It was like in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke doesn’t want anything to with The Jedi or The Resistance. Trusty old R2-D2 decides to give Luke a little kick in the ass, by playing Leia’s message from all those years ago, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” Luke gives R2 an annoyed, but slightly amused look and replies, “That was a cheap move.” Yeah. Sure. It was a cheap move, but it worked like a goddamn charm.

The video begins by showing us our most beloved moments and characters from throughout The MCU. All of this is set to Stan Lee’s beautiful voiceover. He delivered a message full of nostalgia, friendship, community, and hope. In other hands it might have sounded a little hokey, but this is Stan Fucking Lee. The guy’s a pro! From everything I’ve heard in addition to creating almost all of marvels most popular characters Stan was just a really good guy. Anyone who knew him talked about what an amazing person he was. He was humble man despite the indelible success. He always loved his fans and was genuinely grateful for reading his work. They didn’t call him Stan “The Man” Lee for nothing!

But then we’re shown a brief piece of footage, from an audience watching Avengers: Endgame opening night. A movie theater full of people, watching the now iconic “portals“ scene, culminating in Captain America’s unforgettable battle cry of “Avengers Assemble!” The theatre absolutely ERUPTS! Cheering! Applause! This is something I certainly related to because I had the exact same experience when I saw Avengers: Endgame opening night with my father. One of the things I’ve noticed over the last 20 years or so, is that for a really excellent film, if there was a rousing triumphant moment, people used to clap and cheer. Or even if the movie itself was just great, a cut above the rest, the audience would sometimes applaud. As if they were watching a Broadway show live. That has become increasingly rare over the last few decades. I can count on one hand the amount of times an audience has engaged with a recent movie like they did with Avengers: Endgame. The night I saw it, it wasn’t a special fans screening, it wasn’t a midnight show. It was just opening night, I’m sure a lot of the people in the audience were just movie fans not necessarily diehard marvel fans like myself and my father were. Yet when Cap picks up fours hammer and tape sign Thanos and when Captain America once again utters those immortal words “Avengers Assemble!” The entire audience flipped out, people were standing up and clapping as if it was a playoff game at a sporting event. That’s the kind of communal movie going experience I miss. That’s the type of audience interaction that I miss. For so long one of the big reasons I didn’t like to see films in theaters as much as I used to, is because audience etiquette has gone down the tubes. People talk and take out their phones. However if somebody yells something out, claps, or cheers simply because they got caught up in the moment, they became lost in the story unfolding on the screen, that kind of audience engagement is wonderful and has become all too rare. That’s the kind of movie magic Marvel is trying to remind us of with this amazing look at PHASE 4. it’s a big part of what I think is missing from the movie theater industry. It’s one of the reasons they’ve struggled over the last few decades. Marvel is sending us a very clear message here: LET’S GET BACK TO THE MOVIES!

A few interesting observations…

I really love how for some of these sequels were given new, creative titles, instead of just calling them part 2 or part 3. For example, we have Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (great title), instead of Black Panther 2. Captain Marvel 2 is now The Marvels and Ant-Man 3 is Ant-Man and The Wasp: QuantumMania

I thought it was particularly cool that Captain Marvel 2 has been re-titled, The Marvels. Carol Danvers is still the main character, but she’ll be fighting alongside two new lead characters with deep ties to Captain Marvel in the comics and The MCU. The film will feature Monica Rambeau, who was memorably introduced (and developed superpowers) in WandaVision, and eventually becomes the superhero known as Spectrum. To refresh your memory, the first Captain Marvel film took place in the 90’s and Monica was the daughter of Carol’s best friend. Monica was also one of the best side characters in WandaVision, so seeing her in the Captain Marvel sequel as an adult, with her own superhero experience, working alongside the woman she idolized growing up, will be a welcome addition to the film.

The Marvels not only marks the big screen debut of Monica Rambeau, but Kamal Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, as well. Ms. Marvel is one of The MCU’s new Disney+ series premiering later this year. The story follows a Pakistani teenager named Kamal Khan from New Jersey who develops extraordinary abilities and her favorite hero just happens to be Captain Marvel. So Carol Danvers is a big inspiration for Kamala and connects to the character in some interesting ways that the Disney+ series will delve into. Ms Marvel is interesting because her story is basically a modern day retelling of Spider-Man. She’s a teenage girl juggling family, friends, and the life of a superhero. The Marvels premieres in late 2022, so we’ll get a much better idea of how this character will fit into this highly anticipated movie when the Ms Marvel Disney+ series debuts later this year.

The details surrounding Black Panter: Wakanda Forever are a little bit more ambiguous. I’ve heard conflicting reports about what this movie is going to actually be. Very early on, Marvel announced that they didn’t intend to replace Chadwick Boseman in the role of T’Challa. They were going to move forward with Black Panther 2, presumably with someone from the existing cast, most likely either Shuri or Okoye, taking up the mantle of The Black Panther. With the greatest respect to Chadwick Boseman, I think that would be a big mistake. I think if you could ask him, he would probably agree that characters like Black Panther transcend the people who play them, just like with Heath Ledger and The Joker. So often you hear actors compare these superhero roles to Shakespeare characters like Hamlet, that are interpreted over and over again by different actors. With each new actor putting their own spin on it. T’Challa is just too important and cool a character to introduce into The MCU and then not be part of it as we move into this exciting new future. I always thought the best course of action would be to, put that sequel on hold for a respectful couple of years, re-cast, and just make Black Panther 2. For a good while it seemed like that was not the way they were going to go, they were going to move on seemingly without T’Challa as the lead character. If that ends up being the way they go, exactly how they will explain his absence from the film is complete mystery. However, if some recent reports are to be believed, then there is a possibility they may be re-casting the role, which honestly I would prefer. I don’t think it’s necessarily in bad taste. As I said before I’m sure if you could ask people like Heath ledger or Chad Boseman they would agree that these characters are larger than the people who play them. They’ve been here before us and they will be there long after. Of course we will update you as information comes to light, but for the time being I will say I love the title of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever !

If your regular visitor to the website, you know how much I love The Fantastic Four and how much I’ve been dying to see them make an appearance in The MCU. We were teased at the very end of this presentation that FF is essentially going to be the last film in Phase 4. Now if I had to pick which of of these projects I am most excited for, it wouldn’t be FF. We just don’t know enough about Fantastic Four yet for me to be super intrigued, because I don’t know what their approach is going to be. I know that Jon Watts the director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home will be directing FF, which I think is an excellent choice. But other than that nothing is known about the movie. I’m certain as more information comes out my excitement for FF will increase, but for now there are a lot of PHASE 4 projects highlighted here to get really excited for!

It’s important to remember that when Phase 3 of The MCU was announced, the slate of films that we got and what was announced have some major difference. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 & 2 became Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The Inhumans film was dropped from the slate completely and made into a TV miniseries. Two Spider-Man films, as well as Ant-Man and The Wasp were added to the lineup. Marvel is always willing to change and adapt when it’s appropriate, which is one of its strengths. To wrap things up, this is an extremely exciting and impressive look at things to come from one of pop-culture’s most exciting storytellers.

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-Paul