Who Will Be THE NEW AVENGERS?

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!

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..>t

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PODCAST: Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness – REVIEW!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Join us, as we take a thrilling dive into Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness on this episode of The World’s Best Podcast! Beware of FULL SPOILERS as we discuss the latest film in The MCU! We also cover the Season (or Series?) Finale of the Disney+ series, Moon Knight! Don’t miss this epic entry in our excellent podcast!

Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/49739312 Or…

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?i=1000560264683

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4utsQJfUOY7JHk7Qc8Ds2n?si=rEVSynDpTXOE0lsK1i9hcA

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

Captain America’s Legacy in the MCU

This article contains minor spoilers Episode 2 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Last week, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiered and we got our first glimpse of, what seemed to be the new government sponsored Cap. So, I went to Google. I wanted to know who he was, and what was the deal with him. Who is this guy? and What

One thing that was clear right away from the context of the episode: this New Captain America is going to be a big issue for Sam and Bucky. But is he supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy? Or something else entirely?

Is John Walker a Villain, a Pawn, or The Real Deal?

Based on what I learned about the character from the comics, there have been multiple attempts recreate Captain America over the years. The secret to the super soldier serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America, died with Dr. Erskine. Imperfect versions of the formula had been tested on more people than the public (and probably Steve) ever knew. Something we learn more about later in this episode. Characters like Nuke, who appeared in Season 1 of Jessica Jones, Weapon X aka Wolverine, and even The Hulk were all created in an attempt to make the next Captain America. The new Captain America on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, John Walker was another fill in for Steven Rogers who went by US Agent. He’s been both a villain and an anti-hero. So, I was kind of under that impression he’s going to be a villain. What surprised me was that I didn’t think he was a particularly likable character. You would think a big bad would more of an attempt to hide his smug arrogance.

His nice guy routipetoo paper this. Sam and Bucky certainly don’t trust him, seeing Walker with that shield is a slap in the face to Bucky and Sam. I was suspicious from the start to be fair the opening scenes of the episode go along way to humanizing the character. To me, the cracks in Walker’s facade are already showing.

If He’s a Good Guy…

On the other hand, the series could be trying to subvert audience expectations. Sam and Bucky, along with the viewers, don’t trust Walker and even find his very existence to be an insult to the legacy of their friend. Walker could surprise us by realizing he’s in over his head and return the shield, and the legacy that comes with it, back to Sam. But don’t hold your breath.

John Walker & The Shadow of Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers is and always will be synonymous with Captain America. In the comics, Bucky and Sam have both taken up Cap’s mantle. Walker never earned the role. It was handed to him by the the government. Steve didn’t serve a country or government, he fought for the dream of what America can be at its best. Which led to some serious conflicts between Steve and the U.S. government in both The MCU and the comics. So it makes a lot of sense that the U.S. would want a Captain America they could completely control. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something much darker in John Walker’s past that hasn’t been revealed to the audience yet. I’d even go so far as to say that some of his backstory that told to us in Episode 2, had been at least partially fabricated for propaganda purposes.

When Will Sam Reclaim The SHIELD?

The heart of this series is Sam Wilson’s journey to accept Steve’s choice and become the true Captain America. More broadly, it’s about America and it’s complicated history with race. Captain America is the personification of the country, so what better way to explore those themes than to tell a story about a black Captain America? We’re already seeing how race politics are playing out in the show. By choosing John Walker instead of Sam, a statement has been made that the government is unwilling to pick a black Captain America. A, sadly, unsurprising move.

Sam is an Avenger, after coming back from the blip and saving the world only to be treated with the same discrimination that people of color deal with every day. When Sam and Bucky are in Baltimore in Episode 2, when the police arrive and their subsequent treatment of Sam was an all too familiar scene. Had the cops not realized that they were talking to 2 Avengers, that scene could have played in very different and horrifying way.

If and when Sam becomes Captain America within The MCU, he’ll face an uphill battle that Steve or Bucky wouldn’t because of bigots and racists in the public, politics and big business who won’t accept a black Captain America. During his time as Captain America in the comics they would even touch on everyday acts of racism, like negative social media reactions with #NotMyCaptainAmerica trending on social media. That’s one of the reasons Sam makes a very compelling Captain America in the comic book and he’ll make a compelling Cap in The MCU. Questions about race and class were baked in to the story when Sam was Captain America. It’s one of the reasons he’s so interesting in that role, because the writers could touch on real world issues that exist around us every day, in a way they couldn’t when Steve or Bucky were Captain America.

Marvel did a good job of showing that Steve was a product of his time and his war. That same opportunity is there when telling a story about Sam Wilson. With only two episodes so far, this series has touched upon some incredibly deep and fascinating issues and beings only promised to get more interesting as the season progresses.

WBM Spring 2021 Movie & TV Preview (Week 1) PODCAST: THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER- Series Premiere (SPOILERS)!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

I’m going to keep this relatively brief. This episode of the podcast is all about one my most anticipated new projects of The MCU, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. If you’re a World’s Best Media regular, first let me say Thank You and you’re awesome, (if you’re not a frequent visitor, welcome and thanks for being here!), you may have noticed our SPRING 2021 Movie & TV Preview announcement! The COVID-19 pandemic lead to a lot of rescheduling in Hollywood, which resulted in a lot of films and shows getting their release dates shuffled around. As these projects begin to finally have concrete release dates, a lot of really cool stuff ended up with premieres between March and the beginning of May. We have some really really exciting pieces of content coming our way very soon. We’re going to have continuing coverage on all of it, so stay tuned! Kicking things off with Week 1, DC and Marvel are slugging it out for supremacy, with the release of Zack Snyder‘s Justice League and Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. We have a great breakdown and review of Zack Snyder‘s Justice League on the next installment of the podcast, coming very soon!

On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, we dive right into a FULL SPOILER review of the series premiere of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier! This was a fun episode to record so I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for listening and enjoy! Listen here or subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and more!

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F4397346

Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/11mA9kClyevVZjWYMQB1Io?si=7TfnqkBiShqTQpZhh2UDsA

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Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, our Facebook page; World’s Best Media, and Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, 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

COOL VIDEO: Classic Comic Book Moments Recreated On Screen In Phase 3 of The MCU!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

WandaVision has finally premiered on Disney+, officially kicking off Phase 4 of The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Entertainment has posted this very cool video to mark the occasion. The video shows how the Phase 3 films, which begins with Captain America: Civil War and ends with Spider-Man: Far From home. The video shows how some the Phase 3 films perfectly re-create iconic images and moments from the comic books source material and put them on the big screen. Take a look:

Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. We’re on Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017. Those likes and followsgo 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

Avengers: Endgame coming to Digital & Blu-Ray!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Marvel has official announced the home release of the year’s biggest film Avengers: Endgame! Hitting digitally on July 3oth and Blu-Ray and 4K on August 13th. Check out the announcement video below!

I’m a complete sucker. They get me coming and going. Not only do I buy the digital copy on iTunes because I want to watch the movie again as soon as I can, but I’m also a big collector of the cool, special edition, Steelbook Blu-Rays. So I buy those when they come out too, which you can see below…

You know what? I DON’T CARE THAT I’M MARVEL’S BITCH! I LOVE IT! GIVE IT TO ME, MARVEL! ALL OVER MY FACE, KNECK, AND CHEST! I’LL TAKE ANOTHER 22 MOVIES HARD AND SAY “THANK YOU, SIR! I’LL TAKE THAT SHIT AGAIN!”!

…Oh lord… They’ve got their hooks into me bad here, folks… Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have it any other way….

-Paul

PODCAST: AVENGERS:ENDGAME Review (SPOILERS)!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Holy Fuck! Avengers: Endgame is finally here! I wanna say right up front that there will be absolutely NO SPOILERS in this article. However, we go into FULL SPOILERS in our deep dive review of Avengers: Endgame on this episode of The World’s Best Podcast! My Marvel Movie companion, Paul Sr. and I had a chance to see the movie a few days early, but we wanted to wait until at least some of our listeners had a chance to see the film, before we posted this SPOILER-RIFFIC review.

 It so rare for movies to live up to the hype, but Endgame manages to surpass expectations. One of the many things fans love about comics, especially from DC and MARVEL, is the interconnected universes. You could be reading a Spider-Man comic and the X-Men or Iron Man or Daredevil would pop up. That was the ingredient that had been missing from superhero movies when the “Superhero Boom” began with movies like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Singer’s X-Men

It seems so obvious, but it was still brilliant. I remember seeing Iron Man for the first time and being blown away that SHIELD was in the movie. It seems so small now, in retrospect, but that little addition made it feel like the Marvel Universe (It was also the first appearance of fan favorite character, Agent Phil Coulson). Then of course there’s the immortal post credits scene from the first Iron Man film, when Tony meets Nick Fury which I’ve posted here below:

The beginning…

Building off the incredible success of Iron Man and then creating 22 films that make this beautiful tapestry of a story, is mind blowing. The fact that out of the 22 films released so far, there have been so few missteps is astonishing. Even their weakest movies, and there’s only 3 or 4 like Thor: The Dark World, are pretty good or not bad at their worst. Everything else is more less gold.

The Russo Brothers, who’ve directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and now Avengers: Endgame, absolutely stuck the landing with this movie, it’s a must see. The films directed by The Russo Brothers, Joe and Anthony, aired the 4 best films in The MCU. Who would’ve thought that guys who worked on TV shows like Community would go on to tell some of the most epic stories of our generation? For the record, I loved Community.

The Infinity Stones…

I think the real hero in all of this is Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios. He was not only a massive fan of the source material, but he’d seen what mistakes other Marvel superhero films had made in the past and learned from them. So when it was time for Marvel Studios to start producing their own films, he knew what he was doing and he got the right people involved to work with them. Another huge kudos goes out to Casting Director Sarah Finn, who’s worked on almost all of the films, if not all of them. With maybe one or two exceptions out of literally hundreds, each character was a flawlessly cast. We owe a lot to her work as the reason these films came out so well.

All right then, enough chitchat. You can check out our podcast on Avengers:Endgame right here or you can subscribe on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17766535

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F17766535

Stitcher:

Thanks for listening!

-Paul


Cool New Posters For Avengers: Endgame & The Lost Art of Film Posters

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

We’re in the home stretch here people! Only FOUR. MORE. DAYS!!! UNTIL AVENGERS: ENDGAME! It’s the end of a legendary film era. The Infinity Saga. As the film approaches, some beautiful new posters for Endgame have shown up. When put together, they form one very cool larger poster. Check them out:

Pretty nice, right? These posters are only being shown in some European theaters, we get the photoshopped posters here in America. The other posters for Endgame actually aren’t that bad, but movies like Endgame are special and the posters the studio puts out should reflect that. When done well, (like the ones above) movie posters can be art. Who could forget the beautiful hand painted posters for Indiana Jones or the Star Wars films by Drew Struzan?

Amazing posters can even make terrible movies more interesting. Years ago, I remember seeing the teaser poster for Tim Burton’s 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes. The movie is fucking awful, but seeing the poster that teased the incredible make up effects and the designs that hinted at a whole new world and culture we’d be seeing in the film, captured my imagination. Sadly, the film didn’t live up to the promise and intrigue of that first poster I saw…

The movie is undeniably terrible, but that is an excellent movie poster. Don’t get me wrong The MCU has definitely had some great posters (Captain America: The First Avenger comes to mind…).

Now that Avengers: Endgame is finally here, it would be great if epic movies started getting epic posters again.

Thanks for reading!

-Paul

PODCAST: AVENGERS: ENDGAME Trailer Breakdown!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

 This morning Marvel dropped, what is most likely, their final Avengers: Endgame trailer. This is easily one of the most anticipated movies of the year, so I was really looking forward to doing this trailer breakdown for you guys. We’re less than a month and a half away from Endgame and after seeing Captain Marvel, I only became more hyped up! Now, with this new trailer we have another reason to be counting the days on the calendar until this baby hits theaters! But have no fear! Because I’m here to help you navigate the twists and turns of the (probably) final Avengers: Endgame trailer. In this World’s Best Podcast episode, I breakdown the trailer and give you the details on everything you need to know before seeing this movie. Such as offer up some character backstory, clarify and explain a few things, talk about influences from the comic books, some personal predictions, and get you up to speed on the status on your favorite characters (FYI A lot of them are dead)! So please enjoy the latest episode of The World’s Best Podcast! The full trailer is posted at the bottom of the page, for you’re viewing pleasure. Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17328061

iTunes:

Stitcher:


Thanks for listening!

-Paul 

FIRST LOOK: Avengers: Endgame!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

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As is so often the case, the biggest reveals from the year’s biggest movies come Toy marketing.  Avengers: Endgame is no differentWeirdly this photo is from Orville Redenbacher.  This is the best and clearest picture yet we’ve seen of (some) of the team post “The Snappening” or as it’s officially referred to at Marvel, The Decimation (which is grammatically incorrect, but sounds way cooler).

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Note that only the six original Avengers are shown here. The original team from the first film.  We know that Captain Marvel, Rocket, War Machine, Nebula, and Ant-man are all on the team in Avengers: Endgame. But it’s just one piece of promo art, so let’s not lose our goddamn minds. Gamespot.com had this official sysnopsis:

The Avengers will attemp to “undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.”

Oh, really? Thanks for the sysnopsis Marvel! Because I thought The Avengers were going to sit this one out!

Avengers: Endgame opens 4/26/19

Thanks for reading!

-Paul