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

PODCAST: The Importance of Endings! Plus, Godzilla Vs. Kong, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and more!

Het Everyone,

Paul here…

On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, our New Season begins with an ending. Endings can be the most important part of any story. A great ending can retroactively make a story infinitely better, while a bad end can destroy everything that came. Kicking off our New Season, we discusses a wide range of topics, including Godzilla Vs. Kong, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, WandaVision & The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Zack Snyder’s DCU, and much more! As always, thanks for listening and enjoy!

Listen here:  https://www.spreaker.com/episode/44359486          Or subscribe/listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…

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   Below, is trailer compilation for The Snyder DC”, that I mentioned earlier in the article. The timing for this is fantastic, but a few days after I recorded  this episode HBO MAX  released a really cool trailer for “Zach Snyder’s Justice League Trilogy”.  This video is a perfect example one my topics in this episode. In hindsight, Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,  and finally Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the films work so much better when we see the whole picture with these films. Snyder was making his EPIC Tolkien-eques Superhero Sage. I think it’s very interesting that Zack Snyder was far more influenced by Lord of The Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien instead of The Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can really see his influence in these films if you look for it. Take look at this thrilling trailer HBO Max dropped, which highlights some ideas I brought up in this episode of the podcast. Check it out:

Thanks for listening! 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 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

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!

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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

WBM’s SPRING 2021 MOVIE & TV PREVIEW! Week 1: The Falcon & The Winter Soldiers and Zack Snyder’s Justice League! UPDATED

Hey Everyone,

Paul here… Updated: 3/17/2021

From now to the end of May, some of the years most high profile television shows and films will be premiering on streaming networks, digitally, on-demand, and if you’re bold enough, movie theaters. We’re about to roll out a big World’s Best Media’s SPRING 2021 Movie & TV Preview! This is going to include multiple podcasts, some of our best writers offering up reviews and editorials, exclusive video content, and more! New films and shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Godzilla Vs. Kong, Black Widow, Invincible, Justice Society: World War II, The Irregulars, Jupiter’s Legacy, Invincible and more will all be covered here on World’s Best Media! We’re really excited for you all to see it! Save this page/link to your browser because we’ll be posting multiple updates each week! It could be a new article, a trailer, a first look at a film or TV show poster, or a podcast! We want to provide you with as much fun and interesting new content as possible! Week 1 of World’s Best Media’s SPRING 2021 Movie & TV Preview starts off with a bang! Zack Snyder’s Justice League premieres on HBO Max on 3/18, we already have some beautiful character posters and teasers posted below, to get you psyched for Thursday’s premiere. By Sunday night or Monday morning we’ll have a very special episode of The World’s Best Podcast ready where I recap and review The Snyder Cut, with Tim Cuff and Ryan McDonald, hosts of Cuff’s Basement! However, Zack Snyder’s Justice League isn’t the only exciting project to premiere this week…

Marvel’s The Falcon & The Winter Soldier: (UPDATED on 3/23)

Here’s our FULL SPOILER breakdown/review of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Episode 1


Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/43973460  Or subscribe/listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…

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Keep it here at World’s Best Media for continuing coverage of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier…

Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier drops the first installment of it’s 6 episode season on Friday 3/19 on Disney+. Marvel has released multiple trailers and images hinting at some thrilling stuff in store for us in this new series. Check them out right here…

Final Trailer:

Teaser #1:


Behind-The-Scenes Look:

    We’ll be updating this page with our review for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as well as other content pertaining to the series, as it becomes available.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League – Posters & Character Teasers: (UPDATED with FULL SPOILER REVIEW)

Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/43993349  Or subscribe/listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…

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  Zack Snyder‘s Justice League is absolutely one of the big projects we’re going to cover in our World’s Best Media’s SPRING 2021 Preview! Zack Snyder has posted several cool character teasers, hinting at the arcs for individual heroes in this new film, as well as a few new posters for his 4 hour+, Justice League remake,  premiering HBO Max in just a few weeks. Take a look! UPDATED!!! Check out the epic FINAL TRAILER, new teasers and posters for Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Darkseid!

Final Trailer:

Darkseid Teaser:


The Flash/Aquaman Teaser:

Wonder Woman Teaser:


Cyborg Teaser:

Batman Teaser:

Superman Teaser:

Aquaman Teaser:

Character Posters


Thanks for reading! 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 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

TRAILERS OF THE WEEK: The MCU & Star Wars!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Holy crap this was a great week for trailers! The annual Walt Disney Co. 2020 Shareholders Meeting, took place a few days ago. Over the last decade or so, Disney has made some huge business moves that paid off, big time! With the creation of Marvel Studios, partnering with Sony to get Spider-Man in The MCU, the company acquiring Fox, and the success of Disney+, the company’s star is continuing to rise. This year Disney live-streamed the event to their shareholders, so fans had a chance watch the presentation as well. Star Wars and Marvel fans in particular, should keep this yearly event on their radar. Just and foremost, this meeting is about Disney displaying their value to their shareholders, so they usually pull out all the stops. As one among several events Disney hosts every year, this is where we can expect to see major announcements about upcoming Marvel and Star Wars projects. The heads of each entertainment division at Disney (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation, etc) give presentation about all of the upcoming projects that they’re working on, which will of course make the shareholders shit loads of money. The event was live streamed on and they did not disappoint with some amazing and exciting announcements. We are going to go over everything that we saw at The Walt Disney Co. 2020 Shareholders Meeting on the next episode of The World’s Best Podcast, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, some fantastic new trailers were shown, so I figured it was the perfect time for Trailers of The Week!

Trailers For The Upcoming MCU Series On Disney+







Trailers For The New Star Wars Series On Disney+



 These trailers are just a few teasers among a lot more exciting content heading our way! So much information was dropped during this event, that we are going to offer continued coverage of all the announcements, so keep an eye out for new articles and podcasts that will cover all of the really cool stuff coming down the Disney pipeline!

Thanks for reading… and watching! 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 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

PODCAST: 2020 Movie & TV Preview! (Article Exclusive – Top Upcoming Graphic Novels)

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

   This week on “The World’s Best Podcast”, Paul Sr. and I give the listeners the rundown on coolest, biggest, and most highly anticipated movies and TV shows of 2020! Wonder Woman 1984! The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+, Marvel’s Black Widow, The Mandalorian Season 2, and so much more! We give you everything you need to know about the hottest film & TV projects of 2020, in this cant miss episode!

On this episode, I wanted to mention several graphic novels and comics that are coming out later this year that I am hugely looking forward to, but I forgot to mention them on the show. So I thought as a nice bit of extra content for this podcast webpage, I would post my list of my most anticipated comic book/graphic novel projects coming up in 2020:

Green Lantern: Earth One Vol.2 (Release Date – 6/9)

What’s The Deal?: Part of DC‘s Earth One series, which takes classic DC characters and lets talented creators tell out of continuity stories to take our heroes in exciting and unexpected new directions. This is a sequel to Green Lantern: Earth One Vol.1, which I would describe as if Stanley Kubrick ever did a Green Lantern story.  It’s pretty damn cool. I really enjoyed Vol.1 and Vol.2 looks to be even better.

DC: Death Metal (Release Date – 5/13)

What’s The Deal?: The epic sequel to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s hit event miniseries, Dark Nights: Metal. Look for Wonder Woman and The Batman Who Laughs to play key roles in the story.

Batman/Catwoman (Release Date – Spring/Summer 2020)

What’s The Deal?: Writer Tom King and Artist Clay Mann continue the epic story of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle that Tom King began in Batman Rebirth #1. This 12 issue maxi-series has been described by King as his “Dark Knight Returns” and inspired by Grant Morrison’s excellent Batman and Robin. From a writer as talented as Tom King, those are some fantastic comparisons to make and with a spectacular art team backing him up, this is definitely a book to watch.

Back to the podcast… Listen here:  https://www.spreaker.com/episode/23355156   Or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…

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Thanks for listening! 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. 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!

-Paul 

DC23 EXPO Announcement Recap!

Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

This weekend, running from August 23 to 25th, is Disney’s D23 expo. It’s a massive annual event put on by Disney, where they make announcements regarding their upcoming projects. Considering that Disney owns Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, The Simpsons and hell of a lot more, fans were expecting some big news. Particularly, Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney +. In some ways D23 is kind of like Comic-Con. With all of the spectacular, aforementioned properties that fall under Disney’s umbrella, D23 is a huge event for genre entertainment. This is something fans, as well as writers who cover this type news online (like  myself), look forward to every year. Disney often uses this time to make unexpected and surprising announcements and this year they certainly didn’t disappoint!

MARVEL:

MOVIES

BLACK WIDOW (Opens in theatres 5/1/2020)

New First Look Poster!

  In addition to the cool new poster for the film, Marvel also debuted the first footage from their upcoming Black Widow solo movie (which unfortunately has not been leaked online… yet) The footage shows is an action sequence with Natasha fighting Yelena Belova (a character who’s also held the mantle of Black Widow). Like Natasha, Yelena was a product of Russia’s Red Room program, turning young women into super spies. But unlike Natasha, she never found any kind of redemption and became the living weapon her masters wanted her to be. It was also confirmed that David Harbour will be playing Red Guardian in this film, essentially Russia’s version of Captain America. Natasha will also have to contend with the formidable villain, Taskmaster, all the while sporting a cool looking new, white costume. Check out some other cool stuff we have posted below, like this concept art featuring Natasha squaring off against Taskmamster, photos of her new, white uniform on display…

THE ETERNALS (Opens 11/6/2020)

  Of all the Marvel movies that have been announced for so far for Phase 4 this is the one think has the potential to be very cool and unique. The Eternals are a race of immortal superhuman beings created by cosmic, godlike beings called The Celestials. The Eternals protect humanity from their evil counterparts, The Deviants. The Eternals are actually the beings that humanity based the Greek gods upon. Because of their in mortality, they’re still around today. Many of whom live among regular people. The cast includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and Selma Hayek.

The cast of The Eternals on stage, image of them in character on the screen behind

A few days ago it was revealed that Kit Harington a.k.a. Jon Snow from Game of Thrones was joining the MCU in an undiscloosed role. Now we know exactly who he’s playing and what film he’s appearing in: Harington will be playing Dean Whitman a.k.a. The Black Knight in The Eternals.

The Black Knight

The Black Knight is a long time Avenger who’s a direct descendant of one King Arthur’s Knights of the Roundtable. He fights with a sword called The Ebony Blade forged by Merlin himself. When he doesn’t have The Ebony Blade have he basically just uses a lightsaber (seriously). He’s an expert fighter on par with Hawkeye or Black Widow and will occasionally have enhanced strength, speed, and agility, depending on the story you’re reading. He’s actually a pretty cool Avenger. You can check out the awesome concept art by BossLogic of Harrington as The Black Knight below.

Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman, The Black Knight

He’s most often linked to The Eternals through the character Sersi played by Gemma Chan. Sersi and Whitman have been a couple at various points in their comic book history.

BLACK PANTHER 2 (Opens 5/6/2022)

  We all knew it was coming, but it’s still nice to have a release date. Kevin Feige briefly brought returning Black Panther director Ryan Coogler out on stage to announce the film’s official release date May 6th 2022.

No details on plot yet, but a lot of fans, myself included, want to see T’Challa go up against Namor The King of Atlantis. Imagine it: A war between two super advanced countries that most of the word didn’t even know existed with the monarchs of each nation being super powered badasses. It would be fucking sick! I honestly think there’s a good chance that we’ll see some version of that concept for Black Panther 2. Below I have some pictures depicting Namor and T’Challa’s rivalry and an awesome concept art poster from artist BossLogic 

TV SERIES

THE FALCON and The WINTER SOLDIER (Fall 2020 on DISNEY+)

   There’s not that much new info on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but their were a few interesting tidbits. Kevin Feige brought two actors onstage. First, Emily VanCamp, to confirm that she’s returning as Sharon Carter AKA Agent 13 was (Peggy Carter’s niece). Then he introduced Wyatt Russell, who’s playing John Walker AKA U.S. Agent. In the comics U.S. Agent was conceived as a replacement for Captain America when he was presumed dead, but still frozen in the ice. I’m pretty sure he eventually goes crazy because pretty much anyone whose tried to duplicate Dr. Erskine’s super soldier formula has had things go sideways on them, usually to horrific results.

Sam Wilson as Captain America battling U.S. Agent

What I like about the casts and these characters is that this really feels like Captain America 4. When Captain America was killed in the comics, the book continued with characters like The Falcon, Bucky, and Agent 13 continuing Cap’s mission. Villains like Baron Zemo (who’s returning for this series) and USAgent played prominent roles. Steve Rogers may have been gone, but these were some of the best Captain America stories ever. If the show is taking inspiration from the comics, then the series is heading in the right direction. Below, you can see a leaked for photo of a promo poster for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, with Sam and Bucky both sporting new looks.

WANDAVISION  (Spring 2021 on Disney+)

   We still know very little about the upcoming WandaVison series on Disney+. All we’ve really heard, is that the show is a “mix between a sitcom and a superhero action epic”. Which, on the surface, seems like a weird direction for them to go in. Well, I think the series is going to be even weirder than Marvel has led us to believe. First take a look at this promo poster released for the series:

After seeing this poster for the show, I think I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. Anyone who’s been paying attention to Scarlett Witch over the last several movies, probably noticed that with each subsequent film, she gets more and more powerful. Hell, in Endgame she nearly ripped Thanos apart on her own. She probably would’ve killed him if he didn’t order his ship to start fire bombing the battle sight. In the comics, as Wanda’s power grows, her mental and emotional state begins to deteriorate. We know that this series takes place after Endgame and Vision was seemingly killed in Infinity War. I think the image of an almost 1950s “perfect family” sitcom we see in the poster, is a new life conjured into existence by Wanda. Her powers eventually get to a point she can manipulate reality itself. So what if she resurrected The Vision and decided she wanted to have a perfect suburban life with him, straight out of a cheesy old sitcom?  The image also brings to mind the recent miniseries ,The Vision, by writer Tom King. In that story, Vision also heads to suburbia in an attempts to start a family of his own, meaning a wife, a son, and a daughter who are all androids just like himself. All I’ll say is is that things start to go very bad, very quickly for The Vision Family. I should also mention that this was one of the best comics Marvel has published in the 21st century. I wouldn’t be surprised if the series draws at least partially on the tragic stories in Wanda and Vision’s past. I have a feeling this series is going to be a lot darker than people expect. Which would make sense because apparently the events of this series lead right up into Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness co-starring Elizabeth Olsen. That film has been described as Marvel’s first horror movie. Also joining the cast are some other familiar faces, Randall Park who played Agent Woo in Ant-Man and The Wasp and Kat Denning who played Darcy in the first 2 Thor movies will both be joining the show. If I had to bet, I’d say that they are wacky neighbors or something, that are part of whatever twisted family situation is going on with Wanda and Vision. I could be completely wrong, but if I’m right this could be a very exciting and interesting way for the show to go.

WHAT IF? (Release Date N/A)

   What If? Is the first animated project made for the MCU, with a great line up of actors from The MCU returning to play their characters from the big screen. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily be playing the same version of character we know from the films. As Kevin Feige said at D23, What If ? Is “Based on a comic books series that we’ve loved for years They take a storyline that you know and change one element; and see how things could get different. Out of the 23 films that you know we’re going to make one little difference and a see how things change.” Each episode will be bookended by The Watcher (voiced by Jeffery Wright) as if he‘s presenting a What If? scenario. How seemingly small changes can have massive consequences.  The Watcher, part of an ancient race of beings whose sole purpose is to bear witness, but never interfere, great change throughout the Universe. Uatu will gaze into The Multiverse and show the vast changes that can occur in a Universe if one event is changed. Some of the stories that teased in WHAT IF? were Marvel Zombies and what if Peggy Carter became Captain America. You can see a leaked image of Peggy as Captain America below.

MS. MARVEL (Release Date N/A)

   Marvel made announcements about 3 additional shows coming to Disney+. The first being Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan is a modern day Spider-Man in many ways. In fact, I think if MARVEL knew that their deal with Sony was going to fall apart as badly as it did, I think they may have saved Ms. Marvel for the big screen. There are big Spider-Man size shoes to fill in The MCU and she could be the perfect character to do it. She has a lot of the same qualities that people love about Spider-Man. She’s just a kid, a young girl in high school, trying to figure her life out. She’s not rich, she comes from a blue collar family. She’s a Pakistani-American Muslim living in Jersey City, protecting her neighborhood and beyond from any threat. She grew up idolizing the heroes of the Marvel Universe, especially Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel AKA the original Ms. Marvel. But since Carol has gone by Captain Marvel for years now, Kamala (with Carol’s blessing) became the new Ms. Marvel.

Like Spider-Man she’s trying to protect her friends and family while also following her destiny as a superhero. She also has a really cool power set, that we haven’t really seen yet. Kamala is an Inhuman whose powers are kind of like a combination of Reed Richards and Ant-Man/Giant Man. She calls one of her powers “embiggening “, it allows her to do things like make her hands into enormous fists and punch a whole bunch of bad guy across a room, she can grow 50 feet tall, she can also shrink and stretch her body in ways that even Reed Richards can’t. I was really hoping to get this character sooner rather than later. I think she is a fantastic superhero and she’s the perfect character in to include into the MCU now that, sadly, Spider-Man is gone.

SHE-HULK (Release Date N/A)

The next show announced by Marvel premiering on Disney+ is She-Hulk. This is a character fans have wanted to see on screen for a long time.

She-Hulk is Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner. When an accident almost killed her, she needed a blood transfusion and her cousin Bruce happened to be the only person who could donate. As a result she basically turns into a female version of The Hulk in Endgame. She’s still a green, super powered, powerhouse, but she doesn’t transform back-and-forth, her proportions are much more human, and she retains her intelligence at all times. She’s also a very talented lawyer. They could make it a superhero courtroom drama, maybe? There’ve been some great comics with She-Hulk, so this has the possibility to be a really good show. Let’s hope Mark Ruffalo is up for making an appearance as her more famous cousin.

MOON KNIGHT (Release Date N/A)

The last Marvel show announced was Moon Knight. Moon Knight is often described as Marvel’s Batman. But I see him more as a combination of Daredevil and The Punisher. This character has a super weird backstory that I don’t completely understand, which should show you just how weird this is, if even I don’t get it.

Most of the time, Moon Knight is former mercenary Marc Spector, who after being cursed/gifted by the Egyptian god Khonshu (because, sure why not?) becomes a brutal vigilante stalking the streets of New York. The only problem is Marc Spector has disassociative identity disorder, or multiple personalities. He’s bat shit crazy and violent as hell. This will definitely be a grittier show more in the vein of the stuff we’ve seen from Marvel on Netflix. However it will be interesting to see if they use a Moon Knights mental health problems to say something meaningful and interesting about the mental health issues that people struggle with every day.

Check back here later, when I’ll be giving a summary of all of the Star Wars news from D23!

 Lastly, I wanted to include a few picture of the DISNEY+ interface when it launche. By now means a comprehensive look, it’ll give you a better idea of what to expect.

  Check back here at World’s Best Media for any new D23 developments. I’ll be updating this page as The Expo continues. One last thing, which D23 presentation or announcement has you most excited? Which is the biggest draw for you: Marvel or DC? Do you plan on signing up for Disney + when it launches on November 12th? Or pare you going to wait a little while for more content to be added? Comment below or on social media. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading! 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. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting the show. We really appreciate the loyalty shown to us by World’s Best Media fans, so thanks again!

-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