MarvelBlog News for November 2, 2020
This week: We may have our Moon Knight! (I’m saying maybe because of what happened with She-Hulk.)
Also, the star of Black Widow talks release dates and a Marvel update hints at Ant-Man’s future…which took place in the past.
Photo: Total Film
I’ll bring you up to speed in this week’s MarvelBlog News.
The Neo Moon Knight Dream Is Dead
Sometimes, Marvel casting news fills me with joy. On other occasions, my heart breaks at the knowledge of what might have been.
Photo: Variety
This frustration occurred recently when an actress I love, Tatiana Maslany, refuted reports that she’d portray She-Hulk.
Maslany said this after Alison Brie had been rumored as the lead for more than a year. Right when I talked myself into Maslany, she denied the claim.
Photo: Getty Images
Similarly, another actor I adore will apparently portray Moon Knight in the upcoming Disney+ series of the same name. And I’m broken-hearted about it.
Recently, a confounding rumor suggested that Marvel had approached living legend, Keanu Reeves, to play Marc Spector, the Moon Knight.
Fans, myself included, marked out over the idea, with some going so far as to create artistic renderings of Keanu as Spector.
Alas, those reports were apparently untrue. Or Neo passed on the project. I presume it’s the latter, as Reeves possesses the fullest dance card in Hollywood.
Comicbook.com
The actor has signed on to star in two more John Wick movies plus the upcoming Matrix sequels. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for television.
Rather than wait, Marvel has moved forward with its backup plan, which is still spectacular.
Photo: Disney/Image Group LA via Getty Images
I don’t often describe a Golden Globe-winning actor as a step down, which says more about Keanu than Marvel’s second choice.
A Lesser Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac, that dude from the most recent Star Wars trilogy, is in negotiations to play Marc Spector.
Photo: Vanity Fair ROY ROCHLIN/WIREIMAGE/GETTY
Why does Marvel want Isaac for the role? Well, Vanity Fair once called him the “best dang actor of his generation.” So, that’s pretty good.
Audiences first became aware of the actor in Inside Llewyn Davis. It’s a masterful Coen Brothers movie that I highly recommend.
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
Since then, Isaac has earned acclaim for his work in Ex Machina, At Eternity’s Gate, and the Star Wars franchise.
People know Isaac best as fighter pilot Poe Dameron, who saves the day in the battle against the First Order.
Image: Marvel.com
Interestingly, Isaac vented to the media about Disney’s unwillingness to allow a relationship between Poe and Finn in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
In fact, headlines from late last year suggested that the actor would never work with Disney again.
Photo: Geek Vibes Nation
Obviously, cooler heads have prevailed here, possibly thanks to the pandemic.
The current plan calls for Isaac to portray Moon Knight in an early 2022 series, which means the project must start soon.
Photo: ScienceFiction.com
Disney has hired Jeremy Slater as Moon Knight’s showrunner. This decision matters almost as much as Isaac.
Slater’s most recent comic book foray occurred in Umbrella Academy, Netflix’s mega-hit. He’s the goods.
Photo: GQ / Jason Nocito
As for Isaac, he already tried to play a Marvel character once before. He played Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. It…didn’t go great.
However, we’ve learned over and over again that Fox cannot match Disney when it comes to Marvel characters.
Photo: Walker/Variety/Rex/Shutterstock
So, I have complete confidence that Moon Knight will be excellent with Isaac as the lead.
Of course, we shouldn’t believe anything until Marvel confirms Isaac. A performer I like even better than Isaac is apparently a fallback option.
Photo: Rolling Stone
Hint: watch Blindspotting and Snowpiercer, everyone!
Whither Black Widow
Since the pandemic started, the question we’ve all wondered is when we’ll get Black Widow.
Photo: TVOvermind.com
Marie Claire recently interviewed Scarlett Johansson, wherein she spilled the beans about what she knew.
As you know, the film was supposed to debut at the start of May but then got delayed until the first week of November.
Well, that’s now, and we’re still not getting the movie. However, Marvel apparently won’t release Black Widow on Disney+, either, at least not first.
So, we’re all playing the waiting game. Johansson provided some clarity and some wisdom with this statement:
“We’re all eager to get the movie out, but more important than anything, everybody wants the experience to feel safe, to have people be able to really feel confident about sitting in an enclosed theater.”
In other words, we’re stuck in a holding pattern until COVID gets under control.
The current release date for Black Widow is May 7th, 2021.
However, the United States just reported a record number of daily infections.
I can’t help but wonder whether Disney will bite the bullet here if Coronavirus forces another theatrical delay.
At that point, a Disney+ release may seem more appealing.
Photo: The Guardian
News from the Quantum Realm
Marvel Entertainment has done a marvelous job of providing engaging content during the pandemic.
This little thing gives MCU fans stuff to consider while anxiously awaiting Black Widow. And a recent update has caused excitement and confusion.
Photo: Marvel
Marvel posted a dossier about the history of Ava Starr, aka Ghost, the “villain” from Ant-Man and the Wasp.
As part of the discussion, the article mentions that Ant-Man “gets stuck there for five years, but that’s a story for another time.”
Photo: Marvel
Now, because I’m a moron who accidentally checked my bag that had my iPad in it, I just re-watched Avengers: Endgame on a plane the other day.
During the movie, Scott Lang, the modern Ant-Man (remember that Michael Douglas is the original), explains the quirks of the Quantum Realm.
Photo: Disney/Marvel
For the other two characters in the scene, Black Widow and Captain America, Thanos had won, and five years had passed.
Lang states, “for me, it was five hours.” Yes, time passes so differently in the Quantum Realm that an hour there is a year in the rest of the MCU.
More importantly, that little update suggests that Marvel plans to return Lang to the Quantum Realm one day, presumably to explain what happened.
In his own weird, unlikely way, Ant-Man saved the entire MCU, but the timey-wimey nature of it confused many.
Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
I suspect that Kevin Feige, Marvel’s head and a known stickler for details, would like to clarify some stuff.
So, that’s something to look for, possibly as soon as Ant-Man 3, which will begin filming at the start of the year.
