MarvelBlog News for December 13th, 2021

Some weeks, the news is so crazy that you just have to strap in and read it all.

MarvelBlog News is a must-read update this time, I swear!

A Marvel Star Gets Blocked on Instagram

Generally, December is the slowest time on the calendar for film news. That…hasn’t proved the case over the past week.

We’ve got several rumors, some mostly confirmed rumors, and facts about upcoming Marvel projects.

However, I’m going to start with something silly but true. Please skip to the next section if you haven’t watched Hawkeye episode 1-4, though.

This section includes a massive spoiler about that episode, and you want to be surprised.

WARNING: SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

The person who made the cameo in Hawkeye episode 1-4 just got blocked on Instagram. So why did this person run afoul of the Instapolice?

Well, Florence Pugh excitedly shared details of her return to the MCU. From her perspective, Black Widow had sat on the shelf for a year.

So, she was a substantial timeframe removed from filming in the MCU when she returned to Hawkeye.

Pugh wanted to show off footage from her appearance. However, Instagram has spoiler rules in place.

Someone marked her as violating the terms of service on show spoilers.

So, Florence Pugh got temporarily blocked on Instagram for showing pictures from the Hawkeye shoot.

This is a real and hilarious thing that happened.

Return of a Marvel Star…Or Two

Speaking of return engagements, Kevin Feige recently performed an interview wherein he finally let the cat out of the bag…sort of.

Feige said the following:

“If you were to see Daredevil in upcoming things, Charlie Cox, yes, would be the actor playing Daredevil.

Were we to see that, how we see that, when we see that, remains to be seen.”

Now, the key word there is IF. However, the media has run with the fact that Feige confirmed Cox’s return.

That’s not technically what happened. Still, as several other upcoming casting reveals, it’s such an open secret that people have read between the lines.

The prevailing belief is that Cox will return as Daredevil, possibly as soon as this month.

Simultaneously, the actor who plays his enemy, Kingpin, will return either before or immediately afterward.

I’m referencing Vincent D’Onofrio, who tweeted this almost immediately after Feige’s interview:

So happy for Charlie Cox he really deserves this.
He's a great actor and a wonderful guy. He put so much into playing DareDevil in such a unique way. Love this news. #NoFearNoGreedNoEnvy https://t.co/rPxyAKH47a

— Vincent D'Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) December 6, 2021

Later, he added this, which is either secondary confirmation or a request to Feige to do the right thing:

Let's not forget about @DeborahAnnWoll and the depth she brought to the character of Karen Page an incredible Marvel character. https://t.co/rPxyAKptfC

— Vincent D'Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) December 7, 2021

I cannot imagine some of the Daredevil characters from the beloved Netflix series returning without Deborah Ann Woll.

I’ll add that should/if/when all these things happen, the odds of Krysten Ritter joining the MCU go up by a factor of 20.

Please give us more Jessica Jones, Mr. Feige!

China vs. Spider-Man, and Does It Even Matter?

This is really just the Spider-Man update for the week, but MUCH has happened.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Spider-Man: No Way Home still doesn’t have a release date in China.

Marvel already lost its box office chances in this vital territory with other 2021 releases.

Black Widow, Eternals, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings all failed to play in Chinese markets.

That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in box office. However, Disney and Marvel’s net revenue on these earnings wouldn’t have been much.

Somehow, that’s not the most remarkable part of the story, though. Despite this standoff between Marvel and China, Sony executives are smiling.

Presales for Spider-Man: No Way Home hint at a $200 million (!) opening weekend. Obviously, that’s far from guaranteed.

Many insiders, myself included, expected Eternals to open to $100 million before early reviews torpedoed its momentum.

Critics can start posting Spider-Man reviews late tonight, December 13^th. So, we’ll know more about its quality then.

Even so, Deadline reports that the latest Sony comic book movie has broken several key records for early box office reporting.

This one’s gonna be a juggernaut. And it’s not the only one Sony has lined up. We just got the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Here it is:

I’ll say what we’re all thinking: Spider-Gwen is the coolest character in comics.

Sony announced that the Spider-Verse sequel will debut in 2023. So, it will have two massive Spider-Man blockbusters over the next two years.

Could Letitia Wright Quit the MCU?

I hate to give what sounds like fake rumors oxygen. However, I’ve referenced this a couple of times recently.

So, I’d be remiss to ignore it now. A rumormongering website has suggested that Letitia Wright may quit the MCU.

I’ve previously discussed the odd nature of her injury on the set of the Black Panther sequel.

First, Marvel executives indicated that it wasn’t serious. Then, we only later learned that she’d suffered a concussion and a fractured shoulder.

I’m unclear about how someone would misdiagnose a shoulder break. That’s hard to miss as a rule.

The actress does have reason to mistrust Marvel and maybe even feel betrayed by them.

Those early reports made her prolonged absence sound like she was a drama queen. But, in reality, she probably still cannot lift her shoulder without feeling pain.

The Letitia Problem

On the whole, something has felt off about the Wright situation for a while. It’s an open secret that she doesn’t want to get vaccinated.

As this article discusses, Marvel feels stuck because it recently extended her contract for several more MCU movies.

Then, Wright started causing problems on the set to the point that her entire American PR team quit working with her.

That’s not something you often see in Hollywood, especially not with someone whose star is on the rise.

Wright has developed a reputation for being difficult.

Now, a site has reported that the actress refuses to return to the United States to finish filming.

Let me be clear on this point. The person doesn’t have a source. They’re guessing. If they guess right, they look like a hero.

Nobody respects them anyway, preventing their reputation from sinking any lower if they guess wrong.

However, the bet itself is an intriguing one. The whole thing reminds me of a Pete Davidson relationship.

You know it’s doomed to fail, with the only question being when the schism happens.

Marvel doesn’t want to kill off the Shuri character for readily apparent reasons.

So, I expect a recasting at some point and a payout to make Letitia Wright go away.

I won’t disguise my pure speculation as anonymous source nonsense, though, just what I think will happen.

None of this should impact the filming of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Wright will come back because Marvel’s not about to re-shoot her earlier scenes.

If that happens, well, the behind-the-scenes stories about Black Panther 2 will surpass the intrigue of the movie itself.

Finally, here’s the best TikTok ever.

https://twitter.com/teddow/status/1469437021001240582

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