MarvelBlog News for February 21st, 2022

by David Mumpower · February 21, 2022

Doctor Strange 2 released a trailer, Kevin Feige made a shocking declaration, and Loki season two named its directors. Let’s enter the Multiverse of Madness in this week’s MarvelBlog News.

The Only Super Bowl Commercial That Mattered

Source: Marvel Studios

Once upon a time, the Super Bowl screened dozens of buzzworthy commercials that generated massive attention for their brands.

Lately, those ads have universally sucked. Well, that’s the perception but not the reality. Most Super Bowl ads lacked any entertainment value.

Networks hyped the ads on their various news channels to satisfy their customers, the advertisers.

Source: Marvel Studios

Very rarely is a commercial worthy of special recognition. We get maybe five good Super Bowl ads per year. The rest are like that stupid E-Trade baby nobody likes.

But 2022 worked differently.

One commercial got tongues wagging and fingers tapping on phones immediately.

Source: Marvel Studios

The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer broke people’s brains with all its promises, including a voice from the past. Take a look and listen:

Ladies and gentlemen, that sure does sound like Professor Xavier speaking from on high.

In fact, he seems like he’s among Marvel’s – how would you describe them? – Illuminati.

Oh yeah, if you haven’t watched that trailer, you have missed A LOT. In fact, MarvelBlog will break down some of the sexiest rumors in a standalone article.

Source: Marvel Studios

For now, let’s talk about what we can confirm. Disney achieved something clever here. It didn’t pay for the entire trailer’s broadcast.

Instead, Disney bought time for a teaser and directed people to watch the entire Doctor Strange 2 trailer online. And boy, did they ever.

Source: Marvel Studios

Dr. Strange by the Numbers

According to social signals, nearly 100 million people watched the trailer and interacted on social media about it within 24 hours of the Super Bowl.

The Multiverse of Madness absolutely destroyed all other Super Bowl commercials in this metric.

Source: Marvel Studios

In fact, only one other movie, the new Jurassic World film, even approached Doctor Strange in terms of immediate interest.

Disney also debuted another Moon Knight commercial, but data suggests it got swallowed whole by Multiverse of Madness.

Source: Marvel Studios

That’s all anybody wanted to talk about this past week. We can even demonstrate this with a data point.

Doctor Strange 2 claimed nearly five times (!) as much interest as Black Widow did for its Super Bowl ad in 2020.

For its part, Disney suggested that 143 million people watched the trailer within 24 hours on their social platforms.

Source: Marvel Studios

Also, 55 million more people watched broadcast views. In short, people loved this commercial so much that they didn’t fast-forward through the commercials!

The appeal of the Dr. Strange sequel is so massive that it temporarily reset media consumption back a decade to a time when people still watched network and cable television!

Source: Marvel Studios

Wait, What???

When Kevin Feige speaks, we always listen. Sometimes, what he has to say leads to double-takes, though.

That statement proved especially true this past week as Feige flatly stated that we won’t get another Avengers movie.

Photo: Disney/Image Group LA via Getty Images

I’m truly sorry if your heart just stopped as you read that. Have someone perform CPR on you, and then I’ll continue. Please don’t walk toward the light.

Sorry, Feige’s odd proclamation has got me acting weirder than usual, and I’m always pretty weird anyway.

Here’s what happened. Feige appeared in the Disney+ featurette, Assembled: The Making of Eternals.

Source: Marvel Studios

During this discussion, Feige said the following:

“Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now past their 10th anniversary, and with the release of the final Avengers movie, we finally completed a 22-movie Infinity Saga.”

If you’re anything like me, you’re hoping that people have read too much into this statement. He’s talking about the past tense, isn’t he?

LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 22: (L-R) President of Marvel Studios/Producer Kevin Feige and Scarlett Johansson attend the Los Angeles World Premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)

There’s Still Hope…Maybe

Feige later added the following:

“Where do we go from there? Where do we start? And what we really wanted to do was two things: start fresh, with whole new characters, new storylines, but actually go back to some of the deepest, richest mythology in all of Marvel comics.”

Source: Marvel Studios

That…makes me less hopeful. Feige is definitely speaking as if one chapter of the MCU has closed forever.

Should we read into that Feige will introduce a new superhero team, one that goes by a different name than the Avengers? Possibly.

Source: Marvel Studios

I will add that in a previous conversation, Feige had proclaimed the following:

“(We) think we want there to be a reasonable amount of time from the Endgame to start a new saga, which is already underway and already started.”

So, that reads more like Avengers 5 is in the plans, only with new stories yet to unfold. Of course, he said that last year. Has he since changed his mind?

Photo: Marvel

I’ve thought about this quite a bit and eventually decided that we’re reading too much into it.

We live in a world where Tobey Maguire just played Peter Parker again, while Patrick Stewart presumably returns as Professor X.

We should never say never about any superhero premise. Instead, we should expect a significant gap between Avengers: Endgame and Avengers 5.

Source: Marvel Studios

Realistically, that makes the most sense anyway. Avengers 5 would collapse under the weight of expectations if we constantly compared it to Endgame.

That project needs time to breathe and expand with new characters, ones we might come to love every bit as much as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor.

Marvel Miscellany

Let’s start with an update from last week. The Disney+ schedule is out for March of 2022. It does NOT contain any of the Marvel shows from Netflix.

So, the current thinking is that Disney pulled the license but can’t show these programs yet on its own services.

Source: Marvel Studios

I don’t necessarily believe that, as I think Disney may simply wait for other developments in the MCU first.

As a reminder, Daredevil appeared in the top 10 of streaming ratings in December for…reasons.

Timing these shows with upcoming series and movies would make some sense.

Source: Marvel Studios

Speaking of which, rumors abound that a Punisher series is in the offing at Disney+ or Hulu. Yes, it would feature the same cast as the Netflix series!

While we’re talking about additional seasons of Marvel programs, Loki season two has confirmed some directors.

Source: Marvel Studios

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead must have impressed Marvel. The two artists just helmed multiple episodes of Moon Knight.

Now, they’ll direct more than half the episodes of Loki season 2. Their stars are undeniably ascending.

Photo: Marvel

Speaking of which, co-star Ethan Hawke is gushing about the performance of his counterpart, Oscar Isaac, in Moon Knight.

I should add that they’re close friends, which is how Hawke came to be on the project in the first place.

Source: Marvel Studios

Still, he’s mentioning Isaac in the same breath as Robert Downey, Jr. That’s got to get you excited for the project! And that’s our MarvelBlog News for February 21st!