MarvelBlog News for March 31st, 2024

This past week, X-Men ’97 excelled, the Spider-Verse expanded, and Florence Pugh allowed us behind the curtain.

We’ve got a fun week for MarvelBlog News.

People Missed That Cartoon

Photo: MickeyBlog

When Disney+ announced the sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series, I rejoiced.

I know that many other fans joined me, as it was exactly the sort of nostalgic touch old-school Marvel viewers wanted.

Image: Marvel

Honestly, the last thing I expected was for the show to become a hit, though.

Frankly, that’s just not a reasonable expectation for a series that ended 27 years ago and only aired on Saturday mornings.

Photo: Nerdist

Nostalgia aside, how much demand could there be for the extension of a series that many have forgotten and others never knew?

Well, I’m happy to report that life doesn’t always make sense, and Marvel fans have benefited from that truth.

The Walt Disney Company, the corporate owner of Marvel, just did something rare.

Generally, Disney only announces details on its biggest hits, titles like The Mandalorian and Loki.

Apparently, Disney perceives X-Men ’97 on that level. Disney confirmed the viewer totals for the program.

Let’s just say that I’m impressed, as the sequel to X-Men: The Animated Series gained four million views in just five days.

How Good Is That?

For perspective, consider that Abbott Elementary, one of ABC’s most popular programs, claimed 5.9 million viewers for a recent episode.

That’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, something that’s impossible with streaming and network shows.

Still, you get the point that the latest X-Men animated series earned nearly as many views in a week as a new ABC television episode.

When Disney announced the return of the X-Men in this format, nobody could have possibly anticipated viewership of that level.

If they had, 1) we would have gotten the show much sooner and 2) Disney+ would have rushed the episodes.

Obviously, the latter aspect would have worked to the detriment of the series, which has received glowing reviews thus far.

So, everything has worked out for the best here. Also, I’m happy to report that I’ll start recapping the episodes this week.

Unfortunately, I cannot report Nielsen streaming ratings data for you yet, though.

Nielsen delays its charts by four weeks, which means we won’t get them for another couple of updates.

Of course, we don’t really need them this time. Disney already showed its hole cards by telling us what has happened.

The Unexpected Spider-Verse Update

Source: Sony Pictures/ Marvel

A few days ago, Sony and YouTube started dropping hints about an upcoming project.

I guess they waited until the last minute to market it? I say that because the project has already arrived.

Source: Sony

Sony effectively announced this short film, hyped it, and then released it in a matter of a week or so.

The short is called The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story.

Source: Sony Pictures/ Marvel

I don’t want to spoil anything, but you can watch it in its entirety here:

That got shockingly intense, didn’t it? I think that six-minute clip offers more entertainment than Morbius and Madame Web combined!

To a certain extent, Marvel released that to whet our appetites after the third Spider-Verse film suffered a delay.

Source: Sony Pictures

At this point, we don’t know when the movie will come out in theaters, but we do know something else.

In a perfect world, Spider-Verse 3 would have debuted in theaters this past Friday.

Source: Sony Pictures

So, you can think of this clip as a sort of apology for Sony missing its initial deadline.

Marvel Miscellany

I know that many of you are celebrating the Easter holiday today and/or enjoying a federal holiday.

For this reason, I’ll be briefer than usual. But there is one other big story to cover this week.

©Marvel Studios 2020

Florence Pugh posted this Thunderbolts update on Instagram.

You never really know with this stuff, but director Jake Schreier looks genuinely surprised to see her filming.

©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Also, we hear the bell that indicates that Thunderbolts is actually filming something while Pugh is having her fun.

Remember that moment if Pugh inexplicably falls off the face of the earth for a year. She has broken the cardinal rule of Marvel.

Source: Marvel Studios

Pugh pierced the sacred veil of the MCU for your benefit. Appreciate her gift…and possibly her sacrifice.

Substantially less useful is Paul Rudd, who answers this question about the future of Ant-Man as a character.

Paul Rudd says he has “no idea” when we’ll see Ant-Man next in the MCU pic.twitter.com/51rgEbzl8V

— ScreenTime (@screentime) March 23, 2024

Thanks for nothing, Clueless Guy. You’re no Florence Pugh.

Another story we’re tracking is the filming of Spider-Man 4.

Source: Marvel

Warner Bros. Discovery just announced a delay for Zendaya’s other big project, Euphoria.

Part of the explanation involves her busy schedule, which will only increase now that Dune 2 has become a blockbuster.

Source: Marvel Studios/ Sony Pictures

In that article, the author suggests that Spider-Man 4 lacks a filming date or a director.

That latter part flies in the face of other information this week suggesting that Justin Lin of the Fast & Furious franchise is onboard.

Source: Marvel Studios

Also, those rumors add that Spider-Man 4 will film this year, which would explain why Zendaya isn’t available for Euphoria.

Since these are reports and rumors that directly conflict, we’ll have to wait and see.

Photo: Parade

Have a lovely holiday weekend, everyone!

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Featured image: Marvel