MarvelBlog News for August 9th, 2026
This past week, Spider-Man claimed the throne, while Agent Smith’s niece entered the MCU.
Also, Mahershala Ali has gone no-contact and blocked Mickey on social media.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Shutterstock (10341985al)
We’ve got a fascinating week of MarvelBlog News.
That’s Good Casting
Image: Marvel
Here’s something you couldn’t possibly know about me: I want my horror to be funny.
Slasher flicks and gorno rarely do much for me, but the Scream films have always been my wheelhouse.
Photo: Marvel
Happy Death Day and its sequel delight me, as does the Ready Or Not franchise.
In fact, once Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come debuted on digital, I bought it immediately.
Source: Marvel Studios
Since then, I’ve had the film on a loop throughout the summer.
Seriously, I’ve probably watched it 15 times in total already, and there’s one reason why.
Photo: Marvel
Actress Samara Weaving, the niece of Hugo Weaving, is a superstar.
Her range is off the charts, which makes sense from a genetics perspective.
She can also steal scenes from switching from vulnerable to diabolical in the blink of an eye.
Now, as I mentioned last week, Weaving is about to become a bona fide superstar.
Marvel Zombies are coming to get you, Banner! Photo: Disney+
She already should have been due to Ready Or Not and its sequel.
Tragically, those films have fallen a bit beneath the radar, though.
Photo: Disney+
For many people, the first time they’ll see Weaving will be as Emma Frost in the MCU.
Presumably, Weaving will debut in the upcoming X-Men movie, if not sooner.
Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL.
We only just learned Sadie Sink’s identity in the MCU. Now, we’re meeting her enemy.
In the Marvel comics, after Jean Grey’s latest death, Emma Frost got with Cyclops.
Photo: Marvel
They were actually together from about 2001 through 2012.
So, X-Men director Jake Schreier can go a lot of different ways with this story.
Photo: Empire
Marvel has also reportedly chosen Kit Connor of Heartstopper as Cyclops.
Weaving and Sink will apparently be competing for his attention for the next 20 years.
Photo: BBC
I am VERY pleased about the casting of both female MCU roles.
Blade’s Not Undead, Just Dead
Photo: Blade
The other thing I mentioned last week is that Marvel has given up on Blade.
Heading into Marvel’s panel, the hot rumor was the confirmation of Midnight Suns.
Source: Marvel
Well, if that’s happening, I can assure you that Mahershala Ali won’t be in it.
The highly decorated actor had single-handedly held the Blade project together.
Photo: Sebastian Nevols / The Guardian
As long as Ali was attached to the film, Marvel wasn’t going to cancel it.
Well, that was the thinking, but something has changed. Someone gave up on Blade.
Photo: Maarten de Boer for Variety
We don’t currently know whether it was Ali or Marvel who quit on the project.
What we do know is that Blade officially won’t be happening, and Ali’s livid.
Mahershala Ali. Photo: IMDb
Marvel head Kevin Feige recently described Blade as one of his greatest failures.
For his part, Ali is on record as saying that if Marvel wanted to make the film, it’d be out already.
Source: Marvel
The actor has a point in that the past five years of the MCU have included a few high-profile misses.
Why did they get made while Ali got shut out on Blade? It’s a great question.
Source: Marvel
For his part, Ali doesn’t have the answer. He clearly had an emotional investment in the project.
Ali spent time in a sound booth voicing a disembodied voice in Eternals.
Source: Marvel Studios
Presumably, that was going to lead somewhere. We all know how Eternals turned out, though.
So, Marvel appears to be ditching all its previous supernatural characters in favor of new ones.
Source: Marvel
Ghost Rider and Jean Grey will lead that charge, while Ali goes his own way.
As someone who has been watching Ali since The 4400, I’m really heartbroken about this.
Source: Marvel Studios
Marvel couldn’t have fit in Blade during 2023 or after Deadpool & Wolverine in 2025?
We got Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania instead? Come on, Feige.
The Spider-Man Update
Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
Speaking of Feige, let’s discuss the historic news and the bad news of the past week.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton is currently on cloud nine after breaking THE record.
Daniel Destin Cretton. Photo: Marvel
Cretton’s film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened to $360 million domestically.
During an interview with The Wrap, Cretton sounded melancholy about his success.
Photo: The Verge
You may wonder why until you remember that Cretton executive produced Wonder Man.
So, just before Cretton’s latest movie earned $1 billion in six days, he lost a job.
Marvel isn’t making Wonder Man season two, which Cretton indicates wasn’t Kevin Feige’s choice.
That statement absolves his frequent collaborator and throws the blame elsewhere.
On the Disney corporate food chain, only Dana Walden or Josh D’Amaro could have killed it.
Cretton was clearly excited about Wonder Man’s second season, which makes Spider-Man’s dominance bittersweet.
Still, this whole turn of events is fascinating to behold as everything fell into place.
Feige had tapped Cretton to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Remember that?
Photo: Marvel
Once Marvel switched to Avengers: Doomsday, Cretton says he couldn’t find the throughline.
He dropped out of the project, which opened the door for Brand New Day.
Photo: Marvel
Presuming Doomsday performs well, everything will have worked out for the best for Marvel.
I’m not sure that the studio deserves this sort of success after the Wonder Man and Blade fiascos, though.
Honestly, Marvel has done some pretty dumb stuff lately. Something needs to change.
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