D23 Released the Latest, "Avengers: Doomsday," Teaser and a Surreal, "Visionquest," Trailer

Disney kicked off D23 last night and announced a bunch of upcoming projects, showed more of other things in the works, and so forth. As Marvel is a big part of Disney, that had some topics of discussion, including an official reveal (finally) of an X-Men movie coming in 2028 and the public release of a big, "Avengers: Doomsday," trailer that was previously only seen by attendees of CCI//SDCC. I am intrigued by what I've seen. Give it a look:

The part where Reed Richards asks Doom what he's done gives me vibes of when Johnathan Hickman's run on the, "Avengers," and, "New Avengers," comics was leading toward, "Secret Wars," and the Earths in different Universes were being destroyed by heroes as well as villains to try and save other realities. The flicks have hinted at these, "Incursions," being an issue before, so imagine with those X-Men around too, we'll be watching folks from different spots in the Multiverse trying to save their own homes as this all leads into the, "Avengers: Secret Wars," movie a bit after this one (just like the comic event/events)! Robert Downey Junior's take on Doctor Doom seems solid, although I am still unsure why they got the former Iron Man to play this role but imagine, "Avengers: Doomsday," will address this in some fashion. The release date of December 18th will bring many answers and probably raise even more questions!

Oh, plus we've got a trailer for, "Visionquest," which looks to be an absolutely absurd treat. Paul Bettany and James Spader's Ultron (now sporting more of a human-styled form) in a weird virtual World, arguing about concepts of humanity and morality whilst getting into various hijinks? I'm down for it and will check it out this October on Disney+. View that trailer here:

I've been iffy on what Marvel's got going on with their comics and have felt unsure about their movie/television productions, but it at least looks like this Fall and Winter will have some fun stuff. I'm hopeful, "Avengers: Doomsday," is great and its follow-up, "Avengers: Secret Wars," then sticks the landing.

The First Full Trailer for, "Avengers: Doomsday," Appears Nifty

I watched the first (of probably a couple) full trailer for, "Avengers Doomsday." Besides a bit of a teaser here and there, little has been shown/revealed. In the trailer, released yesterday, we hear what sounds like Robert Downey Junior with an accent speaking as Doctor Doom about a major threat. Then, we get a bunch of scenes of much of the MCU gathering together whilst a voice-over from Thor (Chris Hemsworth) discusses how the current threat facing everyone scares him more than anything he'd ever faced--and back then he had other friends by his side too...who died (one would assume this references Iron Man and Captain America, not so much the MCU's Pietro/Quicksilver). Have a look:

The footage gives us a good look at some Multiversal iteration of the Avengers fighting an X-Men team where Channing Tatum's Gambit is present (odd, but I'm not complaining) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) wears more clothing (which does have some of the internet that favors a nothing-but-blue-paint-style complaining). I mean, we get more James Marsden as Cyclops, and he's in a comic-style suit, so I'm happy about that and am fine with the other tweaks too--Magneto's got some long locks! I would imagine much of the movie is centered on the Avengers taking on this X-Men-verse as we saw with, "Incursions," when Jonathan Hickman wrote, "Avengers," and, "New Avengers." That eventually ended with Doctor Doom kind of saving the day and creating a new Universe in the 2015 version of, "Secret Wars," which also happens to be the second part of this filmic duology with, "Avengers: Secret Wars." 

The trailer got me curious enough about the movie I'd maybe check it out in theaters, even if the Chris Evans' Captain America return had already been spoiled before the trailer's reveal. I haven't really been able to say that about a Marvel production since the horror stylings of the Sam Raimi-directed, "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," got me to buy a movie ticket. If I'm considering seeing this in theaters, I guess mission accomplished? Plus, it gives Marvel plenty to talk about this week at Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con!

Marvel Has the X-Men Event, "DNX," Coming This Fall, and Maybe Too Many Events Occurring, Honestly

Comic-book companies (particularly Marvel and DC) love a big event every now and then. Some take up a bunch of the comic line, and others are a bit more focused. The X-Men have a new horror-styled event called, "DNX," just announced for this Fall. Featuring the tagline, "Evolution is contagious," it makes me wonder if Marvel is aiming for some kind of boost in the number of mutants as was happening pre, "House of M," before the number of mutants was drastically reduced and slowly started growing again to a level where they again work as, "hated and feared minority," without being outright, "Endangered," as they were for a bit.

At the moment, Marvel has a number of smaller events all planned or popping off at once for better and worse. As Bleedingcool discussed, "So that's DNX for the X-Men, Armageddon for Avengers, Death Spiral for Spider-Man and Venom, and Queen In Black for Venom and Thor… any more for any more?" They're being snarky, but have a point about, "Eventitis," as it is sometimes called. Marvel seems to be stuck either doing a single massive event or a bunch of small ones at a near-constant rate. DC, meanwhile, has been steadily gaining more of the comic market through a slow-and-steady growth of their massively popular, "Absolute," line and an event here and there, such as the recently concluded and generally inoffensively fun, "DC K.O." I'm not the head of either company so I am wholly unqualified to argue who is doing, "Better." I would say a lot more people are excited for DC comics these days than a lot of Marvel's output, however.

The last big X-Men event I gave much attention to was, "House of X/Powers of X," which led into an era of the X-Men and many mutants spending a lot of time living on the island of Krakoa before that all wound down with little of consequence to show for an epic start and whimper of a conclusion. That said, a lot of these events are about the journey, not the destination ("Flashpoint," was a ton of fun years ago and led into the ho-hum New 52). Will the, "Adventure," we have with DNX or any other Marvel event strike enough of a nerve that people will really dig them? We shall see, and in the end, the comics at Marvel almost seem like an afterthought with how much is undoubtedly riding on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and if, "Avengers Doomsday," and, "Secret Wars," will undo the general feeling of disinterest many folks have had towards the MCU since, "Endgame." It is going to be a pivotal 2026 for Marvel, that's for sure.

"Avengers: Secret Wars," Will Indeed Lead to a Cinematic Reboot

I believe I have written on this ol' blog before about how I felt Marvel's cinematic universe was leading up to a big reboot. It would epically wrap up everything that had happened since 2008 and bring us a singular fresh Universe with elements of the past stories, but still totally new. That would make it easier for anybody to get into Marvel flicks who doesn't want to spend over a hundred hours watching movies or shows, and have a new starting point. Even though, "Reboot," is a loaded term, that has basically been confirmed by Marvel's movie head, Kevin Feige, as the plan. We could get a new universe with a recast Tony Stark,  Captain America, teenage X-Men, and so forth. It'll all happen after, "Avengers: Secret Wars."

I'm all for Marvel wiping the slate (mostly) clean and giving us a brand new continuity to play with. Even hardcore fans will admit the current MCU can be a messy and bloated now with all the universes, shows that didn't seem to matter a ton (I did adore, "Wandavision," however, for what it was), and so forth. A fresh-ish start couldn't hurt, I'd imagine. I mean, starting over seems to have served DC well with the latest, "Superman," flick being a hit. In the end, it is a little funny to think just as how the comics often seem to resort to reboots, now the films are too.

The Two Big Upcoming, "Avengers," Flicks are Delayed

The next two Avengers films are, "Avengers: Doomsday," and, "Avengers: Secret Wars." They were due to come out in May 2026 and May 2027, but have been pushed back six months to December 2026 and December 2027. I'm not surprised. I mean, considering it seems like basically everyone from a past Marvel/X-Men/whatever movie is involved in this, I imagine there are a lot of logistics to figure out in regards to actors' schedules, creating special effects, and the like.

I imagine when these two flicks do come out, they will be huge, making a lot of money and getting all the hype Marvel has desired but failed to attain since the one-two punch of, "Infinity War," and, "Endgame." My theory (and one others online have expressed) remains that with, "Secret Wars," we will do a big continuity reset so that all MCU-centric films will from that point forward be in a new Universe that takes pieces of all the movies but is a fresh World for anyone who wants to be able to have a brand-new starting point for Marvel flicks. That way, they can keep old stuff that works, dump stuff that doesn't, and add in new elements (live-action Miles Morales has got to be coming soon). We'll have to wait a little extra to see, I suppose.

Possibly the Wildest News from CCI/SDCC: Robert Downey Jr. is Back in the MCU...as Doctor Doom?

Last night Marvel had a huge panel in the biggest possible room you can book from Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con--Hall H. They talked about a lot of upcoming movies but the biggest news from that panel and possibly all of CCI/SDCC is that we're not getting a Kang movie with the Avengers anymore--we're getting, "Avengers: Doomsday," in 2026 followed by, "Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. The Russo brothers are returning to direct and Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU...as Doctor Doom. Not Iron Man. I am a bit befuddled.

I honestly would have maybe predicted RDJ would come back to the MCU at some point with a good enough offer and story. I never would have predicted he'd somehow be Victon Von Doom. Is it some kind of multiversal variant? A different kind of reality-warping shenanigans? We don't know and probably will have to wait a bit for the exact details, but Robert's back, and he's gonna be a supervillain. I've seen reactions to this vary from excited optimism that Marvel is going back to talent that previously worked well to a bit of trepidation for the exact same reason--Marvel is going back to playing a bit of a nostalgia card for stuff that's not even two whole decades old yet. 

I guess sometimes we invent a reason to bring old stuff back because it worked the first time. After all, remember in the Star Wars flicks when they did the whole, "Somehow, Palpatine returned," gimmick? I've written extensively about the power of nostalgia/"weaponized nostalgia," and how it can give us great new stories that utilize the power of past tales but can also backfire horribly. I guess we need to let Kevin Feige (the well-known mastermind behind much of the MCU), the Russos, and Marvel cook so we can see just what happens.

Film Friday: "Ant-Man: Quantumania," Looks Interesting. I Do Have One Nagging Concern

I watched the trailer for the new, "Ant-Man: Quantumania," film the other day. It looks kind of like Marvel meets Star Wars (both owned by Disney, funnily enough) as they go into the Quantum realm and encounter all kinds of alien Worlds as well as Kang. It looks fun, but I have this nagging feeling that it will feel less self-contained than the other flicks with Ant-Man and instead feel like one big lead-in to the Avengers movie featuring Kang ("Avengers: the Kang Dynasty," which itself will lead to, "Avengers: Secret Wars." The man playing Kang, Jonathan Majors, is a fantastic actor and he was stellar as a variant of Kang (He Who Remains) in the, "Loki," show. I do wonder if those who skipped Loki will be a bit confused by who exactly he is, however. 

I imagine the movie will be good fun, but I hope it gets to do some of its own thing as well as setting up all the future stuff. We've seen what happens when a Marvel movie is more concerned with getting upcoming projects teased than telling its own story--we get, "Avengers: Age of Ultron." That was a perfectly fine movie, but it ain't on anyone's top 5 list for best MCU movies and shows. No matter what, at least we'll get more of Paul Rudd, that man is a treasure.

Well, Marvel Pretty Much, "Won," CCI/SDCC This Year

Marvel had its big Hall H panel last night at Comic-Con International/Sand Diego Comic-Con. They announced what felt like everything and the kitchen sink whilst also making it clear some more announcements would come later. We are currently in phase 4 of the cinematic universe and phase 5 was wholly laid out along with a big chunk of phase 6 basically making it known that by the end of 2025 we would see the entirety of, "The Multiverse Saga," with everything basically culminating in two Avengers flicks during 2025, "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," and, "Avengers: Secret Wars." A lot of us saw that, "Secret Wars," coming (myself included in a recent post), but it is appreciated for Marvel to make it clear what the over-arching plan is after lots of folks had been wondering what precisely the flicks and Disney+ shows were leading up to--if anything specific. 

Basically, Marvel showed up and said, "You want to know our plans? Well, here's an overview of what the first half of this decade is going to look like, MOFOS! We've got Daredevil coming back, Kang is gonna cause trouble, we've got a Fantastic Four flick, we'll be doing wild Multiverse stuff, and before all that phase four is going to close strong with, 'Black Panther 2,' looking absolutely awesome. Open wide for this loaded cocktail of content, suckas!" The MCU's guiding hand, Kevin Feige, showed up and made it clear Marvel has a plan, one that will probably rake in the dough too. I have gotten to a point where there is just so much stuff coming out from Marvel I don't always have time to see it all, but I watch what appeals to me and some of these announcements are quite promising ("Blade," finally has a release date, which I like and a, "Thunderbolts," movie was confirmed). 

Marvel essentially stole the show this year at CCI/SDCC. You almost feel a little bad for DC as, "Black Adam," and the new Shazam movie both look fun, but one company showed up with a metaphorical lunchbox that had some snacks in it and the other arrived with a fully catered meal, so to speak. It's going to be an interesting next few years for Marvel when it comes to their movies and shows, that much is very clear.