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My name is Bradley Gammel, and I'm an avid gamer and lover of cinema. My academic background features an English degree from Oklahoma State, and I am attending Pittsburgh State University as an MBA student.
Ever since Robert Downey Jr first said “I am Iron Man” in 2008’s Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has reigned as a box office juggernaut. Recently, the box office, reactions, and controversies have led to a decline in both fanfare and quality. Nevertheless, Kevin Feige has a plan up his sleeve for the future of the MCU and Avengers 5. The Hollywood Reporter revealed some overhauls coming to the MCU; the biggest seems to be steering away from Johnathan Majors’s character Kang.
Actor Johnathan Majors appeared in last February’s Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania to help establish his future role as the next galactic big bad following in Thanos’s purple footsteps. Since then, however, the rising star has fallen after domestic abuse allegations and trials ensued, with the jury finding the actor guilty. Now, with the potential name change coming for Avengers 5 and rumors of recasting Kang the Conqueror, the future of the MCU is shifting its perspective on more than just Majors and The Kang Dynasty.
The Year is Starting Off Powerful
2024 has found Disney in a relatively good spot for the MCU moving forward on the winding road toward Avengers 5. Marion Dayre and Amy Rardin’s Disney+ series, Echo, was released with positive feedback and gave fans a more extensive glimpse at the future of street-level heroes and villains. Then, the Super Bowl commercial for Deadpool & Wolverine broke records for the most viewed video in 24 hours with 365 million views, combining both Super Bowl and YouTube views.
Then, on Valentine’s Day last week, fans were greeted with the much-anticipated reveal of Marvel’s first family, The Fantastic Four. The cast for Matt Shakman’s upcoming The Fantastic Four will star Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. The Fantastic Four, which initially relaunched Marvel’s superhero comics in the 1960s and put Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s names in all of our hearts, has been a much-anticipated addition to the MCU.
The Road to Avengers 5 Continues
With the recent reveals and anticipation for the upcoming MCU projects and the now-rumored untitled Avengers 5, much more is happening behind the scenes than one might think. The upcoming WandaVision spin-off Agatha: Darkhold Diaries just underwent reshoots, in a brief one day of shooting in compression to its average of five days to reshoot scenes. The series is expected to release this fall, with a release most likely around Halloween—a fitting season for the character.
Rewrites are also underway for several major projects outside of Avengers 5. Eric Pearson, who worked on Thor: Ragnarok and Black Widow, is finetuning The Fantastic Four script. The Thunderbolts film has hired FX Networks’ The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo to help with the script. Both films are set to begin later this year, with Thunderbolts filming in Atlanta, Georgia, in March and The Fantastic Four filming in London over the summer.
The next primary entry into the MCU this summer is Deadpool & Wolverine, pumping fresh air into the universe. Beyond that film’s release, only time can tell if these reshoots and rewrites will help the road to the subsequent Avengers films. The rumors of the next big bad for Marvel can begin with Kang potentially out now.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
My name is Bradley Gammel, and I'm an avid gamer and lover of cinema. My academic background features an English degree from Oklahoma State, and I am attending Pittsburgh State University as an MBA student.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.