The OtherArena

[Bob Morris]

And here's where I get into why the DC TV universe has succeeded where the DC Cinematic universe has not.

http://relaxingwithsixpack.blogspot.com/2017/11/arrowverse-succeeds-where-dc-cinematic.html

[Steve Yohe]

Hey...Disney, who owns Marvel (right) bought out Fox, the dummies who own FF and X-men....so can Marvel start working on the reboots?---Yohe

[jdw]

Two recent pieces from Variety:


DC Shake-Up in the Works After ‘Justice League’ Stumbles

Warner Bros. Taps Walter Hamada to Oversee DC Films Production

[Bob Morris]

Late to respond to Steve's question about what happens with Marvel properties that Fox Studios had...

Fantastic Four is most likely getting rebooted. I suspect it will come somewhere down the line after other franchises get their moments. Marvel still wants to roll out Captain Marvel in 2019 and I imagine they'll be thinking about another Black Panther film.

The X-Men will probably stay with their current stream of films so long as Bryan Singer and the current cast want to do them. Once those folks decide their run is done, I suspect they'll set the X-Men aside for a while, before bringing them into the current MCU continuity.

They won't likely do it with the current cast because the X-Men films are being set in the past. For example, Dark Phoenix is supposed to take place in 1992.

[jdw]

Singer is already in the process of being out of the X-Men franchise. No one really wants to do business with him right now. He just got fired from Bohemian Rhapsody while it was filming. He has massive sex scandals all over him, and everyone is running away from him. He didn't direct any of the three X-Men movies coming out this year, or Gambit next year. Disney will toss him.

I think Steve will get his dream - the Fantastic Four will get a place in the MCU, and probably handled with about as much love as Marvel handled Spidey. I suspect they won't rush it, and will let the stink of the last movie die away over time. They have a ton on their plate right now.

Disney CEO Confirms X-Men & Fantastic Four Will Join MCU :
https://screenrant.com/disney-ceo-x-men-fantastic-four-mcu

[Bob Morris]

Had forgotten about the issue surrounding Singer.

Meanwhile, here's a good io9 piece about why Marvel should exercise caution in incorporating the X-Men into the MCU.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-problem-with-the-x-men-movie-rights-coming-back-to-1821820721

[jdw]

This would be cool if they pull it off:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-black-widow-movie-may-actually-be-moving-forward-1821969727

And while we all wanted a Widow movie ALL FREAKING READY!!!, I think having it take place after Avengers 3 & 4 rip apart the MCU and likely kill off or send away several of the Avengers would make for an even more interesting movie. Having Widow deal with the aftermath and how it impacts her life and views of super hero stuff would be really cool.

Of course I've been a mark for how Tony has been dealing with "New York", and am a bigger fan of IM3 than just about anyone because of that reason. I tend to like watching these guys deal with things screwing up their lives/world view and being messed up because of it. So Widow dealing with something similar would be cool.

We also would likely see Hulk showing up, which would be cool.

[Bob Morris]

A Black Widow film would make perfect sense for Phase 4 of the MCU.

They are currently in Phase Three with Black Panther, Infinity War and the Ant-Man sequel rolling out, so we are likely to see a "passing of the torch" along the way in which certain heroes are phased out and others take a bigger role.

Chris Evans has previously stated he wants to explore directing and not keep doing Steve Rogers, so there's a real possibility that Rogers is either killed or sidelined and either Bucky or Sam Wilson takes over the Captain America mantle (as has been done in the comics with both).

They have Captain Marvel planned for a March 2019 release and that's a female character who is taking a more prominent role in the comics, which would indicate Marvel will want to build post-Phase Three films around her. There's also the fourth Avengers film next year, which will certainly set the stage for post-Phase Three.

A Black Widow film makes sense in Phase Four, along with the two films already planned for it, a Spidey sequel and the third Guardians film. Plus, you can bet that Marvel will want a Black Panther sequel if the first film does big business.

So there are lots of options for Marvel to consider once Phase Three is done.

[jdw]

Black Widow Movie Being Planned For 2020:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/report-black-widow-movie-being-planned-for-2020-1822267545

I think they realize that they need at least one of the core Avengers for the next cycle. I would take 2020 with a grain of salt - as the piece indicates, the Mirror isn't always well sourced (which I can confirm for their futbol rumor mil). But 2020 / 2021 makes some sense.

The first major cycle ends with Avengers 4 in May 2019. These are then already on the slate:

07/05/19 Spidey II
xx/xx/20 GotG III

Guardians 3 will likely be in May, as GotG 2 was this year.

This gives them two strong movies early in the post-Original Avengers cycle. If they can get Widow into either 2020 or in a prime 2021 slot, it's another tent pole.

They likely will do a Doctor Strange 2 as there has been a good deal of talk on it. If Panther does business this year, and Captain Marvel next year, those will likely pop in.

That's not a bad starting point.

[jdw]

I like Black Panther quite a bit. I would have it at the top of my Tier 3 films above Ant-Man & Doctor Strange on this list:

jdw's last Marvel Rankings

It's not quite a "these have no business being any good" movie like the other two, or really a "miracle movie". But it's another example of the MCU taking smaller character with concepts that are hard to pull off yet pulling off the movie that are both fun and have decent stories. This hits stronger themes than either Strange or Ant-Man. Like Strange, it creates an entirely different world which is often what we go to comics or SciFi-Fantasy for. This one is pretty fabulous, rich and beautiful.

They did a rather bold move of having T'Chaka beloved legacy flipped on it's head by screwing up in leaving N'Jadaka behind (and frankly N'Jobu's body as well). It gave Killmonger a very valid reason to want to burn Wakanda down.

That said, Killmonger was far from the most interesting heels in the MCU. That's kind of par for the course in this tier, where all of the lead heels are pretty generic. Frankly if you walk through the MCU movies, heels aren't carrying any of the movies. The best are Redford in Cap 2 and Keaton in Spidey, and neither of them really carry the movie. The beloved Loki is more of a "cool heel" then actually being a good heel. So I can't really knock this for having a generic heel - that's part for the course in the MCU.

The primary supporting cast all got moments to shine, though Letitia Wright / Shuri is written to steal scenes left and right.

I like that they were willing to have Wakanda less than perfect, with with flaws on the "Good" side and elements of the side that turns not beyond redemption.

Good movie.

John

[Bob Morris]

Disney moved up Infinity War's release to April 27 in the United States. It was already scheduled for release in Europe that date.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/avengers-infinity-war-is-now-coming-out-a-week-earlier-1823436725

[Bob Morris]

Late on this, but I agree with John that Black Panther was a great movie.

The elements the film did the best were the world building, the characters and the themes. I don't think any other Marvel film has done as good of a job at world building as Black Panther did. Of course, one can argue it was necessary to get an idea of what Wakanda is all about. But the things they did, ranging from the landscapes to the technology to how the tribes came together was amazing.

I thought most of the characters were enjoyable and their motivations are easy to understand. What was good is they were able to take themes that are relevant to black people and mix in themes that are relevant to humanity in general. Like John said, it's made clear that Wakanda has its flaws, as did T'Chaka, T'Challa and others, but they are all done from a human standpoint.

I do think the action scenes were a bit lacking -- that's my only complaint about the film. Of course, they had the big action scene to wrap up the film at the end, but otherwise, there wasn't much that stood out as memorable.

But that's a minor complaint. I'd rank Black Panther in the top third of the MCU. Where it goes overall, I need to go back and look at my rankings and think about this a bit.

[Bob Morris]

OK, so here's where I'd rank the MCU movies thus far, after watching Black Panther a second time.

1. The Avengers (sentimental reasons)

2. Captain America 2
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 
5. Black Panther

6. Captain America 3
7. Spidey Homecoming
8. Iron Man
9. Doctor Strange
10. Iron Man 3
11. Ant-Man 
12. Thor 3
13. Captain America
14. Thor
15. Avengers 2
16. Iron Man 2
17. Thor 2
18. Incredible Hulk

[Steve Yohe]

1--Captain America
2-The Avengers
3- Spidey Homecoming
4- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1
5- Captain America 2
6-Iron Man
7- Ant-Man
8-Doctor Strange
9-Captain America 3
10- Iron Man 2
11- Thor 3
12-Iron Man 3
13-Avengers 2
14-Hulk #2
15-- Black Panther
16-- Thor 2
17-Thor
18-F. F #1
19--F. F. #2
20--Hulk #1
21--F. F. #3

[Bob Morris]

And the buzz is building for Infinity War.

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/avengers-infinity-war-buzz-its-thrilling-but-its-a-lot-of-movie/

Our local theater will have it for opening weekend. Needless to say, I'm geeked up. :)