Variety recently released an article regarding the state of Marvel and the upcoming projects they have in the pipeline. Once that article hit the internet, Twitter was inundated with different headlines surrounding the comic book movie company. The long and the short of it is that Marvel is not in a good spot right now. But it goes a lot deeper. Some of the issues include wanting to rehash old ideas, having to do a 180 on their potential next phase, and having script issues that nearly toppled one of their upcoming films.
Trouble In Vam-Paradise
In the article from Variety, they noted that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali almost bowed out of the Blade revival due to issues with the script. They report that in one version of the script, the main character Blade was demoted to the fourth lead of the movie. Feels foolish on many levels. First, to remake Blade and not have Blade as the centerpiece of the film makes no sense at all. This shows a lack of understanding of the original Blade trilogy if this was the idea. Second, casting an actor as talented as Ali in the lead and relegating him to the fourth lead is ridiculous.
This idea as a whole would be equivalent to Scorsese casting DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in the Wolf of Wall Street and making the story about Nicky “Rugrat”. It’s just dumb.
Thankfully for Yann Demange, Ali didn’t leave and they brought on Michael Green to rewrite the script. Green has written the scripts for Kenneth Branagh’s detective Hercule Poirot franchise, Blade Runner 2949, Logan, and Alien Covenant. It’s a diverse and background where he’s touched the detective, science fiction, and superhero corners of film. I personally feel he’s a great fit to write this script and he’s helping Marvel in more ways than one. In his rewrite, Green was able to get the budget for the film under $100 million dollars.
While a lot is crumbling in the MCU, at least the reprisal of Blade is still on. I’m a huge fan of the original Blade trilogy and am curious to see Ali in this role and if he can harness the coolness that Wesley Snipes had when he was Blade.
Marvel Wants To Revive Dead Characters For A New Avengers Film
Marvel doesn’t need to scrap their Blade project, but they’re close to making an even larger mistake. According to Variety, it’s been rumored that Marvel is looking to make another Avengers film. That’s cool, right? I mean, they were super successful and helped cultivate the fanbase they have now that’s extremely passionate. It would be a an okay idea if they were going to use new characters, but that’s not the plan. In these rumors, it’s been considered to bring the “original gang” back. That’d include reviving Iron Man and Black Widow. That’s two characters who had monumental deaths that were pivotal in making the Avengers films what they were.
I’m not entirely sure where this idea stems from or if any steps have been taken to actually develop this travesty, but I’d stress them to revert course. This would please maybe a fourth of your audience, but would make the rest of the fans turn their backs on Marvel.
You don’t see Martin Scorsese making a Goodfellas 2 where Tommy comes back to life and returns to his wise guy self. The Safdie Brothers aren’t making an Uncut Gems sequel where Howard Ratner survives the gunshot and goes back to gambling like a degenerate. It doesn’t and wouldn’t make sense. It’d be a bastardization of a good franchise and a slap in the face towards the fans of the MCU.
Doctor Doom Is In And Jonathan Majors Is Out
The cherry on top of the pile-of-shit Marvel is dealing with is that Jonathan Majors is a scumbag. We’ve known this since about March, but it’s gotten to the point where his character Kang might get replaced by Doctor Doom.
Majors was arrested earlier this year for assault, strangulation, and harassment of a woman in New York. Since then, the water has been murky surrounding his character. More allegations have popped up and what was going to be a good year for Majors has become a nightmare. He starred in Creed III, Magazine Dreams, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania prior to the allegations. With things getting progressively worse around Majors and the MCU as a whole, Marvel is looking to do a hairpin turn away from Majors and his character, Kang the Conqueror.
The MCU was setting up to surround Kang the Conqueror the same way it did Thanos in years prior. Now, Marvel is considering changing villains and going with Doctor Doom as the central villain of this new phase. And guess what? I don’t hate it. Doctor Doom is a badass character with a genius brain and the ability to fly, use dark arts, and is a remarkable swordsman. If Marvel can promise we’ll get Doctor Doom as a menacing villain and MF Doom needle drops, I’m fully invested. This might not be a bad thing for Marvel, but it will be a difficult rebranding for them.