There is a lot to cover from this Variety bombshell article, “Crisis at Marvel: Jonathan Majors Back-Up Plans, ‘The Marvels’ Reshoots, Reviving Original Avengers and More Issues Revealed.”
It’s amusing to read that Marvel is so desperate to regain their past glories that they’re willing to bring back the original star-studded cast, including a few who had, supposedly, died in “Avengers: Endgame.”
The report from Variety states that Marvel Studios is considering bringing back the original stars of the Avengers franchise — like Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson — for a new Avengers movie. Yes, this includes reviving Iron Man and Black Widow, who both died in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame”.
Last night, while tackling the tepid presales of “The Marvels,” I had mentioned how the recent failures of Marvel didn’t just have to do with “superhero fatigue,” but, rather, the fact that all the big heroes of “Avengers: Endgame” are no longer part of the MCU.
With the exception of “Spider-Man,” is there any superhero left in the MCU that can bring in the big bucks? You’re left with Deadpool, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Shang-Chi, The Eternals and Falcon. Marvel is also trying to reboot The Fantastic Four and Blade inside the MCU, but there’s no clear indication when that’ll happen.
Then you have the main villain of the next ‘Avengers’ movie — Kang the Conqueror — that was supposed to be played by Jonathan Majors. Variety reports that Marvel might completely eliminate his character in favor of another villain, potentially Dr. Doom.
This is all happening as next Friday’s “The Marvels” presales have been lukewarm and it is expected to have one of the weakest box-office openings in MCU history.
Listen, this is all music to my ears — Marvel’s sudden collapse is wonderful to witness. I hope they don’t right the ship and it all falls apart gloriously. We don’t need another MCU. I’m sure, somewhere out there, Martin Scorsese is smiling ear to ear.
I wouldn't call this film great — it stops short of that because of how neatly it resolves itself — but I'll give Rock his due here: this is much better than his previous directorial effort, "Top Five."