Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase 4 & Beyond (and a chance to change your vote)

if we assume that the show's meta-asides are to be taken as messages from a reliable narrator (as they have so far wrt theme lyrics, visual asides suggesting not all is as it seems), Agatha is described in the song as insidious, perfidious and "messing up everything." She also admits to killing a dog with Wicked Witch of the West flair which is a cancelable offense these days so i figure her as a straight-up baddie, potentially in league with larger baddies tbd but likely already mentioned in this thread.

Worth noting (or not, who even knows anymore) that, in the comics, Sparky is not a real live organic dog but rather a synthezoid dog created by Vision.

next ep to be directed by Tim Burton, focus on Agatha's father

We don't even know what's "real"/permanent in this world yet, so maybe the dog was, yeah, not real. I guess we'll see soon enough if she's a baddie or what kind of baddie she is. I only know Hahn as a comedic actor. Does she have compelling drama chops, too, that would make her a convincing villain? That's sort of another reason I think she may not be a villain, she seems like a good character to want/have around.

In this world, safe to assume Dr. Strange knows about this ongoing magical anomaly, right? What is his relationship with Agatha in the comics? Peers? Rivals?

For that matter, why is everything being directed like a TV show, or different eras of TV shows, at all? And why was it glitching last episode?

bet you were fun in Sunday School

I'm sayin': MOJO

(I really should've put money on Mojo being involved, could really make some bank on such a...longshot bet)

xpost That's actually kind of funny, because as best as I can remember that's totally how I was in Sunday school!

i see your Mojo theory and raise you Arcade.

(also i don't think making Agatha a baddie means she won't have a place in the ongoing universe; plenty of villains recur. Loki's gonna have his own series shortly!)

still hopeful that MCU Agatha won't turn out to be pure baddie

she could be a Dr Freeze "I do bad to achieve good" type

Here's to hoping she bafflingly overemploys cold-related puns for the rest of the series.

"Ice" to kill your dog

I know it's been remarked upon plenty of times now, but Kathryn Hahn's casting here is genius. I think the MCU, in general, has done a great job with casting choices.

sorry I needed to find a place for this: https://tv.avclub.com/revisit-mary-kate-and-ashleys-diss-track-about-sister-e-1846326514

that fucking agatha song has been stuck in my head constantly

damn can't believe mary kate and asley called elizabeth "an oyster-faced superbitch"

W guest MC Eiht

No one's mentioned yet that the bunny she had was called Senor Scratch. Which was her son's name (Nicholas Scratch)

(only know this cos wikipedia, dont know the comic)

the density of insider info on this show packed into visual touches and throwaway dialogue is impressive and appropriate for the "meta marvel" series. I assume falcon/winter soldier is gonna be more straightforward punchemup stuff.

actually this bit re Scratch is interesting:
Scratch possesses vast indeterminate power through manipulation of the forces of magic. He has teleported, fired bolts of force and energy and has traveled between dimensions. He also has shown the ability to control and influence minds. He has animated gargoyles to serve him. He could gain more power by the tapping of extradimensional energy by invoking entities or objects of power existing in dimensions tangential to Earth's through the recitation of spells. He had the mental powers of mesmerism, thought-casting, illusion-casting, and mental-probing. For a time, Nicholas Scratch was deprived of his supernatural powers by a spell cast by Agatha Harkness.

And it's also another sort of potentially red herring, given "Mr. Scratch" is another nickname for the Devil.

At the least, there have been a *ton* of references to hell and the devil and whatnot, so either it's on purpose or it's ... on purpose.

JiC, crazy question but hear me out, do u think it’s possible Wein and Perez knew about that whole devil thing in 1977 when they came up with the marvel comics character Nicholas Scratch?

Was Nicolas Scratch a bunny? I don't know Wein and Perez, or Nicholas Scratch, I'm just talking about the show constantly hinting at hell and stuff possibly to throw off the scent of Mephisto by ... throwing the scent of Mephisto all over the place. A double reverse red herring. (Gotta say, I have no idea how I know who Mephisto is, either! But him I know.)

Red herring. Red. Hmm. You know who else is red ...

Oh since I didn't see anyone else mention it, just wanna lol real quick that, after all of the in-show mentions of and speculation about Monica's astrophysicist friend, it turned out to be just some random astrophysicist.

Reports are that Feige expects COVID to keep fucking up working situations in the US for several years, with Black Panther 2 lined up, and Captain Marvel 2, Guardians 3, and possibly already-in-production Dr Strange (which shut down last month as hospitals in the UK became overwhelmed) being eyed to, move to Sydney after Thour For.

Looks like the thinking is that standing production and crews would stay bubbled on the Disney+ shows in Atlanta, but the film company would essentially set up in Australia, where it's safer to fly stars in and out to work. Chris Pratt is in Sydney now to film as Star-Lord in Love And Thunder (and presumably visit the paedophile-founded-and-protecting, album-chart-defrauding home church of his grifter org in the Hills), and Matt Damon was given special rich cunt permission to quarantine at Chris Hemsworth's house instead of being forced to pay for a hotel like citizens who can afford to return home in the first place.

Since 73 years remain on the free* lease that the state government gave to Rupert for the 27ha (32 acres) of public land that the studio stand on, and Disney acquired that lease when buying Fox, this might help make future Marvel movies profitable.

*actually he was given $25 million in bribes of taxpayer money to take it.

It's like the world's biggest most profitable content farm.

but the film company would essentially set up in Australia, where it's safer to fly stars in and out to work.

NO. FUCK OFF. I am sick of the govt letting popstars/moviestars/politicians come and go with no quarantine and protection, how can they allow this.

They're allowed to quarantine at Chris Hemsworth's house! No problem.

it's settled, everyone who travels to australia gets to quarantine with a different member of the hemsworth fam.

a hemsworth in every pot!

There's a new version of Name That Tune, or so I have been told. They wanted a live studio audience, and it was easier to fly everyone involved to Australia, have them quarantine and do it there, then find a way to do it here.

I think it’s filmed using American expats who were already there.

I can't even tell if you're joking, but that's so silly it's probably true. They definitely flew over the hosts and band and I assume crew. I heard the host interviewed and she said she was given a hotel room with no keycard. She asked what was stopping her or anyone from leaving, and they said nothing ... but they wouldn't be able to get back in.

"RuPaul's Drag Race Australia" taped in New Zealand for extra safety. (They're changing the title to "Drag Race Down Under" for broadcast, which is obv better in several ways.)

so silly it's probably true

apparently true btw!

Meantime further on the content farm, via Feige's TCA presentation just now:

They're wrapping Ms. Marvel. Hawkeye is shooting. She-Hulk is prepping to start and MoonKnight will follow. #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

As for the current series

A question if the MCU considered using Aaron Taylor-Johnson instead of Evan Peters in WandaVision. Feige does not answer the implied question, merely saying the choice was made "early." #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

And I was wondering about this

God bless the person who just asked about Season 2s for these D+ series (which was my question.) Feige says they're going to follow the story, but there are second seasons in the works for "some" series already. #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

I'm psyched for the Hawkeye series... I've been re-reading the Kate Bishop books. Love the character; hope she is brought to screen in a somewhat faithful manner to how she was developed/portrayed by Kelly Thompson (and Matt Fraction before that).

Fraction's Hawkeye series is one of my favorite books ever

Hmmm.

Feige continues to insist the movies will not need anyone to have seen the Disney+ shows and vice versa. #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

And a couple more details

He does say that some shows are being built to be more open to future seasons, which WandaVision was not. It was built to go direct to big screen #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

Feige gets asked if there an attempt to get the Netflix characters back under the control of the MCU.
He suggest the rumors of rights to characters online are wrong (he means Daredevil), but "maybe someday". #TCA21

— AniVision (@anibundel) February 24, 2021

Lynch gets a mention in this interview with WandaVision’s DP:

What were some of your outside inspirations — David Lynch? “Pleasantville”?

Aesthetically, there were obviously some connections there [to “Pleasantville”]. But, I’ve always been a huge Lynch fan, and Lynch combined with “The Twilight Zone” was sort of the feeling that I wanted to get with the unease that was created when this sort of “Pleasantville” bubble of sitcom discomfort was disrupted. It was Lynchian, it was dark, it was disconcerting and a little bit more cinematic. I looked at a lot of “The Twilight Zone” as well. I enjoyed the tone they struck in earlier episodes.

lol @ Pleasantville. definitely a closer reference than Lynch

Anyway:

Teyonah Parris dancing to #AgathaAllAlong. That is all. #MonicaRambeau #WandaVision pic.twitter.com/EdV06Twu5z

— Geeks of Color #BlackLivesMatter (@GeeksOfColor) February 25, 2021

Also this:

Black people since #AgathaAllAlong dropped: pic.twitter.com/9D3ErJeQ4v

— DRYX 🐉 (@its_dryx) February 24, 2021

dude who did that remix is Leland Philpot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7mXaMT-jA4

Holy shit I wish that was on the radio.

be patient, it likely will be
teyonah is the cutest