What We Learned At D23 About The MCU

A keyframe concept art from Avengers: Endgame, given as a poster to attendees at D23. Photo courtesy of user @steve32767 on Twitter.

D23 was this past weekend, and it was quite the eventful week for Marvel fans. Given the tragic—and traumatic—recent loss of Spider-Man from the MCU, we needed some news to distract ourselves. Good thing for us, there was plenty of it. Let’s start shall we? 

What If? 

The audience was given a first glimpse of the animated show.  The main takeaway from the presentation was focused on Peggy Carter’s transformation into Captain Carter—the focus of the series’ first episode.  The show will have 23 episodes, one for each film in the MCU up until now, with each focusing on the scenarios that would play out given one key difference in each chapter. 

Falcon & The Winter Soldier

When it came to Falcon & The Winter Soldier, there was plenty of updates offered. Emily VanCamp was confirmed once again to be returning to the MCU. Alongside that confirmation, Wyatt Russell was announced to be playing John Walker, AKA U.S. Agent. We will likely see him as a pseudo Captain America sent from the government, ala his comic book counterpart. It wouldn’t be far fetched to think that this may come into play due to the government having their own ideas as to who should take up the mantle left behind by Steve Rogers.

WandaVision

New WandaVision poster painted by Andy Park! Photo courtesy of user @AndyParkArt on Twitter.

My personal pick for most anticipated part of Phase 4, Kevin Feige had a lot to offer up about the show. Kevin described the show as having a similar tone to that of the Dick Van Dyne Show, showing a teaser to those in attendance that featured previous MCU footage cut alongside footage from the aforementioned show—off putting laugh track included. The show will be directed by Matt Shakman, who is known for his work on Game of Thrones. Additional cast announcements were made, including the return of both Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo (Ant-Man & The Wasp) and Kat Dennings’ Darcy (Thor, Thor: The Dark World).  Kathryn Hahn will also be joining the show as a “nosy neighbor”. The show seems to be taking a lot of queues from the incredible comic series Vision, written by Tom King and drawn by Gabriel Hernandez. It’s one of my all time favorite comic book series, and I can’t recommend it enough—especially with the existence of this show. 

Loki

The only knew information provided for Loki’s new outing was that the series will be directed by Sex Education’s Kate Herron, with scripts written by Harmonquest’s Michael Waldron.

New Additions 

Three brand new Disney + shows were announced. The first was Ms. Marvel, in which Kevin Feige also confirmed that she will crossover from the Streaming side to the films. For those that don’t know, Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani-American high school character based out of New Jersey who gains shape-shifting (more Mr. Fantastic than Skrull) after being exposed to Terrigen Mists. Who knows if her Inhuman heritage/origin will be of any focus, as it could be changed entirely.  Given the live action history of the Inhumans, and Marvel’s original hesitancy to include them in the MCU, it wouldn’t be surprising if they decide not to give it any mention. 

Directly after that, Marvel continued the announcements at rapid fire speed. The next new Disney + series shown was Moon Knight. Literally not further details were given, but the character from the comics is a former marine who is granted supernatural powers to fight for vengeance on behalf of the Egyption Moon God Konshu.  The twist? He’s a schizophrenic with multiple personality disorders. 

The final show announced for Disney + was She-Hulk. Again, no further details were given. She-Hulk, or Jennifer Walkers, is Bruce Banner’s cousin.  After given a life saving blog transfusion, she is given the same strength and green glow as her cousin. With Jennifer though, it isn’t all Hulk Smash. She retains her smart intellect and personality even when hulked out, and by day she still works full-time as a lawyer. As closely related to Bruce as Jennifer is, one could only assume that Mark Ruffalo will have something to do with the series—though nothing was confirmed.

It’s exciting to have so many new faces joining the MCU in the span of 2-3 years. No release information as given about these three new shows, and it’s not known if they are part of Phase 4 or beyond.

MCU’s Film Slate

The Cast of the Eternals! Photo courtesy of user @MarvelousRealm on Twitter.

While there wasn’t nearly as much intel as SDCC, we did get some new stuff. The only new film we got mention of was for Black Panther 2. We got the official confirmation of its existence, as well an announcement of its May 6th, 2020 release date. Ryan Coogler was on stage with Kevin Feige to introduce the film—both remained tight lipped about the true subtitle for the film, as well as the villain of the piece. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Namor fills that role. If so, it could make for an extremely exciting continuation to T’Challa’s story. 

When it came to Black Widow, there wasn’t much new intel revealed. Audiences were treated to a slightly different trailer from the SDCC presentation, which included brief additional glimpses of Taskmaster, Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Also seen both in the trailer and on the show floor were new suits that Natasha will be rocking in her solo film. The most noteworthy is an entirely white get-up—a stark contrast to her usual attire. 

For the Eternals, we finally got to see concept art of what each character will look like in their live action interpretation. For added effect, the entire cast came on stage and lined up under their respective picture. While there wasn’t any footage to show, Kevin Feige did have some new casting news. Game Of Throne’s Kit Harrington was announced to be joining the MCU as Dane Whitman/Black Knight—a character that is human and not an Eternal. Gemma Chan (formerly Minn-erva from Captain Marvel) will also be returning in a new role, as the Eternal named Sersi. Both Dane and Sersi are romantically involved in the comics, so don’t be surprised if the Eternal and human connection is center stage for the film. The final piece of casting revealed the villain of the piece: Druig. The master manipulator of matter and energy will be played by Barry Keoghan (Chernobyl, Dunkirk).

The Spider-Man Issue

Spider-Man’s reaction to the news. Photo content courtesy of Geekfeed.com

It seemed that there may not be any mention of it at all, before it all ended we did get an official comment by both Tom Holland and Kevin Feige. After the D23 presentations, Kevin Feige said this in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: “It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we’d be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I’ll always be thankful for that.” Tom Holland mentioned it as he was on stage for the Pixar section of Disney’s film presentation. He gave a heartfelt response, saying “It’s been a crazy week, but I want to let you know I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart. I love you 3,000.”

What do you guys think of all of the new information from D23? Which project are you most excited for? Be sure to comment down below with your thoughts!