As usual, the final week of the year lacked legitimate Marvel news updates.
However, the rumor mill kicked into overdrive in a way I haven’t seen since early in the pandemic.
Photo: Illuminerdi
So, we’ve got several topics to discuss in the final MarvelBlog News update this year.
What is Battleworld, who is the Beyonder, and when are The Mutants coming?
Whither Kang?
Kang the Conqueror #2. Photo: Marvel Comics
Currently, Marvel hasn’t decided what to do with The Avengers.
As mentioned last week, the intended Big Bad for the next two Avengers movies no longer works for Marvel.
The court system convicted actor Jonathan Majors of two misdemeanors, while court testimony and evidence suggested he committed acts of violence against his ex-girlfriend.
Kang the Conqueror #1 Stormbreakers Variant Cover by Peach Momoko. Photo: Marvel
Marvel terminated its contract with Majors, which leaves the fate of the character Kang in flux.
While Marvel had reportedly evaluated replacements for Majors, that decision apparently hasn’t been made despite earlier rumors to the contrary.
Instead, the pragmatic approach involves Marvel’s dialing down the Kang appearances in the short term.
KANG THE CONQUEROR #1 art by Carlos Magno, colors by Espen Grundetjern, and letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna. Photo: Marvel
If Marvel insiders prove correct, we won’t see much of Kang for a while.
Instead, the new plan calls for either a variant of Kang or an opponent of his to appear.
While I won’t believe this rumor until I see it, the prevailing belief is that the Beyonder will appear in the MCU over the next two years.
Who is the Beyonder? In the Marvel comics, this character comes from beyond the multiverse, which causes me to wonder what the multiverse is.
After all, isn’t the whole point that it covers an infinite number of realities? Shouldn’t the Beyonder come from one of those?
Well, it’s my problem, and I’ll deal with it. Anyway, the Beyonder factors heavily into the limited series called – wait for it – Secret Wars.
Remember what the name of the sequel to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is…or maybe was? It’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
This plan has been in the background all along. Marvel is possibly doling out the leaks now to distract away from the Majors nonsense.
Why the Beyonder?
Source: Marvel Studios
One of the most memorable moments in the MCU to date is the airport showdown.
That’s the scene where various Avengers engage in a civil war. It’s powered being vs. powered being in an open-air free-for-all.
The audience watches uncomfortably because we’re not quite sure what we should want to happen here.
Photo: Marvel Studios
That sort of storytelling liberates the writers in that Iron Man can try to wreck Captain America, and it’s okay.
Well, Marvel would like to approach that same idea on a grander scale. We’re talking about an entire movie of it.
Should that happen, entire theaters full of people would lose their minds.
Falcon and Redwing in Captain America: Civil War. Photo: Marvel Studios
This underlying thought process is what led Marvel to the idea of Avengers: Secret Wars.
In this story, the Beyonder would appear and behave as he does in the comics.
Specifically, the villain would transport various Avengers to a place called Battleworld and force them to battle one another for his amusement.
Source: Marvel Studios
Eventually, the heroes would join together to overcome the Beyonder. Before that happened, they’d fight a la Hulk vs. Thor in Thor: Ragnarok.
This premise sells itself, and it could tie up a few loose ends as well.
In the comics, Marvel has retconned the Beyonder so many times that it’s tough to keep up with the modern version.
Photo: Method Studios
Some people believe that Marvel could make this character the Kang variant who somehow escaped the multiverse…or started outside it.
Alternatively, the Beyonder could do what Loki didn’t believe possible. The character could wipe out every Kang variant in existence.
The Beyonder and Other X-Citing News
Photo: Marvel Studios
You may wonder how that’s possible, but there’s a possible seed already planted in the MCU.
In the mid-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we learn that the Kangs sometimes gather in a kind of stadium.
What if the Beyonder wrecked that place and wiped out all the Kangs? Both ideas work well.
Source: Marvel/Disney
However, neither one is certain to come to pass. In fact, Marvel may decide to dial back the Avenger entirely.
In that scenario, Marvel could fast-track several X-Men stories already in various stages of development.
While everyone is careful not to refer to any of the projects as an X-Men title, Mutants rumors are seemingly everywhere right now.
Source: Marvel
These “rumors” sound more like conjecture based on what we just witnessed in the MCU.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, I’m about to spoil the mid-credits scene from The Marvels. Skip ahead four paragraphs if you don’t want to know.
Here’s the scene in question:
Monica Rambeau appears to have entered an alternate universe where her mother is still alive…and has no idea who she is.
This universe may or may not be the same one from Fox’s X-Men movies. We don’t know for sure, but Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as Beast.
Given what we know about Deadpool 3, Marvel appears ready to integrate the former Fox X-Men characters into the MCU.
Photo: Everett Collection
To wit, Professor Xavier will have appeared in two MCU titles by the end of the summer.
So, the idea of more Mutants coming soon definitely tracks. Also, an MCU X-Men movie is sure to be a hit, something Marvel needs right now.
Photo: Fox
That’s reason enough to greenlight some Mutant films.
Happy New Year, everyone!
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Featured image: Marvel
