MLGG: Pop Culture News, Reviews and Interviews

Any fears of a Thor: Love and Thunder style wait for a trailer for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever, were unexpectedly dealt with yesterday. Marvel’s trailer for Wakanda Forever has been released – and it looks like it’s going to be an incredible experience.

Though labelled as a teaser, it feels a lot more complete than that – coming in at more than two minutes of new footage. Check it out:

The untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman looks like it’ll directly play into the story. The emotional and surprisingly melancholy trailer seems to indicate a war between Wakandans and Atlanteans, though ultimately it’s potentially likely that a bigger threat to both nations and humanity is likely to see them team up. It’s the MCU after all.

Taking forward the mix of Afrofuturism, important cultural themes and straight up superheroism of the first Black Panther film, Wakanda Forever looks like it’s absolutely taking the series to the next level. It’s a stunning showcase of footage that seems to demonstrate Coogler’s ability to bring that potent mix of important themes and stunning action to the fore once more. Plus, we get our first good look at the MCU’s Iron Man successor: Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.

Oh, and is that a new Black Panther we see at the end? Who could that be? I think I know, but time will tell…

Completely lacking those important cultural touchpoints, but drenched in knowingly silly superhero action and legal drama – Ally McBeal with superheroes, perhaps – the next trailer for Disney Plus series She-Hulk has arrived. Here it is:

As a big fan of both John Byrne’s immensely clever, fourth wall breaking 80s run of She-Hulk and Dan Slott’s 2004 run that focused more heavily on the courtroom drama – albeit from a comedic perspective – She-Hulk (the series) looks like it’s going to absolutely nail the content, if not quite the execution of the visual effects.

A good look at a training sequence and lots of interaction with Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk still look a bit shaky from a CGI perspective, but as someone who grew up in the 80s, accepting the terribly low budget British TV sci-fi of shows like Doctor Who – which survived and thrived thanks to excellent writing, despite awful and often laughably bad practical effects – I’m sure that slightly ‘off’ CGI can be acceptable as long as the show itself is strong enough to carry it through. Again, time will tell – but that final shot of what looks like Daredevil is a good indication that people are likely to show up to check She-Hulk out regardless. Time will, again, tell.

Many more announcements were made by Marvel at San Diego Comic Con yesterday; in some cases release dates for shows and movies we already knew were coming, in others completely new reveals.

Perhaps for me the most exciting announcement is the reveal that Charlie Cox is returning as Daredevil alongside Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again. Coming to Disney Plus in Spring 2024, it’s a long way off but is likely to be one of the most anticipated shows of those announced.

2023 is looking packed already – Disney Plus is going to play host to the Skrull saga Secret Invasion in the Spring, Echo and Loki Season 2 in the Summer, Ironheart (who’ll first be in Wakanda Forever) in Autumn/Fall and then finally, Agatha: Coven of Chaos in the Winter.

Movie-wise, 2023 will see the arrival of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in May and Blade in November.

Even further out, Sam Wilson’s first outing as Captain America arrives with Captain America: New World Order in May 2024, reformed villains come to the big screen in Thunderbolts (July 2024) and Fantastic Four has now been announced for November 2024.

Two BIG Avengers movies were announced too, though these are seriously far away right now: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in May 2025 and Avengers: Secret Wars in November 2025.

Collectively, all of this is now going to be seemingly under the umbrella of The Multiverse Saga, which of course has already been underway as of the post-Avengers MCU shows and movies. Though not as consistent as the first MCU tapestry – The Infinity Saga – so far, with all of this long term content and planning in place, hopefully it’ll find its feet so that we see another seismic cinematic and cultural event by the time The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars arrive. There is, of course, plenty of time for course corrections to happen. And lots of exciting stuff to see along the way!

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