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yes it's time for another what could have been in the MCU:

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

>Production was troubled due to creative disagreements between Joss Whedon and the studio.

>In early drafts, Ultron was modeled after Tony Stark's brain patterns, but the concept was scrapped.

>Early drafts also featured Abomination as Ultron's enforcer; Captain Marvel and Spider-Man as recruits for the New Avengers; Ultron invading Wakanda to steal Vibranium; and the Ultron drones combining to form a skyscrapper-sized Ultron for the final battle.

>Marvel originally planned to pair Black Widow and Hawkeye together, but Whedon preferred her with Bruce Banner.

>In early cuts, Banner would ultimately reject Black Widow, and she would trigger his transformation into the Hulk by lying about having never truly loved him.

>In early cuts, Thor's vision ended with Loki appearing to discuss the impending apocalypse, but this was cut as test-audiences mistakenly assumed it meant Loki was behind Ultron's sentiency.

>Whedon included Thor's investigation into the Infinity Stones at the behest of the studio, in exchange for keeping the visions and Hawkeye's farmhouse, which were both nearly cut. Test-audiences responded negatively, however, and it was almost entirely cut from the movie.

>An alternative ending where Quicksilver survives and joins the New Avengers was shot should the studio decide not to kill a long-running character.

>Saoirse Ronan was approached for Scarlet Witch before Elizabeth Olsen was cast.

 

Ant-Man (2015)

>Edgar Wright was originally attached to direct the movie, but dropped out due to creative differences. Adam McKay and Rawson Marshall-Thurber were approached before Peyton Reed was hired.

>Wright reportedly wanted a highly stylized, completely standalone movie, and rejected the revisions demanded by the studio.

>Wright's draft featured Scott Lang as a petty crook who's been arrested several times; Hank Pym as a mad scientist driven by ego; a love triangle between Scott, his ex-wife Maggie and his childhood friend Paxton; Darren Cross becoming the Nano Warrior; and minor roles for Hope Van Dyne and Scott's crew, which was comprised by eight criminals.

>Reed's revisions added Yellowjacket; the Quantum Realm; Hope, Luis, Kurt and Dave being prominent characters; Maggie and Paxton being minor characters; and Scott fighting the Falcon.

>Early drafts featured Alexander Pierce as one of the SHIELD agents present when Pym leaves the organization in the 1980's; and Armin Zola - in a robotic body - as Hydra's representative in procuring the Yellowjacket from Cross.

>Early cuts featured a prologue set in 1989, with a young Pym retrieving stolen data from a military compound in Cuba. Jordi Molla was cast as the compound's leader, General Castillo, but his scenes were cut.

>Early cuts featured Lang retrieving the stolen Cross Particles from HYDRA operative Mitchell Carson, but this was cut, leaving the plot thread available for a sequel.

>Joseph Gordon-Levitt auditioned for Scott Lang before Paul Rudd was cast.

>Jessica Chastain was approached for Hope Van Dyne before Evangeline Lily was cast.

>Steve Buscemi was approached for Hank Pym before Michael Douglas was cast.

>Patrick Wilson was originally cast as Paxton, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Bobby Cannavale.

 

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

>Early drafts featured Vision on Captain America's team and Ant-Man on Iron Man's team; larger roles for Sharon Carter and Everett Ross; appearances by Bruce Banner and Pepper Potts; and Hope Van Dyne becoming the Wasp.

>In early drafts, Spider-Man had a larger role and Prince T'Challa had a minor role. When the deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures initially failed, T'Challa's role was expanded, including his transformation into Black Panther. Marvel and Sony later reached an agreement and Spider-Man was reinserted in the script in a smaller role.

>Producers initially feared that Giant-Man wouldn't be taken seriously by the audienced and demanded him to be removed from the script. An alternative version featured the Scarlet Witch telekinetically blowing up an underground pipeline to create a diversion for Captain America and Winter Soldier to escape, but the Russos were ultimately able to convince the studio to have Giant-Man in the movie.

>Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter refused to pay Robert Downey Jr's salary, reducing Iron Man to a brief appearance. Downey Jr. lobbied for a larger role and was backed by producer Kevin Feige, leading to a conflict that ended with Marvel Studios splitting off from Marvel Entertainment and Perlmutter being reassigned to the television department while Feige had complete creative control over the movies.

>During the period where Iron Man was unavailable, the Russos mapped out an alternative third act centered on Baron Zemo searching for a biological weapon known as "Madbomb", which compels people into murderous rampages.

>Asa Butterfield, Charlie Rowe, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer, Liam James, Chandler Riggs and Timothée Chalamet auditioned for Spider-Man before Tom Holland was cast.

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I saw Deadpool 2 earlier today.

 

I liked it, but imo it was a step down from the first.

 

Pros:

Humor for the most part. 

 

Action sequences. (David Leitch's John Wick skills prepared him for the action in this.)

 

Brolin and Zazie as Cable/Domino in acting/dialogue/character.

 

Colossus vs a classic X-men character in the final battle (The way this person is defeated was the most funny and unexpected to me.)

 

IMO the best end credit scene of all time 

 

Cons:

 

Lack of setup /background info on Cable. We saw some glimpses, but I wish they would have gone in more detail about his future setting (I know his backstory is convoluted, but they could have given some more details considering he is the 2nd main character) (Domino too)

 

Negasonic was underused in this film. I feel her biting head to head with DP was one of the best  things about the original

 

They tried to make DP and Russell/Rusty have an emotional connection but it didnt grab me .  

 

The first hour seems a bit "loose" and could have been more tightly edited/paced. 

DP 1 had a straightforward "Revenge" story and flowed better. 

 

Lack of a true villain. I knew Cable would be the "anatagonist" initially and then team up with DP , but the character who dies at the end was not developed well. 

I would have rewritten it to have a character from the prison and who Colossus fights as the main villains .They were both X-men and DP villains so I thought they would be used more prominently.

 

A group of characters is used essentially for a bad joke. Some of them arent classic, but they deserved better than what happened in the movie. Especially since it was their first appearance in an x-men movie.

 

Overall: A good movie but I think they should tone down the meta/joke stuff and work a little more on the story/plot more.

 

Deadpool 2      7.5/10

Deadpool           8.5/10

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Doctor Strange (2016)

>Fede Alvarez, Nikolaj Arcel, Dean Israelite, Jonathan Levine and Mark Andrews were approached to direct before Scott Derrickson was hired.

>Benedict Cumberbatch initially declined the role of Stephen Strange due to scheduling conflicts with his theater commitments. Mads Mikkelsen, Joaquin Phoenix, Jared Leto, Jake Gyllenhall, Tom Hardy, Colin Farrell, Ethan Hawke, Jack Huston, Oscar Isaac, Keanu Reeves, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor and Justin Theroux were approached to play the role before filming was delayed to accomodate Cumberbatch's schedule.

>Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman and Bill Nighy were approached for the Ancient One before Tilda Swinton was cast.

>Tony Todd was approached to voice Dormammu, but was ultimately replaced by Cumberbatch himself.

>In early drafts, the Ancient One was a Asian man and Wong was not featured. When the Ancient One was made into a Celtic woman, Wong was added to the story as one of Strange's mentors.

>Early drafts revealed that Strange went through the loop thousands of times before Dormammu decided to accept his bargain, and that he remembers each and every time he died.

>Early cuts featured a subplot about Strange's sister, Donna, who falls into a river while they're playing together and drowns despite his attempts to save her, motivating Strange to study medicine. Lulu Wilson played Donna, but all of her scenes were cut.

>Early cuts featured more parallels between science and magic that were cut from the movie so magic would remain shrouded in mystery.

>Early cuts had a slightly darker tone that didn't ressonate very well with test-audiences. Dan Harmon was then hired to revise the script and more lighthearted beats were added in reshoots.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

>Director James Gunn added Ego as Star-Lord's father before learning that the characters rights belonged to 20th Century Fox. The studio eventually traded Ego to Marvel Studios in exchange for changing Negasonic Teenage Warhead's powers in DEADPOOL.

>Gunn was advised against including a particular alien race, the Sneeps, because their name resembles the Icelandic slang for female genitalia. The studio eventually relented to their appearance.

>Early drafts included the Nova Empire. John C. Reilly and Glenn Close were approached to return as Daenerian Rhoman Dey and Nova Prime Irani Rael, but Reilly was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, and was ultimately written out alongside Rael.

>Early drafts included the Collector, but Benicio Del Toro couldn't return to scheduling conflicts.

>Early drafts featured Adam Warlock as the Sovereigns' secret weapon, but the character was ultimately cut as he was superfluous to the narrative.

>Early cuts featured a longer segment on Earth including cameo appearances from Nathan Fillion as fictional actor Simon Williams and Gregg Henry as Grandpa Quill, but both were ultimately cut from the movie.

>Early cuts featured a sixth post-credits scene in which Gamora and Mantis hearing the screams of one of the Ravagers who were pierced by Yondu's arrow and has presumably been forgotten and screaming in agony throughout the third act of the movie. This was deleted as test-audiences didn't get the joke.

>Early cuts featured a minor scene of Drax loudly slurping soup to his teammates' annoyance which was cut for time.

>Matthew McConaughey was approached to play Ego, but ultimately declined, and Kurt Russell was cast at Chris Pratt's suggestion. Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman were also considered.

>David Bowie was slated for a cameo as one of the Ravager commanders before his death in 2016.

 

Once again time for what could have been in the MCU:

 

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

>Ted Melfi was in talks to direct the movie, but dropped out to direct HIDDEN FIGURES and was replaced by Jon Watts. Drew Goddard and John M. Daley & Jonathan Goldstein were also approached.

>Michael Keaton initially declined the role of Adrian Toomes due to scheduling conflicts, but Marvel Studios was able to accomodate to his schedule. Michael Shannon was briefly approached for the role, but declined. Mark Hamill was also interested.

>Watts originally envisioned Nick Fury as Peter's mentor.

>In early drafts, Zendaya's character Michelle was also Peter's apartment neighbor. Further revisions made them just classmates.

>In early drafts, Tony Revolori's character was named "Manuel". Further revisions made him into Flash Thompson.

>In early drafts, Toomes would've been one of Peter's teachers and not Liz's father.

>In early drafts, War Machine and Vision would make appearances, helping Iron Man save the collapsing Staten Island ferry. 

>In early drafts, Happy would tell Peter that Tony told him to tell Peter something about how "with great powers comes great... Whatever" when they meet in the bathroom.

>In early drafts, Peter would accept Stark's offer and reveal his secret identity to the world.

>Early cuts featured an extended sequence of Aunt May rescuing a young girl in peril while secretly being observed by Peter.

 

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http://www.superherohype.com/news/418125-jared-leto-to-star-in-sonys-morbius-the-living-vampire-movie#/slide/1

 

, Oscar-winner Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, Blade Runner 2049, Dallas Buyers Club) is becoming the latest actor to play the field with both Marvel and DC movies by signing on with Sony to star in a Morbius the Living Vampire movie. Daniel Espinosa (Life, Safe House) will direct the film from a script by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (Netflix’s Lost in Space), based on the Marvel Comics character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane who first appeared in 1971’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #101
 

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45 minutes ago, Bea_Iank said:

Luke Cage Season 2 was pure trash ep 1 to 5, okay to good ep 6 to 12 and pure trash again on the ending.

What the hell are the Netflix writers drinking, smoking and taking?

I mean it's not like Luke Cage is a huge priority for them right?  He's such a side character -- I doubt they have their AAA team on this.

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7 hours ago, misterBee said:

I mean it's not like Luke Cage is a huge priority for them right?  He's such a side character -- I doubt they have their AAA team on this.

That still doesn't explain the whole "I am a MAN, I am never wrong and will disregard anything everyone else says, specially if they are female" and "I am a MAN, I will punch the wall to intimidate my girlfriend like an abusive twat because what she is saying is right and I don't want to admit being wrong" stuff of the first 4 episodes.

That shit was really uncomfortable to watch.

Once it got past that, they got things right. Cage was doing good hero for hire shit. Hell, they even did Danny Rand proper justice and have him be more Danny Rand than ever, something the Iron Fist and the Defenders shows failed to do.

And finally they do that ending, which sets that Cage will never be a hero for hire again.

 

So, I don't get what the hell they were thinking when coming up with that.

Edited by Bea_Iank
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and now at last we have another part of what could have been in the MCU:

 

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

>Reuben Flescher, Rob Letterman and Rawson Marshall Thurber were approached to direct before Taika Waititi was hired.

>Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle's wrote a story treatment with a darker tone, which was revised and made into a proper script by Waititi and writer Eric Pearson.

>Charlize Theron was approached for Hela before Cate Blanchett was hired.

>Jaimie Alexander was slated to return as Sif in a "pivotal" role, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with her TV series BLINDSPOT.

>Anthony Hopkins originally declined to return due to poor experiences filming THOR: THE DARK WORLD, but was won over by Waititi's unconventional approach for the project.

>Early drafts featured the dark god Perrikus as the main villain rather than Hela.

>Early drafts featured a romance between Thor and Valkyrie, Heimdall's death, a vicious battle between Hela and the Destroyer, appearances of Beta Ray Bill and Erik Selvig, and a smaller role for Korg. 

>In early cuts, Thor and Loki would find Odin living as a deranged hobo in the streets of New York after his retirement home was demolished and he'd die in a seedy alleyway, whereupon Hela would arrive to confront Thor and Loki. Test-audiences responded negatively to Odin's death and the scene was scrapped in favor of Odin sharing a tender moment with his sons and meeting a dignified end in the fjords of Norway.

>In early cuts, Thor and Valkyrie would remininsce about their first encounter in a "1980's Asgard" with Asgardians wearing "shoulder pads and Farrah Fawcetts". Young Thor would've been an acne-ridden chubby outcast, while Loki would've been an emo goth listening to "Asgardian death metal". 

>A deleted scene features a woman sneaking out of Valkyrie's room at night, alluding to Valkyrie's bisexuality.

>An alternative post-credits scene features the Grandmaster and his assistant Topaz as stowaways on the spaceship bound for Earth.

 

Black Panther (2018)

>Ava DuVernay and F. Gary Gray were approached to direct before Ryan Coogler was hired.

>Coogler wanted to use Kraven in the movie, but couldn’t because the character’s rights belong to Sony Pictures.

>Early drafts featured a subplot about Elijah Bradley, a teenager from Oakland who is influenced by both Killmonger and T’Challa, but the subplot was deemed superfluous and scrapped.

>Early cuts featured an extended sequence of T’Challa and Nakia discussing their past relationship while jogging through Wakanda, passing by several of its landmarks before arriving at Nakia’s house, where her parents voice their support for T’Challa, which was cut for pacing.

>Early cuts featured a conversation between T’Challa and Everett Ross in Shuri’s laboratory, in which Ross voices his admiration for Wakanda and vows to protect its secret out of gratitude for T’Challa saving his life, which was cut for pacing.

>Early cuts featured an extended sequence of Okoye and W’Kabi debating their opposing ideologies after Killmonger’s ascension, which was cut for pacing.

>Early cuts featured an implied lesbian attraction between Okoye and another Dora Milaje, Ayo, which was cut because it undermined Okoye’s relationship with W’Kabi.

>Michael B. Jordan previously auditioned for Falcon in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER and was also approached for Cyborg in JUSTICE LEAGUE.

>Yahya Abdul-Mateen II auditioned for M’Baku before Winston Duke was cast. He is now playing Black Manta in WB’s AQUAMAN.

>John Boyega was approached for W’Kabi before Daniel Kaluuya was cast.

>Ernie Hudson was approached for T’Chaka before John Kani was cast.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

http://collider.com/guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-script-james-gunn/

 

The exit of James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is far from over. We’re now a couple of weeks removed from when Disney announced that Gunn had been fired from directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 over offensive tweets he had posted years ago, but the debacle is ongoing. The entire Guardianscast subsequently released a statement in support of Gunn, saying they advocated for his rehiring, and Dave Bautista has gone so far as to say that he’ll ask to be released from his contract if Disney doesn’t use Gunn’s existing Guardians 3 script.

We now have a bit of clarity on the matter via THR, which reports that Disney does indeed plan on using James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 script, even if he won’t be rehired as director. The Guardians franchise has undeniably been very personal to Gunn, and the filmmaker planned on wrapping up a trilogy of sorts with Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. Filming wasn’t set to begin until early 2019 so the script no doubt still needed tinkering, so it’ll be interesting to see if Disney/Marvel Studios brings someone else in to get the script into shooting form—assuming Guardians 3 does indeed move forward.

 

Image via Marvel Studios

THR notes that Gunn is currently locked in complicated negotiations with Disney over his exit. He didn’t have a “pay-or-play” deal, which means the filmmaker gets paid whether the movie gets made with him/her or not. But he also didn’t breach his contract, so a settlement must be reached on how much Gunn deserves to be paid for his services, especially if they use his script. THR estimates that to be in the $7 million to $10 million range, if not higher.

 

As long as these negotiations continue, Gunn won’t be taking on another project. But that doesn’t mean he’s not in demand. THR says the Slither filmmaker is drawing interest from a variety of sources, from Warner Bros. (which maintains the DC Universe…) to Oscar-winning producers. Gunn is not permitted to entertain other offers while his negotiation with Disney is ongoing, but it sounds like he’s going to have a lot of options once this ridiculous ordeal is over.

 

As previously reported, Disney is unlikely to rehire Gunn as director, so it’ll be interesting to see A. Who they get to take his place and B. What Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has to say about the matter. Gunn’s firing was made at the Disney executive level, not at Marvel, so that puts Feige in a tight spot.

 

More will be revealed soon, and I have no doubt that Gunn will land on his feet, but this has been a discouraging situation all around. I suppose the use of Gunn’s script should come as some minor comfort, but even then his sensibilities are so specific, it’s nearly impossible for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to feel like a “James Gunn movie” without him in the director’s chair.

Edited by TheInfernoman
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Its been a while, but I just finished Luke Cage Season 2 .

 

Pros:

Bushmaster - Acting/action/backstory. Mustafa Shakir nailed it. Excellent!

Mariah's descent into thug lyfe - Alfre Woodard did an awesome job. 

Music - Luke has the best music of all the MCU Netflix shows.

Action - The fights were 20x better and visceral than Season 1

Danny in ep 10 was 10 x better than his own series. His and Lukes camaraderie felt a lot more natural.

This season was more consistently good compared to last one.

Lukes new status at the end seems an interesting way to take the character. While I dont want him outright being a villain, I like that its gets him more to the gray, than being a white knight all the time.

 

 

Cons 

A little stretched out. "I'm sorry but our Bushmaster is in another castle" lol

 

Episode 12's last 10  minutes should have been added to ep 13.  Many of the Netflix MCU shows have denouements mostly for the last episode which is the downward stroke. They need the rising part and the falling part.

 

Tilda at the end. Her motivation was to be clear of Stokes/Mariah's influence yet at the end of  the season shes upset at not getting the club, imo her motivation seems forced if theyre going to make her into a villain.

 

Nandi being  crooked felt shoehorned in. 

 

I didnt care for Shades and his acting felt meh. I hope he is in a lesser role next season.

 

 I wish Luke's dad had a role in the final episodes. I know is arc was completed a few eps but I would have liked to have seen his reaction to Lukes new status.

 

Overall: 8.5/10

 

 

 

 

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@DangerousJ

I agree with you for the most part. I disagree with you on Shades. I didn't care for Shades season one. He seemed out of place. I thought he was excellent in Season 2. The internal conflict he had while projecting his stoic and calm veneer. It really added depth to his character. The Nandi thing didn't bother me. Especially after Misty goes into how Shady she was in high school. 

 

Side Note: Thomas Jones was Comanche. Glad to see him doing something post NFL.

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