While Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse currently steals the show, due to its enormously critical and financial success, the MCU is somewhat taking a backseat in the superhero cinema conversation right now. At least, it was until some eye-opening revelations are raising questions about the sustainability of the franchise that’s owned Hollywood for the past 15 years. On a lighter note, with Pride Month now here, one Marvel Disney Plus series is apparently destined to be a big LGBTQ hit.
The truth about how Kevin Feige runs Marvel Studios gets whistleblown, and it reveals a worrying hint at the future
For those who are fascinated by what goes on behind closed doors at Marvel HQ, The New Yorker just published a must-read deep-dive into what it’s really like to work for the House of Ideas. The company prez himself Kevin Feige is painted in glowing terms by all who operate under him, noting his bottomless affection and adoration for all things Marvel, but one former executive stresses that everyone is aware of the “one downside” of the studio’s success: everything has to go through Feige. And that’s something that is just not sustainable as the MCU gets bigger and bigger, with a creative implosion feared at some point in the future. Some might say we’re even starting to feel its effects now, what with the mixed reception to Phases Four and Five.
Oh no, Odin didn’t! Sir Anthony Hopkins comes clean about his feelings on acting in the MCU
There’s another revelation from this same exposé that — while certainly much smaller in scale — may shock long-term Marvel lovers just as much. Sir Anthony Hopkins is a literal MCU legend thanks to his role as Norse God Odin, but it turns out playing the part of Thor’s dad wasn’t exactly the most thrilling job of the Welsh knight’s distinguished career. When talking about the way it mostly involved him shouting while sitting against a green screen, Hopkins admitted it was “pointless acting.” And this is coming from the guy who was in Transformers: The Last Knight, so he knows a thing or two about pointless.
Agatha: Coven of Chaos star provides the perfect Pride Month promise in teasing the Disney Plus show’s LGBTQ appeal
On a much more positive note, Agatha: Coven of Chaos sees the MCU debut of Heartstopper icon Joe Locke. While it’s still not quite confirmed who he’s playing (but, come on, he’s Billy Maximoff, right?), the young actor is happy to stress that the WandaVision series will be even more appealing to the queer community than its already pretty camp predecessor. And not just because of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness hamming it up, but because it’s a story about “misunderstood people” and has a lot going on under the surface. Among the various Marvel projects on the docket, Coven is often overlooked by fans, but Locke’s comments prove we shouldn’t be sleeping on it.
Marvel updates of the tepid, hot, and seriously spicy variety — like Across the Spider-Verse leaving Spider-Man fans ready to say goodbye to Peter Parker on the big screen — drop all the time, so don’t go anywhere.