The D23 Marvel Showcase Sounds Underwhelming
You knew Marvel would be making a splash at D23, but unlike at the San Diego Comic-Con (for better or worse), this time, it’s more of a kiddie pool splash. I didn’t attend the expo, so my information comes from the JoBlo X account, which has been updating in real time. The Marvel presentation was heavier on the upcoming Disney+ shows, with the movie presence coming from Captain America: Brave New World and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The presentation began with Ryan Reynolds taking credit for saving Marvel (that you did, friend, if only financially) before Kevin Feige took the stage to introduce each feature. They all showed footage, but the only one released online was Agatha All Along, which, since we already had a trailer a month ago, makes me think they’re desperate to sell this one for some reason. Here’s the new Agatha trailer:
They’re giving Agatha another song? This is presumably because everyone loved the one from WandaVision, and I guess if you’re going with something nobody wanted, like an Agatha Harkness show, you might as well lean into what’s popular. I have the same issues with this trailer as I did with the first one: it looks like they’re doing something a little different for a while, going down a darker path, and then the silly humor starts and kills the tone. I like the implication that Agatha is not suddenly a good guy in this; she seems to be using the other witches for her own purposes and is planning on discarding them once they’re of no more use to her. That’s what I wanted from Loki, and it would be nice if Marvel sticks with that, although I doubt they will. I’m all set for wasted potential once again, but the spooky stuff is at least atmospheric in the trailer, and Aubrey Plaza should at least make some of the unnecessary humor funny. That last line from Agatha is a real groaner, though. And I imagine I shouldn’t get my hopes up that the devil-looking thing is Mephisto.
Anthony Mackie says the shield is heavy but it’s an honor pic.twitter.com/ElNyuCeWha
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) August 10, 2024
Other than Agatha All Along, Marvel showed off Captain America: Brave New World. Anthony Mackie was on hand and appears to have been the sole presence from the film. The footage is said to have included more of Red Hulk, who was seen from behind in the trailer from last month, as well as a Celestial, adamantium, and something to do with the Avengers. It’s been reported that Brave New World will deal with the Celestial that was stuck in the Earth at the end of Eternals and that this will be the source of adamantium, which seems like an excuse to bring the Celestial back and stop people making jokes about how Eternals was so bad they’re just ignoring it. I don’t know what the reference to the Avengers means; maybe the new team is coming together. (I’m not using any variation of “assemble” for these also-rans.)
Updated Daredevil logo pic.twitter.com/jPg1Ic7CaN
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) August 10, 2024
Daredevil: Born Again had a presentation that featured the main cast, including Jon Bernthal, who is back as the Punisher. I wonder if it was awkward for Marvel to bring out Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson, who play Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Originally, they weren’t asked back from Netflix’s Daredevil and were going to have been killed off-screen, but the backlash was so intense that Marvel retooled Born Again and got them back. This is where you need Ryan Reynolds around to make fun of them for doing stupid things. JoBlo describes the footage shown as “violent,” with lots of fights and five different Daredevil costumes.
Fantastic Four time. pic.twitter.com/TQfviMDRIf
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) August 10, 2024
The Fantastic Four: First Steps included a “sizzle reel” and a look at the Four’s costumes:
First look at Fantastic Four suit pic.twitter.com/OzMs27znzF
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) August 10, 2024
I know they’re going for old-fashioned with this one, and I think that’s the right move, but I’m not thrilled with Johnny’s outfit. I hope that’s a sort of knock-around shirt and not the actual superhero suit the Four will wear. I don’t like Johnny’s awful hair, either. I’m sure Joseph Quinn is a fine actor outside of Stranger Things, but couldn’t they have just gotten someone with the right look? The “4” emblem is nice, though, and I like the set design; it’s very evocative of the time period, with a little sci-fi to jazz it up.
Ryan Coogler talking Ironheart pic.twitter.com/vpMErJFIgj
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) August 10, 2024
Finally, they showcased Ironheart, possibly the only thing even fewer people want than Agatha All Along. The cast and Ryan Coogler introduced a trailer, which apparently has “solid effects.”It sounds underwhelming, which is probably the best you can expect from Ironheart.
This sounds like weak sauce to me. Comic-Con was obviously Marvel’s focus, with D23 just a bunch of short reminders that some of their stuff exists. If those rumors of an MCU revamp are true, this is Marvel burning off their fat before showing off the muscles they’re sculpting.
Tell us what you think of Marvel’s D23 showcase below!
Comments (5)
I’m honestly baffled that they’re makiing an Agatha series. I don’t want Ironheart, but I can at least kind of understand the rationale behind it, but what makes them think an Agatha Harkness show is a good idea? Because people liked the song?
They’re idiots for screwing up Daredevil. All they had to do was bring everyone back and let them continue, and they couldn’t even do that. Even the retooling is supposedly not going to bring back the magic of the Netflix show. They have Foggy and Karen back, but they’re gonna do a bunch of woke lecturing in it, based on what I’ve heard.
I don’t have a ton of hope for Fantastic Four, and that sucks because I really want it to be great. I saw that Gary and Chris Gore liked the footage they showed at Comic-Con, for the most part, and I like certain things they’ve revealed about it, but at this point, I won’t be convinced until I see the movie.
I liked the Punisher show okay, but I didn’t like that they had him immediately retire and have to be drawn back in and keep “becoming” the Punisher. Daredevil season 2 perfectly set him up and gave him a complete origin; he was all ready to go. Then he regressed. Funnily, the guy who played Micro Chip on that show is playing the Thing in Fantastic Four.
Agatha and Red Hulk are kind of blind spots for me, as I never read them.
Yeah, Daredevil was a no-brainer, they should have hired them all like a merger and acquisition. That was a great show that slipped thru the cracks. Sounds like it’s gonna be bad.
One thing in Deadpool and Wolverine was when the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants showed up at first in the desert, they had the Fantasticar as part of the caravan. I liked that.
They get so close. They have good characters, good world, but the box-checking pressure or something just always throws it out of whack. There was a certain Feng Shui or je ne sais quoi missing since Disney occupied the Marvel cultural space.
Can say the Daredevil Netflix show was one of the best I’ve ever seen and the best of the bunch. I did like Luke Cage, too. The Luke Cage actor is in a new show about Exorcists called Evil where he plays a priest with 2 helpers that are skeptics and shrinks. It is a very good show, so slowly, that actor is making a name for himself. Already, he has a solid career with those 2 successful shows.
Didn’t know that about Microchip actor. That is a good thing that he is working. Over time, one thing I kind of look for is teams or crews that found something that works and see if they did anything in the past or have anything coming up because I think there is something to that chemistry.
Agatha and IronHeart are M-She-U. Will pass on both, but was thinking the other day about Mutants, and how I liked Dazzler, Boom Boom, and Skids. None of whom we will ever get to see, but understandable. Never heard of Agatha prior to the show.
Only Captain America might have any potential and yet, I never really even was into Falcon nor Red Hulk at all. I thought the trailer looked fine.
Fantastic Four has no buzz to me.
Finally, Daredevil, and the Netflix show was so awesome and so ace, and they shut it down. Ruined something that was working about as good as a show can work.
Last thing, Since Punisher is in thumbnail, but season one of that show was very good. I didn’t know they even had a season 2. Finally saw season 2 and it was awful. Don’t know how Netflix lost the touch on that one, but season one was perfect and season 2 was laughably bad and I couldn’t even finish it.