Marvel keeps many secrets hidden behind the Iron Curtain, and does just about anything it can to keep them from leaking. Duping actors with fake scripts so they don’t know what’s true and what’s completely made-up? Been there, done that. Filming multiple different endings to obscure the real conclusion? Yep, Marvel filmmakers have done that, too. These tactics may have worked to stop actors from spilling the beans, but they apparently weren’t aggressive enough to prevent others from sharing sensitive information about Marvel’s projects. And speaking of sensitive information: Spoilers ahead.
It appears that a good portion of Marvel’s plans post-Avengers: Endgame have leaked on Twitter, both for Phase 4 of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for a number of television shows coming to the Disney+ streaming service. And not just a few days ago or a week ahead of Avengers: Endgame launching in theaters, these purported leaks hit the web back in December 2018.
The details come from a semi-anonymous Twitter user who goes by the name of Roger Wardell, who began sharing what he described as “leaks” for Avengers: Endgame at the end of last year. At the time, Wardell’s tweets gained virtually no traction, given that his profile offers virtually no identifying information other than his name, which could be fake, and because there was no way to confirm his tweets as factual. Looking at them now in retrospect, though, the things he said about Endgame turned out to be completely on-the-money… like, scarily accurate.
Wardell predicted that Thor would lose his chiseled physique and, quote, “look a bit like his old friend Volstagg,” that Agent Carter actor James D’Arcy would make the jump from Marvel TV to the MCU as Edwin Jarvis, that Robert Redford would return as Secretary Alexander Pierce, that Scott Lang would mess up “big time,” and that Chris Evans would “play a completely different Steve Rogers” in the film, seemingly referencing the choice Steve made to stay in the past and live a normal life with Peggy Carter before catching up to the present as an old man. He even nailed details like Thor decapitating Thanos, Stan Lee making a cameo in the 1970s, and Brock Rumlow and Jack Rollins returning to recreate the elevator scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, including a hint at Cap’s now-famous line from the recreated scene. You know the one.
By all accounts, Wardell was almost totally right about what went down in Avengers: Endgame. This makes it far easier to believe what he tweeted about Marvel’s future is just as precise.
Wardell claimed in one tweet:
“While [Kevin] Feige has talked about films based on Power Pack and Ms. Marvel, it’s also being heavily discussed to have these as multiple season long shows on the Disney service.”
Disney+ is the forthcoming streaming service home to a number of Marvel superhero series including Loki, WandaVision, and Falcon and Winter Soldier.
Additionally, Wardell alleged that the Black Knight has been a hot topic of conversation at Marvel Studios. The character has flip-flopped between being a superhero and a supervillain as several different people have brandished the moniker.
According to Wardell’s tweet:
“The Black Knight has been discussed quite a bit over at Marvel Studios. They see the character as a potential New Avenger and capable of holding his own solo film, and possibly a trilogy.”
Wardell’s final tweet on the account teased a handful of returning villains:
“… Marvel still has big plans for Zemo, Ghost, Justin Hammer, General Ross, and the [Abomination]. The Leader is being discussed to return as the main villain of Thunderbolts, which is being planned as a trilogy.”
The Leader, whose real name is Dr. Samuel Sterns, has already appeared in the MCU: Tim Blake Nelson portrayed Sterns in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. In that flick, Sterns transformed Emil Blonsky into the Abomination using super-soldier serum and some of Bruce Banner’s blood. When the Abomination attacks Sterns, some of Banner’s blood drips into an open cut on Sterns’ forehead, thus triggering his metamorphosis into the Leader. Considering his past foundations in the MCU, it seems plausible that the villain could rise to lead an ensemble trilogy down the line.
Given how spot-on Wardell’s tweets about Avengers: Endgame were, it’s tempting to take everything he’s said about the future of Marvel as 100-percent factual. Certain elements, like Marvel planning something major for Black Knight and the studio developing a Thunderbolts movie, seem more plausible than others.
Actress Hannah John-Kamen, who played Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp, once noted that she’d love to reprise her villainous role for a movie about the Thunderbolts.