The Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Producer of the show Agent Lauren, Agent Michelle, Consultant Chris, and Director SP discuss the Disney+ What If…? season one premiere episodes “Never Meet Your Heroes” and “Hide and Seek.” They also discuss the top Marvel news stories of the week including the Disney+ premiere date for Eternals, Scarlet Johansson’s secret Marvel project, and WandaVision’s Grammy Nomination. The Team debriefs you on the PlayComics episode interviewing the original 90’s X-Men animation series creators, the major Hawkeye cast rundown, the glory of the Track Suit Mafia (TSM), the issue with David Aja’s credits versus compensation by Marvel/Disney, the unique Kate Bishop training montage, the flashback and seamless integration of the 2012 Avenger’s battle with Loki’s Chitauri army, the “Grabie-Grab” as the first series trick arrow, how Kate Bishop is moonlighting as a pseudo safety building inspector, the Roger’s musical, proper bathroom etiquette, the CW Arrow-like fight scenes, the realistic LARPing portrayal, and SP’s Hallmark Holiday movie checklist. Stay tuned after the credits for a few minutes of Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. bonus audio.
THIS TIME ON LEGENDS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.:
- Hawkeye S1E1 “Never Meet Your Heroes” and S1E2 “Hide and Seek”
- Weekly Marvel News
- Disney+ confirms launch of new Marvel movie ‘Eternals’ on January 12, 2022
- Marvel, Johansson Working on Top Secret Project Unrelated to Black Widow
- WandaVision’s ‘Agatha All Along’ Conjures Up a Grammy Nomination
- Chris’ PlayComics episode on the original X-Men Animated Series
HAWKEYE “NEVER MEET YOUR HEROES” and “HIDE AND SEEK” [5:56]
- Hawkeye “Never Meet Your Heroes” and “Hide And Seek” premiered on Disney+ on Wednesday November 24th, 2021.
S1E1 “Never Meet Your Heroes”
Directed By: Rhys Thomas
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1658104/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1#director
24 directing credits starting in 2010
9 x Saturday Night Live Specials
6 x Comrade Detective
47 x Saturday night Live Episodes (20 as segment director)
3 x Hawkeye
Writer: Jonathan Igla
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4131127/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr1
7 writing credits starting in 2015
33 x Mad Men
1 x Masters of Sex
6 x Hawkeye
S1E2 “Hide And Seek”
Directed By: Rhys Thomas
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1658104/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr1#director
24 directing credits starting in 2010
9 x Saturday Night Live Specials
6 x Comrade Detective
47 x Saturday night Live Episodes (20 as segment director)
3 x Hawkeye
Writer: Elisa Lomnitz Climent
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4019625/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr1
4 writing credits starting in 2017
11 x Imposters
1 x Sorry for Your Loss
1 x Hawkeye
Showrunner: Jonathan Igla
Hawkeye Main Cast
- Jeremy Renner … Clint Barton / Hawkeye
- 28 Weeks Later
- The Hurt Locker
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
- The Bourne Legacy
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
- Arrival
- Mayor of Kingstown (TV Series)
- Hailee Steinfeld … Kate Bishop
- Pitch Perfect 2
- Pitch Perfect 3
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Charlie’s Angels (2019)
- Arcane (TV Series)
- Dickinson (TV Series)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 (filming)
- Vera Farmiga … Eleanor Bishop
- The Manchurian Candidate
- Source Code
- Bates Motel (TV Series)
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters
- Tony Dalton … Jack Duquesne
- Sense8 (TV Series)
- Better Call Saul (TV Series)
- Alaqua Cox … Maya Lopez
- First IMDB credit … seriously. First credit
- Fra Fee … Kazi
- Cinderella (2021)
- Aleks Paunovic … Ivan
- Boxing Stuntman on Battlestar Galactica
- 5 x Battlestar Galactica (TV Series)
- 1 episode roles:
- Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera (TV Series)
- Bionic Woman (TV Series)
- Stargate: Atlantis (TV Series)
- Sanctuary (TV Series)
- Human Target (TV Series)
- Caprica (TV Series)
- Smallville (TV Series) – 2 episodes
- Once Upon a Time (TV Series)
- Psych (TV Series) – 3 episodes
- The 100 (TV Series) – 4 episodes
- Arrow (TV Series) – 2 episodes
- Riverworld (TV Movie)
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy (TV Series short)
- 6 x Continuum (TV Series)
- Kindergarten Cop 2
- War for the Planet of the Apes
- 9 x Snowpiercer (TV Series)
- Piotr Adamczyk … Tomas
- Popular Polish actor with 87 credits starting in 1996
- Will also be in season 3 of the Apple TV+ hit For All Mankind
- Linda Cardellini … Laura Barton
- Boy Meets World (TV Series) in 1998/1999
- Freaks and Geeks (TV Series) in 1999/2000
- Legally Blonde
- Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
- Brokeback Mountain
- 126 x ER (TV Series)
- 1 x Person of Interest (TV Series)
- 9 x Mad Men (TV Series)
- Gravity Falls (TV Series)
- 5 x Robot Chicken (TV Series short)
- Ava Russo … Lila Barton
- Only acting credit is Lila in Avengers Endgame/Hawkeye
- Ben Sakamoto … Cooper Barton
- Only acting credits as Cooper in Age Of Ultron/Endgame/Hawkeye
- Cade Woodward … Nathaniel Barton
- A Quiet Place
- Avengers: Endgame/Hawkeye
- Simon Callow … Armand III
- Amadeus
- 1 x Scarecrow and Mrs. King (TV Series)
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
- 2 x Doctor Who (TV Series)’
- 5 x Outlander (TV Series)’
- 8 x The Witcher (TV Series)
- Clayton English … Grills
- 1 x Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV Series)
- Carlos Navarro … Enrique
- 1 x Prison Break (TV Series)
- 1 x Charlie’s Angels (TV Series) 2011
- 9 x The Walking Dead (TV Series)
- Ivan Mbakop … Detective Caudle
- Nothing SP is familiar with
- Tinashe Kajese … Dee
- The Suicide Squad
- Adetinpo Thomas … Wendy
- 8 x Black Lightning (TV Series)
- Robert Walker Branchaud … Orville (as Robert Walker-Branchaud)
- American Horror Story (TV Series)
- 4 x Stranger Things (TV Series)
- Deepwater Horizon
- 2 x The Walking Dead (TV Series)
- 2 x Black Lightning (TV Series)
- Adelle Drahos … Missy
- 2 x MacGyver (TV Series)
- Ashley Ames … Eleanor’s Assistant
- Nothing SP is familiar with
- Monisha Shiva … Mother
- Nothing SP is familiar with
- Rhys Bhatia … Child
- Nothing SP is familiar with
- Candy McLellan … Samurai
- Nothing SP is familiar with
- Jolt the Golden Retriever… Lucky the Pizza Dog
NEWS [51:23]
TOP NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK
- Eternals premiered domestically in the theaters on November 5th, 2021.
- Eternals is scheduled to release on Disney+ on Wednesday January 12th, 2022
- Hawkeye is scheduled to premiere on November 24th, 2021. There will be 6 episodes … I think.
- Ms Marvel is supposed to premiere late in 2021 on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to premiere on December 17th, 2021.
- Moon Knight is supposed to premiere late in 2022 on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- She-Hulk is supposed to premiere late in 2022 on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Mar 25th 2022?)
- Secret Invasion is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- Ironheart is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- Thor: Love and Thunder (May 6th, 2022)
- Armor Wars is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- I Am Groot is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced. I’ve heard this will be a holiday special.
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (July 8th, 2022)
- Echo is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- An untitled Wakanda series is in development for release on Disney+ but no date has been announced.
- The Marvels (November 11th, 2022)
- Also, we know there will be a Loki season two at some point.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17th, 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5th, 2023)
- Fantastic Four (???)
MCU – MARVEL STUDIOS
Marvel, Johansson Working on Top Secret Project Unrelated to Black Widow
https://www.cbr.com/marvel-scarlett-johansson-new-project-black-widow/
Marvel Studios and Scarlett Johansson are reuniting for a mystery project that, supposedly, isn’t connected to Johansson’s Marvel Cinematic Universe character, Natasha Romanoff, aka. Black Widow.
This comes straight from Marvel Studios President/Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige, one of many who paid tribute to Johansson at a ceremony honoring her as the 35th recipient of the annual American Cinematheque Award. “We are already working with Scarlett on another non-Black Widow-related top-secret Marvel Studios project with her as a producer,” said Feige (per The Hollywood Reporter). He went on to call Johansson “one of the most talented, versatile and beloved actors of our time,” later adding, “Working with you Scarlett has truly been one of the most memorable and rewarding collaborations of my career.”
Feige’s announcement comes on the heels of Johansson settling her Black Widow lawsuit with Disney at the end of September. The Oscar-nominee took legal action against the House of Mouse in July, alleging that Disney breached her contract by giving the film a day-and-date release in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access without allowing her to renegotiate her deal. This led to a public war of words between Disney and Johansson’s legal reps, with the former calling the latter’s lawsuit “callous [in its] disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“It was a very surreal time because, of course, the film had come out and was hugely successful and that was a big celebration. I had a baby, and that was obviously a life-changing, amazing, celebratory thing,” said Johansson, discussing the Black Widow lawsuit on the red carpet for the American Cinematheque ceremony. “In a way, that sort of buoyed me through the very uncertain, stressful time. I feel mostly very fortunate that nobody will have to go through what I went through and that it’s made, I think, a positive impact in the industry and hopefully for artists and creatives’ lives and livelihood.”
Black Widow, which took place between the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), served as a coda to Natasha’s story in the MCU after the character sacrificed her life to help save the day in Avengers: Endgame (2019). The film also ended with a post-credits scene laying the groundwork for Natasha’s fellow Red Room trainee and sister-figure, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), to return in the Hawkeye series on Disney+.
Johansson’s mystery Marvel Studios venture is one of two projects she’s working on with Disney at the moment, along with a movie based on the company’s Tower of Terror theme park attraction. The latter, which Johansson is producing with an eye on starring in, has yet to receive a release date.
Marvel’s Hawkeye: Hailee Steinfeld and Kevin Feige’s Young Avengers Reaction Goes Viral
https://twitter.com/Hawkmaestro21/status/1460711493163532296
Kevin Feige and Hailee Steinfeld are keeping the Young Avengers arrow in the quiver. In the Marvel Studios series premiering November 24 on Disney+, Steinfeld enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe as expert archer and Hawkeye fangirl Kate Bishop, the self-taught protege of eagle-eyed ex-Avenger Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). During a press conference with the cast of Hawkeye, a cautious Steinfeld looked to the Marvel Studios president and producer before answering a question about Kate Bishop’s future as a member of the Young Avengers, a team of young adult superheroes formed after the Avengers disassemble.
“I mean, listen, this feels so crazy to me right now just sitting here with this group of people. I’m so grateful to be a part of this show in this universe, and it’s only the beginning,” Steinfeld said when asked about Young Avengers. “This shows not even out, so I’m looking forward to that day.”
aking on the mantle of Hawkeye, Bishop becomes a member and leader of the Young Avengers and the West Coast Avengers. Speaking exclusively to ComicBook’s Phase Zero podcast, the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Apple TV+’s Dickinson star spoke out on her Marvel future after teaming with Renner’s Barton in the six-episode Hawkeye.
“It’s always exciting, the thought of any character you play, where it could go. And especially with something like this,” Steinfeld said. “You’ve seen the first two episodes, and there’s a whole lot more that happens in the four that are to come. That’s where my head is at.”
Elizabeth Olsen, whose Wanda Maximoff births two future Young Avengers in Disney+’s WandaVision, said over the summer she’s not aware of plans for twins Tommy (Jett Kline) and Billy Maximoff (Julian Hilliard) to join the roster as Speed and Wiccan. Phase Four of the MCU has already added prospective members Eli Bradley (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Elijah Richardson) and Kid Loki (Loki’s Jack Veal), with more on the way: America Chavez (Doctor Strange 2’s Xochitl Gomez) and Cassie Lang (Ant-Man 3’s Kathryn Newton).
“As a comic fan, anything in the comics is always our inspiration and our guide point. How those things come together and in what shape, it’s always subverting expectations, it’s always half the fun as meeting them,” Feige previously told Entertainment Weekly when asked if series like WandaVision and Hawkeye are building towards Young Avengers. “But, yes, you can certainly see that Phase Four is introducing all sorts of new types of characters with the potential being endless. Now, all of us at Marvel Studios feel like Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man 1, as new actors and new performers come in and we tell them they’re part of a bigger universe. They just now have to do the work required to build their audience.”
Feige added: “I’m happy to say everybody that’s here, certainly where I’m sitting now, is doing amazing work and [I] can’t wait to show them the world.”
See reactions to Feige and Steinfeld’s meme-able exchange below. The two-episode premiere of Marvel’s Hawkeye is November 24 on Disney+.
Disney+ confirms launch of new Marvel movie ‘Eternals’ on January 12, 2022
https://streamingguider.com/eternals-disney-plus-movie-2021/
Marvel Studios’ new movie Eternals (2021) was released in theaters earlier this month, but has already received a release date on Disney+. The streaming service has informed Streaming Guider’s editors that the superhero movie will be available worldwide on Disney’s video on demand platform starting January 12, 2022.
? This announcement first appeared in Dutch on Streamwijzer.nl, the largest website about streaming in the Netherlands ?
Superhero movie ‘Eternals’ (film, 2021) will launch at Disney+ on January 12, 2022
The very first new title on Disney+ in January 2022 has been announced and it’s a big one: Eternals! The Marvel film is making quite a splash with the first openly gay character and the first sex scene. In addition, the leads are played by an amazing cast including Angelina Jolie and Richard Madden.
Disney+ has confirmed to Streaming Guider’s editors that there is already a date in the calendar for the release of the superhero film. Starting Wednesday, January 12, 2022, Eternals will be available in all countries where the streaming service operates. That’s approximately 70 days after the theatrical release, a comparable gap as for the launch of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
The choice to release the movie on a Wednesday is remarkable, as movies usually appear on Disney+ on Fridays and (episodes of) series on Wednesdays. The video on demand platform seems to be experimenting to determine the best weekday for new releases. For example, Black Widow previously appeared on a Wednesday (as of October 6 for all subscribers) and the streaming service released the premiere episodes of the hit series Dopesick on Disney+ Day (Friday, November 12) in several countries.
Mixed reviews
Viewers and critics seemed to disagree about the quality of Eternals after its theatrical release. On IMDb, the film scored a 6.8 out of (so far) 106,000 votes. That’s fine for an average film, but not very high for a Marvel film. Yet, for example, Captain Marvel (2019 | 6.8), Thor: The Dark World (2013 | 6.8), Black Widow (2021 | 6.7) and The Incredible Hulk (2008 | 6.6) were given equal or lower marks.
At Rotten Tomatoes, Eternals does score the lowest of all Marvel films with 48% out of 359 reviews on the Tomatometer. The audience disagree, as the Audience Score actually constitutes an excellent 80% from over 5,000 votes. So take a quick look at the film as soon as it shows up on Disney+ and let us know what you think about it.
Plot, information and trailer of ‘Eternals’ op Disney+
Marvel Studios’ Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who have been protecting Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants return, while long thought lost mysteriously, the Eternals are forced to reunite to defend humanity once again.
DISNEY+
Hawkeye: Hailee Steinfeld Compares Kate Bishop to Her Into the Spider-Verse Role
https://www.cbr.com/hawkeye-hailee-steinfeld-kate-bishop-compares-gwen-stacy
Hawkeye actor Hailee Steinfeld talks about playing both Kate Bishop and Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Actor Hailee Steinfeld has now addressed having played both Kate Bishop in Disney+’s Hawkeye and Gwen Stacy in Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film.
In a press conference attended by CBR, Steinfeld was asked to compare her role as Gwen to her time as Bishop. “It’s incredibly cool,” Steinfeld said. “I feel so honored to be a part of both projects. They’re characters that have similarities, but they’re very different. Of course, one is animation, and one is not, and two completely different worlds. But I always love that — I do find the characters that I have played in the past do have this sort of consistency in being these young women who are strong-minded, have a point of view, have an idea of who they are in this world and they really stop at nothing to get what they want to achieve. I think that both Gwen Stacy and Kate Bishop are proof that if you set your mind to something, you can really achieve great things.”
Created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, Kate Bishop made her debut in 2005’s Young Avengers #1, taking up the mantle of Hawkeye following Clint Barton’s death. Rumors of Steinfeld’s casting as Kate in Hawkeye began in 2020, with her role officially confirmed at the end of that year. Hawkeye will see her teaming up with Clint to take on the enemies he made while using the name Ronin.
An alternate version of Peter Parker’s classic love interest of the same name, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman was created by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez. First appearing in 2014’s Edge of Spider-Verse #2, Gwen hails from a reality where she was bitten by a radioactive spider instead of Peter. The Into the Spider-Verse version of the character found herself pulled into a different reality, though by the end of the movie she’d returned to her home world.
Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, Into the Spider-Verse released in 2018. The film saw Miles Morales team up with several characters from different universes with similar powers to himself so to save New York from Kingpin. The movie did well at the box office, grossing more than $375 million worldwide against a budget of approximately $90 million. Into the Spider-Verse received praise from critics, earning a 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Created by Jonathan Igla, Hawkeye is slated to release Nov. 24 on Disney+. At this time, it’s not clear when Steinfeld will next appear in the MCU after Hawkeye, though she is slated to appear in multiple projects. Steinfeld will reprise her role as Gwen when the first sequel to Into the Spider-Verse releases on Oct. 7, 2022. While the official title hasn’t been confirmed at this time, there’s some evidence the movie will be called Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Hawkeye’s Story Arc Leads Directly Into a Future Disney+ Marvel Series
https://www.cbr.com/hawkeye-leads-directly-into-echo-series
Marvel boss Kevin Feige and Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas explain how the Disney+ series will lead directly into Echo, starring Alaqua Cox.
Marvel’s upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ series will lead directly into the recently announced Echo series starring Alaqua Cox.
During a press conference attended by CBR, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas were asked about Cox’s Maya Lopez/Echo and what can be expected for her in the forthcoming Disney+ series. According to Feige, Cox “came in as a cold audition and sort of read a number of different times.”
“She’s amazing,” Feige continued. “I can’t wait for people who’ve seen the first two episodes have seen a very brief moment. It will be fun to see the audience discover Maya over the course of this series and then in her own series later. As announced on Disney+ Day last week, the Echo series will be — we see Maya Lopez go from the end of this series into that series will be the next direct link.”
Maya Lopez/Echo, a deaf Native American superhero, will be introduced in Hawkeye, which wrapped filming in April and will premiere on the streaming service in November, though the nature of her role in the show currently remains unknown. It was reported in March that the Echo spinoff series was in development, with Etan and Emily Cohen writing and producing the series. While it had been reported on for some time, Echo was officially confirmed by Marvel Studios and Disney during Disney+ Day with the release of the series’ official logo.
Thomas, replying to Feige, said that Cox “has amazing determination.” Regarding her audition process, Thomas went on to say, “She never performed before, but seemed completely unfazed when we came back. We really sort of put her through the wringer. But she never once botched and has kind of walked into this universe like she should’ve always been there.”
In a recent promo for the upcoming Hawkeye series, audiences were introduced to the MCU’s latest villain, Fra Fee’s The Clown. Cox’s Maya Lopez/Echo was seen alongside him, with both characters seemingly holding Clint Barton hostage before he is rescued by Haylee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop. While Maya is typically a hero in the comics, it was unclear in the trailer why she would be working with The Clown, though it could have something to do with her adopted father, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, in the comics.
Created by David Mack and Joe Quesada, Maya Lopez/Echo first appeared in Daredevil #9 in 1999 and is one of the few Native American and deaf characters in comics overall. Similar to the Avengers villain Taskmaster, Echo’s powers include photographic reflexes, giving her the ability to perfectly mimic the movements of other people. Echo was first introduced to comics as a supporting character for Daredevil and it’s speculated that her involvement in Hawkeye could be a way for Matthew Murdock/Daredevil to officially enter the MCU. It has also been reported that both Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld will reprise their Hawkeye roles in Echo as well.
WandaVision’s ‘Agatha All Along’ Conjures Up a Grammy Nomination
https://www.cbr.com/marvel-wandavision-agatha-all-along-grammy-nomination/
The song “Agatha All Along” from Marvel Studios’ debut Disney+ original series WandaVision is up for an award at the 64th GRAMMY Awards in January.
Per the official list of nominees for the 2022 GRAMMYs, “Agatha All Along” — written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez — has been nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media. The fan-favorite track was brought to life by the Lopezes, featuring Kathryn Hahn, Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall and Gerald White.
Going up against “Agatha All Along” in the category of Best Song Written For Visual Media are “All Eyes On Me” by Bo Burnham (from Inside), “All I Know So Far” by P!nk (from P!NK: All I Know So Far), “Fight For You” by H.E.R. (from Judas and the Black Messiah), “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” by Jennifer Hudson (from Respect) and “Speak Now” by Leslie Odom Jr. (from One Night in Miami…).
WandaVision premiered on Disney+ earlier this year on Jan. 15 to kick off Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series’ seventh episode, “Breaking the Fourth Wall” — which aired on Feb. 19 — revealed that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision’s (Paul Bettany) nosy neighbor, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn), was actually the classic Marvel Comics character Agatha Harkness, and that she was the one who had been disrupting Wanda and Vision’s seemingly peaceful life in Westview.
This revelation sets up the musical number “Agatha All Along,” performed by Hahn as Agatha. On Feb. 24 — a few days after “Breaking the Fourth Wall” initially dropped — “Agatha All Along” was added to music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora. The song had nearly broken 1.8 million plays on Spotify by the time WandaVision’s finale (aptly titled “The Series Finale”) hit Disney+ on March 5.
WandaVision leads directly into the upcoming Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hits theaters on May 6, 2022. The film will see Olsen reprise her role as the newly-christened Scarlet Witch. Meanwhile, Hahn is set to return as Agatha Harkness in Agatha: House of Harkness, a spinoff series Marvel Studios is producing for Disney+. Hahn’s deal with Marvel also reportedly calls for additional appearances across both film and television.
The 64th GRAMMY Awards will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Monday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. ET.
‘Hawkeye’ EP Trinh Tran on Casting Hailee Steinfeld and the Influence of ‘Better Call Saul’
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/hawkeye-movie-tv-show-marvel-disney-1235050780/
The Marvel executive reflects on why Jeremy Renner’s project was moved from film to TV: “The big question was, ‘How are we going to fit all of this into a two-hour timeframe?'”
Hawkeye and Avengers: Endgame executive producer Trinh Tran never doubted whether Clint Barton/Hawkeye’s Endgame storyline warranted further exploration. Instead, it was a question of which medium was best suited to tell the street-level story of Jeremy Renner’s Avenger and his quest to get home in time for Christmas. Tran, along with her fellow Marvel Studios producers, quickly realized that the Hawkeye project would benefit creatively if it transitioned from the feature film side of the studio to the newly-established Disney+ side.
“We decided to move Hawkeye from the feature side over to the Disney+ side for [creative flexibility],” Tran tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The big question was, ‘How are we going to fit all of this into a two-hour timeframe? We have an Avenger whose backstory we haven’t quite had time to explore yet . We also have to introduce a new character [Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop], as well as allow enough time for them to bond and create that special dynamic that everybody finds so appealing in the comics.’ So, in moving it over, it allowed us six hours, three times as much time, which really gave us the creative flexibility we needed to tell the story.”
In September 2019, when Hailee Steinfeld was reported to be playing Barton’s protégé Kate Bishop on Hawkeye, fans rejoiced unanimously until Steinfeld herself cast doubt on the idea. This led to some speculation that the actor’s existing contract with Apple TV+’s Dickinson may have caused a snag in the proceeding. However, Tran was always confident that Steinfeld would be involved as Bishop.
“When [Hailee] came in to meet, we knew right off the bat that she was the person we had been looking for all these years,” Tran shares. “It was just a matter of we couldn’t quite talk about her involvement all this time. So the speculation in terms of whether she was in or not was just us trying to figure out how we can carry out the series during this time and get it delivered in time for this holiday season.”
Prior to Black Widow‘s release, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige referenced Breaking Bad prequel/sequel, Better Call Saul, as an influence on Widow‘s prequel storytelling. Then Marvel Studios hired former Better Call Saul writer Marion Dayre to lead the writers’ room for Echo, which stars Alaqua Cox in the eponymous role. (Hawkeye will first introduce the character.) Furthermore, Better Call Saul‘s Tony Dalton also plays the enigmatic role of Jack Duquesne on Hawkeye, and Tran confirms that Better Call Saul was a key factor in Dalton’s casting.
“I absolutely love Tony Dalton from Better Call Saul!” Tran says. “When we were talking about who would be great as Jack Duquesne, Tony obviously came to mind because he is incredible in that series. I can’t say much about his character in [Hawkeye], but as you can see in the earlier episodes, there’s a quality in Jack that will hopefully intrigue people into figuring out what’s happening.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Tran also explains why the decision was made to make Hawkeye a bit more lighthearted than previous MCU series.
Since WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki each explored some heavy subject matters and themes at times, was Hawkeye always designed to be something a bit lighter for the holidays? Was Hawkeye meant to be a response to those shows?
Well, as we were brainstorming and talking about the story a couple of years ago, we were trying to figure out how we can set this series apart from Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. And one way was to set it around the holiday times. Out of all of the characters, it made sense for Clint Barton’s story to be told around this time of year because he’s a family guy. He’s one of the few Avengers with kids, and after the fallout of what happened in Endgame — where he lost his kids for five years, became Ronin and got them back — this is the first Christmas that he’s going to be spending with his family. And the big question of the series is if he’s going to be able to make it home in time in order to do so. So there’s that big weight that he’s trying to figure out as he’s stuck elsewhere. He’s trying to deal with something that has put him on this mission and he has to figure out how to get out of it. And in terms of the lightheartedness, we wanted to show a different side of Clint that we haven’t seen before, in comparison to all of the Avengers movies that he’s in. And I find it so much more interesting that there is a version of Clint that is a little bit more humorous from the Matt Fraction [comic book] run. So we wanted to pull a little bit of that into the series, and we thought that Kate Bishop, out of everybody, was the perfect candidate in order to do so.
Everyone celebrated when Hailee Steinfeld’s casting was reported, but then there was a period of uncertainty as to whether it would actually happen. Were you always confident that things would work out?
Yes, we love Hailee. When we were talking about who would be the perfect candidate for Kate Bishop, names were thrown into the hat, and we all loved Hailee. We think she’s tremendously talented. When she came in to meet, we knew right off the bat that she was the person we had been looking for all these years, once we had talked about who this person is and what she can bring to the table. Hailee did an incredible job, and we were all very happy with the onscreen Kate Bishop that she delivered. It was just a matter of we couldn’t quite talk about her involvement all this time. So the speculation in terms of whether she was in or not was just us trying to figure out how we can carry out the series during this time and get it delivered in time for this holiday season.
Kevin Feige has referenced a certain show as a touchstone for Black Widow‘s prequel storytelling. You also hired one of its writers, Marion Dayre, as the lead writer of Echo. And now, with Hawkeye‘s casting of Tony Dalton, is it safe to say that Marvel Studios is rather fond of Better Call Saul?
I absolutely love Tony Dalton from Better Call Saul! When we were talking about who would be great as Jack Duquesne, Tony obviously came to mind because he is incredible in that series. He brings a different tone to this particular character that people haven’t quite seen yet. I can’t say much about his character in the series, but as you can see in the earlier episodes, there’s a quality in Jack that will hopefully intrigue people into figuring out what’s happening.
What I love about Marvel Studios’ TV shows is that they’re able to devote more time to character development than a two-hour movie can. From your vantage point, are the TV shows already making your feature directors’ lives easier since they don’t have to squeeze six episodes of character work into their two-hour runtimes?
It allows us the creative flexibility to explore the characters a lot more because we have the time and space to do so. We decided to move Hawkeye from the feature side over to the Disney+ side for that very reason. The big question was, “How are we going to fit all of this into a two-hour timeframe? We have an Avenger whose backstory we haven’t quite had time to explore yet . We also have to introduce a new character, as well as allow enough time for them to bond and create that special dynamic that everybody finds so appealing in the comics.” So, in moving it over, it allowed us six hours, three times as much time, which really gave us the creative flexibility we needed to tell the story. But challenges come with it as well. We have a process at Marvel and we try to maintain that same process both on the feature side and the TV series side. We treat it as one process that works well for us. But things happen faster on the TV end. We have the same amount of time that we normally do on the feature end, but we have three times as much content that we have to deliver in a shorter time span.
So I’ve only got a few seconds left, but I have to say that I’m fascinated by the Marvel Studios Parliament, which counts you as a member [along with Stephen Broussard, Eric Carroll, Nate Moore and Brad Winderbaum]. Do you each have a special blazer with a crest on it? Is there a secret handshake? How do you signify your membership?
(Laughs.) That’s great, actually. I’m going to go back to my parliament colleagues and go, “We should definitely come up with a handshake of some sort.” If there is a blazer, I didn’t get one. (Laughs.) Can you call Kevin Feige and ask where my blazer is?
I’ll make some calls!
(Laughs.) But that is actually a great idea. I’m going to go back to the other parliament members and say that we should come up with a secret code or something.
Hawkeye: Marvel Fans Boycott Series in Support of Poorly Compensated Artist
OUTRO [55:51]
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Join Legends Of S.H.I.E.L.D. next time as the hosts discuss the third episode of Hawkeye. You can listen in live when we record Thursday Evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern time at Geeks.live. Contact Info: Please see http://www.legendsofshield.com for all of our contact information or call our voicemail line at 1-844-THE-BUS1 or 844-843-2871
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This podcast was recorded on Sunday November 28th, 2021.
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