DREAM TEAM Fans are casting The Fantastic Four now that its sale is complete. Many people online seem to be onboard with Luis’ insistence that John Krasinski and Emily Blunt should be Reed Richards and Sue Storm, but the rest of the cast is debatable.
A MARVEL OF DISNEY+
Luis would cast Zac Efron as Johny Storm, but after seeing someone else’s suggestion of Dacre Montgomery I love that idea, though no one would really know the difference.
Luis would cast John David Washington as Thing. Looking for a picture of him led me to Zendaya.
What if we got crazy and they were Reed and Sue? —MV
4
WandaVision was the most emotionally relevant content the MCU has ever released. When Vision tells Wanda “What is grief but love persevering” it was like Vision was talking to all of us in the midst of a global pandemic with unparalleled loss. While The Falcon and The Winter Soldier has been more straight-forward in its strolling approach, it has been just as emotional. Episode 4 was hands down the best episode in the series. (I’m writing this before watching Episode 5.) John Walker’s issues of inadequacy and obvious PTSD lead to his over reaction at the end of the episode, taking the life of a Flag Smasher. Wyatt Russell’s portrayal as John Walker is ripped right from the comics. His performance is spot on and nuanced . I’ve never seen Russell in anything so it’s come as a bit of a revelation to me. Daniel Bruhl also returns as Zemo, the main villain in Civil War. They’ve added new layers to round out his character, and he has been nothing short of brilliant. I hop to see more of Zemo in the MCU. Sebastian Stan’s tortured Bucky is always spot-on. Anthony Mackie’s Falcon helps ground us all in even more humanity as he struggles to get a loan for his sister to keep their family business afloat. These real world problems wrapped in the tight spandex of super heroes really helps develop these characters far greater than they were ever developed on the big screen. The Captain America trilogy of movies have always felt more grounded in the real world. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is no exception. It strikes a perfect tone of realism while still including over the top super hero action. Disney+ continues to knock it out of the park with its weekly content. I can’t wait for the further expansion of the Marvel Universe with both the Loki and the Hawkeye series. There has been a lot of social media chatter and coverage over creators like Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting and their feelings over the perceived lack of credit being thrown their way for creating Winter Soldier. Unfortunately, I agree with Marvel on this. Bucky/Winter Soldier was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941. While Brubaker and Epting reintroduced us to Bucky as the Winter Soldier in 2005, it doesn’t change the fact that they did not create the character. They may have reskinned and reinvigorated James “Bucky” Barnes but they didn’t create him. Rob Liefeld recently covered Creator Credit and Ownership on an episode of his brilliant Robservations. I urge everyone to give it a listen as the March 23, 2021, episode does a deep dive into Marvel’s creator point systems and the changes it has gone through over the years. Rob’s podcast has been a great way to pass time—almost 90 episodes in less than a year! Everything from how his passion for comics was ignited to his family life to the origins of Deadpool. Rob recently announced that he would be taking a break from the podcast. Hopefully this break will be short as it has quickly become one of my favorites. —LV
Art Department Weekly • April 20, 2021
