RUMOR CONTROL...THESE ARE THE FACTS

[Abraham Smashington]

LOLOLOLLOLOL to the Council.....

[Anderson]

  Spoiler: Rick and Morty is going to fuck up how this is received. 

F4 opens in the 1960s. Total Mad Men shit. This is the role they want Krasinski for. We get the full old vibe, as Reed gets called away from the family to attend a meeting.

We live 60s NYC to see Reed meet with the Council of Reeds. They discuss the Reed that died in Doc Strange 2, while attending the matters of a new Reed having his first major Doom encounter.

Enter the MCU Reed.

He's a Musk/Jobs/Contractor type that has been doing a ton of government work. His stock rose during the Blip and now he's keeping a secret from people. He's got powers. The new government status is you got powers, no more Avengers, you work for the CIA.

So, Reed and his family keep their stuff hidden, as we see they've been the F4 for a little while now. Reed has an unsteady relationship with Ross and Rhodey. Basically, he feeds their war machine and they don't force everyone into Weapons Plus.

The Latverian hostage incident is all over the news, as Reed remembers the Doom that Ben and him knew. They were all college and government recruits together. Doom was militant and tried to build an energy device to shield the planet from anymore Thanos scale events.

He fries his face and the Four don't seem again.

Reed meets with Rhodey as they work on a plan to have the Four be autonomous like The Avengers forever.

Rhodey agrees, but they have to rescue Val, Walker and the others.

They enter Latveria. Find all of the people are loyal to Doom and turn them in for glory. Reed and Doom talk for the first time in years, as Doom reveals he has discovered something beyond their existence that he wishes to tame to make a better world.

He tries to get Reed to accept helping and then being killed to be reborn into a better world. Reed thinks he's fucking nuts and passes.

So, Doom works on Susan by inviting him to a State Dinner with Namor. To keep Namor's people happy, Doom makes a deal for how he will treat Tiamat without poisoning the waters ala how the other nations were doing.

Namor agrees, while also trying to put the moves on Susan. She's into it and Reed gets shown all of this on a monitor in his cell.

He starts to break and works on a plan to wreck Doom.

The Council of Reeds sees this and panics. They send 60s Reed to bring MCU Reed back in line.

I'll finish up when I get back.

[Anderson]

  Spoiler: Prisoners with attitude 

Thunderbolts has changed as people became available and budgets increased.

Follows up NWO by a few weeks.

Everyone is getting more aggressive about Tiamat Island. Especially as Latveria shows up and lays claim to the entire Eastern side saying it intruded on fishing channels for them so their have sovereignty. Veep Fury says fuck that, we're going to mine the entire fucker out and leave in the night.

She assembles her team with Walker and Yelena as leads and uses them as a ground force to buy the Science teams more time excavating the site.

Her Thunderbolts team now has Red Hulk and Hood as members. Both were kicked up in custody to her after events in Ironheart and NWO.

Heavy Squad vibes, as we get a lot of flashbacks as to how everyone ended up at Weapons Plus.

Taskmaster had her tech fixed by Ross and company.
Ghost can only stop phasing due to Veep Fury
Red Guardian was released to Yelena's custody as a promotion perk for being a good soldier
Walker gets to stay being a Cap as long as he follows Veep Fury.
the others have their own shit, I need to go back to the notes.

They land on Tiamat and it is full of national teams trying to do their own corrupt shit, as everyone wants their own fresh supply of Vibranium Alternatives.

The Latverian team looks like a teched up North Korean squad, as they wait in perfect formation just observing the others.

England, Russia, America, Wakanda, Australia, China and I forget the other one there. But everyone is mining the fuck out of Tiamat to get out of their fast.

Walker can't understand why everyone is in a panic. So, he picks up an American Flag and tries stabbing it into Tiamat. Says this whole thing belongs to America and everyone else needs to get the fuck out.

Everyone laughs at him, but Latveria. They call someone and sit there watching.

A huge aircraft is seen coming a few hours later, as we get more backstory. The other nations are leaving super fast. As the Thunderbolts get ready for a fight.

All of the Latverians start chanting and crying, as the ship opens and we see Doom.

Doom looks around. He sees others fleeing and then he stops on Walker adjusting the Flag.

Walker calls him out saying That Flag means we don't run. Doom incinerates the flag and then beats him down, destroying his shield.

The others start fighting, as Veep Fury watches from the Compound. Doom effortlessly trashes them all. He ruptures Ghost's suit and she explodes.

Taskmaster goes hand to hand with him, as he one handed breaks her neck.

The others move to evacuate, as the Latverians rocket their escape ship. Blowing it apart. They are trapped on Tiamat with Doom.

Doom has his men make an international proclamation that Tiamat now belongs to Latveria and the Americans are to be executed in 48 hours.

Veep Fury summons Bob and we get our first look at The Sentry.
Flashback to how Bob became the Sentry (public story
which is then followed up by his true origin.

Basically, he's an ex vet methhead who got Super Soldier remnants dumped into him and then augmented with Gamma Energy to see what would happen courtesy of Sterns.

The result is Marvel's Superman.
Veep Fury freaks out about the power, so she has Faustus place a constructed called The Void in his head. Basically, Veep is the only one who can keep Sentry from becoming the Void. And he has to remain loyal to her to stop it.

Veep Fury arrives with Bob in a play on the We Have A Hulk scene. Sentry makes Doom go airborne thinking it will kill him. Doom has rocket boots and grabs onto Sentry taking him up too. They beat the fuck out of each other and smash a new hole into Tiamat.

The Thunderbolts fight the Latverian goons, as we see Yelena reaching out to Bucky for help. He arranged through old Hydra Channels a safe passage for them to get out of there.

The group divides on whether to fight or flee.

Yelena, Red Guardian and others leave on the shuttle.
Walker, Red Hulk and others stay to fight with Veep and Bob.

Everyone who flees gets taken in by Sharon Carter in Madripoor
The others are taken prisoner by Doom and paraded against America in Latveria.

Montage of how the US handles it back home, as the DOD pretty much tells Walker's wife that he's as good as dead.

Film ends on Rhodey contacting Reed Richards for help.

[Anderson]

It's so much, I'm having to segment everything. First up will be Marvel.

  Spoiler: Phase 5-6 so far 

Harrison Ford got a lot of changes made as well as a lot of stuff shifted around.

Ant Man 3 = virtually the same
The Marvels = it's an intergalactic girl trip as Carol learns what it means to be Cap and what the quantum energy can do to do her.

NWO -

Sam and Bucky figure out that Veep Fury is President Ross's right hand goon. She's been leading all CIA efforts since the Snap/Blip/whatever, As such, Ross is years ahead of the Avengers.

Veep Fury's section of the CIA is called the Weapons Plus program. Basically a continuation of the Super Soldier programs started in the 40s and 50s. Now, Veep Fury is fucking with everything from gamma research to cloning to robotic augmentations to Stark Tech to super soldier serum and way more.

As far as the average American is concerned, the Avengers are dead and Veep Fury is making the next wave of them. They used a Psychiatrist to start surveying and finding subjects to recruit. This is how they get Bradley's grandson from Winter Soldier and Falcon.

The big new project is Element X, which they've been having international fights over extracting from Tiamat Island (dead Celestial baby hand / head from end of Eternals). It's now an Island the size of Oahu in the North Atlantic and 8 countries have laid claim to it.

They're sharpening and remaking the Element into weapons, but finding they can't break it.

It's also fucking up the Wakanda ability to rebuild post BP2 because this new Element is the flavor du jour and the first world is giving up on trading for Vibranium.

Other countries including Israel are concerned about what America is doing with Element X, so spies from other nations arrive in DC. This is how Israeli Super Soldier Sabra gets introduced and starts to help Sam/Bucky.

The Wakandans make their case to Congress for aid, but get rejected and then attacked. Sam and Bucky move to defend them, but the Capitol Cops get involved and this leads to a big action piece where Sam and Bucky get accused of helping foreign nationals attack DC.

The duo goes on trial with Jen Walters called in as legal aid courtesy of a phone call to Banner.

Jen gets them off on a technicality. But, they can't leave DC and Sam has to surrender his gear to federal custody. Veep Fury impounds it and we see that it is being given to the Hispanic kid from Winter Soldier/Falcon show so he can be new Falcon.

Bucky brings Sam and a few friends to a SHIELD safehouse in Georgetown where they pretty much decide they're fucked unless they bring back the Avengers. Bucky reveals he has a friend on the inside that can help them get back the Shield and Wings.

We see that it's Yelena, who is deep into the Weapons Plus infrastructure, as she's one of Veep Fury's top agents.

Meanwhile, President Ross is getting more stressed by recent events and aides take him to his Doctor. We find out his Doctor is Sam Sterns aka The Leader. He's working for the CIA in exchange for staying out of prison. His gamma research cured Ross of terminal cancer during The Blip. But it has also turned him into a potential Hulk.

As long as Ross stays human and alive, The Leader stays out of prison. So, Sam continues to treat Ross, while getting to experiment on other things for the CIA.

Back at Weapons Plus, Veep Fury approves new round of Soldiers. We see Bradley grandkid become Patriot, soldier named Frank becomes Nuke, Falcon armor and shield gets treated with Adamantium (that is the new name for Element X) and Mexican Air Force kid becomes New Falcon.

You also get a semi Firestarter scene where 75% of the room dies, but these guys are cool.

Sabra, Sam and Bucky infiltrate Weapons Plus, but Sam gets captured and taken to Faustus. She mentally breaks down Sam, going after his dead parents, explaining how they will bankrupt his sister and her kids. Basically, that unless he submits to the CIA, he will fail everything Steve left for him.

Bucky and Sabra meet up with Yelena who gives them dirt on the whole operation. They go looking for Sam, but see him getting arrested and taken away.

Frank Nuke finds them and they fight it out. Frank stares down Bucky and has a flashback to fighting The Winter Soldier in Vietnam in the early 70s. Frank spazzes out because he can't reconcile shit. Everyone escapes.

Veep Fury has Frank Nuke put on ice and we find out he was an old Vietnam Vet they tried to make the Cap of the 70s and it failed. So, they took him off ice since he was a Hydra SHIELD project and tried to fix him. But, his mental state is collapsing.

Veep Fury tries to call in Walker, but he's on a mission. They ask for Bob, but Veep Fury refuses to do it. Says Bob is too dangerous to use inside the US.

Sam is taken in costume to the Pentagon to be court martialed. President Ross attends, as we get a smattering of politicos and random Marvel cameos of people attending the trial. That's when Nuke busts in dressed up in a Captain America costume screaming about how he's the real Cap and America can't arrest its Captain.

He starts killing a bunch of people, as Ross grabs his heart and starts to have a cardiac arrest. He screams for his Doctor, but the stress is too much as the fight continues.

Sam gets his ass beat by Nuke, as he tries to buy everyone time to escape. Faustus tries to calm Nuke, but he knocks her out.

That's when Red Hulk appears and smashes Nuke through the floor. Nuke tries to escape but Red Hulk smashes his head into a paste against a metal wall.

Suddenly, the Council from the earlier Cap movies, Sam and pals and Veep Fury see that Ross is Red Hulk. The Leader appears and blows some gas in his face that knocks him out. Veep Fury's people take him away, as everyone freaks the fuck out.

The incident gets blamed on rogue Super Soldier Nuke and how radical elements of the Government are trying to take over. Congress gives Weapons Plus more money and New Falcon gives Sam the improved shield and wings.

Rhodey becomes President at the end of movie, as world believes health and injuries cause Ross to step down.

Ross is now The Leader and Veep Fury's pet project at Weapons Plus as they both always wanted a Hulk as a pet.

Bucky and Sabra meet back up with Sam, as they reveal their new Avengers. Before it gets revealed...THE END.

I'll do the rest I got in next.

[Matt]

I feel like a big spoiler dump, as I try to piece together new spoilers and shit that I got in before the Holidays.

Dump away! I love these.

[Anderson]

I feel like a big spoiler dump, as I try to piece together new spoilers and shit that I got in before the Holidays.

[BillyG]

I had no idea the dude was British. But I could see it. I like him when he shows up, and I agree with you Matt. He does seem at about the same level as Layer Cake (which absolutely fucks and deserves more love) Craig. What the hell happened with Sienna Miller?

[Matt]

That's just it: ATJ feels at about the same level of star power that DC was at back around the time of MUNICH/LAYER CAKE. Even if the rumor and all that is bullshit, I kinda don't have any doubt that ATJ is a top choice for the gig.

[FilmNerdJamie]

They don't have a script/story settled on or even a director. Plus it's from the UK Tabloids. Of course it's horseshit.

But could I see it? Him as a candidate?

Yeah. It would make sense for Babs Broccoli to continue with another outside the box choice after Craig who everyone forgets was on nobody's radar.

The casting director (in)famously thought Broccoli was referring to Craig as Le Chiffre at first and did an Arrested Development "Her?" when she realized she meant him for Bond.

[Matt]

So how firm is this Aaron Taylor-Johnson thing for Bond? Personally, I'm all for him getting the job and would be very enthusiastic about seeing his take on the role, but rumors are rumors until they're confirmed.

Regardless, ATJ definitely has the first major qualification for being Bond out of the way: people are prepared to hate him already.

[BillyG]

Sarah and I were talking about Emma Watson the other day, and it seems like she's just done with acting. Sarah said there were reports of her being kind of hard to work with and expressing to people she was just over acting and all the bullshit that comes with it.

[FilmNerdJamie]

None of them need the dough.

All three of those kids have "Your grandkids are set for life" money in the bank.

Personally I would hope they leave it the fuck alone. But who are we kidding??

[Matt]

Agreed with Tim. Great article but I really don't see Daniel Radcliffe coming back, no matter what. Watson and Grint (especially Grint) would probably come back but Radcliffe seems to be loving his live post Potter right now. He's got 'fuck you' money to burn and he's carving out a nice career playing odd roles. He doesn't need the work at all so has little motivation to return other than someone cutting him a check for 500 million dollars.

I don't think Rowling needs the money either. Sure, everyone has a price, but I think it's moot without Radcliffe on board.

[Timothy225]

Great article, as always, but I can't see it happening. All three actors have moved on from Potter, the films are almost always on TV (there's a marathon on SyFy this week), and the Fantastic Beasts films are the last gasp of the franchise. Not every franchise needs to go on forever, and WB has DC sitting there, ready for some solid franchise building.

[FilmNerdJamie]

Harry Potter: Why Warner Bros. Has No Choice But To Cut A Deal with J.K. Rowling & Bring Back the Franchise's Three Original Stars.