Darren Maule weighs in on the new Marvel movies and series

I have a lot to say, so sit back and relax for this one...

Black Widow to challenge Wonder Woman 

I am excited to see the stand-alone movie, Black Widow. For the longest time, people were saying 'we need a female lead in an action superhero movie', and no one expected Wonder Woman to do so well, but that's DC. Then they gave us Captain Marvel, which was probably in the works because she played such a pivotal role in Endgame. But Captain Marvel as a stand-alone movie is still part of the franchise, so it isn't a unique movie. Like how Wonder Women is part of the franchise. But we are still looking for Marvel to give us a stand-alone movie, I would like to have seen Domino from Deadpool get her own lead in a movie.

But if we are going to get Black Widow, which is Scarlett Johannson - I'm not complaining.

I don't know too much about the Eternals, but I see that Angelina Jolie will be staring in that. I'm definitely going to watch it, but I have no expectations.

I tell you what I am excited about, Oscar winner Mahershala Ali taking on the role of Blade. When Wesley Snipes did the first Blade, it was a completely unexpected epic and cult classic action film, so Ali has some big shoes to fill.

I'm actually quite excited there is going to be a new Thor movie. I didn't like Thor when the first Avengers came out, as I think they directed him badly and they weren't exactly sure how to handle a demi-god or a god in the entire franchise. I wasn't a fan of Chris Hemsworth either, he looked the part but that's where it ended. But then they brought the levity and the fun of Thor Ragnarok and that kind of saved the character for me, and I fell in love with him then. 

So now I'm looking at the colours of the new Thor, which is Thor: Love and Thunder, and they are bringing one of my ultimate favourite actresses, Natalie Portman, back as his love interest. The colours in the poster make me believe that it's going down the route of Thor Ragnarok, and they are not going to take themselves too seriously. There's clearly going to be a little more levity, which is Chris Hemsworth's strong point, so I think this one is going to be great.

Marvel to hit the small screen

I see they are using Anthony Mackie for the series of The Falcon and Winter Soldier. I don't know how this is going to translate to TV? I'll give it a watch but if they don't grab me by episode two, I won't buy into this one.

Another interesting Marvel decision is to take one of the big screen cinema characters and give him a stand-alone series, as well. This will be very interesting because Tom Hiddleston from the big screen is moving to the silver screen with his character, Loki - the untrustworthy brother of Thor. 

So for him as an anti-hero to have his own stand-alone series would be a lot easier to write and certainly to sustain over a season or two, so it is going to be interesting to see how that develops.

And I am very happy to see there is going to be another Doctor Strange. When the entire Marvel franchise started over a decade ago, I thought to myself there is no way they are going to translate what happened in the comic books to the cinema. There is just too much happening in the mind, and it's way too grand on a multiverse level for this to actually translate to the screen, which can only be communicated in a graphic novel or comic book. But they nailed it, and Benedict Cumberbatch is an outstanding Doctor Strange and I would say, possibly, my second favourite Marvel character next to Tony Stark's Iron Man. 

It's safe to say that I am excited to see what Marvel produces over the next few years. 

Here are Marvel's official announcements: 

Also read: My favourite part: Darren Maule talks #Apollo11

Main Image Courtesy of Avengers: Twitter