It’s Memorial Day in the States, and I was sadly not invited to Mel’s BBQ, not that I was expecting to, seeing as how Mel and I have never met, we have no mutual friends, and I only found out Mel’s BBQ was a thing on Saturday thanks to Twitter. But now that I know about it? Life goals.
Instead, I spent my Sunday musing on what to put in this column, especially after last week’s Paean to G. Willow Wilson.
So, after deliberation, here’s my plan: a quick ‘n’ dirty rundown of the current state of Marvel, in terms of my engagement with it*
- Captain America: Civil War is still filming, and therefore, people are still speculating on who exactly is involved and what role they may have.
- Secret Wars is still happening, with more titles that I do not currently have time to read being released, and Marvel just released this image about the “new” post-Secret Wars Marvel Comics Universe.
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is on hiatus. The spinoff is thankfully no longer happening. (P.S. I haven’t forgotten that unnamed John Ridley Marvel project. Fingers crossed it’s Kamala Khan.)
- Agent Carter is going to get 10 episodes and Hayley Atwell was seen canoodling with costar Lyndsy Fonseca at Wizard World St. Louis. Yes, canoodling. You read that right.
- Apparently George Romero’s Empire of the Dead zombies vs. vampires comic has been greenlit as a new TV series, because we don’t have enough Marvel on TV. I’m fairly indifferent to anything involving George Romero or zombies, so I’m fairly indifferent to this announcement as well. Why couldn’t they make 1602?
- Chris Pratt continues to be adorable and if anyone watched Everwood and remembers Bright Abbott, please talk to me. (Trivia: Chris Pratt’s character’s sister on the show was played by Emily VanCamp, also known as Agent 13 from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.)
- Ava DuVernay denied the rumors she was being courted by Marvel to direct either Black Panther or Captain Marvel, or possibly both, but apparently did so in a way that meant that she was actually being courted by Marvel. (I am really, really hoping those rumors are true, by the way)
- Michael B. Jordan continues to be incredibly eloquent and intelligent when speaking publicly about what life is like for him as Johnny Storm. Why does August have to be so far away?
And…that’s it. I think.
Oh! One more thing.
ICYMI
Vulture ran a lengthy article about Marvel and women in comics in general last Thursday, and a certain website run by women who write about comics gets a mention. I was impressed at the depth of analysis for an assumingly mainstream non-comics reading audience, and it could function as a good primer, introducing what are standard topics regularly discussed on this site and by people in (and into) comics on social media.
* basically…what I find interesting. In other words, YMMV.
