Inhumans TV show clears way for X-Men in the MCU

The announcement of an Inhumans TV show has left fans theorising about what this means for the MCU. An Inhumans movie had been scheduled for a 2019 release, but was delayed indefinitely in April.

The Inhumans will debut on ABC and in IMAX in 2017. Image: The Independent

This means that there is now a gap in the Marvel schedule. Currently, Captain Marvel and the untitled Avengers movie are scheduled for 2019, and if you follow the pattern of the MCU so far, the third Marvel film will be an sequel for an already established character.

The Inhumans were scheduled to be Marvel’s third big screen team, after the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. It is, perhaps, only right to assume its replacement will also be a team movie. 2019 may be late enough for a potential Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but it could also signal a move to the MCU for one of Marvel’s properties currently owned by Fox.

Fox has another X-Men movie scheduled for 2018/19, as well as Logan and Deadpool 2. Image: Screen Rant

The obvious candidate is the X-Men. The X-Men franchise is stagnating, and with the contracts of leads James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence expiring after X-Men Apocalypse, it is looking likely that the franchise will be rebooted. This presents the perfect chance for Marvel to bring the X-Men in to the MCU, using the same characters without confusing audiences by recasting the current cast.

The Inhumans had previously been unofficially billed as Marvel’s on-screen version of the X-Men, and Marvel had already positioned the two against each other in the Death of X comic series. Moving the Inhumans to TV could be the perfect opportunity for Mutants to join the MCU

This article was originally posted here.

Vikings season four to return with a bang

The trailer for the second half of Vikings season four dropped at Comic-Con, and it’s safe to say this will be the most action-packed season so far. The trailer teases Ragnar’s return to England, leading his sons to war against his old ally King Ecbert.

Bjorn seems to want more than to simply follow his father, though, as he and Floki head instead to the Mediterranean, striking an alliance with Rollo along the way. Closer to home, conflict is brewing between Lagertha and Auslag, with Lagertha appearing to lay siege to Kattegat.

The second half of this season seems to represent a passing of the torch, with Bjorn Ironside and Ivar the Boneless stepping up to match their historical counterparts and surpass their father’s achievements. With actors teasing huge changes, “some major events and a lot of death”, the second half of this season could be the best one yet.

No premier date has been announced, but Vikings is expected to return in September. What are you looking forward to in the second half of season four? Let us know in the comments below.

Originally posted on moviepilot.com

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D mid-season finale – Where we stand

Agents of SHIELD has come a long way since the highly polarising season 1, with the latest mid-season finale being the proof. Not only has it tied up the SHIELD versus the ATCU story arc, but has left a number of tantalising loose ends for the second half of the season.

Joey and Lincoln are the first members of Daisy’s team of inhumans seen in action.

The main focus on the second half of the season is set to be on the development of Daisy’s team of secret warriors. The latest episode teased this with the team of Daisy, Lincoln and Joey – or as Mack knows them, the ‘Power Rangers’. It will be interesting to see whether there will be a time jump in the back half of the season, considering it took a whole 10 episodes for Joey to become field-ready. Another factor will be how and when this team will be deployed, and whether the current non-powered team of May, Hunter and Bobbi will continue to feature as prominently. My guess would be the switch in focus to the secret warriors is what will lead Hunter and Bobbi in to their spin off series, Marvel’s Most Wanted.

Ward might have been killed, but he will continue to haunt the team in the form of ‘the beast’.

The other big talking point from the finale has to Ward. It was surprising that Ward was killed in his fight with Coulson, especially given Joss Whedon’s comments earlier in the year that he regretted that Coulson was brought back for the show. But Ward was the man to bite the dust. This was a good move from the show, meaning that we wouldn’t just see repeated story arcs, and given that a fan-favourite redemption story just wouldn’t have been viable or believable. But Ward won’t be forgotten, with Brett Dalton appearing at the end of the finale, acting as a vessel for ‘it’. With the beast retaining Will’s memories, what will it do with Ward’s memories. We left him confronting Malick, whether that was to kill him or to form a partnership remains unknown. What can be certain is that Coulson and May will be firmly in his sights.

All this leaves a fairly packed second half of the season, and that’s without any new story arcs. Added to this is the fact that Lash is running free and will inevitably need to be brought to justice means that even a second series of Agent Carter will struggle to keep the fans occupied through until March.