fits into the MCU

Disney+ will make the small screen as important to the MCU as the big screen — here are the key connections

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

The first Disney+ Marvel show, written by John Wick’s Derek Kolstad, will feature returning Civil War villain Zemo (Daniel Bruhl).

LOKI

The Tom Hiddleston-starring series will continue the Loki storyline directly from Avengers: Endgame’s 2012 flashback. Mewling quims are not yet confirmed.

Wandavision

The Scarlet Witch’s 2021 TV show sets up her appearance in Doctor Strange 2 later that year — and also includes a grown-up Monica Rambeau from Captain Marvel

Hawkeye

Jeremy Renner has confirmed that Clint Barton will explore his Ronin moniker from Endgame — while introducing new Hawkeye Kate Bishop.

WAS THE moment that nobody saw coming. vel head honcho Kevin Feige had one more thing, Columbo-style, veal: Blade, the vampire-killing walker, was coming back to the fold. how? Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali ed up the phone and offered himself or the role. And Feige agreed. It seems like perfect casting, and the kind that even the original Blade, Wesley Snipes, seemed to approve of, calling Ali “a beautiful and talented artist”. The problem now is: how do they introduce Eric ‘Blade’ Brooks into the MCU? Blade’s world is a vampiric one, teeming with pointy-teethed goons. This announcement instantly changes the MCU, retconning to a place where vampires are everywhere Blade himself is a half-vampire or ‘dhampir’, after his mother was bitten while pregnant, meaning there would have been vampires for at least as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. has been operational. Why haven’t we heard about vampires until now? Have they just been hiding in the shadows all this time? Is this a question with a multiverse-based answer?

Tougher still is how Marvel will juggle the expectations of MCU fans with die-hard daywalkers. The vampire-killing world is violent, R-rated. The MCU has never gone above PG-13. Does Blade promise a different kind of MCU movie? Could it even live alongside other potential R-rated movies like a new Deadpool entry? Or will he join the new-look Avengers? In the comics, he’s first recruited to the team by Black Panther. The full Blade reboot won’t arrive until Phase Five — but don’t rule out an early Wakanda cameo. JOHN NUGENT

Why there’s more to Picard than nostalgia

“ENGAGE,” SAYS JEAN-Luc Picard towards the end of the trailer. Because of course he does. But while the line was entirely predictable, the rest of our first look at the belated Star Trek: The Next Generation sequel was anything but.

The Borg! Data! Seven Of Nine! A glimpse of the new series not only shocked with some unlikely reappearances but offered hints as to what the galaxy has endured in the two decades since Star Trek: Nemesis

Cue a new ship, a new crew (including Alison Pill, Evan Evagora and Harry Treadaway) and a new mission that appears to lean on both the wreckage of the Romulan Empire (destroyed 10 years prior) and what remains of the Borg Collective (both a damaged Cube and some kind of Borg internment camp are shown).

Until Comic-Con, almost all of the Picard imagery had revolved around the character’s vineyard where he retired after leaving Starfleet and hanging up his Admiral’s pips for good. Picard is lured from his bucolic dotage by the arrival of Dahj (Isa Briones), a woman with a portentous heritage (“She’s the end of the everything... She’s the destroyer”).

Both Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are returning (as well as Jonathan Del Arco, who played Borg drone Hugh in the series), but Picard is no return to Next Gen camp. Having clearly learned from Discovery’s more cinematic style and focussed, arc-led storylines, this 10-part series feels more like a continuation of the movie canon (‘Star Trek 10.5’, if you will) and one that could herald an exciting new era for the franchise. Next up? Sisko after Deep Space Nine, please!

JAMES DYER