I was in Anaheim this past week and at Disneyland for part of it, though not attending this year’s D23 Expo (Friday was a nice, uncrowded day at the parks because of the convention though). I followed all the news coming out of the con as best I could – all the better to write a thorough wrap-up for all of you! Here’s the Marvel news:

Black Widow

New poster. I’m not going to lie: I hate it. She looks like she just got out of the shower, it’s off center, and I can’t figure out what the hell is up with her uniform. David Harbor’s beard is epic, though.

The Eternals

The Eternals has added Kit Harrington to their already massive, star-powered cast, reuniting him with GoT costar Richard Madden (Ikaris). Harrington will be playing Dane Whitman, also known as Black Knight, who first appeared in Avengers #47 (1967). Though he inherited his sword from an evil uncle, Whitman decided to become a hero, fighting alongside the Defenders, the Avengers, Ultraforce, and Captain Britain. His mythos is closely tied with that of King Arthur. His weapon, the Ebony Blade, gradually drove him insane but, don’t worry, he got better.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Bucky cut his hair and the internet lost its mind.

Emily VanCamp will be reprising her role as Sharon Carter, and Wyatt Russell will be John Walker (U.S. Agent), a wrestler turned hero who originally took the name “Super-Patriot,” his main goal to discredit Captain America. When Cap abandoned his role and became Nomad, Walker took up the shield but his brutal tactics were later deemed unworthy of the title. He served briefly on another team with Wanda Maximoff but eventually became a corporate mercenary and changed his name again to U.S. Agent.

Walker’s comics template does not like Sam. He does not like Sam being named Captain America. He does not like Sam carrying the shield.

I believe we have our villain.

WandaVision

New poster. May be a hint, may be a misdirect. The only way this works for me is if they go full-on mid-century sitcom with laugh track, but then where does Spectrum fit in? I remain skeptical and might skip it but for the fact that we get Monica Rambeau and both Kat Dennings (Darcy from the Thor movies) and Randall Park (the delightful Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and The Wasp) reprising their previous MCU roles.

Ms. Marvel

I do not require convincing on this one. I am already whole ass convinced simply by the fact that Kamala Khan is getting her own show. I like it, I like it, Sam I am. And, it’s live action! Dear Marvel, please find a Pakastani American actress of appropriate age to play this role. Please do not ruin the opportunity to show the world you actually care about remaining true to her as much as we do.

She-Hulk

I did not see this one coming, but I am extremely excited about it. In the most recent runs of her comic, Jennifer Walters has been an extremely complex character, and one who’s been both much more honest about the Hulk part of herself and much more able to integrate her Hulk into her life (appearing, at times in court, tall, muscular, green, and in a power suit) than Banner ever was. Don’t mistake any of that for an easy coexistence, though. If Marvel does this one right, it will surpass S1 of Jessica Jones in both tension and pathos, making for very compelling television indeed.

And yes, the social media clamor for Stephanie Beatriz to get this part is 100% on point.

Moon Knight

I never, ever, in a million billion years thought I would see Moon Knight on any screen, large or small, but I go on one water ride at Disneyland and leave my phone with my parents for an hour and come back to find Mark Spector is getting his own damn show.

Well, sacrifice me to a dead Egyptian god.

My optimism is cautious, tempered by the knowledge that Moon Knight’s comics are brutal and chock full of sweary-ness; there is no possible way this character gets a family-friendly rating and retains any modicum of his personality or core… erm…. values. Even PG/PG-13 would involve paring way, way back on what makes Moon Knight the trash talking, skull cracking, probably insane, ex-mercenary, a-hole he is, and I don’t see the point of putting him in the spotlight if one is just going to turn him into the teddy bear he was never intended to be. Of course, the Winter Soldier isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Oh, and if you’re keeping score, my vote for Marc Spector goes to Cas Anvar, currently engaged as Alex Kamal, pilot of the Rocinante on The Expanse. 

Loki

Not a ton of news on Loki other than the series will have a female director (Kate Herron), which shouldn’t be a thing in 2019 but is and that it will focus on Loki’s adventures post-Endgame but that the Loki in question will be “past-Loki” who grabbed the tesseract when Tony dropped it and removed himself from the “Loki gets arrested and imprisoned in Asgard” timeline.

What If…?

We got a look at production stills of Peggy Carter being transformed into a super-soldier in place of Steve Rogers and wow, does she make an amazing Captain Britain. There are also rumors that attendees were treated to shots of Bucky Barnes fighting zombie Steve Rogers on a train but I haven’t been able to to find those anywhere. This animated show is going to be a ton of fun and the majority of MCU actors will be reprising their roles in voice form.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

Laurence Fishburne will be producing an animated Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series, which is all kinds of exciting. Lunella Lafayette is the smartest person in the Marvel Universe, surpassing even Tony Stark in the brains department, and don’t you forget it. She’s also as adventurous as they come. Plus, she has a T-rex. I absolutely love the graffiti inspired style on the promo images and can’t wait to watch this show with my kids.

Spidey and His Amazing Friends

Tom Holland and his Peter Parker may be leaving the MCU, but Spidey, Miles Morales, and Ghost Spider are still here to protect their neighborhood with the help of Hulk, Black Panther, and Ms. Marvel. Geared toward preschoolers, Spidey and His Amazing Friends will demonstrate how teamwork is always the best way to save the day.

Black Panther II

While it will, hopefully, have a better title, BP II does have an official release date of May 6, 2022. Ryan Coogler will be returning to direct (as if anyone else could).

And there you have it. All the Marvel news that’s fit to print. We’ll update as more details become available.