Latest Marvel News: The full cost of ‘Secret Invasion’s failure becomes clear as James Gunn stakes Sony’s plans for multiversal domination

The past 24 hours have been good to Marvel and DC lovers as we had a flurry of thrilling casting announcements for James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy over at Marvel’s Distinguished Competition while Disney Plus released the latest episode of Secret Invasion – meaning the show is now in the final stretch. If only the little-viewed, critically rejected series was actually managing to deliver on the enormous amount of cash the studio invested in it in the first place…

Secret Invasion has a bigger budget than 69% of MCU movies and yet it still can’t manage more than 61% on Rotten Tomatoes

It’s hard to identify exactly why, but Secret Invasion has fallen far short of expectations whichever way you slice it, having the second-weakest opening of any Marvel streaming show domestically and earning a Rotten Tomatoes score on par with Thor: Love and Thunder. The Marvel money men can’t be happy about this, then, as it turns out the show somehow sports a $212 million budget, which is more than 22 of the MCU’s 32 movies to date. Given that it cost this much to make as it is, we’re now starting to understand why more of the franchise’s (highly paid) stars didn’t appear.

Emily Blunt may have just banished those Fantastic Four rumors once and for all by pulling a Tom Holland

Despite denying it over and over again, Emily Blunt has remained a fan-favorite pick for Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four reboot, thanks to her husband John Krasinski’s Doctor Strange 2 cameo as Mr. Fantastic. Let’s hope for the actress’ sake that she won’t be asked this ever again, though, as Blunt has now confirmed that she’s pulling a Tom Holland and is taking a year off from acting — in her case, to spend more time with her kids. Therefore, she won’t be available when FF starts shooting in 2024 to make its 2025 release date. Case closed, nothing to see here, just like the Invisible Woman herself.

James Gunn’s DC just poached one of the most exciting upcoming stars of Sony’s Spider-Man universe before they’ve even debuted

James Gunn isn’t just swiping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 star Nathan Fillion to swell his Superman: Legacy cast (as Green Lantern Guy Garner, no less), he’s also poached a major upcoming star of Sony’s Spider-Verse. Isabela Merced is confirmed to be playing Hawkgirl in the DC reboot, which is no doubt destined to entirely overshadow her role in Madame Web, which promises to be Sony’s answer to Doctor Strange 2 and The Flash. If Merced is now committed to a key character like Hawkgirl, it looks like her career in the Sony universe is over before it’s even begun.

Whether it’s turning a Secret Invasion tragedy into a positive or calling out Gravik’s dunderheaded decisions, there’s always more from Marvel around the corner, so be sure to stick around.