One thing we won’t see in Doomsday and Secret Wars, apparently, is Reed Richards as leader of the MCU’s flagship team. Rumors to the contrary swirled after First Steps director Matt Shakman spoke to Variety on July 16 about casting his film and the difficulty of finding the right actor to play Reed, a character who “goes from being the nerdy scientist who’s locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who’d do anything to protect his family, to the guy who’s leading the Avengers.” Earlier this week, in conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Pascal clarified that those quotes were misconstrued, and that Shakman was referring to Reed’s arc “in the comics of the Avengers,” not the upcoming films.

What’s the deal with Franklin Richards?

In comic-book lore, Franklin is a mutant—Marvel’s term for a metahuman who got that way thanks to genetic mutation. The most powerful Marvel mutants, like Jean Grey and Professor X, are known as “Omega-level mutants”; Franklin, in the comics, is something beyond that, able to reshape reality itself. First Steps doesn’t go that far, but it’s established that the MCU version of Franklin possesses what’s known as the Power Cosmic, an energy force wielded primarily by Galactus and his heralds, including the Silver Surfer—and one that Doom might want to harness for his own purposes.

Since we’ve only seen Franklin as a child, we don’t know the full scope of his abilities yet. But Franklin plays a critical role in many Fantastic Four comic-book stories, including Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham’s run on the series. You might remember Hickman’s name; he’s the architect of the 2015 Secret Wars event, which we’ve been discussing for years now, and which will serve as the narrative inspiration for the Avengers movie of the same name. In Hickman’s run, Franklin ends up meeting a future version of himself and learning how to control his powers in order to save the universe. To put Franklin’s capabilities into context, there’s a critical moment in Hickman’s F4 story where Franklin’s future self reveals that none other than Galactus (!) is his herald (!!). That’s the level of power we’re talking about here; we obviously haven’t seen the last of Franklin this Phase.

What’s Up With the Blade Reboot?

Despite having its lunch eaten—or perhaps its neck bit—by Sinners, Feige says the MCU Blade reboot is still on its way, and that Mahershala Ali is still attached to play the iconic vampire hunter, a role originated onscreen by Wesley Snipes. The production woes behind the Blade reboot are worthy of their own Gambit-style post, but suffice it to say that the title was announced back in 2019 (!) and was initially scheduled for release this year. Two directors—Yann Demange and Bassam Tariq—have departed the project, along with countless writers. Feige stated that the movie has gone through a staggering four versions, two of which would have been period pieces, but that the one they’re developing now will take place in modern times. Feige also explained the delays by saying “We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on [Ali] and have him start killing vampires,” which is funny because that’s sort of the whole idea of Blade. Nevertheless, the great work continues.

Will the Punisher Take Aim at Spider-Man in Brand New Day?

Sure sounds that way. Marvel’s next big-screen offering, due out next summer, is a solo Spider-Man adventure, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, helmed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, we saw Tom Holland’s Peter Parker back in action minus the swanky Stark-tech-infused suit he acquired in Avengers: Infinity War. This is in keeping with the comic-book version of the character, who’s perpetually down on his luck and struggles to save the day and pay his bills on time. Feige has confirmed that Brand New Day will continue in this vein, depicting a Spider-Man dealing with “street-level crime, as opposed to world-ending events.”