As 2016 draws to a close, it’s easy to forget all the big events that happened in the MCU this year. From casting announcements, new projects, and Spider-Man’s MCU Debut in Captain America: Civil War. Of course, not every big story about the Marvel Cinematic Universe panned out exactly the way we thought they would. We decided to take a look back at some of the big Marvel rumors of the past 12 months and see which ones came to pass, and which ones were too good to be true:
1) Brie Larson Will be Captain Marvel
Status: CONFIRMED
Before it was officially announced that Brie Larson would play Captain Marvel at San Diego Comic Con, many actresses were rumored to be in talks to play the part, including Rebecca Fergusson and Emily Blunt. After Larson was rumored to be the front-runner for the role, she threw fans for a loop by playing coy in an interview, pretending to not even know who the character was:
Q: I don’t suppose you can talk about a character named Captain Marvel, can you?
A: Who?
Q: Captain Marvel, it’s a very well regarded character
A: Doesn’t Chris Evans play that?
Of course, since her involvement in Captain Marvel was confirmed, Larson has made it clear that she knows exactly who Captain Marvel is, posting pictures of herself reading comics in a Captain Marvel costume:
2) ‘Iron Fist’ Will Include Colleen Wing
Status: CONFIRMED
In March, MCUExchange got our hands on some character breakdowns during the casting process of Iron Fist. The breakdowns included four characters with code names, but we were able to determine the identity of the characters based on the descriptions and leaked audition videos. “Walter” and “Jody” were stand-ins for Ward and Joy Meachum, “Devon” is likely to be Davos (though this is still unconfirmed), and “Christine” is none other than Colleen Wing, who we now know will be played by Jessica Henwick. With Iron Fist only a few short months away, it’s impressive how little we still know about the show.
3) Tessa Thompson Will Play Valkyrie in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Status: CONFIRMED
When Creed actress Tessa Thompson was announced as part of the cast of Thor: Ragnarok, fans quickly began speculating about who she might play. The folks at Latino Review were the first to report that they had sources telling them Thompson would play Valkyrie, a rumor that was later confirmed by Marvel.
4) Vulture Will be the Villain in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, Will Use Chitauri Technology
Status: LIKELY
With arguably the greatest rogues gallery in all of Marvel comics, fans were eager to figure out which villain would be featured in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. According to a report from Birth.Movies.Death, Spidey would face off against Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, who would be wearing a suit made of modified chitauri tech.. While the last part of that rumor still remains unconfirmed, we do know that Michael Keaton will be playing The Vulture, who will be the main villain in the film.
5) Iron Fist Will Debut in ‘Luke Cage’
Status: DEBUNKED
If this rumor seemed too good to be true, that’s only because it was. Umberto Gonzalez, who has something of a reputation for ‘scoops’ that don’t quite pan out, announced on Collider Heroes that Marvel had just finished filming a scene for Luke Cage featuring Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist. The rumor was then corroborated by Latino Review, but when Luke Cage premiered, Danny was nowhere to be found. We did, however, get an easter egg teasing the upcoming appearance of Colleen Wing, who will be played by Jessica Henwick
6) Sylvester Stallone Will Appear in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’
Status: CONFIRMED
After snapping a photo of the actor walking out of an Atlanta hotel with a script in hand, New York Daily News reported that Sylvester Stallone would appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Director James Gunn has since confirmed this news, though details on who exactly he’ll be playing are still a mystery.
7) Crossbones Will Kill Captain America in ‘Civil War’
Status: DEBUNKED
Fans of the comics know that the end of the Civil War storyline doesn’t turn out very well for the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan, as he was shot and killed by Crossbones. A report from Geek.com claimed that Captain America: Civil War would end in a very similar way, with Crossbones killing Cap and Bucky picking up the shield to become the new Captain America. While Captain America: Civil War did end with Steve Rogers rejecting the mantle of Captain America and leaving his shield behind, he remains alive to fight another day (which is something that can’t be said for Crossbones).
8) ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Will Feature Hela as the Main Villain, Odin Will Be on Earth
Status: CONFIRMED
When Cate Blanchett was announced as part of the cast for Thor: Ragnarok, we knew she’d be playing someone with a powerful presence. A report from Geek.com suggested that she would be playing Hela, who would serve as the film’s main villain. Another report from them claimed that Odin would appear in the film, but he’d be in disguise on Earth. Since these reports came out, Hela has been confirmed to be the main villain of the film and set photos have spotted Odin on Earth looking like a homeless person.
9) Thor and Hulk Will Reunite on Sakaar
Status: CONFIRMED
With the Hulk confirmed to appear in Thor: Ragnarok, fans have speculated that the story may take elements from the Planet Hulk comic storyline. In yet another Geek.com scoop about the Thor threequel, it was stated that the two Avengers would begin their galactic road trip on the planet Sakaar, famous for being the setting of the gladiator battles in Planet Hulk. In the latest issue of Total Film, Sakaar was confirmed as one of the film’s locations by director Taika Waititi.
10) Ego the Living Planet Will Appear in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ As Star-Lord’s Dad
Status: CONFIRMED
This is the one that we’re kicking ourselves over, folks. Back in April, a source reached out to MCUExchange to tell us that not only would Ego The Living Planet appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it would be revealed that he was Star-Lord’s father. Our Editor-in-chief attempted to reach out to outlets with previous knowledge of the film to confirm this rumor, but couldn’t find anyone else to corroborate:
We decided not to run the rumor on our site, thinking it was too ridiculous to be true. After all, Ego is a pretty weird character, so there was no chance he’d be in the film, much less as Star-Lord’s dad. So imagine our surprise when it was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Kurt Russell would portray Ego, who would, in fact, be the mysterious and antagonistic father of Peter Quill.
Let this rumor be a lesson to fans: never underestimate how weird Marvel Studios is willing to get.
11) Spider-Man Will Be Recruited by Tony Stark
Status: CONFIRMED
Once it was announced that Spider-Man would be joining the MCU, fans speculated how he might be introduced to the plot of Captain America: Civil War. Geek.com reported that Peter would be recruited by Tony Stark, who had been monitoring him for a while, and that Tony would upgrade Spidey’s suit. This turned out to be exactly what happened, and established a relationship between Iron Man and Spider-Man that will continue in Spider-Man: Homecoming and beyond.
12) Ghost Rider on ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
Status: CONFIRMED
When images of a bus with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and a flaming chain first started appearing online, many fans believed that signaled the arrival of Ghost Rider to the show. Others assumed the chain belonged to the inhuman Hellfire, who had already appeared in the show’s third season. At San Diego Comic Con, however, it was revealed that Ghost Rider would indeed be appearing in the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by Gabriel Luna. Ghost Rider, aka Robbie Reyes, went on to become one of the most popular aspects of the show’s excellent fourth season.
13) Kingpin Will Return for ‘Daredevil’ Season 2
Status: CONFIRMED
Before the second season of Daredevil was released, one of our writers managed to snap a few pictures of the set, and confirmed the return of Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin. Vincent D’Onofrio wowed audiences with his portrayal of the crime boss of Hell’s Kitchen, but with The Punisher, Elektra, and The Hand all confirmed to appear in season two, it was unclear whether or not we would get to see Fisk’s return.
Thankfully, Fisk made one hell of an appearance in the season, as he was instrumental in Frank Castle’s escape from prison. He also had one of the best confrontations with Matt Murdock we could have hoped for, vowing to destroy him and everyone near him.
14) Tony Stark Will Appear in ‘Doctor Strange’
Status: DEBUNKED
Back in August, twitter user and podcast host @s7evendaysageek reported that Tony Stark would be making a cameo in Doctor Strange, possibly to recruit him to the Avengers. While Stark was absent from the film, Doctor Strange did include a surprise appearance from one Avenger during the post-credits scene. Thor meets with Strange to seek his assistance in finding Odin on Earth, referring to rumor #7 on this list. Strange, eager to do anything he can to keep Loki’s visit to Earth as brief as possible, offers his help.
While this cameo wasn’t the one discussed in the original rumor, its implications are possibly even more exciting, as it seems to confirm that Doctor Strange will make an appearance in Thor: Ragnarok.
15) An Avenger Could Appear on ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
Status: DEBUNKED
This was less of a rumor and more wishful thinking on our part, but back in August, TVLine reported that an unnamed TV show was planning an appearance of a major star for the season premiere, saying:
A returning series on one of the Big 5 networks is getting ready to pull off what will likely go down as one of the coolest, most surprising casting stunts of the year. The onscreen twist — which was shot earlier this month under a Star Wars-level veil of secrecy — is set to air during the show’s season premiere.
We here at MCUExchange speculated that the major casting could signal an appearance from an Avenger on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but unfortunately the major casting had nothing to do with Marvel.
16) Angourie Rice and Lorenzo Henrie Will Appear in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Status: HALF-CONFIRMED
In June, one of our writers noticed some activity from the social media accounts of actors Angourie Rice and Lorenzo Henrie. Both began following people connected to the MCU on Twitter and Instagram. While Rice followed many cast-members of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Henrie followed the writer and director of the film, as well as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. We speculated that the two actors would be joining the film, though we acknowledged that the evidence was stronger for Rice than it was for Henrie.
Well, it turns out we were half-right. As we suspected, both actors have since joined the MCU, though only one of them was cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming–Angourie Rice is playing an unspecified (but very Gwen Stacy-ish looking) role in the film, while Lorenzo Henrie appeared as Ghost Rider’s brother Gabe Reyes on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
That’s our list of the biggest MCU Rumors from 2016. How do you feel about the ones that came true? Are there any ones that turned out to be false that you wish had come to pass? Let us know in the comments below!
