Rumor: Marvel’s ‘Inhumans’ movie has been cancelled
Remember like last month, when it was announced Kevin Feige had assumed True Ultimate Power over the MCU? And we all gazed at the Abyss and wondered what it would mean? Well — if rumors are true — the first sign of Feige’s newfound dominance is the cancellation of the Inhumans movie.
While Captain America and Iron Man prepare to duke it out in next year’s Captain America: Civil War, a long-brewing cold war behind the scenes atMarvel may have just started to heat up. According to a new rumor spreading across the internet like a blast of Terrigen Mist, Marvel Studios has removed the Inhumans movie from their (freshly updated) schedule. Originally scheduled for July 12, 2019, it was supposed to close out the studio’s ambitious “Phase 3″ slate of films But now? Who knows.
The rumor itself comes from Bleeding Cool, who claim to have heard the news from “connected sources” in a New York bar. That may sound like something out of a gossip rag, but things do line up. New York Comic-Con is going on right now and industry professionals will often share their secrets over a drink, if they’re in the right company.
So let’s give this rumor the benefit of the doubt for a moment. Let’s say the Inhumans movie is getting dropped. If it’s true, what does it mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
To fully appreciate what’s going on here, you have to know a little about the history of Marvel Studios. You have to know that Kevin Feige, the creative architect of the MCU and the CEO of Marvel Studios, used to report to Ike Perlmutter, head of Marvel Entertainment and a businessman first and foremost. That all changed a little over a month ago, when Disney restructured Marvel. Now, Feige reports directly to Disney and Perlmutter, way over the on the East Coast, no longer has a creative say in the Marvel movies. This was great news for Feige, who has been butting heads with the micro-managing Perlmutter since 2007. Things got so bad that Feige reportedly considered leaving Marvel Studios altogether during the production of Civil War. However, Perlmutter still has his job and his title, and most importantly, he still rules Marvel television, which includes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and Daredevil.
In addition to being a pretty slick piece of corporate espionage, everyone agrees that this divorce was for the best creatively. If you want to know why there haven’t been any Black Widow toys or why it took so long to get a female superhero movie in the pipeline, blame Perlmutter. And that’s before you get to legendary miserliness. You may gasp when you learn just how little some of the Marvel actors are making and that the Marvel Studios offices were initially filled out with used furniture.
Those are the characters in this opera. Now, let’s get to the juicy backbiting.
According to the Bleeding Cool report, it was Marvel Television that was really pushing for an Inhumans movie. After all, these characters (humans whose DNA contains extraordinary powers that can be unlocked via Terrigen Crystals) play a huge role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a movie would only boost their profile. What if (and this what-if is the core of this entire rumor) Marvel Studios canceled the Inhumans movie to spite the TV branch and Perlmutter? What if this is Feige’s way of fully freeing the MCU from his former boss once and for all?