Marvel‘s 2024 has kicked off to a somewhat suppressed start with the release of Echo, the MCU’s latest live-action series — a sequel to the popular Hawkeye and a prelude to the much-anticipated Daredevil: Born Again — which has been dumped on Disney Plus in one go to mixed reviews.

Ignore Echo at your own peril, though, as the series has some surprisingly far-reaching ramifications for the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. Speaking of which, the internet’s top choice to be the Mr. Fantastic of Earth-616 might just be taking of, if latest Fantastic Four production updates are to be believed…

Echo is apparently self-contained yet it might just confirm that every single Marvel Television show is MCU canon

It probably says a lot about how much affection fans still have for Netflix’s Marvel shows, in comparison to their muted feelings for the Disney Plus series, that the fact Disney Plus just confirmed the Defenders Saga is 100% canon caused more excitement online than the release of Echo. And yet it’s not just the Defenders-verse that Echo crowbars into continuity either. A sneaky Easter egg ties the show into everything from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to Cloak & Dagger (remember that?), thereby making virtually every single Marvel Television production part of the Sacred Timeline. Not bad for a “standalone” Marvel Spotlight show, huh?

Iron Man who? Robert Downey Jr. all but confirmed not to make a Multiverse Saga comeback as the road to Oscar glory beckons

One of the most popular suggestions for how Marvel could increase hype for the flailing Multiverse Saga is to bring back the OG Avengers, with Robert Downey Jr. at the top of the pile, natch. However, fans might want to banish that image from their daydreams, as the Avengers: Endgame actor has likely put any temptation at reprising Iron Man behind him as we head deeper into awards season. With one of his main competitors for the Best Supporting Oscar getting snubbed by the SAG Awards, Downey’s chances of bringing home that statuette for Oppenheimer come the Academy Awards have sky-rocketed. And with his post-MCU career going so well, why would he feel the need to don his StarkTech armor again?

Pedro Pascal is allegedly so committed to starring in Fantastic Four he’s dipping out of a guaranteed critical darling

OK, so Iron Man’s unlikely to return — that means it’s probably all on 2025’s Fantastic Four to inject some renewed hype into the franchise. So the casting for this one really needs to be spot on. Like “Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards” spot on. And, wouldn’t you know it, that’s what the reports continue to claim is happening. Take this with a pinch of salt, but it’s being alleged that Pascal has quietly dropped out of horror movie Weapons, from Barbarian director Zach Cregger, in order to shoot FF, which is supposedly filming in Q3 of 2024. If this is true, The Last of Us star ditching the follow-up to an acclaimed genre film to play in the Marvel sandbox is a big vote of confidence. Even so, let’s hold off until the official news arrives before we say “flame on!”

ncG1vNJzZmivlZy8tcDHoqqcp6aav6awjZympmedpMOqsdJoo5qslajBbrnAq62epF2jsri%2FjKmcnaqfYr2iv8Kao2almZy1tXnBnmSgoaaeu6h5xZqlrZmjqbakecWorKtllpa7tHnEsZicrJyueri0wK1kraCVrnq4rc2tZJqrXZm2tLrEsmSppKWoeqO4zrCqZqyYmnqlu86rqmanlpt6tbTEZqScrV2iwq3AyK%2Bcq6uVZA%3D%3D