THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME
Earlier today we heard some MCU rumours from Roger Wardell, a mysterious source that clearly has the inside track at Marvel Studios as his very accurate track record has proven. According to Wardell – if that is even their name – Marvel was in early talks about bringing Black Knight and the Thunderbolts to the screen to bolster their roster of new properties.
It wasn’t just new comic book adaptations that Wardell apparently had the scoop on though. Moving onto the existing sequels we already know about, Wardell has put out some plot details for both Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange 2. Let’s start with the latter since it probably will debut earlier than its compatriot due to director James Gunn only tackling the next Guardians film after he’s done with DC’s Suicide Squad sequel.
For the still unnamed Doctor Strange sequel (although Wardell claims – almost certainly jokingly – that it’s Doctor Strange 2: 1980s Boogaloo), our scooper confirms that Tilda Swinton will return as the Ancient One. There will be some newcomers though as Wardell alleges as that Jericho Drumm and Clea will make their MCU debuts.
In the comics, Jericho Drumm is a very powerful magic practitioner who operated under the name Brother Voodoo for a long time. For a while, he was actually chosen to replace Doctor Strange and become the new Sorcerer Supreme. In the MCU, there’s already precedent for his inclusion, as his brother Daniel Drumm was a character in the first Doctor Strange film. He was shown to be one of the Masters of the Mystic Arts who fought and was killed by the villainous Kaecillius. Seeing as how in the comics, it’s Daniel’s death that leads to Jericho learning voodoo and becoming Doctor Voodoo, this could be the same angle taken here.
As for Clea, it was always just a matter of time before Doctor Strange’s greatest love interest shows up. The daughter of a pair of magical beings – and the niece of none other than Dormammu, the demigod being that Strange bargained with at the end of the first film – Clea is a very powerful character herself. In the comics, it was during a confrontation between Strange and Dormammu in the Dark Dimension – where the latter rules – where Clea first made an impression as she went against her family’s wishes to try and help the Sorcerer Supreme.
The pair would start a romantic relationship shortly thereafter that would span not just years but even the multiverse. Clea would become Strange’s equal in magical aptitude and even became a superhero in her own right as a member of the Defenders. Her story went into some interesting directions (which I won’t spoil here) which has made her a fan-favourite for years. Long before this rumour appeared, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson had already said that “you can’t tell the story of Doctor Strange [without] eventually dealing [with] Clea,” so her potential inclusion isn’t very surprising. What may be though is that Wardell claims rather definitively that the character will be played by an Asian actress, though she has traditionally been portrayed in the comics as Caucasian.
Speaking of love interests, moving our focus out to space, Wardell claims that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 will see Rocket Raccoon get his own romantic story. So who do you get for a romantic relationship with an anthropomorphic racoon? An otter, of course. Specifically, an anthropomorphic otter named Lady Lylla.
A sentient mammal who is the heiress of the largest toymaking empire on the planet Halfworld (comics are crazy, okay), Lylla is Rocket’s soulmate. Rocket, and the rest of the humanoid animals in his crew, helped Lylla in the “Toy War” against her uncle when he tried to take over her family business.
Although Lylla was actually mentioned very briefly in the first film – she’s mentioned as one of Rocket’s known associates in his lineup – their backstory is probably going to change somewhat in the movie. Wardell is claiming that Rocket’s movie origin story will deviate from the comics to introduce the High Evolutionary as his – and probably Lylla’s – creator. Traditionally the alter ego of early 20th century human scientist Herbert Wyndham, the High Evolutionary used genetic engineering to evolve himself into a powerful being who could evolve other creatures at will. He has a history of evolving animals into humanoids, so tying him into Rocket’s origin story is actually a smart and very easy change to make.
Sticking with the introduction of new female characters, according to Wardell, Drax will have a “big surprise” when he finds out that his daughter is still alive. In the first film, Drax revealed that Thanos had killed both his wife and daughter, but apparently she has survived somehow and will now resurface.
I’m not even going to attempt to recap the convoluted comic book backstory of Drax’s daughter, Moondragon, but readers of the GOTG comics will be very familiar with her as the incredibly powerful telepath was a member of the team herself. Hopefully this somehow eventually also leads to the inclusion of her lover, Phylla-Vel aka Quasar, who is a badass in her own right.
Either way, Moondragon’s addition won’t be the only change to the Guardians family though, as Wardell claims that Nebula and Star-Lord will grow into closer friends. However, this really shouldn’t be a surprise, given both characters’ relationship to Gamora. The search for Gamora (the time-displaced 2014 version of Zoe Saldana’s character, at least) will certainly feature big in GOTG3 and you would definitely think that her sister and lover (well, in a different timeline) would be affected the most by this and share some moments together.
There’s no mention yet of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and how he would fit into the Guardians of the Galaxy family given the events at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but these little tidbits are already enough to make Vol.3 pretty exciting. The same goes for Doctor Strange 2 – 1980s Electric Boogaloo (Please let that be the title, Marvel!).
Last Updated: May 13, 2019
