MarvelBlog News for August 3rd, 2025

This past week, Jeremy Renner heard the money truck pull up, Sony vaguely promoted Spider-Man, and much more.

We’ll discuss another odd week for MarvelBlog News.

Money Changes Everything

A few months ago, Jeremy Renner went public with his longstanding frustration.

In the months the actor spent recuperating from his near-fatal injury, he was also stewing.

Apparently, Disney came to Renner with an offer to return to Hawkeye for a second season.

To Renner’s chagrin, Renner’s offer was half of what he expected, which allowed him to quip bitterly.

He joked that he was half the size since getting crushed, and so Disney offered him half the money.

At the time, the original Hawkeye sounded done with the MCU. Now, something has changed.

It’s probably one of two factors or a combination of them, but it’s still good news overall.

What’s changed is that Renner is saying that he’s ready to return to his role as Hawkeye.

Possibly, the actor feels left out as his friends text him and post about their current filming on their social media.

In case you’ve forgotten, many of Renner’s friends are working on Avengers: Doomsday as we speak.

So, Renner’s probably feeling left out, presuming that this whole thing isn’t a swerve.

It’s entirely possible that Renner is being cheeky and has already filmed some for Marvel.

Alternatively, he may miss his friends and have decided that he’s ready to play ball.

And the other possibility is that Disney didn’t like the public outcry about their treatment of Renner.

So, the company dramatically increased its quote to bring Renner back into the fold.

In other words, Disney backed up the money truck to Renner’s home and made him feel welcome again.

More from the World of Marvel

Nobody is saying which of these statements is accurate at this point, but the truth likely falls somewhere in the middle.

Disney looked awful for how it lowballed Renner during the most difficult time in its life.

So, we’re all hoping that we see him again as Hawkeye sooner rather than later.

To a larger point, Disney is more sensitive to Marvel criticism than ever before.

That’s probably because the MCU’s 2025 film slate simply hasn’t gotten it done.

While The Fantastic Four: First Steps started strong with $218 million last weekend, it faded quickly.

So, this is the third straight MCU title that apparently won’t show significant legs.

While the streaming era has changed the nature of media consumption, legs typically reflect a film’s buzz.

People keep going to movies when their friends tell them to make the effort to do so.

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is an excellent example of how the process should work.

Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four are excellent films with quality reviews and A- Cinemascores.

But audiences decided that they’d largely wait until Disney+, which is worrisome for Disney.

On the bright side, Ironheart once again charted with 536 million viewer minutes, making it one of the top Originals hits.

This fact suggests that people are still into Marvel, but they’re not as emphatic about the theatrical experience.

Given that these films often cost $200 million, Disney really, really needs people to watch them in theaters.

Fantastic Four is all but assured to be profitable, but the three MCU theatrical releases will probably lose money.

So, Avengers: Doomsday will find itself in the same position as Deadpool & Wolverine. It needs to be a blockbuster.

Fantastic Four and Spider-Man

Continuing this theme, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman just killed a baseless rumor.

Someone appears during the mid-credits scene of The First Steps to act as a bridge to Avengers: Doomsday.

For whatever reason, people were claiming that the actor wasn’t in this shot but rather that Marvel used a stand-in.

Shakman pointed out the absurdity of this, noting that the Russo Brothers were the ones who filmed the scene.

So, they and the star – you can probably guess which one – performed the scene together.

The Russos intentionally chose a less clear shot to create some mystery, and it backfired.

Critics immediately assailed Marvel for using a fake rather than the real actor, presumably to save money.

That’s obviously not what happened, but it speaks to the cynicism about Marvel right now.

Speaking of which, Sony did itself no favors this week by posting an eight-second trailer.

You can probably guess that it’s for Spider-Man: Brand New Day…and it’s just a blurry shot of a costume.

This made my inner old man shake his fist at the state of movie marketing.

We’re now getting teasers for teasers for first trailers for full trailers. It’s nesting doll marketing.

Sony is trying to create a buzz for the next Spidey suit, but it…didn’t work. If anything, it made fans mad.

I’m not someone who believes in superhero fatigue, especially not after Superman and Fantastic Four’s opening weekends.

However, I do believe that some studio executives have no true understanding of what fans want.

This Sony clip was just annoying at a time when the studio should be treating Spider-Man like precious gold.

If Brand New Day misses, Sony’s got nothing. Absolutely nothing. So, they should be more protective of their only viable brand.

Marvel Miscellany

I’m only going to highlight a couple of other stories, one of which amuses me.

If you’re familiar with the Fantastic Four comics, you know that Sue Storm isn’t the best about monogamy.

Okay, that’s not true. She doesn’t really cheat on Reed Richards, but she is waaaaay into Namor.

Like, Marvel has been running this joke for decades now, and she’s still just as thirsty as ever.

Apparently, life is imitating art, as Vanessa Kirby really, really wants Namor to return to the MCU.

According to Pedro Pascal, Kirby just randomly brings up Namor in conversation.

I dunno if she’s into the actor who plays Namor – I hope not – or whether she’s just not into Pascal.

Whatever the reason, this is my favorite Marvel insider story in ages.

On an entirely different note, I’m hearing some filming details about upcoming Marvel projects.

Keep in mind that everything remains in flux, but Blade may film next year. Yes, I know you’ve heard that before.

As for Black Panther 3, Denzel Washington has reportedly slotted early 2027 for filming.

Since Marvel will 100 percent be working around his schedule, that suggests a 2028 release.

Again, take these with a grain of salt, as the only thing reliable about Marvel right now is its lack of reliability.

 

 

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