Another faux-news broadcast from WHiH is setting the stage for the next two Marvel Cinematic Universe entries.
In the new video, Christine Everhart (who made appearances in the first two Iron Man movies) returns to report on the clean-up and relief aid going on in Sokovia, following the massive battle that took place between Ultron and the Avengers; as well as the case of Scott Lang, a convict who is set to be released from San Quentin Penitentiary.
How does it set up Civil War?
In a very clear reference to the upcoming events of Captain America: Civil War, Everhart mentions that after the destruction in Sokovia, “the issue of more government control and transparency when it comes to our superpowered citizens is going to continue to be a hot-button topic.”
The upcoming Phase Three film will revolve around this idea, and more specifically, how government oversight could effect Captain America’s team of Avengers. Following the dissolution of SHIELD and the World Security Council in The Winter Soldier, the Avengers pretty much work independently.
Civil War will subsequently ask the question, when the Avengers screw up, who do they answer to?
And how does it tie into Ant-Man?
The second half of Everhart’s report focuses on Scott Lang, an ex-convict who will take up the mantle of the Ant-Man later this month.
The news story focuses on the crime that landed him in prison in the first place: a robbery in which Lang stole millions of dollars from his employer, a tech company called Vista Corp.
Lang claimed that Vista Corp had been scamming its customers for years, and he actually funneled a majority of the stolen money back to those people. A subsequent SEC investigation cleared Vista Corp of all wrongdoing though, and Lang went on to serve three years in prison. I’m fairly sure we actually get to see this heist take place in the upcoming film.
Also intriguing is the tease of an exclusive interview with Scott Lang. Fingers crossed that Paul Rudd himself shows up on the next installment.
Any other details worth noticing?
The little news ticker at the bottom has a few interesting tidbits (mentions of Jane Foster and Wolfgang von Strucker for example), but one line in particular really sticks out to me: “Earthquake rocks Southern Africa.”
I doubt this is referring to anything that happens in Avengers: Age of Ultron (unless those Sokovia shenanigans are causing seismic activity a continent away), but there is a very important African location in the MCU that we’re going to be seeing soon… Wakanda.
Could something be happening with Wakanda’s Vibranium mines that is causing earthquakes? Could that be why Captain America’s Avengers head there in Civil War?
While we mull that over, you can check out the last WHiH news report here.
