Fox Sets Release Dates for Two Secret Marvel Movies; Pushes ‘Kingsman 2’ to October 2017

In addition to moving up the release date of Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated Prometheus follow-up >Alien: Covenant from August 2017 to May 2017, 20th Century Fox also shuffled another film and set release dates for a pair of unspecified Fox/Marvel movies. First the known: the sequel >Kingsman: The Golden Circle has been pushed out of the Summer 2017 corridor from its previous release date of June 16, 2017, and will now open in theaters on October 6, 2017. That’s quite a different landscape as the film will now be squaring off directly with the sequel >Blade Runner: 2049, but one imagines Fox will be playing up the action-comedy angle of the Kingsman follow-up in contrast to Denis Villeneuve’s sure-to-be serious tone for the Blade Runner sequel. Still, that’s one heck of a choice you’re asking the audience to make, and one wonders if Blade Runner might shift a bit in the wake of this news.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is no half-assed follow-up either, as Matthew Vaughn returns to direct with an all-star cast that includes returning members Taron Egerton and Colin Firth alongside newcomers Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, and Elton John. The first movie opened in February 2015 and grossed $414.3 million worldwide, which is incredibly solid for an R-rated action romp. I’ll be interested to see if the sequel can find similar success in the fall season.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The October 6, 2017 release was actually previously occupied by an untitled Fox/Marvel film, which many believed was pegged for >Gambit. Filming on that X-Men spinoff starring Channing Tatum was supposed to begin in Fall 2015, but the project subsequently lost two directors and is undergoing script rewrites, so the delays plus the fact that it still has no director makes that October 2017 date impossible.

But not to fearâ€"Fox is still bullish on churning out features based on the Marvel properties it owns the rights to, as the studio has now dated Untitled Fox/Marvel films for release on November 2, 2018 and February 14, 2019. One of these dates could be for >Deadpool 2, which just landed John Wick co-director David Leitch to take the helm after Tim Miller dropped out over creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds. This sequel is a priority for Fox given that the first filmâ€"a modestly budgeted R-rated superhero movieâ€"grossed an insane $782.6 million worldwide. Production is expected to begin sometime next year as casting was well underway when Miller left, so really Deadpool 2 could be ready for release either in November 2018 or February 2019. It depends on how long Fox wants to wait and what kind of launch they want to give the follow-up. Deadpool surpassed all expectations with some solid counter-programming over the Valentine’s Day weekend of this year, so they could simply follow the same formula and release on Valentine’s Day 2019. Or the film could get a splashy holiday season superhero debut in November.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Or, what’s more likely, Deadpool 2 could take the previously announced March 2, 2018 “Untitled Fox/Marvel Film” release date and February 14, 2019 is being eyed for the >Deadpool 3/X-Force movie that’s already in the works. Fox is reportedly already trying to nail down a director for >Deadpool 3, so the timeline would work out so that Deadpool 2 shoots in 2017 for a 2018 release and Deadpool 3/X-Force shoots in 2018 for a 2019 release.

That November 2, 2018 date is currently home to Disney’s live-action Mulan as well as an untitled Paramount Event Film, which is likely a Transformers movie. February 14, 2019, meanwhile, is currently empty.

So if one of these movies is Deadpool 3, what’s the other one? The most likely candidate is >New Mutants, which has Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) writing and directing and is planned as a YA-skewing X-Men spinoff. Or it could be Gambit, if that movie finally gets off the ground. The main X-Men franchise is at a bit of an impasse as writer/producer Simon Kinberg is expected to try and jump-start things after the lackluster reception of X-Men: Apocalypse, but director Bryan Singer is not returning and the contracts for Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy have all been fulfilled. The plan now, reportedly, is for Kinberg to take a stab at writing a new X-Men film that assumes Lawrence, Fassbender, and McAvoy re-up their contracts, but with so many unknowns it’s unlikely that film would be ready for a November 2018 release.

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| Sets | Release | Dates | Secret | Marvel | Movies; | Pushes | ‘Kingsman | 2’ | October | 2017 | addition | moving | release | date | Ridley | Scott’s | highly | anticipated | Prometheus | follow-up | Kingsman: | Golden | Circle | been | pushed | Summer | corridor | from | previous | June | 2017, | will | open | theaters | 2017. | That’s | quite | different | landscape | film | squaring | directly | with | sequel | Image | 20th | Century | Fox The | actually | previously | occupied | untitled | Fox/Marvel | film, | which | many | believed | pegged | Deadpool | just | landed | John | Wick | co-director | David | Leitch | take | helm | after | Miller | dropped | over | creative | differences | star | Ryan | Reynolds. | This | priority | given | that | first | filmâ€"a | modestly | budgeted | R-rated | superhero | movieâ€"grossed | insane | $782.6 | million | worldwide. | Production | expected | begin | sometime | next | year | casting | well | underway | when | left, | really | could | ready | either | November | 2018 | February | 2019. | depends | long | wants | wait | what | kind | launch | they | want | give | follow-up. | surpassed | expectations | some | solid | counter-programming | Valentine’s | weekend | this | year, | simply | follow | same | formula | splashy | holiday | season | debut | November. Deadpool | 3/X-Force | movie | that’s | already | works. | reportedly | trying | nail | down | director | timeline | would | work | shoots | 2019 | release. That | currently | home | Disney’s | live-action | Mulan | Paramount | Event | Film, | likely | Transformers | movie. | 2019, | meanwhile, | empty. So | these | movies | what’s | other | one? | most | candidate |

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A Marvel Illustrator Talks Adding Emotional Heft to Static Pages

Giaco Furino â€" Nov 27 2016

Even in static pages, Chris Samnee adds humor and realism. From Marvel's Thor: The Mighty Avenger. Screencap via

In this week’s episode of Strip Panel Naked, host Hass Otsmane-Elhaou continues his conversation with Marvel illustrator Chris Samnee. This week, the pair focus on Samnee’s work on Marvel's Thor: The Mighty Avenger, a series made along with Roger Langridge and Matthew Wilson. The page at the center of this episode follows a very simple set-up and payoff: Thor’s sidekick/cinematic love-interest Jane Foster (soon to become future Thor herself, though that’s a longer story) takes a call at her desk and hears a commotion outside her office. That’s it. But through small details and masterful layouts, Samnee’s able to add character and life to this opening page.

Samnee talks very plainly about plotting out straightforward scenes. “Ideally all I’m doing is putting myself in the character’s shoes,” he explains to Strip Panel Naked. “That’s all I was doing on this one. I’d read the dialogue and figure out how she would move and then figure out where the camera needed to be.” He goes on to describe what he thinks of pages without high action, “The people talking...that’s easy.”

To get the emotions of Jane right for this page, Samnee gets physical. “I act out all the emotions, but I do that with a fight scene, too. I act it out in my office. I do all the beats to make sure it can physically work in a fight scene and I do the same thing when somebody’s talking on the phone for six panels.”

Strip Panel Naked host Hass Otsmane-Elhaou illustrates the movement of a single panel. From Marvel's Thor: The Mighty Avenger. Screencap via

In the end, it's all about connecting with the reader for Samnee: "What am I going to have to do to make an emotional impact?" asks Samnee. "That's not exactly the scriptwriter's job. It's part of my job, it's one of my requirements, and it's something I take pride in doing."

Watch the entire video breaking down Samnee's seemingly simple page below:
[embedded content]

To see more, visit the Strip Panel Naked YouTube page, and check out its Patreon page to support the series.

Related:

A Comic Pro Speaks About Injecting Action Into Artwork

Change the Entire Nature of Your Comics with Color

An Indie Comic Master Uses Brilliant Understated Details to Tell His Story

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| Marvel | Illustrator | Talks | Adding | Emotional | Heft | Static | Pages | Giaco | Furino | 2016 Even | static | pages, | Chris | Samnee | adds | humor | realism. | From | Marvels | Thor: | Mighty | Avenger. | Screencap | via In | this | week’s | episode | Strip | Panel | Naked, | host | Hass | Otsmane-Elhaou | continues | conversation with | illustrator | Samnee. | This | week, | pair | focus | Samnee’s | work | Avenger, | series | made | along | with | Roger | Langridge | Matthew | Wilson. | page | center | follows | very | simple | set-up | payoff: | Thor’s | sidekick/cinematic | love-interest | Jane | Foster | (soon | become | future | Thor | herself, | though | that’s | longer | story) | takes | call | desk | hears | commotion | outside | office. | That’s | through | small | details | masterful | layouts, | able | character | life | opening | page. Samnee | talks | plainly | about | plotting | straightforward | scenes. | “Ideally | I’m | doing | putting | myself | character’s | shoes,” | explains | Naked. | “That’s | one. | I’d | read | dialogue | figure | would | move | then | where | camera | needed | be.” | goes | describe | what | thinks | pages | without | high | action, | “The | people | talking...that’s | easy.”To | emotions | right | page, | gets | physical. | “I | emotions, | that | fight | scene, | too. | beats | make | sure | physically | scene | same | thing | when | somebody’s | talking | phone | panels.” Strip | Naked | illustrates | movement | single | panel. | end, | connecting | reader | Samnee: | What | going | have | emotional | impact? | asks | Thats | exactly | scriptwriters | job. | part | job, | requirements, | something | take | pride | doing. Watch | entire | video | breaking | down | Samnees | seemingly | below:[embedded | content] To | more, | visit | Naked YouTube | check | its Patreon | support | series. Related: A | Comic | Speaks | About | Injecting | Action | Into | Artwork Change | Entire | Nature | Your | Comics | Color An | Indie | Master | Uses | Brilliant | Understated | Details | Tell | Story |

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‘Marvel Vs. Capcom 4’: Is Capcom Preparing To Reveal New Fighting Game At PlayStation Experience? [Rumor]

Could it be time to tag into big combos and assists in a new fighting game?

Rumors have begun to spread like wildfire. The Marvel Vs. Capcom series is rumored to be getting a new installment, and the internet is abuzz with the hopes that developer Capcom will listen to their hype.

The Marvel Vs. Capcom community has been wanting this to happen for years. Support for Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is nonexistent, and the game has been left for players to figure out what remaining tech they can get out of it. Even players such as IFC Yipes, perhaps the most iconic individual to have stepped onto the Marvel scene, is hoping that a new title is in the works.

Is Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 Really in the Works? https://t.co/EA6lIrLJDb pic.twitter.com/cC2XNPtvgP

â€" Comic Book Resources (@CBR) November 27, 2016

It would make sense that Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 be turned into a reality. The reception of rumors alone has sparked prayers from fighting game enthusiasts. In terms of hype and excitement, Marvel Vs. Capcom exhibition and tournament matches are among the most explosive and unpredictable. Of course, this has dwindled over time. As with all things, even the most complex of tech is able to be hidden from those who hope to crack the game for its ridiculous combos and strategies. Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 has seen its fair share of Doom, Morrigan, Vergil, Sentinel, and Akuma. The list goes on, and a new Marvel Vs. Capcom game would breathe new life into players and their desire to pick up the sticks.

Where did the rumors originate? According to a report by Eventhubs, leaked images have surfaced across the internet that appear to be in reference to a new Marvel Vs. Capcom title. As you can see, the number “4” stands alone with their respective logos beneath it. Many reports thereafter have stated that these images are fake, but fans are hoping that there’s still something in the works.

Why wouldn’t Capcom want to jump on the opportunity to bring out a new game of such epic possibility? It would certainly help in the financial department. Pro gamers and casuals alike can enjoy the insanity of watching multiple characters duke it out in teams of three. Ryu beating the stuffing out of Wolverine again? Vice versa? Dream matches are achieved through the inclusion of each company’s iconic characters jumping onto consoles and arcades.

No updates for Marvel Vs Capcom 4 on the horizon https://t.co/woGIYqYwfm

â€" GMA News (@gmanews) November 22, 2016

Still, the hype for Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 is just that: hype. According to Tech Raptor, director Ryota Niitsuma has all but crushed the hopes of fans with Twitter posts debunking the rumor that a new game was in development. He responded to inquiry about Marvel Vs. Capcom 4.

haha Reaction is fast! It's a really good idea. but Unfortunately I'm not in that division right now. @JWonggg marvel 4?

â€" Ryota Niitsuma (@Ryota_Niitsuma) July 18, 2016

Thanks for keeping the love for the game going! I would love to make #mvc4, but nothing's happening on that front. RT @PG_Erdogan @JWonggg N

â€" Ryota Niitsuma (@Ryota_Niitsuma) September 27, 2016

As you can see, it looks as though we won’t be seeing a new title for some time. Fans remain hopeful, as the cry for a new Marvel Vs. Capcom is visually evident.

Whatever the case, Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 would be a step in the right direction. Of course, there would be plenty of licensing and other tape to cross. It wouldn’t be easy to throw characters into the mix without the proper steps being taken, but that would be a small drop in the bucket of hype that Marvel Vs. Capcom has developed over the years.

For now, games like Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 will have to satisfy fighting game players. Both games have plenty of life in them, and you can bet that we’ll be seeing support for these titles and others for a long time.

What are your thoughts on the possibility of Marvel Vs. Capcom 4? Do you believe that a new title would boost or harm the community as a whole? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Featured Image By Capcom]

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| ‘Marvel | Capcom | 4’: | Preparing | Reveal | Fighting | Game | PlayStation | Experience? | [Rumor] | Could | time | into | combos | assists | fighting | game? Rumors | have | begun | spread | like | wildfire. | Marvel | series | rumored | getting | installment, | internet | abuzz | with | hopes | that | developer | will | listen | their | hype. The | community | been | wanting | this | happen | years. | Support | Ultimate | nonexistent, | game | left | players | figure | what | remaining | tech | they | Even | such | Yipes, | perhaps | most | iconic | individual | stepped | onto | scene, | hoping | title | works. Is | Really | Works? | https://t.co/EA6lIrLJDb | pic.twitter.com/cC2XNPtvgP â€" | Comic | Book | Resources | (@CBR) | November | 2016 It | would | make | sense | turned | reality. | reception | rumors | alone | sparked | prayers | from | enthusiasts. | terms | hype | excitement, | exhibition | tournament | matches | among | explosive | unpredictable. | course, | dwindled | over | time. | things, | even | complex | able | hidden | those | hope | crack | ridiculous | strategies. | seen | fair | share | Doom, | Morrigan, | Vergil, | Sentinel, | Akuma. | list | goes | breathe | life | desire | pick | sticks. Where | originate? | According | report | Eventhubs, | leaked | images | surfaced | across | appear | reference | title. | see, | number | “4” | stands | respective | logos | beneath | Many | reports | thereafter | stated | these | fake, | fans | there’s | still | something | works. Why | wouldn’t | want | jump | opportunity | bring | epic | possibility? | certainly | help | financial | department. | gamers | casuals | alike | enjoy | insanity | watching | multiple | characters | duke | teams | three. | beating | stuffing | Wolverine | again? | Vice | versa? | Dream | achieved | through | inclusion | each | company’s | jumping | consoles | arcades. No | updates | horizon | https://t.co/woGIYqYwfm â€" | News | (@gmanews) | 2016 Still, | just | that: | hype. | Tech | Raptor, | director | Ryota | Niitsuma | crushed | Twitter | posts | debunking | rumor | development. | responded | inquiry | about | 4. haha | Reaction | fast! | really | good | idea. | Unfortunately | division | right | now. | @JWonggg | marvel | 4? â€" | (@Ryota_Niitsuma) | July | 2016 Thanks | keeping | love | going! | #mvc4, | nothings | happening | front. | @PG_Erdogan | N â€" | September | 2016 As | looks | though | won’t | seeing | some | Fans | remain | hopeful, | visually | evident. Whatever | case, | step | direction. | there | plenty | licensing | other | tape | cross. | easy | throw | without | proper | steps | being | taken, | small | drop | bucket | developed | years. For | now, | games | Street | Fighter | Tekken | satisfy | players. | Both | them, | we’ll | support | titles | others | long | time. What | your | thoughts | possibility | believe | boost | harm | whole? | know | comment | section | below. [Featured | Image | Capcom] |

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Benedict Cumberbatch Just Proved That Marvel Is an Unstoppable Force

There was an unusual amount of pressure on Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch’s introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The second film after the star-studded Captain America: Civil War to usher in Marvel’s so-called “Phase Three,” Strange placed a lot of expectations on Cumberbatch’s crimson-cloaked shoulders and, as if by magic, he’s exceeding every one of them. Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme has now surpassed every other single Marvel character introduction at the box office. Not bad for someone whose yet to be drafted into the Avengers. If Marvel is planning on slowing down, it won’t be any time soon.

Deadline reports that in only its third week of release, Cumberbatch’s Strange has conjured up $616 million worldwide. That’s certainly more than previous origin stories like The Incredible Hulk ($263M), Captain America: The First Avenger ($371M), Thor ($449M), Ant-Man ($520M) and Iron Man ($585M). (To be fair to Tony Starkâ€"the original, arrogant, goateed geniusâ€"Iron Man was released before the Marvel brand packed such a punch.) At this rate, Doctor Strange could potentially even catch Marvel’s ensemble origin Guardians of the Galaxy ($773,328,629 after 25 weeks) and Fox’s Deadpool ($782,612,155 after 18 weeks).

How did Doctor Strangeâ€"a surreal, spiritual film plagued by early controversy and featuring a superhero that, frankly, was not even that popular with readersâ€"soar to such enviable economic heights? Well, the fact that the scene’s final showdown was set in Hong Kong couldn’t have hurt. There is no Chinese Sanctum in the comics and the splashy battle for Hong Kong was only the latest way a major 2016 studio release pandered to Chinese audiences.

Thus far, Strange has earned $102M of its $411M foreign gross from China, but Cumberbatch has more than Chinese dollars to thank. The reviews for director Scott Derrickson’s first foray into the world of comics were more glowing than even Marvel’s usual thanks, in large part, to some fresh visual flair and an alluring, unconventional performance from Tilda Swinton. Even those suffering from superhero fatigue couldn’t resist her serene, art house charms.

And the bigger-than-expected reception for both Cumberbatch’s Strange and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man means Marvel’s future is looking much more secure than it was even a year ago when Avengers: Age of Ultron failed to dazzle critics. Though no official announcement has been made, conventional comic book wisdom dictates that Stephen Strange, Scott Lang, Chadwick Boseman’s T'Challa, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers have been/will be introduced in order to replace the Avengers line-up we’ve come to know and love. The Avengers team is forever changing in the comics and factors like Robert Downey Jr.’s enormous sticker price and other Avenger actors’ increasingly busy schedules means that the films will likely follow suit.

That means Rudd, Cumberbatch, and the rest have to be at least as popular as Scarlett Johansson and the Chrises Evans and Hemsworth in order for the franchise to survive a changing of the guard. If dollars equal popularity then, well, recent box office wins mean that Marvel has nothing to be worried about.

Full ScreenPhotos:

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The Cover Shoot: Benedict Cumberbatch Bends Minds

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The actor rolls up his sleeve. Photo: Photograph by Jason Bell. Styled by Jessica Diehl.

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| Benedict | Cumberbatch | Just | Proved | That | Marvel | Unstoppable | Force | There | unusual | amount | pressure | Doctor | Strange, | Cumberbatch’s | introduction | Cinematic | Universe. | second | film | after | star-studded | Captain | America: | Civil | usher | Marvel’s | so-called | “Phase | Three,” | Strange | placed | expectations | crimson-cloaked | shoulders | and, | magic, | he’s | exceeding | every | them. | Sorcerer | Supreme | surpassed | other | single | character | office. | someone | whose | drafted | into | Avengers. | planning | slowing | down, | won’t | time | soon. Deadline | reports | that | only | third | week | release, | conjured | $616 | million | worldwide. | That’s | certainly | more | than | previous | origin | stories | like | Incredible | Hulk | ($263M), | First | Avenger | ($371M), | Thor | ($449M), | Ant-Man | ($520M) | Iron | ($585M). | fair | Tony | Starkâ€"the | original, | arrogant, | goateed | geniusâ€"Iron | released | before | brand | packed | such | punch.) | this | rate, | could | potentially | even | catch | ensemble | Guardians | Galaxy | ($773,328,629 | weeks) | Fox’s | Deadpool | ($782,612,155 | weeks). How | Strangeâ€"a | surreal, | spiritual | plagued | early | controversy | featuring | superhero | that, | frankly, | popular | with | readersâ€"soar | enviable | economic | heights? | Well, | fact | scene’s | final | showdown | Hong | Kong | couldn’t | have | hurt. | Chinese | Sanctum | comics | splashy | battle | latest | major | 2016 | studio | release | pandered | audiences. Thus | far, | earned | $102M | $411M | foreign | gross | from | China, | dollars | thank. | reviews | director | Scott | Derrickson’s | first | foray | world | were | glowing | usual | thanks, | large | part, | some | fresh | visual | flair | alluring, | unconventional | performance | Tilda | Swinton. | Even | those | suffering | fatigue | resist | serene, | house | charms. And | bigger-than-expected | reception | both | Paul | Rudd’s | means | future | looking | much | secure | year | when | Avengers: | Ultron | failed | dazzle | critics. | Though | official | announcement | been | made, | conventional | comic | book | wisdom | dictates | Stephen | Lang, | Chadwick | Boseman’s | TChalla, | Holland’s | Spider-Man, | Brie | Larson’s | Carol | Danvers | been/will | introduced | order | replace | Avengers | line-up | we’ve | come | know | love. | team | forever | changing | factors | Robert | Downey | Jr.’s | enormous | sticker | price | actors’ | increasingly | busy | schedules | films | will | likely | follow | suit. That | Rudd, | Cumberbatch, | rest | least | Scarlett | Johansson | Chrises | Evans | Hemsworth | franchise | survive | guard. | equal | popularity | then, | well, | recent | office | wins | mean | nothing | worried | about. Full | ScreenPhotos: 1/5 The | Cover | Shoot: | Bends | Minds The | actor | rolls | sleeve. Photo: | Photograph | Jason | Bell. | Styled | Jessica | Diehl. PreviousNext The | sleeve. Photograph | Diehl. HERO | RECLINE Benedict | photographed | Metropolitan | Building | Long | Island | City, | York. Photograph | Diehl. DARK | SIDE A | contemplative | City. Photograph | Diehl. WALKING | LINE Cumberbatch, | beneath | elevated | subway | tracks | Diehl. Photograph | Diehl. |

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“Rectify” Is a Quiet Marvel

> Daniel was convicted of a brutal but ambiguous crime. Now that he’s out of prison, everyone wants clarity. Credit Illustration by Tomer Hanuka In the first episode of “Rectify,” Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released from death row, and he gives a speech to journalists and protesters gathered outside the prison. Rather than assert his innocence or talk about justice, he offers a zigzagging meditation on the nature of fatalism. “I had convinced myself that kind of optimism served no useful purpose in the world where I existed,” he explains, in an underwater monotone, as the protesters look on, baffled. “Obviously, this radical belief system was flawed and was, ironically, a kind of fantasy itself.” Humbly, as if ending a philosophy seminar, he concludes, “I will seriously need to reconsider my world view.” For three years, “Rectify” has been a small marvel, an eccentric independent drama, filmed in Griffin, Georgia, and airing off the beaten track as well, on Sundance. With its skewed insights into carceral cruelty, “Rectify” took the slot that “The Wire” used to occupy: it’s the smart crime drama whose fans have trouble persuading others to watch, because it sounds too grimâ€"or maybe too good for you. It’s a frustrating dynamic that has haunted other dramas without cowboys or zombiesâ€"“The Leftovers” and “The Americans” come to mindâ€"but “Rectify” ’s reputation for difficulty is misleading. The show’s dreamy pace makes it a satisfying high, like a bourbon-soaked bob down a river on a humid day. It’s a show about the way that time gets distorted; it’s one that distorts time, too. As with many structurally daring series, it’s joyful, because its insides match its outsides. It’s also, more straightforwardly, a gothic mystery about small-town secrets. When Daniel was in his late teens, he was convicted of the rape and murder of his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Hanna. He served nineteen years, most of them in solitary confinement. The crime itself was a foggy, ambiguous incident that involved psychedelic drugs; two boys testified against him, and, under pressure, Daniel confessed. DNA cleared him of the rape but not of the murder, so plenty of localsâ€"and, at times, Daniel himselfâ€"suspect that he did it, because he was found cradling Hanna’s naked corpse, which he’d decorated with flowers. But Daniel’s younger sister, Amantha (Abigail Spencer), never lost faith in his innocence, and she’s been sleeping with the liberal Jewish lawyer she lobbied to work on his behalfâ€"the big-city Reuben to her Norma Rae. Everyone involved wants clarity, now that Amantha’s faith has paid off. No one gets it. The murder case is reopened and leads down alarming paths. Few people want to face the uglier facts, including the knowledge that Daniel was raped in prison, multiple times. While he was on death row, his father died and his mother remarried, so he has two new stepbrothers, Ted, Jr., and Jared, who is still in his teens. In some ways, Daniel is himself an adolescent, prone to self-indulgent, self-destructive whims. In isolated Paulie, Georgia, he’s a distinctly odd figure, a socially awkward autodidact who meditated and read obsessively in his cell. He speaks in an off-kilter, whispery style, making even sympathetic neighbors uncomfortable. His mannered intellectualism marks him as an outsider, queer in several senses, as much as any suspicions of criminal guilt do. The one person who truly gets him is Ted, Jr.,’s wife, Tawney, a sweet born-again Christian who is desperate to save Daniel, and with whom he develops a dangerous chemistry. Their flirtation takes place, however, largely through elevated conversation about Thomas Aquinas and Buddha, forgiveness and humility. And, in fact, a lot of the pleasure of the show is in the dialogue, which favors the stuff that Daniel jokes is not “gallows humor” but “lethal-injection humorâ€"it’s more humane but less funny.” “It felt good to use the telephone that wasn’t smarter than me,” Daniel tells his sister, about a pay phone. His companion on a road trip tells him, “Everything that happens between men and women is written in mud. And butter. And barbecue sauce. Paula Deen said that to me in a dream I had one time.” Ted, Jr.,’s boozy koan: “First you hate it. Then you like it. It’s called beer.” While the talk takes its time, the plot moves fast. The first season covers six days in six episodes, and climaxes in two crimes, one committed by Daniel, one against him; by the fourth and final season, currently airing, only a few months have passed. Several of the best episodes are one-offs, featuring characters we never meet again. In one, Daniel drifts into the orbit of an antique dealer named Lezlie, a Pan-like anarchist, who invites anyone who is not a gentrifying yuppieâ€"the class he regards as ruining Paulieâ€"to party at his ramshackle house. In another, Daniel gets a ride from a stranger and steals some goats. There’s a strong sense in “Rectify” that, when your memory has been rendered spongy and your safety shattered, each event might last forever or be gone in a flash. Perhaps the standout episode is “Donald the Normal,” from Season 2. In it, Daniel finally leaves town. He takes a bus to Atlanta, then puts on nice clothes and goes to a museum to see a beautiful painting that he knows only from a book. Throughout “Rectify,” the claustrophobically close-knit Paulieâ€"where the local waitress sleeps with both Daniel and the politician who framed him, and where Hanna’s brother glares at Daniel’s family in the supermarketâ€"is portrayed as near-enchanted in its isolation. Any mention of a larger Southern city (even from the former Atlantan Amantha, who has a liberal hipster’s condescension for her home town) makes it sound as distant as Mars. At the museum, Daniel is approached by an attractive older woman, played by Frances Fisher. “What do you think?” she asks. “I think I’ve looked at this painting in a book for so long that somehow my brain has trivialized it,” he says. “And as I stand here in front of the real thing I feel, if anything . . . disappointed.” She’s charmed by the alien quality that others find so creepyâ€"his formal speech, his lack of boundaries. She invites him to lunch with her book-club friends. These are sleek, rich city women. He tells them that his name is Donald and that he owns a bookstore in Alabama. This experiment in reinvention falls apart fast. Daniel has cuts on his forehead and cheeks, the remnants of a beating that put him in a coma. And, bright as he is, he can’t improvise a life he never had. He finds himself faking a conversation about a book he hasn’t read, something with a “pitiful” protagonist. “This bread, um, is excellent,” he says, trying to change the subject. “The panini bread?” one of the women asks. “Yes, um, the pallini bread,” he responds. “It’s . . . unusually fresh.” It’s a heartbreaking slip, a class error that locks him out of a whole world. The book-club women get into a conversation about a story that Daniel >has read, Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain,” and which he’s memorized. His lunch companion can’t believe it: “It would be torture to memorize.” No, he explains: it was a calming task, back during “a period in my life when I was having some difficulty dealing with the passing of time in a traditional sense.” Because Wolff’s story deals “with the bending of time,” memorizing it helped him bend time as well. References like this get at the show’s fearlessness in taking art seriously, not merely as a distraction but as a bridge between strangers, a way of reframing the world. Still, it would be an exercise in solipsism without the larger, more grounded ensemble, particularly Daniel’s opposite number, Ted, Jr., who becomes both his bully and his victim. As played by Clayne Crawford, Ted is a strutting, insecure shit-kicker, a high-school tough kid gone to seed. A salesman at the family car dealership, he’s the yuppie type Lezlie disdains, or, at least, he aspires to be: he and Tawney share a McMansion decorated in pastels. When the bank won’t give him a loan for a sketchy scheme involving leasing auto rims to black customers, he mortgages the house, despite Tawney’s resistance. When things fall apart, he gets scary. In another story, Ted might be a cartoon villain: the abusive husband who, at one point, confesses to something so close to date rape that it’s a distinction without a difference. (Crimes on “Rectify” are like that: violence so ordinary that no one reports itâ€"and, when someone does, the justice system makes it worse.) But the show sees Ted’s side, too. Like Daniel, he is a man humiliated by loss of control, with few coping skills when he’s been abandoned. In “Rectify,” anyone who feels something for others, however painful, must be redeemable. In the final season, Tawney and Ted, Jr., go to therapy, heading toward divorce. Daniel, who has been legally “banished” to Nashville, lives at a halfway house and gets an artist girlfriend. The crime is on the verge of being solved. If “Rectify” has a flaw, it’s one that so many humane shows develop in their final stretchâ€"a Tawney-like desire to save everyone, simply because these are characters we’ve loved for years. In one scene, Amantha, recognizing that an old enemy is helping solve the mystery of Hanna’s murder, asks, “Is there anyone left to hate?” Daniel wryly refers to himself as Humpty-Dumpty, but he’s often more like Kimmy Schmidt: he’s strange not because his capacity for wonder has been shut down but because it’s almost too open. As the finale approaches, it’s not the show’s problem that I’ve found myself wanting some ugly to stay ugly. Perhaps I will seriously need to reconsider my world view. >♦ "

| “Rectify” | Quiet | Marvel |

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