Ah, the Internet. That magical world-wide information sharing and communications tool that’s revolutionised life on our strange little planet by providing people with instant access to the sum of all human knowledge, endless cat videos, and the ability to see what your favourite Instagrammer had for breakfast.
Sometimes though, you may have noticed that it can often be hard for the average netizen to sort out fact from fiction. Whilst the web is an amazing source of pop culture news, often times unfounded rumours and fan theories can end up taking on a life of their own and populating your social media feeds with their spurious claims posing as truth. And who has time for that when there’s so many more cat videos out there to watch?
We’ve been pondering this little problem, and after investing a considerable sum in research funding and building a new state-of-the-art facility (we cleared some space in the cupboard next to the mop and bucket), we are pleased to announce the creation of our new, one-of-a-kind Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (patent pending). Using cutting edge science, two rubber bands, a hamster wheel and a leftover bolt no-one can figure out where it’s supposed to go, the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (patent pending) can delve headfirst into the web’s most enduring rumours and deliver a likelihood percentage rating with near precision (by which we mean it may, or may not, be just as effective as throwing darts at a board to come up with the final number).
So without further ado, we are pleased to announce the first in our new internet Fact or Fiction column aimed at dissecting the internet’s current pop culture gossip and seeing exactly how much truth it may have behind it.
CASEFILE #1
So, what’s the goss?
Marvel Studios are looking at Kingsman’s Taron Egerton to replace Hugh Jackman as the next Wolverine.
Where did all this come from?
This one has been doing the rounds on the net for a few months now. Ever since Disney finalised their purchase of Fox Studios, and returned the rights for both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men back into the Marvel fold, people have been chomping at the bit to see how and when they might decide to include everyone’s favourite mutant in the MCU.
X @TaronEgerton @marvelstudios #wolverine #mcu @Kevfeige pic.twitter.com/j3aHUZAB9p
— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) July 28, 2019
Whilst fanart renditions and articles citing “anonymous sources” abound, after a little digging it would seem this particular rumour actually owes its origins to comic book artist Mark Millar who sent out a tweet in July predicting that Egerton would be the next one cast as Wolverine.
What’s the verdict?
After feeding the Supanova Scuttlebutt-o-meter©®™ (patent pending) with all the details, and whacking the side with a broom, this particular rumour came back with a 9.37% likelihood rating after all the smoke cleared. Or in other words, you’ve probably got a better chance of finding where all those missing odd socks actually get to.
Taron Egerton says he’s ready to join the Marvel Universe, but maybe not as Wolverine pic.twitter.com/XLVrt42nzA
— Variety (@Variety) August 1, 2019
Egerton himself has repeatedly spoken about this rumour, having been faced with it time and time again, and he has shot it down consistently. This, of course, means little when we realise that Ewan McGregor knew about returning to the role of Obi Wan Kenobi and had to lie about it constantly for the past four years, but there’s probably little more behind this one other than Mark Millar’s own personal wish list at this stage (though he did correctly predict Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury – so we’ll give him that).
As such, it’s probably best to declare this rumour: HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
