Sony Developing Feature Films Based On Sci-Fi Video Games 'Horizon Zero Dawn' & 'Helldivers'
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Sony Developing Movies Based On Sci-Fi Video Games ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ & ‘Helldivers’

Sony Pictures is still licking its wounds after releasing three Sonyverse movies last year with “Madame Web” and “Kraven The Hunter” being huge misfires. Those “Spider-Man spinoffs” saw some of the worst box office takes for modern Marvel Comics adjacent films (not made by Marvel Studios proper) and lost them plenty of cash. While the studio brass like Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra had blamed critics and press for audiences running for the hills, it looks like they’re now pivoting to synergy releases mining the PlayStation IP after things like the Tom Holland-led “Uncharted” (after ages being stuck in development-hell) and HBO’s “The Last of Us” have been successful in different ways.

It’s now 2025, and PlayStation Productions is looking to continue their partnership with Sony Pictures with feature film adaptations of both “Horizon Zero Dawn” and the mature shoot-em-up “Helldivers,” the former video game had been previously developed as a streaming series at Netflix but that was nixed over the summer (Sony maybe finally understanding they shouldn’t be selling off their video game properties to others). That announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, yesterday, by PlayStation Productions chief Asad Qizilbash (via Variety).

“Horizon” focuses on a sci-fi fantasy primal world inhabited by robots that act/look like animals and “Helldrivers” is essentially space marines versus aliens, taking most of its cues from the likes of “Starship Troopers.”

We’re still waiting for some updates on who is going to be writing and directing those two video game adaptations.

You might have seen other big PlayStation Productions projects in the works including a feature film of “Ghost of Tsushima” from director Chad Stahelski (“John Wick”), a high-profile streaming series at Amazon based on the recent “God of War” games set within their own version of Norse mythology, a live-action feature based on the “Metal Gear Solid” franchise has been in the works for a while, another Hideo Kojima game “Death Stranding” is at A24, and a sequel to “Uncharted” at Sony Pictures as well being in the scripting phase.

This new announcement seems to illustrate Sony’s potential pivot to adapting their own in-house video game properties from the PlayStation stable after multiple hiccups in trying to flesh out the “Spider-Man” comic book lore with movies focused on obscure/villianous characters.

SOURCE: PLAYSTATION PRODUCTIONS VIA VARIETY

'Supergirl': Jason Momoa Finally Lands Dream DC Comics Role Of Lobo For New DCU After Playing Aquaman
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‘Supergirl’: Jason Momoa Finally Lands Dream DC Comics Role Of Lobo For New DCU After Playing Aquaman

After the years-long tease that “Aquaman” actor Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones,” ‘Dune”) could get a secondary DC Comics role with Lobo, it has been officially announced that he’ll be playing the violent smart-mouthed alien bounty hunter in “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.”

Long before the Snyderverse or “Aquaman,” Momoa had been making the convention rounds for ages (going back to his days on “Stargate: Atlantis” and “Game of Thrones”) and kept campaigning to play Lobo. This was back when Warner Bros. had been developing a solo feature film for decades focused on the notable Superman villain and once had Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Watchmen”) in the mix to play The Main Man.

DC Studios co-CEO, James Gunn, has previously confirmed that filming on “Supergirl” was expected to start next month, so, more casting announcements are likely coming in hot. They’ve previously secured director Craig Gillespie (“Cruella”) and Australian actress Milly Alcock (“House of The Dragon”) is set to play the titular Kryptonian heroine with a release date set for June 26, 2026.

Lobo is essentially the DC Comics version of Deadpool and Wolverine, having more of a satirical/mature leaning and in the wake of the massive success of the “Deadpool” trilogy (the last installment earning a hefty $1.3 billion), finally adding him to a comic book universe spearheaded by Gunn always made sense.

Placing Momoa in the Lobo role, after the Snyderverse ended with the DCU reset, was an early tease from the trades when Gunn took over the franchise and launched DC Studios with Peter Safran. So, while putting him in “Supergirl” is a surprise, the casting isn’t too shocking. Gunn and Momoa nearly worked together on the first “Guardians of The Galaxy” film when he was originally going to play Drax (you can see some early Drax concept art with Momoa’s face being used), but bowed out over the stingy money they offered.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & JASON MOMOA

'Avengers: Doomsday': Marvel Enlists Hayley Atwell For A Return As Peggy Carter
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‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Marvel Enlists Hayley Atwell For A Return As Peggy Carter

Earlier this week it was reported that Chris Evans would be making his grand return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Avengers: Doomsday,” although it is somewhat unclear if the actor would be reprising the elderly version of Steve Rogers from “Avengers: Endgame,’ another variant (Hydra Supreme for example), or simply take another role (Multiverse adversary Hyperion?) like co-star Robert Downey Jr. as he’s playing “Fantastic Four” villain, Doctor Doom.

Well, another long-established MCU actor is coming back as the latest reporting from Deadline states that British actress Hayley Atwell (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”) has joined the event film’s call-sheet. Suggesting she is indeed back in the role of Peggy Carter.

Atwell first debuted the character in “Captain America: The First Avenger” and got a spinoff TV series “Agent Carter” that followed her as the early stages of SHIELD were coming together post-WWII and remained part of the secretive agency. Still, it’s unclear if we’re getting the Agent Carter incarnation or the well-liked variant Captain Carter from “What If…?” and “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness,” where Peggy had taken the super-soldier serum during World War II instead of Rogers giving her those exact powers.

Captain Carter from Earth-383 was ultimately killed alongside most of her cohorts at the hands of Wanda, and if that specific variant returns there is a strong possibility it would be from another timeline/universe. There is also the “What If..?” version of her, where Steve Rogers is the pilot of a WWII-era Iron Man suit built by Howard Stark, another possible variant that Evans could be playing.

In the mainline version of the MCU timeline, the Earth-616 version of Carter died during the events of “Captain America: Civil War” but that likely has changed since Rogers went back in time at the end of “Avengers: Endgame” to be with Peggy and changing those events as they seemingly lived-out their own happy ending off-screen.

Again, I wouldn’t be all that shocked if Scarlett Johansson is the next name Marvel and the Russo Brothers resurrect for “Doomsday” given they don’t seem terribly interested in letting certain actors and characters rest after their graceful exits from the MCU.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

'Kraven The Hunter' Soft Box Office Opening Could Signal Third Major Marvel Flop For Sony After Report Studio Shelving Sonyverse
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‘Kraven The Hunter’ Soft Box Office Opening Could Signal Third Major Marvel Flop For Sony After Report Studio Shelving Sonyverse

While Marvel Studios saw the film rights to “Fantastic Four” and “X-Men” returned to them after Disney acquired 21st Century, Sony Pictures moved forward with a string of their own Marvel movies featuring villain characters introduced in “Spider-Man” comic books starting with “Venom” back in 2018. However, seven years into the Sonyverse it hasn’t been terribly successful for them and a new report suggests it could be over after some major stumbles.

Forbes is presenting an early sign that their latest effort “Kraven The Hunter” could end up becoming the studio’s third major Marvel flop within a short amount of time with an estimated domestic opening weekend of $13-15 million, which is sort of on par with what “Madame Web” made opening weekend earlier in the year, and earned a poultry $100.4 million. The Jared Leto-led flick “Morbius” was the first of the Sonyverse films to have trouble making a profit after it took in $167.4 million.

The R-rated film (not originally meant as an R-rated film) reportedly has a budget of $110 million after multiple rounds of reshoots. Making a similar amount of money to either “Madame Web,” and “Morbius” would be another major loss for them in 2024. While the three “Venom” movies have made Sony a decent amount of money the two sequels have had diminishing returns compared to the first installment’s impressive haul of $856 million, and “Venom: The Last Dance” ($473 million globally) hasn’t made enough money to cover the losses on the other two films they’ve released.

Sony Pictures is a business and isn’t looking to break even or lose heaps of money on these films, so, when it was reported this week by The Wrap that the studio was pumping the breaks on future Sonyverse films, it is understandable and makes sense from a business perspective. It should be also pointed out that while there had been a bunch of other Sonyverse film development plans reported on in the past, we’re still waiting on any of them being greenlit including projects like “Jackpot,” “Nightwatch,” and others such as a “Spider-Woman” film that once had Olivia Wilde attached to direct. None of those films have had any concrete updates from Sony.

Spending those seven years trying to convince audiences that their Sonyverse films would have substantial connectivity to Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” films (set in the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe and made by Marvel Studios) without much or any real follow-through has felt like false advertising on the studio’s part to get asses in seats. Ultimately, their bizarre marketing gimmick to call the films “Spider-Man spinoffs” without any real involvement of the Web Head in them felt like Sony cashing in on the Marvel/Spider-Man branding by talking up a connection without really showing that on the big screen.

As it stands, “Spider-Man 4” from Marvel Studios and director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings”) is the only major live-action feature film project on deck with “Spider-Man Noir” starring Nicolas Cage being made for Amazon bringing the “Spider-Verse” characters to the small screen.

SOURCE: THE WRAP & FORBES

'Avengers: Doomsday': Chris Evans Reportedly Returning For MCU Event Flick
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‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Chris Evans Reportedly Returning For MCU Event Flick

Yesterday, it was reported by The Wrap that Phase One actor Chris Evans is going to be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an undisclosed capacity for “Avengers: Doomsday.” The expectation has been since the summer that we might see some actors who have exited the MCU make a grand return. However, the outlet is keeping mum beyond that and doesn’t seem exactly aware if Evans is going to be suiting back up as Steve Rogers or someone else completely (recastings don’t seem to be off the table given the Multiverse angle).

A return for Evans isn’t exactly new information either, trades like Deadline had previously stated he was trying to work out an unnamed “new project” with Marvel Studios that, which ultimately could have been more about him reprising his Fox-era version of “Fantastic Four” member Johnny Storm in last summer’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” Although, we should point out Evans, in theory, could be playing a new character entirely in “Doomsday” like how Robert Downey Jr. was announced at San Diego Comic-Con as the villainous Doctor Doom after playing Iron Man.

Perhaps, they’re trying to get some of the original actors to play villains in the film? It is certainly plausible as “Avengers: Endgame” teased the idea of the Hydra-backed version of Rogers.

While some fans might be giddy about the prospect of the return of “Steve Rogers” (who was established as old-as-hell at the end of “Avengers: Endgame’), it’s unclear how substantial the return is actually going to be and if it’ll be more than a cameo/flashback. There also doesn’t seem to be a clear idea if he’s even playing Rogers, although, in the comics, an older version of Rogers was still kicking ass even if Sam Wilson had taken the Captain America mantle.

There was a funny conspiracy theory mentioned in “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier,” that Rogers was now living on the moon. While a return for Rogers is likely, given the comics established an older Rogers in hero mode, we’ll have to wait for more information about all this.

This news comes after Evans has had a few critical hiccups recently with features such as “The Gray Man,” “Ghosted,” “Pain Hustlers,” and “Red One” not exactly electrifying folks after the actor gracefully exited the MCU. His minor stint in “Deadpool & Wolverine” wasn’t terribly distracting and he seemed like he had fun doing it, including his foul-mouth rant used as the film’s stinger/post-credit scene.

It’s hard to make an in-depth call on the thinking behind having The Russo Brothers back as directors (after some post-MCU misfires) alongside newly minted Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr. and now Evans. But it’s starting to give the vibe that Marvel/Disney is increasingly desperate to recreate the magic of the last two “Avengers” installments after some perceived stumples on a handful of their film and TV projects. This could simply be the studio’s attempt at hedging their bets that more callbacks are going to draw more people to the theater and boost the box office appeal. All while at the same time event sequels like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the aforementioned “Deadpool & Wolverine” have certainly established that if you cram in enough nostalgia fan service, and callbacks, even if the story/scripts are weak, folks will show up in impressive numbers.

In our opinion, it is only a matter of time before we start hearing Scarlett Johansson’s (leading next year’s “Jurassic World Rebirth”) name being thrown around as well, as it looks like Marvel isn’t too interested in letting these actors move on with their careers (or potentially their characters) and are somewhat relying heavily on recapture the magic on the last two “Avengers” installments after bailing on “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” (had “Spider-Man 4” and “Shang-Chi” director Destin Daniel Cretton set to helm) due to Jonathan Major’s legal issues leading to his firing and Marvel sort of icing the Multiverse villain in the second season of “Loki.”

I’m not exactly thrilled by these stunt castings of “Avengers: Doomsday,” maybe, it won’t feel as much of a headache in the final film and undoes the great ending of “Avengers: Endgame.”

SOURCE: THE WRAP

'Lord Of The Rings': Writer/Producer Philippa Boyens Open To Exploring More Middle-Earth Stories With Anime Beyond 'War Of The Rohirrim'
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‘Lord Of The Rings’: Writer/Producer Philippa Boyens Open To Exploring More Middle-Earth Stories With Anime Beyond ‘War Of The Rohirrim’

With “The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power” chugging along its five-season commitment at Amazon Prime Video. a new live-action movie in the works at New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. with Andy Serkis reprising the Gollum role and taking on directing duties (after handling second unit directing on “The Hobbit” films) that takes place before the events of “The Fellowship of The Rings,” and a second mysterious pic that was dismissed as a second part to “The Hunt For Gollum.” Even more Middle-Earth tales could be coming to beyond all that if audiences are keen for it.

Rodrigo Perez of The Playlist recently spoke with Philippa Boyens (“Lord of The Rings” & “The Hobbit” trilogies), co-writer and producer of the feature film franchise and the new anime film “The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim,” and she revealed that more anime adaptations could be on the table.

“There’s a lot of [possibilities], when you look at it, there’s a lot of things in there, actually,” Boyens told The Playlist about adapting more Middle-Earth stories using the medium of anime. “One of the things this [‘War of The Rohirrim’] story has shown us is that a stand-alone story works really successfully within the world of Middle-earth and I would genuinely—because I’ve fallen in love with the form—love to see another anime. But that depends on the audiences out there, your audience, fans of not only the original trilogy but that vast anime audience. I’m really interested to see what they think.”

That’s certainly a positive update from Boyens about future adaptations and should give fans/audiences a bit of hope that everyone involved seems to be invested in more Middle-Earth projects for years to come. Given the appendices allows for more stories to tell, they don’t seem to be short on ideas.

I had personally heard that the producing team was mulling over more anime adaptations, but the studio (that bankrolls projects) would specifically need to see a decent reaction to their animation experiment with “Rohirrim” before making any official announcements. Given the talk that “Rohirrim” was made for under $100 million, there is certainly wiggle room for the film over the holiday season and new year to hit a box office target needed to make the studio/producers comfortable enough with subsequent releases.

Some might remember that “Furiosa,” the “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel released earlier in the year by Warner Bros., was originally planned as an anime film, but was reworked as a live-action one in the end. There is a chance that if “Rohirrim” is successful enough more than Tolkien’s adventures could be used in the medium, but also George Miller’s third “Wasteland” epic could be told in that way as well.

“The War of The Rohirrim” directed by Kenji Kamiyama is heading exclusively to theaters on December 13, and “The Hunt For Gollum” is expected to be ready sometime in 2026 (an actual date has yet to be announced by the studio).

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Robert Pattinson To Reunite With Christopher Nolan For Mystery Film Joining Matt Damon & Tom Holland
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Robert Pattinson Reuniting With Christopher Nolan For Mystery Film Joining Matt Damon & Tom Holland

Director Christopher Nolan isn’t taking much of a rest after the massive success of “Oppenheimer” as he’s rounding out the cast for his next feature film at Universal and has landed another high-profile actor the filmmaker has worked with before.

Daniel Richtman revealed on his Patreon page that British actor Robert Pattinson (“The Batman”) would be reuniting with Nolan for the pic, and Deadline is backing up the claim with the actor set to play a character alongside Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, and Lupita Nyong’o.

Pattinson previously worked with Nolan on the sci-fi spy flick “Tenet,” which was at the center of the director’s public frustration with Warner Bros., leading to the severing of his professional relationship with the studio and why he moved on to working with Universal Pictures for the Oscar-winning biopic “Oppenheimer.” From what we understand, Universal is hoping to become the homestead for Nolan and is willing to bankroll movies beyond this next one.

The mystery project already has a prime summer spot on Universal’s July 17, 2026 release slate.

We’re still in the dark about the film’s plot and who these actors will be playing within it. Trade reporters have dismissed the small group of various rumors concerning the plot, including some bonkers theories about vampires. Fans of Nolan are accustomed to his mystery-box element leading up to production, although we likely won’t have to wait too much longer before more concrete details.

Not unlike Holland getting ready to shoot “Spider-Man 4” this summer after wrapping on the Nolan, Pattison is also expected to shoot his own blockbuster superhero sequel later next year with Matt Reeves returning to co-write/direct “The Batman Part II” for a release on October 2, 2026. Colin Farrell recently confirmed he’ll be returning to shoot scenes as Gotham gangster Oz Cobb for the sequel after “The Penguin” spinoff series became a hit on HBO/Max. There is an expectation that Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, and Andy Serkis will also be reprising their respective roles as well.

SOURCE: DANIEL RICHTMAN & DEADLINE

Daniel Craig To Play WWII DC Comics Hero 'Sgt. Rock' For Director Luca Guadagnino
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Daniel Craig To Play WWII DC Comics Hero ‘Sgt. Rock’ For Director Luca Guadagnino

Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios are looking to do a complete overhaul with a new version of the DC Universe, starting next summer with James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot. Gunn, as the studio’s co-head, has been assembling some fantastic filmmakers to handle subsequent DCU feature film projects, such as James Mangold (“Logan”) tackling a new take on “Swamp Thing,” and director Craig Gillespie (“Cruella”) overseeing the latest incarnation of “Supergirl.” Another high-profile film has been announced with a long-gestating character Warner Bros. has been trying to put on the big screen for nearly 40 years.

Deadline is confirming a previous report from Nexus Point that director Luca Guadangino (“Queer,” “Challengers”) would be tackling DC Comics’ character “Sgt. Rock” with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes (“Queer,” “Challengers”) handling script duties.

Not only that, but Deadline adds that former James Bond actor Daniel Craig is set to play Rock. Craig and Guadangino previously worked together on the drama, “Queer.” Craig certainly has the action chops to do this sort of role. Even if he comes off a little long-in-the-tooth to be starting up new franchise roles. Then again, he almost played Balder The Brave in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” and would have been on other studios’ radar for superhero roles.

Rock isn’t as well-known as members of the “Justice Leauge” but is a military hero who mostly does his fighting during World War II and has dabbled within the action-horror genre clashing with monsters, not unlike genre-splicing WWII-set properties such as “Wolfenstein” and “Overlord.” He’s also a character that could fit nicely alongside other misfit DC characters like Gunn’s “Peacemaker” and “The Creature Commandos.”

There has been a long history of Hollywood trying to get a “Sgt. Rock” movie as mega-producer Joel Silver and Arnold Schwarzenegger, around the era of “Predator,” tried to make a feature film coaxing Shane Black and Steven E. de Souza to pen scripts. Even Quentin Tarantino (“Inglorious Basterds”) was considered as he recently mused about a script written by David Webb Peoples (“Blade Runner”), and Guy Ritchie (“Snatch”) was another director further down the line who nearly got the gig (around the time he was also trying to make a “Lobo” movie at Warners).

We’ll just have to be a bit patient to learn anything more about “Sgt. Rock” and when we could expect a release.

SOURCE: NEXUS POINT & DEADLINE

'Alien: Earth' Streaming Next Summer, Series Spinoff Is Set Two Years Before Original 'Alien'
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‘Alien: Earth’ Streaming Next Summer, Series Spinoff Is Set Two Years Before Original ‘Alien’

Most recently, we finally got some new footage from Noah Hawley‘s (“Fargo,” “Legion”) “Alien” series spinoff “Alien: Earth” from a Disney+ promotional video from earlier in the month, and a “new teaser” from this week has confirmed a summer 2025 debut on Hulu and Disney+. Sadly, this teaser (See below) doesn’t exactly include any new footage, just the previous look at a xenomorph we got over the summer.

If you weren’t already aware, the show’s cast includes Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diem Camille, and Moe Bar-El.

Olyphant is reportedly playing a new android in the show, and we’re still trying to figure out if the show is indeed going to be regarded as hard canon like “Alien: Romulus” or simply a standalone project that won’t impact past or future stories.

Illuminating the Empty Spaces of 'Alien' | by Nat Brehmer | Medium

From a timeline perspective, “Alien: Earth” takes place in 2120, which directly places it two years before the events of the original “Alien” by Ridley Scott and set much after his more recent prequels, “Prometheus” (27 years) and “Alien: Covenant” (16 years).

“Alien: Romulus” took place between “Alien” and “Aliens,” adding brand new characters and establishing that Weyland-Yutanti tinkered with the Big Chap and had a cloning program before Carter Burke doomed the colonists of Hadley’s Hope or the cloning plot of “Alien: Resurrection.” Until we get official confirmation from Hawley, there is wiggle room for them to retroactively add these new show events to the main franchise timeline in the same way without retconning anything in a major way (Neill Blomkamp’s never-made “Alien 5” would have retconned the films after “Aliens” and explored the company’s experiments with the xenomorphs including bio-suits).

In theory, xenomorphs could have overrun a city or island on Earth only to be nuked into dust and covered up by the company to hide active weapons programs using alien bio-technology. This would explain this hint of previous knowledge of the xenomorphs from Ash and Carter Burke, an established database on them from the occurences of “Alien: Earth” or previous attempts to experiment even before “Romulus.”

Check out the show’s official logline from FX/Disney:

“When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s highly anticipated TV series ‘Alien: Earth’ from creator Noah Hawley.“

Elsewhere in the franchise, writer/director Fede Alvarez is said to be developing a follow-up sequel to “Alien: Romulus” (Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson are confirmed to reprise their roles) potentially with Ridley Scott (had once been developing a third David-centric prequel called “Alien: Awakening“) returning as producer via Scott Free, and the next live-action “Predator” film “Predator: Badlands” is set to hit the big screen next November. There is some hope that with the two film franchises now being set in the distant future and off-world, 20th Century Studios could eventually attempt an organic and authentic new adaptation of “Alien vs Predator.” By ignoring the previous two films and giving fans something closer to what the original comic books and video games were doing with the crossover.

Time will tell if The Colonial Marines (who haven’t officially appeared since James Cameron’s “Aliens”) will be the third splinter group to their own series or spinoff before an off-world clash between the two deadly alien species.

While “Prey” was a Hulu-exclusive film, “Alien: Romulus” was gifted a traditional theatrical release and earned an impressive $350.8 million for the studio at the worldwide box office. Making it the second highest-grossing installment. “Romulus” has proved there is still gas left in the tank despite mixed reactions to Ridley’s two prequels. We’re curious to see how “Alien: Earth” impacts things next summer and what new ideas Halwey has cooked up beyond expanding on the company trying to weaponize the xenomorph (an over-arching theme of the franchise and briefly touched upon in “Alien: Romulus” and “Alien: Resurrection” via cloning technology.

SOURCE: FX

Kevin Feige Reiterates 'Avengers: Secret Wars' Leads Into Their Reboot Of 'X-Men' & Mutants
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Kevin Feige Reiterates ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ “Leads Into” Plans For Mutants & ‘X-Men’ Reboot

We’re still in the dark about the direction of Marvel’s reboot of the “X-Men,” but we have an official update of sorts, giving us an idea of when those elements are expected to come together. Marvel Studios head and CCO Kevin Feige appeared virtually at the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore (via Deadline). During the Marvel presentation, Feige reaffirmed to the audience there that the “X-Men” reboot will have some sort of connection to “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

“I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some ‘X-Men’ players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of [‘Avengers: Secret Wars’] really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the ‘X-Men.’ Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back,” Feige recently said.

Something we really shouldn’t be surprised given talk of the next phase of MCU movies ushering in “The Mutant Saga.”

This comes after “Deadpool & Wolverine” became Marvel’s first big live-action mutant project ahead of their “X-Men” reboot (alongside the animation revival of “X-Men ’97”) and whatever they have planned leading up to it post-“Avengers: Secret Wars.” The R-rated pic amassed a hefty $1.3 billion at the box office (on par with “Black Panther” back in 2018), and Disney+ claims that the film’s streaming debut on the service nabbed 19.4 million views globally. Their first big effort in the world of mutants has been a wild success for Marvel/Disney; given the recent narrative of “superhero fatigue,” it looks like “Deadpool & Wolverine” has been the exception.

What we do know about the next mainline “X-Men” film is that British screenwriter Michael Lesslie (“The Little Drummer Girl,” “Macbeth”) was hired by the studio to tackle the script. It’s unclear if Marvel has hired subsequent writers to help out or if Lesslie’s work will make the final shooting script, as Marvel projects tend to go through multiple drafts/rewrites with multiple screenwriters contributing to them.

We’re still waiting on Marvel to announce things like a director and official release date.

Channing Tatum as Gambit in “Deadpool & Wolverine”

Deadpool, Logan/Wolverine, Laura/X-23, Colossus, and others (Cable and Domino?) are more than likely going to appear in “Avengers: Secret Wars,” but it is unclear who will be playing the rebooted versions of the “X-Men” beyond The Multiverse Saga. Speaking of continuations, there was a deleted scene from “Deadpool & Wolverine” with Channing Tatum‘s Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, surviving The Void and potentially making his own jump to another universe. Ryan Reynolds told EW that Marvel Studios is “obsessed with” Tatum’s Gambit and could signal his continuation of the X-Men member moving forward into the reboot.

“I honestly don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in the bookkeeping sessions at Marvel, but I do know that they’re obsessed with him in that role,” Reynolds said. “It’s kind of like the same situation I went through. Once you show that it works well, that’s really what they need. Sometimes, they just need to see it in action.”

In “The Marvels,” we saw Kelsey Grammer reprise the role of Dr. Hank McCoy, aka The Beast in a post-credit scene but remains to be seen if that universe holds answers to the future of the “X-Men” or simply was meant to tease things to come like “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” did with their own cameo from Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier.

With “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” shooting close together (not back-to-back) by The Russo Brothers, there is an expectation we’ll potentially start hearing more details about the latter likely sometime next year. As we already know, “Doomsday” has Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU as the villainous Victor Von Doom (expected to appear first in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”), but the “Secret Wars” villain has yet to be announced. We’re starting to suspect that it’ll be a version of The Beyonder, and the return of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (overseer of The Sacred Timeline) wouldn’t be all that shocking, either, since the TVA is still a major player.

Other things expected to be announced in the near future include “Doctor Strange 3” and “Black Panther 3,” also, we’re still curious how “Spider-Man 4” will impact the “Avengers” installments.

SOURCE: DEADLINE