A while back, there was a call online from Star Wars fans to see the Cara Dune role to continue with New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica) taking the part in season three of The Mandalorian (currently filming in California).
However, Lawless alludes to Metro during a chat that the online campaign may have hurt her chances to land another Star Wars role that she had been in discussions for. Although, she won’t name the project other than it’s not The Mandalorian.
“Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on – it wasn’t The Mandalorian – something Star Wars-affiliated.”
“It might have hurt me in some way, because then they couldn’t hire me because it would seem to be pandering to… I’m just guessing here, I don’t know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?”
It doesn’t sound like Lucy Lawless is going to join the Star Wars universe anytime soon, revealing that she might have talks with Lucasfilm for something else would suggest that nothing came together. Normally, we don’t often hear from actors that didn’t land roles so it’s certainly interesting to hear her perspective of a well-meaning online campaign.
As expected since December, The Mandalorian will return to Disney+ in 2022.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett aren’t the only upcoming Star Wars series wrapping their productions, as Andor star Diego Luna has revealed to Deadline in an interview that they have finished filming on 12-episode Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel.
Luna also teased familiar characters from the Star Wars universe showing up in Andor.
“You’ll definitely see familiar faces.”
“I can tell you about this project like no other because I can’t spoil the ending if you’ve seen [Stars Wars: Rogue One] already. No matter what I say, I can’t ruin the ending.”
“While I can’t say much, what I can tell you is that the experience was literally a transformation for me. It’s something that I really wanted to do and that I thought I was not going to be able to do. I’m more than happy.”
Forest Whitaker will reprise the role of Saw Gerrera, which was confirmed earlier in the year via Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard (Thor, Dune, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Whitaker also reprises the role in the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Originally, Alan Tudyk was announced to reprise his role as the smart-mouthed droid K-2SO, but had recently revealed to Collider that he was unlikely going to be involved with Season 1 due to changes made by Tony Gilory when he joined the project and rewriting episodes. He also inadvertently teased Andor would be getting multiple seasons.
TUDYK: “They’re shooting it right now, I’m not in it. But, if it stays on the air, stories keep getting told, I’ll end up in there.I’m going to be in the show. It’s just that the story that Tony [Gilroy] is telling doesn’t involve K-2SO until later on… I can’t be too specific, but I can definitely say that I’m not going to be in the first season.”
It wouldn’t be shocking if we end up seeing other existing characters like Darth Vader or folks from the animation side. I had assumed that Thrawn might be a contender to appear but we’ll have to wait to see if that is happening before the Ahsoka show.
The rest of the Andor cast includes Adria Arjona (Morbius), Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Robert Emms (Chernobyl), Fiona Shaw, and Kyle Soller.
Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Utopia, Black Mirror) will be directing with a writing team that includes Tony Gilroy (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Beau Willimon (House of Cards), and Stephen Schiff (The Americans).
Andor’s 12-episode run will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
A while back, The Ronin listed off a heap of new Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) established by the Walt Disney Company for a bunch of untitled Marvel Studios projects (film and television). We’ve been now able to confirm that one of the companies we listed off in the past, Ionic Productions LLC, is indeed at Marvel Studios.
We could theorize that Ionic Productions is alluding to characters like X-Men’s Rogue (less likely) or Avengers member Wonder Man, given the two superheroes have ionic-based powers.
At one time, Canadian actor Nathan Fillion (Slither, The Suicide Squad, Guardians of The Galaxy) was in the role of Simon Williams aka Wonder Man in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 (was cut from the final film) and he recently played the Avengers character in Hulu’s M.O.D.O.K. series, however, it remains to be seen if he’ll return to the part in any live-action capacity.
In August, Fillion took to Twitter during The Suicide Squad watch party to campaign to play Walter Langowski aka Sasquatch in a hypothetical Alpha Flight (Canadian mutant team) project at Marvel Studios. It’s an interesting character pick since Nathan’s longtime pal Ryan Reynolds is playing Canadian mutant Wade Wilson in Deadpool 3 and could lead to those characters interacting.
#TSSWatchParty New goal: Same walk, in front of Canadian flag. Alpha Flight, anyone? I’d kill it as Walter Langowski.
Wonder Man has connections to established MCU characters such as Baron Zemo, Captain Marvel, Vision, and Scarlet Witch.
There is still a good chance this might be simply another Disney+ spinoff either focusing on Paul Bettany’s Vision (Wonder Man teaser art was spotted in a WandaVision promo) or even Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, but we’ll have to wait to get real confirmation on what the project actually is.
Wonder Man concept art appeared in WandaVision promo
In May, WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer signed an overall deal with Marvel Studios/20th Century Television, but future projects haven’t been announced. If this turns out to be Wonder Man, given the concept art in the WandaVision production office, I wouldn’t be shocked if Schaeffer is involved given her extended deal with Marvel.
It’s noteworthy to mention WandaVision’s LLC was Static Productions, so a connection to characters from the show wouldn’t be a surprise to us.
Old Guard Productions LLC is another LLC we first uncovered that is expected to be for Marvel Studios, but we’ll still trying to get that one confirmed. It’ll be interesting to see if Old Guard might be liked to X-Men, Fantastic Four, Winter Guard/Red Guardian, or the original Guardians of The Galaxy lineup (who appeared in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2).
Here is a rundown of the other LLCs.
GRASS-FED PRODUCTIONS (SECRET INVASION)
BAD EGG PRODUCTIONS(IRONHEART)
FREQUENT PRODUCTIONS (EHCO)
MAGLEV TRAIN PRODUCTIONS (WAKANDA DISNEY+ SERIES)
NATURAL HISTORY PRODUCTIONS (DISNEY+ PROJECT)
BLUEBERRY WAFFLESPRODUCTIONS
STANDOFFISH PRODUCTIONS
CHANGEUP PRODUCTIONS
SOLVE EVERYTHING PRODUCTIONS
ON YOUR MARK PRODUCTIONS
CANTINA PRODUCTIONS
BATTLE ANYONE PRODUCTIONS
ACID POP PRODUCTIONS
SPEYSIDE PRODUCTIONS
RICHMOND STREET PRODUCTIONS
IONIC PRODUCTIONS
OLD GUARD PRODUCTIONS(UNCONFIRMED)
There is certainly an expectation while this stuff is for new projects (sequels don’t get new LLC names), some of the LLCs are likely for known/announced things like Bassam Tariq’s Blade reboot, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four or stuff that hasn’t been made official like X-Men/Secret Wars/Avengers 5/Silver Surfer.
New animation projects for the Disney+ lineup are also coming from Marvel.
Other live-action projects on the horizon include Eternals, Hawkeye, Spider-Man: No Way Home (collaboration with Sony Pictures), Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love & Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, The Marvels, Secret Invasion, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Ironheart, Echo, Armor Wars, Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3, and an untitled Wakanda series from Ryan Coogler.
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige could easily announce the new film titles at D23 Expo and then television projects at the Disney+ Day event on November 12, as an info dump by the end of the year on their upcoming slate is expected.
Despite years of tabloid reports/online rumors of various frontrunners and shortlists for a new James Bond actor (to join the yet-to-be-titled Bond 26), franchise producer Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions is pouring cold water, yet again, on the idea they’ve even started looking for someone new to replace Daniel Craig.
While speaking with BBC Radio 4’s Today (via Deadline), the producer revealed they won’t even begin “thinking” about starting the search until 2022.
“We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.”
The assumption is that they likely didn’t think Daniel Craig was ultimately retiring, because she also suggested in the interview it took her a while to accept that was happening jokingly stating she was in “denial.” Adding that the Craig was reluctant to even take the part in the beginning.
“He knew it would change his life, which it obviously has. He enabled us to explore the emotional life of Bond, to go deeply into the personal, complexity of the character.”
I don’t think they would have minded another film with Craig, but it certainly sounded like when he accepted to return for No Time To Die, he was serious about it being his final outing as James Bond, something that has been part of the marketing of the film.
It’ll be interesting if they continue the trend of keeping on supporting actors with the new James Bond actor as they’ve previously done with the various incarnations or will take a more drastic hard-reboot approach by replacing everyone.
There had been previous rumblings that co-writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (No Time To Die, Fleabag) has already started working on Bond 26, but remains to be seen when they’ll actually get that up and ready for cameras.
Names such as Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, Jamie Bell, Rege-Jean Page, Riz Ahmed, Richard Madden, Henry Golding, Aidan Turner, James Norton, Cillian Murphy, Sam Heughan, and Jack Lowden have been previously asked to comment on potentially taking on the role or have been mused/rumored for it (the latter doesn’t seem to be terribly trustworthy).
However, multiple statements from producers would suggest they haven’t even started thinking about actors. Then again, since franchise producers rarely comment on Bond stories it allows tabloids to post fake casting stories without much rebuke.
Fans will just have to be patient.
No Time To Die will release domestically on October 8.
The rest of the cast will include Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) as a new villain named Safin (Dr. No?), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) as Felix Leiter, Ralph Fiennes (The King’s Man) as M, Christoph Waltz returning as Spectre’s Blofeld, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out) as Paloma, Ben Whishaw as Q, Billy Magnussen, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, David Dencik, and Dali Benssalah.
NO TIME TO DIE – Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
The pandemic hasn’t led to many wins at the box office, however, there is some good news concerning Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. A new superhero film that gives Marvel Studios their first leading Asian-American superhero character and the latest addition to the growing ranks of The Avengers.
Shang-Chi has now slid past Cate Shortland’s Black Widow to nab the pandemic record at the box office earning an impressive $196 million, the estimated weekend numbers coming from Deadline. This comes alongside solid global numbers as well $342+ million, as the comic book flick is zeroing in on crossing $400 million.
It’s only a matter of time before Marvel announces a Shang-Chi sequel, as Cretton and co-writer Dave Callaham have previously teased ideas for Shang-Chi 2 having a connection to the origin of the ten rings themselves.
We’re curious to see where Shang-Chi where appear next as cameos/crossovers continue to be an important element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the television division expanding as well with multiple unannounced Disney+ shows on horizon.
November will see the next big feature film with Chloe Zhao’s Eternals and the Hawkeye series that focuses on holiday adventure in NYC as Clint Barton mentors Kate Bishop.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film.
With Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings released, the next big Marvel Studios project will be Eternals from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomandland). While we have some idea about the film there is slightly less known about The Deviants and how exactly they’ll be factoring into the film.
It’s been rumored that Legion actor Dan Stevens (The Guest, Beauty & The Beast) could be playing Kro in the film, the leader of the Deviants as the character appears in the trailer.
While speaking with Collider, Stevens seemingly confirmed the role with a cheeky response when asked if he was in Eternals.
“Kro comment…I said ‘Kro comment’ but I don’t know if that is cryptic enough.”
Dan Stevens isn’t a stranger to Marvel Comics projects as he led the X-Men series Legion that saw him play David Haller (son of Professor Charles Xavier in the comics) and would join Chris Evans as an actor previously playing a Fox era Marvel character only to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Evans you might remember played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies.
In the comics, Kro started out as a villain only to switch sides and join the Eternals team thanks to his romance with Angelina Jolie’s Thena. Their relationship is somewhat teased in the trailer with their brief, yet, not hostile interactions.
It wouldn’t terribly shocking if Kro and Dan Stevens took on a heroic part by the end of the film allowing him to return for multiple installments, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Marvel plans to do with him.
ETERNALS – The immortal heroes, the Eternals, came here 7,000 years ago, since the dawn of man, to “protect humans from the Deviants.” Sersi reveals that she hasn’t seen some of the other Eternal teammates for centuries. With the monstrous creatures, the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, Ikaris decides that it’s time for them to “find the others” and defend humanity once again. As the epic story unfolds, Sersi and Ikaris reunite with Kingo (played by Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (played by Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (played by Don Lee), Thena (played by Angelina Jolie), Makkari (played by Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), and Druig (played by Barry Keoghan).
Daniel Craig’s era of James Bond is coming to and end, as No Time To Die has been billed as the actor’s final outing as the British spy and led to an emotional viral video of him saying goodbye to cast/crew as they wrapped on the latest installment.
The subject of a female James Bond came up during a chat with Radio Times, as Daniel Craig laments that there should be better parts for actresses that have equal footing with James Bond.
“The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
Craig also commented on what co-writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (said to be writing Bond 26) brought to the film.
“She’s got devilish humor. Her influence permeates a lot of this film. She walked that fantastic line of keeping it as a thriller and being very funny. But Phoebe didn’t come in to change Bond. She came in to spice it up for sure, but she’s a Bond fan – she wasn’t about to take him in a different direction.”
What’s interesting here is that No Time To Die actually features a female 007, Nomi, played by British actress Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel). So, the idea that the franchise even needs a “female version of James Bond” is sort of broken because that character already exists with Nomi, who has literally replaced Bond and took his 007 codename.
No Time To Die releases domestically in U.S./Canada on October 8.
The rest of the cast will include Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) as a new villain named Safin (Dr. No?), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) as Felix Leiter, Ralph Fiennes (The King’s Man) as M, Christoph Waltz returning as Spectre’s Blofeld, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out) as Paloma, Ben Whishaw as Q, Billy Magnussen, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, David Dencik, and Dali Benssalah.
NO TIME TO DIE – Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
House of The Dragon is the next big installment of the Game of Thrones franchise from HBO and producer/creator George R.R. Martin, which is based on the prequel novel Fire & Blood that chronicles the Targaryens (House of The Dragon).
Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
HBO has announced via The Hollywood Reporter that six more actors have joined the mature fantasy series with the standout being Scottish actor Graham McTavish, who had a supporting role in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy and might be better known for his role on the television series Outlander.
Check out the roles and character descriptions from HBO.
Ryan Corr (Holding the Man) as Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong — ‘Breakbones’, Harwin is said to be the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms. Ser Harwin is the eldest son to Master of Laws Lyonel Strong and heir to Harrenhal.
Jefferson Hall (Vikings) as Lord Jason Lannister — the Lord of Casterly Rock and twin to Ser Tyland Lannister. Jefferson Hall as Tyland Lannister — a crafty and calculating politician, twin to Lord Jason Lannister.
David Horovitch (Miss Marple) as Grand Maester Mellos — a voice of reason and trusted advisor to King Viserys.
Graham McTavish (Outlander) as Ser Harrold Westerling — Ser Harrold has served in the Kingsguard since the days of King Jaehaerys; he is a paragon of chivalry and honor.
Matthew Needham (Chernobyl) as Larys Strong — younger son of Master of Laws Lyonel Strong, brought to court by his father.
Bill Paterson (Fleabag) as Lord Lyman Beesbury — Lord of Honeyholt and Master of Coin on King Viserys’s small council.
Gavin Spokes (Hamilton) as Lord Lyonel Strong — Master of Laws to King Viserys and Lord of Harrenhal.
The rest of the cast consists of Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon (The Sea Snake), Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower (The Hand of the King), Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Milly Alcock as Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Emily Carey as Young Alicent Hightower.
Martin recently signed a five-year deal with HBO and could see even more Game of Thrones projects being developed. There have been previous reports that George R.R. Martin’s Knight of The Seven Kingdoms will be turned a series, titled Tales of Dunk & Egg, along with other projects in development such as Sea Snake aka The 9 Voyages, 10,000 Ships, and three animated projects as one will focus on The Grand Empire of Yi Ti (a fantasy version of Imperial China).
A Flea Bottom show has been killed by HBO, we’ll likely see more projects not make the finish line. The Long Night/Bloodmoon was a prequel series about the origin of The White Walkers that only shot a pilot and didn’t get a series pick-up.
House of The Dragon will begin airing sometime in 2022.
After winning on Oscar for Black Panther and an Emmy for The Mandalorian, Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson is cementing a working relationship with Disney. He’s set to score Pixar’s upcoming Toronto-set animated film Turning Red and there is even more.
It was announced earlier in the month by Göransson to Variety, that he would be reuniting with director Ryan Coogler for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and he’s even doing a second Star Wars show on top of that.
Film Music Reporter has revealed that the composer is also working on The Book of Boba Fett, the spinoff series of The Mandalorian focusing on the clone bounty hunter. The series wrapped months back with Lucasfilm previously announcing it will debut on Disney+ this December.
In the show, we’ll see further adventures of Boba Fett (played by Temuera Morrison) and his newly acquired partner Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), the stinger teased he’ll attempt to either get revenge or take over the underworld returning to his gangster life.
We wouldn’t be shocked if Ludwig Göransson is also going to work on the third season of The Mandalorian or the Rosario Dawson spinoff Ahsoka, it’s only a matter of time before that is made official.
While it’s likely, a second season for The Book of Boba Fett hasn’t been hinted to or announced by Disney/Lucasfilm.
The Black Panther sequel will be released on July 8, 2022, with a returning cast that consists of Danai Gurira as Okoye, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Angela Bassett as Romonda, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross.
New additions to the cast for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are expected to include Dominique Thorne (Judas & The Black Messiah) making her MCU debut as Riri Williams (getting her own Disney+ series Ironheart) alongside Emmy-winner Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You, Black Mirror) and Tenoch Huerta (Narcos: Mexico).
It looks like the Hawkeye series is going to get some breathing room this fall/winter, as the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel from Marvel Studios seemingly is no longer on deck for a release in 2021.
The Marvel Studios original series centers on fan-favorite Kamala Khan — a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A great student, avid gamer, and voracious fan-fic scribe, Kamala has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. However, Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school — that is, until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with superpowers, right?
Variety is echoing what we’ve all now assumed as Disney+ has announced November 12 for their Disney+ Day presentation, that the Ms. Marvel series (formerly coming late 2021 alongside Hawkeye) will be pushed to sometime in 2022.
However, Variety didn’t name a month (we assume it’ll drop in Q1 of 2022) or specific date for the series and likely are going off deduction given a December spot is unlikely at this point with The Book of Boba Fett on the horizon that month.
Ms. Marvel had been shooting in Atlanta and Thailand.
Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala/Ms. Marvel is currently in England shooting Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, at Longcross Studios and might end up appearing in the Secret Invasion series. The Disney+ series that also features S.W.O.R.D. is also shooting in the same area (possibly on the same stages). There has been an expectation for months the two casts will cross-pollinate for the two MCU projects.
It’ll be interesting to see if the MCU incarnation of Kamala will embrace the connection to Inhumans (it’s been rumored they won’t) or take a different path given they’re unlikely going to jump into that group anytime given the proximity to the failed Marvel Television series along with Eternals and their X-Men reboot on the horizon.
Over the summer, The Ronin caught wind that Ms. Marvel is aiming to shoot something in the United Kingdom, likely in 2022. We haven’t been able to confirm if this is a button/end-credit sequence or a signal that Ms. Marvel is getting a second season like Loki (the latter is extremely likely).
Other Marvel shows releasing in 2022 include She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and the aforementioned Secret Invasion.
THE RONIN 