Category: Television News

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Joe Barton Becomes New Showrunner of ‘The Batman’ Spinoff Series At HBO Max

It was announced by WarnerMedia, via press release circulated to trades such as Deadline, that they’ve just hired Joe Barton to become the new showrunner on their Gotham PD-centric series on HBO Max that is produced by The Batman director Matt Reeves, taking place years prior to the events of the upcoming film starring Robert Pattinson.

Barton replaces Boardwalk Empire‘s Terence Winter, who had exited over creative differences and is no stranger to gritty underbellies of crime as he was creator of the Yakuza series Giri/Haji.

Here is what Matt Reeves had to say about the DC Comics series when promoting it over the summer at DC FanDome.

REEVES: “The idea of this story was a story in which Gotham, which has this depth of corruption, and the idea that we could do a series that is going deeper into an aspect of it, which in this case is the corrupt police department, the corrupt inner workings of the city. And the way we’re gonna do this series. Terence Winter is just an incredible writer, so the idea that we got him to do this, just is literally a dream. The idea is, we go back to year one, and year one is the beginning of the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city, and you start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for his soul.”

“He’s a cop over generations and the history of corruption in Gotham is enormous and goes back many years, and the story is like, as you realize that there’s this myth-building in the background, you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before – some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new. Then you can go down an avenue and go into detail that you couldn’t do in a movie, and to go into these rich places and meet entirely new characters that Terence is going to create.”

This was the original press release for the project before Winter’s exit.

HBO Max announced today that it has given a series commitment to an original DC drama set in the Gotham City police department from The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves, Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, The Batman producer Dylan Clark, and Warner Bros. Television. The groundbreaking television series to be written by Winter is set in the world Reeves is creating for The Batman feature film and will build upon the motion picture’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, ultimately launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The series provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham. This marks the first television project for Reeves under his recently announced overall deal with the Warner Bros. Television Group.

The Batman is reportedly still shooting in the United Kingdom despite new lockdown restrictions due to a new variant of COVID-19 that is rapidly spreading there. Warner Bros. had pushed the film’s release date from October 1st, 2021 to Mach 4th, 2022 because of previous production delays. Pattinson himself had tested positive for the virus at one point.

Reeves has previously stated this would be the first in a new trilogy with the film introducing us to Batman’s rogues gallery which will include The Riddler, Catwoman, Carmine Falcone, and The Penguin.

This version of Batman according to DC Films takes place within Earth 2 and the show takes place during Bruce Wayne’s first year operating as the Caped Crusader.

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes “The Batman,” with director Matt Reeves (the “Planet of the Apes” films) at the helm and with Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse,” “Good Time”) starring as Gotham City’s vigilante detective, Batman, and billionaire Bruce Wayne.

Also in the star-studded ensemble as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the “Hunger Games” films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the “Transformers” films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Black Mass”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Dumbo”) as Oswald Cobblepot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Willow’: Director Jon M. Chu Announces His Exit From Lucasfilm’s Fantasy Series For Disney+

The Willow series was about to begin shooting soon in Wales as it’s director Jon M. Chu has taken to Twitter to announce because the pandemic and the pregnancy of his wife he’ll be stepping down to focus on his family.

You can read Chu’s own words below explaining his departure from Willow.

According to Lucasfilm’s press release for the Disney Investor Day, they had planned on starting production in March and release the series on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

Willow, coming to Disney+, will be set decades after Ron Howard’s 1988 movie, continuing the spirit of adventure, heroics, and humor of the original film. Warwick Davis will return in the role of the great sorcerer, Willow Ufgood. Willow begins shooting next March in Wales and will debut on Disney+ in 2022.

They had been in the middle of casting the fantasy series with reports that actresses were in the mix for lead roles. Those names included Erin Kellyman (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Green Knight) for the role of Jade, Cailee Spaeny (Pacific Rim: Uprising, Bad Times At The El Royale) playing Kit and English actress Ellie Bamber (Nocturnal Animals) as Dove.

The original film was directed by Ron Howard, who is a executive producer on the new Disney+ series which is said to be a continuation of the the 1988 film rather than a reboot.

WILLOW – Enter the world of Willow. Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side … to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears.

SOURCE: JON M. CHU

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Kevin Feige Doesn’t Sound Terribly Interested In Reviving The Netflix Shows Anytime Soon

Ever since the cancellations of the Marvel/Netflix shows in the wake of Jeph Loeb’s exit and the demise of Marvel Television, there have been plenty of speculations and rumors about what Marvel/Disney plans to do with the character rights as they revert back to them.

These various rumors over the last two years have run the gauntlet of the main actors reprising roles in the MCU to even bolder claims that their shows would get a complete resurrection elsewhere on Disney’s streaming services. It’s worth noting none of this has ever been made official despite the hopefulness of fans.

During a chat with Deadline, they asked Marvel’s CCO Kevin Feige his current intentions on reviving the Netflix shows specifically mentioning Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, his answer alludes to them being too busy with their own material. However, not entirely closing the door.

FEIGE: “Well, certainly you’ve seen what we announced at Comic-Con a year and half ago and on Disney Investor Day a few weeks ago, so that’s our focus. But I’ve been at Marvel long enough to never say never about anything.”

Marvel Studios focusing on their own projects sounds about right as they really haven’t given the impression they are interested on returning to those projects. Instead, developing bigger things and introducing new heroes/franchises to audiences. Feige has the power to bring back shows or actors as the chief creative officer and is now running the newly branded Marvel TV Studios.

They also got the rights to a string of Marvel characters from the merger with 21st Century Fox that would likely be more of a priority for them as seen with the Fantastic Four announcement and official development on Deadpool 3.

Considering the Netflix shows had always fell outside of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe canon and they weren’t projects that were developed by Marvel Studios, there isn’t a huge obligation to continue those shows with those exact actors (their contracts have all expired). Of course, there are plenty of fans of those shows that would disagree and have convinced themselves that they could have a second life elsewhere despite the mature nature of those shows would mean they’d have to land on Disney+’s adult arm Star or Hulu.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Kevin Feige Gives Vague Response If ‘WandaVision’ Connects To Marvel’s ‘X-Men’ Reboot

WandaVision debuts on January 15th on Disney+ and Deadline is curious if the Phase 4 series will be teasing future things to come including Marvel’s X-Men franchise reboot, given that Wanda has direct connections to the mutants as her father happens to be Magneto. The response from Marvel’s Kevin Feige is extremely vague which might be a bit disappointing for people expecting from clarity.

DEADLINE: We know with Monica Rambeau in WandaVision, her character connects into Captain Marvel 2, and that the series connects to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Is WandaVision a ramp to the revival of X-Men you’re planning?

FEIGE: “In hindsight, in five years if when we’re talking about everything that’s happened, everything can be a ramp to everything, specifically though, yes, Monica in Captain Marvel 2 and specifically to Wanda teaming up with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

We’ll have to wait and see if the show drops hints to mutants as that could also be the case with Eternals.

There are small tidbits from the X-Men comic book universe joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with S.W.O.R.D. in WandaVision and the fictional island nation of Madripoor is expected to make it’s live-action debut in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

Concerning upcoming projects based on the former 20th Century Fox properties we learned last year The Fantastic Four reboot has Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts attached and Deadpool 3 recently landed screenwriters The Molyneux Sisters (Bob’s Burgers) pushing forward that film’s development.

Vice director Adam McKay talked about potentially pitch a Silver Surfer movie to the studio and Noah Hawley had been developing as solo Doctor Doom project before the merger that seemed to interest Feige.

How and when we’ll see mutants and the main team of X-Men is still an unanswered question.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Secret Invasion’: Kevin Feige Says They Won’t Have As Many As Characters The Comic But Will Tap Into The Paranoia

We knew that a Nick Fury series was on the way from Marvel Studios and it was confirmed during the Disney Investor Day event as Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn returning as Skrull leader Talos. 

The Secret Invasion is a story in Marvel Comics that reveals various characters had replaced with the alien baddies Skrulls leading to a huge clash between superpowered Skrulls mimicking the powers of many Marvel heroes and villains. This element had been directly connected to the Fantastic Four rights via the Super-Skrull, but with those rights finally returning to Marvel it allows them to use those other Skrull abilities beyond shapeshifting. 

In the comics, it’s a massive event on the level of Avengers: Endgame but the series seemingly won’t be on that scale according to Kevin Feige while speaking with Comic Book to promote WandaVision‘s debut on Disney+ later this month. Revealing that fans shouldn’t expect the volume of characters in the show as the comic since they’ll be focusing on Sam and Ben’s characters. 

FEIGE: “Well, there were more characters in the Secret Invasion comic series than there were in Endgame so, no. It’s not that but it very much is a showcase for Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelson and tapping into the paranoia elements of the Secret Invasion comic series that was great with the twists and turns that that took. So, that’s certainly our focus more than, ‘Can we cram in more characters than Endgame? like publishing?'”

Expectations certainly need to be tempered a bit considering that the Marvel series will have more limitations with more targeted casting than the films because the time commitment to a series is likely a lot more of an ask than with a feature film with a runtime of two-plus hours. 

S.W.O.R.D. is all but assumed to be involved in the series and will be introduced in WandaVision. 

The series is expected to shoot around the same time as Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2 in the United Kingdom, so there is a good shot that there could be some crossover with those characters rather than others that might be harder to connect. We’ll be excited to hear if the project will indeed have a direct crossover with Olivia Wilde‘s Spider-Woman film given that Jessica Drew has a role to play in Secret Invasion. 

Stay tuned for more information on the Skrull event in the coming months.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

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‘Moon Knight’: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead To Direct Multiple Episodes

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Marvel Studios has hired indie directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead for their upcoming superhero series Moon Knight that will air exclusively on Disney+ and will begin shooting in March. The duo are said to be working on multiple episodes with Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab still directing the bulk of them.

Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, a mercenary who has numerous alter egos — cabbie Jake Lockley and millionaire playboy Steven Grant — in order to better fight the criminal underworld. But later he was established as being a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Most recently, the character was a consultant who dresses in all-white and goes by the name Mr. Knight. 

Having multiple directors isn’t a new thing for the Marvel shows as it’s the same case for Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk.

Using the working title Good Faith, the Marvel show will be filming in Budapest, London, and possibly in the United States. Morocco had been recently used as a location for Black Widow and would make sense to double as Egypt, but the pandemic could make international filming a little trickier.

Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac had been in talks for the lead role of Marc Spector and the show’s cinematographer Gregory Middleton seemingly confirmed the actor on his Instagram account this week. There hadn’t been official confirmation as during Kevin Feige’s Marvel Studios presentation at the Disney Investor Day event in December, Oscar wasn’t mentioned in connection to Moon Knight puzzling many of us expecting a casting confirmation from Marvel.

We’ve been hearing that Disney+ is hoping that production could be completed in a timely manner allowing Moon Knight to be ready to begin airing in the spring/summer of 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Moon Knight’ Cinematographer May Have Confirmed Oscar Isaac Has Landed Marc Spector Role

It looks like we finally have some confirmation concerning Moon Knight casting.

Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, a mercenary who has numerous alter egos — cabbie Jake Lockley and millionaire playboy Steven Grant — in order to better fight the criminal underworld. But later he was established as being a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Most recently, the character was a consultant who dresses in all-white and goes by the name Mr. Knight. 

Gregory Middleton (Watchmen, Game of Thrones), the Marvel show’s cinematographer has seemingly confirmed on Instagram previous reports that Oscar Isaac has landed the role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight.

The Star Wars actor had been in talks according to trade reporting but absent from Marvel Studios’ big Disney Investor Day presentation in December, while She-Hulk‘s Tatiana Maslany was officially announced by Kevin Feige.

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab had been recently announced for the series.

Production is confirmed for Budapest, Hungary where Middleston was located when he made the Instagram post. Budapest is a popular production locale which has been used for Marvel’s Black Widow, Showtime’s Halo series, Blade Runner 2049, Legendary’s Dune remake, The Martian, Red Sparrow, Terminator: Dark Fate, Bloodshot, Gemini Man, Midsommar, and the first season of Netflix’s The Witcher.

Filming under the working title Good Faith was said to begin in March with other filming locations expected to take place in London and the United States.

Morbius production designer Stefania Cella had confirmed her involvement on her website.

We are also hearing that Disney+ is hoping to have episodes of Moon Knight begin airing sometime in the spring of 2022, this will be all dependent if production goes smoothly in 2021 as the pandemic still marches on.

Casting announcements for other roles are coming soon.

SOURCE: GREGORY MIDDLETON

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‘Loki’ Writer Michael Waldron Returning For Season 2 Thanks To Overall Deal With Disney

Another tidbit mentioned in a report from Deadline revealing that screenwriter Michael Waldron is expected to return in some capacity for Season 2 of Loki after making a deal with Disney that includes working on Kevin Feige‘s untitled Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm.

We’ve known even before the Disney+ series set in the Multiverse began shooting that there were plans at Marvel to give the Tom Hiddleston series multiple seasons. It’s unclear if Kate Herron will return to direct Season 2 as they’re just about to complete filming Season 1 but there is a really good shot that her return will be announced in the near future.

Set photos have confirmed that we will be seeing Multiverse versions of Loki such as Lady Loki and it remains to be seen if Hiddleston’s Loki will be showing up in upcoming films that has the Multiverse connected to plots such as Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness or Thor: Love & Thunder.

There are plenty of other shows on the horizon for Marvel Studios and when they’ll want to begin shooting on a second season has yet to be confirmed.

Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye are currently in production with She-Hulk and Moon Knight said to begin filming in March. Other MCU shows that are in the works includes Armor Wars, Ironheart, and the crossover Skrull event Secret Invasion.

The first season will begin airing on the streaming service in May.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Jon Favreau Announces ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Shoots Before ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 – Robert Rodriguez To Produce

The Mandalorian creator and producer Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to make a special announcement.

At the end of the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm announced that The Book of Boba Fett expected to star Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen with it to begin airing on Disney+ in December 2021. We saw the pair arrive at Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine to assassinate an older Bib Fortuna with Boba Fett taking over the kingpin’s throne (a nod to Conan The Barbarian) suggesting that the series may explore the criminal syndicates of the Star Wars universe’s underworld, not just bounty hunting.

Jon revealing that The Book of Boba Fett will shoot first and then they’ll move into Season 3 of The Mandalorian. Also, Disney confirming Robert Rodriguez is involved on the producing team joining Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

Favreau also alluded to Pedro Pascal will return for Season 3 of The Mandalorian.

Deadline first reported that filming on the project has started weeks ago.

We’ve heard for over a week that Robert was being courted to lead his own Star Wars series and will be heavily involved with the show.

Only a matter of time before Danny Trejo is announced for a Star Wars role.

Other Disney+ projects set in the Star Wars universe on the horizon include Diego Luna’s Andor (currently filming in London), Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen (set to begin shooting in March), Rangers of The New Republic, Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series, Leslye Headland’s High Republic show The Acolyte, and another show featuring the iconic character Lando.

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is also directing the next Star Wars film Star Wars: Rogue Squadron coming to theaters on December 22, 2023.

Here is the press release for the project from Lucasfilm.

Boba Fett is back. And his story is just beginning.

As teased in a surprise end-credit sequence following the season finale of The Mandalorian, the legendary bounty hunter’s journey will continue in The Book of Boba Fett. Jon Favreau, executive producer of The Mandalorian, confirmed today on Good Morning America that the new series is currently in production and will arrive December 2021, only on Disney+.

The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.

Boba Fett made his big-screen debut in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, becoming an instant fan favorite thanks to his visually arresting armor and cool demeanor. Jeremy Bulloch, the original actor inside the armor, passed away last week — but his legacy, including all he brought to Boba Fett, goes on. The Book of Boba Fett will carry that legacy forward.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian will go into production next year.

SOURCE: GOOD MORNING AMERICA

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SPOILERS: ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 16 Recap – Where Does The Show Go Now?

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SEASON 2 FINALE OF THE MANDALORIAN

The Season 2 finale titled The Rescue was directed by Peyton Reed (Ant-Man) and seemingly gives some closure to The Mandalorian‘s Season 1 narrative.

As I assumed, Mando seeks out help from Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves they agree to help as long as they get a shot at Moff Gideon and returning the Darksaber back to Mandalorians.

Things go south once they get on Gideon’s ship and Dark Troopers are activated, luckily, Mando sends them into space via the airlock and then has a duel with Moff Gideon.

Mando survives and with the Darksaber brings Moff Gideon to the bridge where everyone else is. Gideon informs Din Djain that he’s won the Darksaber and he cannot just hand it over to Bo-Katan it has to be won in combat.

The Dark Troopers return to the ship and start taking apart the blast doors at the bridge only for a lone X-Wing to arrive. A cloaked Luke Skywalker takes care of the Dark Trooper droids in what is likely the most action the character has seen in the entire franchise.

Mark Hamill reprises the role with the help of some uncanny valley CGI which I’m shocked Lucasfilm is still attempting to use after Tarkin and Princess Leia in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was such a mess, the VFX is slightly improved but, in my opinion, they should have gone with an actor like Sebastian Stan instead.

Skywalker with R2-D2 at his side agrees to take Grogu and train him as Mando gives a tearful goodbye promises they’ll see each other again.

With Grogu in the hands of Luke Skywalker and The Jedi, Din Djarin may end up joining forces with Bo-Katan if she doesn’t kill him for the Darksaber to regain her power. Season 3 will likely see focus on the Mandalorians trying to restore things post-Empire.

The episode ends with a button scene teasing the upcoming Boba Fett and Fennec Shand project The Book of Boba Fett which is coming out in December 2021. We see the pair arrive on Tatooine and blast their way into Jabba’s Palace with Fett killing an older Bib Fortuna seemingly taking his spot as the head of the criminal syndicate. I have to assume the series will see Fett positioning himself to be a leader within the criminal underworld of Star Wars.

Rosario Dawson will be leading the spinoff Ahsoka.

However, we don’t know who will be leading the other spinoff series Rangers of The New Republic.