Following-up to the Deadline report that Black Panther director Ryan Coolger is making a Wakanda series with Marvel Studios for Disney+ as part of his new development deal between Disney and his production company Proximity Media, we might be getting more Marvel shows from Coogler.
In an official press release from Marvel Studios that was also cited in the Deadline report, Ryan reveals he’ll be working on “select MCU Shows” giving us the impression we’ll see him involved with more than just one show. However, they stopped short from revealing what those projects could be.
COOGLER: “It’s an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true. As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella. We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms. We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t wait to share.”
There is a good chance that he could be exploring characters outside of the Black Panther/Wakanda franchise.
Ryan is said to be getting ready to shoot Black Panther 2 this summer in Atlanta.
Deadline has breaking news that Ryan Coogler has secured a five-year overall television deal with Disney and that he’s already going to develop Black Panther spinoff series for Disney+ that will take place within the Kingdom of Wakanda.
However, there are no current details about who that show will be focusing on.
Disney has made a five-year overall exclusive television deal with Coogler’s Proximity Media, which he runs with principals Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis and Peter Nicks. Coogler, who is working on the Black Panther feature sequel he will direct this year, will develop new television series for the studio. The first one will delight Black Panther fans: a drama based in the Kingdom of Wakanda for Disney+. The deal also enables Proximity to develop television for other divisions of the Company.
Coogler is currently prepping and writing Black Panther 2, which Marvel Studios is hoping to begin filming this summer in Atlanta, Georgia. Marvel has gone the record multiple times they will not be recasting the T’Challa role after the death of Chadwick Boseman and are not exploring a digital double either.
Will we see the adventures of The Dora Milaje or The Jabari Tribe?
This looks to be part of a push from Marvel Studios to cement their commitments to having a stronger presence of black characters in their growing cinematic universe which has been mostly seen on the television side of the MCU thanks to new Disney+ shows. The three big new series announcements revealed back in December included Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion, Don Cheadle’s Armor Wars, and newcomer Dominique Thorne playing engineering wiz-kid Riri Williams in Ironheart.
We’re also starting to see Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau in WandaVision becoming an integral part of the MCU before joining fellow cosmic heroines Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan in Captain Marvel 2.
You might remember an unreliable YouTuber was pushing a rumor that Marvel Studios was considering using a CGI Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther 2, something that was quickly debunked by Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso when speaking with Clarin last year.
ALONSO: “No. There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really.”
“[We] have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise.”
During the Disney Investor Day back in December, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed they weren’t planning on recasting the T’Challa role. He’s now reaffirmed they have zero plan to use a CGI version of Chadwick in the sequel while speaking with Deadline to promote the upcoming release of WandaVision.
However, he is being vague how they’ll continue the franchise as referring back to writer/director Ryan Coogler working on hard on the project.
FEIGE: “So much of the comics and that first movie is the world of Wakanda. Wakanda is a place to further explore with characters and different subcultures. This was always and initially the primary focus of the next story. We’re not going to have a CG Chadwick and we’re not recasting T’Challa. Ryan Coogler is working very hard right now on the script with all the respect and love and genius that he has, which gives us great solace, so it was always about furthering the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda. There’s also the task of honoring and respecting the ongoing learnings and teachings from Chad as well.”
Narcos: Mexico actor Tenoch Huerta is reportedly playing an unnamed villain in the new film and has a release date of July 8th, 2022 with production said to begin this summer in Atlanta, Georgia.
People after San Diego Comic-Con 2019 started making theories on when Phase 4 would end that led to plenty of assumptions what would end up becoming Phase 5 projects, however, a brief comment from Kevin Feige is suggesting he’s not ready to say when Phase 4 is ending and when Phase 5 begins. Because of the pandemic Phase 4 will kick-off with WandaVision instead of Black Widow, which was originally set to be released in May 2020.
Murphy’s Multiverse asked Kevin Feige during a WandaVision press conference for clarification if the Marvel Studios president would reveal when in the release schedule we’ll see the end of Phase 4 and got a straight-up “no” in response.
We’ll just have to wait and see when they want to reveal that information publicly.
It’s worth mentioning that Phase 3 included 11 feature films starting with Captain America:Civil War and ended with Spider-Man: Far From Home. There is a good chance that Marvel might extend Phase 4 further than where they originally wanted.
I think the delays in release could also make things a little more complicated.
Something like James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy 3 might be something that could end Phase 4 if they want to push the slate into 2023-2024.
WandaVision begins airing on Disney+ starting January 15th.
Here’s a reminder of the current MCU movies that are set for release and is still subject to change.
Marvel Studios had a rather large presentation at last week’s Disney Investor Day event and Kevin Feige had a lot of information to share in such a short period. Below is a rundown of most of the new information and adjusted release dates.
What seemed like the biggest announcement made during the massive amount of information was that director Jon Watts has been selected by the studio to reboot The Fantastic Four for them. Watts having worked with Marvel Studios to reboot the Spider-Man franchise with Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the untitled Spider-Man 3 (currently filming in Atlanta as The November Project).
When Fantastic Four will begin shooting is unknown as Jon will be busy with Spider-Man 3 until it’s release in 12 months and they failed to mention any screenwriters. This will mark the first Marvel film for Watts that won’t have Sony Pictures’ involvement and might suggest that he won’t be coming back for Spider-Man 4.
Fandom has collectively chosen to campaign for John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to play the roles of Mister Fantastic and The Invisible Woman, however, there hasn’t been any concrete casting news concerning the project as it only just got confirmed.
Feige had telegraphed back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that Fantastic Four was the priority former Fox property they were aiming to reboot ahead of the X-Men. There is a possibility that Dr. Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm could appear in other films first.
One of the more frustrating things concerning Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is that they kept most of the cast unofficial for the entirety of the shoot but they’ve now announced a good chunk of the cast, while not all of them. The cast so far includes actors Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as Wenwu aka The Mandarian, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, and Florian Munteanu as villain William Young aka Razor Fist.
Shang-Chi along with Black Widow are still set to be released in theaters, not on Disney+, with the Destin Daniel Cretton martial arts action film set for July 9, 2021.
Director Sam Raimi has started filming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is officially shooting and will not only connect to WandaVision but also Jon Watts’ Spider-Man 3. While Kevin didn’t confirm it, there is a good chance that Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker and other characters carrying over to the Doctor Strange sequel.
However, he did confirm that that Xochitl Gomez will be playing America Chavez aka Miss America. The young newcomer joins Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as villain Baron Mordo.
It’s release date is set for March 25, 2022.
We finally know Christian Bale‘s character in Thor: Love & Thunder as he’ll play the film’s villain Gorr The God Butcher. A role we assume will be done with motion-capture given the design of his comic book counterpart.
Deadline recently reported that Jaimie Alexander will reprise the role of Lady Sif.
The rest of the cast consists of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, and director Taika Waititi will return to the role of Korg.
Filming begins next month in Australia and it’s release date has been moved once more to May 6, 2022.
Captain Marvel 2 director Nia DaCosta was finally confirmed alongside the return of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers. New additions to the franchise are Ms. Marvel‘s Iman Vellani co-starring as Kamala Khan and WandaVision actress Teyonah Parris as the adult version of Monica Rambeau aka Spectrum.
There is a good chance that it will connect to Secret Invasion as it will also shoot in the United Kingdom.
The film’s date was bumped to November 11th, 2021.
Marvel revealed the title for Ant-Man 3 will be Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Peyton Reed will be back as director with Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer returning as part of the main cast. The title suggesting the film will be entering the Quantum Realm or have strange things come out it.
The big announcement concerning the film is that Kathryn Newton (Freaky) has been recast as Cassie Lang aka Stature with rising-star Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) confirmed as villain Kang The Conqueror. It remains to be seen if the third installment will help introduce The Fantastic Four before their own solo film from Jon Watts given Kang’s connection to the former 20th Century Fox heroes.
A release date wasn’t mentioned but is expected something in 2022.
James Gunn is officially back for Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 with them aiming for a 2023 release date. They’re also developing a holiday special and Groot shorts for Disney+.
Kevin Feige didn’t give much in the way of details for Black Panther 2 but revealed they would not be recasting Chadwick Boseman‘s role of T’Challa. He stopped short from explaining what they are doing with the sequel and reaffirmed that writer/director Ryan Coogler is still working on the film.
While we suspect potential delays on the project, they announced the film is coming July 8th, 2022. The spot was previously held by Captain Marvel 2.
Marvel also announced another round of Disney+ shows.
The Nick Fury series was confirmed to be an adaption of Secret Invasion, which involved a bunch of humanity revealed as being replaced with Skrulls. In the comics, it was revealed that a bunch of Avengers were uncovered to be Skrulls too. As assumed, Samuel L. Jackson will reprise the Fury role with Ben Mendelsohn back as Skrull leader Talos.
The Fox portion of the Skrull rights via Fantastic Four are now in the hands of Marvel and could allow for Super-Skrulls to come into play becoming a big threat as they mimic superpowers of various Marvel Comics heroes.
It had been reported that Kyle Bradstreet would be developing the show.
There are signs the series will shoot in the United Kingdom around the same time as Captain Marvel 2, which could suggest a direct connection via S.W.O.R.D. and the Skrulls.
Olivia Wilde is reportedly directing a Spider-Woman film for Sony Pictures. It’s worth mentioning that Jessica Drew is an Agent of S.W.O.R.D. and is one of the characters in the comics revealed to be a Skrull (Veranke The Skrull Queen). Marvel’s participation on that film while assumed hasn’t been made official.
Don Cheadle will lead his own Disney+ series as War Machine titled Armor Wars.
If the series takes cues from the comic book series we could see the return of Sam Rockwell‘s Justin Hammer, another fan-favorite that is still kicking around in the MCU.
We could also see the addition of unused Iron Man villains such as the Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and others.
An Ironheart series will star Dominique Thorne as whiz-kid Riri Williams, who creates her own advance armor. I wouldn’t be shocked if there happens to be a crossover with Armor Wars.
They revealed new trailers for their upcoming slate of Disney+ series including WandaVision (coming January 15,2021), The Falcon & The Winter Soldier (coming March 19, 2021), Loki (coming May 2021), and their animated series What If…? (coming summer 2021). The trailers give us the first look at X-Men location Madripoor in Falcon and the scale of the Loki series with teases of his return to Asgard.
Additional information concerning the upcoming shows includes that Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye will indeed be aiming for a 2021, something The Ronin reported on earlier this month. Kevin Feige providing an sizzle footage for the former which is impressive given it only recently started shooting in Atlanta.
With She-Hulk, Kevin confirmed that the cast will include Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, and the return of Tim Roth‘s Abomination. The latter addition could help support previous chatter that we might see William Hurt‘s Thunder Bolt Ross and Liv Tyler‘s Betty Ross in the series as well bring most of The Incredible Hulk cast back.
I’m sure there are more things to be announced in the future as they hinted to upcoming news concerning Mahershala Ali‘s Blade. Although, I’m sure fans were a little upset they left-out Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool 3 or an update on the X-Men reboot. There is now overwhelming evidence that The Young Avengers are coming at some point given that most have been cast already.
Another little tidbit in The Hollywood Reporter’s casting news concerning Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 2 with Narcos: Mexico actor Tenoch Huerta in talks to play one of the film’s villains. They mention that the returning cast will include Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Wintston Duke, and Angela Bassett with the former possibly getting a much larger role.
Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett are expected to return for the new feature, with some saying Wright’s character may take on a more prominent role. Marvel, which had no comment on this story, has not revealed its plans on how it plans to proceed without Boseman, although it has indicated that it will not use CGI to include the late star in the film.
Oddly enough, Danai Gurira is not part of this returning group but I assume she will be in the future.
Chadwick passed over the summer after a battle of colon cancer and everyone involved has been focused on mourning which makes me a little skeptical they’ll at this pointing locking-down production dates after they just lost their lead actor. Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso debunked an online rumor that they were considering on using a digital-double of Chadwick Boseman for the film.
While the outlet is pushing this news that filming is set to begin in July the studio hasn’t confirmed if they’ll be promoting Wright’s Shuri to Black Panther status or simply recasting the T’Challa role which seems like the simpler move on their part as weird as it might be. Handing the reigns to Shuri would mean they’d also have to kill-off the T’Challa character and I’m not terribly sure Disney is keen on that idea. However, giving Wright more to do in sequel could lead to her becoming Black Panther at some point.
There seems to be a process where the ruler of Wakanda can retire the Black Panther position and still rule, as was the case of T’Chaka and T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War.
We’ll have to wait and see what Marvel/Coolger ultimately decide to do.
The Hollywood Reporter has news that Marvel and director Ryan Coogler are in talks with Narcos: Mexico actor Tenoch Huerta to play one of the villains of Black Panther 2.
Also, they state that Marvel Studios wants filming to begin by July of next year in Atlanta, Georgia.
They’re not naming his role but Huerta would make for interesting MCU incarnation of Namor The Sub-Mariner, as he played a complex cartel member on Narcos: Mexico and I’ve been championing different types of actors for the role when it comes time for Marvel to cast an actor for it.
Namor’s Atlantis and T’Challa’s Wakanda have come to all-out war in the comics with Namor flooding Wakanda along with the two high-tech nations almost exchanging nuclear weapons. There is certainly tension there between them and plenty of unconfirmed rumors that Namor could end up being a villain go all the way back to the first film’s release. The sinking of Atlantis aka The Great Cataclysm in Marvel Comics has a direct connection to Celestials, Deviants, and Eternals which could be introduced in the upcoming Eternals film. Nods to Namor go all way back to Captain America: The First Avenger and have been sprinkled throughout multiple films since.
There are even objects from the Guardians of The Galaxy attraction Mission Breakout! located at the Disney theme parks that tease an Atlantis connection via “Terran Ocean Artifacts”.
Of course, the role could be something else entirely but he’s giving off Namor vibes.
Chadwick Boseman passed over the summer due to a battle with colon cancer (something he kept private) and everyone involved with the project has been taking time to mourn his passing. I’m not entirely sure how fixed that production start is given that was likely when they were planning on shooting before the death of Chadwick and there could be adjustments or delays upcoming.
Marvel Studios still hasn’t announced what their plans are with the T’Challa role but have debunked a rumor of using a digital-double of the late actor for the sequel.
Sorry folks, Marvel Studios is not going to use a digital-double of Chadwick Boseman for their Black Panther sequel. As terrible as that sounded it wasn’t even something they’ve been considering according to Marvel Studios brass.
In a new interview with Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso, she reveals to Clarin (via Comic Book Movie) they are not in anyway considering CGI effects to resurrect recently departed actor Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther 2 as they haven’t even started to think about what they want to do as they’re still mourning the late actor.
ALONSO: “No. There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really.”
“[We] have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise.”
Chadwick Boseman, you might remember suddenly passed over the summer from colon cancer. Something he kept private and even shot multiple Marvel films during his treatment. People close to the production of Black Panther 2 (including Marvel and Disney) are stilling mourning the loss of Chadwick and the studio rightfully isn’t rushing the production giving people time to grieve. It’s still unclear what they’ll do with the film which fans should have an extra notch of patience for the cast, creatives, and crew at this time.
The ghoulish rumor originally came from YouTuber Grace Randolph, who isn’t a reliable source of news.
Tom Holland Teases That ‘Uncharted’ Will Begin Shooting Soon In Germany
Fans have been guessing about what Sony Pictures would do about Uncharted and Spider-Man 3 as their productions would now conflict with each other. The obvious thing was that Uncharted would begin shooting first because it was ready to begin in Germany back in March but filming was paused to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Some fans had made giant leaps with theories that Sony would just kill/delay Uncharted (after multiple production woes and hiccups over the years) and push forward with Spider-Man 3 instead. As we’ve been saying for months Uncharted is the priority at the moment and this has been cemented by Tom Holland.
Recent Instagram posts from Tom Holland suggest he’s about to begin shooting Uncharted in Germany very soon after taking a COVID-19 test, getting his hair done to play Nathan Drake and showing off how ripped he got to work with his Uncharted co-star Mark Wahlberg.
This would give the impression that he’ll be too busy over the next couple of months for Spider-Man 3 to begin production in September as previously rumored.
In normal times, Uncharted might have been able to complete it’s production within a range of 3-4 months, however, with the new COVID-19 precautions this would likely extend the filming a couple of months. That’s if people don’t get sick and they have to pause for a couple of weeks.
I think it’s extremely unlikely that Spider-Man 3 either is ready to shoot this September in Atlanta and Sony/Marvel will simply push that production into 2021 then bumping that November 5th, 2021 release to sometime in 2022.
‘Doctor Strange 2’ Still Expected To Shoot Primarily At Longcross Studios
Speaking of Phase Four films that have seen their productions delayed in 2020, I have an update as it looks like Marvel still plans to film Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England. A major filming location I had previously confirmed over at HN Entertainment.
Not anything crazy but, interestingly, they’ve been sticking to that stage space instead of considering other places. Longcross is the same stage facility where the original film shot and director Sam Raimi shot his Wizard of Oz prequel for Disney titled Oz, The Great & Powerful.
It’s a little unclear when they’ll begin shooting since it’s unknown how much set construction or prep has been taking place since the United Kingdom has been in lockdown. We also won’t know if they’ll be able to meet their 2021 release date until Marvel makes it known when they’ll be able to start filming.
I had also reported that they were planning on filming the sequel in New York City and Norway, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be doing any international filming anytime soon.
We shouldn’t be surprised if Doctor Strange 2 like Spider-Man 3 is delayed into 2021. However, Spider-Man 3 is a slightly different case as their lead is shooting another large studio film first.
Then again, we have little idea how much set construction and prep has been underway on either of the MCU sequels during the pandemic.
‘Moonlight’s Janelle Monae Wants To Play Storm In ‘Black Panther 2’
We’ve been all been excited to see who will ultimately play the rebooted version of the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and yet another actress has thrown their hand in the ring to play aka Storm.
Moonlight actress and singer Janelle Monae spoke to Empire recently and revealed she’d very much like to play Ororo Munroe aka Storm in the Black Panther sequel. Bringing it up to cast members when they were hanging out in Atlanta.
MONAE: “I definitely have thrown it out there. One of my dreams has always been to play Storm. I don’t know if she comes in Black Panther, but it would be a dream to have her in it. I don’t know where they are with that. A lot of women have played Storm and they’ve done an exceptional job, and I would love to be in that line of artists and get to do Storm justice.”
T’Challa and Ororo in the comics do become romantically involved leading to marriage and it would be an organic way to introduce her into the MCU given that her mother N’Dare (a tribal princess) is from Kenya. Ororo potentially being fellow royalty wouldn’t be a stretch.
We still don’t know where Black Panther 2 is in the development stage other than Ryan Coogler is writing the script. While there have been rumblings of Spider-Man‘s Kraven The Hunter, Namor, and Fantastic Four‘s Doctor Doom appearing in the film nothing has been announced or confirmed.
‘The Mandalorian’s Giancarlo Esposito Says He’s Keen For Marvel Studios Role Next
Janelle isn’t the only actor seemingly gunning for a Marvel role. Veteran film and television actor Giancarlo Esposito (Do The Right Thing, The Mandalorian) briefly mentioned to Entertainment Tonight that he’d like to work with Marvel Studios at some point.
ESPOSITO: “Well there’s been all these rumors about being with Marvel, I want to work with those guys. I put it out there all the time. I haven’t created any of those rumors, but I worked years ago with Louis D’Esposito, who is one of the guys at Marvel, back when he was doing Cotton Club and I was doing Cotton Club, he was the [1st assistant director].”
“What they do is fantastic, and I want to do something enduring with them. I think the Marvel world would be, likely, the next step for me.”
This comes after a year ago there were rumblings the Breaking Bad actor was wanted for a role, however, that was neither announced nor confirmed.
Where he could land role-wise is unknown despite the fan suggestions for Norman Osborn and Magneto. I personally think he’d be excellent as a hero like Norrin Radd aka Silver Surfer since Adam McKay was trying to get a feature film together over at Marvel last year.
Charlize Theron Admits She Has Never Been In Talks With Marvel For Roles
While speaking with Variety, Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde, Mad Max: Fury Road) has revealed that despite rumors over the years she has ultimately never spoken with Marvel Studios about various roles.
THERON: “I swear to God. I’ve never gotten anything. No, I’m not lying to you. But that’s okay. You know what? I am paving my own way. I’m creating my own opportunities. So it’s alright.”
This doesn’t mean Charlize will never meet with Marvel in the future but it sounds like it hasn’t happened up to this point.
Russo Brothers Support Anthony Mackie’s Comments On Lack of Diversity Behind The Scenes At Marvel Studios
After Anthony Mackie pointed out not too long ago that the people behind the scenes of Marvel Studios movies are mostly white and not as diverse as it could be. He is getting some support from directors The Russo Brothers while asked about it by Movie Maker.
JOE RUSSO: “I think we can always all do better at diversity, constantly in this business, and in every facet of every industry — so he’s not wrong at all. I think that we all have to work harder to keep endorsing and supporting diversity on both sides of the camera.”
Marvel Studios Artist Charlie Wen Shares Unofficial ‘Shang-Chi’ Artwork
A brief post made by Marvel Studios concept artist Charlie Wen on his Instagram shows us some interesting but unofficial artwork featuring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi.
‘Black Widow’ Director Cate Shortland Says They’re Passing Baton To Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova
Black Widow director Cate Shortland tells Empire in a newly published interview that instead of making the solo film an origin story for Scarlett’s Natasha Romanoff, they see is as passing the baton to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova.
SHORTLAND: “[Kevin Feige] realized that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” Shortland tells Empire. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”
“In Endgame, the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral. Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral. She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”
The film has been expected to be released on November 6th, after Disney gave the film Eternal‘s original spot in the spring. However, it’s unknown if the film will get pushed to February 12th given the rise in new cases of COVID-19 in the United States which could be a problem for the studio attempting to earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the global box office.
Also, a new trailer is expected to be on the way after it was classified in the United Kingdom.
‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Actress Tessa Thompson Expects An Explosion of Diversity In Marvel’s Phase Four
In a recent interview for Variety, Thor franchise actress Tessa Thompson talked-up how Marvel’s Phase Four will be ramping-up representation in a big way.
THOMPSON: “I think in this next phase of Marvel, we’re really talking about what representation looks like in those spaces. Because the truth is these movies travel globally in such huge ways, and if you can represent people that are of color, if you can represent people with disabilities, if you can represent the LGBTQIA community inside of these films, it’s a pretty big deal.”
“There’s millions and millions of people, particularly young people, that show up to the cinema. And I think if you can show them something that looks like them, they feel valued. Particularly inside of these narratives of the comic books, that’s what it’s all about. It’s that our differences make us special.”
We know they’ll be making some strides soon with having Asian main leads in Eternals with Gemma Chan playing leading heroine Sersi and Shang-Chi with Simu Liu and Awkwafina.
Pakistani-American comedian/actor Kumail Nanjiani has a decently sized role in Eternals playing superhero Kingo and deaf actress Lauren Ridloff plays speedster Makkari in the film. We’ll also see openly gay parents played by Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos) and Haaz Sleiman.
One of their upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel will feature a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager from New Jersey named Kamala Khan.
Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was announced as the new actor to play a rebooted version of Blade in the MCU last summer and it remains to be seen if his version of the Daywalker in the Phase Five project will reflect his own Muslim faith.
Tessa’s own Valkyrie will be seeking her queen in Thor: Love & Thunder. Hopefully, Disney/Marvel will be more comfortable in the future to actually have non-hetero heroes leading their films, not just in supporting roles.
We’ll have to see what other doors they’ll be opening for characters/actors in the future, but as pointed out recently by Anthony Mackie the studio needs to do a better job of hiring a diverse group of people behind the camera as well.
‘Doctor Strange 2’ Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor Excited To Work With Director Sam Raimi
While promoting his new Netflix film The Old Guard, actor Chiwetel Ejiofor expressed his excitement to work with director Sam Raimi on the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel titled Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
Chiwetel will be reprising his role as villain Baron Karl Mordo.
Raimi, who directed the original Spider-Man trilogy for Sony Pictures had replaced Scott Derrickson on the Doctor Strange sequel after there were “creative differences”
EJIOFOR: “I love Sam Raimi, so I’m very excited that he’s making a film, the second Doctor Strange. He brings to anything he does, a wealth of imagination and passion. In this genre, he’s just one of the seminal figures. I remember seeing Darkman when I was a kid. It was beyond, it’s so amazing.”
“So I think he has an incredible mind and I think he’s really able to bring that mind into his storytelling in a really unique way, and it’s very suited to the world that’s been created by Doctor Strange, and I’m very excited to see what he does with that world.”
The cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch as Strange, Elizabeth Olsen taking a co-starring role as Scarlet Witch, and we’ll also see the return of Benedict Wong as Wong.
There is an expectation that both Disney+ series Loki and WandaVision will help establish the events of the sequel along with introducing the Multiverse.
Filming had been originally expected to begin in the spring/summer at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England along with exterior locations in Norway and New York City.
There is a slim possibility that filming could begin in the fall on the Doctor Strange sequel, but it’s unlikely they’ve been able to finish the set construction phase of prep to shooting anytime soon. Suggesting they could push the production start into 2021 as I believe they will for Spider-Man 3 as well.
Chris Evans Already Misses Playing Captain America
During an interview with Backstage, Captain America and Avengers star Chris Evans mentioned that he already misses the role. However, don’t get too excited about the potential of him returning to the role anytime soon.
EVANS: “I absolutely loved my time with Marvel. I already miss it, but there’s no denying that it is very exciting to just have complete freedom to pursue whatever my creative appetite wants.”
We know Evans has been linked for a supporting lead role in the new Little Shop of Horrors incarnation from Warner Bros. and we’ll see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson eventually take on the Captain America mantle in his Disney+ series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood Hopeful She’ll Pivot Back To ‘Spider-Man’ Spinoff ‘Silver & Black’
The Old Guard director Gina Prince-Bythewood has revealed to GamesRadar+ that she would be open to returning to Sony’s Silver & Black at some point. The project is a Spider-Man spinoff that would have paired talented thief Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat and mercenary Silver Sablinova aka Silver Sable in their own movie.
Gina sounds open to the idea of returning to the project once Sony is ready to make it.
PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD: “My honest answer is I don’t know. I really love those characters, I loved having them together. I thought, what we came up with was a really good, really organic way to have the two together. That world is changing so much because of the success of the Spider-Man films.”
“There’s a question of, ‘Can you really have these films with Spider-Man not in them? Should he at least have some sort of part in them?’ That’s always the question. I’ve taken two years off of that for [The Old Guard] so once this gets out into the world, I hope it’s a success, and then I’ll certainly go back and start talking with them again.”
In the wake of Gina leaving to make The Old Guard, Sony announced plans to split the project into two separate films. They haven’t updated since and Prince-Bythewood had suggested previously that a possible Disney+ series was being considered.
Sony has been hellbent on getting together as many Spider-Man spinoff films in development as possible after the massive success of Tom Hardy’s Venom at the box office back in 2018.
In 2021, we’ll see the release of both Morbius and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the latter project confirmed with its teaser trailer the film is directly connected to Spider-Man: Homecoming after featuring Michael Keaton’s Vulture in a scene. It remains to be seen how much involvement if any we’ll see from Marvel Studios concerning these spinoffs and if they’ll be allowed to call themselves part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
THE RONIN 