'Spider-Man 4': Marvel Studios Hires 'Shang-Chi' Director Destin Daniel Cretton To Shoot Sequel Early Next Year

‘Spider-Man 4’: Marvel Studios Hires ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Destin Daniel Cretton To Shoot Sequel Early Next Year

In a surprising reveal today, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have selected director Destin Daniel Cretton to helm “Spider-Man 4,” the fourth installment of their Tom Holland-led string of MCU-set Spidey movies. This comes after Destin had previously made “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” and is still actively involved with its untitled sequel. An exciting update on the superhero pic that comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter and is backed up by other outlets like Deadline, ending over a year of speculation and rumors of who would take the reigns from Jon Watts.

Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are returning with an expectation that filming could begin as early next year. We shouldn’t be terribly shocked if Destin adds his own contributions to the script like he did with “Shang-Chi.”

Cretton had previously returned to the MCU with the upcoming Disney+ series “Wonder Man.”

Marvel Team-Up (1972) #141 | Comic Issues | Marvel

No official plot details have yet to be revealed for “Spider-Man 4,” but Marvel is in a very good position to do an event-level crossover with Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock (who briefly appeared in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as a lawyer working on behalf of Peter Parker) as the series revival “Daredevil: Born Again” has Daredevil, Punisher, and The Kingpin inhabiting the same MCU space as Parker in New York City. Perhaps, allowing the studio to bring the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man back to his roots as a crime-fighter and tackling crooks like The Hand (aligned with Wilson Fisk) and the New York City mafia by way of The Maggia (Hammerhead, Tombstone, and other mobsters could finally get their big-screen live-action debuts).

A potential mob war plot wouldn’t be exactly a stretch or challenge for Destin, as he previously tackled The Ten Rings in “Shang-Chi,” a criminal syndicate led by Shang-Chi’s father, Wenwu, and is now being overseen by his sister.

Other street-level heroes operating in the same city include Luke Cage/Power Man, Danny Rand/Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones.

The filmmaker had been once attached to make “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” before the project was re-tooled into “Avengers: Doomsday” with Robert Downey Jr. set to star as a version of Victor von Doom and landed the Russo Brothers as Cretton’s replacements.

A release date hasn’t been mentioned, but there is a good shot that “Spider-Man 4” could be ready for the summer of 2026 if production starts up in the new year.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Kevin Feige Says MCU Incarnation Of Daredevil Will Be Played By Charlie Cox

Despite various online rumors, Marvel Studios didn’t end up automatically reviving the Marvel/Netflix shows on Hulu/Disney+ as it was once speculated would happen when the character rights reverted back to Marvel.

Instead, it’s been revealed by producer Nate Moore, James Gunn, and a book published by Marvel themselves that the Netflix projects produced by Jeph Loeb’s Marvel Television (later dissolved by Kevin Feige) wouldn’t be considered hard-canon Marvel Cinematic Universe shows. The exception seemingly being Agent Carter.

This led to some confusion given that Daredevil actor Charlie Cox is rumored to be showing up as Matt Murdock in both Spider-Man: No Way Home (fans bending over backward to spot him in footage) and even the upcoming legal workplace series, She-Hulk. It seems like some of those Netflix characters like Murdock/Daredevil might be getting soft reboots for the MCU.

Cinema Blend spoke with Kevin Feige, who is promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home, and indicated that when they do bring Daredevil into the fold that Charlie Cox will be playing him. However, he stopped short of saying when or where that would happen.

“If you were to see Daredevil in upcoming things, Charlie Cox, yes, would be the actor playing Daredevil. Where we see that, how we see that, when we see that, remains to be seen.”

Does this mean every Netflix actor is coming back?

There are already indications that Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin will be appearing this week on Hawkeye and could play the character in other future projects. However, Iron Fist actress Jessica Henwick revealed that Marvel wanted her to “audition” for a new role in Shang-Chi, which would suggest that Netflix folks just like her and Luke Cage’s Mahershala Ali (tapped to play Blade in the reboot) may find second chance roles moving forward.

Just because Feige is cherry-picking a handful of actors doesn’t mean everyone is carrying over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think fans will just have to be a bit patient to see what characters the studio ends up keeping or recasting.

SOURCE: CINEMA BLEND

Charlie Cox Denies ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Rumor Due To Pandemic Travel Restrictions & Filming Irish Crime Series ‘Kin’

A recent fan-theory claimed that Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock appears in the new Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, however, IMAX versions of the trailer have debunked this and showed the man people believed was Murdock was really just the Damage Control gentleman, who had appeared with Peter Parker in that same room moments earlier.

While online rumors have pointed towards a Matt Murdock cameo in the Spider-Man sequel, someone is pouring cold water on that idea, Charlie Cox himself.

Speaking with the Irish Examiner, Charlie Cox says he’s not only not showing up in the film, but he’s had to break the news to friends and even crew members on the Irish set of his latest AMC+ series Kin. Pointing out that while he was supposedly in Atlanta shooting Spider-Man: No Way Home, he was actually shooting his new crime series in Ireland and adding travel restrictions that were in place at the time would have made that a logistical problem.

“There was a fan on the Kin crew. I came to work one day, and the rumor had come out that I was filming in Atlanta, and he asked me like it was a sensible question, and I was like, ‘I’ve been here every day with you, on set’ but I think he was so hopeful that he still was like, ‘Is it true?’; I had to say to him, ‘How would it be true?”

“Even if I had a few days off, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’m not allowed to fly anywhere. What are you talking about?’ Did he think Captain America came to get me?”

If you remember following adamant denials from Tom Holland, former Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield denied rumors he would be appearing in the film as well.

We’ve seen that even with these public denials, it hasn’t done much to detour either fans or outlets from keeping faith that Cox’s Matt Murdock will show up, confirmed or not.

Other segments of Marvel fans have been pointing out that Tatiana Maslany could have easily played the role of Parker’s lawyer in the film given that she is playing Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk, a superhero defense attorney that we know is confirmed for the MCU as she just wrapped her series in Atlanta (same location where Spider-Man: No Way Home was filmed).

Also, it is worth noting if Doctor Strange’s spell did work erasing everyone’s memory of him as Spider-Man before the Multiverse stuff…why exactly would Peter Parker need a lawyer?

I guess we’ll find out for sure this winter when the film drops.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still marked down for a December 17 release date.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

SOURCE: IRISH EXAMINER

‘Spider-Man 3’: Marvel Casting Extras To Play Attorneys & Stenographer For A Courtroom Scene Shooting Next Month

Background casting company CL Casting has revealed on their Facebook page there will be a courtroom scene shot next month in the Atlanta area for Spider-Man 3 aka The November Project. You can see from the posting they are seeking extras to play attorneys and a stenographer with the scene expected to shoot on March 10th.

We pointed out back in December that this courtroom scene could be taking place after it was telegraphed with previous Spider-Man 3 extra casting calls seeking background actors for protesters, detectives, and criminals.

It’s been long expected that Peter Parker would end up needing lawyer in the next film because of the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home as he’s been framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. However, the simplest and obvious choice for Parker’s legal defense is Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk.

This is mainly because we know that the She-Hulk series for Disney+ begins filming next month in Atlanta, where Spider-Man 3 is already shooting and around when this scene will be shot. Maslany’s casting was announced by Disney/Marvel in December and this means the superhero lawyer is already confirmed/established for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, officially.

While there have been convincing rumors that Charlie Cox will reprise the Matt Murdock role, none of the trades have backed-up the claim or has any photographic/hard evidence that Charlie Cox has been on the set landed online despite talk he’s shot scenes already. Lacking any concrete confirmation Matt Murdock is actually in the superhero sequel, it’s still not entirely settled or a lock that he’ll appear. Sometimes rumors are just rumors, but there is still a good shot he might be in the film and it just hasn’t been made official.

Director Jon Watts is going to be tackling the Fantastic Four reboot next for Marvel Studios and it’s hard to ignore that he might want to include a Marvel character like She-Hulk given her connections to both superhero law and Fantastic Four. Adding Jennifer Walters to Spider-Man 3 allows the new superhero character to debut in a massive feature film (Spider-Man: Far From Home previously earned over a billion dollars at the box office) before the solo She-Hulk series on Disney+ and at the same time potentially plant seeds for Watts’ upcoming Fantastic Four film.

I guess we’ll have to be patient.

Spider-Man 3 will be released on December 17th.

SOURCE: CATRETT-LOCKE CASTING

‘Spider-Man 3’: Do Casting Calls Support The Daredevil Rumor?

Ever since Spider-Man: Far From Home was released there has been an assumption or speculation that Matt Murdock would be called in as a lawyer. Over the summer of 2019 there was all sorts of speculation concerning what would happen to Peter Parker now that he was being framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio.

The rumors kept swirling and even caught the attention of director/podcaster Kevin Smith, who off-handedly mentioned the rumor on his podcast Fatman Beyond back in March and had to clarify he wasn’t confirming anything.

In April of this year Daredevil star Charlie Cox spoke to Comic Book denying any involvement and even suggesting if the character was indeed part of Spider-Man 3 he wasn’t going to playing him.

COX: “I hadn’t heard those rumors, but it’s certainly not with my Daredevil. I’m not involved in it. If that’s true, it’s not with me. It’s with another actor.”

Murphy’s Multiverse, who are notably often accurate about production news are claiming that Cox has closed a deal with Marvel to reprise the role in Spider-Man 3 months ago but are unsure the scale of his appearance.

Murphy’s Multiverse has learned that Charlie Cox, star of the beloved Netflix show, is set to make his grand debut in the MCU in the third Spider-Man film in a deal that has been set in stone for several months now.

What happens beyond that appearance wasn’t elaborated to us but any logical person would think that a series is slated at some point in the MCU’s future.

If true, there might be some possible clues in recent casting calls spotted by The Ronin for the Spidey sequel.

A while back there were Spider-Man 3 casting calls in Atlanta for extras to play protesters and shoot for multiple days which suggested it might be for court house scenes. I could see folks outside the court protesting the trial of Parker but that would need to be confirmed once those set photos come in revealing what the protests are actually about via signs or slogans. They’ve been casting high school students for scenes at Parker’s school and one casting call for various people to play “Madison Citizens”, what’s interesting is that the law offices of Nelson & Murdock is mentioned on one of the Wikis as being located in or near Madison Avenue and that Marvel Comics offices used to be there as well.

They are also casting various detectives and criminals for Spider-Man 3, further pointing towards legal/court troubles for Peter.

These scenes are expected to take place in January and some like the ones featuring protesters will be shot outdoors.

If there is a deal in place a trade will likely attempt to confirm the information as The Hollywood Reporter recently did with GWW’s scoop that Alfred Molina would be reprising the role of Doctor Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus (despite dying in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2) in Spider-Man 3.

Collider recently echoed previous online rumors that Andrew Garfield and Kirsten Dunst would be returning for Spider-Man 3 alongside talk of there are plans to have Tobey Maguire and Emma Stone come back as well.

Jon Bernthal Still Hopeful Marvel Will Ask Him To Reprise ‘The Punisher’ Role – “I’ll Be Ready”

Despite fan wishes and rumblings that Marvel Studios was going to resurrect the Netflix lineup of Marvel shows for Hulu/Disney+, that doesn’t seem to be happening as Marvel Television was re-branded as Marvel TV Studios with Kevin Feige overseeing future television projects after Jeph Loeb exited the company.

This hasn’t detoured The Punisher actor Jon Bernthal and has been vocal about reprising the Frank Castle role if Marvel wants him to. This is reinforced in a new interview with Geek House Show (via The Playlist). As great as Jon’s enthusiasm is, as he points out himself he’s not part of those decisions.

BERNTHAL: “I think with that, there’s always hope, you know? It’s unbelievably humbling how much people responded to this version of Frank. I can’t tell you how much he means to me. He’s in my blood. He’s in my bones. And for me, it’s not really a question ever with this kind of stuff about whether you get the opportunity to do it or not…It’s not about whether we do it, it’s about doing it right. And doing the version the fans really deserve.”

“We’ll see. All of those decisions are made in rooms I’m not invited into. That’s okay with me…When we get the call to go, I’ll be ready. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure we do it right or we don’t do it at all.”

The actor first played Frank Castle in Season 2 of Daredevil before getting his own solo Punisher series that landed two seasons itself before it was cancelled.

Jon Bernthal sounds more optimistic than Daredevil’s Charlie Cox, who said he wasn’t even expecting the series to get a Season 3 despite the online fan campaign #SaveDaredevil and poured cold water on the rumor he was going to be involved with Spider-Man 3.

We ultimately don’t know what Kevin’s plans are for characters like Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Elektra Natchios, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand (despite Iron Fist connections rumored for Shang-Chi). Also, if he wants to bring them into the real Marvel Cinematic Universe I’m unconvinced he’ll even ask those actors to return to their roles or attempt soft-reboots with new actors instead. Even if characters are slowly reverting back to Marvel from Netflix the contracts for actors and showrunners (many have found new gigs) have expired, meaning that Marvel TV Studios has zero obligations anymore.

Fiege didn’t seem terribly interested in continuing the Loeb era of Marvel Television projects as reflected with the cancellations and it doesn’t look like those projects will find new lives elsewhere. It might also irk Disney to have off-shoots on places like Netflix and rebooting might be a way to sever any ties to those Netflix shows or being branded as “MCU”.

However, speaking of Spider-Man 3, Jamie Foxx is seeming getting a second shot at playing Electro in what is likely going to be an MCU take on the character not unlike J.K. Simmon’s new version of J. Jonah Jameson first seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home. There is a chance they could bring Cox and Bernthal back but ignore the events of the Netflix shows entirely given that Feige and the producing team didn’t have oversight on that material which would suggest they’re more likely to just jettison it.

There has been zero sign from Marvel that they’re even interested in using those characters anytime soon, so we’ll just have to be patient.

SOURCE: GEEK HOUSE SHOW