Tag: Disney Plus

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Marvel Television Suggests ‘Nova’ Series Isn’t Exactly A Guarantee, Despite Still Being In Active Development

We’ve been hearing for ages that Marvel Studios has been trying to put together a live-action “Nova” project featuring their cosmic superhero (Nova Corps. being first introduced in James Gunn’s “Guardians of The Galaxy”), and more recently was confirmed to be a television series in development at Disney+, as part of their string of MCU shows. However, a new quote from Marvel Television‘s Brad Winderbaum (via Comic Book) suggests the “Nova” series isn’t exactly a guarantee that it will happen and will depend on a strong pilot that everyone is happy with.

“So Nova’s in development right now. We are. But I will say we’re developing more than we make. This is part of the new Marvel,” Winderbaum told Comic Book. “But we should talk about this because at Marvel, everything has a spotlight on it, and everyone gets super excited, and we love Nova. And we want to get it right. But it’s in development. We got a few things in development and we’re not going to go on a show until we are happy with a pilot. Happy with the bible. So it is in development right now.”

When asked about their approach for cosmic material on the streaming service Winderbaum said, “I mean, I’ve been really inspired by what [‘Star Trek’] has been doing over the last few years. I think their shows are incredible. That’s why we hired Terry [Matalas] to do ‘Vision Quest’ with us. But the ‘Nova’ that’s being developed right now, it’s an amazing ensemble piece. I shouldn’t say too much.”

A bit of a promising thread in there from Winderbaum. Even if it doesn’t sound like Marvel is exactly ready to pounce on a pilot anytime soon. We previously heard from Marvel at San Diego Comic-Con back in July that they had been aiming to have “Nova” ready for Disney+ by around 2027-2028, which likely means it might not even begin shooting until 2026 at the earliest. While we’re still waiting on more concrete details, but there have been suggestions that both Richard Rider and Sam Alexander versions of Nova will be featured in whatever materializes.

Fan Casting Nathan Fillion as Monstrous Inmate in Guardians of the Galaxy on myCast

After the destruction of the Nova Corps. by Thanos, off-screen events leading up to the opening scene of “Avengers: Infinity War,” a new Nova Prime emerges and happens to be a human named Richard Rider and ends up being a new protector of the galaxy.

Hopefully, they are likely going the off-world route with the character potentially taking more cues from things like the first two “Guardians of The Galaxy” films and the recent string of live-action “Star Wars” shows from a production design/VFX perspective, given we’d really like to see more MCU aliens and planets explored in this new show.

Cost will likely be a huge factor here given that originally, Don Cheadle’s “Armor Wars” was going to be a streaming series until Marvel pivoted and turned the show into a feature film, likely due to the huge VFX budget that would be needed to pull off that storyline and how it would essentially be a defacto “Iron Man 4.” Then again, we haven’t heard a peep from Marvel about an “Armor Wars” update in a long time despite having plenty of opportunities this summer with the studio’s big presentations at San Diego Comic-Con and D23.

There is a slim chance that “Nova” could move from the television division to the feature film team. Of course, that’s if they see more potential for a big-screen incarnation of “Nova” given that there doesn’t seem to be too many cosmic movies on the MCU docket outside of “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and the next two “Avengers” installments (“Avengers: Doomsday,” “Avengers: Secret Wars”) coming from the Russo Brothers.

I also wouldn’t be all that shocked if Marvel is simply waiting to see what DC Studios/HBO ends up doing with their “Green Lantern” series “Lanterns” before moving forward with “Nova,” as the two would likely have some similarities. That DC Comics show has Chris Mundy (“True Detective: Night Country,” “Ozark”) serving as showrunner and exec producer along with Damon Lindelof (“Prometheus,” “Watchmen”) also involved.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

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‘Nova’ Series Update: Marvel’s Cosmic Disney+ Show Aiming To Be Ready For 2027-2028

We’re waiting on some big announcements from Marvel Studios concerning both their film and television lineups from presentations at San Deigo Comic-Con next week and D23 in August. However, Marvel’s Kevin Feige is already dishing a few tidbits during the press tour for “Deadpool & Wolverine” and confirmed that their “Nova” project is a streaming series that will air on Disney+ alongside when we could expect to see it.

Feige recently told Comic Book, “It’s happening, it’s coming together. Richard Rider, yep…A show, yeah, yeah.” He also mentioned when fans can expect the “Nova” series to be launched on Disney+, ” It’s three or four years out.”

That timeline would suggest “Nova” could be ready to go by 2027 or 2028, which gives them plenty of time to develop and find a leading actor to play Richard Rider. If you’re not familiar, after the destruction of the Nova Corps, a new Nova Prime is selected as Earthling Richard Rider takes up the mantle and would see Rider becoming yet another protector of the galaxy.

In the era of the “Star Wars” franchise mostly being done on Disney+, there is certainly a way to do a good-looking cosmic MCU series on a streaming budget. However, many of the Marvel shows don’t seem to be firing on the same level regarding sets and VFX. Hopefully, that’ll change with “Nova” since we’re talking about a character wading in the waters of “Guardians of The Galaxy” (Nova Corps. first introduced in the first installment) and “Captain Marvel” movies.

Some folks that might be a good fit for Richard Rider include Manny Jacinto (“The Acolyte”) and Timothy Olyphant (“The Mandalorian,” “Alien: Earth,” “Justified”) given their recent appearances on Disney+ via “Star Wars” playing helmeted characters they likely wouldn’t be all that opposed to returning for “Nova.”

While plot details have yet to be announced by Marvel, we do have a few crumbs to work from previous movies. Off-screen, Thanos has destroyed the Nova Corps on Xandar to get his purple mitts on one of the Infinity Stones they had been protecting after the events of the first “Guardians.” It remains to be seen if they’ll show those events in a flashback or if they’ll return to Xandar as Rider attempts to rebuild the group of space cops. At that point in the MCU timeline, The Kree Empire and Xandar have a peace treaty, and it wouldn’t be that hard to imagine that the “Nova” series includes some Kree villains that haven’t been tapped for the “Captain Marvel” films.

Keeping that 2027 (at the earliest) airdate in mind, cameras likely won’t be rolling until 2026.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

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‘Shōgun’ Star/Producer Hiroyuki Sanada Cites Talented & Collaborative International Crew For Cultural Authenticity In FX’s Epic New Samurai Series: “It Was Like A Dream Team For Me”

This week saw the debut of the FX series remake of ‘Shōgun‘ and one of the key aspects of the show’s growing buzz is easily the painstaking detail that has gone into the show’s depiction of 1600s Japan. After watching the episodes they released, it’s extremely clear that everyone on the show is aiming to do something we don’t see very often when it comes to Hollywood productions, showcasing Japanese culture in both a respectful and authentic way to a Western audience. The costumes, production design, props, and sets are all worthy of Emmy nominations before the rest of the show has been fully shown in its entirety. Giving such a loving touch to a Western samurai production that really hasn’t been done on this scale since the original version of the show from 1980 (“The Last Samurai” and “Silence” being excellent attempts in their own right).

During an interview with Rotten Tomatoes (See below), the show’s producer and star Hiroyuki Sanada, who plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga (A role previously played by the iconic Toshiro Mifune) in the samurai series, explains how they were able to achieve such authenticity with the show despite shooting primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. And it all comes down to having access to talented Japanese department heads and crew members that were able to work side-by-side with the local Canadian crew calling the collaborative effort his “dream team.”

“We tried to make it authentic as much as possible because it’s very important to introduce our culture to the world correctly. So, this time we could hire a Japanese crew, experts for the samurai drama for each department. Wigs, props, costume, master of gesture, and we had a great team. A great collaboration between Western crew and Japanese crew working together. It was like a dream team for me. And I really enjoy.”

Having Japanese producers, a showrunner/creator, cast, writers, department heads, and crew members seemingly have all contributed to this stunning example of how samurai projects should be handled by Hollywood on the big and small screen alike moving forward. It’s worth noting that in Japan, it’s extremely common in both the film and television industry to work on multiple projects focused on samurai, so it was only a logical choice to make sure to use these veteran Japanese artisans as a resource on the ‘Shōgun’ revival.

Speaking of Rotten Tomatoes, “Shōgun” holds a 100% critic rating and 95% audience rating on the aggregator and speaks to the quality of the series. The public has only had access to the first two episodes with more coming each subsequent Tuesday until all 10 episodes have aired. The show can be watched on Hulu in the United States and is considered a Star Original on the Disney+ app in other regions such as Canada, The United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia.

Based on James Clavell’s novel, FX’s Shōgun is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

You can watch that full interview with the cast below.

SOURCE: ROTTEN TOMATOES

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‘X-Men ’97’ First-Look Trailer: The Beloved Mutant Animated Series Returns March 20 On Disney+

While we’re going to have to be patient for Marvel’s hard reboot of the “X-Men” franchise, we do have a couple of mutant-focused projects on the horizon. This July will see Wade Wilson return to the big screen in “Deadpool & Wolverine” an R-rated Multiverse romp that is already planting seeds for “Avengers: Secret Wars” (Although, to what extent is clearly unknown). But before that, Marvel is resurrecting an old favorite with the Fox Kids animated series via a continuation called “X-Men ’97” which will debut March 20 on Disney+. Alongside that date confirmation, they’ve released a first-look teaser trailer (See Below) giving us a minor glimpse at the animation style and look of the revival.

The trailer connects the new show to the old one as it had Magneto overseeing Xavier’s school and the new de facto head of the X-Men. Magneto, of course, is well known to many as one of the main antagonists of the franchise but has a conflictive streak that doesn’t make him “all that bad.” Will he be a great mentor to the team or revert to his dastardly plans? I guess we’ll have to watch and find out for ourselves.

It’s unclear despite being a series coming from Marvel Studios and the newly formed Marvel Animation, if the animated show is going to have any impact on how they conduct their upcoming “X-Men” reboot and we’re unsure if it’ll have any genuine influence other than the character/costume designs (The iconic Jim Lee/Chris Claremont era being one of the most popular versions of this Marvel team). They could always jump to a live-action incarnation here, but given that a heap of storylines already used up was either skipped over entirely or mangled during the Singerverse years at 20th Century Fox, it would feel odd to brush over those events given that Marvel can now start with a clean slate.

Marvel Animation is also behind “Marvel Zombies” and the upcoming Spidey show “Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.” Although, I’m still a little surprised they didn’t attempt a revival of the 1990s animated “Spider-Man” series alongside “X-Men ’97.” Perhaps, it was simply too much of a headache or a cameo for “X-Men ’97” is in the cards?

The teaser trailer features an article from The Daily Bugle questioning if Spidey is a mutant himself (There were crossovers between the two Fox Kids shows in the 1990s, so that version of Spider-Man exists in “X-Men ’97”). Also, it mentions Eddie Brock, aka, Venom in that paper as well. A crossover cameo wouldn’t be all that shocking since “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” had Parker running into X-Men remembers in a couple of episodes. This paper could suggest that Brock and Peter will be showing up to the Hellfire Gala, as the Hellfire Club are expected to be villains in the new show.

Pin by Geek King on 90s Spider-Man | Marvel cartoons, Barbie cartoon, Marvel animation

Also, to chime in on the question that the paper asks: “Is Spider-Man A Mutant?” In comic book lore, Peter Parker and Bruce Banner are considered mutates, not mutants. That simply means their DNA/genetics have been mutated but through technology and not by birth. So, technically, their children like Banner’s son Skaar would be mutants because their mutations would have been passed down genetically. Namor is actually considered Marvel’s “first mutant” and we’ll see if that angle is ever explored in the future. The mutant gene is likely going to play a HUGE role in the MCU moving forward and oddly enough is connected to the Celestials, last seen in “The Eternals.”

Anyways, you can watch that brand-new trailer with our first real look at the show’s animation below.

SOURCE: MARVEL STUDIOS

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‘The Acolyte’: New ‘Star Wars’ Series Set During The High Republic Coming To Disney+ This Summer

Yesterday, it was announced by “Andor” star Diego Luna that the second season of the “Rogue One” spinoff series has wrapped filming giving us confirmation that the “Star Wars” show is heading into the post-production process alongside things like “Skeleton Crew” and “The Acolyte.” Speaking of the latter it sounds like we might have an early idea of when that The High Republic-era series is expected to be ready to air.

Without an actual release date or even month, Collider now claims that “The Acolyte” is aiming to begin airing on Disney+ sometime this summer. While we would rather get more concrete dates, a release window for the streaming series is better than nothing. Hopefully, Disney+/Lucasfulm will give us a better idea of when those episodes will begin dropping soon.

A mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

“The Acolyte” hails from showrunner Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”) with an ensemble cast led by Amandla Stenberg that includes Lee Jung-Jae (“Squid Games”) as a Jedi Master, minted Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo returns to the franchise as a new Wookiee Jedi named Kelnacca, Dafne Keen (“Logan”), Rebecca Henderson (“Russian Doll”), Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”), Dean-Carles Chapman (“1917”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“Without Remorse”), Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”), and Charlie Barnett (“Russian Doll”).

Headland is expected to have directed episodes alongside Kogonada (“After Yang”) and Alex Garcia Lopez (“Cowboy Bebop”).

This news would suggest that “Skeleton Crew” will be next with online rumblings of a winter release later this year and then the second season of “Andor.” All three streaming shows have yet to be formally dated by either Disney or Lucasfilm.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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‘Andor’: Diego Luna Announces Season 2 Of ‘Star Wars’ Series Has Finally Wrapped Filming

“Andor” originally had some skepticism involved with its development as it would attempt to explore the origins of Rebellion spy, Cassian Andor. However, the streaming series starring Diego Luna and overseen by showrunner Tony Gilroy after being behind the extensive reshoots of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The show ended up becoming quite the espionage thriller and felt like true character-driven storytelling with excellent writing/performances. Luna has now announced that the second season which had been paused during the Hollywood strikes has finally wrapped filming and likely means we’ll get a release window shortly.

Here is what Luna said in a social media post on Instagram about the show finishing up filming today:

“Today is the last day of filming ‘Andor.’ I could not be more thankful to the entire crew for this amazing experience and the years of hard work. More than 700 people have worked on this production, and it is impossible to say goodbye and thank you to everyone individually, which is why I write here. Thank you for the love and the wonderful experience. See you soon.”

If you’re not aware, “Andor” focuses on the early days of the Rebel Forces working behind the scenes to fund/enact various missions to attack The Empire’s outposts when a bunch of the leadership is in the public view of that fascist regime on Coruscant. This adds to the show’s major push to explore wartime paranoia when it comes to spies working behind enemy lines.

Other cast members expected to return for the second season include Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Stellan Skarsgard (Luthen Rael), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Denise Gough (Dedra Meero), Faye Marsay (Vel Sartha), and Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen).

You can view that Instagram post made by Luna today below.

SOURCE: DIEGO LUNA

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‘Shōgun’ Trailer: New Red-Band Trailer For FX’s Ambitious Mature Samurai Series Debuting On Hulu & Disney+ This February

Yesterday, FX released a new trailer for their remake of the samurai drama series ‘Shōgun‘ that showcases the mature nature of the remake of the 1980s network incarnation that skews more violent and will feature sex scenes. A sign this show, debuting February 27 on Hulu,, will be a much more accurate take of the era of Shogunate, the brutal rulers of Japan.

In various regions like United Kingdom and Canada, that don’t have access to Hulu, the series will be available for Disney+ subscribers.

FX’s Shōgun, an original adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel, is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as “Lord Yoshii Toranaga” who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, “John Blackthorne” (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, “Toda Mariko” (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line. While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.

The show’s full cast consists of Ako as Daiyoin ‘Lady Iyo’, Anna Sawai as Lady Mariko, Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne, Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba No Kata, Hiro Kanagawa as Igarashi, Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, Nestor Carbonell as Rodrigues, Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Hiroshige ‘Buntaro’, Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito, Toshi Toda as Sugiyama, Yasunari Takeshima as Muraji, Yoriko Doguchi as Kiri no Kata, Yuka Kouri as Kiku, and Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado.

You can watch that brand new trailer below.

SOURCE: FX

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Live-Action ‘Gargoyles’ Series At Disney+ Will Be Produced By James Wan’s Atomic Monster

In the 1990s, Disney was behind one of the more unique genre-bending cartoon series with “Gargoyles.” A series that proposes that Gargoyles are actually living creatures/warriors that turn to stone in the daylight and come alive again at night, adding a time-travel and superhero angle to some extra creative flare. There had once been a rumor that Jordan Peele (“Nope”) attempted a live-action incarnation at Disney but that seemingly has gone nowhere as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that they’ll be working alongside writer/director Gary Dauberman (“Annabelle Comes Home”) on a series at Disney+ with James Wan‘s production company Atomic Monster (“M3GAN”) also getting involved.

Here is a logline for the original cartoon:

After spending a thousand years in an enchanted petrified state, the gargoyles (who have been transported from medieval Scotland) are reawakened in modern-day New York City, and take on roles as the city’s secret night-time protectors.

Dauberman recently directed a feature film incarnation of Stephen King’s vampire novel “Salem’s Lot,” along with writing the scripts for multiple movies within Wan’s “Conjuring” cinematic universe including “The Nun.” So, he’ll certainly bring out the darker visual and horror elements from the animated version that aired between 1994 and 1997.

This would be one of the higher-profile Disney+ series after the Marvel and “Star Wars” projects, given the Gargoyles to be convincing enough would likely need to be done via top-notch CGI and that could speak to the scale of the visual effects budget. The main character Goliath was voiced by veteran film actor Keith David (“Spawn,” “The Thing,” “They Live”), who could potentially reprise the role if they’re looking to do motion-capture/CGI versions of the Gargoyles. David’s signature buttery voice would be appreciated but not make-or-break.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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Marvel’s ‘Agatha,’ ‘Daredevil,’ & ‘Ironheart’ Getting Big Release Delays According To US Copyright Filings

Today marks the release of the second season of Marvel’s “Loki” and there had been previous delays on the other streaming shows. We now might have an idea when two of them are going to be released next. MCU Direct is suggesting the upcoming Disney+ series “Ironheart” is expected to begin airing on September 3, 2025 (A huge push given they’ve completed filming), and “Agatha” is coming out on September 1, 2024. These dates come from listings on the United States Copyright Office, which would make them slightly more official than just a regular rumbling online.

“Agatha” is a magic-focused series and spinoff of “WandaVision” featuring Kathryn Hahn returning as the titular Agatha Harkness along with actors such as Aubrey Plaza as Rio Dival, and Sasheer Zamata in the role of a key horror-occult character, Jennifer Kale.

Dominique Thorne‘s Riri Williams made her debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as a brilliant college student who builds her own armor suit from scratch. “Ironheart” is expected to continue those adventures and will introduce the supernatural villain, The Hood, who has “In The Heights” actor Anthony Ramos in the role. “Solo: A Star Wars Story” actor Alden Ehrenreich is also in the series and rumored to be playing the son of “Iron Man” villain Obadiah Stane portrayed by Jeff Bridges.

Other live-action MCU shows on the horizon include “Echo” on January 10, 2024, and “Daredevil: Born Again” on January 2025.

These delays stem from Disney+ juggling multiple original series from Marvel Studios and the “Star Wars” shows coming from Lucasfilm. They’re also looking like a bit of a content gap is coming next year in the wake of the strikes (long expected). Disney’s Bob Iger had also suggested to the public that they are considering slowing down the volume of Marvel shows to keep the studio from stretching itself too thin as their aim is to get the feature films on track.

SOURCE: UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE

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‘Lando’: Lucasfilm Hires Donald & Stephen Glover To Write ‘Star Wars’ Series As Justin Simien Exits

Back in December 2020, Lucasfilm had first announced early plans to develop a new Disney+ series that would focus on Donald Glover‘s incarnation of Lando Calrissian from “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” An infamous smuggler pilot and card shark turned businessman that first appeared as a former acquaintance of Han Solo in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Affectionally titled “Lando,” there really hasn’t been much in the way of updates on the streaming series until now.

Yesterday, it was revealed by a report from Variety that the show is very much still alive as Lucasfilm has replaced Justin Simien (“Haunted Mansion,” “Dear White People”) after the creative had exited the “Star Wars” spinoff series. They’ve now hired Glover and his brother Stephen Glover (“Swarm,” “Atlanta”) to write the series, which isn’t that entirely shocking since the pair are currently working together over at Amazon as part of the overall deal which includes the upcoming “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” series at Prime.

While there is going to be plenty of speculation of the series being a sequel surrogate to “Solo,” it’s unclear if some or any of those characters will make their grand return to the “Star Wars” universe. The show is expected to mainly focus on Lando’s own adventures and potentially explore how he ends up running Cloud City, an iconic franchise location that is a tibanna gas mining colony on the planet of Bespin.

Given that show is starting with new writers it’s unlikely going to begin shooting anytime soon given the writers’ strike is still ongoing. “Ahsoka” is the next big “Star Wars” show to debut on Disney+ next month on August 23.

SOURCE: VARIETY