Marvel Studios has certainly been experimenting with genres and obscure characters when it comes to their Disney+ series with things like She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Ironheart, Agatha: Coven of Choas, and Echo. Another upcoming project that will test the waters of what Marvel fans are willing to watch is Wonder Man. The super-strong character has villainous origins as he was given superpowers by villain Baron Zemo to then battle The Avengers but eventually shook-off his villainous ways becoming an official member of team alongside folks like Dr. Hank McCoy aka Beast and is also a Hollywood movie star, which certainly would make things complicated.
There has been a decent update coming from Deadline as the outlet has revealed that Marvel Studios has tapped Canadian director Stella Meghie (Minx, Insecure) to work on multiple episodes on the Disney+ series alongside Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty). That’s not the only update for Wonder Man, as the same outlet also announced that Mindhunter actress Lauren Glazier has joined the cast that already includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen) as our protagonist Simon Williams and a returning Ben Kingsley reprising his Iron Man 3 role of Trevor Slattery, last seen in Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.
It’s unknown if any of Wonder Man’s connections to Baron Zemo will actually happen in the live-action incarnations as Marvel Studios is well-known for taking liberties to the source material and the origins of their superheroes/villains. However, we’ll take any excuse to bring back Daniel Bruhl as the super-soldier hating baddie and giving us a chance to see more of Zemo’s dance moves.
We’re sure more casting announcements will be made in the near future. Stay tuned for more updates.
Disney is finally reviving The Rocketeer with a brand new film for Disney+ written by Ed Ricourt, that might see David Oyelowo potentially star as the titular hero. The Return of The Rocketeer will be produced by David and Jessica Oyelowo under their Yoruba Saxon banner.
The Return of the Rocketeer will have an all-new creative directive with Ricourt’s story focusing on a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the mantle of the Rocketeer.
At one point, it was said the project would focus on a female black protagonist, so much for that.
The original Rocketeer came out in 1991, during a brief era of period-set comic book films trying to capitalize on the success of Tim Burton’s Batman. Other big-budget studios films from that era include Dick Tracy, The Shadow, and The Phantom.
Considering new technology such as Lucasfilm’s StageCraft/The Volume used on The Mandalorian, it could make for a fantastical new adventure film and potentially lead to multiple installments, given I assume their aim will to be serialize the character.
This action role doesn’t sound terribly foreign to David Oyelowo after playing a Tuskegee airman in the George Lucas-produced WWII film Red Tails.
RED TAILS – During World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Authority selects 13 black cadets to become part of an experimental program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The program aims at training “colored personnel” to become fighter pilots for the Army. However, discrimination, lack of institutional support and the racist belief that these men lacked the intelligence and aptitude for the job dog their every step. Despite this, the Tuskegee Airmen, as they become known, more than prove their worth.
THE ROCKETEER – Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) is a cocky stunt pilot in love with a beautiful actress, Jenny Blake (Jennifer Connelly). When he discovers a jet pack hidden in a biplane, Cliff straps on the rocket, dons a flashy helmet and becomes the high-flying hero known as The Rocketeer. But when Nazis want to use the rocket as a weapon, Cliff must use his alter ego to both protect Jenny from an evil actor (Timothy Dalton) and save the day in this period adventure based on the comic books by Dave Stevens.
It looks like we finally have our second new cast member on Marvel’s She-Hulk series!
Deadline reports that Space Force and Kidding actress Ginger Gonzaga as been tapped to play Jennifer Walter’s best friend in the show, calling it a co-starring role. Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany is playing Jennifer Walters, the defense lawyer cousin of Bruce Banner, who in the comics is given an emergency blood transfusion from Banner leading to her becoming a Hulk herself empowered with similar strength and abilities.
UPDATE: The actress has confirmed her involvement on Twitter.
Filming is said to begin this March in Atlanta, Georgia under the working title Libra.
Rick & Morty‘s Jessica Gao is the lead writer on the MCU series with Kat Coiro and Anu Valia directing.
The series is described as a superhero workplace comedy and will also feature MarkRuffalo as the Hulk and Tim Roth making his triumphant return as The Incredible Hulk‘s Abomination. There are also expectations that other actors from that film be returning, but have yet to be confirmed officially. William Hurt‘s Thunderbolt Ross has been popping-up in multiple projects since The Incredible Hulk and almost appeared as his second comic book persona, Red Hulk, in Captain America: Civil War.
Kevin Feige has also teased other superhero cameos which some fans have assumed could mean either Peter Parker or Matt Murdock.
We should be getting a couple more casting additions before production starts.
She-Hulk is expected to begin airing on Disney+ in late summer/fall of 2022 given the extensive special effects needed for the multiple Hulks on the show.
A full room of concept art in a new WandaVision featurette might have revealed a special cameo. A piece of artwork featuring fellow Avenger Wonder Man has been spotted which could mean the character may end up in the Marvel Studios series that has already started airing on Disney+. You can see the Marvel superhero with the “W” on his chest in the top left corner in the image below.
You might not remember but Simon Williams aka Wonder Man had once been set to appear in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 and played by Nathan Fillion, there were multiple faux movie posters made up with him as Williams. The cameo was ultimately cut from the film and it remains to be seen if the actor would be asked to reprise the role again if he’s truly in WandaVision.
There have been online rumors circulating for over a year that Marvel Studios is interested in making a Nova project, however, Kevin Feige and Disney has yet to make this official.
This growing fan desire led Comic Book to ask Kevin Feige about a Nova project while appearing on their new podcast Phase Zero (spotted by The Disinsider). The Marvel Studios president didn’t confirm the development rumors but certainly gives the impression they’ll eventually tackle the cosmic superhero.
FEIGE: “Timing is relative, right? I think I’d been talking about Doctor Strange eight years before that movie came out. So, ‘immediate potential’ is relative. But clearly, we are not shying away from the cosmic end of storytelling right in the sweet spot of the Nova Corps and Nova himself.”
He also doesn’t clarify if they would attempt to make a series or full feature film. The studio certainly has it’s hands full these days and Feige hasn’t been ready to announce when Phase 4 will even end.
The Nova Corps were first introduced in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy and seemingly had been destroyed by Thanos in the events leading up to Avengers: Infinity War as they had been protecting an infinity stone on Xandar.
Marvel has a handful of cosmic projects on the horizon including Eternals, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel 2, Thor: Love & Thunder, Fantastic Four, Secret Invasion, and Guardians of The Galaxy 3.
Yesterday, news broke via Deadline that Chris Evans’ retirement from the Marvel Cinematic Universe was about to end with talks of the Avengers actor nearing a deal to reprise the Steve Rogers role for an upcoming MCU project and adding a second project could also be in play.
Chris Evans has taken to Twitter to seemingly respond to Deadline’s report stating “news to me” with a shrug emoji.
Deadline is quite reliable and actors connected to Marvel roles have been deceptive before when it comes to them publicly confirming casting reports or returns to various projects before the go-ahead from the studio. It’s also possible Evans’ return doesn’t come together and Avengers: Endgame is the final say on Steve Rogers.
Having an older Steve mentoring Sam Wilson in a Captain America 4 feature film feels like the play here, but I’m not sure that is something they’ll be ultimately attempt as they gave Rogers a solid ending that seemed to sit well with Chris Evans.
The actor signaling on Twitter he would stepping down from the role back in 2018.
There are other ways to have Evans return with his time-travelling to the late 1940s to meet up with Peggy Carter post-WWII and spends a lifetime with her, allowing some wiggle room to have him tackling The Cold War era threats to the United States and world peace via a team like The Invaders.
The role they were talking-up sounds larger than a simple cameo that could take more time than he currently has for other projects as he is about to begin filming Netflix’s $200 million budgeted spy film The Gray Man directed by The Russo Brothers. This might telegraph his work in California could conflict with current Marvel Studios productions such as Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness or even Thor: Love &Thunder.
Speaking of the Multiverse, there could be another timeline where Captain America fought through-out the entire WWII campaign beyond just taking down HYDRA and was able to hook up with other Marvel superheroes from that era.
Yesterday, it was revealed by Deadline that Chris Evans was nearing a deal to reprise SteveRogers aka Captain America in a small supporting role (similar to Robert Downey Jr. in Spider-Man: Homecoming) for an undisclosed MCU project. They also mention Evans might be returning for second thing, possibly a film but didn’t reveal what that could be either.
There are a couple of obvious options such as old Steve Rogers becoming a mentor to Sam Wilson in Captain America 4 as he takes over the mantle. Also, seeing what Steve was up to while hiding between Captain America: Civil War to Avengers: Infinity War, not unlike where Black Widow takes place in the MCU timeline. There is the multiple years between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, I’m sure there would still be threats in the wake of Thanos’ snap.
There is another option to add. Thanks to Avengers: Endgame, that Steve was able to go back in time to be with Peggy Carter and stayed there starting in 1948 just when The Cold War begins. Steve as an old man ends up handing Sam Wilson the shield at the end of the film and launching the events that will be covered in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.
The Multiverse also opens the door to other timelines allowing to them return to WWII.
I think it’s hard to imagine with all the threats surrounding him during that timeline and Peggy Carter’s work at S.H.I.E.L.D. that he doesn’t eventually jump back into the fray between his return and Avengers: Endgame. What would make a lot of sense would be Rogers leading his own team which has previously happened with The Invaders, a group mostly made up of WWII era heroes such as Namor McKenzie aka The Sub-Mariner, Union Jack, Spitfire, the original android version of The Human Torch aka Jim Hammond, Blazing Skull, and multiple other wartime heroes that could get some live-action love.
It’s worth noting that Wyatt Russell’s John Walker aka U.S. Agent, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes have been established members on the roster.
There is another superhero that was kicking around during WWII and The Cold War that has teamed-up with Captain America the comics that could make for another excellent addition to those ranks, that being the Canadian super-soldier Wolverine.
Luckily, since Logan doesn’t really age he can be able to time-hop to various eras of the MCU including something like WWII or even futuristic setting like with Old Man Logan.
Rebooting Wolverine is clearly a huge priority to the studio alongside the X-Men and having the anti-hero connect to various MCU characters beforehand wouldn’t be shocking since he’s, like Steve Rogers, he is part of a super-soldier program via Weapon. When his origin takes places in the MCU doesn’t seem to be set in stone and Marvel can certainly tinker with it to fit their needs but I’d personally like to see him running around WWII without his indestructible skeleton and then get it during The Cold War.
It might be a good idea to introduce Wolverine as a supporting character elsewhere so that he doesn’t dominate the main X-Men films as much. The fictional X-Men locale of Madripoor is going to be introduced in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, which had many fans jump to conclusions that Wolverine is connected to the Disney+ series, although, there hasn’t been credible information backing up these fan desires. However, it becoming a stomping ground for the mutant eventually wouldn’t a surprise.
If they’re genuinely going to bring Chris Evans back I think it is worth considering giving him another period project since while Captain America: The First Avenger canonically takes place during WWII, it felt like they copped-out by limiting how much fighting he did against the actual Axis. The Cold War era could be another fine option as Steve combating the new threat of The Soviet Union during the height of the nuclear arms race feels just as a plausible of a setting for another adventure.
X-Men villain Omega Red could be a good baddie to use as well given his connections to Soviet Union super-soldier experiments.
It’s worth mentioning we’ve previously seen Easter Eggs to canonical members of The Invaders lineup in previous Marvel Studios films.
Union Jack was teased via Iron Man 2 as Joey Chapman was listed as one of the racers going head-to-head with Tony Stark. The Human Torch is seen encased in glass and Namor’s Atlantis was briefly teased in Captain America: The First Avenger at the Stark Expo (blink and you’ll miss the underwater city nod). The S.H.I.E.L.D. boat called The Lemurian Star in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a direct nod to Namor villains The Lemurians, a sign that something nefarious was happening onboard.
I’m sure we’ll start to get confirmation what Evans is actually going to show up in but I think fans are also quite comfortable leaving old Rogers alone as well given his satisfying ending.
Another tidbit from Collider’s conversation with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gives us an episode count for their upcoming She-Hulk series, which will be given 10-episodes, however shorter than normal at 30-minutes.
Some can be much longer than that. But She-Hulk, for instance, is being developed as 10 30-minute episodes.
She-Hulk is directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia, with Jessica Gao serving as head writer.
Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany will be playing superhero defense lawyer Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk with Mark Rufflao reprising his role as Jennifer’s cousin Bruce Banner aka Hulk and the return of Incredible Hulk actor Tim Roth as villain Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination.
We’ll likely see more actors from Incredible Hulk make a return just like Roth.
There is an assumption that William Hurt could be reprising Thunderbolt Ross in the show, the character becomes Red Hulk in the comics, something that was considered for Captain America: Civil War but was ultimately cut during development stages. Ross has also been part of the newer incarnation of the Thunderbolts team alongside Deadpool, ThePunisher, and Elektra.
In the comics, Walters needs a lifesaving blood transfusion from Banner leading to her becoming a Hulk herself. How Marvel is going to tackle her origin in the MCU remains to be seen and if they’re going to mimic the comic books that closely. Jennifer is also sort of big crossover character which has already been teased by Kevin Feige during the Disney Investor Day presentation leading many to believe fellow Marvel lawyer Matt Murdock might show up. The heroine had at one time been a member of both Fantastic Four and The Avengers, I’ll be curious if she’ll have a role to play in JonWatts‘ reboot of Marvel’s first family.
Production on She-Hulk under the working title Libra is said to begin this March in Altanta, Georgia.
A release sometime in 2022 on Disney+ is expected given the amount of visual effects work needed to render multiple Hulks in the series, we’re thinking the release could skew late summer or fall of 2022.
It looks like we finally know how long Marvel’s Moon Knight series will be.
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.
While speaking with Kevin Feige about various runtimes of the upcoming Disney+ shows, the Marvel Studios president mentions to Collider that Moon Knight will land six episodes but run a bit longer than something like She-Hulk, which is going to have 30-minute episodes.
He also added that the upcoming Moon Knight will fall into the six, 40-50 minute episode category.
A similar episode run and length as 2021 shows such as Loki and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.
Star Wars and X-Men alumni Oscar Isaac had finally been confirmed for the main role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight. The American actor had also recently attached himself to Sony’s Metal Gear Solid film based on the iconic action video game series playing Solid Snake.
The directing team consists of Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab along with the indie duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
Production on Moon Knight is said to begin this March in Budapest, Hungary under the working title Good Faith, a location that was used for their feature film Black Widow. Other filming locations had once included London and the United States.
How Marc Spector will fit into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe is a little less known than some of the other characters given his supernatural and vigilante ways. Various characters getting their own solo series on Disney+ have a clearer path for crossovers, however, there has been speculation it could have some connection to Mahershala Ali‘s new Blade reboot but that yet to be confirmed in any substantial way.
We have been hearing that Disney+ hoped to have the series ready to begin airing sometime in the spring/summer of 2022.
THE RONIN 