Spider-Man 3 will officially see it’s score composed by Michael Giacchino!
The composer announced his return on his Twitter account yesterday and used the first official set photo that had been previously shared by franchise star Tom Holland. Michael will now secure scoring an entire Spider-Man trilogy.
We are hearing that there is an expectation that Giacchino will be back for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness after tackling the first film’s score. Both films are currently in production with Spider-Man 3 shooting in Atlanta under the working title The November Project and Doctor Strange 2 filming at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
Jon Watts is directing a cast that includes Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Tony Revolori, Angourie Rice, Jon Favreau, and J.K. Simmons.
There have been rumblings that we could learn the film’s title in the coming weeks/months. We do know the film is will follow the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home where Peter Parker is outed publicly by J. Jonah Jameson as Spider-Man along with being framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. The extent of those consequences or Parker going on the run or being captured are currently a mystery.
Questions remain about the inclusion of Jamie Foxx’s Electro and if this will become an MCU incarnation of the Spidey villain rather than a resurrection of the same character from Amazing Spider-Man 2 via The Multiverse. J.K. Simmons’ reprisal of J. Jonah Jameson is clearly a new soft-reboot of the character for the franchise and is expected to cross into the other Sony/Marvel films like Morbius. The Jared Leto film has already had it’s connection to Spider-Man: Homecoming outed with it’s trailer including Michael Keaton’s Vulture.
The deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures expires after one more Marvel film that most likely will be the Doctor Strange sequel given that Benedict is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man and could easily lead to Peter Parker showing up in Doctor Strange’s “solo” film as these installments are quickly become quasi Avengers movies because of the team-up nature of them.
I have to assume that Disney and Sony will eventually come back to the negotiating table to work together on more movies as it is an increasingly beneficial situation for both companies.
Olivia Wilde is reportedly directing a Spider-Woman film but it remains to be seen if Kevin Feige/Marvel Studios will be involved with that project. It’s been assumed they will be, as Marvel has access to Jessica Drew the alter ego that is traditionally known as Spider-Woman. The heroine debuting outside the Spider-Man comics and happens to be an agent of S.W.O.R.D. that is firmly set within the MCU via WandaVision along with other upcoming projects.
Sony Pictures has given Spider-Man 3 a release date of December 17th, 2021.
Not too long ago Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso confirmed that WandaVision has finished filming which now allows Elizabeth Olsen to move on to her next big Marvel project, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. While franchise star Benedict Cumberbatch had previously suggested that he would begin filming this month it was a little less clear when Olsen would begin shooting her scenes as the film’s co-lead.
Elizabeth has revealed to travel outlet CN Traveller that she’ll be in England over the holidays either shooting/prepping for the sequel.
OLSEN: “I did a really strange deep-dive into how an American could legally live in the UK and I saw that there’s a retirement visa once you reach 54. I feel as if British people work to live – they don’t live to work, unlike in LA and New York. I am moving back soon to film the sequel to Dr Strange, so I’ll be there for Christmas, just outside London. Even given the current circumstances, it will be a nice trip.”
I’ve previously confirmed that filming will be mainly taking place at Longcross Studios in Surrey under the working title Stellar Vortex. Secondary filming locations were supposed to include Norway and New York City at one point. Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi has stepped in to direct after Scott Derrickson exited over creative differences with the studio. Hopefully, we’ll start getting some more casting news if they’re really undergoing filming soon.
Doctor Strange 2’s cast also is confirmed to include Benedict Wong as Wong and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Karl Mordo. Newcomer Xochitl Gomez has reportedly joined the film in undisclosed role that many believe could be Young Avengers/Ultimates member America Chavez aka Miss America.
The United Kingdom is currently in their second lockdown which allows for film and television production, but further restrictions are now expected to go beyond December. We’ll have to wait and see if the government drops the hammer on productions in the coming weeks/months.
The Loki and WandaVision series are said to lead directly into films like Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
WandaVision’s debut on Disney+ has been delayed to January 15th, 2021 and Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is expected to release on March 25th, 2022.
After multiple production delays due to the Coronavirus outbreak and deal hiccups between Sony/Marvel, Spider-Man 3 is finally shoot with it’s lead Tom Holland back as Peter Parker!
Tom Holland made the announcement today on his Instagram account posting the first official set photo with himself in the costume wearing a mask, supporting calls for people to embrace mask wearing as new American COVID-19 cases have exploded (hitting 100,000+ daily cases).
HOLLAND: “Wear a mask, I’m wearing two…”
Tom had recently completed filming his Uncharted feature film co-starring Mark Wahlberg before arriving in Atlanta, Georgia to begin production on the untitled Spider-Man sequel others that have been spotted in the area getting ready to shoot include Zendaya and Jacob Batalon.
It’s also expected that Tony Revolori, J.K. Simmons, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and Angourie Rice will reprise their roles.
Returning to direct is Jon Watts, who previously helmed Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. There have been reports that Jamie Foxx will be reprising his role as villain Electro (potentially a new MCU version) along with Benedict Cumberbatch shooting his scenes as Doctor Strange before moving on to Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
Marvel Studios has yet to confirm any new additions but more casting announcements via trades are assumed in the coming weeks given that filming has started officially.
The new deal between Sony and Marvel allows for Holland to appear as Spider-Man in one more Disney film before they have return to the table and examine if they want to continue the beneficial relationship, which most likely could be the Doctor Strange sequel given Benedict’s participation in Spider-Man 3.
Marvel’s next big productions are Doctor Strange 2 in the UK and as Shang-Chi has wrapped in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia will see Thor: Love & Thunder move into those stages at Fox Studios Australia.
Both Ant-Man 3 and Captain Marvel 2 were aiming to shoot in England next year but COVID-19 may have delayed that shooting schedule. Director James Gunn is also going be returning for Guardians of The Galaxy 3 once he finishes his work on The Suicide Squad and his Peacemaker series for HBO Max. Black Panther 2 is more of an unknown for the time being after the sudden death of franchise lead Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer. Everyone involved including the cast seems to be focusing on grieving that loss rather than rushing a sequel.
Sony Pictures has set Spider-Man 3’s release date for December 17th, 2021.
The British government has announced via Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s national address over the weekend that after weeks of dire COVID-19 predictions for the region they’re finally moving back into a second national lockdown starting on November 5th and lifting it on December 2nd (could be extended if necessary).
JOHNSON: “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day”
For comparison, UK COVID-19 cases have topped 1,000,000 including 47,717 deaths while the United States still hasn’t instituted a national lockdown with 9,280,000 million cases and over 231,000 COVID-19 deaths.
While dine-in bars/restaurants (can do takeout), cinemas, and other non-essentially businesses are closing film productions are expected to chug along like nothing is happening. I’m curious how long that will last if more productions publicly deal with new positive cases after both Jurassic World: Dominion and The Batman dealt with their own recently, the latter seeing star Robert Pattinson test positive for COVID-19.
This was later backed-up by Oliver Dowden, the government’s Culture Secretary on Twitter.
2/3
The changes mean people should WFH where possible
But where this is not possible, travel to a place of work will be permitted – e.g. this includes (but not exhaustive) elite sport played behind closed doors, film & tv production, telecoms workers
Things like schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open. However, that could change if they don’t see a decrease in numbers which might also lead to stricter measures and might lead to everything non-essentially getting closed including film shoots (filming in a bubble or not).
As previously stated, The Batman and Jurassic World: Dominion are filming in the United Kingdom alongside Fantastic Beasts 3. There is an expectation that the Moon Knight series, Ant-Man 3, Captain Marvel 2, and The Flash are prepping to shoot as well in the new year. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness was supposed to film at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, however, trades have suggested that lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch is set to shoot his scenes in Atlanta for Spider-Man 3 before filming starts on the Strange sequel.
A lot can happen in a month and it doesn’t seem they’re going all-in with this new lockdown, which might return to bite them in the ass as did the slow response to rising new cases and delayed second lockdown when the government knew months ago that this was only getting worse in the UK. I’m worried these half-steps just won’t be enough and they’ll essentially announce a more rigorous lockdown in a couple weeks or in December, extending it throughout the holidays.
It looks like Spider-Man 3’s main shoot is about to kick-off soon in Atlanta, Georgia as Tom Holland has now officially flown over from Europe to the United States after seemingly competing the production on the Uncharted film.
Tom posted some videos of himself on what looked like a private plane on Instagram Stories and the final one was of him walking on the tarmac confirming he was in the city to shoot Spider-Man 3 and was super enthusiastic about it.
HOLLAND: “So we just landed in Atlanta and… it’s time for Spider-Man 3. Let’s Go!”
I don’t really blame Tom Holland for the excitement given the film had been delayed multiple times due to the Coronavirus pausing the production of Uncharted back in March just before they started rolling on it. That pretty much cemented that the summer shoot for Spider-Man 3 would be pushed into the fall/winter.
However, with the skyrocketing new cases of COVID-19 in the United States as single day numbers are the highest since the pandemic started, I’m slightly curious if the production will see multiple hiccups throughout the shoot if they don’t use a production bubble (similar to what was used with the NBA) to keep cast and crew safe. We’ve already seen in the United Kingdom (less cases and deaths per capita than the U.S.) that both massive films The Batman and Jurassic World: Dominion, despite new safety precautions, still ended up with positive test results with the former lead actor Robert Pattinson testing positive.
I’ll try to remain hopeful but it’s hard not to be at least worried that stateside film productions over the winter aren’t likely going to have an easy go as other places in the world.
While there have been plenty of rumors about who will show up in the third film cast members reported by trades include Holland, Zendaya as MJ, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Jacob Batalon as Ned, Tony Revolori as Flash, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Jamie Foxx shocking return as villain Electro.
There is also an expectation that J.K. Simmons will be back as the meddlesome J. Jonah Jameson.
I’m slightly curious if following the events of Spider-Man 3 that Tom Holland will be showing up in Doctors Strange In The Multiverse of Madness as his final Marvel Studios movie before the Sony/Marvel deal expires for a second time.
The film with returning director Jon Watts is expected to use the new working title of The November Project (used Serenity Now for 2nd unit shoot in NYC) during it’s time filming in Atlanta. It’s currently unknown if Spider-Man 3 will attempt to shoot in multiple other countries as previously planned.
More casting news should be coming very soon.
Spider-Man 3 has been given a release date of December 17th, 2021 by Sony Pictures but a lot can happen over a year and they just might not be able to hit that target as we’ve seen plenty of these release dates move for various reasons. They are hardly set in stone anymore.
Deadline has revealed that young actress Xochitl Gomez has landed an undisclosed role in Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The newcomer is likely best known for her role in the Netflix series revival of The Baby-Sitters Club.
Considering there has been rumblings of America Chavez aka Miss America being a supporting lead role (via casting grids/audition tapes) in the film having Gomez be the first new cast member announced for the sequel, this would suggest that Xochitl has landed the role of Miss America.
Chavez like Hawkeye’s Kate Bishop and Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan is a member of the Young Avengers.
Xochitl will join previously confirmed cast members Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Winstead, Benefict Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi had replaced Scott Derrickson on the film.
The Ronin had confirmed that Logan and X-Men: First Class cinematographer John Mathiesonhas joined Raimi’s production team. Filming is also set to take place under the working title Stellar Vortex at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
There is an assumption that both Disney+ shows WandaVision and Loki could plant seeds for the events/characters in Doctor Strange 2. Not to mention that Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch is reportedly showing up in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man 3 alongside Tom Holland which is currently slated to be released a few months before Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
Former director Scott Derrickson had previously mentioned on social media that both Doctor Strange supporting characters Brother Voodoo and Clea could show up in the film as well. This has yet to be confirmed officially with casting announcements.
Marvel has given the film a release date of March 25th, 2022.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the case of Spider-Man 3 reprising his role as Doctor Strange. However, they’re not clear when he’ll shoot his Spider-Man 3 scenes as Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness will begin shooting soon in London, while the Spidey sequel is expected to shoot in stateside in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is a crossover that really shouldn’t surprise fans as the two Steve Ditko superheroes have been interacting with each other and teaming up against villains for many decades in the pages of Marvel Comics.
I seemingly predicted the crossover news back in 2016 with this cheeky tweet stating a crossover would happen in 2020, I also do lottery numbers on request.
SPIDER-MAN's Tom Holland might be joining DOCTOR STRANGE's Benedict Cumberbatch in THE CURRENT WAR..I smell a crossover in 2020 pic.twitter.com/EkPCuYd5mm
There has been plenty of rumblings of Spider-Man 3 tackling The Multiverse/Spider-Verse after the casting news of Jamie Foxx reprising the Electro role and the addition of Doctor Strange into the mix would certainly support that narrative. The problem becomes does Marvel go all-in with focusing on various Multiverse characters/cameos or are getting a superhero film focused on an actual plot.
As THR points out there still seems to be a scheduling issue with the two competing Marvel sequels will productions filming in two different countries at the same time. It is possible that they shoot scenes when there is a break in their schedules or do them at a later date once both films shoot most of their scenes.
I’m slightly curious if Spider-Man will now show up in the Doctor Strange sequel as that could be when theses Spider-Man 3 scenes are shot. This could be exactly how Marvel Studios finishes out the recent contract with Sony Pictures as they get one more film with Holland’s Spider-Man before it expires again.
What could be happening is that Spider-Man 3 is part one of this big Multiverse cinematic event with Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness being the final climax, possibly the final time we see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU.
It would also give Sam Raimi another hot at directing Spider-Man again.
Jon Watts returns to direct with a release date of December 17th, 2021 (subject to change).
Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed to Watch Time India that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, directed by Sam Raimi, will begin filming at the end of October or early November.
CUMERBATCH: “I’m in pre-production with the second Doctor Strange film, which is very exciting. We will start filming in late October or early November. And I’m in post-production with two films.”
That production start will likely depend how the United Kingdom tackles the second wave of COVID-19 over the next month as a nationwide shut down would directly impact productions like Doctor Strange 2 aka Stellar Vortex. Yesterday, the UK saw the largest single day for new cases at 7,100 and there could be measures to slow down the spread with a shut down.
Confirmed by myself it will shoot on the stages of Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
The Ronin also recently confirmed that Logan cinematographer John Mathieson joined the film’s production team.
The Doctor Strange sequel will feature confirmed actors Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, Benedict Wong as Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as villain Baron Karl Mordo. There is some strong evidence that America Chavez (aka Miss America) will appear in the comic book film as well, that character’s casting has yet to be announced officially by Marvel.
Marvel has set the film’s release date for March 25th, 2022.
Ever since Marvel Studios got rights to mutants and the X-Men we’ve all be heavily anticipating when that could happen it is starting to feel like we’re getting extremely close to at least an introduction to mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe very soon.Â
Kevin Feige has previously stated that Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff will “truly become the Scarlet Witch” in her solo series WandaVision and the recent trailer has seemingly confirmed certain elements we all assumed would be explored in the show after the cosmic orgainzation S.W.O.R.D. will be introduced which is directly from the pages of the X-Men comics with folks like Dr. Hank McCoy aka Beast among the team.
In the comics, Wanda and her brother Quicksilver are the children of X-Men villain Magneto an origin element that has never been used in the MCU incarnations as the studio had shared use with 20th Century Fox at the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron but weren’t allowed to reference mutants or X-Men. Their powers were explained by HYDRA’s human experiments with Loki’s staff to create metahumans.Â
Mutants are normally born with a mutant gene that leads to their superpowers.
It’s been assumed for a long time that series would be a version of House of M storyline, where Wanda creates a new reality, this would explain why a very dead Vision can father twins (Speed and Wiccan) and why we don’t see them outside of this suburban neighborhood.Â
There was seemingly a direct nod to the comic run in the new trailer with a shot of a wine bottle called Maison du Mepris (House of Contempt), which could be seen as House of M nod from certain perspectives.Â
LE MEPRIS – A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance) is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Prokosch has hired Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb at the box office, he brings in a screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) to energize the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife (Brigitte Bardot).
The reference might have a double meaning and indicate a future rift between Wanda/Vision with the “House of Contempt” becoming the one they’re stuck in leading to friction. It’s also worth noting we still don’t have any indication that the series will introduce any mutants and if Monica Rambeau lands her powers in the series we don’t know if she’ll have mutant status.
Then again, Wanda could manifest mutant properties in people across the globe these are comic book stories after all.
There are likely more casting and character surprises on the way.
Kathryn Hahn is rumored to be playing legit witch Agatha Harkness, but Marvel has yet to make this official. If she is indeed playing Harkness as the witch costume would suggest, this could connect the character to large events in the Marvel universe’s past including the sinking of the Kingdom of Atlantis. This event is referred to in the comics as The Great Cataclysm and has direct ties to the Eternals. One version has a Celestial and the Deviants causing it. Another one in the Ultimate Universe suggests that Agatha had something to do with the fate of Atlantis.Â
I wouldn’t be shocked if S.W.O.R.D. is involved because Mephisto has a part to play with what is going on with Wanda and Vision, a cosmic entity that happens to be Marvel’s version of the devil and could be pulling the strings as he likes to torture various heroes. However, I’m not entirely sure why S.W.O.R.D. is doing there unless they believe that whatever is happen is somehow alien related and it very well could be.
Chloe Zhoa’s Eternals seems like another perfect oppurtunity to give audiences a new version of the mutants via the mutant gene that inserted into humanity via Celesitials, who are a third offshoot of Eternals and Deviants. It is established in the comics Harkness has been on Earth for a long time and was kicking around during The Great Cataclysm, 20,000 years in the past and would have likely had run ins with Eternals and Celesitials given her age/powers in the comics.
Harkness given her age making her either mutant or an eternal herself wouldn’t be shocking. I don’t think it would take much of a leap to connect her to Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman aka Black Knight either given his connection sorcery and witchcraft.
An Atlantis connection via WandaVision or Eternals could help usher in mutants in another way beyond Scarlet Witch’s powers and The Multiverse.
It’s been established that Namor McKenzie aka The Sub-Mariner is the first mutant concerning Marvel’s publication history as he predates the X-Men as one of the very first legacy superheroes with mutant abilities and there was even a run in 2011 titled Namor: The First Mutant. That same year he joined the X-Men during events like Avengers vs X-Men and was recently seen in X-Men Red.
While they made sure to separate his mutant abilities like flying from his Atlantean power-set, there is a chance that Marvel alters that for the MCU version. In the 1960s, Professor Xavier and Magneto tried to recruit him into their various mutant factions and only recently has joined their ranks.Â
Namor is an extremely important crossover character with connections to the Fantastic Four, The Illuminati, and Agents of Atlas led by Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo with his cousin Namora on the team. He also teamed up with Hulk, Doctor Strange, Valkyrie, and others on the original version of The Defenders.Â
There had been some teases from director Scott Derrickson on Twitter that Namor could be part of his sequel Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, but that element hinted to may not have survived the development process or the final version that Sam Raimi makes. Then again, Harkness in WandaVision and Eternals both covering Atlantis could help establish Namor beforehand. Â
Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi is part of the Agents of Atlas which could be another entry point to introduce Atlantis, Namor, and Namora into the MCU. There are already unconfirmed rumors that Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will include a mutant character.
It’s still pretty damn neat we’re getting the mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe even if we have to wait a couple more years before the main X-Men team gets a proper reboot. However, it’s still not cut-and-dry when we’ll start seeing recognizable mutant characters but I’m eager to find out.Â
Movie theaters around the globe are trying to recover from the last couple of months but it looks like they could be closing again in multiple countries sooner than expected. The United Kingdom and Canada are currently seeing spikes of new cases of Coronavirus that has led to new restrictions along with promises from governments that a second national shutdown isn’t off the table if things don’t improve.Â
New cases in the United Kingdom could hit as high as 50,000 per day by mid-October, which would be more than the United States is currently seeing as September 20th numbers were 34,586. The UK’s numbers on Monday were reportedly 4,368, a steady increase going the wrong way as the numbers have been doubling every seven days. The idea is to prevent 200+ deaths per day.
France also hit 13,000 new cases on Saturday and 10,569 on Sunday.
Not the direction you want to see when there are predictions of a massive second wave in the fall and winter.
The film industry has seemingly shrugged off the lackluster domestic returns thinking that international box office numbers will keep studios afloat. However, if places like the UK, Europe, and Canada shut down theaters again a massive movie like No Time To Die might lose a lot of money and end up hurting Hollywood’s recovery.
The United Kingdom is also trying bounce-back concerning film production with large studio films such as The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, and Mission: Impossible 7-8 said to be currently filming. A shutdown could see those shoots placed on pause again if the government suddenly decides it’s not a good idea while the country is seeing significant COVID-19 spikes. Robert Pattinson had reportedly tested positive for Coronavirus despite the strict safety precautions promoted ahead of the production resuming in London.
Other projects expected to shoot in the United Kingdom soon include Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (Longcross Studios), Ant-Man 3 (Pinewood Studios UK), The Flash (Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden), and Marvel’s Moon Knight series. Some of these shoots could see hiccups in the pre-production/prep stages if not massive filming delays if there is a prolonged shutdown.
Dwayne Johnson and his family tested positive for COVID-19, he’s already back on the set of Netflix’s Red Notice in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming on The Falcon & The Winter Soldier has also resumed in Atlanta as well with expectations that Loki and other shows will begin there soon.
It seems extremely irresponsible on the part of studios to chug along like nothing is wrong given that the state of Georgia with a population of 3.7 million has more new cases of COVID-19 than the entire country of Canada that has a population of 37.4 million, the latter on the cusp of greenlighting a second shutdown that could see productions in Toronto, Montreal, and even Vancouver stop entirely again. Not to mention, pulling down theater ticket sales as Canadian box office dollars are included in the domestic cumes. Â
We’ll have to see the numbers can be turned around without national shutdowns but it doesn’t seem like it can be avoided at this point.
THE RONIN 