Earlier this week it was reported that Chris Evans would be making his grand return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Avengers: Doomsday,” although it is somewhat unclear if the actor would be reprising the elderly version of Steve Rogers from “Avengers: Endgame,’ another variant (Hydra Supreme for example), or simply take another role (Multiverse adversary Hyperion?) like co-star Robert Downey Jr. as he’s playing “Fantastic Four” villain, Doctor Doom.
Well, another long-established MCU actor is coming back as the latest reporting from Deadline states that British actress Hayley Atwell (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”) has joined the event film’s call-sheet. Suggesting she is indeed back in the role of Peggy Carter.
Atwell first debuted the character in “Captain America: The First Avenger” and got a spinoff TV series “Agent Carter” that followed her as the early stages of SHIELD were coming together post-WWII and remained part of the secretive agency. Still, it’s unclear if we’re getting the Agent Carter incarnation or the well-liked variant Captain Carter from “What If…?” and “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness,” where Peggy had taken the super-soldier serum during World War II instead of Rogers giving her those exact powers.
Captain Carter from Earth-383 was ultimately killed alongside most of her cohorts at the hands of Wanda, and if that specific variant returns there is a strong possibility it would be from another timeline/universe. There is also the “What If..?” version of her, where Steve Rogers is the pilot of a WWII-era Iron Man suit built by Howard Stark, another possible variant that Evans could be playing.
In the mainline version of the MCU timeline, the Earth-616 version of Carter died during the events of “Captain America: Civil War” but that likely has changed since Rogers went back in time at the end of “Avengers: Endgame” to be with Peggy and changing those events as they seemingly lived-out their own happy ending off-screen.
Again, I wouldn’t be all that shocked if Scarlett Johansson is the next name Marvel and the Russo Brothers resurrect for “Doomsday” given they don’t seem terribly interested in letting certain actors and characters rest after their graceful exits from the MCU.
The adrenaline-fueled “Mission: Impossible 8” is currently filming, and Paramount‘s spy actioner has added a new actor to the cast. Katy O’Brian, the breakout actress from A24’s lesbian thriller “Love Lies Bleeding,” has nabbed a part in the Tom Cruise-led franchise from writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. This casting update comes to us from Deadline as the up-and-comer has been amassing various genre/franchise parts, including playing a minor villain in “The Mandalorian” series, Marvel’s “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania,” and Amblin’s “Twister” reboot, “Twisters.”
McQuarrie is known for selecting badass actors for his recent string of sequels focusing on Ethan Hunt’s IMF teams as the latest installment focused on a new artificial intelligence threat called The Entity. There is an expectation that the eighth untitled installment (formerly known as “Dead Reckoning – Part Two”) will see Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, and Pom Klementieff reprising their roles.
O’Brian joins fellow new additions such as Holt McCallany (“Wrath of Man”), Nick Offerman (“Civil War”), Janet McTeer (“Ozark”), and Hannah Waddingham (“The Fall Guy”).
Paramount has given “Mission: Impossible” a prime release date of May 23, 2025, after multiple rounds of delays stemming from scheduling shifts, and the first film being shot during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and extending the production length. While the studio and creatives really haven’t talked about the future of the franchise, there is a shot that this could be the final outing for Ethan Hunt as Cruise is looking to expand his relationship with Warner Bros. (a long-gestating sequel to Doug Liman’s “Edge of Tomorrow” assumed to be part of those plans) and is expected to shoot “Top Gun 3” in the near future.
Rebellion and Liberty Films are behind a feature film incarnation of the 2000 A.D. Comics (publisher of “Juge Dredd”) character ‘Rogue Trooper.” British filmmaker Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Mute,” “Warcraft”) is set to write and direct the film after an extensive gestation period has finally lined up his voice cast. An official announcement has been made for the former live-action film as a collection of newcomers and veteran actors have been assembled for “Rogue Trooper.”
Taking on the lead voice roles consists of Aneurin Barnard(The Goldfinch, Dunkirk) as the titular Rogue Trooper, alongside Hayley Atwell(Captain America: The First Avenger, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One),Jack Lowden(Slow Horses, Dunkirk), Daryl McCormack(Bad Sisters, Good Luck To You Leo Grande) and Reece Shearsmith(Inside No. 9, Saltburn). Other names mentioned for the sci-fi animated film include Jemaine Clement(Avatar 2: The Way of Water), Matt Berry(What We Do in the Shadows), Diane Morgan(Cunk on Earth),Alice Lowe(Black Mirror),Asa Butterfield(Sex Education, Hugo) and Sean Bean(Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings).
Here is the film’s logline from today’s press release:
“‘Rogue Trooper’ tells the story of 19, a ‘Genetic Infantryman’, who finds himself the sole survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet, and rucksack.“
The animated pic was originally planned to be live-action but Jones has obviously pivoted and is expected to be ready for release by 2025. “Rogue Trooper” hails from the same mature comic book publisher that gave us “Dredd,” so there is an expectation it will skew potentially in the realm of R-rated material. They also added a piece of first-look artwork and the film will be using the Unreal Engine 5 to animate.
Rebellion has also been developing a series set within the universe of “Dredd” with “Mega-City One.” However, we haven’t had any sort of concrete update on that front in years. Perhaps, “Mega-City One” could also consider a pivot into animation to cut costs as the show was expected to focus on other judges, not specifically Dredd.
Yesterday, Marvel Studios kept fans on their toes with a brand new trailer for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The new footage featured big reveals such as Lashana Lynch playing Maria Rambeau variant of Captain Marvel, the voice of Patrick Stweart as a Professor X variant (bringing X-Men into the MCU), and a possible tease of The Savage Land (The location of Ka-Zar and dinosaurs hidden in Antarctica).
Well, the film’s new poster also has confirmed a long-standing rumor for the newest MCU installment.
Hayley Atwell played a variant of Captain America in the animated series What If…? as the series dealt with the Multiverse plenty of fans assumed she would appear in the Doctor Strange sequel. That has been confirmed as we’ve spotted Captain Carter’s shield with the British Union Jack on it is clearly on the bottom right hand corner of the new poster.
Does that mean Atwell is 100% in the role? Time will tell.
More online rumblings have suggested every Marvel character in existence could appear in the film, but we have to assume the group is going to be much more narrow than that given we need an actual film, not just fan-service cameos.
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness debuts in theaters on May 6th.
In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
Christopher McQuarrie has taken to Instagram to announce that they’ve finally finished production on Mission: Impossible 7 starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. This after almost a year and a half of filming with various pauses/hiccups due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mission: Impossible 7 is part one of a two part story with Mission: Impossible 8 expected to shoot a some point, but likely won’t get going anytime soon as it was reported that it will no-longer shoot back-to-back. Given the lengthy production on this film, we shouldn’t be surprised.
The rest of the sequel’s cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby (Hobbs & Shaw), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, Clear & Present Danger), Cary Elwes (Saw, Stranger Things), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Charles Parnell (The Last Ship), and British character actor Mark Gatiss (Sherlock).
Filming took place in London, Rome, Abu Dhabi, and Norway.
Paramount Pictures recently bumped the film’s release date to September 30, 2022 after putting Top Gun: Maverick in it’s previous spot of May 27, 2022.
Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter was first introduced back in Captain America: The First Avenger and is a character that keeps chugging along, despite her death in Captain America: Civil War. Appearing in Avengers: Endgame and will have a reoccurring role in the animated series What…If? in subsequent seasons.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, What…If? head writer A.C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews are now supporting the idea of Atwell getting her own live-action films as Captain Carter. Hopefully, they’ve extended this desire to Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel.
“I know A.C. and I feel totally the same in this, and while we don’t know if this is necessarily going to happen, it would be amazing if they would just do a Captain Carter movie. Just get Hayley Atwell in the suit, give her her own franchise and just have her blow doors like hells to the yeah.”
The Ronin echoed our own desire last week about Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter leading her own team, a Multiverse version of The Invaders, for a live-action project.
To be fair, this ultimately might not happen as James Gunn has had some issues trying to get a Ravagers and Drax/Mantis series going at Marvel Studios in the past. So, it’s possible unless Captain Carter is a big part of the studio’s future plans we might not see her outside of animation leading her own adventures.
We can hope that Atwell gets more projects thanks to The Multiverse allowing Peggy Carter to return for things other than a third season of Agent Carter, which is the least likely thing to happen as Marvel Studios has indicated all Marvel Television projects fall outside of the main MCU canon.
There are already unconfirmed rumors Captain Carter might be appearing in upcoming films. However, her lengthy production shoot on Mission: Impossible 7 (spanning a year and a half) and eventually shoot for Mission: Impossible 8 might be a problem with her showing up in a significant way.
I guess we’ll have to be patient and see if Marvel ultimately uses Captain Carter on the live-action side of things.
Despite the death of Peggy Carter in Captain America: Civil War, we’ve kept getting more Hayley Atwell brief cameos in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers did his time-traveling and now we’ll be seeing a Multiverse incantation in the upcoming What If…? series that will debut on Disney+ on August 11.
Peggy Carter is the one who is selected for the super-soldier program and leads a team that includes Steve Rogers, who pilots the HYDRA stomper armored suit.
This has lead to rumors from The DisInsider that Atwell might be seeing her Multiverse incarnation, Captain Carter, appear in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. If they’re indeed keen on bringing her back to the live-action corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be the perfect excuse to tackle another period adventure but with Captain Carter and various characters from her timeline/universe.
Producer Brad Winderbaum revealed to Deadline recently that Marvel has plans to bring her back for multiple seasons of What If…?, which could make fans extremely happy and that could help signal the studio’s desire to do more with her in the future.
One idea I’ve had about future projects that has been growing like a germ for months is that Marvel Studios finally attempt a version of The Invaders. The other team Steve Rogers led in the comic books alongside his trusty side-kick Bucky Barnes. That lineup also consists of android John Hammon aka Human Torch (Easter Egg in Captain America: The First Avengers), Namor The Sub-Mariner (expected to be coming soon), Joey Chapman aka Union Jack (raced against Tony Stark in Iron Man 2), Jacqueline Falsworth aka Spitfire, and many many more WWII era characters that may never see the light of day (Wolverine and Captain Britain could easily join those allied ranks too).
Captain Carter leading an incarnation of The Invaders during WWII, the Cold War (could add members of Agents of Atlas), or in present time could be worth turning into a live-action series on Disney+ given how hungry Disney has been to adding multiple new shows to the streaming series. Seeing Marvel tackle off-shoot Multiverse projects on Disney+ feels like a better way to tackle this stuff instead of overloading audiences with feature film explorations.
Chris Evans has seemingly bowed-out from the MCU and Peggy Carter could be the one to lead Invaders, if Evans stays away (despite reports of a return that have been denied) and the studio wants to pursue a live-action Carter project.
We know that actress Hayley Atwell was willing to return for more seasons of Agent Carter, but if they’re focusing on new television projects at Marvel Studio. It also doesn’t hurt that she’ll be starring alongside with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, highlighting that the actress is still interested in action roles and Marvel should capitalize on that sooner rather than later.
Marvel’s animated series What If…? will debut later this month and folks are already sharing their impressions of the first three episodes. We already know that Marvel Studios is pursuing a second season and executive producer Brad Winderbaum has teased about a Season 1 character returning for subsequent seasons.
While speaking with Deadline, Winderbaum revealed that they’re planning to have Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter/Captain Carter back, possibly in Season 1 of What If…?, but we’ll have to wait to see.
Episode one explores the outcome of Peggy Carter taking the superhero serum instead of Steve Rogers. She ultimately becomes the UK hero Captain Carter crusading against Hydra in WWII. Per Winderbaum, we can expect more of Captain Carter in future seasons of What If…?. Added the EP, “I think that without going into great detail, I can tell you that What if…? as a project, as a story that exists in the MCU, is as important as any other and is woven into that tapestry.”
Atwell has been busy shooting Paramount’s next two Mission: Impossible movies starring alongside Tom Cruise and being directed by Christopher McQuarrie. However, that hasn’t stopped online rumors (via The DisInsider) to point towards that actress reprising the Captain Carter role in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and seems to be based on things that happen in the upcoming animated series along with connections to Doctor Strange himself as the two characters are expected to interact.
It’s also assumed that Jeffrey Wright will continue to voice Uatu The Watcher for the entire run of the show as it’s going to continue beyond Season 2.
WHAT IF…? – What If…? flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways. Marvel Studios’ first animated series focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles. Directed by Bryan Andrews with AC Bradley as head writer, What If…?”launches exclusively on Disney+ on August 11, 2021.
While the original plan was to shoot the next two Mission: Impossible films back-to-back under the working title Libra, that seems to be on hold according to a report from Deadline. As the outlet states Paramount Pictures is going to need Tom Cruise to help promote Top Gun: Maverick for it’s July 2nd release, assuming the film doesn’t get pushed to the fall or winter, which means that filming will need to be placed on pause for a bit.
Sources said this is simply down to the shifting release calendar. Star Tom Cruise will now be needed on promotional duties by the studio for Top Gun: Maverick ahead of that film’s planned release on July 2, and will be out of action for a period.
This comes as Mission: Impossible 7 is heading back to London for some “finishing touches” according to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram.
MCQUARRIE: “Now back to London for a few finishing touches. All aboard for our greatest challenge yet…”
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 actress Pom Klementieff, who has a role in the films recently flew to Sydney, Australia to get ready to for the shoot of Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder. We have to assume this signaled that she had completed the filming for the first installment.
The rest of the cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Shea Whigham, and Henry Czerny.
Filming on the 7th installment hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, there had paused back in March of 2020 due to the pandemic that led to production hiccups and a viral audio clip of Tom Cruise chewing out crew members for not adhering to the strict on-set COVID-19 protocols. It’s possible that everyone just needs a break after spending over a year on this film.
Mission: Impossible 7 is slated for November 19th, 2021 and Mission: Impossible 8 is set for November 4th, 2022.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
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.
THE RONIN 