Tag: Marvel Comics

Posted on in Film News

Jason Blum Optimistic About Marvel Studios Tackling Horror With ‘Blade’ Reboot – “Never Bet Against Marvel”

Another nifty quote from horror guru Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions during his interview with Inverse is his take on Marvel Studios finally tackling horror with their Blade reboot and the Doctor Strange sequel (originally announced as a scary film back at SDCC 2019), asking if Jason believes Marvel can make scary movies.

BLUM: “I’m of two minds. I would never bet against Marvel. They have a relatively good track record — that’s a joke, they have one of the best track records ever, right? I also think it’s a challenge to do horror at big budgets, but if anyone can do it, it’s Marvel.”

Inverse seems to be unaware that the scary/horror side of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness might be getting trimmed potentially due to the Multiverse aspect (likely making this more like an event film), something that was likely part of the reason director Scott Derrickson exited and was replaced with Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Blade would most likely skew more in horror realm since the lead character is a vampire hunter and vampire hybrid himself. I think we’re all still curious how the action and violence will influence the film’s rating, given the original three movies are R-rated and given how the MPAA feels about blood/gore having tame vampires in your Blade film would certainly rub fans the wrong way.

When acquiring 21st Century Fox, former Disney CEO Bob Iger said they were open to the idea of keeping Deadpool R-rated which was seemingly echoed by studio heads Alan Horn and Kevin Feige. Blade is certainly a character that could be an experiment being produced by Marvel Studios then possibly released by 20th Century Studios under a Marvel Max or Marvel Knights banner, as not to confuse parents with the Disney side of the MCU.

It’s worth mentioning that Kevin Feige previously produced Blade Trinity (New Line Cinema) and Punisher: War Zone (Lionsgate) for Marvel, both R-rated films but the latter used the Marvel Knights banner.

There are certainly characters that should be set aside for their own mature films.

Marvel is reportedly now seeking black screenwriters to tackle Blade’s script which should tell you how in the development process they are at the moment. The project was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Alita: Battle Angel) playing Eric Brooks in the reboot. Ali revealed recently he met with the studio years ago after the release of the Netflix series Luke Cage to see if he could nab the Blade role.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

SOURCE: INVERSE

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’ Debut Officially Delayed To January 15th On Disney+

The mystery of WandaVision’s release date has been finally solved!

While there was an expectation back in August that they would be able to begin airing episodes before the end of 2020, that isn’t the case. Disney has officially announced on social media that the series will begin airing on Disney+ starting on January 15th.

Many fans had tried to convince themselves that WandaVision could be ready before December but that obviously wasn’t realistic given that production delays due to COVID-19 has seemingly impacted multiple Marvel Studios even the film slate.

Back in August, in The Ronin’s report on the delay of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier to sometime in 2021 there had been an expectation that WandaVision was much further along in the production/post-production process and could have been ready in late 2020.

Fans will really need to dig deep down to find their patience because targeted release dates are written in sand and not stone. We’ll likely see many more delays and shifts throughout 2021 as situations are influx leading to date changes/production pauses.

This news would confirm that 2020 will be the first year without new MCU projects in a long time.

Other live-action series officially on the way include Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Hawkeye.

WANDAVISION – Marvel Studios’ WandaVision blends the style of classic sitcoms with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

SOURCE: DISNEY

Posted on in Film News

Marvel Studios Inching Closer To Making Their ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot?

A while back it first reported by Murphy’s Multiverse that Disney had listed a new LLC called Solve Everything Productions, that we were able to back-up. The claim made was that it was likely hinting to the studio moving forward with their Fantastic Four reboot before tackling X-Men.

A small update from Charles Murphy further confirms that the Disney-owned LLC is indeed at Marvel Studios. This would mean that they’re going into production on the project which is most likely going to be Fantastic Four given the LLC’s name is connected to the Marvel Comics property.

However, it’s worth noting that Marvel/Disney and trades have yet to announce any screenwriters or directors have joined the project, let alone they are moving forward with a Fantastic Four film or series. All signs are pointing towards a Fantastic Four project will be announced in the near future and could be primarily filming in the United States.

The Fantastic Four has had four live-action films starting with the Roger Corman-produced film from 1994 that was ultimately never released and then 20th Century Fox released two installments from director Tim Story then attempted a reboot from Josh Trank in 2015.

The film rights shifted back to Marvel once Disney finalized their acquisition of 21st Century Fox (included 20th Century Fox). Marvel now has access to Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, The Brood, The Shi’ar Empire, Alpha Flight, X-Force, New Mutants, X-Men, Deadpool, Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Super-Skrulls, and many many more characters to use for their MCU projects.

A one time, writer/director Adam McKay (Ant-Man, Vice, The Big Short) was interested in pitching a Silver Surfer film to Marvel’s chief creative officer Kevin Feige.

Posted on in Film News

Tom Holland Posts First Official ‘Spider-Man 3’ Set Photo Confirming Filming Has Finally Started In Atlanta

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.

SOURCE: TOM HOLLAND

Posted on in Television News

Marvel Studios’ Animated Series ‘What If…?’ Adds ‘Lovecraft Country’ Composer Laura Karpman

In a new profile from Variety, it’s been revealed that Lovecraft Country composer Laura Karpman has joined Marvel Studios’ upcoming animation series What If…?, which will be airing exclusively on Disney+.

Westworld and The Batman actor Jeffrey Wright will be voicing the cosmic being known as Uatu The Watcher in the series who will give viewers a glimpse into multiple possibilities that feature variations on the heroes and villains we know from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Studios and Disney has already moved forward with a Season 2 order as confirmed by Kevin Feige, both seasons will each consist of 10-episodes.

While air dates seem to be all over the place at the moment, What If…? might not begin airing Season 1 until 2021 and the official Marvel website still points towards a debut in the summer. However, unlike live-action projects the production of animation can be done remotely during the pandemic and could mean they’re further along than expected.

The animated series is part of a large wave of Marvel Studios originals developed for Disney+ which includes WandaVision, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Loki, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and an unannounced Nick Fury series.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Television News

Egyptian Filmmaker Mohamed Diab To Direct Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ Series For Disney+

Deadline is reporting that director Mohamed Diab (Clash) has been selected by Marvel Studios to direct their Moon Knight series which has Oscar Isaac in talks to play Marc Spector.

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. 

Yesterday, it was revealed that Star Wars and Dune actor Oscar Isaac was in talks with Disney/Marvel to land the role which might suggest that they are taking more of a film star approach with the character. Something slightly different from the other recent Disney+ castings.

Filming is expected to spend a good chunk of time in the United Kingdom but when is a little bit of a question as Isaac is attached to star in an HBO limited series titled Scenes From A Marriage with Jessica Chastain. Marvel Studios also has plenty of new stuff on their plate with the television as She-Hulk, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel are expected to begin shooting in Atlanta soon.

We should expect a bunch of casting news coming in the coming weeks and months.

Posted on in Television News

Oscar Isaac In Negotiations With Marvel Studios To Play Marc Spector In ‘Moon Knight’ Series On Disney+

Deadline is reporting that Oscar Isaac has landed the Marc Spector role in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Moon Knight series for Disney+ and is currently in negotiations with the studio.

Moon Knight aka Marc Spector, is 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.

The actor happens to be partly Jewish which was apparently a requirement for actors to play Marc Spector.

Oscar is no stranger to Marvel Comics projects as he played X-Men villain En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse for 20th Century Fox (pre-merger) and briefly voiced Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 in the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

His other film credits include Dune, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Triple Frontier, Robin Hood, A Most Violent Year, Drive, Ex Machina, Annihilation, The Bourne Legacy, and Operation Finale.

He was also lobbying to play Solid Snake in a Metal Gear Solid movie for Sony Pictures.

Moon Knight is confirmed to spent some time filming in United Kingdom but has yet to land a director/directors when filming will begin is a little unclear but likely won’t begin until sometime in 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Marvel Studios Searching For Screenwriters To Tackle Their ‘Blade’ Reboot Starring Mahershala Ali

Marvel Studios is reportedly finally seeking screenwriters to write their upcoming Blade reboot film starring two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks aka Blade, a Marvel Comics anti-hero that hunts/kills vampires and happens to be half-vampire himself.

The brief update comes from The Hollywood Reporter as Marvel is looking at black writers to tackle the horror superhero, although, no names were mentioned.

Current projects that studios are hoping to populate with Black behind-the-camera talent include Marvel’s Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali, which is looking for writers…

Before the epic casting announcement at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Marvel had an in-house draft back in 2013 that sprung-up from their writers program that was created to produce original scripts internally. The original version of the Guardians of The Galaxy script was penned by Nicole Perlman in the writers program ahead of the hiring of James Gunn. It’s unknown if they’ll even use that previous draft as a blueprint.

This news would confirm that Blade isn’t as far along in the development process as we previously thought.

Wesley Snipes previously played the role in three feature films from New Line Cinema and rapper Sticky Fingaz reprised the part for a short-lived television series for Spike TV. The rights eventually reverted back to Marvel and they had been sitting on them until Mahershala asked to play Blade when he met with Marvel. Blade is traditionally an R-rated character that was reworked for the big screen by Snipes, screenwriter David S. Goyer, and director Stephen Norrington.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige has yet to confirm if they are aiming to make the new film for mature audiences or will go with a PG-13 route, given that they are dealing with vampires it would be difficult to have a large amount of blood, violence or gore.

Blade is currently without a director or a release date.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘The Falcon & The Winter Soldier’ Reportedly Adds ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Actor Danny Ramirez In “Pivotal Role”

It looks like Marvel Studios is neither finished filming or adding to the cast of their upcoming series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Top Gun: Maverick actor Danny Ramirez has landed an unnamed but “pivotal role” in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Ramirez is best known mostly for television with credits that include Netflix’s On My Block. He isn’t a stranger to the world of Marvel Comics as he had a small role in Fox Television’s X-Men series The Gifted before the merger moved the X-Men rights over to Marvel Studios.

He plays a fighter pilot with the call sign “Fanboy” in Paramount’s Top Gun sequel titled Top Gun: Maverick set to be released on July 2nd, 2021.

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.”

Danny isn’t the only actor from the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick that has landed a streaming series as Monica Barbaro is starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming father-daughter spy series for Amazon/Skydance Television.

It certainly feels a little late to be adding an actor to the cast with such a big role but it’s possible he was quietly hired and has been able to keep his casting a secret for multiple months.

The Ronin was the first outlet to report that Disney+ would be delaying the release of The Falcon series from late 2020 to sometime in 2021 back in mid-August. The company seemingly confirmed this after it recently left the MCU series out of their “Coming Soon In 2020” programming ad and their website had it listed for a TBA 2021 spot.

Originally, it was supposed to launch back in August before the Coronavirus pandemic paused production back in March and only recently resumed. Given the show is still filming it’s extremely unlikely it will be ready in December or would overlap with WandaVision’s episodes.

Ramirez joins a cast that already includes Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, Sebastian Stan as James “Bucky” Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, Daniel Bruhl as Zemo, Wyatt Russell as John Walker aka U.S Agent, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carton aka Agent 13, Georges St-Peirre as Batroc The Leaper, Desmond Chiam, Erin Kellyman, Veronica Falcon, Adepero Oduye, and Carl Lumbly.

The series will explore the transition between Steve Rogers handing over the Captain America mantle over to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in Avengers: Endgame only for the American government to install their own candidate with Wyatt Russell’s John Walker aka U.S. Agent.

Set photos have revealed that one of the locations in the show is most likely Madripoor, a fictional lawless South-East Asian island nation originally created in the pages of the X-Men comics and could be used in the future for X-Men projects along with setting up various villains from that corner of the Marvel universe. Since the island has connections to The Hand (villains connected to Wolverine, Daredevil, and Elektra), Ophelia Sarkissian aka Viper/Madame Hydra, Wolverine, and Psylocke. A gang member’s jacket spotted on the set used imagery of an X-Men character called Ogun, a Japanese villain connected to Wolverine and Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat.

There have been plenty of rumblings that the series could introduce a version of The Thunderbolts which were led by Zemo in the comic books. It’ll be interesting if that actually comes together as there had been unsupported talk of a Thunderbolts project being kicked-around at Marvel at one point.

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier is expected to drop elusively on Disney+ sometime in 2021.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Xochitl Gomez Reportedly Joins ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel – Is She Playing America Chavez?

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.

SOURCE: DEADLINE