Tag: Marvel Studios

Posted on in Film News

Kevin Feige Suggests Marvel Could Explore Other Characters’ Past Similar To Their Prequel ‘Black Widow’

With Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow covering the events between the end of Captain America: Civil War and the start of Avengers: Infinity War. Not to mention, her Russian roots that are at the center of the new film. There has been some curiosity from fans if Marvel Studios would attempt to explore more prequel projects or do deep dives into the past of certain superheroes.

Well, while speaking during Black Widow’s virtual press conference (via The Direct), Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige was asked just that

“Well, certainly this film and this story is a particular case for Natasha, but the notion of exploring the past, present, and future of the MCU is certainly in the cards for all of our characters. This particular story, this particular cast, is very personal, very specific, to Natasha,” Kevin Feige said during a virtual press conference.

It’s not really a ringing endorsement or even giving us any insight to where they could be going next, but it does sounds like they’re keeping the door open and won’t end that notion with Black Widow’s release on July 9.

There are a couple of examples that come to mind such as the events between Steve Rogers meeting up with Peggy Carter in the late 1940s and when Old Man Steve gives Sam Wilson the shield. It’s a possibility that Marvel could explore a 1950s or 1960s incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Rogers leading his other well-established comic book superhero team, The Invaders.

It’s also hard to ignore that X-Men’s Wolverine (barely ages if at all) could certainly have his origin told in prequel projects set during World War II or the Cold War with the Soviet Union, finally giving fans a more authentic version of the Weapon X Program and his extensive military service as the studio plans to reboot the franchise alongside Fantastic Four.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

BLACK WIDOW – In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, the movie stars Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff. Florence Pugh stars as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff.

SOURCE: THE DIRECT

Posted on in Television News

Disney+ Will Continue Dropping Original Series Episodes On Wednesdays & Original Films On Fridays

When Marvel’s Loki series moved from the traditional Fridays to Wednesdays, it felt like a shift in how Disney+ would be dropping original programming as Fridays had been traditionally meant for their big Star Wars and Marvel shows.

However, Deadline is reporting that the streaming is planning to keep original shows for Wednesdays as Fridays will be for original films. The news seems to stem from a new press release of show release dates.

Going forward, the streamer will drop all of its originals on Wednesdays. This will include all original scripted, unscripted and animated series. ..Disney+ Original Movies will continue to premiere on Fridays.

I have to assume this will include Premier Access films are continuing to stick with Fridays such as Marvel’s Black Widow and other projects that will be heading to that added pay service in the future. I’m slightly curious if this means they’ll be aiming to release a greater number of original films weekly and could suggest some stuff that was meant for the big screen could be tossed on Disney+ instead, like the last two Pixar films, Soul and Luca.

Upcoming Disney+ original series coming in the not too distant future include Willow, What…If?, Ms. Marvel, The Book of Boba Fett, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Secret Invasion, Armor Wars, The Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special, Ironheart, Echo, and much much more.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ May Have Already Started Shooting In London According To Paul Rudd

As Tom Hiddleston’s Loki series could help introduce audiences to Jonathan Major’s Ant-Man 3 villain Kang The Conqueror, the sequel shooting under the working title Dust Bunny might have already started filming in England.

Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd mentioned on an Instagram post on NFL player Tyreek Hill’s account (spotted by The Direct) that he’s filming the sequel in London (Pinewood Studios UK). Franchise co-star Evangeline Lilly had previously stated on Instagram it would have a July production start, so, it’s possible Paul Rudd meant he’s simply in London to film Ant-Man 3 (actually filming happening later as he doesn’t say it specifically started) or it may have indeed already started production. Either way it’s exciting stuff for Ant-Man fans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQHcrvRhfxb/

SOURCE: TYREEK HILL

Posted on in Film News

‘The Marvels’: South Korean Actor Park Seo-Joon Rumored For Role; Played Min In Oscar-Winner ‘Parasite’

We might be getting an actor from Best Picture winner Parasite in Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, if a new casting rumor ends up getting confirmed. South Korean actor Park Seo-Joon, who had a small role as tutor Min in Parasite is being mentioned by a local outlets as landing an offer/in talks for an undisclosed role in the Captain Marvel sequel.

Forbes points out mainstream news outlets haven’t chimed-in on the casting alongside the actor’s agency or Marvel Studios.

International outlets have been able to land these types of casting stories in the past, however, we should be cautious until there is further confirmation.

He wouldn’t be the first South Korean actor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Claudia Kim played Dr. Helen Cho (mother of Amadeus Cho) in Avengers: Age of Ultron and has Train To Busan’s Don Lee taking the role of Gilgamesh in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals.

If confirmed, Park Seo-Joon would join Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, and Zawe Ashton is reportedly playing the film’s villain. There is also an expectation the sequel will share cast members with the Disney+ series Secret Invasion as the cosmic organization S.W.O.R.D. will have a large role in both MCU projects.

I’m sure fans are curious if we’ll see other characters join the roster such as Blue Marvel leading to the MCU version of The Ultimates and if it will have a larger connection to the Skrull invasion. It remains to be seen if villains like Jonathan Major’s Kang The Conqueror or Skrull Queen Veranke could be the threats or something else entirely.

The Marvels has a production team that includes cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Judas & The Black Messiah) and production designer Cara Brower (Candyman). It’s confirmed to shoot primarily at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England under the working title of Jambalaya.

The sequel will be released on November 11, 2022.

Posted on in Television News

‘Ms. Marvel’ Series Might Film Something In The United Kingdom

The Ronin mentioned not too long ago that something related to the Loki series was going to shoot in the United Kingdom. Our latest update is that the Ms. Marvel series is potentially doing some filming there as well. Unlike with Loki, there haven’t been signs that Marvel would like to pursue a Season 2, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did as Marvel has left the door open to some shows getting multiple seasons. For the time being, I’m going to assume this is connected to Season 1.

While looking into this, we were able to confirm that Ms. Marvel head writer/executive producer Bisha K. Ali is developing a new sci-fi series called The Well. However, plot details are unknown or what this ultimately means for follow-up seasons of the Marvel superhero show.

It’s worth noting that Loki head writer Michael Waldron has been able to rewrite the Doctor Strange Into The Multiverse of Madness script from scratch, potentially write on the Kevin Feige-produced Star Wars project, and is reportedly going to be involved with Loki’s second season in some capacity. So, theses writers can juggle many different plates at once.

If Loki and Ms. Marvel were to “hypothetically” get Season 2 renewals from Disney they wouldn’t be able to begin production until sometime in 2022 at the earliest because of how many things are shooting there in 2021 along with the actors’ commitments to other stuff since wrapping. Moving the two shows from Atlanta to England would be an ordeal itself.

As far as we know, Kamala Khan actress Iman Vellani is going to be busy with Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels and could possibly appear in Secret Invasion too, since both MCU projects are featuring S.W.O.R.D. and will have primary stage locations in the United Kingdom. This may allow Marvel to have the two the projects cross-pollinate characters/cast members. We were able to confirm recently The Marvels is shooting mainly at Longcross Studios, the facility located in Surrey was just used for Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.

Marvel Studios is bringing a lot of industry business to the United Kingdom with Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Moon Knight, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 set to shoot there in 2021 on top of The Marvels and Secret Invasion. Turning the London area into the next Atlanta could make some sense as the studio continues to expand the volume of things they are releasing on Disney+ and in theaters.

Pinewood Studios UK now has their own Volume/StageCraft via ILM, which could make the increased amount of MCU projects a little easier to handle.

The studio has confirmed the Ms. Marvel cast includes other folks such as Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha. Episodes were directed by Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

The Marvel Studios original series centers on fan-favorite Kamala Khan — a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A great student, avid gamer, and voracious fan-fic scribe, Kamala has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. However, Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school — that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?

Ms. Marvel will debut on Disney+ late 2021.

Posted on in Television News

‘She-Hulk’: Marvel Taps Jameela Jamil To Play Super-Strong Baddie & Gamma Flight Member Titania In The Disney+ Series

Marvel’s She-Hulk series is well into it’s production with Emmy-winners Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Mark Ruffalo starring. We finally have a villain on the show as it was originally reported by The Illuminerdi that Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) would be playing Titania, which was later backed-up by the trades.

Titania aka Mary MacPherran Creel, happens to be the wife of Hulk super-villain Carl “Crusher” Creel aka The Absorbing Man, the two happen to be on the Gamma Flight roster. A character the appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (non-canon series) and was reworked in Ang Lee’s Hulk movie giving Bruce’s father David Banner that power-set.

We believe there is a good shot we might see an official Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation of Creel in the show given his connection to Titania alongside the need to have super-strong and formidable villains that can give Jennifer and Bruce a run for their money. That’s likely a big reason that The Incredible Hulk’s Tim Roth is back as Emil Blonsky aka Abomination, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that Marvel will give the villain a design overhaul for the series incarnation since the last version was terribly inaccurate and didn’t really work.

The 10-episode series will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia with Emmy-winner Jessica Gao (Rick & Morty) set as head writer. It’s crew consists of production designer Elena Albanese (Lovecraft Country), costume designer Ann Foley (Godzilla Vs. Kong, Altered Carbon), and stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton (Loki, Avengers: Endgame).

Set photos recently posted by actress Anais Almonte (Gotham, The Punisher) confirmed her involvement and officially announced that production is indeed happening in Atlanta, Georgia.

She-Hulk will likely debut on Disney+ sometime in the second half of 2022. Given the extensive visual effects involved and multiple motion-capture characters, we shouldn’t expect to see it arrive before the summer of next year, but we’ll certainly update if that changes.

SOURCE: THE ILLUINERDI

Posted on in Film News

Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Had ‘The Wolverine’ Cinematographer Ross Emery Working As The 2nd Unit Director

It looks like Shang-Chi won’t only have a connection to the Matrix trilogy, but the X-Men franchise as well. The Ronin can confirm that Marvel Studios indeed had Aussie cinematographer Ross Emery working as the second unit director alongside Destin Daniel Cretton on Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.

If you’re unfamiliar with Emery, he was the director of photography on James Mangold’s gorgeous Japanese-set superhero flick The Wolverine and Ridley Scott’s popular sci-fi HBO Max series Raised By Wolves. He also previously worked as a second unit director on Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant and with Shang-Chi cinematographer Bill Pope on The Matrix trilogy.

Second unit directors normally handle a bulk of the action sequences, Shang-Chi is being billed as superhero martial arts film and should be action-packed if the teaser trailer is any indication.

Shang-Chi’s main production took place in Sydney at Fox Studios Australia and there was some exterior shots in San Francisco too with additional photography in Los Angeles and England.

There could be an argument made that The Wolverine is the prettiest X-Men film from the 20th Century Fox era. Emery isn’t the only former X-Men franchise cinematographer working on MCU films, as The Ronin first reported that John Mathieson (X-Men: First Class, Logan) was selected by the studio to tackle Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness for director Sam Raimi.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Marvel bringing in James Mangold’s cinematographers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe means that the X-Men filmmaker will get another chance to adapt more Marvel characters in the future. It doesn’t hurt Mangold is already working with Disney by writing/director their big sequel Indiana Jones 5, which just started shooting this week at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom.

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will hit theaters exclusively on September 3.

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.

Posted on in Television News

‘Kong: Skull Island’ Actor Eugene Cordero Reunites With Tom Hiddleston In The First ‘Loki’ Episode

There was an interesting reunion in the first episode of Loki as comedian Eugene Cordero (The Good Place, Star Trek: Lower Decks) has a small role as a Time Variance Agency employee named Casey.

Cordero appeared alongside Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, and Samuel L. Jackson in the Monsterverse film Kong: Skull Island playing one of the soldiers. He also appeared in Season 1 of The Mandalorian as one of the farmers that begs Mando to protect their village from bandits, making the comedian part of two rather large universes now.

Loki tracks down Casey to get his hands on the Tesseract, only to discover that in the TVA cosmic and magic power doesn’t work. His desk drawer is full of infinity stones as they’re just shiny objects that are often used as paperweights in the office.

We’ll have to keep watching the series to see if Eugene’s character is just a one-time thing.

Posted on in Features

SPOILERS: ‘Loki’ Episode 1 – ‘Glorious Purpose’

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LOKI EPISODE 1

The episode opens with Loki grabbing the Tesseract in 2012 during the events of The Avengers. He’s apprehended by Hunter B-15 and her Minutemen in Mongolia and brought to the Time Variance Agency to stand trial for his time crimes as a Variant. Eugene Cordero’s (The Mandalorian, Kong: Skull Island,The Good Place) Casey is handed the Tesseract as it seems harmless in the building.

A cute yellow robot removes Loki’s Asgardian clothes and puts him in a convict uniform. He’s told by the TVA staff walking through a device that photographs his temporal ora can melt you down if you’re a robot. Loki suddenly questions his own existence and if he’s a robot, he survives.

The adorable Miss Minute, a cartoon clock, has a Southern accent and explains who/what the Time Variance Agency is.

Miss Minute talks about a vast Multiverse war almost ending everything, an obvious nod to Secret Wars, potentially teasing Marvel Studios finally giving the Russo Brothers their wish. Three all-knowing Time Keepers emerged to reorganize the Multiverse into a single timeline, the sacred timeline. Variants stepping off the path of the timeline creating a Nexus and could lead to another Multiversal war.

Another variant was disintegrated for not having his ticket in the queue to be seen by a judge.

Judge Renslayer tells Loki that The Avengers using time-travel in Avengers: Endgame was supposed to happen, according to the Time Keepers. This comes after Loki volunteering to take them down after using time-travel themselves. Tony Stark used the Mobius strip to create a time-travel algorithm, which could explain why it was allowed to happen.

Magic powers don’t work in the TVA and means Loki’s powers are useless against the TVA, a lesson he has to learn the hard way. This is reinforced later as Casey has a desk drawer full of infinity stones, he mentions some of the TVA employees use them as paperweights. Highlighting cosmic powers don’t work there either.

Agent Mobius decides that he can use this version of Loki to help with track down dangerous rogue variants. The Loki Variant is considered a “pussycat” compared to the Variants that Agent Mobius chases. It’s in his nature to lose and they reiterate that Phil Coulson is dead as a doornail leading to the Avengers coming together to fight Loki leading to his capture before grabbing the Tesseract.

Agent Mobius looking into Loki’s history reveals that he was D.B. Cooper (a real-life criminal) and jumped out of the plane only to have Heimdall bring him home from Midgard. It happened because he lost a bet to Thor.

Also, showing him his future events from Thor: The Dark World and the death of his mother by his actions. He also gets to see Odin tell him he loves his sons before he dies and Thor embraces him in Thor: Ragnarok. Sees his death at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

They need his help to hunt a dangerous Loki Variant that has been killing Minutemen, which might be Sophia Di Martino’s Lady Loki as a cloaked figure (possibly Lady Loki) took out a unit of Minutemen at the end of the episode.

I wouldn’t be shocked if we find out that Lady Loki is from a timeline where the male MCU characters have had their genders flipped, which might be how we get Jane Foster’s Lady Thor in Thor: Love & Thunder. Having Jane Foster becoming the Dr. Donald Blake proxy from the comic books that was never used in the films. Dr. Blake, a real human from Midgard with health/mobility issues, was able to transform into the Mighty Thor. Blake was sort of tossed away as a former flame of Jane’s and they used him as a cover-name for Thor.

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Adds ‘Future Man’ Cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Marvel Studios’ big Skrull crossover event series Secret Invasion has added French-Canadian cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux (Future Man) to the production team as they continue to assemble the cast. Dufaux also did various camera/director of photography work on films such as Solo: A Star Wars Story, Source Code, The Fountain, Destin Daniel Cretton’s The Glass Castle, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, John Wick: Chapter 2, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

You can check out some of her recent work on Season 3 of the Hulu sci-fi comedy series Future Man below.

In the comics, Secret Invasion focuses on the reveal that multiple people in power and even superheroes have been replaced with an alien race with the ability to shape-shift, called the Skrulls. They were first introduced in Captain Marvel as peaceful cosmic refugees and covered for Nick Fury and Maria Hill while they were seemingly off-world having a space station built (for S.W.O.R.D.?), as seen at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

We previously revealed the Disney+ show’s working title will be Jambalaya, while shooting in the United Kingdom. Other Marvel projects confirmed to shoot across the pond are Moon Knight, The Marvels, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3.

Secret Invasion’s impressive cast already consists of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull leader Talos, Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, Hot Fuzz, The Crown), four-time Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, Peaky Blinders) said to be playing a villain, and most recent addition to the Marvel series is character actor Christopher McDonald (Hacks, Happy Gilmore).

I wouldn’t be shocked if cast members from The Marvels ended up appearing in Secret Invasion, given the two projects are expected to have S.W.O.R.D. playing a major role in them.

The show’s head writer is Kyle Bradstreet with directors Thomas Bezhucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower) recently announced.

Secret Invasion will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.