Today, Sony Pictures has announced they’ve again moved the release date of their upcoming Spider-Man spinoff feature film Morbius, starring Oscar-winner Jared Leto as Doctor Michael Morbius, a scientist that accidentally turns himself into a vampire.
The release date has been moved to October 8th after being set for March 19th previously.
It’s first teaser trailer revealed the interconnection with the solo Spider-Man films made by Marvel Studios as it featured Michael Keaton‘s Vulture in some sort of jailbreak scene. This has given fans hope that the character will indeed within the Marvel Cinematic Universe or at the very least, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
There is also an expectation that J.K. Simmon’s J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man: FarFrom Home will show up too thanks to previous comments made by the actor.
MORBIUS – One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.
You might remember that Marvel Studios almost lost access to Spider-Man not too long ago and that Spider-Man 3 would have been strictly a Sony Pictures affair with Marvel sitting on the sidelines as their initial deal had expired. Luckily, Tom Holland was able to convince both Sony’s Tom Rothman and Disney’s Bob Iger to see eye-to-eye hatching a new smaller deal that would allow Marvel to make Spider-Man 3 and Holland to appear in one more MCU film.
A new rumor coming from The Disinsider Show (via The Direct) suggests that that two-picture deal has seemingly been extended, however, they weren’t forthcoming with details as to how many films are involved along with if Marvel Studios would be getting involved with any of the upcoming Sony Pictures projects like Kraven The Hunter.
While this is very likely given that Marvel would most likely want access to various Sony characters in the future (Miles Morales feels like a no-brainer), as with most rumors take with a pinch of salt. There are a couple of things that might have telegraphed this deal being in the works.
Last week, Kevin Feige confirmed that Spider-Man 3 would directly interconnect with Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness all but confirming yet another crossover there. We’ve assumed for months that this was going to be the MCU film in the second deal given that the productions are close to each other and that Benedict Cumberbatch is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man 3.
It was also announced that Jon Watts will be directing their Fantastic Four reboot after tackling a trilogy of Spider-Man films (second feature film reboot of the hero) and since Spider-Man debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four it wouldn’t terribly shocking if they attempt to at least get a cameo from Peter Parker in there.
A Spider-Woman film is reportedly in the works at Sony Pictures from director Olivia Wilde, which would likely feature Jessica Drew, a character that Marvel Studios is said to have access to as she debuted outside of the Spider-Man comic books having more ties to MCU groups such as S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, S.W.O.R.D., and the Avengers. She also plays a role in the Secret Invasion (now a Disney+ series) as it’s revealed Drew is actually Skrull Queen Veranke and happens to be pals with Carol Danvers in the comics making a crossover into Captain Marvel 2 a strong possibility. While Marvel’s involvement is assumed by fans this has yet to be made official but it’s very likely.
There has been some rumblings that Kraven will appear in Spider-Man 3, but this has yet to be officially confirmed by either trades or Marvel themselves. A solo feature film directed by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier, A Most Violent Year) has been in the works for some time and if Kraven does appear in Spider-Man 3 might suggest that his solo film might be considered part of the MCU. It’s worth pointing out that Kraven’s development has been taking place even before the Spider-Man 3 drama. At one point, there had been talk that Spider-Man would show up in the film.
Other Marvel projects in the works at Sony include a Madame Web movie from S.J. Clarkson, a Jackpot movie, and a live-action Silk series. They had also once been developing a Sinister Six film with Drew Goddard before the Holland reboot, it’s looking very likely that the group of villains may cameo in the next Spidey pic.
In theory, if there is an extension it could mean that Marvel gets to make Spider-Man 4 along with possibly adding him in future films like Avengers 5 or Fantastic Four. With the reasons given Marvel could put their tentacles into things like Sony’s Spider-Woman and other spinoffs.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if this will be Tom Holland’s send-off or if Marvel will double-down on his incarnation of Spider-Man.
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.
In a brief production update from Discussing Film, they mention that Marvel’s Moon Knight series will be shooting Budapest, Hungary and that they’ve added production designer Stefania Cella (Morbius).
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.
The Ronin can independently confirm from our own sources that Budapest is indeed one of multiple locations being used for Moon Knight (working title Good Faith). A shoot in United Kingdom had been previously revealed last year along with an expectation before the pandemic of possibly shooting in the United States and Morocco (used for Black Widow) but those plans have yet to be made concrete.
Budapest is a popular production locale which has been used for Marvel’s Black Widow, Showtime’s Halo series, Blade Runner 2049, Legendary’s Dune remake, The Martian, Red Sparrow, Terminator: Dark Fate, Bloodshot, Gemini Man, Midsommar, and the first season of Netflix’s The Witcher.
Stefania Cella also posted on her website that she has officially joined Moon Knight as production designer working on the pilot and the series. Her film credits include Morbius, Downsizing, White Boy Rick, Lucy In The Sky, and Black Mass.
Oscar Isaac is reportedly in negotiations to play the role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight, although, neither Disney nor Marvel has made an official announcement.
Egyptian director Mohamed Diab had been recently announced for the series.
Lost of casting is underway and there should be announcements via trades in the coming weeks.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra recently spoke with The Wrap about the current atmosphere of releasing massive blockbusters during the pandemic and with the theater reopenings and suggested they’re not convinced about releasing their expensive movies too soon.
VINCIQUERRA: “What we won’t do is make the mistake of putting a very, very expensive $200 million movie out in the market unless we’re sure that theaters are open and operating at significant capacity.”
They seem to be specifically speaking out about Tenet’s disastrous domestic debut given that Warner Bros. film cost them $200+ million, but had only managed to make $9.4 million on opening weekend and another $6.7 million in the second weekend. That studio believed the turnout of audiences would be greater because they were offering a massive movie to the masses and that thinking backfired.
It is worth noting that Sony Pictures was one of the first studios to pull their big tentpoles out of the summer lineup and pushing them to 2021.
I’m curious what this means for March movies like Morbius and Ghostbusters: Afterlife along with other big films such as Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Uncharted, and Spider-Man 3.
Also, what does it being “safe” look like? Waiting until a vaccine for COVID-19 is in circulation?
Here is the rundown of Sony’s 2021 live-action blockbuster schedule but I wouldn’t count on these dates sticking.
On the heels of the news that Spider-Man spinoff film Kraven The Hunter is indeed moving forward at Sony Pictures with Deadline reporting that Triple Frontier director J.C. Chandor is in talks with the studio, it looks like the script will have new writers as well.
Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Expendables 2) wrote the original draft of Kraven and it seems that the studio has brought in some seasoned comic book screenwriters with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway as mentioned in Deadline’s report.
The writing duo is behind the first Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, Men In Black: International, and fellow Spider-Man spinoff Morbius. They most recently worked with Sony on the Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg video game adaptation Uncharted, currently filming in Germany.
Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven The Hunter is a Russian game hunter that crosses paths with multiple Marvel Comics heroes over the years but is primarily known as a Spider-Man villain, which has led to some speculation that Kraven could be showing up in Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man 3 and because of comments from director Ryan Coogler assumptions he may appear in Black Panther 2 as well.
Neither rumors have been confirmed in any substantial way but there is a shot that Sony will attempt to add Tom Holland to this new Kraven spinoff according to previous comments made by the film’s original screenwriter Richard Wenk.
Speaking with Discussing Film (via SlashFilm) in the fall of 2018, Kraven screenwriter Richard Wenk suggested that Spider-Man would be part of the film.
WENK: “I’m just starting it. It’s an interesting world. A great character. It’s going to adhere very closely to the lore of Kraven the Hunter. And he is going to come face to face with Spider-Man. I’m just beginning it, beginning the process, and because it’s a big IP, Marvel world, there’s lots of hurdles to overcome before you can start writing, to crack the right story and to get the right tone. It’s a new world for me. But what’s nice about it is it’s a very grounded character, he doesn’t have a lot of crazy superpowers and things like that so he’s more grounded and that fits what I like to do. That’s as much as I know.”
Hiring new writers could put into question if we will ultimately see Holland’s Peter Paker being part of the film as that version may have changed since subsequent rewrites from Marcum and Holloway.
However, there are clear signs that these Sony-made Marvel films already connect directly to the Marvel-made solo Spider-Man films suggesting a crossover with Holland’s Spidey is only a matter of time.
Morbius is confirmed to be directly tied to the MCU Spider-Man films after the trailer revealed that Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming is showing up in the film during some jailbreak sequence with Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius linking Homecoming to Morbius.
It also gave a direct nod to the final scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home when Parker’s identity is revealed and is framed for the murder of the villainous Quentin Beck aka Mysterio, as Morbius walks past a Spider-Man poster with “murderer” painted on it.
J.K. Simmons confirmed to SiriusXM that he filmed another J. Jonah Jameson cameo possibly for Morbius or Venom: Let There Be Carnage along with a plan to do another. Jameson could be another character that moves between the MCU and Sony-made films.
SIMMONS: “There is one more JJJ appearance in the can and from what I’m hearing there is a plan for yet another one. Hopefully, JJJ will continue now and forever.”
Kraven’s half-brother may have actually cameoed in Spider-Man: Far From Home, as Numar Acar played Nick Fury (Talos) associate Dimitri, who may or may not be a version of Dimitri Smerdyakov aka The Chameleon.
We’re yet to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage have any real significant crossover stuff as they have yet to release a trailer for the upcoming sequel, unless they’ve snuck a cameo from J.K. Simmon’s newly revived J. Jonah Jameson.
Kraven is yet another part of Sony’s greater plans for its splinter Marvel cinematic universe with the unfortunate corporate name Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, yes that is the official name they’re going with.
Here is a rundown of the other Marvel projects in the works and releasing from Sony Pictures.
The studio recently moved Morbius to a release date of March 19th, 2021, and placed the Venom sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage to June 24th, 2021.
Spider-Man 3 from director Jon Watts is supposed to begin shooting this winter with a December 17th, 2021 release date but there is a likelihood that production starts in early 2021. The combination of COVID-19, multiple filming locations, and the Uncharted shoot will likely be determining factors if they’ll be able to start or finish on schedule.
A potential Spider-Woman film will be directed by Olivia Wilde according to Deadline with a script from Wilde and Katie Silberman, a previous script was penned by Gary Spinelli (American Made, Chaos Walking). If the film is indeed Spider-Woman, it would focus on Jessica Drew and suggests the project could be handled by Marvel Studios in another co-production deal because Marvel has access to Drew as she didn’t originate in the pages of Spider-Man comics.
Madame Web will be directed by S.J. Clarkson but the report from Variety stressed that while a screenwriter hadn’t been chosen the studio was interested in casting Amy Adams and Charlize Theron, then building a script around that actress.
Jackpot is another female-led superhero project at Sony that will have a script from Marc Guggenheim (Green Lantern, Arrow), a director has yet to be announced though.
A Sinister Six film was being developed during The Amazing Spider-Man era with Drew Goddard (The Martian) attached to write and direct. It also crumbled to pieces when Sony decided to reboot the character for a second time scrapping the project in the process. Franchise producer Amy Pascal has voiced some interest in circling back to Goddard and Sinister Six at some point.
Black Cat and Silver Sable could end up getting solo movies after their team-up film Silver & Black saw it’s production halted and was split into two solo projects instead. There haven’t been many updates on the progress of either film. It’s possible that multiple character and plot leaks contributed to Sony ultimately putting the film in ice.
Nightwatch and Silk might also eventually get their own films, but again there haven’t been recent updates on their status at the studio.
Back in March, The Wrap reported that screenwriter Roberto Orci was attached to write an untitled Spider-Man spinoff for Sony, but the information hasn’t been supported by other outlets or what that project will be. There had also been rumors from The Iluminerdi that characters such as Man-Wolf and Solo could be getting their own films as well, this has yet to be supported by the trades. Either could end up being this potential untitled Orci project.
Marvel’s standing deal with Sony for Spider-Man allows them to make Spider-Man 3 keeping it within the MCU and they’ll have access to Spidey for another undisclosed Marvel Studios film. It’s a strong possibility that Disney and Sony could re-up the deal in the not too distant future.
We’ll have to wait and see what projects ultimately go in front of cameras and are released by the studio. It’s worth noting that a production timeline for Kraven The Hunter andOlivia Wilde’s film seemingly hasn’t been locked-down.
Deadline has word that up-and-coming actress Adria Arjona has been tapped for an undisclosed role in the untitled Cassian Andor series from Lucasfilm set within the Star Wars universe. Andor, a character from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a Rebellion spy and operates mostly in a very grey-area. The series is expected to play-up the spy aspect of the Rebels and Andor played by Diego Luna.
Arjona’s recent credits include Triple Frontier, Narcos, True Detective, Pacific Rim: Uprising, 6 Underground, and will be seeing alongside Jared Leto in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff Morbius. She’ll be joining Luna, Alan Tudyk, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller.
Filming had been originally expected to begin this summer before the pandemic delayed multiple film and television productions.
This week’s roundup is mostly female-centric and some interesting characters might be heading to the MCU.
Salma Hayek Teasing Reshoots On The Way For ‘Eternals’
Eternals actress Salma Hayek, who plays the team’s leader Ajak, has seemingly revealed on Instagram that the film is returning for reshoots very shortly.
HAYEK: “In anticipation for reshoots, I finally had to do my roots.”
The film had been mainly shooting at Pinewood Studios UK under the working title Sack Lunch and will be getting pick-ups/reshoots like with every other MCU movie. Where the Eternals reshoots will take place is a little unclear as Georgia and California tend to be where reshoots normally happen, which might be tough considering the United States is seeing a steep rise in new coronavirus cases.
However, the United Kingdom reportedly will be reopening productions next month starting with Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion at Pinewood.
Eternals recently saw it’s release date bumped from November 6th to February 12th, 2021. Hopefully, it’s able to stick to that date and it isn’t further delayed.
J.K. Simmons Confirms He Filmed His Next Appearance As J. Jonah Jameson and Expects To Do Another One Soon
As Spider-Man 3’s production start is a bit of a question mark, actor J.K. Simmons has revealed he has filmed his next appearance as the Spider-Man character during an interview on SirusXM.
SIMMONS: “There is one more JJJ apparence in the can and from what I’m hearing there is a plan for yet another one. Hopefully, JJJ will continue now and forever.”
This would suggest he’s either showing up in Morbius or Venom 2 aka Venom: Let There Be Carnage, there had been some teases that this would be happening and Jameson might be the glue that connects all the Sony/Marvel films. The latter part would likely mean he’s coming back for Spider-Man 3, which has been assumed since the cliffhanger ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
When Spider-Man 3 will begin shoot isn’t concrete at the moment as it originally was going to shoot over the summer once Tom Holland wrapped on Sony’s Uncharted film.
Amanda Seyfried Passed On Gamora Role In ‘Guardians of The Galaxy’ Over The Extensive Makeup
While speaking with Comic Book, actress Amanda Seyfried revealed that the makeup was a huge reason why she passed on the Gamora role in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy, citing Jennifer Lawrence’s experience playing Mystique in X-Men: First Class.
SEYFRIED: “I think about it often [laughs]. I’m not really a Marvel movie watcher, which is, I think, why I was just like, ‘Ah, I don’t wanna be green. It’s just so much work.’ I remember Jennifer Lawrence talking about once, how long it took her to get blue. And I was like, ‘That seems like hell on earth,’ because then you get to set and you’re only there for a couple hours, and then you have to take everything off. And that was literally the reason.”
Zoe Saldana ended up in the role and is expected to reprise Gamora once again in Guardians of The Galaxy 3.
‘Loki’ Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw Comments On The Disney+ Series
British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw took some time to speak with Variety on their podcast The Big Ticket and gave some interesting insight to both director Kate Herron and co-star Tom Hiddleston.
MBATHA-RAW: “I feel like even though you’re dealing with this big universe, [Kate Herron] still makes it feel very intimate. She just brings it back down to character and moments and emotions.”
“Obviously, it’s a big part of our culture, so I had a huge awareness of it and it’s funny because I actually went to drama school at the same time as Tom Hiddleston. Ten years ago when I first came out here to do a TV pilot, ‘Under Covers,’ he was shooting the first ‘Thor’ at the same time. I remember him telling me about this experience of this new movie that he was doing.”
Loki paused production months back in Atlanta, Georgia when the pandemic forced the shutdown. There has been speculation that filming might resume next month but that has yet to be made official and might not be ready to begin airing on Disney+ until sometime in 2021.
Marvel Rumored To Be Considering Adding Echo, Firestar, and Lucia Von Bardas To The MCU
A handful of rumors concerning a trio of female characters that Marvel Studios wants to introduce to the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been making the rounds over the last week. As with all rumors take these a pinch of salt since where these ladies might show up isn’t being mentioned.
MARIA LOPEZ AKA ECHO (via Murphy’s Multiverse): Charles Murphy is making an excellent assumption based on a recent casting call from casting director Sarah Finn. However, admittedly wasn’t able to say definitely where she might show up and even mentioned this may be a casting call related to a Star Wars series as Finn is also tackling that franchise.
ANGELICA JONES AKA FIRESTAR (via Daniel Richtman): While the character is best known from the animated series Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, the character being a mutant means she is secured under the Marvel Studios rights umbrella and not Sony. There are already rumblings that mutant Takeshi Matsuya aka Whiz Kid (a fellow mutant) could be showing up in Shang-Chi. Daniel is unsure where Jones might show up despite her connections to Spider-Man.
LUCIA VON BARDAS (via MCU Cosmic): This one implies that Marvel is already working on introducing Latveria as Lucia von Bardas is from the fictional nation that is led by Fantastic Four supervillain Doctor Doom, she becomes the Prime Minister of Latveria. While there had been rumblings in the past that a new Fantastic Four film was in development stages and on the cusp of an announcement, that seemed to be premature or simply false. Noah Hawley had been recently speaking with Marvel about his solo Doctor Doom movie that he was originally developing for 20th Century Fox before the merger. As with the other two rumors, Jeremy isn’t ready to proclaim or even guess where Lucia will first appear.
THE RONIN 