Another high-profile may have joined a large Marvel Studios film.
Local Australian outlets (spotted by The Direct) are claiming that actor Matt Damon has arrived to the country with his family and will begin quarantine, so that he can shoot scenes for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.
UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph reports that Matt Damon is skipping the state’s mandatory two-week quarantine at a set New South Wales hotel.
Hollywood actor Matt Damon has arrived quietly in Australia, receiving an exemption from NSW hotel quarantine to isolate privately. https://t.co/9HNN5341PC
Damon, you might remember had a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki for the play about his life. He also wore extensive make-up for his other Marvel cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2 along with Rogue One’s Alan Tudyk.
Matt doesn’t seem to have anything else on his schedule at the moment but recently wrapped on the Steven Soderbergh film No Sudden Move and Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel. He had reportedly signed on to star in James Mangold’s The Force before the director agreed to direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm.
Christian Bale is confirmed to be playing Gorr The God Butcher, the film’s villain. Bale and Damon previously co-starred in the racing drama Ford v Ferrari.
If Matt Damon indeed has a substantial role in Thor: Love & Thunder, it wouldn’t be the first time an actor has been given a smaller part only to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a completely different role.
Personally, I’d love to see him play Balder The Brave (another son of Odin) or Cul Borson aka The Serpent (Thor’s uncle).
There has been some fan speculation with Nebula actress Karen Gillan (quarantining in Australia as well) that she had been expected to appear in the sequel as well. Since we already know that that multiple characters from Guardians of The Galaxy are showing up alongside Chris Pratt’s confirmed return as Star-Lord.
Karen has now confirmed Nebula’s return on her Instagram stories (spotted by The Ronin) talking about getting her haircut to be more comfortable for Nebula’s bald-cap.
GILLAN: “This is my hair, I cut it the other day in preparation for Nebula, so we don’t have to get so much hair into the bald-cap because I have so much hair, it’s unbelievable.”
Drax actor Dave Bautista is also quarantining in Sydney getting ready for the shoot.
Taika Waititi returns to direct with a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Taika back as Korg, and as previously mentioned Bale is playing the film’s baddie Gorr.
Filming was said to begin this month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title The Big Salad. The Australian stages had been previously used for Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings back in 2020.
Marvel Studios has set the sequel’s release date for May 6th, 2022.
On Thursday we got a massive amount of information all at once and one of the big highlights was all the Star Wars updates from Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. The news included brand new films and television shows along with the official return of prequel actor Hayden Christiensen in the role of Darth Vader.
Here is a rundown of the big news revealed at the event by Kennedy and Lucasfilm.
ROGUE SQUADRON – The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.
I’ll be hopeful that Legends pilot Dash Rendar from Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire is considered for the project given he used the call-sign Rogue Twelve and can finally join Star Wars canon.
Rogue Squadron is set for release on December 22, 2023.
KENNEDY: “Patty has established herself as one of the top directors working in the film industry today. She’s a visionary who knows how to strike the balance between action and heart, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the Star Wars galaxy.”
JENKINS: “It’s been a lifelong dream as a filmmaker to one day make a great fighter pilot film. As the daughter of a great fighter pilot myself, some of the best memories of my life are of seeing my father’s squadron take off in their F4s every morning, and hearing and feeling the awe-inspiring power and grace. When he passed away in service to this country it ignited a burning desire to one day channel all of those emotions into one great film. When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me.”
OBI-WAN KENOBI –Ewan McGregor returns in the iconic role of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for a special event series on Disney+. Officially titled Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where he faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. The series is directed by Deborah Chow, who helmed memorable episodes of The Mandalorian,Season 1, and features the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
Despite previous rumblings of filming starting next month, Kennedy confirmed it won’t begin until March.
CHRISTIENSEN: “It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker. Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them… It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
AHSOKA – After making her long awaited live-action debut in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano’s story, written by Dave Filoni, will continue in a limited series starring Rosario Dawson and executive produced by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau.
After appearing in The Mandalorian, she revealed a search for Star Wars: Rebels villain Grand Admiral Thrawn and this likely means he could be part of show alongside the return of characters like Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger. We wouldn’t be shocked if Filoni ends up directing the bulk of the episodes.
ANDOR –Andor, a tense nail-biting spy thriller created by Tony Gilroy, is set to arrive on Disney+ in 2022. Diego Luna, reprising the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor from Rogue One, will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, FionaShaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma. Production kicked off three weeks ago in London.
They showed a sizzle reel that had behind the scenes footage and concept artwork.
THE ACOLYTE – Leslye Headland, Emmy Award-nominated creator of the mind-bending series Russian Doll, brings a new Star Wars series to Disney+ with The Acolyte. The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.
I’ll be keeping my fingers-crossed that this potential Sith-focused series with a female lead means we’ll finally be getting Darth Talon or reason to include a version of her.
LANDO – Everyone’s favorite scoundrel Lando Calrissian will return in a brand-new event series for Disney+. Justin Simien, creator of the critically-acclaimed Dear White Peopleand a huge Star Warsfan, is developing the story.
Kathleen Kennedy stopped short from confirming the return of Donald Glover.
A Legends character like Mara Jade could be an interesting addition for the Lando series as before she joined the Empire she was smuggler.
RANGERS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC – Set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, this new live-action series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will intersect with future stories and culminate into a climactic story event.
TAIKA WAITITI’S UNTITLED STAR WARS MOVIE – A brand-new Star Wars feature with acclaimed filmmaker and Academy Award-winner Taika Waititi is in development.
KENNEDY: “Taika’s approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected, and…unique. His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride.”
Although, it was noticeable that co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns is absent from the update, despite being mentioned in the original announcement.
Taika begins shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder next month in Australia.
THE BAD BATCH – The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.
They dropped a sizzle reel for the upcoming Disney+ series.
STAR WARS: VISIONS– Presenting all-new, creative takes on the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Visions will be a series of animated short films celebrating Star Wars through the lens of the world’s best anime creators. The anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several of the leading Japanese anime studios, offering a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars.
STAR WARS: A DROID STORY –As Lucasfilm continues to develop new stories, the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities to explore. Lucasfilm Animation will be teaming up with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team, Industrial Light & Magic, to develop a special Star Wars adventure for Disney+, A Droid Story. This epic journey will introduce us to a new hero, guided by legendary duo R2-D2 and C-3PO.
The craziest part is that they’re developing even more projects that they didn’t announce or give updates for such as Rian Johnson‘s all-new trilogy.
With the second season of The Mandalorian winding-down, we won’t likely have any new live-action Star Wars until possibly next fall. So, I figured I would give a rundown of what other live-action projects are in the works from Disney+ shows to feature films in various stages of development.
BOBA FETT SERIES: Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had begun shooting without mentioning who exactly was starring, writing or directing the thing. We can only assume with Temuera Morrison now firmly in the role for The Mandalorian that this might be the incarnation that this new project tackles.
I have my own speculation that this might actually end up being Season 3 of The Mandalorian given the lack of information on who is working on it and the proximity of when Jon Favreau wanted to start shooting Season 3. While Lucasfilm can be sneaky, this would be the first time they’ve started filming a Star Wars project without us knowing who was at least writing and directing it.
At one time, Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg were developing a Boba Fett movie but the project ultimate didn’t come together after hiccups between the two making Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. There had even been rumors that James Mangold was in talks to resurrect the series but quickly shot that down along with his involvement with Season 2 of The Mandlorian.
CASSIAN ANDOR PREQUEL SERIES: Diego Luna recently confirmed to Jimmy Kimmel that his Rogue One prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO has already started shooting in London with director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror). Haynes stepped in for Tony Gilroy, who may still end up directing an episode.
The cast for the Star Wars series includes Luna, Alan Tudyk, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Andor will skew more in the spy genre and might continue the tone established in Rogue One.
DEBORAH CHOW’SKENOBI SERIES: Ewan McGregor is officially reprising the Obi-Wan Kenobi role but as we all know uses the name Ben Kenobi while hiding out on Tatooine and overseeing the protection of Darth Vader’s son Luke Skywalker from the Empire. Lucasfilm revealed via a franchise timeline that Kenobi will take place around the time of the Corellia scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) and there are assumptions that Joel Edgerton will return to the role of Uncle Owen along with a new actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. It’s unconfirmed if we’ll be seeing flashbacks to the Clone Wars or if Kenobi will ever go off-world at any point.
Casting announcements should be incoming shortly.
Filming according to Ewan McGregor is expected to take place this March. The locations are said to be Pinewood Studios UK and Boston, England as the Pinewood facility will have their own Volume/StageCraft which has been used frequently on The Mandalorian.
THE MANDALORIAN: A third season of The Mandalorian is expected to begin shooting at some point after there was word from showrunner and producer Jon Favreau they hoped to get filming started before the end of 2020. We had heard that Jon is expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3.
It’s also possible we could see spinoff series focusing on Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. Those have yet to be announced despite the fan assumptions.
LESLYE HEADLAND’SMYSTERY STAR WARS SERIES: Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is officially working on a new female-centric Star Wars series that according to Deadline would include martial arts elements and take place at a different point in the Star Wars timeline.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.
There has been plenty of speculation of what the show could be or who it could focus on but no details have been confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney.
I’m sure we’ll learn more about the series soon.
RIAN JOHNSON’S BRAND-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY: Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has been developing his own original trilogy for the studio but looks to be more focused on his Knives Out sequel at the moment. There haven’t been much in the way of details concerning Johnson’s project but is expected to take place in another era of Star Wars with new characters. Also, there had been some talk that while Rian would oversee all three films he likely wouldn’t end up directing all them.
Here is how the official press release described the trilogy.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce…In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
Johnson has also dismissed multiple claims he’s exited.
TAIKA WAITITI’S STAR WARS MOVIE: After dismissing reports of his involvement, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was officially announced for an upcoming theatrical Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) co-writing the script. This news wasn’t terribly shocking after Kathleen Kennedy suggested wanting to work with him. Taika later getting his feet wet working on Season 1 of The Mandalorian as both director and voicing the bounty hunter droid IG-11.
The Kiwi director is going to be a little busy as he’ll start shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder soon in Sydney, Australia.
JEDI ORIGIN TRILOGY: According to Variety back in October 2019, the Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B Weiss and David Benioff, had been developing a trilogy of films that would have explored the origins of the Jedi.
Benioff and Weiss had ambitious plans to take the “Star Wars” universe in a new direction, one that would exist apart from the Skywalker family saga that comprised the franchise’s centerpiece nine-film series. The Star Wars period the pair was interested in exploring was how the Jedi came to exist. However, Lucasfilm executives and the creators begin to see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer.
This would have likely taken place way before eras like the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic or even The Old Republic.
However, the pair left Lucasfilm for a rather pricey deal with Netflix which seemingly squashed the project for the foreseeable future. There are new rumblings online that this project might get resurrected but it’s unofficial for the moment.
THE OLD REPUBLIC TRILOGY:BuzzFeed had once reported that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a Knights of The Old Republic film that could eventually become it’s own trilogy.
A movie based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — the beloved video game first released in 2003 — is currently being written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) for Lucasfilm, three sources close to the project told BuzzFeed News.
Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy, according to the three sources.
While this was never confirmed, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy teased they’ve had internal discussions about projects in that era during a chat with MTV back in April 2019.
MTV: Knights of The Old Republic, a lot of fans wanna see that, is there any development of that?
KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things might fall..”
There is also a film project that would see Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige get involved as a producer but there next zero official information about what and when that would be. I have to assume it’s either something already mentioned like Taika’s film or something that hasn’t been made public.
I’m sure with Disney keen to get more originals for Disney+ that we’ll likely hear about more live-action Star Wars shows in the near future.
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, we saw Thor join the ranks of The Guardians of The Galaxy and that seemingly will be carrying over to Thor: Love & Thunder.
The Hollywood Reporter says that after Chris Pratt does some additional photography for The Tomorrow War he’ll join the production of Thor: Love & Thunder (working title The Big Salad) sometime next year in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Reprising the Peter Quill/Star-Lord role for the Thor sequel.
Love and Thunder is due to shoot in Australia in January, and Pratt will do a short round of additional photography for his sci-fi movie The Tomorrow War before heading to the land Down Under.
I have to assume the rest of the Guardians cast will being showing up as well.
The other day, Production Weekly posted what seems to be the official working title for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder which apparently will be The Big Salad during the filming at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia early next year.
While many believe this could be a hint to “Fat Thor” going on a diet it more likely is director Taika Waititi following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts and honoring classic Seinfeld episodes.
Here are the previous Seinfeld references from the Spider-Man working titles.
Spider-Man: Homecoming = Summer of George
Spider-Man: Far From Home = Fall of George
Spider-Man 3 = Serenity Now
The Big Salad, just happens to be a title of a Seinfeld episode from Season 6, where as you’d guess a “big salad” happens to be part of the plot.
At Elaine’s request, George purchases a “big salad” to go for her from Monk’s. George’s girlfriend Julie hands Elaine the salad in Jerry’s apartment, and Elaine thanks her. George is displeased that Julie took the credit for the salad, and tells Elaine that he bought it. Elaine is irritated at George for making a point of such a trivial matter, and briefly vents to Julie about this. Julie is so irate that George told Elaine she didn’t buy the salad that she breaks up with him.
All four working titles seem to connect directly to the George Constanza character and I’m a little curious if there could be a Spider-Man connection to the Thor sequel.
The cast will consist of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie The King of Asgard, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Taika returning in a bigger role as Korg, and Oscar-winner Christian Bale is reportedly playing the film’s villain.
With Tom Hiddleston’s Loki wondering around the Multiverse in his Disney+ series there is a good chance he could end up appearing in Thor: Love & Thunder or even Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
We don’t know much about the film but Natalie Portman suggested that they will indeed include Jane Foster’s cancer journey when adapting the Mighty Thor elements for the feature film while speaking with Yahoo! not too long ago. Having a superhero dealing with cancer could be incredibly powerful for kids that are on treatment or are cancer survivors.
PORTMAN: “I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited. I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”
For the time being the sequel is going to be released theatrically by Disney on February 11th, 2022, as week before Valentine’s Day.
With filming for Thor: Love & Thunder expected to begin around January-February at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, we haven’t really had much of an update on the project until now.
While speaking with Yahoo! Life, franchise actress Natalie Portman briefly suggested that we might indeed be seeing Jane Foster’s going through cancer treatment in the film just like her comic book counterpart.
PORTMAN: “I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited. I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”
Portman could be simply relaying plot points about the Mighty Thor story, but I don’t really see Marvel removing that important element of the hero.
It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that Natalie Portman would be playing Lady Thor in the film giving her a strong reason to come back for the sequel and possibly allows her to play the Marvel Comics heroine for many years.
Having a superhero that is undergoing cancer treatment or is a cancer survivor can be extremely powerful to kids with cancer or in remission. I can speak from direct experience that kids really looked up to Deadpool when they discovered he has cancer in that first film.
I’m sure Chadwick Boseman, the man, will also have a huge impact on kids as well as an example of strength. In the wake of the revelation that actor Chadwick Boseman was secretly undergoing cancer treatment during the film of multiple films including Black Panther, it’s not that hard to imagine that a fictional character could juggle superhero duties while fighting cancer.
I’m sure fans will have opinions on this but I think if handled properly it could be an extremely powerful and important part of Marvel’s new direction of representation.
Joining Portman in the Thor sequel will be fellow cast members Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, and Christian Bale, the latter reportedly playing a villain.
Thor: Love & Thunder is expected to be released on February 11th, 2022, unless there are further delays or shifts with the Marvel slate.
We might have a tough time convincing Chris Hemsworth to step down from the Thor role anytime soon according to some recent quotes he’s given.
Polish magazine Elle Man (via Variety) was able to speak with the Aussie actor about reprising the God of Thunder role beyond the upcoming Taika Waititi sequel Thor: Love & Thunder, as previously stated by Chris he still sounds game to keep playing the character as long as Marvel Studios will allow him.
HEMSWORTH: “Are you crazy?! I’m not going into any retirement period. Thor is far too young for that. He’s only 1,500 years old. It’s definitely not a film that I say goodbye to this brand. At least I hope so.”
He also talked-up a solid script for Thor: Love & Thunder.
HEMSWORTH: “After reading the script, I can say that I am very excited. In this production, there will for sure be a lot of love and a lot of lightning. I’m glad that after all that happened in Avengers: Endgame, I’m still part of the Marvel Universe and we can continue the story of Thor. Of course, I can’t reveal anything about the plot. But to satisfy your curiosity, I will say that reading the script, I had a lot more fun than on Thor Ragnarok, and that shows something because that movie was brilliant.”
There is a slim chance he might end up sticking with the Guardians of The Galaxy for their third film as hinted to at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but that hasn’t been exactly confirmed by director James Gunn.
Depending on the outcome of Love & Thunder, Taika might want to make fifth installment but would likely come after the Star Wars movie he’s currently developing for Lucasfilm.
Filming on Thor: Love & Thunder is expected to begin sometime between January-February of next year at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is reportedly going to use ILM’s StageCraft technology that was made famous by The Mandalorian.
In a post-COVID-19 world, it looks like Disney is looking to adopt safer methods of production which includes expanding the use of the StageCraft technology used to shoot the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. Using this technology means less production crew would be potentially put in harm’s way for set construction and also limit the number of secondary exterior locations as productions traveling to multiple countries might not be the wisest idea at the moment.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that ILM’s StageCraft technology will be used for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love & Thunder (MCU Cosmic mentioned this previously) at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
This comes after writer and director Taika Waititi had used the technology when filming the final episode of the first season of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
There has been an expectation that Thor: Love & Thunder will begin shooting sometime between January-February of next year as director Destin Daniel Cretton is trying to finish up production on Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings allowing Taika to move in for the Thor sequel.
THR adds that they’ll also be adding StageCraft to the Pinewood Studios UK facility.
In addition, ILM is building a StageCraft volume at Pinewood Studios in London (expected to open in February), and a larger custom volume at Fox Studios Australia that will be used for Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi previously used virtual production when he helmed the final episode of The Mandalorian season one.
Actor Ewan McGregor previously confirmed that his Star Wars series Kenobi directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) would be implementing the technology during an interview with Ace Universe back in June.
The next Marvel Studios feature film to shoot at Pinewood Studios UK is expected to be Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man 3, who happened to direct an episode of The Mandalorian for Season 2 just like Taika and may also be familiar with StageCraft after his own experience with that show.
Yesterday, I posted an update of sorts on Ant-Man 3 via Twitter that they are deep in pre-production and that we should expect some massive action sequences given they’ll be moving filming from Pinewood Atlanta Studios to Pinewood Studios UK, the latter facility has been used for the Star Wars films and traditional all of the James Bond movies as well.
We should expect this installment to feel more like an event.
#AntMan3 is well into pre-production and "big" is going to be an understatement… there is a reason this movie is moving to the stages home to BOND and STAR WARS.
I was also able to confirm Marvel/Disney is aiming to release the film sometime in 2020, however, release dates for the next little while will be in flux and most will unlikely be set-in-stone for the foreseeable future given multiple projects will begin production in 2021 meaning that some projects may have be delayed to 2023.
Peyton Reed recently mentioned that the film would be “bigger” and “sprawling” while speaking on The Jess Cagle Show and reaffirmed via Yahoo! Entertainment that Evangeline Lily’s Wasp would be getting equal billing on the sequel.
REED: “They’re a partnership, and she’s a very, very important part of that. And that was a very gratifying thing, I guess technically we were the first Marvel movie with a female hero in the title of the movie. Finding that balance in that movie, that’s very important to me because that’s very much a men’s playing field, historically. But that’s really, really changing now in a great way.”
I’m personally holding out the hope that we’ll see the film morph into some sort of MCU version of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim as Peyton Reed hasn’t been shy about how the films have been influenced by Japanese kaiju projects like Ultraman. Moving the setting of the film outside of San Francisco might also help shake things up given that Scott Lang might be allowed to move a little more freely around the world after the events of Avengers: Endgame.
Most recently the Pinewood facility has been used for Black Widow and Eternals both films are expected to be larger in scale than Ant-Man or Ant-Man & The Wasp. There is also an expectation that the Moon Knight series will spend some time there as well and we should be getting some updates on that show in the near future.
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is confirmed for Longcross Studios in Surrey, England and it’s unknown at this point if they’ll have access to the StageCraft tech, but it’s possible.
This new technology certainly would cut-down costs and post-production time, the safety element is simply a massive benefit.
Could we finally see Lucasfilm tackle a cinematic version of The Old Republic era?
While speaking with The Wrap, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy recently talked about the future of Star Wars suggesting an interest of exploring other eras in the universe as they’re currently stepping back to figure what they want to do as they focus more on the Disney+ shows for the next couple of years.
Specifically mentioning the mythology of Star Wars spanning over 25,000 years, an obvious reference to The Old Republic.
KENNEDY: “And now we’re stepping back. Stories have been told within this universe over the last 40-odd years, and there’s now the realization that this is a mythology that actually spans about 25,000 years, when you really start to look at all the different stories that have been told, whether it’s in books and games.”
“We just need the time to step back and really absorb what George has created, and then start to think about where things might go. That’s what we’ve been doing, and we’ve been having a great deal of fun doing it, and meeting with lots of different filmmakers and talent. There’s so many fans out there and so many filmmakers that have been influenced by Star Wars for so long that it’s a fantastic opportunity to get a sense of who wants to be a part of this. So that’s what we’ve been doing.”
This isn’t the first time Kennedy has teased an interest in going backwards with Star Wars mythology, when asked by MTV News about development on something in The Old Republic, Kennedy confirmed development but stopped short on giving any details about when that could happen.
KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at.”
You can see that exchange from last year’s Star Wars Celebration below.
#Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy talked to us about the future of #StarWars – including a Knights of the Old Republic movie and female filmmakers taking the helm, as well as Palpatine’s surprise return in the trailer for @StarWars#EpisodeIXpic.twitter.com/HCjEhdlRv7
Last year, BuzzFeed reported that the Altered Carbon series creator Laeta Kalogridis was writing a Star War film that was set within The Old Republic and could potentially become a trilogy.
There was also some interesting news this week as it was announced via Deadline that Netflix has cancelled Altered Carbon after two seasons allowing Kalogridis to move on to other things, like this potential Old Republic trilogy for Lucasfilm/Disney.
Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love & Thunder director Taika Waititi is officially helming a Star Wars movie for the studio, but details about his project are scarce. He’ll be co-writing with Oscar nominated screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Last Night In Soho, 1917).
We still don’t know where in the timeline that film will be taking place.
The scope of The Old Republic would allow Lucasfilm and filmmakers to create a brand new path for the Star Wars film franchise since they could jump into certain points in the past and not being beholden to the original trilogy along with forced to connect to it because there is so much time between the eras.
I guess we’ll have to wait to get some solid details from Lucasfilm what they are planning on doing.
Natalie Portman appeared in a video on Tennis superstar Serena Williams’ Instagram account where she revealed the potential new production start date for the upcoming Thor installment.
PORTMAN: “We’re shooting at the beginning of next year in Australia.”
As announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Natalie is set to return as Jane Foster but will be taking on the alter ego of Lady Thor in Thor: Love & Thunder allowing her to potentially take on the mantle in future films.
It’ll be interesting to see if Lady Thor has a connection to The Multiverse via the Loki series or if there is another route they’ll be going to explain how Jane was able to receive the power of Thor. In the comics, Thor has a human alter ego named Dr. Donald Blake (who transforms into Thor taking cues from Shazam!) which has never really been touched upon and could be easily handed over for Jane/Lady Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Other characters expected to return alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie include Taika Waititi’s Korg (I previously reported last summer of an increased role for his character in the sequel) and Korg’s pal Miek.
Oscar-winner Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Psycho, Ford v Ferarri) is said to be playing the film’s villain and is the first of the new additions to the franchise.
We should be hearing more casting news before the end of the year.
Filming on Love & Thunder had originally been slated to begin shooting next month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. That wasn’t able to happen because Shang-Chi had to pause production after the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia led to director Destin Daniel Cretton cautiously quarantine himself during production and the film paused for multiple months until it was safe to resume.
Production dates, in general, should be taken with a grain of salt for upcoming new projects even when it is coming from actors because they’re extremely fluid in the age of COVID-19. However, there is a really good chance this one sticks because Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings (hasn’t officially resumed filming) could be completed by then and Australia is certainly in better shape than other countries where Marvel films are expected to shoot.
Fingers crossed there aren’t any further delays on Shang-Chi that could lead to more headaches for the Thor sequel.
Marvel Studios and Disney recently updated Thor: Love & Thunder‘s release date to February 11th, 2022, but this could easily change in the coming months if the Black Widow release has to be bumped to February 12th, 2021 from November 6th.
THE RONIN 