Director Sam Raimi has returned to the world of Marvel Comics, after tackling the original Spider-Man trilogy, with Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
We’ve learned of yet another Spidey connection to the Marvel Studios sequel.
The Ronin has been able to confirm that seasoned visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs is working on Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The name might sound familiar since he worked on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Avengers, Iron Man 2, Batman Begins, Terminator Genisys, and The Matrix Reloaded.
Here’s an impressive effects heavy scene from Spider-Man: Far From Home that pushes more in the horror realm and might be what they’ll be going for in the Doctor Strange sequel.
The cast of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness far consists of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, Benedict Wong as Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAams as Dr. Christine Palmer, and newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez.
We first reported Sam Raimi’s production team would include cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, X-Men: First Class) and production designer Charles Wood (Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame).
Spider-Man composer Danny Elfman confirmed back in February to Inverse he’d be reuniting with Raimi.
The team of stunt coordinators consists of seasoned vets such as Jo McLaren (Overlord, Annihilation) and Brycen Counts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Ant-Man & The Wasp) with Liang Yang (Morbius, Wonder Woman 1984) taking the role of fight coordinator.
Filming took place at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England and is the current stage facility being used for Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels.
While unconfirmed, we’ve assumed for almost a year that Tom Holland might be showing up in the film as Spider-Man. There is a strong possibility he may have shot scenes already as he recently stated that he’s fulfilled his contractual obligations with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Originally, when Disney and Sony made-up it was reported by trades Holland had two more movies to make with one for Sony (No Way Home) and one for Disney/Marvel (In The Multiverse of Madness?).
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is set for release on March 25, 2022 (baring any further release delays) and Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will be seen next in Spider-Man: No Way Home on December 17.
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
The Ronin can confirm that cinematographer Seamus McGarvey has joined the production of Wonka, the prequel film about Willy Wonka that will be played by Timothee Chalamet (Dune). McGarvey is best known for his work on Marvel’s The Avengers, Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla reboot, Atonement, and Bad Times At The El Royale.
Willy Wonky had been previously played by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.
Paul King, the director of the first two Paddington movies, is at the helm with production taking place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England.The facility in Watford is the home base of the Potterverse franchise and has been one of the key places that the modern era of DC Comics movies are shot as The Batman, The Flash, and Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom have recently used their stages.
Paul King and Simon Farnaby co-wrote the latest incarnation of the script, the prequel film is said to include song and dance numbers, just like the last two movies. King had been attached to Disney’s live-action Pinocchio movie before exiting to focus on Wonka and was replaced with Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future 1-3)
Christopher Nolan’s longtime production designer Nathan Crowley (Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight, John Carter, Interstellar) is also confirmed for the film and had been previously announced.
The production team being assembled would suggest the project might be bigger than people might have originally imagined. An official release date for Wonka hasn’t been announced by Warner Bros., but there is an expectation it will be released sometime in 2023.
Below are some examples of Seamus McGarvey’s work.
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – A sweet boy from a poor family dreams of finding one of five golden tickets hidden inside chocolate bar wrappers which will admit him to the eccentric and reclusive Willy Wonka’s magical factory. One after another, tickets are discovered by ghastly children – but will the lad find the last remaining one and have all his dreams come true?
The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned that Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo and veteran actress Catherine Keener (Get Out, Out of Sight, Being John Malkovich) have joined Shawn Levy’s upcoming sci-fi action film The Adam Project, Ruffalo becoming the fourth actor from a Marvel Comics film. The time-travel film coming from Skydance Media and will land at Netflix.
The pair will be joining Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of The Galaxy), and Jennifer Garner (Daredevil, Elektra).
Ruffalo and Garner worked together on 13 Going On 30 back in 2004.
Reynolds is starring as a man who travels back in time to get help from his 13-year-old self. Together, they have to find their late father, who is now the same age as Reynolds, and set things right in order to save the future.
Ruffalo is playing Reynolds’ dad, a brilliant physicist. Keener will play the movie’s villain, a woman who has stolen powerful technology from the physicist.
We previously confirmed that Brian Smrz will act as the second unit director on The Adam Project and will be overseeing the film’s action sequences. Brian’s credits include X-Men 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Iron Man 3, Terminator Genisys, The Predator, Rise of The Planet of The Apes, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
A sign to the scale Skydance could aiming for with the action scenes.
Filming is already underway in Vancouver.
Mark Ruffalo had a stellar role in Best Picture winner Spotlight as he’s been mostly working on Marvel Studios films with The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and is expected to play Professor Hulk in the upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk.
She-Hulk begins filming in Atlanta around March when The Adam Project is said to wrap.
Director Shawn Levy (Real Steel, Stranger Thins) and Ryan have already worked together on the 20th Century Studios film Free Guy.
Yesterday, Deadline reported that Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany (Perry Mason, Destroyer, Orphan Black) had landed the Marvel Studios role of Jennifer Walters for the upcoming superhero comedy series She-Hulk that will be exclusively on Disney+, airing possibly in 2022 given the VFX involved.
The Emmy winning actress had previously tested for major roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so Tat had been on Disney’s radar for quite some time now.
Jennifer is a defense attorney and cousin of Bruce Banner, who transforms into the superheroine She-Hulk after a blood transfusion from Bruce gives her superpowers of her own.
The series is expected to skew more comedic given that Jessica Gao (Rick & Morty) is the head writer and they’ve seemingly hired Kat Coiro (The Mick, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) to direct multiple episodes. It’s also said that Mark Ruffalo may reprise the Bruce Banner/Professor Hulk role for the show to help connect Jennifer to the greater MCU.
Kevin Feige has confirmed that these new Disney+ characters would most certainly make the jump to the feature films and She-Hulk has the potential to become their next big crossover characters given that is how she was utilized in the comics books.
Here is a rundown of just some of the film projects I think she makes the most sense for.
SPIDER-MAN 3: There have been plenty of team-ups over the years in Marvel Comics and planting seeds for upcoming projects has always been something Marvel Studios has always been keen on doing.
Spider-Man 3 is a strong candidate to introduce the regular human version of Jennifer Walters before the She-Hulk series.
At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Quentin Beck aka Mysterio’s death was spun as murder at the hands of Spidey by J. Jonah Jameson and he also outed his secret identity as Peter Parker. Plenty of fans have suggested that Peter Parker if caught by authorities would be in great need of a defense attorney. A noble profession that doesn’t only fall on the shoulders of Matt Murdock aka Daredevil in Marvel Comics but also Walters, who happens to specialize in superpowered cases.
Interestingly enough, Jennifer has a connection to J. Jonah Jameson as she married J. Jonah Jameson’s son John Jameson aka Man-Wolf.
A nifty connection to the Spider-Man franchise is that Tatiana just happened to co-star in the Boston bombing drama Stronger alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, who played Quentin Beck aka Mysterio.
It is worth noting that according to production grids (take with a grain of salt) making the rounds online both Spider-Man 3 and She-Hulk shoots are expected to overlap at some point next year in Atlanta, Georgia. This potential shooting schedule could theoretically allow Tatiana shoot scenes as Walters due to the proximity to each other, but this is only speculation.
Potentially seeing Jennifer seriously injured during the events of Spider-Man 3 via a villain trying to kill Peter Parker just might be a reason to lead to her cousin Bruce Banner to give her the blood transfusion that not only saves her life but gives her superpowers. A perfect way to help establish her origin outside of the Disney+ series and also connect her to the MCU beyond Banner.
There is also the possibility that Spider-Man 3 sees Parker simply on the run from authorities with the help of parental figures Happy Hogan and Nick Fury being tracked down by the film’s villains.
I don’t see the entire film being a courtroom drama, do you? But if Peter needs a lawyer, Jennifer could be easily suggested by Bruce or Happy.
FANTASTIC FOUR: After the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox, Marvel Studios finally got full rights to use both the X-Men and characters connected to the Fantastic Four.
She-Hulk happens to be an official member of the team.
While there have been hints that there is quiet development on the MCU reboot of the franchise (via Slove Everything Productions LLC), neither a director nor screenwriter has been officially announced by the studio.
Ant-Man 3 will include Avengers villain Kang The Conqueror played by Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors, who happens to be a villainous ancestor of Reed Richards from the future. Nothing says at the moment that Marvel Studios will carry over that tiny family connection from the comics with the MCU version of Kang but it is worth considering.
I’m also extremely hopeful that the Fantastic Four franchise will be an excellent excuse for Kevin Feige to take a second crack at The Inhumans, as Crystal was a member of the team. The introduction of Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel in her own Disney+ series, who is part of The Inhumans, would certainly open the door for the studio to explore those other characters in more accurate way than the sub-par ABC series.
Marvel Studios is expected to make some announcement soon if they are indeed gearing up to shoot Fantastic Four within the next two years or so.
SECRET WARS AKA AVENGERS 5: The Fantastic Four wasn’t the only big-league superhero team that Jennifer joined as she was part of the Mighty Avengers and could easily be involved with the Secret Wars lineup given she was included in the original comic book run.
The Russo Brothers have teased an interest to tackle the Secret Wars as a follow-up to their box office smashing Marvel film Avengers: Endgame. I’m sure if Secret Wars does materialize they’ll want to wait for the Eternals, Fantastic Four, and X-Men to be well established beforehand so they’re not spending all their time on character introductions.
Romance hasn’t been a huge part of the MCU but Eternals is expected to change that slightly and could allow She-Hulk’s love life to be explored in the series and films.
In more recent comics, Thor and Jennifer are in a relationship that could be used for future films.
She-Hulk has also has had romantic encounters with Hercules and Eros of Titan aka Starfox the womanizing brother of Thanos both are expected to be part of the Eternals franchise the two just happen to be fellow members of The Avengers. Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Kit Harington’s Black Knight are likely also going to join the Avengers ranks just like their comic book counterparts.
A-FORCE: Marvel actresses approached Kevin Feige on the set of Avengers: Endgame to pitch him an all-female superhero film which most have suggested could be a live-action version of A-Force. A feature film that could easily see characters like She-Hulk among those ranks.
I also wouldn’t rule-out cameos in stuff like Thor: Love & Thunder, Ant-Man 3, and Captain Marvel 2 to help establish Jennifer’s relationships with Hope (a surrogate for Janet), Valkyrie, and Danvers leading up to an A-Force film.
There is a lot of crossover potential with a character like She-Hulk and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future beyond this Disney+ series.
THE RONIN 