Today, Disney has announced a wave of new adjustments to their upcoming film slates for Marvel Studios movies in 2022 and 2023. Two dates previously set for untitled Marvel projects on July 28 and October 6 have been removed from the schedule.
Below is what the new lineup looks like.
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS – MAY 6, 2022
THOR: LOVE & THUNDER – JULY 8, 2022
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER – NOVEMBER 11, 2022
THE MARVELS – FEBRUARY 17, 2023
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.3 – MAY 5, 2023
ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA – JULY 28, 2023
UNTITLED MARVEL STUDIOS MOVIE – NOVEMBER 10, 2023
There is a good shot that Bassam Tariq’s Blade reboot is taking that November spot in 2023 given that project seems further along than either Deadpool 3 (a director has yet to be announced) or Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four (reportedly doesn’t have a script).
The next big Marvel Studios release to grace the big screen will be Chloe Zhao’s Eternals, which will see the MCU version of the team. We already know that the film incarnation will be different than their comic book counterparts and a new detail might help link them to a similar group of god-like aliens.
Marvel’s Nate Moore recently revealed to Comic Book another slight tweak to the Eternals origin, stating the group of immortals are from an alien planet called Olympia.
“In the past we see the Eternals, who, in our version of the mythology, are immortal aliens from a planet called Olympia. [They’ve] been asked by the Celestials to come to Earth to rid the Earth of creatures called the Deviants. The Deviants are these parasitic aliens who go from planet to planet, and as they kill the apex predators on a given planet, they sort of take the characteristics of those predators and wipe out intelligent life. Well, the Eternals are heroes, so they’ve come to earth to eradicate the Deviants and allow humanity to thrive.”
In the comics, Olympia aka High Olympus was set on Earth in Greece.
Interestingly enough, The Olympians (Marvel’s cosmic version of the Greek pantheon of gods) will be officially introduced in Thor: Love & Thunder after Australian actor Russell Crowe revealed he’d be playing the MCU version of Zeus in the sequel.
I don’t exactly see why Marvel wouldn’t have Zeus and The Olympians also being from this planet of Olympia as a streamlined way to be less confusing to audiences by making the groups essentially interchangeable. This might also be why Zuras (Thena’s father) isn’t in the film, both Zeus and Zuras have similar character designs in the comics.
Zeus, of course, is the father of demigod Hercules Panhellenios aka The Prince of Power, who just happened to be on The Avengers roster around the same time as Gemma Chan’s Sersi and Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman aka Black Knight.
Adding a bit of fuel is that director Chloe Zhao told Empire Magazine that the Eternals are “akin to stories of Greek and Roman gods, who live very human lives with human traits, rivalries, jealousies and frailties.”
It’s hard not to notice this information only further distancing themselves from Thanos and Titan. In the trailer, Ajax (played by Selma Hayek) explained that The Mad Titan wasn’t a Deviant, which prevented them to interfere with his dastardly plan to kill half the universe (addition of Olympia could suggest he’s not an Eternal either). This line was also likely out of convenience because Marvel wasn’t even thinking about bringing Jack Kirby’s obscure creations, The Eternals, into the MCU until Chloe Zhao pitched them on the idea.
However, nothing stops them from making Titans like Starfox part of the Eternals/Olympian group.
The MCU version of Deviants could also have a larger connection to Lemurians and world of Namor/Atlantis, if Lemuria and Atlantis both were sunk during The Great Cataclysm (potentially shown in Eternals). This might explain why we see Deviants coming out of the ocean in the trailer footage and possibly where they’ve been hiding out for 5,000 years until the events of the film.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see when Eternals releases on November 5.
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is finally about to get in front of cameras after a massive production delay (James Gunn’s firing and rehiring by Disney) and there is new information that supports Chris Pratt’s previous quotes about the third installment starting production in November.
Recently, we pointed out that previous franchise cinematographers Ben Davis or Henry Branham were busy on other projects and might mean a new person might land the gig.
Someone has shared with us a listing from Production Weekly that names Canadian cinematographer Tico Poulakakis for the Marvel Studios sequel. His credits include Doctor Who, American Gods, Star Trek Discovery, Locke & Key, and the upcoming high-profile Isaac Asimov adaptation, Foundation.
However, we haven’t been able to confirm/authenticate Poulakakis’ involvement but Will Mavity on Twitter mentioned him for the project back in May (likely also from a previous Production Weekly listing as Mavity has posted grids before).
The listing also mentions a shoot that will take place from November 4, 2021 to May 2, 2022.
However, were previously able to confirm the film is indeed shooting in Atlanta (the United Kingdom is still expected as a location too), the visual effects supervisor will be Stephane Ceretti (Eternals, Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp), and will have Hawkeye stunt coordinator Heidi Moneymaker crafting the film’s action sequences.
Beth Mickle (Drive), who recently worked with James Gunn on The Suicide Squad is seemingly still attached as Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3’s production designer.
The returning cast is assumed to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot.
Dave Bautista has indicated that this third installment will be his final outing as Drax.
Hopefully, we’ll start learning the names of new cast members very soon as the fall production starts looms closer.
We’ll see the Guardians next in Thor: Love & Thunder, but there role in the film is said to be minimal.
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 ended with a tease that Ayesha, Golden High Priestess of The Sovereign, is going to bring Adam Warlock into the sequel as his cocoon was shown. Gunn has since denied that Adam Warlock will be in the film among other rumors connected to the film including the casting of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill.
Back in 2017, Gunn told IGN that Adam Warlock would be part of the cosmic universe post-Infinity War/Endgame, while also dodging a confirmation of Warlock’s involvement in the third installment. We do know that Ayesha is coming back though.
A variant of Gamora from a different point of time in the MCU is also running around after the time-travel events of Avengers: Endgame.
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023
Warner Bros. has been trying to make a live-action feature film version of the beloved cyberpunk/body horror anime and manga Akira and their development goes back almost twenty years starting with Stephen Norrington (Blade) in 2002.
Multiple directors had tried to bring the project to the big screen only for things dissolve and the next set of creatives being hired.
The most recent incarnation had Oscar-winner Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) attempting to adapt for the studio, but seemingly hit a brick wall when trying to make sure he was able to cast a string of young Asian kids for the roles. Warner Bros. had been trying to whitewash the project for ages and even relocate the extremely Japanese story to Manhattan.
There had been an assumption that Taika Waititi had moved to bigger and brighter things with an original Star Wars movie on the horizon and his Flash Gordon movie at 20th Century Fox being upgraded from animation to live-action.
While promoting his acting performance in Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, he spoke to Wired giving the impression he’s still involved with Akira and hasn’t entirely walked away from it.
“I’m still trying [to make it]. I don’t wanna give up on that.”
Given his busy schedule and admitting his focus is now on his Star Wars project, it’s unlikely he’ll pivot to Akira anytime soon.
The last big anime adaptation was DreamWorks’ box office flop Ghost In The Shell, hopefully, Warner Bros. learns their lesson from that disaster.
If you’re interested in the development of Akira, you can read a feature I wrote for IGN covering the history of live-action adaptation and it includes a heap of concept artwork from various incarnations.
AKIRA – In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after the nuking of the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo’s supernatural powers suddenly manifest. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment’s secrets.
A new Flash Gordon movie has been in the works at 20th Century for ages with two different versions previously in development stages with directors Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust, X-Men: First Class) and Julius Avery (Overlord) assigned to the project at various points.
Flash Gordon is a pulp sci-fi hero that helped inspire George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise as Han Solo is directly connected to characters like Flash and Buck Rogers. A comic strip hero that debuted in 1937 with many live-action/animated incarnations with a string of serials and a campy film that released in 1980 that included music from Queen.
In the wake of 20th Century’s merger with Disney, Julius Avery’s incarnation was placed on ice and it was later announced that director Taika Waititi would be tackling an animated movie version of Flash Gordon by writing and directing it. However, producer John Davis has spoken to Collider revealing that Taika is currently writing it and has changed his mind wanting to do a live-action movie instead. He didn’t really give a timeline though or when they expect Waititi will be available to shoot it.
“Taika is writing it. It was a movie that was a huge influence on him growing up. It is one of his favorite movies. He initially said to me, ‘Let’s do it animated.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then we got into it and started developing it and he said, ‘No, let’s do it live-action.’ I said, ‘Even better,'” John Davis told Collider of Taika’s pivot to live-action with Flash Gordon.
Disney/20th Century certainly lucked-out nabbing the director as watching Thor: Ragnaok it’s hard not to notice that tone and visuals were most likely inspired by the 1980 movie.
Waititi only recently wrapped on Thor: Love & Thunder and is expected to direct a new Star Wars film for Lucasfilm in the near future alongside other films, but it’s possible that Flash Gordon could be the next big thing given how quickly he shoots these projects. He had once been attached to make a movie based on the manga Akira for Warner Bros., but he’s seemingly won’t be doing that.
I’ll continue to keep my fingers crossed that the studio and Taika will consider Black Panther franchise actor Winston Duke as the new Flash Gordon, given the actor’s stature fits the role perfectly and someone like Chris Hemsworth would be a little redundant since his Thor incarnation is essentially Flash now.
FLASH GORDON – Prepare to save the universe with the King of the Impossible! Alex Raymond’s famous comic strip blasts to life in the timeless sci-fi cult adventure Flash Gordon! When energy waves pull the moon out of orbit, New York Jets quarterback Flash Gordon unwittingly finds himself heading for the planet Mongo, where – with assistance from beautiful Dale Arden – he’ll take on Ming the Merciless and rescue humankind.
Last week, the Season 1 finale of Loki introduced audiences to Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains and confirming our support of rumors that Majors would appear in the show. His variant, Kang The Conqueror, will be seen next in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, fully establishing that the Nexus Event is here and that the Multiverse is truly underway. We’ll see this explored in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, as the title would suggest, but the studio will have to make sure they’re not overusing it or being too loose with it too often making up things as they go along.
It sounds like Marvel Studios is going to be making sure to set rules for The Multiverse as stated by Kevin Feige to the D23 Inside Disney Podcast (via The Direct). Revealing he had just met with the Marvel team about exactly that.
“As you indicated before we started recording, the multiverse is coming up in a big way. There’s interconnectivity there that people have already started to see and suss out and I had a meeting this morning with the whole broad Marvel Studios team going through the multiverse and the rules of the multiverse and exactly how to really deliver on the excitement surrounding the multiverse,” studio head Kevin Feige told D23 Inside Disney.
It’ll be fun to see multiple versions of Kang and the other variants to become the main antagonists of many Phase 4 movies only to be defeated and return in the next project, over and over. Wouldn’t it be nutty if Kang suddenly showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home?
Hopefully, the Multiverse comes to a conclusion like with the Infinity Saga and that could with something as epic as Secret Wars, The Russo Brothers have been teasing their interest in the massive crossover event film as a follow-up to Avengers: Endgame it would also allow them to play with X-Men and Fantastic Four characters among others.
I’d personally like to see Kang assemble his own team from various points of the Multiverse putting together a version of Squadron Supreme to combat the heroes/villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The characters are cheeky knock-offs of the Justice League and placing them against MCU teams could end up a version of Marvel vs. DC without the headache of trying to get two studios to agree upon all the details.
Using that Disney hype machine to help promote their upcoming film Free Guy, co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi have teamed-up to reprise their Marvel Comics characters to do a parody reaction video highlighting the trailer for Free Guy coming next month to theaters.
Interestingly enough, this is sort of the first film Wade Wilson has ever interacted with a character directly from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (granted this likely isn’t official canon or is it?) since being acquired by Disney. We’re also seeing him in a very PG-13 format which might be new for some given his raunchy foul-mouthed antics.
It’ll be neat to see if Deadpool and Korg do eventually feature together in a future Marvel project as Deadpool 3 feels like a good spot for that interaction. Reynolds had previously teased an idea he had for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine to appear in a road trip film and now I can’t only think about how cool it would be if Taika’s Korg took that spot instead.
As it sits, Deadpool 3 will officially kept it’s R-rating and has a script being penned by The Molyneux Sisters (Bob’s Burgers), however, a director hasn’t been named. I think it would be nifty if Taika Waititi, a noted workaholic, tried to sneak in and direct Deadpool 3 before another Thor installment or possibly even his Star Wars movie. Taika works fast and could likely churn-out a sequel pretty quickly as fans are patiently waiting for the mutants to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Karen Gillan is ditching the blue makeup for her latest feature film, Gunpowder Milkshake, an all-female action project at Netflix that seemingly takes cues from modern flicks like John Wick. The Scottish actress is currently doing press for the movie and revealed to Variety what it was like working with director Taikai Waititi earlier this year during the Australian shoot for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.
“Taika is amazing. It was so cool to take this character and work with him. Taika definitely brings out a different, more silly sight of Nebula, for sure. Which makes total sense because his stuff is more wacky and bonkers, in the best possible way. His technique is so improvisational, especially in a big blockbuster film, you don’t expect to get that much freedom to improvise. He just shouts out things like, ‘Do this! Say that again! Again!’ It’s such a fun experience,” Karen Gillan said of her experience working with director Taika Waititi on Thor: Love & Thunder.
She also adds that James Gunn’s script for Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is “incredible” without expanding upon that in any great detail. The third installment will begin shooting this November according to Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt and has a release date of May 5, 2023.
GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Sam (Karen Gillan) was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite assassin, was forced to abandon her. Sam was raised by The Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate her mother worked for. Now, 15 years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps and grown into a fierce hit-woman. But when a high-risk job goes wrong, Sam must choose between serving The Firm and protecting the life of an innocent 8-year-old girl – Emily (Chloe Coleman). With a target on her back, Sam has only one chance to survive: Reunite with her mother and her lethal associates, The Librarians (Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino). These three generations of women must now learn to trust each other, stand up to The Firm and their army of henchmen, and raise hell against those who could take everything from them.
Are we getting another casting addition to the Red Sonja remake from director Joey Soloway? Red Sonja was a supporting Conan The Barbarian character that was born in the Marvel Comics run, she eventually got her own solo film in 1985 starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sonja was created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian comic in the early 1970s and was an amalgam of several characters from Conan creator Robert E. Howard. The character, fiery and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Conan while refusing his advances, proved popular enough to get her own book, continuing to this day even as the Howard and Conan licenses have moved through several companies. Millennium is saying their movie is based on the comic published by Dynamite Entertainment
Thor franchise actress Jaimie Alexander has posted an image of herself reading the new Red Sonja script on a flight. The image below was posted on her Instagram stories. Normally, actors don’t humble-brag about reading high-profile scripts unless they’ve joined the project or are at least considering it.
At one time, Jaimie Alexander was in the mix to play Wonder Woman before Gal Gadot ultimately took the part for Batman v Superman. She talked about losing out on the major superhero part to Variety back in 2016.
Fellow Marvel actress Hannah John-Kamen (Resident Evil, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ant-Man & The Wasp) took the titular role recently, which could mean that Jaimie might be taking a supporting role as either friend or foe.
If I had to guess what the role might be, The Pirate Queen Belit could be an interesting choice for Jaimie Alexander. However, we don’t know if they’re even allowed to use Belit as she is a cohort/lover of Conan The Barbarian.
Speaking of Conan, Netflix secured the rights to make films, series, and animated projects based on the iconic character created by Robert E. Howard. So, it’s possible that Belit might be connected to that package.
It’s more likely an original character crafted by the screenwriters or from the extensive run of comics.
Alexander is best known for her series Blindspot and playing Lady Sif in the MCU. She is reportedly set to appear in both Marvel’s Loki series and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder.
RED SONJA – Power-hungry Queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman) captures the priestesses guarding the Talisman, a mystical orb that created and can destroy the world. But one of the priestesses escapes and seeks out her warrior sister, Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen), to warn her about Gedren’s plan for world domination. Lord Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the Talisman’s keeper, insists on helping Sonja, and though she scorns the assistance of any man, she soon gains respect for Kalidor’s fighting prowess.
Marvel’s next big film Thor: Love & Thunder has officially wrapped production today as it was announced by both actor Chris Hemsworth and director Taika Waititi on Instagram, both posting a nifty beefcake photo of the two of them on the set. Taika wearing his Korg costume and Hemsworth looking super buff after being fat Thor in Avengers: Endgame.
HEMSWORTH: “That’s a wrap on Thor Love and Thunder, it’s also national don’t flex day so I thought this super relaxed photo was appropriate. The film is gonna be batshit crazy off the wall funny and might also pull a heart string or two. Lots of love, lots of thunder! Thank you to all the cast and crew who made this another incredible Marvel journey. Buckle in, get ready and see ya in cinemas!!”
The film’s cast consists of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Christian Bale as Gorr The God Butcher, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie of New Asgard, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Matt Damon as fake Loki, Melissa McCarthy as fake Hela, Sam Neill as fake Odin, Luke Hemsworth as fake Thor, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Taika as the lovable Korg, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin.
It will introduce the cosmic beings known as The Olympians with Russell Crowe playing their leader Zesus, it means that Marvel is likely priming audiences to usher in Hercules aka The Prince of Power to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Production was taking place at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the facility had been previously used for Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. It was recently revealed that the film’s cinematographer was Baz Idoine (The Mandalorian).
Thor: Love & Thunder will open in theaters on May 6, 2022.
THE RONIN 