Tag: Tom Holland

Posted on in Film News, News, Trailers

TRAILER: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Footage Confirms Peter Parker Will Explore The Multiverse & Teases The Sinister Six

After what feels like an eternity of fan speculation of when the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer would drop it’s finally made it’s way online, thanks to Sony Pictures.

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 cast consists of Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, Jon Favreau, Hannibal Buress, Jacob Batalon, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Marisa Tomei, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, Paula Newsome, and J.B Smoove.

We’ve now have concrete confirmations that Benedict Wong and possibly Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn/Green Goblin will appear as well. We see a pumpkin bomb show up, someone trying to attack Peter in the shadows, Electro using his powers, and Alfred Molina’s glorious Doctor Octopus.

The Ronin first reported that Paula Newsome would appear and she is seen in the trailer.

The Multiverse was first teased in WandaVision, but fully realized in the Loki series with the TVA and Kang’s variant. It’s currently being explored with the What If…? animated show, however, there is something tonally off with that project compared to previous live-action stuff on Disney+. Hopefully, things will get better as more episodes air.

It seems like there will be a slight break for director Jon Watts, as he’ll be focusing on Fantastic Four next, as Marvel Studios will reboot the superhero team for the MCU. However, since making the announcement in December, they haven’t given any indication when they’ll begin production on Fantastic Four.

This isn’t terribly surprising as we haven’t had an announcement concerning Spider-Man 4 and Holland has revealed he completed his contract with No Way Home (he’s indicated he wants to resign but likely re-negotiate more for money). A small hiatus might be just the break everyone involved in the trilogy of films needs at this point.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is expected to debut on December 17, barring any further release delays.

SOURCE: SONY PICTURES

Posted on in Film News

Sony Pictures Says ‘Morbius’ Isn’t Part Of The MCU After Jared Leto’s Co-Star Tyrese Gibson Mistakenly Said It Was

Yesterday, Comic Book spoke with Fast & Furious franchise actor Tyrese Gibson, as he is on the promotional tour for Universal’s F9. The outlet is known for poking and prodding actors for any kind of tidbit about upcoming comic book films and television shows, along with the exhausting task of asking everyone they interview what superheroes they want to play if they’re not already doing so or grilling them about various internet rumors.

Gibson happens to be playing Simon Stroud in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Morbius, and this led to a misleading comment from the actor declaring the upcoming Jared Leto film was indeed part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Something that sounded extremely perplexing because Marvel Studios, as far as we know, has zero involvement in projects like Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and Kraven The Hunter. Sony Pictures had previously made it publicly known that their Spider-Man spinoffs would be part of a cinematic universe adjacent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Gibson’s statement was indeed incorrect, as GameSpot reached out to Sony Pictures and the studio confirmed Morbius is still in their own splinter cinematic universe and not part of the MCU.

GameSpot has confirmed that Morbius is still slated to come out on January 28, 2022. Additionally, the movie is not part of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is a part of Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel characters, contrary to what Tyrese Gibson said in the interview below.

We’ll have to chalk it up to Gibson being part of another franchise with spinoffs and just assuming everything Marvel is under the same umbrella. Fans seem to be just as confused as they tend to listen to online theories instead of the studios making the films in question, as mentioned above Sony clarified this months ago.

This comes after Venom: Let Them Be Carnage director Andy Serkis said their film is set in it’s own world and the characters aren’t even aware of Spider-Man. Seemingly confirming that the Venom sequel won’t be part of the MCU either.

The confusion likely stems from Michael Keaton’s Vulture showing up at the end of the film’s trailer, a character that appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but is ultimately owned by Sony Pictures to do with what they’d like.

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.

SOURCE: GAME SPOT

Posted on in Film News

Sony Pictures Says They Have An “Excellent Relationship” With Marvel Studios & Kevin Feige – Will They Announce An Extended Deal?

While there has been tension in the past, new comments from Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch suggest that the working relationship between Sony and Marvel’s Kevin Feige is “excellent.” This comes from an interview Panitch had with Variety where he mentioned their big Spider-Man plans will be revealed after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.

PANITCH: “The great thing is we have this very excellent relationship with Kevin. There’s an incredible sandbox there to play with. We want those MCU movies to be absolutely huge, because that’s great for us and our Marvel characters, and I think that’s the same thing on their side. But we have a great relationship. There’s lots of opportunities, I think, that are going to happen.”

Despite those rosy comments, things weren’t always pleasant between the two companies.

In the early days of Marvel shopping the film rights to studios, Sony Pictures famously rejected a deal that could have landed-up the bulk of the Marvel Comics character lineup when Marvel first approached the studio about tackling Spider-Man movies. Those executives obviously had zero imagination about what the future held for the superhero genre and cinematic universes.

When Marvel Studios became successful, Sony Pictures still scoffed at the idea of teaming together to the point that Sony Japan had to tell their film division to a make a deal with Marvel happen after Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to get audiences jazzed about their Spider-Man cinematic universe. Even after the billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the deal between Disney and Sony dissolved which led to the potential of Sony Pictures moving forward with Spider-Man 3 without the help of Marvel. Luckily, Tom Holland able to get the two studios back to table and is the reason why Spider-Man: No Way Home exists.

After past attitudes mentioned above, it’s not hard to imagine that Sony could be under the impression they can simply copy the Marvel model for themselves without the help of Marvel Studios. The success of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and it’s Oscar win could give the studio a boost of confidence to go solo again. It wouldn’t be the first studio to do so, and Sony already attempted to create their own cinematic universe with plans to make a Sinister Six movie that was one of the main teases from Amazing Spider-Man 2, alongside introducing future Rogue One actress, Felicity Jones, as Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat (another character that was set to get a solo film).

One of the theories about Spider-Man: No Way Home is that it could be a way for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to ease his way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gracefully with one final film.

The vagueness of the statements from the studio executive aren’t particular helpful either. We’re still kind of in the dark what Sony plans to do after Spider-Man: No Way Home, Panitch suggests they’ll be revealing their big plan after the release of the third Marvel-made solo Spider-Man film, but haven’t been clear if they’ll continue to have Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the MCU or agree to give Marvel access to other incarnations of the character (Miles Morales etc) allowing them to keep Holland for their own cinematic universe installments.

There is some hope from fans that everything can simply just be consider part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but we’ve examples in the past even at different divisions of Marvel where that wasn’t a simple thing. Marvel Studios Nate Moore mentioned off-handily that the Disney+ shows were the first time that the television and film universes have been cohesive, alluding to the Marvel Television/Loeb era being nixed from MCU hard-canon.

Keeping in mind how the Jeph Loeb era of Marvel shows were blocked from official canon, I personally don’t see how Kevin Feige would suddenly allow Sony’s spinoff films to be so easily accepted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe without his personal oversight on their development and production. Unless Marvel Studios makes or produces these new Sony/Marvel movies I don’t really see how they become part of the hard-canon MCU. Considering that Kevin won’t really be able to oversee quality control, as seen with a bonkers project like Venom.

Speaking of Venom, Sony recently confirmed that Spider-Man won’t appear in the Venom sequel and it’s unclear if films such as Morbius or Kraven The Hunter will include Parker either. Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming showing up in the Morbius trailer has only added to the confusion and fan speculation, the Vulture being a Sony-owned character.

There is also uncertainty about Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman project being part of the MCU, as Marvel wasn’t mentioned as a production partner when it was originally announced and Sony still hasn’t even given the project a title, let alone confirmed that Marvel is working with them on it.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Marvel and Sony will announce they’ve officially extended their working relationship to other films. There have been rumblings that they’ve worked things out but according to Tom Holland himself he’s finished his existing contract obligations and is willing to re-up if asked to.

If they have a plan it seems odd that Holland doesn’t have a new Spider-Man contract already.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Sony Says They Have A “Plan” That Will Be Revealed After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ – Studio Exec Thinks A ‘Sinister Six’ Movie Would Be “Cool”

A lot of Spider-Man fans are excited but also slightly confused about what Sony Pictures is actually planning to doing with their Spider-Man franchise and subsequent spinoff films such as Kraven The Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Tenet, Avengers: Age of Ultron) being announced for a release date of January 13, 2023.

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch revealed to Variety that Venom: Let There Be Carnage won’t include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man but reassures that audiences won’t miss the the web-head. However, he went on to clarify they do have a plan that will become more clear after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

PANITCH: “There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when ‘No Way Home’ comes out, even more will be revealed.”

The Sony executive also responded to the possibility of them resurrecting their former plans to make a Sinister Six film, something franchise producer Amy Pascal has said in the past she would be open to revisiting.

PANITCH: “It’s tough, because I think these projects are the kind of things we have to work on in the dark. They’re not ready until they’re ready. Kraven is a great example because we just didn’t rush it. We could have made that three plus years ago. It’s just now the script’s awesome, J.C. was the right choice, and we found the movie star because it was just kismet, and watching this other movie and realizing that could be the perfect casting.”

“It would be very cool, wouldn’t it?”

Drew Goddard (The Martian, Cabin In The Woods) was once attached to make the Sinister Six film until the studio got cold-feet from Amazing Spider-Man 2’s poor reception and they instead pivoted to making a deal with Marvel Studios, rebooting the franchise for a second time with Holland.

There have been wild casting and plot rumors concerning Spider-Man: No Way Home, from key actors from previous films reprising their villain roles to having people like Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire showing up (denied by both Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield in recent interviews). One of the more recent unconfirmed rumblings making the rounds is that we might indeed see an incarnation of the Sinister Six, something a lot of us just assumed was Marvel Studios’ aim once people like Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) were confirmed for the film that the film was going to build-up to. Bringing back existing actors quietly into those previous roles would allow them to assemble the Sinister Six quickly without have to rehash all their origins eating-up valuable screentime.

However, with most of these rumors, they are coming from multiple online sources (some are indeed creditable), but the information hasn’t actually been backed-up by the trades or confirmed by either Marvel Studios or Sony Pictures. So, it’s been tough to navigate which ones are real and which ones are simply online gossip or speculation. Many fans believe a teaser trailer is on the horizon and could answer a lot of their questions, but given Marvel’s secrecy it’s possible they could continue to hold-off confirming these cast and plot rumors.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is swinging to theaters on December 17, 2021.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Sony Pictures Exec Reaffirms Spider-Man Won’t Appear In ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ While Hyping The Sequel – “You Don’t Miss Spider-Man”

Sony Pictures is mapping-out their own cinematic universe featuring the multiple heroes and villains they’re able to give feature films and television shows to thanks to owning the Spider-Man rights. It’s become increasingly confusing what their ultimate plan is going to be with the various spinoff films as the original Venom was rumored to include a cameo from Tom Holland but that never happened and fans have been sort of kept in the dark officially about other Sony/Marvel projects too.

While we might eventually see Holland start to appear in these movies at some point, new quotes from Sony Picture Motion Pictures Group President Sandford Panitch during an interview with Variety gives us the impression that they studio hopes their spinoff films don’t even need Spider-Man to hook audiences.

Sanford Panitch is quick to point out that Sony Pictures doesn’t see their cinematic universe as a “Spider-Verse,” but actually their own Marvel universe while alluding to these projects holding their own without the iconic superhero. This is highlighted when Panitch admits that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won’t be appearing with Tom Hardy’s Venom in the upcoming sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. But also teased the two characters may meet up, eventually.

PANITCH: “We don’t really think of our 900 characters as the Spidey-verse. We have a Marvel universe. The volume of characters we have — you know, wait until you see this next Venom. You don’t miss Spider-Man…It’ll be exciting if they do meet, right?”

This sentiment was recently echoed not too long ago by Venom 2’s director Andy Serkis while speaking with IGN about the first-look trailer. Serkis mentioning that these the characters in the Venom sequel aren’t aware of Spider-Man and “treating this very much as it’s own world.”

SERKIS: “Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story, but in this, we’re treating this very much as it’s his own world, the Venom story is his own world. There are nods and little moments just like this, the newspaper Daily Bugle, of course, but on the whole, he’s unaware, they’re unaware, at this point of other characters like Spider-Man. So that’s the way we’ve chosen to play this particular episode of the movie but well, we’ll wait and see, what little things you can pick out of it.”

The original Venom, earned a massive $856 million at the global box office without Spider-Man, so it’s possible the studio believes other films could replicate this success on their own.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE – Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

‘Barry’ Actress Paula Newsome Confirmed For Role In ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

The Ronin has been able to independently confirm that American actress Paula Newsome will have a role in Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man installment, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The size of her character’s role in the superhero flick is currently unknown at this time. Audiences will likely know Paula best from the HBO series Barry led by Bill Hader and plays Detective Janice Moss.

UPDATE: It looks like Paula is not only teasing her involvement in the sequel on Twitter but that she could be playing MJ’s mother.

Filming on Spider-Man: No Way Home (The November Project) has been mostly talking place in Atlanta, Georgia with Jon Watts directing before making his jump to helm Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot.

The returning cast is set to include Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Hannibal Buress, Jon Favreau, Angourie Rice, and J.K. Simmons.

Benedict Cumberbatch is appearing as Doctor Strange as Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness has/about to complete principal photography in the United Kingdom. There has been some speculation about how Strange connects to No Way Home and if we’ll potentially see Peter Parker in The Multiverse of Madness.

Spider-Man: Far From Home ended on a massive cliffhanger as J. Jonah Jameson revealed Peter’s secret identity to the world and pushed the narrative that Spider-Man killed Quentin Beck aka Mysterio.

Spider-Man 2 actor Alfred Molina recently confirmed to Variety that he would be playing Doctor Octopus (first reported by GWW) in the MCU flick, but that he would be reprising the Sam Raimi incarnation to boot. However, Jamie Foxx had stated on social media that his version of Electro wouldn’t be blue giving the impression it would be a different incarnation from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Tom Holland has denied in press interviews that former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in the movie, but that hasn’t detoured fans getting excited about seeing multiple generations of Peter Parker in the third MCU installment. The British actor has also stated that Spider-Man 3 fulfills his contract and likely means a new deal will have to be made for him to continue the Spider-Man role.

Sony has given Spider-Man: No Way Home a release date of December 17, 2021.

Posted on in Film News

Russo Brothers Say Sony Resisted Casting Tom Holland As ‘Spider-Man’ Due To His Age

During an interview with GQ Magazine to promote Cherry, directors Joe and Anthony Russo talked about originally casting Tom Holland for Captain America: Civil War and while Marvel Studios/Kevin Feige were onboard, Sony Pictures resisted. Apparently, Sony had some serious second thoughts about hiring a real teenager for Spider-Man.

JOE RUSSO: “We talked with Feige at Marvel about Holland and he got excited and then we went to Sony…And they were like, ‘Let’s think about it for a minute.’ We could tell we were meeting resistance from Sony. So we brought [Holland] back, brought him back, brought him back, and we were relentless in our pursuit of jamming him down the throat of the studio who owns this IP. It came down to a fight, yet Sony just kept dragging their feet.”

ANTHONY RUSSO: “Sony’s reservations were: ‘Are we loaning it? Or are we giving it to them to help us reinvent it in a way that adds value for us?’ It was the first time Spider-Man had ever been cast as an actual teenager, right? Which was very important to us; there was a distinct nervousness of casting a kid.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home will be Holland’s fifth and potentially his final film as the actor is aware that could be a possibility despite his openness to reprise the role. Tom has previously stated his Marvel Studios contract has ended and plans to take a break.

HOLLAND: “I really don’t know what the future holds, so I am just savouring every moment, as it could potentially be the last.”

Sony has set the release date for Spider-Man: No Way Home on December 17th, 2021.

SOURCE: GQ MAGAZINE

Posted on in Film News

Tom Holland Says ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Ends His Current Marvel Contract – Plans To Take A Break

Yesterday, it was announced by Marvel/Sony that the third Spider-Man film will be titled Spider-Man: No Way Home and it’s lead actor Tom Holland has been doing the press tour for his upcoming crime flick Cherry, revealing some interesting plans in an interview with USA Today.

Holland revealed that he plans to take a break and travel (hopefully safety given the pandemic) as he’s currently without a studio contract which means his current Marvel contract has ended with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Mentioning he’d like to take to go skiing as he wasn’t allowed to previous because the danger of injury.

HOLLAND: “I’m going to take a break and travel the world. It’s the first time since I signed on to (Spider-Man: Homecoming) that I don’t have a contract with someone. I might go skiing because that’s something I’ve not really been allowed to do because it’s obviously a dangerous sport. I’ve been very careful over the years, which is why I’ve become obsessed with golf because it’s the only sport I can play without getting injured.”

He reiterated this over at Collider but added he’d be willing to come back whenever they called.

HOLLAND: “[Spider-Man 3] would be my last one [under contract] so I’ve always said to them if they want me back I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I’ve loved every minute of being a part of this amazing world. It’s changed my life for the better, I’m so lucky to be here. If they want me back I’ll be there, if they don’t I will walk off into the sunset a very, very happy person because it’s been an amazing journey.”

“The way I understand it is that agreement between the two studios has already happened. I don’t think that they’re going to run into the same troubles that they did as we were going into… was it ‘Spider-Man 2’? ‘Far from Home’ had come out and then the whole thing happened between Sony and Marvel. I think the two studios have worked that out, and I don’t think that that will be a problem in the future. That said, I’m just the actor and I was a part of a few phone calls during that process, but I think they love working with each other, I think they found a way in which it can be beneficial for both studios, and I’m just kind of like a kid in the middle of it, between two parents during an argument (laughs).”

Given that Tom shot Cherry, Uncharted, and Spider-Man: No Way Out in a short period of time he’s certainly owed some vacation time.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released on December 17th.

SOURCE: USA TODAY

Posted on in Film News

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Is The Official Title Marvel’s Third ‘Spider-Man’ Film

Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya have been trolling fans yesterday posting faux titles for Spider-Man 3, but have now revealed it’s official title being Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was announced on Holland’s Instagram and confirmed by Marvel on their official website, so we know it’s real this time.

Could the title be a potential nod to the rumored Multiverse aspect of the film and Doctor Strange’s involvement? We know that Benedict Cumberbatch will be appearing in the sequel but how much or why hasn’t been revealed.

Tom Holland has stated repeatedly in interviews that former Spider-Man actors won’t be appearing in the film but trade reports have confirmed that actors such Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina will be, the duo playing Electro and Doctor Octopus in the previous two incarnations of the franchise.

It’s worth mentioning that Marvel and Sony haven’t announced any new cast members.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still filming in Atlanta and will be released on December 17th, barring any studio hiccups with Sony’s feature film schedule.

SOURCE: MARVEL & TOM HOLLAND

Posted on in Film News

‘Spider-Man 3’: Marvel Casting Extras To Play Attorneys & Stenographer For A Courtroom Scene Shooting Next Month

Background casting company CL Casting has revealed on their Facebook page there will be a courtroom scene shot next month in the Atlanta area for Spider-Man 3 aka The November Project. You can see from the posting they are seeking extras to play attorneys and a stenographer with the scene expected to shoot on March 10th.

We pointed out back in December that this courtroom scene could be taking place after it was telegraphed with previous Spider-Man 3 extra casting calls seeking background actors for protesters, detectives, and criminals.

It’s been long expected that Peter Parker would end up needing lawyer in the next film because of the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home as he’s been framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. However, the simplest and obvious choice for Parker’s legal defense is Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk.

This is mainly because we know that the She-Hulk series for Disney+ begins filming next month in Atlanta, where Spider-Man 3 is already shooting and around when this scene will be shot. Maslany’s casting was announced by Disney/Marvel in December and this means the superhero lawyer is already confirmed/established for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, officially.

While there have been convincing rumors that Charlie Cox will reprise the Matt Murdock role, none of the trades have backed-up the claim or has any photographic/hard evidence that Charlie Cox has been on the set landed online despite talk he’s shot scenes already. Lacking any concrete confirmation Matt Murdock is actually in the superhero sequel, it’s still not entirely settled or a lock that he’ll appear. Sometimes rumors are just rumors, but there is still a good shot he might be in the film and it just hasn’t been made official.

Director Jon Watts is going to be tackling the Fantastic Four reboot next for Marvel Studios and it’s hard to ignore that he might want to include a Marvel character like She-Hulk given her connections to both superhero law and Fantastic Four. Adding Jennifer Walters to Spider-Man 3 allows the new superhero character to debut in a massive feature film (Spider-Man: Far From Home previously earned over a billion dollars at the box office) before the solo She-Hulk series on Disney+ and at the same time potentially plant seeds for Watts’ upcoming Fantastic Four film.

I guess we’ll have to be patient.

Spider-Man 3 will be released on December 17th.

SOURCE: CATRETT-LOCKE CASTING