Tag: X-Men

Posted on in Film News, News

Marvel & Russo Brothers Were In Negotiations For Mystery Movie Before Scarlett Johansson Lawsuit Stalled Talks

We’ve been excited about the potential return of the Russo Brothers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after giving us Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

There is now an update of sorts from the Wall Street Journal, as they point out the sibling directing team was indeed in talks with Marvel Studios to return to the MCU for a mystery film but talks apparently have stalled.

The reasoning is being linked to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow lawsuit against Marvel/Disney, as the Russo Brothers are concerned by the issues raised by the actress including the potential release of the unnamed pic and if their contract for payment will ultimately be upheld by Disney.

This is the first real instance of fallout from the lawsuit since it was filed.

We don’t know what exactly that mystery film could be, but considering they’ve talked up a desire to tackle X-Men’s Wolverine and a hard-reboot is on the horizon. Marvel Studios could look to the Russo Brothers to help with the reboot as they did with seasoned MCU director Jon Watts for Fantastic Four. Watts being behind Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy before landing the reboot.

However, this is simply my own speculation given the director’s comments in the past about being able to get their hands on mutants.

Here is what Joe Russo said about Wolverine back in February.

“Wolverine has always been such a special character for me. To realize him on screen, it’s very hard because Hugh Jackman‘s performance is definitive. It’s like Batman; you have to really think of a way to, you have to really find the right actor to come in and give a really different take to that character. But I would really love to see him on screen.”

I think the best thing is to take a break, without question. You need a [palate cleanser], you need to rinse the towel a little bit, let everyone enjoy what was, and then come up with something new. But I’d love to take a crack at Wolverine at some point.”

The Russo Brothers would be perfect to handle the scale and volume of characters as they’ve proven multiple times being able juggle a large roster of superheroes. Despite fans potentially wanting someone brand new to direct a reboot, Marvel might be more comfortable from their existing group of filmmakers given the importance of these MCU reboots.

Secret Wars is something they’ve also talked-up but we don’t have concrete information that is happening in the near future.

Another potential contender could be Anthony Mackie’s Captain America 4, given that doesn’t have a director attached. We had been hearing that the studio wanted a POC director for that one, but having Russo Brothers making a third Captain America movie wouldn’t be that shocking either.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Posted on in Film News, News

‘The Marvels’ Director Nia DaCosta Originally Pitched A Movie Featuring Galactus & ‘X-Men’ Characters

Candyman director Nia DaCosta made headlines this weekend becoming the first the film to give a black female director a #1 hit at the domestic box office. She’s also currently shooting Captain Marvel 2/The Marvels in England.

While promoting Candyman with an interview with The Guardian, the filmmaker reveals she pitched Marvel Studios and producer Mary Livanos a very different project before agreeing to make the Captain Marvel sequel.

“I just nerded out. I was like, here are the movies I think you should do! Galactus, Storm and Scott Summers team-up movie! Blah blah blah! She just endured me going in super-deep. And she also gave me a lot of confidence that I would have the creative latitude to not just basically be a puppet on a string.”

This sounds like this was after the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox, as she may have assumed they were rushing into using those former Fox characters. Interestingly enough, Jon Watts did end up land the directing gig for Fantastic Four and was announced for it back in December.

The Marvels (working title Goat Rodeo) as we’ve previously confirmed will mainly shoot at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England with a production team that has cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Widows, Judas & The Black Messiah) and production designer Cara Brower (Candyman).

The cast consists of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Zawe Ashton is reportedly playing the film’s villain.

There is an expectation that cast members of the Secret Invasion event series will also cross-pollinate with the sequel.

Local South Korean outlets reported on Parasite actor Park Seo-Joon joining the film, but have yet to be supported by Hollywood trades or Marvel/Disney.

The Marvels will hit theaters on November 11, 2022.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Posted on in Film News, News

UPDATE: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Confirmed To Have Been Shot By ‘Avatar’ Cinematographer Mauro Fiore

Earlier this week, Sony Pictures finally released the first teaser trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home and ended up landing an impressive 355+ million views, dwarfing Avengers: Endgame.

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 movie is still set to be released on December 17, but it’s unclear, officially, who shot the superhero sequel. However, a potential listing on IMDB might point towards the cinematographer of James Cameron’s Avatar and Fox’s Dark Phoenix, Mauro Fiore.

The former pic landed Fiore an Oscar for Best Cinematography in 2009 with other film credits such as Infinite, The Island and Training Day.

UPDATE: Gaffer Josh Davis mentioned in an interview with to Lite Gear back in February that he’d be working with Fiore on the Spider-Man sequel. Looks like he’s been confirmed.

“I’m currently working on the third installment of Spider-Man with actor Tom Holland, DP Mauro Fiore, and Director Jon Watts. It’s my largest job as a gaffer thus far, and wow– what a ride! Be careful what you ask for. Be thankful for the people that help you get there. Be grateful for the ones that help you get it done.”

We should be clear that we haven’t been able to confirm this listing is legit, but will likely be able to know either way when the marketing really kicks in.

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.

If you feel like it, check out the Spider-Man: No Way Home for the 100th time.

SOURCE: IMDB

Posted on in Film News, News

Hugh Jackman Reiterates He’s Still Done Playing Wolverine Despite The Multiverse: “It’s In My Past, Man”

Hugh Jackman might be one of the longest running comic book actors in a single role spending nearly twenty years consistently playing X-Men’s most popular character, Wolverine, from 1999 to 2017.

There seemed to be some confusion when Marvel Studios decided to keep Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool (Deadpool 3 in active development and “might” begin shooting in 2022) and not doing the same for the Singerverse, the impression was that Kevin Feige would be rebooting those characters alongside Fantastic Four.

Jackman, even before the release of Logan (featuring the death of his character) announced he would be hanging up his claws and starting championing actors like Tom Hardy (would later take Venom role at Sony Pictures). However, with The Multiverse becoming a key thing in Phase Four, fans and unverified rumors have been pointing towards Hugh returning.

While doing the first rounds of interviews to promote his upcoming sci-fi thriller Reminiscence, he’s now had to reaffirm he’s ready to give new actors the character to play with.

First off, during a chat on Jake’s Takes (via Comic Book), the Aussie actor said he still hasn’t changed his mind.

“I’m hearing about this from you [Hamilton], and there’s nothing in my inbox from Kevin Feige means it’s probably, no matter what idea I came up with, not on the table. Let’s just be clear that, but now, I realized, before we shot Logan, I was like, we got the idea. We knew what it was going to be-ish, right? And I thought this is it. And that really helped me, it really helped knowing I was going into my last season, that it was my last season that I made the most of it. And it’s still a character I hold close to my heart. But I know it’s done. Tell that to whoever you want to. Please tell it to Ryan [Reynolds]. Because he’s like, doesn’t believe anything’s I’m joking, please.”

That’s not the only interview where it was brought-up, as Jackman essentially said the same thing to Screen Rant.

“It’s in my past, man. Don’t tell anyone, alright? Let me just say one more thing. Because as I said that, there’s not a day goes by where I’m not unbelievably grateful for having been part of that MCU Universe. Particularly to be there at the beginning of it, and to watch it. To see Kevin Feige going from being an assistant to a producer and a mate of mine, to where he is today. And that was a role of a lifetime. So, I don’t ever want people to feel that when I say I’m done, it’s a glib thing. It was one of the great chapters of my life.”

I’m guessing Hugh Jackman is going to have a long press tour spending way too much time telling interviewers that he’s still done with the Wolverine role after making the announcement ages ago.

The problem is that fans and outlets rarely take actors at their word, so, you’ll see plenty of folks who might be disappointment with the comments to just assume they’re lying and echo that on social media. Sadly, we’re likely going see fans believe he’ll return (without solid confirmations) until Marvel Studios finally announces the new actor.

SOURCE: JAKE’S TAKES & SCREEN RANT

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Deadpool 3’: Ryan Reynolds Says Sequel Has “70%” Chance Of Shooting In 2022; Calls The Molyneux Sisters “So Smart”

Ryan Reynolds has people with Deadpool 3 on the brain as he’s been using the character to help promote his new movie Free Guy. He’s also been giving brief thoughts and updates on the project, as technically, he could be the first high-profile mutant to appear in the MCU (excluding Scarlet Witch).

When asked by Collider to give a percentage of the chance that Deadpool 3 begins shooting next year, the actor replied “70%” after realizing it was August.

It’s not a huge update by any means, but he did give some insight with the working relationship between himself and screenwriters. Saying that Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin (Bob’s Burgers) are “so smart” and he’s having a lot of “fun” working with them.

Reynolds also gives the impression they’re not finished the script calling it a daily process concerning the writing, this could explain why a director hasn’t been announced.

However, with a shoot in 2022 this likely means it could end up landing a release date in 2023 or 2024.

There is an expectation that Blade could also be ready to begin shooting soon too, but it’s unknown if Fantastic Four or X-Men reboots will be anywhere ready for production in 2022. We’ll have to wait for Marvel Studios to start announcing new release dates and projects before we get a clear picture of the entire lineup for 2023-2025.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Deadpool 3’: Ryan Reynolds Down To First Appear In Another MCU Flim As Long As Disney Is Open To “Wildly Divergent” Uses Of Wade Wilson

We’re still curious why Marvel Studios hasn’t made a grand announcement about Deadpool 3, as Disney acquired the franchise along with the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer when the Fox rights reverted to Marvel. 

Actor and producer Ryan Reynolds is promoting his latest film Free Guy (using Deadpool in the marketing campaign) and appeared on Comic Book’s podcast Phase Zero. Reynolds was asked if he prefers that Wade Wilson be first introduced to the MCU in Deadpool 3 or another unnamed project (Ryan has been extremely keen on the idea of interacting with mainstream MCU characters). 

“I think both are pretty warranted. I think you’re always gonna zig when everybody’s expecting you to zag when it comes to that character. As long as Disney’s open to doing some pretty wildly divergent or having some wildly divergent uses of Deadpool then I dig it, man. I think it’s all great,” Reynolds said on the Phase Zero podcast. 

It was announced in December that Jon Watt’s (Spider-Man: No Way Home) would direct their Fantastic Four reboot, but we’re still in the dark about mutant projects and if Deadpool 3 will release in 2023-2024 (Kevin had indicted that X-Men won’t be ready until 2025). 

Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin (Bob’s Burgers) were previously announced as the film’s screenwriters, but we’re still waiting on a director announcement or an official release date to give us the indication of when it’ll begin shooting. Disney and Marvel have reiterated multiple times that they plan to keep the project R-rated and likely that it could end up distributed by 20th Century Studios (known for handling mature releases).

Disney obviously felt comfortable enough with Deadpool interacting with Thor: Ragnarok/Thor: Love & Thunder character Korg, played by Free Guy co-star Taika Waititi.

Technically, the reaction video could be considered the character’s first MCU appearance.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

Posted on in News

Multiple Marvel Studios LLCs Confirmed For Unannounced Projects Likely To Be Revealed Soon

It looks like Marvel Studios is about to make another big announcement about new film and television projects in the very near future.

The Ronin can now confirm the following LLCs are specifically for Marvel Studios projects, some of these were previously mentioned by us, but we can now confirm they are indeed for Marvel.

  • BATTLE ANYONE PRODUCTIONS
  • ACID POP PRODUCTIONS 
  • NATURAL HISTORY PRODUCTIONS
  • SPEYSIDE PRODUCTIONS 

The identity of the projects is unknown, but you’d have to imagine that things like Captain American 4, X-Men, Blade, Jon Watt’s Fantastic Four reboot, and Deadpool 3 could be candidates. However, at least some of these could be for Disney+ shows.

UPDATE: We have some follow-up information from a source that Natural History Productions is a Disney+ project that is aiming to begin shooting in February 2022 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s unclear what it could be but given it’s a television series we could speculate it might be something like a Ka-Zar or Savage Land (connected to the X-Men franchise) project makes sense given the obscurity of the characters (Disney+ shows seem to be introducing lesser known characters) and the cosmic genetic tinkering going on similar to things like Eternals, X-Men, and Inhumans. At one point, Marvel Studios was developing a feature film based on Ka-Zar but pumped the breaks for various reasons.

Eternals shot a scene at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which is worth mentioning too.

Battle Anyone certainly gives us Secret Wars vibes given that Battleworld is a thing in the comics. Also, Kang The Conqueror and the Multiverse being established for Phase 4 it’s possible that The Russo Brothers will have a reason to come back and make Secret Wars sooner rather than later. Season 1 of Loki also mentioned a Multiverse War, and could be pushed forward with something like Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, and Season 2 of Loki.

We previously revealed that Ryan Coogler’s untitled Wakanda series was moving forward because Marvel had created an official LLC for the project with Maglev Train Productions.

There is also a new LLC called Ionic Productions, but we can’t confirm if this is Marvel-related. Stay tuned for updates! Other stuff that needs further confirmation include On Your Mark Productions and Bad Egg Productions.

Posted on in Film News

Deadpool & Korg React To The ‘Free Guy’ Trailer; Could We Get An MCU Team-Up In ‘Deadpool 3’?

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.

Posted on in Film News

‘Loki’ Stunt Coordinator & ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Actress Monique Ganderton Down To Work On Marvel’s ‘X-Men’ Reboot

Monique Garderton is the stunt coordinator and second unit director of Marvel’s popular Loki series with multiple other MCU credits such Avengers: Endgame (as stunt coordinator), Avengers: Infinity War (played on-set Proxima Midnight), Captain Marvel, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Iron Man 3, and Guardians of The Galaxy (doubled for Karen Gillan’s Nebula). Currently, she is working on Marvel’s She-Hulk series led by Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, which is still shooting in Atlanta under the working title of Clover.

The stunt coordinator recently took fan questions (to celebrate the recent episode of Loki) from followers on Instagram stories and was asked about her desire to work on Marvel’s reboot of the X-Men franchise and said she’d love to. She has experience with the last era of X-Men, playing Death in the opening sequence of X-Men: Apocalypse alongside doing stunt work on X-Men: The Last Stand (doubling for Rebecca Romijn/Mystique) and The Wolverine. Garderton’s shared behind the scenes images of her work on previous X-Men films with her response.

Given how many female characters are connected to the X-Men franchise having her leading/overseeing the reboot’s stunt work and potentially direct second unit action sequences feels like something that is very likely going to happen, if she continues to work on Marvel projects for the foreseeable future.

While there is a script in development on Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige haven’t indicated officially that the main X-Men movies are coming anytime before 2025. There are plenty of unverified rumors about plans for the mutants, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for the studio to give us some real official updates.

Wade Wilson (possibly alongside other Deadpool character) is carrying over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as there has been strong indication from Kevin Feige they’ll be doing a hard-reboot with the main X-Men team like they’re doing with Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four.

Interestingly enough, I previously suggested that Marvel should consider Loki director Kate Herron for X-Men.

SOURCE: MONIQUE GANDERTON

Posted on in Features

Marvel Studios Needs To Hire The Creative Team Behind FX’s ‘Mr. Inbetween’ For A ‘Wolverine’ Series

Earlier in the week, I mentioned a desire to see Loki series director Kate Herron tackle Marvel’s X-Men reboot. Keeping with the mutant topic, I’ve been watching the Aussie hitman series Mr. Inbetween from FX (now it’s in it’s third season) lately and I can’t help to get huge Wolverine vibes from this show. I’m come to the conclusion that the show’s creator/writer Scott Ryan (also stars as Ray) and director Nash Edgerton (brother of actor Joel Edgerton) could be the perfect duo to bring a solo Wolverine series to life for Marvel Studios.

The show is dark, emotional, funny and action-packed something that I believe would be extremely attractive to Marvel. Nash Edgerton, like the John Wick fellas Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, is a director with a background as a stuntman.

If you’re unfamiliar with the show here’s a rundown and trailer from Mr. Inbetween.

Mr. Inbetween stars Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, a hitman for hire who makes a life out of balancing his criminal activities with his obligations to friends and family. He tries to be a father to Brittany (Chika Yasumura), his daughter with his ex-wife, a loving boyfriend to Ally (Brook Satchwell), and a good caretaker to his sick brother Bruce (Nicholas Cassim). Ray also covers for his friend Gary (Justin Rosniak) when needed, and follows his boss Freddy’s (Damon Herriman) orders without question.

Marvel hasn’t officially announced any upcoming plans for any Wolverine projects despite online rumors of a Wolverine show potentially being in the works. Officially, they are indeed moving forward Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3 with writers working on the script and lacking any real updates are expected to reboot the X-Men movies sometime in the future.

Giving Wolverine his own series could be a way to properly tackle his military service during World War II that has been teased a couple of times, a real version of the Weapon X Program, Logan’s connections to Department H/Alpha Flight, his time in Japan/Madripoor, and potentially what he was up to during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. It could also help give other characters on the X-Men roster to take more leading roles in the MCU reboot.

We don’t have any idea who’ll ultimately take the Wolverine role from Hugh Jackman, but I’m leaning towards former Batman contender Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Peaky Blinders, 28 Days Later, Dunkirk, A Quiet Place Part II). The Irish actor has rubbed shoulders with plenty of MCU stars co-starring with Brie Larson in Free Fire, Chris Evans in the sci-fi thriller Sunshine alongside appearing with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in Ron Howard’s In The Heart of The Sea.

He’s a little bit older, however, not too much older than Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac (42) or Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch (44). While Cillian is slightly younger than Marvel’s new Blade actor Mahershala Ali (47).

Murphy is one of the few cast members from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine that hasn’t landed an MCU role as Chris Evans became Captain America, Benedict Wong plays Doctor Strange pal Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada briefly appeared as sword wielding Yaukza boss killed by Clint Barton in Avengers: Endgame, and Michelle Yeoh will be seen in Shang-Chi this September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8BSlqHAhuY

If they wanted to hire a younger actor, Aussie lad Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers, Stranger Things, Baz Lurman’s Elvis Biopic) wouldn’t be a horrible choice and he happens to have family connection to Canada. His Power Rangers co-star Naomi Scott took the Princess Jasmine role in Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie with Stranger Things leads playing Marvel characters as David Harbour is The Red Guardian in Black Widow and Charlie Heaton played Cannonball in The New Mutants.

I can’t help but be reminded that Legion and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawely was developing a Doctor Doom film for 20th Century Fox before the merger, who knows if that will ever see the light of day. However, Hawley has since pivoted to an Earthbound series set within the Alien universe for FX On Hulu that has Ridley Scott (Raised By Wolves, Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner, Alien: Covenant) attached to produce. I wouldn’t be shocked if we eventually saw Marvel Studios also look at the creatives at FX and Hulu to develop shows for them like Scott Ryan and Nash Edgerton.

Hiring a couple of Aussies could help the idea of shooting a would-be Wolverine series at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Fox Studios also happens to be where Mr. Inbetween is shot.

It’s the same studio facility used for The Matrix, Star Wars: Attack of The Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith, Superman Returns, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Mad Max: Fury Road, Alien: Covenant, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Thor: Love & Thunder, and George Miller’s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa.

Anyways, we’ll keep our fingers crossed Marvel will consider them for a hypothetical Wolverine series.