Fun Marvel Shared Universe

[Doctor Omega]

Fox Sets Dates For Six Mystery Marvel Films







Fox has three Marvel-inspired films slated for next year – “X-Men: The New Mutants” on April 13th, “Deadpool 2” on June 1st and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” on November 2nd.

They’ve now set aside dates for the following years with June 7th & November 22nd in 2019; March 13th, June 26th & October 2nd in 2020; and March 5th 2021 all set for projects. A third “Deadpool” and an “X-Force” film seem likely to fill two of those slots.

The studio has also set a March 1st 2019 release date for “Logan” director James Mangold’s corrupt NYPD cop thriller “The Force” based on the novel by Don Winslow. Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Shane Salerno are slated to produce the project with David Mamet adapting the script.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel Studios Has An Actual Timeline Scroll





When J. Michael Straczynski created his heavily serialised five-season sci-fi series “Babylon 5,” he famously started out by crafting a timeline for his onscreen world from the birth to the death of the the universe. It turns out Marvel Studios not only adopted the idea for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but took it a step further.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” director Jon Watts spoke with EW this week and revealed that the company has crafted an “actual scroll” of events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which creators can use for reference. Watts says he got a look at it at the time he signed on to helm the film and it was longer than a conference room table:

“There’s an actual scroll that they unrolled for me. One of my producers, Eric Carroll, it was his first job at Marvel to work on a timeline and see where things line up and see where things didn’t quite line up. Like, ‘Oh, that’s when Captain America is born.’

It’s very long. It’s the most amazing thing because it starts, honestly, at the beginning of time – I don’t remember specifically, but I think it has something to do with Thor. It is truly an amazing document.”

The quotes come as both “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Black Panther” are in post-production, “Avengers: Infinity War” is wrapping up filming, a fourth “Avengers” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” are gearing up to begin filming imminently, and development is underway on “Captain Marvel,” “Spider-Man Homecoming 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Downey Jr. On Eventually Departing Iron Man





Robert Downey Jr. once again reprises his role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” opening this week, a film that goes beyond his original Marvel Studios contract.

The 52-year-old actor has suggested before that he’s ready to retire from the role some time in the near future, and speaking with News.Com.Au this week he says he is quite wary of outstaying his welcome in the role:

“It’s this cyclical thing. I could have said when the first Avengers came out: ‘It’s never going to get any better than that. Everybody stop.’ But to me it’s always about people and opportunities, like the (Avengers directors Anthony and Joe) Russos, who I adore.

Everyone says to me it’s like a glove that fits so well. I have to start over every time but I am starting over with a pretty solid base. I just never want to blow it for the last six or seven (MCU movies) I have done by dropping the ball because I decided to go do it one more time. I just want to hang up my jersey before it’s embarrassing.”

Downey Jr. also spoke about how he was lured into doing ‘Homecoming’ and says it was director Jon Watts’ work on 2015’s “Cop Car” that got him interested. However, once they got to work on the film he really clicked with how this was akin to his first outing in the MCU:

“I felt like we were literally back in the writer’s room on the first Iron Man movie. So there was a real sense of a homecoming toward this, not experimental, because there is so much more data now and the process is so much more streamlined, but I didn’t feel like I was being asked to just fit in somewhere. They wanted us to bring our own little thing.”

Marvel is currently prepping a “Spider-Man: Homecoming” sequel which its confirmed will not feature Iron Man, though another major MCU character is expected to serve in a similar sized-role in the follow-up. That film is due out mid-2019.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Spider-Man” Has Five-Film MCU Story Arc





Speaking with The Toronto Sun, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige indicates that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is getting a five film arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” sequel set to play a crucial part:

“We are looking at a five-movie storyline — Civil War, Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, untitled Avengers, Homecoming 2 — or whatever we end up calling it — as an amazing five-story journey for Peter Parker.

In the way that the events of Civil War directly inform the opening of Homecoming and his state of mind as he goes back to high school, so too will the events of the next two Avengers movies as he continues with high school.

This original 22-movie arc ends with the untitled Avengers in May of 2019 and then two months later it will be Peter and Spider-Man that usher us into the aftermath and how things proceed from there.”

Along with serving as the Phase 4 opening film, it sounds like it will also be used as Peter’s graduation into adulthood and cementing his addition into the world of The Avengers. Holland himself seemingly confirms this in an interview with Collider, saying:

“I will be on Spider-Man 2 about mid-July next year. I think the most interesting thing about a young man’s life is his journey from being a boy to a man, and imagine seeing that journey while having superpowers. That’s something I know I’m definitely excited to explore. I know Kevin [Feige] and the rest of the team are very excited to explore.”

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is now in cinemas.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Janssen: Original “X-Men” Cast Are ‘Done’






Original “X-Men” film cast member Famke Janssen says she believes that there are no future plans for her to return to the franchise following her regular appearance as Jean Grey in the first three films and a brief appearance in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”.

Barring unexpected future cameos, “Logan” appears to have been the final performances of members of the old “X-Men” cast in a new “X-Men” film with everything now either the ‘First Class’ generation or moving towards even younger characters.

Janssen reflected on her experience at a panel at Denver Comic-Con over the weekend and said (via ComicBook.com):

“That was so amazing. I never knew – I don’t think any of us had any understanding of how popular our first movie was going to be and that it was gonna live on for 15 plus years. And then I certainly didn’t realize – I mean I knew Jean Grey could turn into Dark Phoenix, obviously, and that Phoenix rises from the ashes, but the fact that as Jean Grey or the Phoenix they’ve killed me, I’ve come back, I’m like a cockroach. They can’t get rid of me.

It’s the gift that keeps on, kept on giving I think we’re done, but it was really great while it lasted and it lasted for a long time. It’s been nothing but a pleasure working not just as Jean Grey, which was such an honor because comics were so fantastic already, but then the entire cast who I got to play with, all my fellow actors, thespians who are so talented. It was just a wonderful experience. I’m very grateful.”

Later in the panel she clarified that she would be open to reprising her role if plans were made, but none have been. Sophie Turner took over the role of Jean Grey in “X-Men: Apocalypse” and is set to reprise it in the soon to film “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”.

That film, which opens November next year, will also sport Michael Fassbender’s Magneto sporting a new costume “akin to cult leaders according to The Nerdist which has led to rumors of the Acolytes storyline being incorporated.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

I would absolutely love for all of the properties to be brought back under Marvel's watch, but alas, money is going to keep that from happening. As long as Fox and Sony keep making money on their movies, they'll keep a hold of what they have. It would be especially nice to see Fox understand that they keep messing FF up, and should give up.

The only thing is, I don't know how Deadpool would do under a Disney-owned company. It's a little too grown-up for them.

 

[Gavin]

I would absolutely love for all of the properties to be brought back under Marvel's watch, but alas, money is going to keep that from happening. As long as Fox and Sony keep making money on their movies, they'll keep a hold of what they have. It would be especially nice to see Fox understand that they keep messing FF up, and should give up.

The only thing is, I don't know how Deadpool would do under a Disney-owned company. It's a little too grown-up for them.

I'd absolutely love Fantastic Four to be part of the MCU, but I'm not so keen on the X-Men being part of the same universe. The MCU is already very crowded and to add the X-Men to that would, in my opinion, make it overloaded. At the very least, if the rights were to revert to Marvel, I'd prefer to see the X-Men and Avengers remain in separate universes.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Ruffalo On Chances Of A Stand-Alone “Hulk”






Mark Ruffalo has succeeded where Eric Bana and Ed Norton failed in making Marvel Comics character Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk into a well-formed screen character.

In fact, Ruffalo has earned such a fanbase in the role since the first “Avengers” there’s been clamouring for him to get his own standalone film. However, speaking at Disney’s D23 Expo on Saturday, he tells Variety it won’t happen:

“I want to just make one thing perfectly clear today: A standalone ‘Hulk’ movie will never happen. Universal has the rights, and for some reason, they don’t know how to play well with Marvel. And, they don’t want to make money.”

It effectively sounds like Marvel & Universal couldn’t reach an agreement in the way Sony’s partnership with Marvel has succeeded. As a result, Hulk will be sticking to “Avengers” and other Marvel heroes films such as this year’s “Thor: Ragnarok”.

 

[Gavin]

“I want to just make one thing perfectly clear today: A standalone ‘Hulk’ movie will never happen. Universal has the rights, and for some reason, they don’t know how to play well with Marvel. And, they don’t want to make money.”

That's a bit disappointing, but at least we seem to be getting a reasonable amount of Hulk in other movies and hopefully this will continue.

 

[Doctor Omega]

In addition to a new Fantastic Four film, Fox are also now planning a solo DOCTOR DOOM movie.....

Whether this is just so that they can hold on to the rights to the character, rather than let them return to Marvel is uncertain at present.....


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/doctor-doom-movie-in-development.3029/

 

[Doctor Omega]

Holland Responds To Dunst Spider-Man Diss





For three films, actress Kirsten Dunst was known as playing the love interest of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in Sam Raimi’s trilogy of “Spider-Man” films.

Dunst remains a fan of those films, but has little care or interesting in the two “The Amazing Spider-Man” films that followed, and this year’s “Spider-Man Homecoming”. She even went as far as saying those films were simply “milking that cow for money.”

The current Spider-Man, actor Tom Holland, has now responded to that with a civilised and eloquent answer. He told Movie’n’co UK this week:

“I read it and I saw it. You know, she’s entitled to her own opinion and I’m not one to judge at all. I definitely am not doing this movie for the money. I mean, it’s a job that I think anyone would do regardless of what you were getting paid, you know? All I know is I’ve had the greatest time on this movie and I’ve absolutely loved it and, you know if she doesn’t want to go and see it, I don’t really care. But yeah, I don’t dislike her in any way for what she said and she’s entitled to her own opinion, so it’s all cool.”

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” has performed very well, pulling in more than $630 million worldwide and scoring the second best reviews of the franchise. It remains in cinemas and Holland will remain in the character for the foreseeable future including character appearances in no less than three films over the next two years.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Webb Talks Scrapped “Amazing Spider-Man 3”





Sony’s two “The Amazing Spider-Man” films are now a distant memory in the wake of the success of the Marvel Studios-approved “Spider-Man: Homecoming”.

Even so, the studio does seem to be sifting through the remnants of the plans they had for the franchise before ‘Homecoming’ came along and are using elements of it to build out spin-offs including the “Venom” and “Silver and Black” films.

Marc Webb, the director of the two Andrew Garfield-led Spider-Man films, spoke with Den of Geek this week and touched upon the plans that were in place had the ‘Amazing’ series continued:

“They were going to make a ‘Sinister Six‘ movie before we did the third [Spider-Man movie]. Chris Cooper was going to come back and play the Goblin. We were going to freeze his head, and then he was going to be brought back to life… [Norman Osborn] was going to be the main villain. He was going to come out and lead the Sinister Six. We had talked about Vulture a little bit too, actually.

And then there was that character called The Gentleman. We had some notions about how to do it, but I think maybe we were thinking too far ahead when we started building in those things. But it was a fun exercise. I look back very fondly on those days.”

The Gentleman, aka. Gustav Fiers, was seen only in shadow in the first two films – appearing in Curt Connors’ cell in the post-credits scene of the first film and visiting Harry Osborn in the second.

The comments come as That Hashtag Show has revealed some new rumors about the “Silver & Black” film which would feature the Spider-Man characters of Silver Sable and Black Cat.

The site claims the storyline sees Black Cat stealing something from Mendel Stromm/Gaunt, an ‘enhancement’ that ties in with bio-experiments he’s been conducting. Silver Sable, the main character, is a bounty hunter who sets out to find Black Cat and in doing so find Gaunt. Together they take on him and his cronies Scorpion and Tarantula.

Gina Prince-Bythewood is attached to direct the film which hasn’t set a release date as yet.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Don’t Expect A “Marvel’s Hawkeye” TV Series






For a while, there have been rumors that Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye/Clint Barton character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films would be getting his own event series.

The talk seemed to be just that with nothing concrete, especially in the wake of the Marvel Studios and Marvel Television split which makes crossovers between the Marvel films and TV shows seemingly near impossible.

Speaking about the possibility during “Wind River” promotion this week, Renner tells We Got This Covered it isn’t happening – though he remains hopeful it could:

“It’s not a decision I get to make. It’s not an option that has been on the table ever. But any way I get to explore the Clint Barton/Hawkeye character is always interesting to me.”

The comments come as another Marvel series, the John Ridley-produced untitled project for ABC, is in question as the network’s president revealed at the TCA’s this week she’s unsure of the show’s status.

Renner will be reprising the role in the fourth “Avengers” film and begins shooting on that in a week. His “Avengers” co-star Elizabeth Olsen recently revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she and her co-stars haven’t received full scripts:

“This time, they actually decided to not give us scripts. They gave me my pages and then they explained other things that are happening. I’ll be so shocked and surprised. I’ll be like ‘Oh I see, that’s what was happening to the world at that time.”

For now, Hawkeye will be confined to the next two “Avengers” movies which open May 2018 & 2019 respectively.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Fantastic Four” Second Reboot Goes Kiddie?





Not that long ago came a rumor that 20th Century Fox’s next attempt at adapting Marvel Comics’ “Fantastic Four” into a workable film franchise would take on a more kid-centric approach.

Today, Bleeding Cool claims to have more information on that rumor. The site reports that the new film will be based on Mark Millar and Curtis Tieg’s “Kindergarten Heroes” comic series.

That 2012 comic never went to print and follows a team of toddler superheroes. Fox optioned the film rights to the property a few years back and set Carter Blanchard to pen a script. Now the site claims the studio is reworking that scripti into a “Fantastic Four” film.

The earlier rumor suggested that the children of Reed and Sue Richards, Franklin and Valeria, would serve as the lead characters. If that’s still the case is unclear, but Seth Grahame-Smith is reportedly the writer of the most recent draft.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

Wow. That...sucks.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Lee Thinks Marvel Will Get “X-Men” & F4 Back





While Marvel Studios has regained rights to many of their key properties, or has come to a deal with others that own them such as Sony Pictures, there are two notable holdouts they don’t have – “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four”.

20th Century Fox currently has the rights to both franchises, and with the success of “Logan” this year and no less than three “X-Men” universe-set films on the way in 2018 (along with next month’s TV show “The Gifted), there’s no signs of Fox giving up that franchise anytime soon.

The fate of “Fantastic Four” remains more uncertain. The studio has to make another one in the next few years to hold onto the property, but following the lackluster reception of the most recent reboot – we’ll see if they care too.

Now the man who created many of Marvel’s franchises, Stan Lee, popped up at Wizard World Nashville on the weekend and revealed that he believes Marvel is currently working on regaining the rights to both franchises:

“Sooner or later, they’re going to get the rights back to all our characters. They’re working on it, and they’re still making X-Men movies and stuff. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get more Marvel superheroes than you’ll have time to look at in the next few years.”

Lee has no direct involvement in Marvel’s day to day operations, but he is a beloved figurehead for the company and recently revealed he’s already shot his cameos for five more Marvel films on the way in coming months.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Vaughn On His Scrapped Young Wolverine Film





“Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn is still doing press rounds for that franchise’s sequel and has spoken about the time he was slated to tackle another sequel – a follow-up to his revitalisation of the “X-Men” franchise with 2011’s “X-Men: First Class”.

Ultimately the first “Kingsman” came calling and Bryan Singer took back the “X-Men” franchise with ‘Days of Future Past’ the immediate follow-up. Speaking with Uproxxthis week, Vaughn revealed that if he had stayed on, ‘Days’ wouldn’t have been the sequel:

“I didn’t want to do Days of Future Past next. I felt that one should be in a trilogy and Days of Future Past should be the finale of that story.

I would have done a film in-between where you meet the young Wolverine and a new character, and then in Days of Future Past became the young Wolverine and the old Wolverine and just really blow it out.

So that’s what I would have done, but the studio didn’t agree with me on that. And, to be frank, as I said, it’s not my sandbox so I couldn’t do anything about it.”

The comments come in the wake of 20th Century Fox Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider being asked at the Emmys on the weekend if a reboot of “Wolverine” is possible to which she responded: “Anything’s possible.”

Vaughn’s “Kingsman” star Taron Egerton, who also co-starred with Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman in “Eddie the Eagle,” has been a name commonly rumored to be a good fit for the reboot.

In a separate interview with Cinema Blend, Vaughn also revealed he: “wouldn’t mind maybe making a Fantastic Four film to apologise to everyone out there that maybe it didn’t go very well for them.”

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel
Just hours before it began, a planned New York Comic Con event unveiling the partnership between Marvel and defense technology manufacturer Northrop Grumman was scrapped this weekend. The partnership was reportedly intended as a promotional tool for STEM in schools.

The partnership was originally announced on Twitter Friday afternoon in a tweet, but the backlash that met that first tease has been so immediate and strong that it quickly led to the panel’s cancellation. In fact, the entire partnership with Northrop Grumman has reportedly been cancelled. [Source: Heat Vision

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Thor: Ragnarok” Kicks Off A Hulk Trilogy Arc





It’s still not certain if Mark Ruffalo will one day get to star in his own Hulk movie, but “The Avengers” actor tells Cinema Blend this week that his big green hero from the Marvel Studios films is getting plenty of screentime in the near future.

Ruffalo has revealed that with “Thor: Ragnarok” in a few weeks, his character will get plenty to do. Additionally it also serves as the first of three films (the other two being both new “Avengers” films) in which Hulk gets a major arc which could effectively setup his own solo film:

“So basically, Kevin [Feige] pulled me aside before this, and said, ‘If you were gonna do a… if we were going to do a standalone Hulk movie, what would it be?’ And I said, ‘I think it should be this, this, this, and this and this, and ends up like this.’ And he’s like, ‘I love that. Why don’t we do that in the next three movies, starting with Thor 3 and then we go into Avengers 3 and 4.’ And I was like, ‘That sounds great!’ And so we are at the beginning of this arc.”

Ruffalo has previously been vocal about his desire to do a solo movie featuring the Hulk in the MCU, however Universal still owns the rights to the solo movies. Ruffalo does offer a hint at where the character will go with this story arc:

“Hulk speaking is the start of separating of these two individuals, these identities in this split-identity person, and where that’s going to end up going. So it was really interesting to me. He’s like a baby! He’s like a five year old or six year old. So he has the same syntax, he has the same world view, and so it was fun. It’s like Chris [Hemsworth] – we all got to reinvent our characters in this.”

 

[Doctor Omega]

Feige & Thompson Tease Female Marvel Film





Tessa Thompson’s performance as Valkyrie in Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok” is getting the strongest notices in early reaction to the film, and the actress has revealed that she used that power recently to help push for something that Marvel is now considering – an all-female superhero team-up film.

Speaking at the press conference for “Thor: Ragnarok” recently (via Collider), Thompson said: “Recently I marched up with a couple of other women who work in Marvel and [asked Kevin] ‘How about a movie with some female superheroes? Like all of them.'”

Marvel’s Kevin Feige continued the story, saying: “It was a pretty amazing moment to be somewhere and have your shoulder be taped and turn around find every female hero we have is standing there going, ‘How about it?’ And I said ‘yes.'”

Thompson then pointed out that the comics set a precedent for the idea with the ‘Lady Liberators,’ a team of female Avengers first assembled in 1970 in a one-off issue. The team consisted of Valkyrie, Wasp, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Medusa.

Of course there’s no guarantee at all that such a project could go forward, and no-one is letting slip what will happen after the fourth “Avengers” which is expected to change the MCU drastically.