Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are proud to announce that after a full worldwide casting search, Tom Holland will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man film, in theaters in IMAX and 3D on July 28, 2017. The film will be directed by Jon Watts, director of “Cop Car,” the upcoming thriller that made its debut earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Marvel and Sony Pictures, and producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal conducted an extensive search for both the actor and the director. The studios and producers were impressed by Holland’s performances in “The Impossible,” “Wolf Hall,” and the upcoming “In the Heart of the Sea,” and by a series of complex screen tests. Following Marvel’s tradition of working with the brightest next wave of directors, Watts also went through multiple meetings with Feige, Pascal, and the studio, before winning the job.
Commenting on the announcement, Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said, “It’s a big day here at Sony. Kevin, Amy and their teams have done an incredible job. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident Spider-Man will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start.”
Feige commented, “As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life. We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work inspiring.”
Pascal added, “Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world. With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
Sony Pictures will finance and release worldwide the next installment of the $4 billion Spider-Man franchise on July 28, 2017, in a film co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the Web-Slinger.
Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing, including licensing the Spider-Man universe to Sony Pictures.
Ant-Man will be in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.
San Diego Comic-Con just got a bit duller. Marvel Studios is not staging a major Hall H presentation next month for its Marvel upcoming feature films, Deadline has learned. That cedes the stage for Warner Bros-based DC, which will be holding a significant presentation to introduce the Zack Snyder-directed Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad, both of which reach theaters next year, followed by the Gal Gadot starrer Wonder Woman and Justice League, Part One, which arrive in 2017. It is a real opportunity for Warner Bros to impress the fanboys, and it seems likely that Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and others will be front and center to feel that superhero love.
With so many hit franchises in working order, Marvel’s Kevin Feige just doesn’t have anything new to show this year. That happened in 2011, the last time Marvel skipped the Con. Too bad, because Marvel panels rarely disappoint, going back to 2009, when Robert Downey Jr took the stage and gave a whole Tony Stark performance for Iron Man 2. The following year was crazier, with the full cast of The Avengers being introduced. In 2012, the Guardians Of The Galaxy cast was announced, the Iron Man 3 trailer revealed, and Edgar Wright showed groundbreaking footage of Ant-Man, which at the time he was directing until he fell out with Feige over creative differences.
In 2013, Tom Hiddleston ruled the stage in a performance as bad guy Loki. He pretended to take over Comic-Con and exhorted the crowd to obediently chant his name (apparently easily conquered, they did). He got around to introducing Thor 2 footage, and then surprise Guardians footage was revealed, which gave the first indication this wasn’t some Feige folly and there was a worthy movie in there. Last year was comparatively low-key, with Feige showing Ant-Man footage but disappointing the crowd that expected news on Doctor Strange. Talks had hit the rocks with Joaquin Phoenix, and it took awhile for Benedict Cumberbatch to surface.
Next year should be something as it will be the first time that Feige will have reason to introduce Spider-Man, after the wall crawler shows up in Captain America: Civil War. By then, the Russo brothers likely will be moving along with their new installment of The Avengers.
Ant-Man will be in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be in theaters on March 25th, 2016; Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman – June 23rd, 2017; Justice League – November 17th, 2017; The Flash – March 23rd, 2018; Aquaman – July 27th, 2018; Shazam – April 5th, 2019; Justice League 2 – June 14th, 2019; Cyborg – April 3rd, 2020; Green Lantern – June 19th, 2020.
Jon Benthal of The Wolf of Wall Street, Fury, and The Walking Dead fame has been cast for Marvel’s Daredevil season 2, coming 2016!
He will be playing none other than Frank Castle, yeah, The fricking Punisher! He is a vigilante who aims to clean up New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results!
“Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences,” said Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television. “Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same.”
Bernthal will also appear in the upcoming action thriller “The Accountant.”
“Marvel’s Daredevil” is Executive Produced by Doug Petrie (“American Horror Story,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), Marco Ramirez (“Marvel’s Daredevil,” “DaVinci’s Demons”) and Drew Goddard (“Cabin in the Woods,” “Lost”), along with Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.”)
“Marvel’s Daredevil” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios. Season one of “Marvel’s Daredevil” is now streaming on Netflix.
Extra Tidbit: The scary part is this look at the date!
Another tidbit is Netflix has revealed a new logo for Marvel’s Daredevil season 2.
The new Daredevil logo is riddled with bullet holes, and came attached to the twitter message, “Frank Castle is coming to Hell’s Kitchen. Those who stand in his way shall be punished.”
Blinded as a young boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fights against injustice by day as a lawyer, and by night as the Super Hero “Daredevil” in modern day Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. “Marvel’s Daredevil” stars Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson and Rosario Dawson. Source: Marvel
Though Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie (Henry Simmons) almost quit the organization at the end of last season, Coulson eventually got him to change his mind—and it looks like now he’s sticking around for good!
Simmons is now the latest star to join the regular cast of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” for Season 3 when it returns to Tuesdays on ABC this fall, following quickly after the word that Luke Mitchell will also become a regular part of the series.
“Mack’s story from Season 2 left him at a great place for us to continue, opening up new possibilities for the character as he takes charge of overseeing
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s storehouse of unexplainable or alien objects,” said Executive Producer/Marvel’s Head of Television, Jeph Loeb. “We couldn’t be more excited to add Mack to our regular cast of heroes.”
This will mark Simmons’ third stint as a regular on a TV series, having previously played Detective Baldwin Jones on “NYPD Blue” and Isaac Wright on “Shark.”
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is Executive Produced by Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers, “Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” “Marvel’s Daredevil,” “Lost”).
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios.
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” returns for an exciting third season, Tuesdays this fall on ABC.
Many people see Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara as the key man behind the studios hotly anticipated DC Cinematic Universe, and while that may be true, another executive who will play a vital role over the coming years will be Greg Silverman. WB’s President of Creative Development & Worldwide Production recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the studio’s vision for their upcoming superhero properties.
Unsurprisingly, one of the first things he was asked about was how DC planned on differentiating their universe from their cross-company rivals at Marvel:
“We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other. You’ll see the difference when you see Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and all the things that we are working on.”
Silverman then addressed complaints about the Batman v. Superman trailer being “too dark”:
“There is intensity and a seriousness of purpose to some of these characters. The filmmakers who are tackling these properties are making great movies about superheroes; they aren’t making superhero movies. When you’re trying to make a good movie, you tackle interesting philosophies and character development. There’s also humor, which is an important part.”
He also explained the studio’s decision to hire Monster director Patty Jenkins, following Michelle MacLaren’s exit from Wonder Woman:
“We had a very intensive process looking at everybody. Patty and Michelle were really the ones who came to the forefront the first go-round, so when things didn’t work out with Michelle, we all knew we had someone great who had expressed interest before. She came back and is doing a great job. But it was never about the best female director. She has demonstrated doing amazing work with female characters, such as in Monster.”
Well, there’s plenty to digest there – including some very interesting points on the general direction of the DCCU, the balance between ‘dark’ (intensity) & ‘light’ (humor), and the studio’s thought process behind bringing Jenkins on board.
Inspired by the Marvel one-shot short film of the same name, the eight-episode Agent Carter TV show aired on American TV screens in January, but British fans of Hayley Atwell’s secret agent – as originally seen in both standalone Captain America films, as well as more recently in Avengers: Age Of Ultron – were left in limbo as to when they’d get to see the first series. Now, news arrives that Fox UK has picked it up, and July 1 will be the release date.
For those not aware of how to access the Fox channel in Britain, here’s a link with all the details, and for those not aware of the set-up of the eagerly anticipated show, here it is:
Marvel’s Agent Carter tracks secret agent Peggy Carter as she deals with post-war America and a life without Cap in 1946. Peacetime has not been the best time for Carter, marginalised by her colleagues and forced to balance administrative work with much more important, stealthy duties at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, helping to build what will eventually become S.H.I.E.L.D..
Shea Whigham plays Roger Dooley, chief at the SSR and boss of agents Carter, Thompson (Chad Michael Murray) and Sousa (Enver Gjokaj). The cast also includes James D’Arcy as the original human butler Jarvis and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, AKA Tony’s dad and a key part of the SSR.
So welcome to Marvel Minutes an offshoot of Marvel Madness. This will serve as another dose of Marvel news that would level the playing field, as it would’ve been an overwhelming situation if every bit of news was in one thing! Anyway introductions aside for the first edition we’re talking Sam Jackson’s contract, Box Office numbers for AoU, Xavier’s bald for Apocalypse, and much much more!
Collider reporter Christina Radish recently spoke with Jackson in anticipation of his upcoming film Big Game, and during the course of their conversation the actor spoke enthusiastically about his tenure at Marvel:
“It’s an amazing amount of fun. I finally met [comics writer] Mark [Millar], last year, when I was doing Kingsman, ‘cause he was on set one day, and I finally got a chance to thank him for making Nick Fury black and changing the whole dynamic. It’s really great to be the connective tissue between so many different characters in so many different films, that brings those guys together. But I’m not in Captain America 3. I can’t figure that out, but I’m not. I guess I’m still out there, trying to figure out what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. and who these other people are. But it’s an amazing honor to be that guy, to be Nick Fury, to be in that particular world, and to be a character that people believe. It’s great. I’m as grateful for being in that, as I was being in Star Wars with George [Lucas] and to play a character that people remember, like Mace Windu. It’s all great. It’s hard not to be a part of something that you know, if people study film for the next 200 years, they’ll be talking about Star Wars and The Avengers series, and all that stuff.”
Jackson’s absence from the bursting-at-the-seams Captain America: Civil War cast is indeed odd, but it’s likely Marvel is saving him for the two-part Avengers: Infinity War saga. When asked how many films he has left on his contract, the actor said he thinks he has two remaining on his nine-picture deal, but he doesn’t plan on leaving the MCU:
“Of course [I’m interested in returning]! I’m looking for a contract extension right now, yeah. I’m looking to re-up.”
So if Marvel wants to keep Nick Fury around (and of course they do), Jackson is game to keep playing the character for as long as they’ll have him. As contracts for the other actors begin to expire and Marvel introduces a slew of new heroes, Doctor Strange & Captain Marvel, Nick Fury will no doubt be the glue that ties this entire Marvel Cinematic Universe together over the different phases.
London-based Territory Studio “created more than 200 screens and 80 minutes of unique animations” for Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
A large portion of their work went into the advanced computer interfaces Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) interacted with in the film to create Ultron and Vision and to communicate with Jarvis.
Territory created new visual identities and UI for the technology seen in Avengers Tower, including Stark lab and Banner’s research lab, the Quinjet aircraft and newly introduced characters the evil Baron Von Strucker and his Fortress stronghold, and Dr Cho, whose advanced medical lab supports the Avengers in the story.
Sebastian Stan, who plays The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just posted a picture of his new bearded mug. Along with the photo, Stan posted the hashtags #civilwar and #pickyourside.
We know what you’re thinking—“But Winter Soldier never had a beard in the comics!” Yeah, well Joker never had a tattoo on his forehead in the comics, and look what happened there. It will be interesting to see how the beard may factor into the story. Now that Bucky has his marbles back, it’s possible that he’s been trying to go incognito. Either way, that beard is bound to feel unpleasant in Atlanta, Georgia, where Civil War is currently filming.
There’s no stopping Avengers: Age Of Ultron. As audiences continue to flock in droves to the Marvel sequel, the latest box office report claims the movie has now passed $900M internationally – making it only the 5th title to do so after Avatar, Titanic, Furious 7, and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2.
The Joss Whedon directed blockbuster is still playing in 91 territories, and though it still has a ways to go to catch the $1,518.6B accumulated by the first Avengers, it currently has a mighty worldwide gross of $1,327B.
After the debacle that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, most fans never truly expected to see an R-rated Deadpool film come to life on the big screen. One man who never seemed to give up was star Ryan Reynolds, who shocked the world with that hilarious April Fools reveal last month. Since then, we’ve had plenty of goodies from the set of the movie – including some great shots of the Merc-With-A-Mouth in action in that iconic red-and-black suit.
That time appears to have come to an end now, with Reynolds announcing the end of principal photography on his Twitter account just moments ago. Never one to go out quietly, it seems he’s left the folks in Vancouver one last parting gift:
Thankfully, we won’t have very long to wait until the actual movie is released on February 12, 2016.
After making small appearences in previous X-films X2, The Last Stand and Days of Future Past, the character of Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus, is stepping up to a bigger role in next year’s Deadpool. The announcement that Daniel Cudmore would not reprise his role came as a surprise to some, and since then we’ve heard very little in the way of official casting. Once Upon A Time and Seventh Son actor Andre Tricoteux was spotted in a grey motion capture suit (seen above) on the set of the Tim Miller-helmed movie, though it was never confirmed that it was Colossus he was portraying. However, Gina Carano (who plays Angel Dust in the film) has revealed that Tricoteux is indeed playing the fan-favourite mutie. The 6′ 10″ actor is very obviously providing the base for motion capture, but whether or not he will voice the character too remains to be seen. Deadpool opens on February 12th, 2016.
The following behind the scenes image from the set of X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t reveal much about the plot, but it does offer up an idea about which characters will be sharing a scene with the movie’s titular villain! The question of course, is who is on what side? After all, there’s a very good chance that at least some of these mutants might end up deciding to fight alongside Apocalypse.
A photo posted by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on
Jun 1, 2015 at 12:46pm PDT
While promoting the release of her latest movie Barely Lethal, over on Spinoff Online (via X-Men Films), Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner briefly touched on playing ‘Jean Grey’ in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Set to step into a role inhabited by Famke Janssen for almost fifteen years, Turner expressed her sheer ecstasy at giving her own take on such a recognizable figure:
“Feasting my eyes upon that script was insane! I just think the fact that it’s such an iconic character and so well loved in the comics and stuff that it’s very exciting to be able to take it on. Famke Janssen’s portrayed Jean so well, so beautifully, and it’s nice to kind of – although I’m “young her,” it’s nice to have my own take on it as well and interpret this character, this action superhero the way that I kind of want to. Oh, my God. It’s so exciting!”
She also claimed she had been preparing for the role by watching “every X-Men movie that’s ever been released”, as well as checking out the “TV X-Men stuff” too.
Continuing our coverage of X-Men: Apocalypse haircuts, Olivia Munn has posted a photo of herself with a hood over her head.
We pretty much know what she’s hiding. The film’s hair designer, Felix Lariviere, has already confirmed that Munn’s character, Psylocke, will have purple hair in Apocalypse. This photo suggest that the dye job has already taken place, and Munn is just trying to avoid spoiling the official big reveal.
New photos have revealed James McAvoy’s bald head for X-Men: Apocalypse.
McAvoy’s young Charles Xavier has kept his long hair throughout X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past, despite Hank McCoy assuring him that Cerebro would work better on a shaved head. Following Charles’ character arc in Days of Future Past, where he finally accepts and grows into his role as Professor X, his new look will likely serve as an outward sign of his newfound maturity.
James “meat shield” McAvoy was held hostage at last night’s performance of The Generation of Z: Apocalypse, going on to… Posted by The Generation of Z on Thursday, May 21, 2015
David Ayer’s Suicide Squad may be stealing all of the headlines as far as leaked set photos go, but it’s worth remembering that filming for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse is well underway in Montréal too. Hollywood PQ managed to snap a few photos of James McAvoy rocking the bald look as the newly-shaved ‘Charles Xavier’. He was also joined on set by Nicholas Hoult, who plays ‘Hank McCoy’.
Perhaps more exciting was an image posted earlier today by actor Ben Hardy on his official Twitter feed. The BTS pic showed Hardy (who will portray a young ‘Angel’ in the film), training in mid-air with stuntman Shane M. Habberstad. You can check it out below:
The official Fantastic Four Twitter account has released a new still from the Josh Trank directed reboot, giving us another look at Kate Mara as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, and Miles Teller as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic as they attempt to “push the limits of discovery” together. Also get a good look at the team on the latest cover of Total Film Magazine as the iconic foursome stand tall and are clearly ready for action.
FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.
Fantastic Four stars Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as The Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch, Jamie Bell as The Thing, and Toby Kebbell as Victor Domashev/Doctor Doom. Directed by Josh Trank and written by Simon Kinberg, Fantastic Four is set to be released on August 7th, 2015!
Reprising her role from X-Men: First Class, Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) is set to return as Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: Apocalypse. When we last saw her, her memory had been wiped by Charles Xavier in order to protect his school, and she was nowhere to be seen in X-Men: Days of Future Past as a result. In the video below, the actress talks about how the ’80s era setting will impact Moira’s appearance, and goes so far as to say that Professor X is going to end up looking “like he’s in Spandau Ballet.”
As Marvel continues to beef up their cinematic universe with the likes of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and the future Infinity War films, a large amount of attention has also been turned to the TV side of the company.
Heroic Hollywood reports is saying that Marvel has several concepts in development as upcoming TV series, including Cloak & Dagger, Ms. Marvel, and a Hulk prequel.
Hulk is a character Marvel had already attempted to bring back to TV since Disney bought them, with Guillermo Del Toro working on a potential series that never came to be. If a new Hulk show is in the works, it remains to be seen how much of Del Toro’s concepts remain. Meanwhile, recent rumors indicated a Ms. Marvel ABC miniseries may currently be in the hands of 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley, who is known to have a mystery Marvel project in the works for the network. Cloak & Dagger was previously in development as a TV show for ABC Family, shortly after the Marvel/Disney deal occurred.
Netflix will also continue to be a big focus for the studio, and Marvel plans to release several original programs starring a host of characters outside of those seen in the films. Daredevil was the first, and A.K.A. Jessica Jones is coming up next. Heroic Hollywood claims that Marvel has toyed with the idea of introducing Punisher, Blade and Ghost Rider — all characters the company slowly regained the movie and TV rights to but maybe too “one-note” and violent for Marvel’s tastes — into the MCU via their Netflix series.
The final pipe dream Heroic Hollywood are mentioning is a limited Netflix movie or mini-series that would feature characters like Hawkeye or Black Widow. This could feature both TV and movie characters, effectively serving as a bridge between two worlds. Because so many planets would need to align, this is also very unlikely.
In a recent interview with the Hero Complex Magazine for the LA Times, Josh Trank revealed that he “knew it was going to get ugly” when the decision was made to make some major changes to the source material for his upcoming reboot of the Fantastic Four. However, it sounds like the Chronicle director actually sympathises with fans! “I get it. I have a lot of friends who are older than me who are comic fans and it’s really hard for them to be on board with a change like that. ‘Fantastic Four’ has been theirs for longer than I’ve been alive. It hasn’t been mine.” That’s a valid point, but it’s not really just older fans who aren’t happy with the changes being made! Regardless, Trank hopes that they will at least approach the movie with an open mind this August. “It only speaks to the greatness of any story that has been told for decades or centuries that people still want to tell that story. But you can’t just keep telling it the same way over and over again. And I think it only helps the world to be more honest with young kids, to show them the world that they go walk outside and see.” To be fair, it’s easy to see where Trank is coming from.
That’s what Trank had to say about changing The Human Torch’s race, but producer and writer Simon Kinberg also weighed in on some of the controversy surrounding their casting choices, specifically Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing. “The change of Jamie as Ben being a smaller guy instead of a bigger guy, for example, was for a purpose. It’s more dramatic when that character becomes a huge rock creature – that’s a bigger transformation. The notion of a working-class tough guy who’s been pushed around by his bigger brothers his whole life seemed like a more interesting character than the guy who started as a football player and just ended up being 4 inches taller.” Finally, Trank acknowledged that he’s been “turned into a punching bag” by the internet, but is open to hearing from fans. “I want to hear opinions – it’s good to know what people are questioning. I think maybe there’s a part of me that needs adversity from the rest of the world in order to feel motivated to want to prove people wrong. I need people to be like, ‘What is this weirdo doing?'”
Ant-Man will be in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.
So there you go, that finishes the first edition of Marvel Minutes! Click here for more Marvel stuff this week!
So prepare yourself for a mountain worth of Marvel news coming to you! We have a vast amount of all things Marvel related this week. We’re talking Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, and a hell of a lot more!
So enjoy!!
DEADPOOL NEWS
Ryan Reynolds took a break from getting hit in the face as Wade Wilson to make a young fan’s day. 15-year-old Calista King paid a visit to the Deadpool set last week, and not only scored a sweet looking sword but was also given a walk-on part in the movie. Reynolds also posted a second image of the Merc With a Mouth relaxing in front of that cheesy electronic fire. By the sounds of things, the bearskin rug must have picked up a couple of stains.
Back in March, Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine) told MTV that he would be interested in appearing in the new Deadpool movie, and now the film’s star Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern) has been asked if Wolverine will “pop up.”
“God I hope so, that would be really nice,” Reynolds told the Australian website news.com.au while promoting Woman In Gold. “I dunno, we’ll see. It seems like he’s open to it, but it’s gonna be more of a scheduling issue than anything else.”
In the comics, Wolverine and Deadpool have intertwining backstories and beyond that they have done plenty of verbal and physical sparring. Plus, the two actors are close friends. That friendship began on the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), which is the first time Ryan Reynolds played Wade Wilson/Deadpool.
The image below (which we’ve had to split into two unfortunately) is featured in this month’s edition of Empire Magazine, and as you can see, it gives us yet another great look at Ryan Reynolds in costume as Deadpool. This hopefully means Empire will have a cover story on the movie in an upcoming issue as we still don’t know a huge amount about the movie despite a ton of set photos finding their way online recently.
While taking a short break from leaping dramatically over moving cars and murdering Mario Lopez, Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds had the chance to make one young fan’s dream come true. Tony Acevedo is currently fighting against Hodgkin’s Disease, and recently got the chance to visit the Vancouver set to meet Reynolds and the crew – courtesy of the Make A Wish Foundation.
Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.
Deadpool is directed by Tim Miller, and stars Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa Carlysle), T.J. Miller (Weasel), with Ed Skrein, and Brianna Hildebrand (Ellie Phimister). The movie is scheduled to hit theaters on February 12, 2016.
MOVING ON TO CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
According to Lainey Gossip, who has been nonchalantly dropping some interesting tidbits about the Marvel Cinematic Universe for some time now, the aforementioned African Market sequence is actually the “first big action set piece of the movie […] that kicks off the Civil War.” Apparently, there will be a lot of innocent civilians killed amid the battle between Cap’s new Avengers team and Crossbones, which seems to be the “international incident” mentioned in the official synopsis that will ultimately cause the world governments to enforce some control over superhero activity.
About the Winter Soldier, Lainey Gossip reveals that he will be “the touchstone of the conflict” in Captain America: Civil War especially considering secret identities are not as big of an issue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as they are in the “Civil War” comic book storyline. Many have been wondering just how Bucky will factor into the superhero-packed adaptation, but we know from Avengers: Age of Ultron that he’s still being sought out by Captain America. And it’s been said that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) “may be using the government registration” to also help track down the brainwashed super soldier who assassinated his parents, as revealed in The Winter Soldier.
Furthermore, it was recently reported that the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) will also be hunting down the Winter Soldier for reasons currently unknown, but Lainey Gossip adds that Crossbones also wants the Winter Soldier, or rather his “HYDRA pet,” back under his control. The source then dropped this very intriguing nugget: “Civil War is a critical moment for Sebastian Stan and Bucky Barnes—he has to get everyone on his side by the end of this movie, because his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a lot bigger.”
After visiting the set of Captain America: Civil War over the past few days, star Jeremy Renner, who played the awesome & badass Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, officially suited up this week to shoot his first scenes in the Marvel epic. To celebrate the occasion, Renner shared two behind-the-scenes snaps of him on set, one of which may have revealed an updated logo for the movie. Check out his tweets below:
Perhaps the most exciting thing to come out of last week’s batch of photos from the Civil War set was our first look at Frank Grillo in costume as the villanous ‘Crossbones’. Evidently filming some sort of stand-off against Chris Evans’ Captain America and more than a few of his Avengers pals, this appeared to be one of the movie’s earlier action sequences (although there’s really no way of telling for sure at the moment). Fans excited to see more of Brock Rumlow may be about to be a little disappointed though, thanks to a recent post from the actor’s official Instagram account:
The supremely talented Oscar Isaac was recently a guest on the Monkeys Fighting Robots podcast recently and briefly touched on his work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and X-Men: Apocalypse. On the latter, Isaac confirmed that he’s already begun filming for Apocalypse and that he’s still digesting the script and developing his take on the character. “I’ve been reading the script a lot and trying to come at for me, a interesting angle. Definitely focusing on the fact he is the embodiment of the second coming of the judgments of god and that energy going in. We’re playing with that. What we are trying to do is make his philosophy and what his mission is, one that is both simple but also holds water, that really makes sense throughout the whole movie. I think Simon Kinberg and Bryan Singer, we’ve been able to come up with something very cool.”
2016 is a crowded and incredibly exciting year for superhero movies, but one release which is flying somewhat under the radar is Gambit, an X-Men spinoff starring Channing Tatum. The actor landed the role after making it clear in interviews how interested in the Cajun character he is, and Fox are currently in the process of hunting for a director. So, just how excited is the actor about the movie?
“I love Gambit,” Tatum says in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. “I grew up in the South; my father’s from Loiuisiana. We’d go to New Orleans and I heard all the dialects. It felt so different from the rest of America; it has its own ancient culture. So I identified with that. And he always felt the most real of the X-Men to me. He’s kind of a tortured soul and he’s not a good guy. But he’s not a bad guy, either. He walks his own path. And of course he plays cards and drinks and is a martial-arts badass!” It sounds like the movie is going to be pretty faithful to the comic books then, but that’s not a huge surprise what with X-Men scribe Chris Claremont writing its treatment.
As for the current status of Gambit, the actor added: “Josh Zetumer just turned in the first draft of the script, and it’s killer. None of us were sure how he was going to deal with the X-Men world. But we’re going to be changing some of the tropes of these movies. It’s always about saving the world (Laughs), but maybe we’re going to shift things a liittle but. There’s so many ways you can take [an origin story]. You could do it like Batman Begins, or a different take and go the Guardians of the Galaxy route. All I can say is, I’m super excited.”
Who is Caliban? He’s a mutant with the ability to sense other mutants within a 25 mile radius, and as well as being a Morlock, Caliban has been a member of X-Factor and X-Force. However, it’s his relationship with Apocalypse which will no doubt come into play in X-Men: Apocalypse. As a Morlock, the character looked pretty emaciated and unimpressive, but he later transformed into a far more impressive figure when he decided to align himself with Apocalypse.
According to ComicVine, “For a while Caliban was known as Hellhound, but was later officially announced as Death, Archangel’s replacement in Apocalypse’s Horsemen. He would use his enhanced senses and strength to locate more mutants for Apocalypse, and his personal anger and rage to punish his enemies.” How much of this will factor into X-Men: Apocalypse remains to be seen.
Well, this is very interesting. The Pepsi sign definitely appears to indicate that the scene below(thanks to Empire) from X-Men: Apocalypse is taking place in the 1980s rather than a desolate future of some sort, and it looks like Cyclops and Jean Grey are wearing costumes which are at least somewhat similar to the uniforms the youngsters have in the pages of All-New X-Men. Hey, at least it’s not black leather anyway. Who they’re battling isn’t clear (Archangel seems like a likely candidate) or what that structure is, but common sense says it all has something to do with the movie’s titular villain!
Photographer Melissa Paradis has managed to get some very nice snaps of a few of the cast members of X-Men: Apocalypse in and around the Montreal set of the movie. As you can see they’re clearly not gearing up to shoot anything here, but, unlike Alexandra Shipp who’s covering her (presumably) white hair with a hat, Olivia Munn’s purple-tinted do is on full display as she pets her pooch. Hopefully we’ll get some pics of theese guys in costume over the next few days.
X-Men: Apocalypse, directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past), will hit theaters on May 27, 2016 and stars Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Charles Xavier), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse), Rose Byrne (Moira McTaggert), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Ben Hardy (Angel), Olivia Munn(Psylocke), Lucas Till(Havok) and Lana Condor (Jubillee).
FANTASTIC FOUR NEWS
A new international look at Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot has been released it is mostly made up of footage from earlier trailers, but there are some previously unseen shots of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing getting used to their burgeoning abilities.
So begins Michael B. Jordan’s letter (via EW) in response to the backlash his casting in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot received. His character, Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch, was a white guy in the comics so even though Jordan had proven himself a fine actor with roles in the likes of Fruitvale Station and Chronicle, this was always going to be a problem for raci…, err, purists. The actor had commented on this previously in interviews, but this the first time he’s come out with a full, in-depth response.
He goes on to say that he’s stopped being bothered by the negativity, and can see everyone’s perspective when it comes to going against 50 years of comic book continuity. “But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961,” he continues. “Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, “You’re good. I’m okay with this,” who am I to go against that?”
“You’re not supposed to go on the Internet when you’re cast as a superhero. But after taking on Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four—a character originally written with blond hair and blue eyes—I wanted to check the pulse out there. I didn’t want to be ignorant about what people were saying. Turns out this is what they were saying: “A black guy? I don’t like it. They must be doing it because Obama’s president” and “It’s not true to the comic.” Or even, “They’ve destroyed it!” “Sometimes you have to be the person who stands up and says, “I’ll be the one to shoulder all this hate. I’ll take the brunt for the next couple of generations.” I put that responsibility on myself. People are always going to see each other in terms of race, but maybe in the future we won’t talk about it as much. Maybe, if I set an example, Hollywood will start considering more people of color in other prominent roles, and maybe we can reach the people who are stuck in the mindset that “it has to be true to the comic book.” Or maybe we have to reach past them. To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer. Go outside and walk around. Look at the people walking next to you. Look at your friends’ friends and who they’re interacting with. And just understand this is the world we live in. It’s okay to like it.”
FANTASTIC FOUR, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.
Directed by Josh Trank, The Fantastic Four reboot stars Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, Kate Mara as Invisible Woman, and Jamie Bell as the Thing. The film is scheduled for release on August 7, 2015.
AGENT CARTER & AGENTS OF SHIELD NEWS
Iain DeCaestecker & Nick Blood had the following conversations talking about the future of Agents of SHIELD in the upcoming third season!
“Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) embarks on a deadly new secret mission to protect the world from new threats in the wake of SHIELD’s wars with Hydra and a rogue faction of Inhumans.”
Some good news for Agent Carter fans here. Actress Haley Atwell has revealed that the upcoming second season of the show will run for 10 episodes – 2 more than its debut season. Peggy and co. are set to return to our screens during Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s midseason hiatus, but there’s no word on whether the extra couple of Agent Carter episodes will have any bearing on the length of the third season of Marvel’s flagship series.
Atwell also says that she’ll be crashing the Atlanta set of Captain America: Civil War next week, but she’s most likely just kidding since we know that.
“Dedicated to the fight against new atomic age threats in the wake of World War II, Peggy must now journey from New York City to Los Angeles for her most dangerous assignment yet. But even as she discovers new friends, a new home — and perhaps even a new love — she’s about to find out that the bright lights of the post-war Hollywood mask a more sinister threat to everyone she is sworn to protect.”
When it came to boarding ABC’s Marvel limited series Agent Carter as composer, Christopher Lennertz, who had an interview with Deadline, already had the job before the cameras rolled. More specifically, he served as composer for the Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter short that was included on the Avengers DVD. The short’s director, Marvel copresident Louis D’Esposito, also helmed Agent Carter’s first episode and served as the series executive producer.
What made Lennertz—a 2006 Emmy nominee for his Supernatural score—the lead contender for the gig was his experience with 1940s-era military music as well as the spy genre sound, respectively accentuated in his scores for the Steven Spielberg World War II videogame Medal of Honor and the 2005 James Bond game From Russia with Love.
“They wanted the music to be smart and lush,” says Lennertz of the direction from the Marvel folk. “(Agent Peggy Carter) isn’t a superhero, but she’s a super spy, and the action music lives in the world of James Bond and Mission: Impossible.”
In exuding Carter’s spirit, Lennertz employed brass indicative of the big band era, specifically French horns for the action scenes, as well as strings. “Peggy is sexy and seductive and with the strings one can slip into espionage and tension,” explains the composer.
At one point, Lennertz’s orchestra numbered 60 members, including a Russian men’s choir for a folk choral piece used in episode five. But one of the most vital instruments that truly captured Carter’s aura was Lennertz’s use of the alto flute. “It feels like a strong woman’s voice, especially as she’s sneaking around” he says of the instrument heard frequently in composer John Barry’s Bond scores. “It also has that spy quality. Peggy is a real ’40s woman—curvy and strong. She can hold a machine gun with the best of them.”
JESSICA JONES NEWS
A couple of weeks ago, Netflix unveiled the latest synopsis for A.K.A. Jessica Jones, which is currently filming in New York and should wrap sometime in July. Since then, however, things have been relatively quiet besides some set photos.
With the show nearing the end of production, that should change soon enough. We should be getting an official logo soon, if not a concept poster, and possibly an official still or two to get fans excited for the release later this year. (As of right now, there is no official release date although it is looking like it’ll be in November or December.)
For now, we have a few photos of Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) and David Tennant (Purple Man), thanks to the DailyMail, on set to hold us over.
Ever since her short-lived stint as a Super Hero ended in tragedy, Jessica Jones has been rebuilding her personal life and career as a hot-tempered, sardonic, badass private detective in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. Plagued by self-loathing, and a wicked case of PTSD, Jessica battles demons from within and without, using her extraordinary abilities as an unlikely champion for those in need… especially if they’re willing to cut her a check.
RANDOM TIDBITS
The Amazing Spider-Man Universe is dead. Andrew Garfield will no longer be playing Peter Parker when the wall-crawler makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, and Sony’s spinoff plans have been put on the back burner while Kevin Feige looks to repair the damage they did to the franchise.
One idea thrown around by Sony was a female led spinoff, and some “Sony Hack” emails actually addressed the possibility or bringing Emma Stone back as either Spider-Gwen or – seriously – Carnage. That could still happen, and when MTV News caught up with the actress, they asked her if she would be interested in taking on the role. It sounds like she very much is, and while Stone points out that a lot of moving parts would have to come together to make it happen, Marvel and Sony would no doubt have a hit on their hands if they moved forward with Spider-Gwen.
The video is also well worth a watch to see Bradley Cooper’s complete befuddlement at the name as he questions why she would be called Spider-Gwen when Spider-Man isn’t called “Spider-Peter”.
Latino-Review.com reported, and backed up by El Mayimbe, that Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) had been cast as the new Spider-Man. After that news broke several trades denied Butterfield got the part, but did verify he is the frontrunner.
That same day, a link to that story was posted on Reddit. Nothing unusual about that, except for the fact that Asa Butterfield himself dropped in and made two comments, which he later deleted. He did so using the screename “Stimpers,” which he verified for an AMA years back.
Because Butterfield hasn’t appeared in a lot of projects over the past few years, many outlets have been using old images of the actor when he was much shorter. This has led to a misconception about his height, which Butterfield clarified.
He then deleted those comments. Why? Notice how he didn’t confirm nor deny the report. Was he instructed by Marvel or his agent to delete them?
Some audition tapes were going around for season two of Daredevil, and they appear to be for fan-favourite character Elektra. They’re looking for actresses with martial arts and dance experience, and the two featured here both have very exotic looks.
As you can see, there is no videos here as they have now been removed from many video sites, adding some weight to the speculation that they were meant for the role of Elektra.
Elektra for the uninitiated is a lethal scarlet assassin. Daredevil’s most fearsome enemy as well as his former lover and most renowned as being the greatest assassin in the world.
A few weeks ago, we heard reports that Marvel were interested in hiring director Ava DuVernay to helm one of their upcoming Phase 3 movies – widely rumored to be either Black Panther or Captain Marvel. The Wrap, who originally broke the news, recently sat down with actor David Oyelowo, who received a Golden Globe nod for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in DuVernay’s Selma. The actor insisted that a studio like Marvel would be “smart” to hire his longtime colleague:
“The thing about Ava is everything she touches she elevates. She bakes into it who she is. So, if Marvel is as smart and as brave to go on that journey with Ava, I’m personally the first in line to see what she does with that. I think she’s going to take it in directions that are both exciting and provocative, and different to what you’ve seen thus far. It’s always going to be a Marvel movie, but she is so singular as a director that I think her, plus that brand is an exciting idea.”
While Oyelowo did seem very excited to see his friend join up with the world of CBMs, he himself appeared to be a little more hesitant about the idea of starring in one:
“For me personally, I tread with caution around the notion of those kinds of characters. Depending on which one of them you’re playing, there’s always a danger you’re going to get so identified with this larger than life character, that it could become tougher for audiences to believe you in other roles.”
Check out some fantastic Avengers: Age of Ultron concept art that was recently posted by Marvel Studios’ conceptual designer Josh Herman, and the visual effects company MPC (Moving Picture Company).
Josh uploaded the work he did on Iron Man’s Mark 45 armor (along with Phil Saunders), Hulkbuster armor (along with Josh Nizzi), the villainous Ultron (along with Ryan Meinerding and Charlie Wen) and various designs for the peacekeeping robots known as the Iron Legion.
MPC released four images featuring designs for the interior of Avengers Tower, formerly known as Stark Tower. We got a good look at during the party scene that Ultron (voiced by James Spader) crashed. What a party pooper.
And that is that for another Marvel Madness. Hopefully you are all stocked up on all things Marvel for this week! Check back next week for more!
Tilda Swinton is on her way to the Marvel Universe. The actress is in negotiations to join Benedict Cumberbatch in Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, being directed by Scott Derrickson.
Strange is Marvel’s supernatural hero, a formerly cocky surgeon who loses the use of his hands, and while on a last ditch attempt to heal himself, discovers magic. Strange’s mentor is a Tibetan mystic known as the Ancient One, who is training pupils to be the next sorcerer supreme. In the comics, the character has been a male, and Marvel Studios initially was searching for a male actor.
But the studio rethought the role and has now made it female. If a deal makes, Swinton will play the Ancient One. Strange has a release date of Nov. 4, 2016. The movie is due to begin shooting November in the U.K. Kevin Feige is producing.
Joining a Marvel movie is the latest move for Swinton, whose film résumé reveals an actress that refuses to be pigeonholed in any way.
The actress will be seen with Amy Schumer in Judd Apatow’s new comedy, Trainwreck, and has appeared in the last two Wes Anderson movies, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom. In between, she gave a show stopping performance as a brutally poised but unbalanced villainess in Snowpiercer, Joon-ho Bong’s sci-fi movie that starred Chris Evans.
She won an Oscar for best supporting actress for 2007’s Michael Clayton and played the angel Gabriel in the 2005 adaptation of DC Entertainment’s comic Constantine.
Another day, another batch of photos from the Captain America: Civil War set. However, this particular batch features not only a first look at actor Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) on set in-between takes, but also a first look at Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) finally joining Chris Evans (Captain America) and Anthony Mackie (Falcon) in the battle against Crossbones (Frank Grillo). While it appears the supervilain (who’s sporting more burn scars) is no match for Cap and his new Avengers team, yesterday was reportedly the last day filming will take place on this African Market set.
It also appears Robert Downey Jr. is about to start work on Captain America: Civil War as the Iron Man actor has now been spotted on the African Market set. Although Downey wasn’t in costume, additional photos & videos from the shoot capture more of Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), and Frank Grillo (Crossbones) back in action, as well as Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) in different civvies as Scott Lang.
Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain. Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman, Captain America: Civil War is set for release on May 6, 2016.
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