Immortal Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ultimates writer Al Ewing and Sabretooth and Sabretooth & The Exiles artist Leonard Kirk are launching a brand new take on the Avengers this Fall featuring one of the founding members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. OG Avenger Janet Van Dyne will headline Avengers Inc., an ongoing series that will see her “out to solve the most amazing, fantastic and uncanny whodunnits the Marvel Universe has to offer!” according to Ewing.
Her name is Janet Van Dyne. She’s a hero. She’s a celebrity. She’s hunting a killer. His name is Victor Shade. He’s a villain. He’s an enigma. He just got killed. And together, they’re out to solve every mystery in the Marvel Universe…starting with their own.
Marvel.com
The new book–which will feature “direct connections” to Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa’s main Avengers title–will begin “with a deadly conspiracy rooted in the ghosts of the Avengers’ past that only founding Avenger Wasp can solve. But she won’t be alone as she finds a new partner in Victor Shade! This former alias of Vision mysteriously resurfaces just as Janet discovers a score of Super Villain murders. Will he guide Wasp to the truth or is his familiar guise hiding the very clues Janet needs to crack the case?“
As Ewing explains, “Avengers Inc. takes the beating, buzzing heart of the original Avengers, teams her up with an undead mystery man with an identity so secret even he doesn’t know it, and sends them both out to solve the most amazing, fantastic and uncanny whodunnits the Marvel Universe has to offer!” “It’s kind of a classic ‘will-they-won’t-they’ crime-solving partnership—or it would be if the ‘will-they’ in question was ‘save the world from…’ Well, that’d be telling. See you in September!” teased the author.
“I am unsure what can be said of Avengers Inc. without spoiling anything for the readers,” said Kirk. “I can say this is a fun and intriguing take on some familiar characters that leans more into detective skills over super strength, wit rather than eye beams and cunning instead of small, genetically mutated, furry creatures. Al is doing a bang up job with this and I am having a load of fun. I hope the audience does too.“
Perhaps inspired by the mostly successful requels in the Halloween and Scream franchises, Lionsgate is relaunching one of its offbeat horror franchises with a new Leprechaun film. Felipe Vargas will direct the new film working off a script from live-action Lilo & Stitch scribe Mike Van Waes. Roy Lee, who oversaw production on It and Barbarian, and Lionsgate’s Miri Yoon will be producing.
Beginning with 1993’s Leprechaun, Lionsgate rolled out 8 films in the franchise, including classics such as Leprechaun 4: In Space and Leprechaun in the Hood. Willow and Star Wars franchise star Warwick Davis played the titular imp in the first 6 films before sitting out 2014’s Leprechaun Origins and Leprechaun Returns. According to THR, Davis will not be attached to the new project.
“Thirty years after its debut, this franchise still casts a spell, and we’re thrilled to be bringing it back with a new vision,” said president of production for Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, Erin Westman. “Roy and Miri are two of our most trusted producers, especially with this genre, and we’re excited by Felipe’s vision for the film as a director. In his hands, this movie should be very scary and a ton of fun.“
With Vargas set to begin work on Rosario, his film debut, don’t expect work on the Leprechaun reimagining to begin until late 2023 or early 2024.
Though it hasn’t set the world on fire critically or financially, Fast X will have not one but two sequels released theatrically to wrap up the central series of the Fast franchise. Prior to the mid-May release of Fast X, it was believed that the series would wrap with whatever nonsensical title the studio could come up with for the eleventh entry; however, the big rawry engine behind the series, one Vincent Diesel, revealed a 12th film would be needed to complete the story of THE family. Now, as Fast X hits the downslope of its theatrical run,Vin has decided to reveal the release date of the next “effort” in the franchise.
Via his Instagram, Diesel let it slip that Fast 11 will hit theaters on April 4th, 2025. According to the Pacifier’s math, that date is “less than 22 months away.” The Knockaround Guy promised fans that much like the entirety of the franchise, the eleventh entry will be an event “like you have never seen.” Given the mediocre box office of Fast X, it’s possible that the eleventh film could just be a rerelease of that film which most of the world has “never seen.”
In October 2000, Marvel Comics modernized its classic heroes through its line of Ultimate comics. Those comics significantly influenced the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and may continue to do so when the X-Men make their way into the MCU) and were a major part of Jonathan Hickman‘s 2015 event, Secret Wars. Now, as Hickman and Bryan Hitch‘s 4-issue Ultimate Invasion prepares to launch, Marvel has revealed that the series will lead into a relaunch a new line of Ultimate Comics.
After the Maker’s desperate attempt to restore the Ultimate Universe unleashes massive, unintended consequences, a group of Marvel’s heroes are caught in a war between timelines. As universes collide, the foundation of a new line of ULTIMATE COMICS will be built.
To no one’s surprise, the Ultimate version of Reed Richards, known as The Maker, will be front and center in Ultimate Invasion and it seems his actions will be key in the creation of the new line of Ultimate Comics. That line will kick off in November with a one-shot, Ultimate Universe #1, written by Hickman and illustrated by Stefano Caselli. Much like the 2000 launch, the Ultimate Universe will modernize Marvel’s major players.
“The breathtaking epic will introduce readers to this new line that will be home to an array of brand-new hard-hitting series. A fresh start for a new generation, prepare to see your favorite characters redefined for today’s world. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information about this exciting new universe crafted by some of today’s greatest comic book visionaries.”
“It’s kind of shocking how much the world has changed in that period of time [since the 2000 launch of the original Ultimate Universe],” said Hickman. “The idea of what it would be like to see the genesis of Super Heroes in a brand new world is a really fascinating exercise.” According to Hitch, familiarity with the old version of the Ultimate Universe isn’t necessary to enjoy this “brand new world”. “You don’t ever have to have read any of the Ultimate Universe to enjoy this,” Hitch explained. “There’s some great comics in there, but this doesn’t need you to be familiar with that stuff. You just need to get in on page one and enjoy this because the story takes you where you need to go.”
The first of the four-issue Ultimate Invasion hits retailers on June 21st and Ultimate Universe #1 will be on shelves in November.
With under 3 months to go before it’s set to stream on Disney Plus, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars streaming series, Ahsoka, has gotten a new release date. Originally set to release on August 31st, the Rosario Dawson-led series will not debut on August 23rd.
The series is set to reunite former Jedi Ahsoka Tano with the crew of the the Ghost as they embark on a quest to find Ezra Bridger. Mandalorian Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla and Chopper (and maybe some surprises) will join Bridger in making their live-action debuts along with the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsokafollows the former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
In Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, the Skrulls are here and they could be anybody. After waiting decades to find a planet to call their own, a faction of the shapeshifters have decided that they’ll just settle for taking Earth and Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury is the last person standing between them and what they really want. In order to stop them, Fury will turn to a network of friends and spies that he’s built over the years but when going up against an army of radicalized shapeshifters, who do you trust?
Ahead of the streaming spy thriller, we take a look at Fury’s potential allies and determine which ones have the best chance of being potential enemies as Skrulls in disguise. Since we assume they’ll all be simmed at one point in time or another, our odds here are based on the revelation of them being a Skrull being a major surprise and a huge plot point that moves the series forward rather than just a cute surprise within one episode.
At least part of Nick Fury’s MCU persona has been built on his ability to keep a lot of secrets from pretty much everyone. He hid Clint Barton’s entire family and helped Mockingbird create an entire new identity; he hung out in space while Talos simmed him and took his place on Earth; he’s also kept the presence of the shapeshifting Skrulls–a race he’s known about for almost 30 years–a secret from most everyone. That last one is going to come back to play a major role in Secret Invasion and it’s likely that even Fury will have a hard time keeping straight who he can and cannot trust. However, the biggest twist would be to find out that Fury is a Skrull…and not Talos just pretending to be him which almost certainly will happen at some point.
In the comics, one of the great twists built into multiple Skrull stories is that many of the shapeshifters were not aware that they were not the humans they were simming. This gave them a sincere sense of purpose and allowed to them to fulfill their duties without question. It would a lost opportunity not to include this added layer of deception in the streaming series and given Fury’s long history with the Skrulls, it could have happened so many times over the years that the writers might have to fight about when it could have happened.
For all we know, outside of Talos and Soren, Maria Hill may be the only character with a large role in Secret Invasion who knows that the Skrull power couple simmed Fury and Hill. That’s because there’s not been a character introduced in the MCU to date who Fury trusts more than Hill and according to Cobie Smulders, it sounds like she’ll have quite a major role to play in the streaming series.
Given the relationship the two have forged over the years, what would be more impactful than Hill actually being a Skrull is leaning heavily into the paranoia of Fury believing she is. Not only would this echo her arc from the 2008 comic book event but also at least partially take away one of Fury’s strongest allies…but the comics the MCU ain’t. The promotional material for the series seems to indicate that the two haven’t seen each other for some time, providing ample opportunity for a Skrull to have captured and simmed Hill which is exactly what Fury will be thinking which is what the audience will be thinking which is what they want the audience to think they are thinking!
Despite being played by the wonderful Martin Freeman, Everett Ross might be one of the most boring characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but Secret Invasion might be just the right time to spice up the character. Though it seems like he initially had more to do in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever than what he did in the final cut, the revelation that he had once been married to Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ equally boring Valentia Allegre de Fontaine provides a great opportunity to add some seasoning to Ross’ well-done steak.
The last time we saw Ross, he was being freed from U.S. Government custody by Okoye. Is it possible she freed an important Skrull operative? Absolutely! And, Ross is a perfect example of the type of figure that could have been an embedded Skrull for quite some time. His time in the Air Force and the CIA would have allowed him access to some fairly important intel; moreover, his relationship with Val could be even more fruitful given the secrets locked away in her mind. Given Ross’s “aw shucks” demeanor and the way Val treated him in Wakanda Forever, it would be a really ballsy move by showrunner KyleBradstreet to reveal that the Ross we thought we knew was a Skrull all along.
A brand new character–presumably with some deep family ties–who is both old frenemies with Fury, Olivia Colman‘s Sonya Falsworth provides an absolutely fascinating blank slate for Secret Invasion. The idea behind the character was to create another mysterious, behind-the-scenes mover and shaker like Fury. Falsworth will be interesting in that regard because if any non-known entity were to behave the way Fury does, they would not be trusted. The audience trusts Nick because they know Nick even though they really shouldn’t trust Nick…so how can you trust Falsworth? Nick almost certainly won’t inherently trust Falsworth and the series will almost certainly create an uneasiness around her.
On one hand, as one of MI6’s spymasters, the character is the perfect mark for a Skrull; on the other hand, it’s possible that she’s sharp enough to know about the Skrulls even before Fury approaches her about it. With no real basis for the character in the comics, one interesting twist they could throw Falsworth’s way would be to adapt the odd story of John the Skrull, one of the shapeshifters who, though he had infiltrated the ranks of the British government, became loyal to humanity and outed his fellow Skrulls. Should they choose for the character to be an outright villain, however, they could go the Mortimer Grimsdale route. Whatever the case, Colman’s Falsworth is expected to return so if she is a Skrull, her human counterpart is safe and sound somewhere…or she’ll remain in DEEP cover even after the big twists are revealed.
Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, has stated that James Rhodes’ solo feature film, Armor Wars, will spin out of the events of Secret Invasion…but why? According to Don Cheadle, Rhodey is the “righthand to the President” in the streaming series and will be “not directly at odds but somewhat on the other side of where Fury is.” Cheadle also indicated that Secret Invasion is all about the double-crosses and the tension between his Rhodey and Fury in the promotional footage that’s been rolled out indicates that neither man really seems to trust the other.
So why would Rhodes’ MCU future be tied to Secret Invasion? Maybe because his past hasn’t been his past at all. Though this isn’t a big, superhero-laden event like the 2008 comic book crossover, Rhodey is the only member of the cast to have been an Avenger and you can bet that the Skrulls wanted an inside man among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Off all the characters in the show outside of Fury himself, the revelation that Rhodes has been a Skrull for any period of time would cause the biggest shockwaves and generate the most questions. Tony Stark’s technology was a big concern for the Skrulls in the comics. Without him around, Rhodey is the next best character to take up that story which would lead nicely into Armor Wars. The real question here might not be “is Rhodey a Skrull?” but rather “how long has he been a Skrull?”…and how pissed off is he going to be when he wakes up.
Odds Rhodes will be revealed as a Skrull: 3-1
Who do you trust? Which of these characters do you think is most likely to be a Skrull? Head to our Twitter account and let us know!
In another universe, Marvel Studios’ The Marvels would be hitting theaters in less than 2 months. In this universe, Disney moved the release date from July 28th to November 11th, but not before the gears on the machine that is merchandising had already been set in motion. Today, Hasbro released the first look at one of the many branches of merchandise associated with Marvel Studios projects: Marvel Legends.
In has to be one of Hasbro’s most hodgepodge waves to date, The Marvels wave of Marvel Legends includes only 3 figures from the film (Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Photon) while the other 4 figures (Commander Rogers, Heroes Return Iron Man, Karnak and Marvel Boy) and the Build-A-Figure (Amadeus Cho’s Totally Awesome Hulk) are all comic based.
While an argument could be made that each of the comic-based figures are Captain Marvel and/or Ms. Marvel adjacent, it’s surprising nonetheless to see Marvel Boy and Karnak get their own figures. Karnak’s inclusion could bode well for fans of Marvel Comics Inhumans as it could indicate that Hasbro may start pushing out individual Inhumans over the next few years.
As for Amadeus Cho’s Totally Awesome Hulk, his connection to Kamala Khan as a fellow member of the first modern-day iteration of The Champions seems to explain his inclusion here. It’s worth noting, however, that Cho was long-rumored to be in The Marvels.
Pre-orders for the wave will go live on June 7th at 1:00 PM ET on Hasbro Pulse, Amazon and other online retailers.
Following the critical and financial success of Thor: Ragnarok, a film that saw Taika Waititi deconstruct Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor only to build him back up into something bombastic and new, the green light was quickly given to a fourth installment in the Thor series. That film, Thor: Love and Thunder, seemed to indicate that Waititi learned all the wrong lessons from his time on Ragnarok and while it did just fine at the box office, critics and fans alike found it far less pleasing than its predecessor.
Though the film leaves plenty of room for Hemsworth to return for another classic Thor adventure and the actor has said he’d be up for it if the script is right, savvy audience members who have read between the lines of Hemsworth’s interviews have oft noted something is rotten in the state of Asgard. Simply put, it doesn’t seem likely that Hemsworth and Waititi will be teaming up for Thor 5 unless the director comes up with a major course correction.
In a lengthy interview with GQ, Hemsworth shed some on his past as the God of Thunder and what it would take for him to have a future in the role. “I love the experience,” said Hemsworth of playing Thor. “I love the fact that I’ve been able to do something fairly different throughout the process. Thor 1 and 2 were their own thing, Thor 3 and 4 were a very different feel… and then even Avengers, the Lebowski Thor, the Infinity War Thor, due to different directors and I think mostly my own need to do something different.”
That “different” seems to be central to Hemsworth’s willingness to return to the character. “You know, I got sick of the character pretty quick every couple of years,” joked Hemsworth. “If I was going to do something again it would have to be tonally different. And we’d have to do something very drastic to keep people on their toes. Otherwise, it’s just the fatigue of those characters and those films, where people are like, ‘I’ve seen it.’“
Part of Hemsworth’s concern comes from a more mature perspective. After being constantly busy for over a decade, he’s begun to slow down to spend more time with his family and, in that time, become a bit more contemplative about how he’d like his career to be shaped in the future and what legacy he’ll leave behind. “I’ve had my next job booked two or three years ahead of me for the last 12 years,” he says, noting that he doesn’t quite know what he’ll do next. Whatever it is “has to be more than a career move,” explained Hemsworth, an a project “worthy of my time.” As he ponders whether or not there’s more Thor in his future, there’s noteworthy irony in that statement.
“Everything has more importance now,” he explains in continuing to discuss how he’ll choose future projects. “Because of the realisation that this isn’t going to last forever. I don’t want to leave a pile of rubbish behind,” Hemsworth says. “And I’m aware that there’s a few misses there.” Was one of those misses Thor: Love and Thunder?
“‘We thought this one had too much humour, the action was cool but the VFX weren’t as good,’” Hemsworth say, recalling “a bunch of eight-year-olds critiquing” Love and Thunder. As for his own thoughts on the film, it’s safe to say it doesn’t stand among his favorites. “I cringe and laugh equally at it. I think we just had too much fun. It just became too silly,” Hemsworth explained. “It’s always hard being in the centre of it and having any real perspective… I love the process, it’s always a ride. But you just don’t know how people are going to respond.”
Fortunately for Hemsworth, should he desire to return to the role of Thor, Marvel Comics offer plenty of inspiration for new routes to take with the character. Over more than six decades after first appearing in Journey to Mystery #83, Thor has remained one of the publisher’s most consistently popular characters and his status as a nigh-immortal Asgardian could allow for MCU stories to be told in any era. Perhaps an Old Man Thor story might do the trick as Hemsworth looks to the future of the character.
When it comes to rumors about talent signing on for superhero projects, fans are conditioned to read between the lines of the lies and denials that always follow when said talent is asked to address said rumors. The disingenuous disinformation and dissembling have, unfortunately, become part of an already aggravated culture around the genre that further complicates the navigation of an increasingly polluted pool of information. So conditioned are fans to this routine that when someone associated with a project, like Agatha: Coven of Chaos actress Patti Lupone willingly shares truthful information about a project, it becomes breaking news. And, on that note, The Flash director Andy Muschietti has created some breaking news.
Shortly after a new report backed up old rumors about Muschietti signing on to helm DC Studios’ undated The Brave and the Bold, Fandango’s Erik Davis asked the director if all the hubbub had any merit…and Muschietti did not lie. When asked by Davis if he would like to direct another project in James Gunn and Peter Safran‘s new DCU, Muschietti responded with uncommon honesty. “We would love to,” said Muschietti before adding, “We can’t speak about those things yet but it feels like a very exciting possibility.“
One has to wonder if Muschietti’s response might offer a glimpse into a way of doing business that has long been modeled online by Gunn. Though Gunn isn’t quick to dish out spoilers, he’s quite consistently been honest and forthcoming and, when neither of those is possible for whatever reason, he typically notes that he can’t talk about the topic at the moment. In the cast of The Brave and the Bold, it’s a very real possibility that while Muschietti is in line to helm the project, he hasn’t closed a deal just yet. Even if he has, nobody could argue that stating he can’t talk about the project just yet is a worse choice than denying it outright only to be revealed as the director down the road. Let’s hope this newfangled trend of telling the truth catches on in superhero circles.
For some time now, rumors have swirled that the fourth installment of the Captain America franchise would not release under the title Captain America: New World Order. Now, a new subtitle for the film has been revealed via Anthony Mackie‘s Instagram.
As seen on the chairs of Mackie and co-star Harrison Ford, the film will now be released as Captain America: Brave New World. The previous subtitle certainly carried with it some problematic sociopolitical connotations that are absent in the new, if not somewhat underwhelming and unexciting, subtitle. Of course, if the film is good, nobody will really care what the subtitle was. For example, recall all the hype and buildup around what the fourth Avengers film would be subtitled and the online hysteria when it was revealed to be Endgame. 4 years hence, nobody seems to care much that Endgame was the subtitle.
Brave New World is rumored to center around the governments of the world–and some non-governmental entities–working to win the race to harvest Adamantium from the corpse of Tiamut the Celestial. The film will also feature the debut of the Serpent Society and see the return of a pair of characters who haven’t been seen in the MCU since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk: Tim Blake Nelson‘s Samuel Sterns andLiv Tyler‘s Betty Ross.
Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World is still scheduled to land in theaters on May 3, 2024.
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