Who do you trust? Unless it’s Patti LuPone, it’s probably not any actor or actress rumored to be part of a Marvel Studios project. Over the years, the lying and dissembling has grown farcical as the talent attached to projects roll out the same tired denials. Of course, every now and then, someone rumored to be boarding a project actually isn’t; however, given the growing number of denials, it’s often hard for fans to discern who they can trust…especially when it’s someone they’d like to see in their favorite franchise. Now it looks like fans are facing another decision as Secret Invasion’s debut approaches.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Chloe Bennet, who has been rumored to appear in Marvel Studios next big streaming series denied that she’ll be appearing in any Marvel Studios projects. In fact, Bennet said that while she would love to reprise her role as Quake, she’s never been contacted by the studio for a role in any of their projects.
“Of course. Of course, I would be open to it,” said Bennet of the opportunity to return to the role she filled on the ABC series. “Listen, there’s a lot of stuff around that. I so deeply love S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fans because it’s this tenacity that got the show on air to begin with.”
Despite her willingness to suit back up, however, it seems the studio just hasn’t found the right project for her return. “I have not once been approached or asked or involved in anything after I wrapped S.H.I.E.L.D.,” claimed Bennet. “And I am not involved in anything that is coming out. I’ve not been asked, but I would be more than excited to put on the suit again. And, of course, of course, Daisy is a big part of who I am. So I would love to, but I have not been communicated [with] about it.“
For fans who have been around the denial block a time or two, most of what Bennet had to say sounds awfully familiar. Over the past few years, Charlie Cox, Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Majors and Tatiana Maslanyjoined the prestigious list of actors forced to lie to fans despite their involvement in projects being fairly well-known. Has Bennet joined them? Or are all the rumors, hints and teases of her role in Secret Invasion all false? Who do you trust?
Be seeing you…and apparently sooner rather than later. During an earnings call, Lionsgate’s Joe Drake revealed that a fifth installment in the central franchise of the expanding Wickverse was in development. With the streaming series The Continental set to roll out on Peacock in September and the Ana de Armas-led spinoff, Ballerina, hitting theaters in 2024 fans of the wild, assassin-filled universe will have plenty of content to keep them entertained despite what appeared to be the end of John’s story in John Wick 4. It turns out that John may not get to rest after all.
“What is official is that, as you know, Ballerina is the first spinoff that comes out next year,” said Drake. “We’re in development on three others, including five and including the television series, The Continental, which will be airing soon,” he revealed, adding “we’re building out the world and when that five movie comes, it will be organic — will be organically grown out of how we’re starting to tell those stories. But you can rely on a regular cadence of John Wick.”
John Wick 4 debuted in theaters in March of 2023 and opened to a franchise-best first weekend at the box office. Following its debut, director Chad Stahelski indicated that while a fifth film in the series might be an option at some point, he had hoped to let the character enjoy his well-earned respite. It seems as though Lionsgate has other plans for the character and the world that’s been built around him.
As production delays begin to stack up amid the ongoing WGA strike, fans are becoming increasingly concerned that Marvel Studios 2024 slate will be wiped out. While that’s certainly one possibility at this point, there are plenty of other options that are far rosier. With the content-less 2020 still fresh in fans’ minds, it’s worth taking a look at how the dips and dives of 2023 might help dodge a deserted 2024.
The Original Plan
Just over a year ago, Kevin Feige rolled out a massive slate update at SDCC ’22. That slate included an ambitious 2024 plan that included two Phase Five series (Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Daredevil: Born Again), two Phase Five films (Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts) three untitled Phase Six series and one Phase Six film (Fantastic Four).
Ch-ch-ch-changes
By late September 2022, another Phase Five movie was added when Deadpool 3 was officially announced. Just a month later, Blade was given a September 6, 2024 release date, moving Deadpool 3 to November 8, 2024 and pushing 2024’s Phase Five film total to 4 and sliding Fantastic Four into 2025.. Bob Iger’s return to Disney further altered the 2024 slate as his new mandates concerning the curation of the company’s streaming content shuffled Marvel Studios’ 2023 plans a bit, pushing Agatha: Coven of Chaos firmly out of 2023 and indefinitely delaying the release of Ironheart.
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to understand that if these projects don’t restart/start production in a reasonable amount of time then they won’t make their 2024 release dates. Could fans be looking at another content-less year in 2024?
Potential New Scenarios
The answer is almost definitely not thanks to streaming. In March, Marvel Studios seemingly accidentally tipped their hand and revealed what looks to be a pretty accurate slate for their LIVE-ACTION series on Disney Plus.Ironheart looks slated to kick off 2024 and there have been no reports that any reshoots or additional photography have been or will be impacted by the strike. It seems most of the work being done on that series is in post-production VFX and it’ll be ready to stream whenever Iger gives it the go-ahead. Principal photography on Agatha: Coven of Chaos should be wrapped by June-ish allowing the show to go into post-production and get ready for a 2024 release. Like every Marvel Studios project, it’s certainly scheduled for a round of reshoots/additional photography and while that likely can’t happen while the strike is ongoing (they would have to have written the reshoots before the strike), they could take place at any time after the strike ends in 2023 or 2024 and still make its way to Disney Plus by mid-2024. Given its nearly year-long shoot, Daredevil: Born Again‘s status is far more tenuous than either of the other two aforementioned projects but so far, so good. It’s also set to be an 18-episode series with recent rumors suggesting it will be broken into two, nine-episode chunks and it’s safe to say that given the shooting schedule, they’ve probably filmed 4 or 5 of those episodes already. While it’s no sure thing, the first nine episodes could be ready to roll for late 2024.
It would seem there is far less certainty surrounding the studio’s 2024 theatrical offerings. Captain America: New World Order has completed a significant chunk of its production and, so far, has not been shut down as a result of the strike; however, reshoots are built-in and as mentioned above will not be done until after the strike. It’s currently set for a May 3, 2024 release, so unless the strike goes on through the end of the year, that date is manageable, though it’s beginning to look like the studio won’t have to hold it.
Even though the delay was just announced, it’s already tough to imagine that Thunderbolts will hit its July 26th, 2024 theatrical release. The strike would likely have to end in the next 4-6 weeks to allow the project to avoid the sort of rushed post-productions that have had Marvel Studios in the spotlight for the last year. Should the strike go on longer than that, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Captain America: New World Order being moved to July and having Thunderbolts move as well. But where would it land?
That answer might depend on the content of Deadpool 3. Should production on that project go on uninterrupted, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be ready to hit theaters by next July, should Captain America: New World Order be able to make its May 3, 2024 date. Whether or not the plot of Deadpool 3 is reliant on the other projects currently slated to release before it or not is another consideration and one that we can’t answer at present. However, if it can be moved and it does continue production, it could be ready for July or September, stepping in where it once was before Blade moved there.
While there’s no guarantee, Captain America: New World Order and Deadpool 3 are currently the best bets to release in 2024. The statuses of Thunderbolts and Blade, however, are inextricably tied to the timeline of the resolution of the WGA strike. Films that aren’t filmed can’t be released, so it is currently impossible to know when they’ll hit theaters. However, should the strike end by mid-to-late July, it’s possible that both films could still end up in 2024 with one taking the September 6th date and the other taking November 8th. Which one ends up where would simply then become a matter of which one is further along in production.
All that is contingent on Marvel Studios even feeling as though they need to stay on track with their current scheduled dates which is in no way certain because they are hardly the only studio whose slate will be impacted by the strike. Dates could shuffle at any time which is something we just can’t predict but if we assume they keep the four dates, dozens of scenarios unfold with a few that seem more likely than others.
Best Case Scenario
Q1-Ironheart May 3-Captain America: New World Order Q2-Agatha: Coven of Chaos July 26th-Deadpool 3 September 6-Blade/Thunderbolts Q4-Daredevil: Born Again November 8-Thunderbolts/Blade
A Scenario That Is Neither Best Case Nor Worse Case
Q1-Ironheart May 3-Captain America: New World Order Q2-Agatha: Coven of Chaos July 26th-Deadpool 3 Q4-Daredevil: Born Again
Not Quite Worst Case Scenario
Q1-Ironheart July 26-Captain America: New World Order Q3-Agatha: Coven of Chaos
While the last scenario seems improbable, it’s still on the table. Should the strike stretch out across the summer and into the fall, Marvel Studios will have to greatly rethink their slate. Should the strike end before SDCC ’23, it’s possible that Kevin Feige will stroll on stage with an updated slate; however, given how much things have changed since last year, how seriously should fans even take it?
Downtown Atlanta was recently transformed into Chinatown as part of production on Marvel Studios Captain America: New World Order as revealed through photos shared by Christopher Oquendo. The photographer was back at the location again and among some high-quality close-up looks at the set is a very interesting location that could indicate a major twist to what already seems like a packed plot.
— Christopher Oquendo (@Christo45951886) May 25, 2023
As part of the Chinatown set, a restaurant reveals that the scenes being shot on location are set on Canal St. in Chinatown. While it’s much more likely that it’s not an important detail, Canal St. has actually been an important location in the pages of Marvel Comics in the past as the location has served as a hideout for The Hand and The White Dragons, a gang under the control of Mister Negative.
The addition of either Mister Negative or The Hand to the film, which is already packed full of villains, would be shocking. However, given so little is known about the plot of the film and Marvel Studios’ history with mashing up characters, it’s not out of the question that the Serpent Society is somehow tied to one or the other. Of course, it’s far more likely that it’s just a nice touch on a setpiece that may not even make the final cut of the film but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Captain America: New World Order hits theaters on May 3, 2024.
Disney’s live-action reimagining of the beloved 1989 animated musical fantasy, The Little Mermaid, has been fairly warmly received as one of the studio’s best efforts in their quest to remake every animated film in their catalog. Rather than directly adapting the animated classic shot-for-shot, director Rob Marshall and the production team, which included Lin-Manuel Miranda and John DeLuca, looked for ways to make the live-action version a “completely original confection” and a “massive musical” that still captured the heart of the story.
For the new film, that meant more music, bigger swings and helping the stars of the project find their comfort zone and their voices to make the audience feel like they were seeing something new. That’s no small task given that not only is it a reimagining of one of Disney’s most popular films but also based on a nearly 200-year-old fairy tale. Surprisingly enough, as Marshall revealed at the global press junket for The Little Mermaid, it was revisiting Hans Christian Andersen‘s 1837 story that helped the production team find the foundation of their film in one very famous quote.
But a mermaid has no tears and therefore she suffers so much more
“Well, it’s so interesting ’cause the first thing that John and I did when we actually started this journey was to go back to the Hans Christian Andersen tale to understand where it all came from,” said Marshall of the famous quote that is shown on screen as the film opens. “We were immediately aware of how this was a very contemporary story already in the 1830s about this young girl who feels displaced and wants to, you know, go on a journey of self-discovery, you know, to another world. And so, for me, [clears throat] the quote, to be able to find something from Hans Christian Andersen specifically, so we sort of ground this in where it came from, was important to us, to find something from him. And this, you know, it’s the most sort of famous quote from the tale.”
That quote turned into one of the film’s prevalent themes and was emoted wonderfully by Ariel actress Halle Bailey. According to Marshall, adapting the story to live-action actually aided in realizing the Andersen quote. “And I have to say that because we were bringing, I think, more depth and emotion, which you can in a live-action piece. You know, that’s what this genre helps you do,” he explained. The idea that, because a mermaid has no tears, and she feels more, she suffers more, it felt to us like it set the table for this more emotional telling of the story.” Bailey’s performance has been roundly praised by critics as elevating the overall quality of the film, including the strong emotional performance delivered when the character is without a voice. Audiences can see Bailey’s emotional performance for themselves as The Little Mermaid is now previewing in theaters ahead of tomorrow’s wide release.
Given the spotlight is always shining on the next big Marvel Studios project, surprise castings are a rare occurrence. While most lead roles are scooped by trades, even supporting roles are big news and are often leaked by scoopers and/or smaller sites. Captain America: New World Order pulled off that rare feet by casting the members of the villainous Serpent Society in complete secrecy. Had it not been for photographer Christopher Oquendo staking out the Brown Airport location for the film, the revelation that WWE Superstar Seth Rollins had been cast as one of the Serpents may have stayed a surprise until the film’s 2023 release. While Rollins was easily identified, the identity of his female counterpart in the scene, Serpent Society member Diamondback, has remained a mystery…until now.
Murphy’s Multiverse can share that Alita: Battlestar and Maze Runner actress Rosa Salazar as the actress who joined Rollins on set as Diamondback. While Salazar’s reps did not respond to inquiries about her status on the project, we are confident that she is attached to it.
The Serpent Society’s role in the film is unclear but in the comics, they’ve served as antagonists to Captain America more than once. As for Salazar’s Diamondback, her history with Captain America is a little more complicated. Though a member of a criminal organization, Diamondback once dated Steve Rogers so her presence in the film could mean interesting things on the horizon for Sam Wilson.
Captain America: New World Order is currently slated to hit theaters May 3, 2024.
A lot seems to be going on in Captain America: New World Order. Sam Wilson’s first solo feature film as Cap will see Harrison Ford‘s Thaddeus Ross become President of the United States, the return of Tim Blake Nelson‘s Samuel Sterns and Liv Tyler‘s Betty Ross, the debut of the Serpent Society and the rumored discovery of Adamantium on the corpse of Tiamut the Celestial. While there’s been no Celestial or Adamantium sightings just yet thanks to a massive set that was reportedly built for the film, much of the rest of the goings on have been captured on film while production has been ongoing around Atlanta.
Photographer Christopher Oquendo, who has recently been very busily scoping out the locations of Captain America: New World Order has once again come through with some photos of a setpiece being assembled in downtown Atlanta. While the location has yet to go live, the photos show a portion of downtown Atlanta being transformed into Chinatown. This won’t be the first or last time that a part of Atlanta has been used as a stand-in for New York City but it is a fascinating location for this project.
— Christopher Oquendo (@Christo45951886) May 24, 2023
With filming not yet having taken place in the new location, there’s no way to be sure just what’s going on in Chinatown. The location has been featured prominently in Daredevil and Spider-Man comics, most recently when the Dragon Lords, Mister Negative and The Hood skirmished. It’s also where the Sons of the Tiger, three martial artists powered by the same jade amulet that gave power to the White Tiger, set up their dojo. None of those characters are known to be in Captain America 4, however, and while the Serpent Society does have ties to New York City, they arent specific to Chinatown. Given Oquendo’s hashtag indicated the shoot will be spoilery, these are definitely worth following up on as soon as the site goes live!
Harrison Ford has made it very clear that Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny will be his final appearance as Dr. Henry Jones Jr. The film, which screened at 2023’s Cannes Film Festival, opens in just over a month and the press tour is already in full swing. In a recent interview with EW’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave an update on what the future holds for the franchise.
One of two iconic characters brought to life by Ford, Indiana Jones has been at the center of five films and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series and according to Kennedy, that’s all there will ever be…for now. “It’s Harrison’s last entry. That’s how we look at the Indy franchise,” said Kennedy. “I mean, truthfully, right now, if we were to do anything, it might be in series television down the road, but we’re not doing anything to replace Indiana Jones. This is it.There are five movies that Harrison Ford did. And Harrison is so specific and so unique to creating this role. We just, Steven [Spielberg] agrees, we just wouldn’t do that.” Perhaps partially fueled by the poor reaction to Alden Ehrenreich replacing Ford as his other iconic character, Han Solo, it seems the decision has been made to leave well enough alone.
While that’s pretty a definitive answer on the future of the character, Kennedy’s mention of a potential television series is of note, however. While there may not be more Indiana Jones, the world the character has inhabited over the years included many colorful characters and big-name IPs are hard to come by in Hollywood. Lucasfilm has already dipped its creative toes into that Indy IP stream once, beginning development on a streaming series centered around Indy’s mentor, Abner Ravenwood; however, that project was reportedly abandoned as the studio refocused its efforts on Star Wars. For now, it seems that fans of the character will have to make do with what’s out there and enjoy Ford’s last ride.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters on June 30th.
Disney’s live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid has opened to largely positive reviews most of which sing the praises of Halle Bailey, who bring Ariel to life with “the innocence and eye for mischief that the story needs to propel its plot forward.” Bringing one of Disney’s most beloved princesses to life was no small task but it is one that director Rob Marshall believed Bailey capable of immediately upon meeting her.
“I mean, here’s the thing. The first actor we saw for this role was Halle,” said Marshall. “The first thing she did is she came in and sang for us. And she sang that song [Part of Your World]. She shut her eyes and started to sing the song. And I thought, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” explained the director who most recently worked with Disney to helm 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns and 2014’s Into the Woods, two films which also featured plenty of singing.
However, while both Marshall’s prior films with the studio included familiar tunes, “Part of Your World” is iconic even among Disney’s vaunted catalog but according to the director, Bailey’s rendition was so good, that he knew he had found his Ariel after just a few minutes. “I just thought she’s so deeply connected to what she’s singing about. It’s so emotional. It’s so beautiful,” said Marshall before adding, “And I thought, [laugh] oh my gosh, we’ve been doing this for five minutes. Have we found Ariel?”
Despite being blown away by Bailey, Marshall stayed true to the casting process, auditioning “hundreds” of other actors for the part before returning to Bailey. “But then we saw hundreds of other actors after that,” said Marshall. Bailey continued to move through each round of cuts, according to the director, before it finally became clear the job was hers. “Halle kept coming back in,”he said, “and we saw every ethnicity. We saw everybody. And she claimed the role for hers.” Audiences will have a chance to catch Bailey’s performance for themselves soon as The Little Mermaid opens in theaters on May 26th.
Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are suiting back up as Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey, bad boys for life who ride together and die together, in a fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise. The new film, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, was announced earlier this year and has been filming in Atlanta for some time. With production drawing to a close, a new title has emerged for the project.
Following up on incorporating Burnett and Lowrey’s motto (we ride together, we die together…bad boys for life) into the title of the third film in the series, Bad Boys for Life, the fourth film in the franchise will be called Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
While there’s no release date for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, it seems safe to say the wait for it will not be as long as the wait between the second and third films in the franchise. When El Arbi and Fallah resurrected the series in 2020, it had been 17 years since Michael Bay‘s Bad Boys II had been in theaters. With the new film set to wrap production later this Summer, it seems likely that Sony will roll the fourth feature film into theaters some time in 2024.
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