Marvel Animation’s What If…? spinoff, Marvel Zombies, was recently given a new, earlier release date that will see it hit D+ well ahead of Spooky Season. The four-episode TV-MA mini-event was originally developed as a movie before being broken into four parts and according to director Bryan Andrews, it will deliver on its premise and unleash “a lot of insanity.” And now, thanks to an updated Disney press release, a new synopsis for the story has been revealed.
Spinning right out of the ending of “What If…Zombies?”, which saw Spider-Man, Black Panther and the head of Ant-Man travel to Wakanda where zombie Thanos awaits, the event series will introduce additional surviving heroes to the mix including Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Shang-Chi and Yelena Belova. The new press release confirms that Paul Rudd will return to voice Scott Lang and that Wyatt Russell and Tessa Thompson also lent their voices to the project.
After the Avengers are overtaken by a zombie plague, a desperate group of survivors discover the key to bringing an end to the super-powered undead, racing across a dystopian landscape and risking life and limb to save their world.
-Official Synopsis for Marvel Zombies
Starring Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Hailee Steinfeld, Tessa Thompson, Dominique Thorne, Iman Vellani and Todd Williams, Marvel Zombies will debut on D+ on September 24th.
By choosing not to put together a big Hall H presentation at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios seemed content letting Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps do its talking this Summer. Both films were a hit with critics and fans and generated plenty of discussion; however, with a year-long wait until the next MCU film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, hits theaters, there will need to be some additional topics of conversation. And while production on Destin Daniel Cretton‘s Spidey film has been making headlines, it’s likely to move inside for a significant chunk of time, disappearing from the spotlight. That leaves Marvel Animation’s Marvel Zombies and Marvel Television’s Wonder Man on the docket and, so far, neither have drawn much interest from fans. So, what can Marvel Studios do to make some noise?
Without its every-other-year D23 convention on the calendar, it looked as though the studio may have intended to go the rest of the year without showing off its future slate; however, over the past week, the revelation that the studio will have a presence at a pair of events has provided some hope for a look at Marvel’s plans for 2026!
First up, Destination D23
Destination D23 is a Disney fan event, specifically a smaller, biennial event held in Walt Disney World that alternates with the larger, flagship D23 Expo. This year, it’s taking place from August 29-31 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. The event offers fans a chance to celebrate Disney’s past, present, and future through exclusive presentations, behind-the-scenes looks at upcoming projects, special guests, and unique shopping experiences. On Saturday, August 30th, the Walt Disney Studio’s Showcase will give fans in attendance “an exclusive look at the movies fans love, and a glimpse into what to look forward to from Disney’s film studios,” which, of course, includes Marvel Studios.
While Marvel has not been confirmed to have a presence, it is possible that the event will include an appearance by Kevin Feige. And with no films on the slate until next year, the panel could contain some information about Avengers: Doomsday, which remains in production in the UK.
New York, Neeeeeew Yoooooork…Comic Con
Held at the Javits Center from October 9-12, NYCC will be “Four jam-packed days of pop culture, film and TV studios, studio and brand activations, comics, celebs, authors, voice actors, panels, and geeky goodness right here in NYC. And most importantly, a home for heroes, villains, and nerds to be accepted and embraced,” and Marvel Studios WILL be there.
On October 11th, fans are invited to “join special guests for a look behind the scenes at Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ shows from Marvel Television and Marvel Animation.” With Marvel Zombies streaming on September 24th, only Wonder Man remains on the 2025 slate. It is possible–perhaps even likely–that Marvel uses the panel to roll out the first full trailer for that project but that’s almost certainly not all that they’ll get up to.
With Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again set to hit D+ in March, Marvel could wow the NYCC crowd with a first look at the upcoming episodes. Additionally, given Marvel Animation’s presence, a look at Season 2 of X-Men ’97 and/or Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could be in order. It’s possible the studio could also provide a first look at the Paul Bettany-led Vision series and reveal additional animated projects in the works.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have arguably done as much to build the Star Wars mythology and fandom as any projects made since George Lucas‘s original trilogy. Created by Dave Filoni—who has since become Lucasfilm’s Chief Creative Officer–the series introduced original characters and have become springboards for stories set in the New Republic Era. Lucasfilm’s latest ongoing series, The Bad Batch, came to an end after its third season, leaving fans without an ongoing series to look forward to and with a mandate issued by Disney President Bob Iger that slowed the company’s major production studios down significantly, there were plenty of concerns that the end of the animated era was near. Fortunately, Filoni sees it differently.
While speaking at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Filoni told fans that animation has hand and will continue to have the support of Lucas, stating that the studio was to produce animated projects for “20 more” years.
I thought my job at Lucasfilm Animation would last about two years – it has now been 20. This is truly possible because of the incredible dedication and hard work of the many talented people who have worked at Lucasfilm Animation. Fans have embraced our work in a way that no one could have predicted – well, maybe one person did. George Lucas always believed in animation and believed in our team. He said, ‘Dare to be great,’ and that’s what we’ve done for the last 20 years. I hope we do it for 20 more.
-Lucasfilm CCO Dave Filoni
The next 20 years of animated action will kickoff in 2026 with Star Wars: Maul- Shadow Lord, which was announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan earlier this year. Set after the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the new series will follow Maul as he “rises again to lead the underworld factions,” and “rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.”
Beyond that, always in motion, the future is but with Filoni serving as its curator, fans have reason for new hope.
In late 2020, Murphy’s Multiverse scooped Marvel Studios’ plans to develop a Nomad project which we deduced would star Chris Evans‘ time traveling Steve Rogers. At the time, the studio had recently revealed plans for Armor Wars, Ironheart and Secret Invasion without ever mentioning Nomad, leaving fans to come to believe the latter was never truly in the works. By 2023, Marvel had still never given any indication of a Nomad project being in the works despite evidence that the studio was still working at it behind the scenes. Now, for the first time, a former Marvel employee has given some insight into the struggles to develop the project while teasing its premise.
Amid a wave of posts on X, X-Men ’97 Season 1 showrunner Beau DeMayo—who was fired from the series in March 2024–explained that Nomad fell apart when the Marvel Parliament member in charge was unable to crack the story because they had not “researched the character and that arc.”
Another fun fact about @MarvelStudios and Kevin’s Parliment. Example, the lead producer on Avengers Infinty War and Endgame had her assistant working overtime reading comics that she was too busy to read.
Same when they started working on NOMAD, which ultimately fell apart… https://t.co/dd5LDHDgwt
DeMayo went on to say that the actions of Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame created a branch of reality in which Howard Stark became an evil, Hydra Iron Man and that the studio planned to take inspiration from the novel and Netflix streaming series The Man in High Castle. That would likely have been set during an alternate, dystopian post-World War II era in which Hydra achieved its goals of world domination.
The idea was that Steve going back in time created a branch and they were going to do A Man In The High Castle version where Howard Stark was basically the evil head Iron Man of Hydra from that one arc in the comics.
It’s unclear if Nomad was intended to be a theatrical project or if it was being developed for streaming; however, it sounds as though it would have fit VERY nicely into The Multiverse Saga, creating an alternate Earth on which Hydra, not the SSR and later S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Shortly after Heat Vision was published, Deadline’s Anthony D’Allesandro’s sources disputed THR’s claim, telling the reporter that nobody had “seen Reynolds on set in London, and he isn’t set to appear in the next two Avengers movies.”
Later, The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez supported Kit and Crouch’s original report, adding that his sources shared that “we haven’t seen that last of Deadpool, and will see him next in Avengers: Doomsday. But no one is going on the record about it — yet.”
A pair of prominent social media scoopers threw some additional fuel on the fire. My Time To Shine Hello seemed to confirm Reynolds appearance while Cryptic HD Quality indicated that the Merc with a Mouth would lead his own team in Doomsday, perhaps referring to some of The Void’s Resistance fighters from Deadpool & Wolverine.
Getting Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool into Avengers: Doomsday was a smart move after recent failures. They needed every big hitter they could get in that film. pic.twitter.com/xXjzI2ksJO
To nobody’s surprise, Marvel is sitting out the trade war, choosing not to comment and likely waiting to make it official…or not… whenever they roll out the rest of the cast of the film.
In the latest edition of THR’s Heat Vision, reporters Borys Kit and Aaron Couch shared confirmation that Reynolds‘ Deadpool is set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday in some capacity.
Sources tell Heat Vision that yes, Deadpool will appear in Avengers: Doomsday. (Don’t expect him to actually be joining the Avengers team, though.)
-Heat Vision
After successfully navigating and escaping The Void before saving the Multiverse from Cassandra Nova, it’s hardly surprising that Reynolds‘ “Marvel Jesus” would return alongside the studio’s biggest stars with Incursions now threatening to obliterate the Multiverse.
“I think Deadpool works so well appearing with the X-Men and Avengers, but he always needs to stay an outsider. His ultimate dream is to be accepted and appreciated. But he can’t be accepted.
-Ryan Reynolds
THR’s claim that the appearance will not include Deadpool teaming up with the Avengers is consistent with Reynolds’ wishes for the character’s future in the MCU. “The character trait I love most about Deadpool is that he’s a fanboy. His enthusiasm and longing to be part of a team is really endearing to me. It’s his overarching wish-fulfillment story. But I don’t think he should ever be an Avenger or an X-Man,” explained Reynolds in a 2024 interview. “If he becomes either, we’re at the end.“ It sounds as though the end is not near after all, at least not for the Merc with a Mouth.
With DC Studios hosting the red carpet premiere of Season 2 of Peacemaker and Superman debuting on digital platforms this week, James Gunn has spent quite a bit of time in front of the press and he has rarely remained silent in such situations. As such, it was no surprise that he broke some DCU news earlier this week, though the subject caught nearly everyone off guard.
I’ve already finished the treatment for the next story in what I’ll call the Superman Saga. The treatment’s done–which means a very, very worked out and I’m hopefully going into production on that treatment–and I’m working on that not too far away from today.
-James Gunn
After a recent mention of Gunn’s involvement in a “Super-Family” movie, the DC Studios co-chair revealed he has finished work on a treatment of what he referred to as the next story in the “Superman Saga.” Furthermore, the news that the film would be headed into production “not too far away from today,” certainly turned heads as it could possibly mean a third Superman Family film would be in theaters over a 2 or 3 year span, following this summer’s Superman and next year’s Supergirl. Now, in a new interview with Collider, Gunn has provided some additional information about the treatment and, once again, teased an imminent start of production.
“We’re scheduling it now, ” said Gunn of the production of the new film which will star David Corenswet but will NOT be Superman 2.
“I’m totally done with the treatment. My treatments are incredibly intense. They’re not regular treatments. They’re 60-page treatments with dialogue and everything,” Gunn devulged. “And so, now I’m just turning that into a script. We’re planning out when we’re going to shoot that. It’s going to be much sooner rather than later.“
Though no details have been revealed, fans have come to believe that the project may see Kal-El, his cousin, Kara Zor-El, and her dog, Krypto, team up to take on classic Superman baddie Brainiac. Should DC Studios schedule production sometime in 2025–which would align with the idea of “not too far from today”–it wound stand to reason that casting would get underway soon and that more details about the film would begin to make their way online.
Nearly three years after the first season caught audiences by surprise and became regarded as one of the best shows of 2022, the second season of Peacemaker is almost finally here. Ahead of the August 21st debut, DC Studios held a red carpet premiere on August 13th in New York City and now reactions and reviews have begun to land online.
Through the first 34 reviews, Season 2 of Peacemaker held a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, enough to make sure the project earned the Certified Fresh label. Critics largely praised series star John Cena‘s continued work as the damaged hero Christopher Smith and lauded James Gunn‘s work in making the Multiverse work for the DCU.
Screening packages which were sent out to select members of the media only contained the first five episodes with Gunn claiming that not even his publicist could see the final three because they contained such major spoilers.
While some journalists levied some minor criticisms against the new season, the consensus seems to be that it’s going to be a wildly entertaining, funny and violent ride.
I've seen the first 5 episodes of #Peacemaker s2 & I can't help but love this rag tag band of misguided misfits ♥️ While it's a more moving outing, pondering regret & redemption, Cena & co. are still absolutely hilarious! There's also plenty of DCU connections & shocks throughout pic.twitter.com/ZDNAwUGcFE
I haven't gotten through ALL of my #Peacemaker Season 2 screeners yet, but I'm loving what I've seen so far! Cena brings it with every scene, we get some clarity on the direction of this new universe, and the violence and gore are turned up to an 11. Can't wait for more soon! pic.twitter.com/j5TtnCxHmI
Unless something bizarre happens with the final chapters of Season 2, Peacemaker is shaping up to be another very successful entry in James Gunn’s new DCU.
After two weeks of filming in Glasgow, Scotland, it looks as though production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day is headed back to Buckinghamshire, England where Pinewood Studios serves as the movie’s “home base.” Fans were treated to plenty of photos and videos from the Glasgow set, including some spoilery shots of Frank Castle’s new Battle Van; however, despite rumors to the contrary, the film’s co-star, Sadie Sink, never made it to Glasgow.
Since being cast in March, Sink has been at the center of an insider info war with several scoopers sharing a half-dozen or so potential characters that the Stranger Things star could be playing. Ranging from Jean Grey to a Mary Jane Watson Variant to Gwen Stacy to Mayday Parker, the rumored possibilities all fit with the film’s street-level plot. However, a new rumor from a source not previously part of the info war has shared an intriguing rumor that, if true, could send the plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in an entirely unexpected and wild direction.
Nexus Point News EIC Demet took to X to share word that she’s been told Sink’s character was named–or possibly codenamed–Annabelle Adams. A relatively minor character with only 15 appearances in the pages of Marvel Comics, Adams seems like a boring choice at first; however, the studio could be looking to use her as the host of a far more interesting character.
Hearing Annabelle Adams is the codename(?) for Sadie Sink's character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. pic.twitter.com/zz8fCTVsOr
After being introduced as the love interest of Peter Parker clone Kaine, Annabelle Adams story took a major turn in Edge of the Spider-Verse Volume 2 when she became entangled with the shape shifting deity Shathra.
Should the studio be looking to use Adams as some sort of host for Shathra, the film, featuring The Punisher, Scorpion and several other street-level baddies could take a multiversal turn, potentially tying it to Sony’s animated Spider-Verse franchise ahead of the end of The Multiverse Saga.
Of course, speculation based on a rumor is hardly the best way to go but this latest rumor does share some commonality with some information making its way through some certain circles. If nothing else, it makes for a very different bit of conversation than what’s been taking place.
After an incredibly short 35-day theatrical window, DC Studios Superman is now available to rent or purchase on digital platforms. Though the film hasn’t been pulled from theaters, fans were caught off guard earlier this week when the August 15th digital debut was announced; however, it turns out there’s a pretty logical reason behind the first film in the Superman Saga heading to small screens so soon.
“Well, it’s very complicated, but the truth is it is because of Peacemaker,” Gunn explained in an interview with Screen Rant. The DC Studios co-chair previously stated that “Peacemaker season 2 is very connected to Superman,” though now it sounds as though watching the Man of Steel’s DCU debut may be required reading for the new season of John Cena‘s streaming series.
-Photo courtesy of WB Media Pass
I originally thought Peacemaker was going to be coming out next month [September]. There was a lot of things that are beyond our control, so that Peacemaker is coming out now, and, at the end of the day, I wanted everyone to be able to see Superman that wanted to, even those people who couldn’t get to a theater before Peacemaker. And that’s really the reason for it.
-James Gunn
Reading between the lines of Gunn’s comments, it sounds as though Warner Bros. Discovery made the decision to release Season 2 of Peacemaker in August, scuttling the original plans for Superman‘s digital release. In all reality, the quick turnaround is unlikely to cause much harm to the box office total of the film and will more than likely spur another round of social media hype as fans who hadn’t seen it in theaters check in.
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