With The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey in like to direct, Disney looks to be moving full speed ahead in preparation for the studio’s next live-action reimagining, Tangled. With a script in place from Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who worked with Disney-owned Marvel Studios on Thor: Love and Thunder, the studio has already reportedly begun seeking out stars to fill out the cast of the film, with Kathryn Hahn and Jennifer Lopez already having been rumored as potential candidates to fill the role of Mother Gothel.
Hahn’s portrayal as the MCU’s wicked witch, Agatha Harkness, has fans believing she’d be the perfect fit for the role of Tangled‘s own power-hungry crone. Now, a second Marvel Cinematic Universe star has had her name thrown in the ring to potentially join Hahn in the upcoming project.
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Florence Pugh, who is set to lead this summer’s Thunderbolts* for Marvel Studios, is considered a “front-runner” to land the lead role of Rapunzel in Disney’s currently undated Tangled reimagining.
Of course, being the front-runner and landing the role are two very different things; however, Pugh‘s working relationship with Disney has been very beneficial for both parties. As the lead in this July ‘s Thunderbolts*, Pugh, who joined the MCU in 2021’s Black Widow, will continue her rise as one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars.
We have a new system behind-the-scenes at Marvel Studios. We’re more like a traditional studio now. We’re developing more than we actually will produce.
-Brad Winderbaum
In the case of Strange Academy, Marvel Studios insider Daniel Richtman recently reported that Winderbaum and his team had given the project the green light which could mean work on the series could get underway this year. Now, another insider has come forward with some information that calls to mind a two-year old rumor about the series.
According to social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, Wong, the MCU’s current Sorcerer Supreme, will serve as the star of Strange Academy. Additionally, Benedict Cumberbatch will reportedly have a “small role” in the series, if he appears at all.
Though the Sorcerer Supreme has proven himself, having Benedict Wong as the lead would certainly seem to indicate that the studio sees Strange Academy as somewhat of a light-hearted adventure. Despite facing off with the Scarlet Witch and her demonic minions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wong has far more often served as comedic relief. And while the series would feature a fairly large cast of kids and offer the potential for cameos from all types of MCU magic users, it could also allow for the return of the vacuous Madisynn King, Wong’s bestie last seen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Created by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos, Strange Academy was first published by Marvel Comics in 2020 and focused on a new generation of magic users being trained in the mystic arts at a Hogwarts-esque school opened by Stephen Strange. Classes at Strange Academy were led by an array of Marvel mages including Doctor Voodoo, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, Magik and, yes, Agatha Harkness and covered a range of topics from astral projections to interdimensional geography to xenoanatomy.
With the additions of David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham, DC Studios’ Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow has begun to build its supporting cast. Though original reports of their casting indicated that Krumholtz and Beecham were playing Supergirl’s parents, it was unclear if the pair alhad signed on to play Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, the Kryptonian parents of Kara, or Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, her adoptive Earth parents. That’s no longer in question.
Following the trade report, Krumholtz took to Instagram to celebrate the news, calling it a “mindblowing privilege” to join the DCU while clarifying he had been cast as Zor-El.
Based on Tom King‘s limited comic book series of the same name, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow follows Kara across the galaxy as she attempts to find a renewed purpose. It’s unclear just how one-to-one DC Studios’ adaptation of the book will be but Krumholtz‘s role as Zor-El may be relatively small if it’s similar to the role played by the character in King’s work. In the comic, Zor-El and Alura appeared as Kara recalled her final days in Argo City as her father prepared to send her away to save her life.
Given that Superman will not include Kal-El ‘s origin story, it’s possible that Kara’s memories of her home planet may be the first time it is seen in the DCU. It’ll also be interesting to see what James Gunn and Peter Safran have in mind for Zor-El, who in recent years has become a cyborg under the control of Brainiac.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is expected in theaters on June 26, 2026.
Filming on DC Studios’ second film, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, got underway in the UK this week and it didn’t take long for news to escape Leavesden. According to THR’s Borys Kit, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham have joined the production as the parents of Milly Alcock‘s Kara Zor-El.
It’s unclear if Krumholz and Beecham are teaming up as Kara’s Earth parents, Jeremiah and Eliza, or her space mommy and daddy.
If it’s the latter, Krumholz will portray Zor-El, a Kryptonian scientist who is also the uncle of Kal-El, aka Superman. After surviving the destruction of his home planet, Krypton, the character has evolved into an antagonist to his daughter and nephew in recent years. Beecham would then fill the role of Alura In-Ze who also survived Krypton’s apocalypse and has also caused her own share of problems over the years despite working mostly as a force for good. If the actors are playing Supergirl’s birth parents, the film’s plot could contain some Brainiac bread crumbs.
Given the lack of clarity on THR’s report, however, the former option must be considered as well and, in one particular way, would be interesting. If Krumholtz and Beecham are set to pay Kara’s adoptive Earth parents, it could bring into play one of DC Comics more interesting clandestine organizations, the Department of Extranormal Operations. Tasked with tracking metahumans on Earth, that D.E.O. recently reactivated in the comics.
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is set for a June 26, 2026 theatrical debut.
Lucasfilm’s plan to bring Star Wars back into theaters with The Mandalorian and Grogu has come under fire recently. Following reports that Star Wars: The Clone Wars bounty hunter, Embo, would play a key role in getting the action underway, Star Wars fans did what Star Wars fans do best: rage. Setting aside the fact that Din Djarin’s bounty hunting career is what allowed him to cross paths with Grogu, it’s obvious that there’s more to the 2026 film than the Din/Embo arc as the project stands to be pivotal in Dave Filoni‘s New Republic era of stories.
Indeed, the Shadow Council, the Imperial deep state first seen in Season 3 of The Mandalorian, will have a presence in The Mandalorian and Grogu as will the New Republic, which will certainly be bracing for war once Thrawn’s return from exile on Peridea is discovered. And while the New Republic leadership has been largely faceless outside of a few brief appearances by Chancellor Mon Mothma, Senator Xiono and a few nameless fill ins, a new report indicates that The Mandalorian and Grogu will introduce a high-ranking New Republic military official.
According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Sigourney Weaver is set to portray a new character, New Republic Colonel Bishop, in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Fans of the Alien franchise will immediately catch the reference to it in Weaver’s new character’s name. Bishop is the synthetic Science Officer who accompanied Weaver’s Ripley and the USCMC to LV-426 in 1986’s Aliens.
Though Sneider didn’t share further details on Bishop’s role in The Mandalorian and Grogu, Bespin Bulletin added that the character has “little screen time” in the project. Weaver seems like too big of a star to fill such a small role. Should she survive, perhaps Bishop will appear in future New Republic-set projects as a key player in the war against Thrawn and the Shadow Council.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will hit theaters on May 22, 2026.
2025 is primed to be a monster year for Marvel. Marvel Studios will roll outCaptain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps; likewise, Marvel Television will roll out a trio of projects: Daredevil Born Again, Ironheart and Wonder Man; finally, Marvel Animation will have its biggest year yet with Your Friendly Neighborhood, Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies set to stream. For a studio looking to cut back on content, 9 new projects in 12 months seems incongruous with its stated intent.
With six of those nine projects releasing on Disney Plus, fans will have plenty to keep them occupied at home while they wait to head back to theaters. However, Disney+ is not Marvel + and it has been in Disney’s best interest to give each project from its major production studios its own air to breathe. And so, as hyped as MCU fans are for Daredevil: Born Again, Star Wars fans are equally excited for Season 2 of Andor. And since many of those fans overlap, the best way to put up big numbers is to make sure the series compete with one another as little as possible. And in order to make that happen, Marvel Animation’s first 2025 project will roll out on an unprecedented release schedule.
According to multiple outlets, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will follow its two episode debut on January 29th with consecutive three-episode drops on February 5th and 12th before wrapping up on February 19th with the final two episodes.
Marvel Animation's 'YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN' Release Schedule on Disney+:
You’re going to see some familiar faces — and if you’re a fan of Chameleon, you’re going to see a few of his faces. You’re also going to see Scorpion, as well as a few characters who may seem new, like Speed Demon or Butane. We have a huge rogues gallery to play with, and so we’re looking forward to putting some of them in the forefront.
Coincidentally, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will complete its run on the same day that Pixar, another of Disney’s major production houses, debuts Win or Lose, the studio’s first-ever original streaming series. In order to make that work, while also not sharing space with Daredevil: Born Again, episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be released according to Marvel Studios’ most unique schedule to date. While a two-episode premier has become the expected norm, the studio has always followed that up with a “one-episode-per-week” pace. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, originally developed as a canonical adventure, looks to be the canary in the coal mine for Marvel as they look to fit several highly-anticipated projects into D+’s 2025 schedule.
With three films in theaters in six months, Marvel Studios will look to continue to reestablish box office supremacy in 2025. The first film, Captain America: Brave New World is projected to have a very solid opening weekend with some estimates going as high as $100M+ when factoring in the potential President’s Day haul. Though Thunderbolts* might present as a bit of an unknown, fan response to the first trailer for the film was overwhelmingly positive, putting it on track for a strong opening as well. And in this or any reality, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with its other worldly cast, will almost certainly blow up the box office.
Looking ahead into 2026, the picture remains cloudy with only two films set (Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4) and two other scheduled release dates still awaiting titles. As Marvel Studios’ Parliament continues to work behind the scenes on matching films to those dates, a new report has revealed two projects that look as though they’re destined for 2027 releases. Insider Daniel Richtman recently reported that Destin Daniel Cretton‘s long-developing sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the third installment in the Doctor Strange franchise are expected to begin production next year, putting them in like to fill the studio’s two unclaimed 2027 release dates. However, should those two films indeed be intended for release in 2027, their presence may actually make those waters a bit murkier.
As it stands, Marvel Studios has three theatrical dates earmarked for 2027 and two of them have always been presumed to be intended to be post-Multiverse Saga projects. Avengers: Secret Wars is currently slated to kick off 2027 on May 7th with additional films set to hit theaters on July 23rd and November 5th. However, both Doctor Strange and Shang-Chi have always been believed to be major players in the Multiverse Saga and while that plot has certainly evolved since the studio moved on from Jonathan Majors‘ Kang, it’s hard to believe the characters have been completely erased from the outline and that Marvel couldn’t use a couple more films between Spider-Man 4 and Avengers: Secret Wars to help set the stage for the final chapter of the saga. Additionally, as explained by Kevin Feige, the next saga will revolve heavily around the X-Men and while any Marvel character could easily slide in and out of those stories, leading off the new phase with two films starring non-mutant characters would be an odd decision, even for modern day Marvel Studios.
If all the above points can be considered reasonable possibilities, an intriguing conclusion can be inferred from the report, should it indeed be accurate. If Shang-Chi 2 and Doctor Strange 3 are on track to hit theaters in 2027, Marvel Studios may be considering pushing the release date of Avengers: Secret Wars to November 5th, allowing the Shang-Chi and Strange sequels to provide some requisite exposition for the finale. As it stands, Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled to begin principal photography in the spring of 2026 but that could easily be changed to accommodate a greater need for additional story telling. Considering that Stephen McFeely is reportedly still writing scripts for both Doomsday and Secret Wars, it’s not too difficult to believe he’s hit some narrative potholes that could be filled by Shang-Chi and Strange films.
Of course, it’s easy to argue that those films aren’t written yet either but that may not be entirely accurate. Cretton has been working on the second Shang-Chi film for over three years and while he would certainly need to alter his original ideas, it could easily be production ready by next spring. Doctor Strange 3 is likely another story entirely given that there’s been no public acknowledgement of any momentum building behind that project; however, should Marvel Studios have its sights set on a July 2027 release for that film, there’s plenty of time to pair creatives together and build a script.
Though bulilt on speculation with a foundation in unconfirmed reports, the movie is still worth contemplating, especially because it would likely make things easier for Marvel Studios on a couple fronts. On one hand, two more films in the Multiverse Saga would provide not only more narrative fabric through which to tell a complete story and get more heroes involved; on the other hand, it would allow Marvel to end the Multiverse Saga in 2027 and start fresh with the “Mutant Saga” in 2028, where three dates have already been set aside for untitled films (February 18th, May 5th and November 10th). Then again, Marvel Studios has seemed eager to accelerate the end of the Multiverse Saga, so the Feigester and crew may just choose to get it over with in May 2027 and move on.
And there’s the threat. And it’s out there and now it’s out there. There’s a multiversal threat. In the same way that when the MCU first went cosmic many years ago, there was the teed up threat of Thanos. Now it’s probably a matter of you’re setting up some multiversal threats on the board. Whether it’s Kang, Incursions, whatever. It’ll be interesting to see how all those things come together.
Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us. You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, “Well, that’s a story we need to tell.”
-Anthony Russo on Avengers: Secret Wars
While many believed Doctor Strange 3 would provide a good chunk of the exposition necessary to get fans ready for the final act of the Multiverse Saga, it’s possible that writer Stephen McFeely has incorporated that into Strange’s arc in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. If that’s the case, Doctor Strange 3 will likely be one of the first films in the studio’s next saga which is expected to be heavily focused on mutants.
After getting derailed by a string of projects that did not move up to expectations, Marvel Studios Multiverse Saga seems to be getting back on track. Deadpool & Wolverine brought audiences back to theaters last summer and following Agatha All Along, Marvel Television looks to have another hit on its hands in Daredevil: Born Again which will kick off Marvel’s packed live-action slate. With three films and three live-action streaming series set to release, MCU fans will have plenty of content to keep them busy in 2025.
The creatives at Marvel will find themselves busy in 2025 as well. After pivoting to Doctor Doom as the big bad of the Multiverse Saga, the studio’s Phase 6 lineup was thrown into disarray. Some projects were cancelled, others delayed, some reworked and a few look to be in limbo. However, as 2024 came to a close, the Marvel Parliament started to chisel away at the 2026 theatrical slate, working with Sony to schedule Spider-Man 4 as the immediate follow up to Avengers: Doomsday.
Bringing Tom Holland‘s Spidey back to the screen was clearly a priority for the studios for some time and with time running out on the Multiverse Saga, getting the fourth Installment in the MCU-set Spidey franchise in theaters for 2026 ultimately jeopardized Marvel Studios’ plans for another highly-anticipated sequel, Shang-Chi 2. The decision to tap Destin Daniel Cretton to helm Spider-Man 4meant that production on the sequel to 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, expected to begin in 2025, would be delayed indefinitely. However, a new report from a trusted insider has revealed that the studio is looking to get Shang-Chi 2 up and running sooner than we thought.
According to Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is currently planning to begin production on the untitled Shang-Chi sequel some time in 2026.
While we were shooting [Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings], we were throwing around joke ideas of what a sequel could be. There are a lot of ideas that we had in the opener, and some of those ideas are planted as questions, by the end of our movie. There are things that we potentially want to explore in the future.
Given the shift in the Multiverse Saga’s direction, it’s safe to assume the plot of Shang-Chi 2 might need to be adjusted, making a 2026 start of production a reasonable possibility for Cretton following his work on Spider-Man 4. The studio currently has two untitled films slated for release in 2027 on July 23 and November 5, meaning both would follow Avengers: Secret Wars which is expected to be the Multiverse Saga finale. Of course, it’s possible that the studio may choose to rearrange those releases should stories, such as whatever they decide on for Shang-Chi 2, need to be told to add to the overall narrative of the saga.
The decision by Marvel Studios to canonize Netflix’s Daredevil series as part of the creative overhaul on Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again meant that the adventures of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen weren’t the only stories retconned into MCU continuity. Indeed all of Netflix’s series made the jump because of the interconnected nature of their stories and the shared experiences of the title characters in The Defenders. So while Matt Murdock, Wilson Fisk, Frank Castle, Benjamin Pointdexter and others will share the screen again in Daredevil: Born Again, Jessica Jones, Colleen Wing, Danny Rand, Misty Knight and Luke Cage are out and about somewhere in New York City. And while fans of those characters wait to learn what’s next for them, the first trailer for the new series acknowledges another one of the Defenders for the first time.
As can be seen around 28 seconds into the trailer, during a New Year’s Eve gathering in Times Square in which Wilson Fisk is seen giving a speech, one of the billboards just above the advertisement for Rogers: The Musical serves as an advertisement for Harlem’s Paradise.
Founded in the 1960s by Buggy Stokes and Quincy McIver, Harlem’s Paradise served as headquarters for the Stokes Crime Family and was a key location in both seasons of Luke Cage. As of the series finale, ownership of the club had been passed on to Cage following the death of Mariah Dillard.
Harlem’s Paradise is the place where hip-hop, funk, jazz & rock and roll all come back to the mothership. It’s a party, y’all.
Though the billboard is advertising the club through a quote, the lettering on the sign is unclear. However, the nod to the location is an easy way to incorporate one of the key settings of the Defenders-verse into the MCU without making any major changes to the world previously created or painting themselves into a corner.
Daredevil: Born Again debuts on Disney Plus on March 4th.
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