The last thing we’ve heard of this production was earlier this month with the report that The End of the F***ing World‘s Alex Lawther has joined the series. Filming has gone on for quite some time as they faced the COVID pandemic throughout production at Pinewood Studios. The Bespin Bulletin goes on to highlight that this was approached as a film with a twelve-episode run. It also required quite a few sets which adds to the production time.
We still know very little about the project besides it’ll act as a prequel to Rogue One. The Disney+ series will explore the time before he joined the resistance. Surprisingly, there are no plans to include his sarcastic sidekick K-2SO even when his inclusion was initially announced. We might get multiple seasons as we explore his first meeting with the droid in the future.
Any anime fans shutters when they hear the word “filler.” In the past, there have been too many story arcs invented for the anime adaptation due to them having already caught up with the manga they are adapting. As they play for time, they rush out story ideas that don’t truly match with the rest of the story, especially when following closely planned projects like One Piece. Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation will likely stick to what was set up in the manga, but there’s one filler arc I believe does deserve attention. It’s time to introduce the G-8 arc into the canon.
In 2014, the anime caught up with the manga and had a void to fill when the Merry Go drops from the sky islands into the open sea. So, the team took a different route and had the team land in the middle of the marine base known as G-8. They had to find a way to survive and infiltrate enemy ranks. There we meet the Marine vice admiral Jonathan and his wife, the head chef Jessica. Unlike most filler storylines, it has left quite the impression on viewers to this day.
As it’s a filler arc, there are no references to this location throughout any other adaptation. Also, the mangaka Eiichiro Oda has been very specific about what chapters he includes, as he loves utilizing parallels. Of course, a non-manga storyline would require some inversion to keep that theme alive and well between the Paradise and New World eras. The team behind the Netflix adaptation will very likely follow his original vision primarily.
Yet, there is the possibility of how they can include the storyline. It would be a waste not to explore one of One Piece‘s most fascinating members o the Marines, Jonathan, and further explore their history. In the anime, he is the protégé of Akainu. So, his inclusion would allow the series to introduce the character earlier on. His first appearance was during the Ohara Incident, which got explored in the Enies Lobby arc. They could also tease the CP-9’s existence and flesh out the Marines. It works as one or a maximum of two episodes after the end of the Sky Island Saga. Plus, the season-ending with them in the middle of a marine fortress would be quite an attention-grabbing way to end.
There’s also an existing parallel to this arc in the manga, which would keep Oda’s type of storytelling alive. This fact gets highlighted by a popular theory of the so-called “checkered fate.” YouTuber Totally Not Mark made the parallel between our favorite pirates’ journey on Jaya, Skypiea, and Long Ring Long Land to the Zou arc. G-8 takes place right before the confrontation with the Foxy Pirates in a Davy Back Fight, which writer Matt Owens has openly stated will get included. In a way, the Zou arc already has parallels to G-8. Rather than escaping a fortress they fell into, they need to enter a mysterious city on top of a wandering giant elephant. Also, it’s not the Strawhat pirates pretending to be someone else to save themselves, but its inhabitants, the Mink tribe, pretending to keep someone safe. It works as a parallel even if loosely. The theory actually would still work with G-8 getting included in the series’ canon.
We don’t know how closely the Netflix series will follow the original manga series, as they have quite a bit of story to bring to life. We might even see game stories or films make it into the series as additional entries due to Netflix not abiding by classic seasonal structures. Yet, it seems unlikely as Oda is heavily involved with the series and, as revealed by Owens, wants the core story to remain. Still, G-8’s inclusion might also help define a seasonal arc, as they can build up to the Water Seven arc and keep the massive Enies Lobby for a follow-up season. It’s also an arc storyline that fits right in with any other arc, for some even more so than the Davey Jone Fights. The big twist of that arc would be a perfect way to end that to keep viewers on their toes. So, one of the best filler arcs ever put to the screen might help the live-action adaptation’s structure and remain within Oda‘s original vision. Also, it would just be great to see more of Jonathan in the series.
Many films have faced various delays throughout the pandemic. One of them was the highlight anticipated sequel to Mission Impossible: Fallout that would continue the story of Tom Cruise‘s Ethan Hunt, who is an agent of the IMF, the Impossible Missions Force. Christopher McQuarrie is continuing his work from the previous two entries, which started with Rogue Nation in 2015, to film the next two installments.
The seventh film is slated to release in May of 2022 with the sequel filming back-to-back for 2023. It looks like production has resumed after a COVID-induced delay with the team driving a steam train off a cliff in the Derbyshire quarry. The Daily Mail shared some photos from the sequence with Twitter user @cherrystreet71 offering a video on the stunt scene in action.
Tom Cruise was reportedly on set and it seems like he may have jumped on the helicopter that can be briefly seen taking off before the train hits the cliff. It’s uncertain if he was on the train, but the actor has been very open about doing his own stunts in these projects. Yet, he may also have just been part of the filming crew trying to get the sequence on film. The Daily Mail shared a picture of him in supposedly all-black alongside the production crew.
The Mission Impossible series has been famous for its use of practical elements, which are spearheaded by its production team and Cruise‘s involvement. It’s not every day you get to witness a train drive off a cliff and it seems to fall into a pit of water, which might be there to dampen the fall. There’s no report if the train was an old steam engine they purchased for this sequence, but it’s likely they built a replica for this sequence. It’s not uncommon, as Kurt Russell famously destroyed the real 150-year old guitar rather than the replica in a sequence of The Hateful Eight.
We’re only two episodes in for Marvel Studios’ first attempt at an animated series with What If…?. The first episode explored a different take on Captain America: The First Avenger with Peggy Carter taking on the Super Soldier serum. In the latest entry, we explored the Guardians of the Galaxy films through T’Challa’s eyes, as he was the one that got picked up by Yondu.
That’s the fun thing about having the What If…? series now; we can explore questions just like that. And I will say, just as season 1 is tapping into films and storylines from the MCU that you’ve seen up to this point, season 2 will definitely incorporate movies from Phase 4.
Kevin Feige
Hopefully, What If..? becomes a long-running series that continues to explore various scenarios as the franchise continues to expand. Sadly, the reference seems to focus primarily on films of Phase 4. So, it’s uncertain if we might even get an alternative scenario from any of the series like WandaVision, Loki, or Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As the franchise continues to expand, it’ll be curious to see how they continue to reinvent their stories and characters.
Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow lawsuit caught the world’s attention when she moved against Disney on their new release model through Disney+ Premier Access. Believing it undermined her film’s success, she made the bold move. After some public shouting matches, Disney made the first move towards the lawsuit with them starting an arbitration against the actress. Not only did it offer some more insight into the actual lawsuit but forced Disney’s hand to release their Disney+ income as a result.
So, the interesting aspect about this lawsuit is that it’s not against Marvel but Disney. It constitutes that Disney allegedly induced the Marvel division to breach the initial contract on a theatre-only release. As such, the subsidiary is excluded from the lawsuit. Johansson proclaims she was promised an exclusive release while Disney states that the film was made available on 9,000 screens with the contract only including above 1,500. Her attorney, John Berlinski, gave the following statement on Disney’s move:
After initially, responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration. Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public? Because it knows that Marvel’s promises to give Black Widow a typical theatrical release ‘like its other films’ had everything to do with guaranteeing that Disney wouldn’t cannibalize box office receipts in order to boost Disney+ subscriptions. Yet that is exactly what happened – and we look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence that provides it.
John Berlinski
The litigation did offer some insight into the film’s current standing on the Disney+ streaming service. Supposedly download retail and streaming garnered the film a total income of $125M. That is on top of the $367M that it made in theaters worldwide. So, the film currently stands at a strong $492M with it definitely passing the $500M mark if counting the streaming income. There is no certainty if it will release in China, which could boost it to pass the $600M mark.
For now, the lawsuit is not a good look for Disney, as they push forward with this strategy. There was the highlight of the contract’s wording benefiting the company than its talent. Plus, the mention of a confirmation that it’ll release in theatres back in 2019 which was before COVID changed everything. Both sides are forced to represent their perspective. So, there’s no real “winner” in these kinds of scenarios. It’ll be curious to see if Disney can take the case out of the public eye moving forward.
UPDATE: Well, it didn’t take long for Cinelinx’s story to get confirmed, as The Hollywood Reporter and Collider both confirmed that Misha Green is, in fact, working on a Black Canary project. Producer Sur Kroll is also set to return. Jurnee Smollett will reprise the role from the Birds of Prey film.
It looks like those rumors surrounding a Jurnee Smollett spin-off from Birds of Preyand the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn might have gotten a bit more traction. Cinelinx’s Jordan Maison shared a story that Lovecraft Country‘s Misha Green may have joined the project to write the script. Their sources share that originally this project was going to be a series before moving to a direct-to-HBO Max film being the focus.
It’s not the first time a DC project is taking this strategy as Batgirl and Blue Beetle are in development as streaming-exclusive projects. If there’s something to these rumors, Jurnee Smollett would return to play the character. There’s no word if these rumors turn out to be true if it’s a direct continuation of the film or even acts as a prequel. We’ve gotten teased her mother had the same ability, which might get explored in more detail in a film.
Yet, if it turns out to be a sequel, they might explore her time with the titular Birds of Prey, which formed at the end of the first film. It’s surprising they wouldn’t give the team a sequel before splintering the group, but next to Harley Quinn, she was one of the big draws for the release. Smollett‘s work on Lovecraft Country also might be a reason why Green may have joined the project. So, we’ll see if there’s an announcement coming our way during this year’s DC FanDome.
Sam Raimi is currently on everyone’s radar for his work on the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel. It’s his first return to direct a feature film since 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful. In the meantime, he’s been working on smaller projects, such as directing episodes of Rake and Ash vs. Evil Dead. He’s also been working a lot as a producer on various projects. He has focused on the horror genre quite a bit throughout his career. We can exclusively share that he is currently also working on a film titled Boy Kills World. Moritz Mohr takes on directing duties, and we can also share that it already has a talent attached with Bill Skarsgård.
The film will follow the story of a man named Boy, whose parents are guerrilla fighters. His loving sister Mina kept him safe in their war-torn country. Tragically, their country’s tyrant, Hilda Van Der Koy, killed his entire family. Seeking revenge, Boy seeks help from a Shaman, who’ll train him in various ways of fighting. Viewers will join Boy on his journey to confronting the person who killed his parents and the grueling training by the shaman.
Skarsgård signed on to appear in John Wick: Chapter 4 and has seen quite a resurgence since he joined 2017’s It. His experience with darker roles is very fitting for this dark story about a kid taking vengeance for the death of his family. Raimi has started venturing out with his role as producer and shows that he continues to explore new avenues even if Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will return him to his horror roots.
It looks like the Armor Wars series has finally found its head writer, as Deadline reports that the Don Cheadle-led project has added Yassir Lester to pen the Disney+ series. The project is still in early development with no director attached to the project currently. Kevin Feige will once again produce the project, as he does with every entry in the franchise. Lester has worked with Cheadle in the Showtime series Black Monday and he made a very promising pitch that has the executives and its main star quite excited.
Armor Wars will continue the Iron Man franchise in an unconventional way. As Tony predicted, it took another ten years before they would catch up with his technology. The time has come and his worst nightmare became a reality, someone got their hands on his tech. There’s also a good chance that the upcoming Ironheart series will tie into it, as Riri Williams builds the most advanced suit since Tony’s armor. She will make her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which might even build upon what we can expect from the Disney+ series.
It’s long overdue that Cheadle‘s War Machine gets a series, and it’ll be interesting to see how it builds upon his past journeys. We don’t know if he might even take over the mantle of Iron Man, as he did in the comics. Tony Stark is known to have passed away during the battle with Thanos, but his appearance could create an interesting dynamic. Yet, it would be better to see him carry on his own mantle to not live in the shadow of the man that gave him the armor.
Just an hour ago, the first Eternals Funko Pop found its way online. It looks like Marvel didn’t waste any time, and the rest got shared by Yahoo. It’s quite an extensive list of Funkos that includes our main cast and the main antagonist, Kro. He’s not the only Deviant in the list, as the four-legged one got included as a GameStop exclusive. The highlight is a jumbo-sized one of their creators, the Celestials, who we saw in the latest trailer towering from the camera’s perspective. Sadly, it looks like the second Celestial showcased is not getting a Funko, but this is just the first wave.
Overall, the designs are unique even among Marvel’s usual fare. Curiously, these Funkos offer a better look at the Deviants, who seem to share a very similar visual with light green feet. Their bodies seem like intertwined tentacles, which might even get a story reason. The film is taking a unique direction from the original comics. So, we might be in for quite a few surprises once the film arrives this November.
The Celestial is definitely a highlight. It looks like it might be the same one we saw in Guardians of the Galaxy but without the giant armor. Perhaps we only truly meet these creators of the galaxy in an opening sequence, which sets us up for the story. Even the Funko Pop tries to highlight their very otherworldly designs and it’s sad we don’t get the green Celestial teased in the trailer as well. It would make for a great collection, but who knows if we’ll get more in the future.
It looks like The Marvel‘s production is going to Italy, as the governor of Tropea, Giovanni Macrì announced that the film will be heading to the Italian town to shoot a scene for the film. It’ll start production there on August 27th but no end date has been announced. They also don’t go into detail about who will be involved with the shoot, as it’s also uncertain if what they are filming will take place in this town, or it might even become the background for an alien planet.
Tropea is a resort located in the province of Vibo Valentiana in Calabria. It even won the “most beautiful village in Italy” award back in 2021. Now what is interesting is that there’s a lot of history surrounding the city, as the location is where Hercules returned after finishing his labors. The Marvel universe is no stranger to the Greek half-god, and it would be unexpected if he appears in the film.
Yet, there’s also the possibility that it connects to Nick Fury. Perhaps he is there on vacation after traveling through space for some time. At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, we see him enjoying a fake beach on a holodeck before revealing he’s on a ship with Skrulls. Perhaps he got tired of it and wanted to enjoy the real thing before meeting back up with Carol. We know Samuel L. Jackson is returning for the film. We’ll see once the film releases, but it’s nice to see Marvel Studios expanding their filming locations.
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