Guardians of the Galaxy have become quite the household name in the industry. No one would’ve believed that the wacky group of space pirates would end up among Marvel Studios’ most famous IPs. Still, director James Gunn made it possible and is now ready to prepare for his third, and probably final entry in the franchise.
While the comics included a wide variety of members throughout the years, Gunn always stuck to a smaller group throughout the films. Naturally, many wondered where some fan-favorites are, especially the character of Nova and the reasoning turns out to be quite simple as revealed in an interview with ComicBook.com’s Phase Zero.
There were a billion versions of Guardians before I came aboard… Yes, I guess maybe some script had Richard Rider in it, but like, there’s a lot of different versions. Yeah, I was never gonna– I never had Richard Rider in anything. He’s just too big of a character and he seemed too… From the beginning, when I came on board Guardians, I didn’t wanna have two human beings. I wanted to have one human being so that he could be surrounded in this world of aliens and then we realize little by little that all of these characters are the only of their kind. They’re the only human beings to them, you know?
James Gunn
The idea of Peter Quill being the only human definitely was the appeal for this story, even if some aliens just looked like normal humans, especially in the Nova Corp. Still, Nova is significant character from the comics that has a lot of history to explore, which might detract from Star-Lord’s fish out of water storyline early on. So, it would be a shame if Nova’s story ended up overshadowing the main focus of the franchise. Luckily, the is already rumored to get his own Disney+ spinoff at some point.
When Jonathan Majors was first announced to be portraying the villainous Kang in Ant-Manand The Wasp: Quantumania, it was revealed that his deal with Marvel Studios set the actor up for several appearances over the course of multiple projects. By the time Majors appeared as He Who Remains in the season finale of the first season of Loki, it started to become clear just how big of a factor Majors was set to be in what ultimately became known as the Multiverse Saga. The aloof He Who Remains, as it turns out, was just one of an infinite number of versions of Kang and, as he said himself, definitely not the worst one. Majors teased that He Who Remains was just one of “many iterations” of Kang that he’d be playing during his tenure in the MCU and now Ant-Man franchise director Peyton Reed has chimed in on which version audiences will see in Quantumania.
“Kang The Conqueror in our movie is a very different character,” from Majors’ He Who Remains, teased Reed in an interview with Empire. “He’s someone who has dominion over time, and he’s a warrior and a strategist,” added Reed, whose description is in lockstep with how Majors has previously described this version of the character. Reed finished the thought by describing this version as, “an all-timer antagonist“, giving fans of the comics (and probably Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heros) a pretty good idea of what to expect.
The third installment in the Ant-Man franchise has always been destined to break the mold of the first two films, which were small, palate-cleansing features that followed Avengers films into theaters. According to Reed, Quantumania “has a profound affect on the MCU” and teases a connection between it and 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, both of which are written by Marvel Comics and Rick and Morty writer Jeff Loveness. “There’s been a lot of discussion about the impact that this appearance of Kang The Conqueror makes,” said Reed, adding “there are big things in store.”
But what about Lang and his Ant-Family? Do they stand a chance against someone like Kang. Reed didn’t give anything away, but does make it clear that Lang is definitely the underdog. “That’s interesting to me: to take the tiniest, and in some people’s minds weakest, Avenger, and put them up against this absolute force of nature.”
Audiences dont’ have to wait too long to find out exactly what happens as Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters in February.
Captain America: Civil War was one of Marvel Studios’ most jam-packed films. Not only did it pay off on the long-gestating hostilities between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, but it also introduced two major new heroes in Black Panther and Spider-Man AND set the stage for both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. A big film, to be sure, and as Marvel Studios Executive Producer and Parliament member Nate Moore revealed it was a major step up from the original pitch for the threequel.
In an interview with Matthew Belloni, Moore let slip that the original pitch for the film revolved around a story arc from the 1970s that was written by Marvel Comics’ legend Jack Kirby: the Madbomb!
So we were developing Captain America 3 and we were [doing] really good. Winter Soldier worked, people were back in, they’re interested, and we were talking about a movie, and we knew we had to resolve, obviously, the Winter Soldier storyline. We wanted Cap and Bucky to ultimately reunite. And the plot that we… And we knew we wanted to use Zemo. What a great character. You know, he’s obviously a classic Cap villain. And we were building the movie around a MacGuffin around the Madbomb, which, the Madbomb goes off and causes normal people to start fighting each other. It’s honestly a little similar to what I think they did in Kingsman.
Nate Moore
Moore’s comments give some insight into the creative process at Marvel Studios. Regardless of what the plot was, Cap 3 was seemingly always going to include Zemo and the reunion of Steve and Bucky. Moore and his team were high on the possibilities of the story, but unfortunately for them, Kevin Feige was not. According to Moore, the Madbomb simply was “not a big enough idea” for Marvel Studios The One-Above-All. But Moore wanted to prove him wrong.
And it was cool, and it was grounded, and it was political, and whatever, and [Feige] was like, ‘That’s not a big enough idea, guys.’ And we’re like, ‘Let us write a draft, we’ll prove it to you.’
Nate Moore
Moore mentioned that Feige responded by saying, “Okay, prove it to me” and so they set to work on adapting Kirby’s Madbomb arc for the big screen. Moore continued the story and described the genesis of the jump from Madbomb to Civil War.
As we’re getting done with it… he pulls me into his office and he said, ‘You know, I think we should try to do Civil War.’ And I was like, ‘Kevin, we don’t have half the stuff that’s in Civil War. We don’t have the New Warriors, we don’t have… Here’s all the reasons why we can’t do it.’ And he’s like, ‘Go home, read it, let’s talk about it.’ So I went home that night, read it… I re-read it, ’cause I had read it before and I was like, ‘Yeah, look we don’t have the Negative Zone prison…’ There were so many things that we didn’t have.
Nate Moore
Shortly after that, as Moore tells it, Feige approached Joe and Anthony Russo along with co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and gave them their marching orders saying, “So, stop with the Madbomb, you guys are doing Civil War.” Moore and the team were then faced with throwing out a great deal of work and having to start over. According to the executive producer, it was a scary time, but as we all know now, Feige was right.
Look, It was scary and when you’re throwing out a whole thing and starting new, it’s always a bit weird, but he was right. He was right. We were still able to pay off the Bucky storyline. We still figured out how to use Zemo. But the central conceit of the movie was something that audiences would gravitate towards and they did.
Nate Moore
It’s well-known that Marvel Studios will often use discarded storylines in other projects and the Madbomb idea may at one time have been part of the plot of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. A common rumor ahead of production on the project was that the series, which filmed under Pandemic Productions LLC, was going to feature a terrorist bioweapon that could have been similar to the Madbomb. As a real-life pandemic beset the world, rumors swirled that the pandemic plot was rewritten, though director Kari Skogland debunked the rumors that the plot was ever in the script. Whatever the case with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the Madbomb arc remains open to adaptation down the road in the MCU whether as part of a streaming series or as the first act in another Cap film.
We live in a world where many actors have made their respective roles very much a reflection of themselves. Many can’t look at Iron Man and not think of Robert Downey Jr. or even recently Iman Vellani truly personifying Ms. Marvel in live-action. The same could be said about Ryan Reynolds, who was long the fan-favorite to play the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool, even before he took on the role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009.
Yet, it seems that he wasn’t always set to take on the role, as Supernatural and The Boys star Jensen Ackles revealed during an appearance at SPN PHX J2, he was originally cast to play the character before scheduling conflicts got in the way. It’s crazy to think that we may have had a very different version of the character.
There was definitely a movie that I was very much in talks about… I wasn’t available, so the train just kind of stopped there. But, had I been available, I would’ve had to, you know, jump through the studio hoops and jump through the, you know, producer hoops and stuff. But I had a really good shot, and it’s a movie that I really, really like. [What was the movie?] Deadpool. It was probably a good thing because my ex-girlfriend was on there and so that probably would have been awkward, so it probably worked out for the best. I think that whole cast was amazing. I probably would’ve messed that up for a lot of people had I been a part of it, so probably best I didn’t. But that would’ve been cool.
Jensen Ackles
Ackles‘ performance as Soldier Boy in The Boys may be a good indicator that he’d make a great superhero, but it’s always tough to say if he’d nail exactly what makes Deadpool special even among the many quippy superheroes out there. It also raises the question if we’d even have the two films (with a third on the way) if it weren’t for Reynolds‘ heavy involvement in the process. No matter what, it’s a fun little detail to find out and who knows if they want to play around with a Deadpool multiverse-inspired storyline that could see him play a Variant of the character.
It looks like the numbers are finally in and it’s looking much better than initially expected, as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to take the weekend with an impressive $67.3M. Not only is it reviving a rather dead fall box office, but also pulled in the second-highest comic book movies’ second weekend of the year. It’s higher than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ $61M, which had a much higher opening but faced a harsher drop. It’s only behind Spider-Man: No Way Home which had quite the harsh decline as well but was carried by its legs, which the A CinemaScore could do the same for the Black Panther sequel.
Overseas, it has now also pulled in an additional 69.8M, which puts the film at $546.3M and on route to potentially scratch the $900M mark over its run. The international drop of 53.5% is pretty good and there’s hope for the film to carry on with some strong legs, especially into Black Friday and the Thanksgiving holiday with no real direct competition outside of Disney’s Strange World.
Currently, the film stands at $288M and should pass the $400M mark by the end of its run, but where it lands depends strongly on its legs moving forward. It didn’t quite reach the $70M but there are reports that this is likely due to its length. Ironically, while fans complained that the Doctor Strange sequel and Thor: Love and Thunder are too short, the runtime is hitting Wakanda Forever a bit when it comes to its box office performance.
So, all eyes will be on the weekly performance for this film, as Thanksgiving week can make all the difference and likely also the cause of why not everyone rushed to theaters over the weekend. Veteran’s Day holiday also played a key factor in its drop, which helped elevate its box office and it’s only 2% behind Doctor Strange at the same time. Next Sunday could be the decider ofwhere it truly might end up.
The space race is on, as we finally have some tips on what to expect from Indiana Jones‘ upcoming return to theaters. Harrison Ford is back to take on Nazis but this time in a very new setting as we’ll join the archeologist in 1969, smack-dab in the middle of the space race. While the original movement has long moved on, according to the film’s co-writer Jez Butterworth, the moon landing may have had some sinister minds trying to make it work.
The simple fact is that the moon-landing program was run by a bunch of ex-Nazis. How ‘ex’ they are is the question. And it gets up Indy’s nose…It’s not just that they’re looking for something where there’s nothing up there – it’s like Reno without the gambling, or whatever his line is. But the people that are behind it are, you know, his sworn enemies.
Jez Butterworth
It definitely raises a few interesting questions. This story element could imply that Indiana Jones may somehow end up in space. After the last film introduced aliens into the franchise, it wouldn’t be too far out there but definitely could raise some questions on how it forces his hands into the story.
Jones is an archeologist and has nothing to do with space travel directly. So, the story could likely see an event from his past, perhaps even involving Mads Mikkelsen‘s Voller, who is inspired by Wernher von Braun, a former Nazi that would become a NASA engineer. In the same interview with Empire, the actor teases that perhaps there is something they are both chasing down.
He’s a man who would like to correct some of the mistakes of the past. There is something that could make the world a much better place to live in. He would love to get his hands on it. Indiana Jones wants to get his hands on it as well. And so, we have a story.
Mads Mikkelsen
It definitely is going to be quite interesting to see how they tackle the 1969 space race with an aging Jones stuck in the middle of it all. It definitely sounds like an interesting setup and here’s hoping the trailer isn’t too far to finally unveil our first look at Jones back in action.
Rumors have been abounding as of late, as we’re about to enter the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No matter where one feels on Phase 4, we’re about to enter a new and exciting era that’ll offer some unique projects. among them is the first non-Avengers team-up film in the form of Thunderbolts. An unlikely group of anti-heroes is stuck together to take on a mission for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and it seems that they might be in for more than they bargained for.
A new rumor is making the circles that they are currently trying to cast the main antagonist for the upcoming Thunderbolts film, who hints at it being an “Evil Superman.” What makes this interesting is that there are two characters that could potentially take on that very role with Squadron Supreme’s Hyperion, a more direct parallel to the Justice League and Superman, or the other powered individual known as Sentry.
What adds to it is that they are already eyeing the casting of Ryan Gosling or Alexander Skarsgard, who would make two very interesting additions to the MCU. Gosling has highlighted his interest in joining the franchise but was more hopeful of taking on the role of Ghost Rider; a very popular choice at the moment. So, we’ll see if he’d even be interested in this role though it may also depend on what direction they are going.
If they are indeed going for a villain storyline, Sentry does seem like the most interesting direction given his connection to the Void. Though, Squadron Supreme as part of the Multiverse Saga would also make sense with elements leaking into the mainline MCU timeline that ends up setting up the future Avengers films. There are many potential directions they could take this storyline but we’ll have to wait a bit longer until we find out.
The Deadpool franchise is back in action with Deadpool 3 in the active works. The film marks the Merc with a Mouth’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut after the Disney-Fox acquisition. Ryan Reynolds will star alongside fan favorite Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for an event that is sure to be special on its own but also within the context of Marvel Studios utilizing newly obtained Fox properties. Still, the threequel apparently is not the only Deadpool movie impacted by the Disney acquisition.
Just in time for the holidays, Reynolds revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that a fully-written Deadpool Christmas movie exists, but that it never got made. The actor and producer said:
Four years ago, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and I wrote a Christmas movie starring Deadpool. But it got lost in the shuffle of Disney acquiring Fox and it never got made…Maybe one day we’ll get to make that movie. It’s not a musical, but it’s a full DeadpoolChristmas movie. So one day.
Ryan Reynolds
It is not often that shelved and forgotten movies make a magical comeback. But with Marvel Studios leaning into holiday specials like Werewolf By Night and the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas-themed special, anything is possible.
Deadpool 3 is slated for a November 8, 2024 release date.
While those that got a look at Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania during D23 teased the arrival of MODOK, which stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. The character has long been hoped to become a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially because he is one of the more insane designs that would seem impossible in live-action. So, there was a lot of excitement to see him make his debut, though the first officially released trailer did not offer a glimpse at his design.
Surprisingly, it seems our first look at the character won’t be int eh second trailer but rather a Funko Pop that has seemingly found its way into stores a bit earlier than expected. Influencer Cris Parker shared a poster on his Twitter account that includes a first look at the design, which would match with descriptions that found their way online during D23. It’s still only a rumor who is behind the mask but it’s insane to see this design hinting at a rather comic-accurate design making its way to the comics. The only addition is the mask giving him a very familiar grin but also hiding his identity.
It’ll be interesting to see what this design looks like in action, but it definitely is promising. There’s always the danger that it goes a little too goofy, especially if that is in fact a faceplate. Though they could surprise us and make use of his silly design to build upon. Who knows how he also connects to the arrival of Kang the Conqueror in the MCU but perhaps there’s a conflict in the Quantum Realm that was just waiting to unravel beyond its dimension.
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