Just recently, some set photos found their way online from the recently started Daredevil: Born Again set. Now, People magazine has shared a close-up shot of Charlie Cox and Nikki M. James on the New York City set for the latest Disney+ venture.
While it doesn’t give away any big new look at the characters, it does highlight that we’re going to get quite a bit more of Matt Murdock the lawyer in the new Marvel Studios sequel. While we did get a glimpse of it in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, it definitely seems like the ambitious 18-episode Disney+ series will be more than just him jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
It’s great to see his iconic red glasses return and he even has his walking stick in one hand. Kind of a shame we don’t get a cheesy red tie to bring the “I am definitely not Daredevil” ensemble together, but who knows what fun little moments we’ll have in this new adaptation. Either way, it’s always great to see Cox back in the iconic role.
We still don’t know who James is playing but it does seem likely she’s a fellow lawyer. Perhaps his next romantic venture will have him work with a colleague that could add some interesting tension throughout the series run. We can still only speculate but the project might become one of their most ambitious.
Fans of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have celebrated the live-action debuts of many of their favorite characters over the past several years. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have found a way to bring fan favorites like Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano and Cad Bane to life in their lineup of New Republic-era series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Sometime later in 2023, another handful will make their live-action debuts as the core characters from Star Wars Rebels, including Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, are set to appear on Disney Plus in Ahsoka.
It’s been a fun time for fans as Filoni and Favreau have carried on the stories of these characters; however, the pair have also come under fire for questionable decisions about the appearance of the characters like the Grand Inquisitor and for being a bit too generous in fan service by having too many characters make the jump. In fact, Filoni has been accused of making too much of an effort to bring his animated creations to life. Filoni addressed that accusation and gave some insight into his process in an interview with The Wrap.
“Very rarely,” replied Filoni when asked if he often thinks “How can I get my cartoon characters into live-action?” “I know people think it’s the other way around, which is fascinating to me,” he continued, “but I think there’s two ways to look at that, which is that, yes, they were animated characters, but to me they’re just characters. And now I’m over here working in live-action. I’m comfortable with those characters, I know them, I like them and I like to see them around.”
It’s an interesting position for Filoni given that he created and curated the characters over a decade of animated story-telling and now has the ability to call on them to help define a new era of the galaxy far, far away. Even for Filoni, who knows the characters inside and out, brining them to live action is not without its challenges. “It changes when they’re suddenly in a different medium,” explained Filoni. “Katee’s [Sackhoff] talked about it a little bit, and the difference between performing Bo-Katan as a voice actor versus performing her physically and being present on set as her – it’s a different vibe. I’m always cautious. And Jon [Favreau] and I talk about who will we bring in? I try to do it when it makes the most sense.”
For instance, as Filoni explained, when the plot of The Book of Boba Fett called for “a gunslinger to go up against some of our characters,” Cad Bane was the obvious choice. The character’s live-action design came under fire from fans of his time in the animated series. Filoni addressed why the character’s distinct look changed a bit for his live-action debut. “I think looking at that, the first thing I think is, ‘Well, how do we do that and make it believable?’ Like the character, he’s so lean and gaunt in The Clone Wars,” explained Filoni, “and if we don’t do that, is it all CG? How are we going to portray that? If we don’t think we can do that effectively, then we shouldn’t do it.”
The reality of the situation is that in the recent social media climate, the decision to faithfully recreate Cad Bane through CGI would have taken just as much heat as the decision to change it for live-action. The criticism, however, doesn’t seem to faze Filoni. “At the end of the day, I’ve been very happy with the ones that have gone over,” he said before teasing fans with the notion that he’s not done quite yet. “There may or may not be more in Ahsoka, if that’s your thing. If you’re excited about that, I’m just saying that one might have a few more, which makes sense, by the way. As you know, I wrote it. You can’t fault me there.” Who can blame the guy?
The book ends of Chapter 19 of The Mandalorian, The Convert, left fans wondering what Bo-Katan Kryze was up to following her experience in the mines of Mandalore. The episode’s opening picked up in the aftermath of Chapter 18’s plunge into the Living Waters where she encountered a massive Mythosaur, an encounter she chose to keep from Din Djarin after asking if he had seen anything alive in the pool. Bo-Katan’s dip in the Living Waters also put her in a position she never thought she’d be in: walking The Way of the Mandalore as a member of the Children of the Watch. With her home world of Kalevala destroyed by a fleet of Imperial remnant TIEs, Bo-Katan, now washed free of her apostasy, was invited by the Armorer to remain with the covert of Mandalorians. Needless to say, it was a pretty busy day for Bo-Katan.
Did those experiences change the skeptical Bo-Katan, however? Fans aren’t so sure and much of the social media discussion after the episode centered around the character’s decision to remain mute about the Mythosaur, wondering if she intends to use the knowledge of the beast to her advantage. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bo-Katan actress Katee Sackhoff assuaged those concerns, saying her behavior was rooted in something much less malevolent. “She doesn’t trust necessarily what she saw. She might have thought that she imagined it,” explained Sackhoff. “There’s so many things that she’s trying to process in her head that I don’t necessarily think that it’s something that she wants to tell anyone about right now.“
Part of what Bo-Katan may be trying to process is that the beliefs that Din Djarin has held dear–beliefs she called “cute”–may hold some water. According to Sackhoff, Bo-Katan’s attempts to reconcile her past with Din’s “cult” with her own past and the very recent events of her own present have given her quite a bit to ponder which is why she remained so quiet when she was accepted into Din’s Tribe.
The mistakes of her past — with Death Watch and the resulting death of her sister Satine — weigh heavily upon her, and she’s in a more vulnerable state than we’ve ever seen her before when Din brings her in. But because of the disagreements with Din’s cult in the past, the Watch welcoming her to their clan with open arms is a surprise to her. To be immediately accepted by people is new for her. She may or may not be trying to figure out if that’s a place where she should potentially stay.
Katee Sackhoff
Still, it’s hard for fans to believe that the militant Bo-Katan won’t look to weaponize her newfound friends in another attempt to avenge her sister’s death and ascend to lead the reborn Mandalore. According to Sackhoff, that’s not in the cards, however. “I truly believe at this point that she hopes someone else steps up,” Sackhoff said. “She doesn’t want the responsibility. The responsibility cost her everything,” she explained. “Leading didn’t work, so maybe fitting in will.” With more than half the season still ahead, Bo-Katan’s choice to be a leader or a follower will likely have a huge impact on the events of not only TheMandalorian Season 3 but also the shape of the New Republic.
We know Marvel Studios’ new “Endgame” for the Multiverse Saga. As many could’ve predicted the moment we saw the opening and final moments of Loki, the franchise is heading to a live-action adaptation of the iconic Secret Wars storyline in a new Avengers film. It opens up many possibilities to revisit some characters from the past and it seems one actor is down to return.
After once again reprising the role of Norman Osborne in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Willem Dafoe reveals that he’s certainly open to potentially playing the character one more time “if everything was right.” He highlights how much joy he has playing the character(s) and the depth it allows him to bring to the role.
I mean, that’s a great role. I liked the fact that it’s a double role both times. Twenty years ago, and fairly recently, both times [were] very different experiences, but I had a good time on both.
Willem Dafoe
It definitely would be great to see him return, especially with No Way Home’s focus on a recognizable version of the character. We haven’t had the chance to meet a unique take on the character in live-action as the Green Goblin. So, they could use the opportunity to introduce a good version of the character appearing in Avengers: Secret Wars joining an unlikely alliance.
There’s also the fact they could experiment with the look of the Goblin, as the previous iteration mostly re-used his Power Rangers-style suit from the original Spider-Man film. So, we could potentially ee the mechanical version that was scrapped make an appearance once again with Dafoe once again having fun in the role.
The debates over the box office results of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was quite all over the place, as the film faced a steep drop after its initial weekend. Yet, it still made a big splash that one expects from a Marvel Studios offering and fizzled out faster due to higher expectations on such projects and the fact that there’s always a Disney+ release around the corner, as taught in the past by how releases were handled.
Yet, it seems 2023 isn’t kind to superhero films in general as the latest DC film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods faced an even harsher box office release with one of the worst openings for a DC Extended Universe entry. With an $11.7M Friday, the film is projected to end at around $30M. That would put it quite a bit below the initially expected $35M to $40M. Many had believed the film had a chance to garner some momentum going into the weekend but it seems it has swiftly fizzled out.
What makes this hurt, even more, is that it’s quite a bit lower than 2019’s Shazam! which opened at $53.5M at the box office. It does have the same $100M price tag as the previous entry but with a B+ CinemaScore, the question will be how its legs perform. Many have used it as a way to get a feeling for where it’s going but its key audience families are still struggling to get back to theaters. It was a hope they might strengthen even Ant-Man‘s box office run as they had a much higher affinity with the film, but it seems they are still a market that has yet to find their way back.
Perhaps there’s a correlation between more family-friendly offerings and the recent drop in box office for animated releases. If you’re not a “must-watch” released in theaters, they simply won’t make the trip like with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or even Minions: Rise of Gru last year. The box office is certainly doing better but not every target audience is quite where some might have hoped it would be. So, more adult and teen-driven releases like the recent successes of Scream VI and Creed III might be on the horizon.
As Shazam: Fury of the Gods pushes through its opening weekend, early reviews don’t seem to be helping it at the box office where it only pulled in $3.4M in its Thursday previews and estimates have it finishing up between $30-35M after adding $7.6M more on Friday night . Poor early reviews aren’t always a death knell for films; sometimes positive word of mouth from fans can help propel a film beyond the estimated projections. However, it’s not looking good for the Shazam! sequel on that front either.
After polling opening night audiences about the film, Cinemascore has revealed a B+ grade for Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
B+ seems to be the sweet spot for DC projects. Black Adam, Birds of Prey, Joker, Justice League, Suicide Squad, TheSuicide Squad and Wonder Woman 1984 all received B+ Cinemascores from moviegoers. It’s an interesting grouping to be sure as some of those films are held in a bit higher regard than others, yet they all sit at the same Cinemascore. For comparison’s sake, 2019’s Shazam! was given an A Cinemascore by audiences.
Currently sitting at a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, Fury of the Gods has taken a hit by critics for not living up to its predecessor in terms of comedy or plot and for lacking the charm that made Shazam! a bit of a surprise hit. It was already highly unlikely that the franchise would continue on at the new DC Studios, but its performance and fans’ general lack of interest and awareness would seem to cement the fact that this will be the last adventure for the this iteration of the Shazamily.
Here’s a piece of news you don’t expect every day. It seems that Tom Cruise, the star of the recent monolith release Top Gun Maverick and the upcoming next Mission Impossible film, has gotten an early screening of The Flash, Warner Bros. biggest bet for the year on making their mark in theaters. The film is still set to release in June and it looks like they are all in to make this film get as hyped up as it can.
While the controversies surrounding its star Ezra Miller might still overshadow most positive news, new DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn did call it “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Now, it seems that Cruise loved the film so much that he just called director Andy Muschietti to rave about it according to sources close to The Hollywood reporter.
Seems it all started with a meeting between Cruise and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav that led to him being curious about just how good the film was. Quotes like “everything you want in a movie” and “the movie we need now” according to the sources. It’s not too dissimilar from what they tried to do with Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet back in the day when they made a whole show of him visiting a theater in London to watch it.
While that didn’t really boost that film’s box office, it’s great to see the actor’s enthusiasm for the latest DC film. There’s always an ongoing “feud” online about if these films have value in being as dominant in theaters as they are but this might probably worsen the discussion rather than help it.
Cruise has become a “spokesperson” for the theatrical experience with even StevenSpielberg being heard quoting him as saving theaters. While one could argue it takes more than one film release, the film did bring an older audience back into theaters even if that didn’t hold as many had hoped after its release.
Ridley Scott has been quite busy preparing work on a sequel to the iconic Gladiator film. While it’s still quite a surprise that we’re seeing this film of all get a sequel, it is still picking up quite a bit of steam and adding talent left and right. Shortly after it was revealed that Eternals star Barry Keoghan was part of the cast, it seems that Ridley Scott is also going to reunite with Denzel Washington. It’s the first time since these two A-listers worked together since the release of American Gangster.
He will star opposite Paul Mescal, who is in the leading role of the project. Costume designer Janty Yates is also back to the project after having worked on the costumes from the original Gladiator that marked the film that would be nominated for twelve Academy Awards and even won Best Picture. It also was the film that put Russell Crowe on the map and made him one of the biggest names in the industry after his Best Actor victory.
The story will not revisit the early days of Maximus but rather a new character named Lucius (Mescal), whose story continues years after the end of the original. He was strongly inspired by the heroic actions of Maximus, which will likely kick off the events of this film. Washington‘s role remains a secret but he’ll likely have a major role in the project. Keoghan is set to take on the role of a character known as Emperor Gata, who was an actual Roman emperor.
It almost feels like the wait has been endless for the next entry in the Persona franchise. There’s still no official confirmation for the official sixth entry even with Persona 5 having been released all the way back in 2016. It’s already been around four years since the Royal version was released on consoles. Yet, even the 25th anniversary of the franchise didn’t give a hint at the future but rather the return of two classics to modern consoles.
In surprise drop, it seems that there’s actually a new game heading our way, but not the way many might be hoping for it too. Persona 5: The Phantom X or shortened as P5X has been unveiled on the Chinese social site Weibo. The game is officially licensed by Sega and is a free-to-play mobile RPG set for Chinese release sometime in the future. The spinoff is created by Perfect World Games’ Black Wings Game Studio.
It seems the game is pretty much a mobile equivalent to the original with a whole new cast of characters but the return of the Metaverse. It seems there will be a “Sneak Test” on March 29th that’ll give players a chance to explore the world. The game also seemingly includes the original cast from the first Persona 5 but no word on Kasumi Yoshizawa also making an appearance from Persona 5 Royal.
You can check out the story trailer here:
The story will focus on a whole new cast of characters with the protagonist going by the code name Wonder, who attends Kiba Academy. We also know that his persona will have the name Jánošík, continuing the trend of Persona 5′ protagonists all featuring Personas inspired by folktale thieves and legends. Taking over Morgana’s role is the owl Luffy, who will go by the code name Cattle. He seemingly also shares the ability to turn into a vehicle, this time a van, and has the persona of Rob Roy. There’s also Closer, a Kiba Academy student by the name of Arai Suwa, who is the protagonist’s classmate and has the Persona of Awilda.
Naturally, the Velvet Room and Igor make a return with a new assistant by the name of Merope. Interestingly enough, the room takes on the appearance of being underwater like an aquarium, though it’s unsure what the teeming of this spinoff is as of yet. The original game’s character designer Shigenori Soejima was personally involved with the new spinoff game and designed its leads.
They’ve also released a gameplay trailer hinting at the similarity to the original Persona 5:
Interestingly enough, the game will focus on the same mechanic as the original and isn’t taking a completely different direction like Persona 5 Scramble. Overall, it seems the game is going for a pretty similar aesthetic and gameplay loop as the original, which does make it a curious expansion of the franchise. We’ll see if there are any plans to release the game in the west, as it currently only has been revealed for the Chinese market. Originally, it was known as Code Name X and was first announced all the way back in April 2021. So, it’s been a long road for the project to finally be unveiled.
During the 5 season run of X-Men: The Animated Series, the X-Men tangled with Mister Sinister on more than one occasion. Sinister did as Sinister does, harvesting mutant DNA for his experiments and slinking off into the darkness to live to haunt the X-Men another day. Another day is now, as Sinister has been revealed to be the big bad of the revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ’97.
During Marvel Unlimited’s celebration of X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years, showrunner Beau DeMayo summed up what to expect from the series, which is expected to debut sometime in 2023.
Storm and Wolverine try to continue the X-Men. Magneto comes in and wants to step up for Charles Xavier. Sinister comes in to try to end the X-Men once and for all.
The official synopsis for ‘X-MEN ‘97’ has been revealed:
“Storm and Wolverine try to continue the X-Men. Magneto comes in and wants to step up for Charles Xavier. Sinister comes in to try to end the X-Men once and for all.”
It sounds like a rewatch (or a first experience) may be in order for fans who might not remember why Magneto has to step in for Charles (Charles is in space) or why Sinister is so angry. In a response to the tweet embedded above, DeMayo indicated that while the summary is correct, an official and full synopsis will be revealed later in 2023.
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