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  • Steven Yeun’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    Steven Yeun’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Role Reportedly Revealed

    Marvel Studios’ search for its “evil Superman” is over if a new round of rumors and reports is to be believed. As work on Thunderbolts progresses ahead of its scheduled June production start, it appears that The Walking Dead star Steven Yeun has landed the role of Robert Reynolds/Sentry.

    Rumors of the involvement of the Sentry in the plot of Thunderbolts have swirled since late Fall of 2022 when a casting call for an “evil Superman” circulated online. After sorting through a few of Marvel’s Superman analogs, Sentry rose to the top of the list of possible choices and additional information from reliable insiders has continued to build the case that he’ll make his MCU debut in the film. Now a slew of reports, including one from The Illuminerdi, all indicate that the 39-year-old Yeun has landed the part, which will make him a key player in the MCU beyond the events of 2024’s Thunderbolts.

    Though Yeun is most well known (and beloved by fans) for his long-running role as Glenn on AMC’s The Walking Dead, should he have landed the role of Sentry it won’t be his first rodeo as a nigh-omnipotent and indestructible hero. Yeun has served as the voice of Mark Grayson, the Viltrumite-human hybrid hero known as Invincible, for 2 seasons of the animated Amazon Prime series Invincible. For all their similarities in terms of powers, however, Sentry and Invincible are far from the same character and stepping into the role of Sentry would provide Yeun an opportunity to explore a character with a much, much darker side. In the comics, that darker side is, in part, due to an entity known as The Void, and that entity is rumored to appear in Thunderbolts as a key part of Sentry’s character arc.

  • Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    Disney+’s ‘Wonder Man’ Logline Hints at Show’s Intended Tone & Time Frame

    While word of a slowdown of the big Marvel Studios machine continues to spread, the company continues to prep several projects for production over the next several months. Among them is the streaming series Wonder Man, created and overseen by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton.

    The show has been on a bit of a fast track since being revealed in a trade report last June; in fact, despite not being part of either of Marvel Studios’ big Summer con presentations (SDCC and D23), Wonder Man is tentatively set to begin principal photography in late March or early April. As such, the series has made quite a bit of news lately as the cast begins to shape up and it’s in the news again now as insider Daniel RPK has unveiled a potential logline for the project

    Wonder Man has been described as a Hollywood satire and the new information from RPK does seem to fall in line with that.

    Based on the character of Wonder Man, one of Marvel’s oldest characters, first introduced in 1964 in the pages of Avengers No 9. Known as Simon Williams, a celebrity actor and stuntman. In a nutshell, it is a story of two actors struggling to make it in the Hollywood of the MCU, [asking] the big question what does Hollywood look like in a world where super heroes are real?

    Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is set to bring Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, to life and will share the screen with Ben Kingsley who will reprise the role of Trevor Slattery (likely the other struggling actor) in the project. If Slattery is the other struggling actor, it calls into question just where on the MCU timeline it will fall. When last seen, Slattery seemed to have chosen to stay in Ta Lo with fuzzy bestie Morris after having spent the better part of a decade either in prison or as a prisoner of Wenwu after portraying the Mandarin at the behest of Aldrich Killian. However, before taking that job, Slattery was indeed a struggling actor doing things…no two ways about it…in the street that a man shouldn’t do.

    Could part of Wonder Man be set during the Infinity Saga? There’s no reason it couldn’t be and it actually lines up with part of Williams’ villain origin story. In the comics, Simon’s father, Sanford, developed a munitions factory named Williams Innovations. After Sanford’s death, Simon ran the company into the ground as competitors like Stark Industries took its business. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes put an interesting spin on that part of the story by having Tony Stark buy the company much to the disgust of Simon. In either version, the downfall of Williams Innovations drove Simon down the road toward becoming a super-powered villain. This could easily be adapted to the MCU without Robert Downey Jr. needing to appear; on the other hand, Marvel Studios could choose to skip this part of Simon’s story entirely and set it entirely in the present day.

    Whatever the case, MCU fans will have at least a couple of years to wait before they’ll find out. With Marvel Studios looking to spread out their streaming series a bit more, Wonder Man likely won’t hit Disney Plus until early 2025.

    Source: Patreon

  • Amazon’s ‘Medusa’ Adds ‘Watchmen’ Director and Marvel Studios Writer

    Amazon’s ‘Medusa’ Adds ‘Watchmen’ Director and Marvel Studios Writer

    Amazon Studios is working on its latest project that’ll offer a unique spin on Greek mythology. The story of Medusa is about the iconic Greek mythological character, who sets out on a quest to save the world after running into some trouble with the gods. Nikole Kassell of HBO’s Watchmen fame is set to direct, with Marvel Studios veteran Nicole Perlman reimagining the script.

    Details of the plot are not readily available, but reports say that Perlman will executive produce. Additionally, viewers will see Vinson Films’ Tripp Vinson and Tara Farney produce alongside Kassell. Kassell brings her experience from popular shows like The Leftovers, The Americans, and Westworld. She also has multiple accolades, including an Emmy nomination for outstanding direction for a limited series.

    Medusa is an interesting character to adopt, as she’s commonly portrayed as a villain throughout most Greek mythology and even reinterpretations. The first outline of this project does sound like a superhero take on a classic mythological creature. Given that heroes are the modern take on mythology, it’ll be fun to see how they bring this iconic statue-making character into the modern era.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Nintendo Has Been Heavily Involved With ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie

    Nintendo Has Been Heavily Involved With ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie

    Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath took on the challenge of bringing one of gaming’s biggest mascots to the silver screen with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While it’s not the first full-length cinematic take on the character and the Mushroom Kingdom, it definitely is the closest we’ve ever gotten to the original gaming franchise. According to the directing duo of Teen Titans Go! fame, Nintendo was involved in every step along the way.

    From story to visual development to the animation, Nintendo has been with us every step of the way.

    Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath

    It’s no surprise given just how protective Nintendo is about its intellectual property, especially the one that pretty much put them on the map. Though, it does seem they are also using this film as a chance to tell his “origin tale” with some inspirations from Mario’s many iterations throughout the years. We get the Boston background from the 1993 film, a teaser with the theme song from the original The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

    It’s a bit of an origin tale. It’s the story of Mario becoming Super Mario.

    Aaron Horvath

    Though, they also wanted to have elements from the players that brought the character to life live in the animated adaptation. As such, they took that inspirational approach of Mario representing the player experience in how he will always succeed as long as you don’t give up.

    When you play the game, if you don’t give up, Mario will succeed. So we transferred that player experience from the game to a characteristic that [movie] Mario would have.

    Aaron Horvath

    It’s definitely a great little way of including the player in one way or another in the film. While we won’t have a chance to control the iconic character ourselves, perhaps we’ll get some cool outfits inspired by the movie for the net game entry, as we haven’t had an announcement since Super Mario Odyssey in 2017

    Source: Total Film

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Directors Reveal Why Chris Pratt was Cast

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Directors Reveal Why Chris Pratt was Cast

    Super Mario Bros. Movie hasn’t truly been surrounded by controversy. When we got our first look, the film looked extremely faithful to the original gaming franchise and Nintendo is heavily involved to ensure it’s true to the original. Yet, there was one aspect that had many scratching their head and that was Chris Pratt‘s casting as the main hero.

    What did add to the insanity was that Pratt was also cast as the voice of Garfield, which led to an ongoing meme of him voicing every character in pretty much any animated project. Yet, director Aaron Horvath shares that what sold them on him in the role was that “he’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart.”

    For us, it made total sense. He’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterised in our film, he’s perfect for it.

    Aaron Horvath

    Some might argue that he’s long grown out of that type of role, but Guardians of the Galaxy did shape Chris Pratt‘s career and the type of characters he’d end up playing. Now, he’s seemingly become the go-to for that typecasting, though he has also shared his love for the franchise during one of the Nintendo Direct’s promoting the film.

    The first trailer did get some criticism for not really showing off Pratt‘s take on the Italian plumber from Boston, but we’ve rarely heard him speak more than a singular line at a time. So, perhaps with more time, we’ll truly see how he brings his iconic accent to life.

    Source: GamesRadar

  • ‘Captain America 4’s Anthony Mackie Shares Marvel Studios’ Extreme Security Measures

    ‘Captain America 4’s Anthony Mackie Shares Marvel Studios’ Extreme Security Measures

    Marvel Studios was once quite famous for bein the most tight-lipped studio in the market. Yet, given their popularity, they’ve also become popular victims to a variety of leakers that not just share minor details on the various films but even let entire storylines find their way online. It’s definitely a frustrating experience as rumors from the earliest stages of the production lead to false expectations based on various rumors.

    Of course, the pandemic saw some of the biggest leaks due to just how long these projects needed to find their way to theaters. So, it’s not too surprising that they are taking much harsher directions to avoid anyone leaking something. Even its titular stars aren’t safe from it, as Anthony Mackie revealed the process of how many steps there are to read his script for Captain America: New World Order.

    Like, today. I literally, I’ll show you the email. I got my script today. Haven’t read it. Haven’t opened it. I haven’t got my passcode to the website that let’s you get to the website. We literally get a passcode to a website that gives us a location to meet the person to sign, to sit with a computer, and read our script.

    Anthony Mackie

    It must be awkward having someone sit there in a corner just waiting for you to finish reading. Mackie, in his usual charm, jokingly shares what the experience is like with this intern supervisor.

    They don’t trust nobody. And it’s always like some 21-year-old intern and he just hates you. You know, he’s sitting there eating Cheetos and he’s like, ‘Read faster,’ you know? And I’m like, ‘I’m dyslexic.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care.’ Like it’s, oh, it’s a whole thing

    Anthony Mackie

    Who knows how far they’ve also gone to ensure nothing leaks from the productions moving forward. There were hints that they also restructured their internal approach to test screenings, which some have criticized but showcases just how much the current rumor mill culture also restricts the way these production studios can work.

    Source: Kelly Clarkson Show via The Direct

  • New Funko May Have Unveiled an MCU Original Hero Kahhori for ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    New Funko May Have Unveiled an MCU Original Hero Kahhori for ‘What If…?’ Season 2

    Marvel Studios has mainly focused on adapting existing characters from the choices; sometimes even twisting some familiar faces in new ways like the Scarlet Scarab in Moon Knight. Yet, a new Funko leak may have unveiled a brand new character that could be a Marvel Cinematic Universe exclusive character.

    Instagram user lasvegasfunkoholics has shared a Funko Soda that includes a character named Kahhori. Now, this character seemingly has no connection to an existing one in the comics and seemingly will appear in the upcoming second season of What If…?‘s second season given that another leaked Funko Soda includes Zombie Iron Man and the logo is included.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQJnIFp7Uy/

    There are also Soda Funko’s for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as they are seemingly rolling out quite a few MCU-centric Soda Funkos. There will be some confusion of who Kahhori is and if she might also have a role in live-action. There’s also the chance that she might appear in The Marvels or potentially one of the Disney+ shows set to release this year, Secret Invasion and Loki‘s second season.

    Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige has always been open to potentially introducing brand new characters original to the franchise. Agent Coulson may not have been a hero but Clark Gregg‘s iconic character went on to become a fan-favorite and was also even introduced into the comics even before he got his own spinoff series Agents of SHIELD. So, we’ll have to keep an eye out for where Kahhori might appear.

    Source: Instagram, The Direct

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Debut Sets the Stage for Fan-Favorite Pirate

    ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Debut Sets the Stage for Fan-Favorite Pirate

    So close, yet so far! That’s how Star Wars fans are feeling after the Season 3 debut of The Mandalorian which tantalized fans before letting them down. Chapter 17 of the series brought a new kind of trouble into Din Djarin’s path in the form of pirates. For longtime fans of Star Wars, especially those of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, the appearance of the pirates most likely brought to mind the premiere pirate in the galaxy, Hondo Ohnaka. You’d be forgiven for thinking that, at any point during the tense standoff between Greef Karga, Mando and the band of thirsty pirates, Hondo was going to walk around the corner and help cooler heads prevail. Alas, the old Weequay outlaw was nowhere to be found, but that certainly doesn’t mean he won’t make an appearance sooner or later.

    Theories about a potential live-action debut for Hondo aren’t anything new. In fact, they date back well over two years when it was revealed that Season 3 of The Mandalorian was filming under the working title “Buccaneer.” The Mandalorian co-creator Dave Filoni created Hondo for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has never been shy about his love for the pirate; as he and Jon Favreau continue to find ways to bring fan (and creator) favorite characters into their expanding live-action universe it would be shocking if Hondo didn’t eventually make the jump and the events of the episode of The Mandalorian, The Apostate, seem to hint at that possibility becoming very real very soon.

    Though it jumped around a bit, The Apostate was primarily set on the Outer Rim planet of Nevarro. The Outer Rim Territories have always been a wild place full of pirates, slavers and outlaws of all sorts, so it’s unsurprising that the gang of pirates, run by newcomer to the franchise Gorian Shard, found their way into the episode. Though Din Djarin made short work of Vane and the rest of Shard’s nameless gang, he certainly left a score to settle with the pirate king when he escaped after briefly squaring off. Past seasons of The Mandalorian have given enough reason to presume that Shard will come back into play at some point in Season 3, most likely at a very inopportune time for Din Djarin and Grogu, and when he does it might just open the door for another chapter in the legend of Hondo to be written.

    Presumably, no pirate roams the Outer Rim Territories without having a shared history with its most famous–at least in his own mind–outlaw. Hondo is known to be alive and well during this New Republic era and while he turned in his pirate hat to help the Rebellion during the rise of the Empire, it’s possible he’s found his way back to his favorite past time. Hondo’s appearances in Filoni’s stories have almost always served the same purpose: to bail the good guys out of a jam and with Shard on the hunt for Mando, an appearance by Hondo to help out a new hero seems all but a sure thing. Oh, the stories he could tell…so many of them true!

  • ‘Creed 3’ Heading for Franchise’s Best Opening

    ‘Creed 3’ Heading for Franchise’s Best Opening

    Michael B. Jordan is set to make his directorial debut in style, as Creed III is heading to theaters this weekend. To no one’s surprise, the film is set to take the weekend with a strong $36M, though with good word-of-mouth it could even go beyond $40M. As such, it’ll likely dethrone Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which beat out a cocaine-fueled bear last weekend.

    It should be noted that this would mark the best opening for the Creed trilogy, as the first opened at $29.6M and its sequel at around $35.5M. The MGM release is also the most expensive film at $75M, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how far the film goes. It has a good chance to grow to beat the last film’s $214M domestic run. It also marks another big win for Jonathan Majors, who just appeared in Quantumania.

    The Ant-Man threequel is expected to hold on to the second spot with around $16M to $19M, but given its massive drop in the second weekend, for now predictions are more on the pessimistic side due tot he B CinemaScore and PostTrack rating. Though, the film is now performing more like an Ant-Man film than an Avengers-style release that could still give it a bit more momentum for the next few weeks before its biggest direct competition releases in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

    Guy Ritchie‘s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is also heading to theaters but is currently only on track for around $5M though it’s unclear if it’ll go higher given it received a more mixed critical reception. We also have Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Swordsmith Village heading for a strong $7.5M over the weekend. Cocaine Bear and Jesus Revolution are also expected to have decent holds to round out the weekend. Expectations are they’ll hold on to $10M and $8M respectively.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Hellraiser’ Star Joins CW’s ‘Gotham Knights’

    ‘Hellraiser’ Star Joins CW’s ‘Gotham Knights’

    DC Studios has been busy reshuffling its future franchise to focus on projects that’ll crossover in multiple ways to establish one unified DC Cinematic Universe. Yet, there are still a few projects too far into development that is still going to see the light of day. We all expected The Flash and the Aquaman sequel to release in theaters, but many were surprised that Gotham Knights was given a series order after all on the CW.

    Even going by the first trailer, the project seemed like a far cry from what makes a Batman series what it is. Plus, CW was currently undergoing its own major management shift that’ll reshape the broadcaster’s future endeavors, as they seemingly move away from their usual release schedule. Still, Gotham Knights endured and it looks like we’ll see Hellraiser star Doug Bradley join the production in an iconic DC role.

    While he’s not one of the biggest of Batman’s Rogue’s gallery, Joe Chill definitely left the biggest impression given he was the one that killed Bruce Wayne’s parents. He’ll be featured in the upcoming sixth episode, as he is scheduled to be executed after sitting on death row for fifty years. Yet, it seems Gotham’s “Patron Saint of Bad Guys” won’t let his secret die with him. Series co-creators Chad Fiveash, James Stoteraux, and Natalie Abrams had the following statement to share on his casting.

    When casting the iconic role of Joe Chill, arguably the man who created Batman, there was only one name we considered – Doug Bradley. We needed an actor with the kind of gravitas that would do justice to such a seminal character in DC Comics canon. And who better to embody the role of the classic Gotham fiend than the man whose legendary portrayal of another classic fiend – Pinhead in the Hellraiser franchise — continues to terrify generations of horror fans?

    Bradley definitely knows how to leave an impression with his performance, though it does seem like their take on Chill might be quite different from the man we’ve seen many times throughout cinematic Batman history. We’ve seen many variations of the character, one even ending up as Joker himself in Tim Burton‘s original Batman film. So, we’ll see what Gotham Knights has in store for us.

    Source: Variety