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  • The Hypothetical 2023 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V5

    The Hypothetical 2023 Marvel Studios Release Calendar, V5

    Following July’s pre-SDCC update to the hypothetical calendar, we thought we were done in 2023, yet here we are with another updated version which will definitely be the last one…right? But as you’ll see, Marvel Studios’ 2023 slate looks quite a bit different than it did pre-SDCC.

    With Blade bringing on a new writer and then another new writer (who is reportedly completely rewriting the script) and finding a new director, the film was pushed to 2024. And that may not be the only project that finds itself pushed into 2024…


    *NOTE* we are no longer tracking animated projects nor including them on the hypothetical calendars.

    This project went from “it may never get made” to “it’s a D+ project” to being the project that kicks off Phase 5 for Marvel Studios and introduces the Multiverse Saga’s big bad in Jonathan Major‘s Kang the Conqueror. Or at least one version of him. “One of the best scripts Marvel’s ever had.” “A huge movie for the saga.” Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania looks likely to catch the majority of even the most hardcore Marvel Studios’ fans by surprise and as predicted in the last version, Marvel is hyping this one up well ahead of schedule.

    We’d previously thought Secret Invasion might kickoff 2023 and Phase 5, but Kevin Feige slated this one for “Spring” at SDCC ’22 and we’re not arguing with the One-Above-All. The paranoia-heavy spy thriller is being labeled as a “crossover event” by Marvel Studios and is supposed to lay the groundwork for Don Cheadle‘s Armor War film which is currently undated.

    A first look at the film finally arrived and the trailer has fans wondering which characters are going to survive the emotionally-charged final film in James Gunn‘s Guardians trilogy. While it’s the end of this group’s journey, we actually expect most of the team to come out alive, but permanently changed.

    The second season of Loki is shaping up to be nearly as wild of a ride as the first. Some fairly major spoilers have, unfortunately, made their way around the internet but fortunately (and as is often the case) they lack context and completeness so there’s still plenty to be surprised by when this one streams on D+ next Summer.

    Footage of The Marvels was shown exclusively to D23 and it looked like an absolute trip! Tonally, The Marvels seems as different as The Winter Soldier was from The First Avenger or as Ragnarok was from The Dark World. Both of those tonal shifts resulted in incredibly successful sequels and this film really looks to have a chance to follow that trend.

    Like The Marvels, footage from Ironheart screened at D23 and it looked fantastic. All the rumors of the science vs. magic showdown of Riri Williams and The Hood turned out to be true and the decision to involve Riri in the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever means audiences will be much more likely to tune in for the next chapter of her story.

  • REVIEW: ‘Doom Patrol’ Episode 4 — “Casey Patrol”

    REVIEW: ‘Doom Patrol’ Episode 4 — “Casey Patrol”

    The latest episode of Doom Patrol was probably the weakest of Season 4 so far. After three episodes of building up the main team’s dynamic, we take a hard detour back to Dorothy who we have not seen since the pandemic-induced Season 2 finale and Season 3 premiere. While Dorothy, Danny, and now Casey Brinke are certainly some of the most unique characters in the universe — which is saying something — they just were not that interesting here.

    Alan Mino Jr.’s return as Maura Lee Karupt simply was the best of the episode. Despite his character’s default supporting role status, the episode would have been devoid of interest and energy. Abi Monterey as Dorothy Spinner puts in a strong performance, but the character is never one that truly stuck the landing. Her presence throughout the second season constantly felt like a burden, and frankly, the character’s departure at the very beginning of the third season ushered in a new, bright, and reset era for Doom Patrol. Dorothy has always had, via the series’ writers, quite a lot to contribute to the plot. In this case, it feels a bit unwanted. Granted, Dorothy’s role is rather unknown at this time, but the first three episodes set up a solid foundation for the season that now seems at risk to be thrown into disarray.

    With relatively few episodes in the season, having Episode 4 be a complete departure from what came before it was unfortunately a bit disappointing. While Dorothy and Casey could in theory have the potential to truly break out, they do not have that much time. And assuming they will meet up with our main team sooner rather than later, it would be preferable for the strength of the main team to keep shining from their own self-contained merit. Adding a(pleasantly) bizarre character to the mix will surely shake the foundation — and it is just a strong one.

    Worries aside, Episode 4 still remained more or less a non-starter. Madeline Zima’s Casey Brinke is fine. The character clearly has the capacity to reach some more profound places personality-wise, and the innocent ignorance of many beloved Doom Patrol characters. Of course, we do not get to see her full form in just the introduction, but this episode struggled by essentially making itself an entire episode of side story exposition. It perhaps could have succeeded better by making it shorter and working it into the existing season better rather than taking a break from the strong momentum. Casey in particular seems like one who could interact well with the main group, but it can’t help but be wondered if there will be enough time and space in the remainder of the season to accomplish that, or if the character will feel like a constant distraction.

    One thing is still for sure: Immortus will rise. The fact that Casey’s comic book alien father person is somehow involved in the same scheme as Dr. Janus from the last episode is interesting. Will we see more obscure characters pop up until the mysterious man drawing comics has all the trinkets he needs to raise Immortus? Dorothy’s presence certainly teases that Niles Caulder could make some kind of an appearance yet again in the series. As discussed last time, his role in the Immortus Initiative in the first place is clearly significant. Time will tell how Episode 4 merges into Season 4, but the initial impression is that the season just got a lot messier.

  • Charlie Cox Has Disappointing News for Fans of Netflix’s Broody, Bloody ‘Daredevil’

    Charlie Cox Has Disappointing News for Fans of Netflix’s Broody, Bloody ‘Daredevil’

    Charlie Cox couldn’t be more excited about continuing to portray Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After bringing the dual personalities to life in 2015 on the Netflix streaming series Daredevil, which was canceled after 3 seasons, Cox was given new life as the character when Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, reached out ahead of production on 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

    “Kevin Feige called and said, ‘We’d like to bring you into the MCU’”, said Cox of the fateful call in an interview with NME. “I was over the moon,” said the star. “I love this character.” That call ended with Cox agreeing to cameos in No Way Home and the 2022 streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Beyond that, Cox’s future as the character was undefined. That’s all changed now as Cox is scheduled for a fairly large role in the Disney Plus streaming series Echo ahead of starring alongside Vincent D’Onofrio in the 18-episode streamer, Daredevil: Born Again.

    Cox’s appearance in She-Hulk, where he played the character as “quick-witted and funny and charismatic and carefree at times“, according to Cox, probably isn’t the template for the character going forward. Cox knows that fans of Netflix’s Daredevil loved the brooding, bloody and brutal tone of the show, but he also knows this new series is headed for Disney Plus. “My opinion is this character works best when he’s geared toward a slightly more mature audience,” said Cox, while cautioning, “my instinct is that on Disney+ it will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory.” So what exactly is Daredevil: Born Again going to shape up to be?

    Cox has gone on record before, calling Daredevil: Born Again a “whole new deal“, a sentiment he reiterated to NME. “This has to be a reincarnation,” said Cox of Born Again. “It has to be different, otherwise why are we doing it?” So what should the fans who fell in love with the iteration of the character whose story was told over 3 seasons on Netflix? “I would say to those people, we’ve done that. Let’s take the things that really worked, but can we broaden? Can we appeal to a slightly younger audience without losing what we’ve learned about what works?”

    That’s not exactly encouraging news for fans of the TV-MA version of the character; however, it’s consistent with what Cox has been saying all along.

    Source: NME

  • Charlie Cox Confirms Intense ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Filming Schedule

    Charlie Cox Confirms Intense ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Filming Schedule

    Daredevil: Born Again will be Marvel Studios’ first project featuring Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock as a lead character, and we are all for it. Following the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s appearance as his lawyer persona in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the costumed Daredevil made got his first taste of MCU action in the 2022 series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. In the show, Matt headed to the West Coast to defend superhero tailor Luke Jacobson.

    At the German Comic Con, Cox expressed much anticipation about appearing in further MCU projects, such as Daredevil: Born Again, and teased a possible appearance in the third installment in the Deadpool trilogy, saying “I think there’s a place for Daredevil to show up in Deadpool.”

    In October, DiscussingFilm founder Jacob Fisher went on Twitter to share news regarding Daredevil: Born Again‘s production. He reported that “the series is planning to begin filming in February and last for pretty much the entire year”, which was unsurprising, considering that the series will span 18 episodes.

    Daredevil: Born Again
    Charlie Cox stars as Matt Murdock/ Daredevil in Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. ©2022 Marvel.

    In an interview with NME, Charlie Cox talked about returning as the Man Without Fear. He confirmed the filming schedule for Born Again, stating this:

    “They said to me, ‘We’re going to be shooting in 2023’, I said, ‘Great, when?’ They said, ‘All 2023’. I start shooting in February and finish in December.”

    Charlie Cox, via NME

    Daredevil: Born Again will be one of Marvel Studios’ lone projects to film in New York, rather than Atlanta. This makes set media more probable, which will definitely reveal more about where Matt heads in this series. Daredevil: Born Again is currently expected to stream on Disney Plus in 2024.

    Source: NME

  • AMC’s Second Season of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Production, Release Updates

    AMC’s Second Season of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Production, Release Updates

    Season 1 of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, which fascinatingly served as a sequel to and a reboot of the 1994 film, was overwhelmingly well-received by critics, notching a 99% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 81 on Metacritic. The first season focused on the love-hate relationship between Jacob Anderson‘s Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid‘s Lestat de Lioncourt and the discord sewn into it by Louis decision to give Bailey Bass‘s Claudia the Dark Gift to save her life. The season finale saw Louis and Claudia hatch a plot to kill Lestat and ended with the revelation that Louis’s sometimes servant/feeding trough, Rashid, was actually the vampire Armand. Armand’s appearance had fans speculating about the premise of Season 2 and now a new interview with the series’ producer Adam O’Byrne and writer Hannah Moscovitch has confirmed fans’ suspicions and given an idea of when they can expect the second season to stream.

    In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Moscovitch confirmed that Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire will adapt the second half of Anne Rice‘s novel of the same name, picking up in 1940 and following Louis and Claudia as they head to Paris. Fans of the novel know what’s waiting for them there and how Armand’s story is tied to it. As Moscovitch says, “The first half of the book is all setup. And then the second half is all payoff.”

    That payoff comes in the form of Louis and Claudia meeting with just the type of vampires Lestat warned them about over the course of the first season: a coven of Parisian vampires who operate the Théâtre des Vampires who live under a very different set of rules and guidelines than the ones Louis and Claudia know. According to O’Byrne, production on Season 2 will predominantly take place in Prague, which will double as Paris.

    O’Byrne has some unfortunate news for fans, however. Production for the second season won’t get underway until April 2023 and is expected to last around four months which means it almost certainly won’t follow in the footsteps of Season 1 and release in October. “My guess is we won’t make that window,” said O’Byrne, while adding, “that is an AMC call.” It looks like fans will have to wait until late 2023 or early 2024 to see where the show takes the vampires next.

    Source: Toronto Sun

  • ‘The Witcher’ Showrunner Teases More Netflix Spinoffs

    ‘The Witcher’ Showrunner Teases More Netflix Spinoffs

    The Witcher is only a few more days away of releasing its second spinoff, The Witcher: Blood Origin. After the success that was the first season, Netflix moved forward fast with the animated film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf before moving forward with a live-action prequel series. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Lauren Hissric hinted that we may be getting more in the near future.

    We have plans to keep this going in various permutations. I love the mothership, I’m going to stick to it, but obviously, we have Blood Origin coming out. I hope that this doesn’t end for a while. So I think the possibilities are endless, and we’ll see what happens

    Lauren Hissrich

    It looks like they have quite a few plans moving forward. Blood Origin wasn’t quite the critical success they may have hoped even with some big names attached like Michelle Yeoh. The series currently stands at 39% approval rating by critics and there’s the question if fans will have a similar reaction. Of course, there are also the viewership numbers that might be the real test for Netflix if there’s more to The Witcher moving forward, especially when Season 4 rolls around with Liam Hemsworth in the title role.

    Henry Cavill will be given a “heroic sendoff” in the upcoming season that may pull in some strong numbers but the question remains if it can keep up that momentum for her plans for many more seasons to continue. The possibilities are endless but Netflix’s patience may not be for a franchise that can’t pull in the numbers to make the budget worth their time.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly, Rotten Tomatoes

  • ‘The Witcher’ Showrunner Teases Henry Cavill’s “Heroic Sendoff”

    ‘The Witcher’ Showrunner Teases Henry Cavill’s “Heroic Sendoff”

    There have been so many reports on why Henry Cavill decided to leave The Witcher after its upcoming third season. Stories from behind the scenes tease strife between him and the writers due to it not being accurate enough to the books in his opinion. Then there were the accusations by former writers that the writer’s room was openly mocking the source material. No matter where the project stands, it seems that Cavill is still getting quite a sendoff from the project.

    In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Witcher showrunner Lauren Hissrich has teased that he’ll reserve a “heroic sendoff” for the actor’s tenure as Gerald of Rivia. Even with all the rumors circling, she highlights the actor’s dedication to the role and wants to honor that commitment with a proper farewell.

    Henry has given so much to the show and so we want to honor that appropriately.

    Lauren Hissrich

    She also goes on to highlight what they’ve tried to accomplish with Season 3, especially highlighting that they may be the closest ever to a “one-to-one adaptation of the books.” Hissrich highlights how they tried to adapt Time of Contempt in the next season.

    What is so interesting is that season 3, to me, is the closest thing that we’ve done as a one-to-one adaptation of the books. Obviously, we can’t do every page, but Time of Contempt gave us so many big action events, plot points, defining character moments, huge reveals of a big bad. There’s so much to do that we were able to stick really, really closely with the books.

    Lauren Hissrich

    While Cavill is set to leave behind a role he was quite committed to, it does seem like they are at least trying to honor the time they spent together. It’s unclear if any of the rumors may be confirmed or not, we still have a season to look forward to.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Finds its Belle-Mere

    Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Finds its Belle-Mere

    We’re still waiting for an update on the upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. We haven’t had an official casting in some time but luckily enjoyed a recent update by the manga’s creator Eiichiro Oda himself teasing that the project is going to be “amazing” or “great” depending on the translation. Still, the CVs of various actors have given us a few teases of actors that were cast in various smaller roles from the production.

    The same has just happened with actress Genna Galloway, who revealed in her CV that she’s playing the role of Belle-Mere as first shared by @OP_Netflix_Fan on Twitter. For those that might not know the character, she’s the adoptive mother of Nami (Emily Rudd) and Nojiko (Chioma Umeala). She plays an integral part in the development of Nami’s character and the famous Arlong Park Arc.

    That is not all though, as her Spotlight CV also includes a rather curious detail. Josef Kubota Wladyka directed the episode(s) she was a part of. The Tokyo Vice director was rumored to have a role in the production all the way back in June. We still don’t know how many episodes each director tackled but it definitely has been quite interesting getting these tidbits.

    We might have to wait until 2023 to get an official update on the production but these tidbits have been great to hold us over until we finally got an update. Conway is no stranger to working with Netflix, as she was involved with this year’s Resident Evil. So, it’ll be interesting to see what she brings to her next project.

    Source: Spotlight via Twitter

  • ‘Avatar 2’, ‘The Batman’, Black Panther 2′ and More Shortlisted for Oscars

    ‘Avatar 2’, ‘The Batman’, Black Panther 2′ and More Shortlisted for Oscars

    It’s a big year for cinema, even while the box office has been struggling. We’ve seen some massive successes beat expectations, such as Top Gun Maverick taking the cinema by storm. Marvel was building back its pull at the box office with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. We’ve had indie standouts like Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Whale, The Banshees of Inisherin, and more. DC was even back in style with a creative new take on their iconic Dark Knight in The Batman.

    Now, the time has once again arrived for what the future has in store as we enter the awards season. The Oscars has just dropped its shortlisting for those films that may gain a nomination for the 95th Academy Awards. This is not the final nomination list but rather the first breakdown of those projects that have a chance of getting the coveted nomination.

    Here’s a quick highlight of some noticeable nominations for this year. Original Score has nominated some big projects like Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Devotion, Glass Onion, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Nope, and more. “Hold my Hand” by Top Gun: Maverick and “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther sequel join the Original Song shortlist among many others.

    The superhero and blockbuster genre once again dominates the Visual Effects shortlist, which includes The Batman, Wakanda Forever, and the Doctor Strange sequel, but is also joined by All Quiet on the Western Front, Jurassic World Dominion, Nope, and more. Though it would be hard to imagine the Avatar sequel not winning the category considering James Cameron‘s mastery of the arts over the many years of production.

    It’ll be exciting to see how the year turns out, and with the variety of projects currently out there, this might be one of the most exciting Oscars yet. Of course, everyone will have their favorite and feel like one project over the other should’ve won but it’s always great to celebrate the accomplishments of cinema from an indie, blockbuster, or just a movie lovers perspective.

    Source: Oscars

  • ‘Black Adam’ Producer Turned Down a ‘The Flash’ Cameo for Dwayne Johnson

    ‘Black Adam’ Producer Turned Down a ‘The Flash’ Cameo for Dwayne Johnson

    Black Adam is quite the mess with the release underwhelming and everything that followed being quite the rollercoaster of emotions for everyone involved. Dwayne Johnson was focused on building a new corner of the DC Extended Universe but surprisingly he avoided involvement with most of the franchise that didn’t quite fit into his own plans.

    We recently learned that the actor declined to join Shazam: Fury of the Gods in a small role, which would’ve made the most sense for the character given Black Adam is Shazam’s main rival. Yet, he seemingly only saw the opportunity to build his own “Justice League” with the Justice Society of America. Yet, he even declined to join one of the main members’ upcoming solo film The Flash according to a new tweet by The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez.

    It’s interesting that this inquiry went out to producer Hiram Garcia instead of the actor directly, but it’s bizarre that they’d not want the actor to appear in one of the main Justice League member’s storylines. Especially the multiverse concept would offer some fun ways to give him some more fun to play around with the role and connect him with the overarching narratives. So, it seems like an odd opportunity to pass on. Perhaps there was the believe that Black Adam was big on its own and Dwayne Johnson’s plans to create his own little corner, he may want to keep it as independent as possible. Whatever the reason, the story continues to get more and more confusing.

    Source: Twitter