For over two decades, Hugh Jackman has been the face of live-action X-Men films. After leading Fox’s original X-Men trilogy and a Wolverine trilogy and appearing in cameos across other Fox films, Jackman brought Wolverine into the MCU in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. The ending of Deadpool & Wolverine seemed to make it fairly clear that the heroic duo’s story had another chapter and in late 2024, a report indicated that Marvel hoped to keep Jackman on in the role beyond its rumored plans for him in Avengers: Secret Wars.
The potential return ofJackman has already raised concerns that Marvel Studios will continue shining the spotlight on Wolverine, relegating other traditional X-Men big timers to the shadows as Fox often did. Among that group, none were done as dirty as Scott Summers. Portrayed in Fox’s films by both James Marsden and Tye Sheridan, Cyclops never rose to the same heights as his comic book counterpart, who was one of Stan Lee’s favorite characters and has undergone a wonderful and transformative journey in the comics. And a new report claims that Marvel Studios has decided that Scott Summers’ story will be at the center of its Mutant Saga.
According to longtime industry insider Kristian Harloff, Cyclops and the Summers family “will be the focus of the new mutant saga.“
Clarification: Cyclops will be the focus of the new mutant saga not Doomsday https://t.co/vfk4pWaVgV
While the move might initially stir controversy, if planned and executed correctly, a Summers-centric saga would allow for Marvel Studios to introduce numerous characters either underutilized or unused by Fox AND tell some of Marvel Comics greatest X-Men stories.
Since acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, fans have largely lamented Disney’s efforts to create feature films in George Lucas Star Wars universe. With 2015’s The Force Awakens, Star Wars super fan J.J. Abrams was supposed to provide a new hope for the franchise, launching a sequel trilogy intended to reestablish the Skywalker Saga as a global brand. And while Episode VII had plenty of nostalgia, heart and energy, the lack of a planned, cohesive narrative for the new trilogy led to unprecedented polarization among the fanbase, earning Abrams another star on his franchise-ruining sash.
Since acquiring 20th Century Studios from Fox in 2019, fans have largely lauded Disney’s efforts to create new projects in the Predator universe. Under Dan Trachtenberg, whose feature film directorial debut came ironically on the Abrams-produced 10 Cloverfield Lane, the Predator franchise has evolved along a very divergent path than the Star Wars franchise, making it, perhaps, Disney’s premiere sci-fi action property.
From that garden, emerged Predator: Badlands, the very conceit of which is among the most bold moves any sci-fi franchise has ever made. Expertly crafted, both visually and narratively, Trachtenberg‘s third installment in the franchise balances beauty and brutality through the lens of the ugliest mother fuckers in the galaxy. Trachtenberg‘s decision to set Dex, an outcast Yautja runt, as the protagonist of the film borders on mad science but, against tall odds, it worked. You son of a bitch!
Unlike Alien–another former Fox franchise that’s been given new life since being acquired by Disney–the Predator franchise under Trachtenberg‘s watch is not afraid to take chances. Fede Alvarez‘s solid Alien: Romulus played as an homage to prior installments in the franchise, carefully curated to not stray too far from what fans expected while also hoping to be a steady onboarding point for new viewers. From its opening scene, set on the predators homeworld of Yautja Prime, Predator: Badlands, eschews nostalgia, and comfortable tropes, foregoing the underlying structure of a “Predator movie.” And then, when you least expect it, it becomes a “Predator movie” again in all the best ways.
Outlandishly, the result of Trachtenberg‘s choices in crafting Predator: Badlands is a film that could (perhaps) rightly be described as John Rambo carrying C-3P0 on his back and hanging out with Paddington while fighting the Kaiju from Pacific Rim. And it works! It works so well that Badlands will undoubtedly find itself in the discussion with Predator and Prey as the best in the franchise.
The film allows Trachtenberg to continue the exploration of Yautja culture that he began in Killer of Killers and that’s ultimately the engine that makes the film run so smoothly. Coming into the film, fans should have a rudimentary understanding of what these monstrous hunters are all about; and if you didn’t, little time is wasted making clear how Yautja clans deal with weakness and failure. As Dek’s journey unfolds, the audience rides a parallel rail to the protagonist. Just as Dek must betray his nature in order to survive, so must the audience’s conditioning be subverted in order to see the layers woven into the film’s narrative tapestry.
Ultimately, Predator: Badlands offers audiences the opportunity to have an incredibly good time at the movies, meshing action with emotion without a single human character being seen on screen. It’s an incredible accomplishment for the genre, as is having the film’s protagonist speak only in his native Yautja, never uttering a word of English. Like Dek, Predator: Badlands shouldn’t be able to stand toe-to-toe with the heavy hitters of its own franchise, much less the genre. But like Dek, it stands defiant of expectations, daring you to challenge it.
With principal photography in Avengers: Doomsday having wrapped and additional photography not expected to get underway until early 2026, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have had time to get the post-production process started, pulling the movie together out of the hours and hours of footage. On top of that, rumors persist that the directing duo is helping to prepare a trailer for the film, with the expectation of it running ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash. While that hasn’t been confirmed by Marvel Studios (and likely won’t be anytime too soon), it is sensible and the emergent rumors about what it might include have seemed reasonable as well.
Without another Marvel flick in theaters until Spider-Man: Brand New Day next July, the studio will want to make sure a first look at Avengers: Doomsday makes a splash. New details about the rumored trailer make it sound as though it will do just that.
Following up on word that Robert Downey Jr‘s Victor Von Doom will be a full-blown Universal monster in the film, longtime insider Kristian Harloff has shared a new batch of details on the trailer and the film.
According to Harloff, the final incursion that leads to the destruction of the Multiverse will include three worlds. And after Doomsday arrives, a key new location will be created: Battleworld.
In the 2015 Marvel Comics event Secret Wars, the patchwork reality knownas Battleworld was created by Victor Von Doom. Doom assembled fragments of other realities destroyed by incursions into a kingdom ruled over by him as its God Emperor.
Battleworld has been rumored to be included in the two-part Multiverse Saga finale but this is the first time details about its creation have been shared.
Though Harloff–who claims to be withholding additional information–did not go on to name the realities involved in the final incursion, it seems likely that Earth-616 (Sacred Timeline), Earth-828 (Fantastic Four) and Earth-10005 (Fox X-Verse) would be the most likely trio given what we know about the film. There is, however, plenty of room for error in that assumption.
VFX artist turned social media scooper James Mack–who has accurately reported on some details about Avengers: Doomsday–took to X to share details about a massive and VFX-heavy battle featuring Namor and it sounds as though the Emperor of the Deep will unleash the full extent of his powers next year.
According to the scoop, Namor–accompanied his Talokanil army and a giant octopus–will unleash a “massive tsunami” in an unknown opposing force in Avengers: Doomsday.
there was also a very muscular warrior in the army, with fins, who looked like Orka, but I’m not sure
After sharing the original scoop, Mack returned to X to share an image of the giant tidal wave known as the Ultimatum Wave as it wiped out Manhattan. Of course, in Marvel Comics continuity, Magneto, not Namor, caused the Ultimatum Wave. However, that won’t stop Marvel Studios from showing off just how powerful Namor can be in Avengers: Doomsday.
Mack’s scoop names two new Talokanil soldiers: Andromeda and Orka. Given the legions of soldiers in Namor’s army, namea aren’t dished out to all of them; in fact, only Attuma and Namora were named in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With those two characters expected to return, perhaps is reasonable to assume Andromeda and Orka might have similarly sized roles. Neither have particularly exciting histories in the pages of Marvel Comics, with Andromeda canonically the daughter of Attuma and Orka typically a blunt instrument. It’s possible that the two are part of an MCU iteration of the Defenders of the Deep, Namor’s hand-picked strike force.
With a trailer for the film rumored to be headed to theaters in December, this rumor seems relatively believable as this would be JUST the sort of big action beat that could be included in the trailer to raise expectations for the film.
In a brief interview with Variety, Tillman played coy about his role while responding to a question about his potentially villainous character by asking, “Who says I’m playing a villain?”.
#Severance star Tramell Tillman on filming “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and what he loves most about playing a villain. He was one of 100 rising stars recognized at the TIME100 Next Gala. pic.twitter.com/i8DnCRn0vO
Interestingly, despite never having been caught on location yet, Tillman revealed he’s already begun work on the film, scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.
I’m told that Marvel has a plan to say goodbye to Kang. They’re going to wrap him up. I think they want to give him the boot just to put to bed any…I think they’re going to deal with Kang somehow. A small little thing… probably in one of the Avengers movies. I’ve heard Doctor Doom could be the one who kills him.
Given the expansive roster of interesting characters in Spidey’s orbit, there’s no doubt that Tillman would be a far greater asset to the MCU as a character–ally or enemy–who can carry on beyond a one-off appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Marvel multimedia scribe Zeb Wells has been tasked with reviving one of the most significant figures to emerge from the pulp era. According to OG super scooper Umberto Gonzalez, Wells–who has worked for Marvel’s film, television and publishing studios–has landed the gig as the writer for Legendary’s Buck Rogers film.
Gonzalez’s report states that Wells will be adapting author Philip Francis Nowlan‘s novella, Armageddon 2419 A.D. for the feature film. The original story, published in 1928, featured Rogers being exposed to a gas, going into suspended animation and waking up in a dystopian future to fight invaders with advanced technology like ray guns and flying belts. Nowlan’s action-adventure style was common to the pulp era and the character, originally named Anthony Rogers, inspired the creation of countless characters and stories including Flash Gordon, Adam Strange and Star Wars.
While the character gained his greatest mainstream fame through the hugely popular newspaper comic strip (where he was renamed “Buck Rogers”), radio serials, movie serials, and TV series including Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran from 1979-198.
A Buck Rogers project has been in development at Legendary since they acquired the rights to the character in 2020.
The Thrill Machine: A Look Back at the Pulp Era 💥
The Pulp Era was a golden age of popular fiction, spanning roughly from the 1890s through the 1950s. It was a time when fantastic, action-packed stories—from hard-boiled detective tales and jungle adventures to the earliest forms of modern science fiction—burst onto newsstands and defined much of 20th-century pop culture.
What Defined the “Pulp”?
The term “pulp” comes directly from the cheap, rough wood pulp paper on which these magazines were printed. This inexpensive material allowed publishers to print vast quantities of fiction magazines at low cost, selling them for just 10 or 25 cents.
These magazines were easily identifiable by several key characteristics:
Low Cost: Their affordability made them the primary mass-market entertainment before television and comic books took over.
Distinctive Covers: They featured vibrant, lurid, and often sensationalistic painted covers designed to grab a reader’s attention and hint at the wild action inside.
Genre Focus: Unlike literary magazines, pulps were unapologetically dedicated to specific genres, giving rise to specialized titles.
A Multiverse of Genres and Heroes
The Pulp Era didn’t just entertain; it served as the essential proving ground for nearly every genre and archetype that would later define comic books, movies, and television.
Science fiction titles such as Amazing Stories–in which Rogers debuted–adventure titles such as Doc Savage Magazine and detective titles such as Black Mask broke ground for the eventual rise of comic books.
The Birth of the “Superhero”
Crucially, the pulps invented the concept of the “Super-Hero” long before Superman. Characters like The Shadow (who had a secret identity, a hidden headquarters, specialized gadgets, and fought a constant war on crime) and Doc Savage (a polymath adventurer with near-superhuman skills and strength) established the fundamental tropes that would later be directly adopted by comic book creators. Many early Golden Age comic book writers and artists were, in fact, veterans of the pulp industry.
— Movies Talk Official (@moviestalkhindi) March 1, 2025
In a Reddit Q&A, Waldron pulled back the curtain on plans he and Loveness had for the Young Avengers before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was scrapped in favor of Avengers: Doomsday.
Jeff Loveness and I spent an afternoon pitching on the Young Avengers defeating a version of Kang and being so stoked about it…only to discover that that particular Kang carried a little card that said to Be Patient with him, it was his first day as a Kang. And then they were so bummed. I think he was gonna be the lizard Kang from the end of Kang Dynasty? I don’t know. Anyway we had fun.
-Michael Waldron, Reddit Q&A, October 28, 2025
Given the response to the defeat of Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, it seems unlikely such a scene, even if treated as a joke, would have landed well with the grumbly segment of the Marvel “fan base.” However, it is entirely in line with the sensibilities of Loveness and Waldron and also at least partially consistent with one of the Young Avengers first collective missions in the comics.
With Warner Bros. Discovery up for sale, an inch of uncertainty about the future of the studio’s major brands has turned into a mile of bullshit. Paramount has long been seen as the front-runner to seal a deal to acquire WBD and all the companies under its umbrella, including Cartoon Network, CNN, DC Studios and HBO and a recent article claimed that if the deal were to go through, Paramount CEO David Ellison would seek to oust James Gunn, head of the still-new DC Studios.
According to Bloomberg, should Paramount complete the purchase, Ellison “plans to keep much of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. intact.” More relevant to the rumors of Gunn’s departure, Ellison is said to want to “keep the creative teams of the two studios,” which would include, one might assume, Gunn and DC Studios’ co-chair Peter Safran.
That’s all putting the cart before the horse, however, as WBD has thrice denied Paramount’s bids to buy the company and there is plenty of opposition in Hollywood. Outside of that sphere of influence, concerns about a potential monopoly have been raised as well.
Should it all go down, however, Gunn recently confirmed that his plans for the all-new, all-different DCU “definitely go significantly further than Man of Tomorrow,”which is scheduled for a 2027 release. Certainly aware of the impact of a potential change at the top, however, Gunn recently cast doubt on whether or not he’d be able to bring all his plans to fruition. “So whether or not that’ll be me that’s able to fulfil that promise depends on a lot of things in life,” he recently told Boba Talks. It now looks like at least one of those things should no longer be a concern.
DC Studios co-chair James Gunn has big plans for the Green Lantern Corps; however, with the potential sale of Warner Bros. Discovery creating uncertainty around the future of the new DCU, it remains to be seen how much of those plans will come to fruition. Those concerns don’t look to be halting the release of the HBO Max streaming series Lanterns, set to debut in 2026.
John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU…
-James Gunn
In a wide-ranging interview with Men’s Health, Pierre and Mundy set the stage for the series, which the latter calls “as much of a buddy cop show as a superhero show.”
From the sounds of it, Lanterns will see Pierre‘s Stewart, who the actor says “radiates strength and fortitude,” being prepped as a replacement for Hal Jordan which, as one might expect, will cause some friction between the two.
“Our show is in a lot of ways about replacement—when should someone step aside and when is it time for the next person to take the reins? That push and pull between those two characters is really important,” Mundy explained.
We have a few other Lanterns peppered in there but this is really a terrestrial based TV show which is almost like True Detective with a couple of Green Lanterns who are space cops watching over Precinct Earth in it they discover a terrifying mystery that ties into our largest story of the DCU.
-James Gunn
Pierre describes Stewart as a man who has “That hunger to be the best version of yourself, which also holds you accountable when you’re not.”According to Mundy, that resolve will be challenged by what sounds like a pretty abrasive Jordan.
“So much of the power that John has is by not taking the bait, understanding that you lose your power if you’re yelling and screaming,” said Mundy. “That’s what we’re trying to convey: He knows he belongs, so he doesn’t have to overcompensate. There’s a real balance there that’s just innately inside of Aaron. He’s big. He’s an intimidating presence just physically. But there’s a softness to him too. There’s a thoughtfulness. You can’t teach that.”
Should Stewart’s story continue beyond Lanterns, it sounds as though he’ll come out of the streaming series truly tested by Jordan, making him more than worthy as his successor.
In January 2025, a report from Jeff “The In” Sneider indicated that Marvel Studios planned to recast the role of T’Challa, with a new actor set to portray the character originally played by the late Chadwick Boseman. Sneider claimed the new actor would step into the role for three upcoming films, starting with Avengers: Doomsday and continuing on in both Avengers: Secret Wars and Black Panther 3.
Sneider’s report was quickly countered by social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, who claimed that the recast wasn’t for the character played by Boseman but rather for T’Challa II, played by Divine Love Konadu-Sun in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Former Marvel Parliament member Nate Moore seemed to put the rumblings to rest in February, explaining that without a story in place for Black Panther 3, the studio was unable to make a decision about replacing Boseman in the role. However, as believable as Moore‘s words were, one of the biggest oopsies ever quickly turned the tide of the story one more time.
We don’t know what the story is, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not we’re open to recasting. It certainly wasn’t our instinct for Wakanda Forever. I’ll never say never to anything, but it’s too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story’s going to be.
— TheEmpressNoir (Gigi) (@TheEmpressNoir) March 1, 2025
The idea of Idris as the MCU’s new T’Challa took hold quickly among the fanbase; however, further inspection of the files posted on Art Station revealed that the character in the concept art was T’Chanda, the Black Panther of Wakanda in World War II and the grandfather of T’Challa. Despite the excitement, the buzz died down and with principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday having been completed with no sign of Idrisamong those revealed to be part of the cast, fans seemed to have moved on…until now.
An appearance by Idris at Vogue World: Hollywood, alongside Black Panther franchise star Angela Bassett, has fansvonce again believing he’s set to be the MCU’s next Black Panther.
With Bassett spotted holding hands with Idris while outfitted in the same garb work by her Queen Ramonda, fans quickly began to call the event a “soft launch” for the recasting of Boseman‘s iconic role. Theories and speculation have begun to spread across social media platforms and message boards, though no single theory seems to be taking hold. Is Idris a Multiversal Variant, a grown T’Challa II or T’Chanda? Has he been cast in Avengers: Doomsday at all? Given the fact that characters from the World of Wakanda are confirmed to play a major role in the film, all of the options would seem to be in play. With the studio rumored to be planning to roll out a teaser for the film before year’s end, perhaps we’ll all find out soon.
Cookie Consent
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
