You read that title correctly, but it seems a name has potentially been found for the merging of two streaming giants. If you’ve questioned Warner Bros. Discovery’ overall direction since CEO David Zaslav took over, it seems that their plans to simply title the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ “Max” is a curious choice. The plans are to launch it in the near future, but there are still many questions on what their focus is moving forward.
HBO Max and Discovery+ were infamously compared with very distinct focus groups, and the Discovery head has no interest to truly invest into creatives if there’s no clear return on investment. AS such, his main focus with streaming will be to push cheap content that can draw in a massive crowd. So, reality TV is definiteley on their radar, such as when they shared with pride their 90 Day Fiance Universe tagline during an earnings call after the merger.
The source from CNBC has pointed that the company’s lawyer is currently vetting the name, which isn’t the definite name as of now. They may have other ideas on the table, but it’s surprisng they aren’t trying to bank on the Warner Bros. brand if they are moving away from HBO. Supposedly, they are taking inspiration from Disney+’s design with brand focused sections. It will be interesting if they keep some of the elements alive from the original streaming services, especially with HBO Max being among the most visually stunning.
You read that right, ToeJam and Earl are back baby. It seems that Amazon Studios has already set its eyes on the iconic SEGA franchise from the 90s as a feature film. Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media and Story Kitchen are currently attached to bring the film to life about alien rappers that are looking for a cure. No, not a cure for the usual disease but one that destroys their home planet’s rhythm, funk, and groove. The following description has been shared for the film:
Earth, their legends tell them, is the Paradise where the music that created their culture originated. Unfortunately for our heroes, not only do they wreck their ship, but they find that Earth is . . . well, not the haven they expected. But the music – that part was true. So begins their quest to find as much of that music as they can in the hope of saving their planet, and maybe ours as well.
Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazoo, who recently penned Hotel Transylvania 4 and Disney+’s Superfudge, are set to write the film’s script with Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnsona nd Dan Jevons set to produe the project. They are joined by Curry, Erick Peyton, and Mike Goldberg. It’s unclear if this film will be an animated film or a live-action/animation hybrid given ToeJam and Earl’s very alien design from the original gaming trilogy. Whatever tehy have planned, it’s definitely crazy to think we live in a time where ToeJam and Earl will be a film to begin with.
There’s been quite a few rumors throughout the years about Metal Gear Solid making its return. While it seemed that the franchise creator Hideo Kojima was continuing work on his own projects, it was surprising that one of gaming’s biggest IPs wasn’t going to make a return at some point. The longest running rumor is that there’s been a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid in some form of production thoughout the years, not too dissimilar to the recently confirmed Silent Hill projects. Now, a Spanish site AreaJugones has seemingly revived that rumor oncea gain with a bit more info.
According to them, the upcoming remake of MGS might be exclusive to PlayStation 5 with an announcement potentially already on the horizon. There’s always a chance that something gets announced at The Game Awards this year, and a remake of this classic game would definitely be a big one. Though, Kojima has close ties to the award show’s creator Geoff Keighley and who knows if they might want to keep the focus on whatever Kojima is working on and has recently started to tease quite a bit.
What is worth noting is that there’s also . So, who knows which one this rumored adaptation might end up being or they are taking a different approach. The first entry isn’t famously long and they could take the approach to echo the stories of Solid Snake and future Big Boss. Even if this rumor doesn’t pan out,t here’s also the Oscar Isaac-led film remake that the actor last talked about back in March before it went silent once again. Here’s hoping that fans get something from this series at some point.
The tradition of an upcoming reveal being quickly spoiled has found its latest victim. Star Wars: Jedi Survivor was just teased to finally make its long-awaited gameplay showcase in the upcoming Game Awards on December 8th. Yet, it seems that Steam got a little to excited about the Jedi Fallen Order sequel, as it accidentally has leaked the release date for the project. Not just that, but also the first DLC that is inspired by classic Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
It seems that the game is set for a March 15th release next year and we’re very likely to get a release date confirmation during the upcomign event. Supposedly, it’ll be scheduled around half an hour into the event; so the wait for that first gameplay tease won’t bel ong. What stands out is that we also got our first look at the returning Cal Kestis with a new weapon, a blaster. It seems we’ll have more options than our lightsaber going into the sequel.
It’s going to be exciting to see this franchise return, as while the first entry had some rough spots, there was something quite inspiring about a Dark Souls-inspired take of the franchise. We’ll see if the sequel will follow the same formular or potentially mix things up. The blaster inclusion could potentially hint at a more Devil May Cry dynamic by switching between your lightsaber and blaster, but it could also have a more last resort function. The combat in the first game was closer to a puzzle game at times. So, a blaster adds a new way to take on Stormtroopers. Guess we’ll know more later this week and here’s hoping that poncho isn’t truly gone.
Batgirl never made it to theaters but has somehow become one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s most talked-about films. The film, which was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, was scrapped earlier this year before it had a chance to release and has since developed into one of superhero cinema’s greatest mysteries. While canceling movies isn’t unusual for Hollywood, it is a bit strange to dump a project after it’s completed filming, and fans are desperate to know what they would have seen had Batgirl been made public. Its cast, led by promising newcomer Leslie Grace, featured the grand return of Michael Keaton as Batman and a redemptive villain role for internet darling Brendan Fraser, who is in the midst of an immense career comeback.
With so much untapped potential in a single project, many hope that Batgirl might one day receive the Zack Snyder’s Justice League treatment and get its time in the spotlight via streaming release. The flames of these desires were stoked by the news that a private screening of the film was held for cast and crew on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot, lending credibility to the idea that a mostly-finished version of Batgirl could exist somewhere in storage. Unfortunately, during a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Arbi and Fallah revealed this was not the case. Speaking candidly, Arbi explained that the footage shown to those involved with the film was totally unfinished, and not even their latest edit.
While the duo shares the hope that a final cut of the movie can eventually be released, they also say there’s a long way to go before that happens:
We still needed additional photography, there were a lot of scenes missing, and the VFX was not there. I don’t know if [Warner Bros.] are really gonna go for that, but we’ll see, sometimes we think it’s fucked, but sometimes it’s like … maybe!
Adil El Arbi
As previously mentioned, the studio was in a similar boat with Zack Snyder‘s version of Justice League after releasing a heavily edited take by Joss Whedon in theaters instead. Intense internet scrutiny lead to WBD spending quite a bit of additional money to complete Snyder‘s vision and drop it on HBO Max. The payoff wasn’t as large as anticipated, however, which may impact Batgirl‘s odds of a second chance.
For Arbi and Fallah, this experience of losing a filmed project and not getting it back has been somewhat unreal. The former reminisced on the unfortunate circumstances of their last few years before commenting on Batgirl‘s status:
You’ve got to imagine, we’re two fanboys, and for one second we were in the Batman universe, following in the footsteps of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, and then it was just like we woke up and it was a dream.
Adil El Arbi
Ever upbeat, Arbi does manage to find a silver lining amongst all the disappointment:
This is something that never happened before, so we’ve kind of become part of movie history without even trying!
Adil El Arbi
The duo is now working on their next film, a political thriller titled Rebel.
The emotionally charged trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has fans wondering which members of the team will kick the bucket when the film hits theaters next Summer. Whatever the case, one thing will be sure: the team will never be the same again. Whether or not there will be more adventures for a new iteration of the team is a decision that Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, and his trusted Parliament have to make but in-universe, Guardians or not, the galaxy still needs heroes. Fortunately, because Marvel Studios has woefully underdeveloped the cosmic corner of the MCU, one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes-if not THE greatest-is ready to come off the bench and join the fight.
Though it has long been a staple of Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios has not invested much effort into building out the cosmic side of the MCU outside of James Gunn’s work on Guardians of the Galaxy. In their eagerness to bring Carol Danvers into a starring role, Marvel Studios skipped right past the tales of the comic’s first cosmic hero: Mar-Vell. Though the character was present in Captain Marvel, an alternate path with a more fully developed Mar-Vell as a true hero could have changed much of the cosmic landscape. Instead, what exists now is a terrifyingly bland, basic and underdeveloped idea of one of Marvel Comics’ most important conflicts: The Kree-Skrull War. The Kree are sorely misrepresented compared to their comic book counterparts and one of their greatest warriors, Ronan the Accuser, was egregiously done dirty and taken off the board in Guardians of the Galaxy. Their “war” with the Skrulls has been relegated to a few scuffles and Annette Bening’s Mar-Vell’s role in it was reduced to a glorified cameo. Yes, the Skrulls are due back for more in Secret Invasion, but which Skrulls? Gravik? How about a Power Skrull or two? Where’s Paibok? For fans of old-school Marvel Comics cosmic adventures, Marvel Studios adaptations of these characters and stories has been disappointing.
Past is prologue, of course, and even in a medium that’s easily “retconable” it’s going to be pretty tough to undo the stories told of Mar-Vell and Ronan. Maybe Power Skrulls and Super Skrulls can show up down the road. Maybe the portrayal of the Kree can be improved (at this point it’s the equivalent of polishing a turd, however). Maybe…but it’s not in changing the mistakes of the past that Marvel Studios can improve its cosmic storytelling. No, the path to redemption lies ahead and rests on the shoulders of The Man Called Nova.
In March of 2022, a trade report confirmed what many had been discussing for a long time: Marvel Studios is developing a Nova solo project. Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada was brought on board to get the gears turning on what many insiders believe will be a Disney Plus project. If everything were to go according to plan, that project could go into production in 2023, meaning it would be ready to stream in 2024. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wrapping up what’s hopefully Marvel Studios’ first act of cosmic theater, MCU audiences would find themselves being introduced to the character who should rightfully be the star of the second act just about a year later. Though fans of the character have been pining for his debut for years, Richard Rider couldn’t find a better time to join the party.
Mar-Vell and the Kree-Skrull War became the backbone of most every Marvel Comics’ story for decades. However, in 2004 Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning launched Marvel’s modern cosmic line that was comprised of a series of large-scale events unlike anything ever attempted by the publisher before. For the better part of a decade, cosmic fans hand their hands full as Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings and The Thanos Imperative hit stores in rapid succession. These stories introduced a new generation of readers to some of Marvel’s most obscure heroes and villains (including the Guardians of the Galaxy team that James Gunn adapted for the MCU) but one hero found himself at the center of nearly every one of those stories: Richard Rider.
Though he’d been around for nearly 30 years at the time, Rider had never taken center stage as he did during Abnett and Lanning’s epic run. Save another hero. Save a planet. Save the entire galaxy. Nova did it all, ultimately at the cost of his life. The Silver Surfer may have had more adventures than Richard Rider, but it’s hard to argue that Rider didn’t become Marvel’s greatest cosmic hero during that time. Now, with the MCU’s Guardians set to be reeling from whatever comes their way in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Rider could find himself getting the same treatment in the MCU.
Somewhat serendipitously, the stage has been perfectly set for Nova to follow the Guardians though most of his heroics in the comics preceded their assembly. Should Marvel Studios be keen to follow the DnA blueprint, characters such as Annihilus, Blastaar and Kl’rt and alien races like the Shi’ar and the Phalanx would likely play their roles. None of those characters were available to Marvel Studios until after the Dinsey-Fox merger of 2019. So by postponing Nova’s MCU debut, whether intentionally or not, Marvel Studios made it possible to introduce Richard Rider and have him enter his finest hour fairly quickly. As fun as some of the older Nova books used to be, the 2000’s version of the character is the kind of hero the MCU has routinely developed and one that fans will respond to.
Of course, there’s the unfortunate possibility that Marvel Studios might make familiar missteps wth Nova. In their eagerness to spotlight Carol Danvers, they took away from Mar-Vell; the same could happen here by choosing to jump straight to Sam Alexander over Richard Rider. In both instances, properly developing the first character (Mar-Vell and Rider, respectively) would only serve to strengthen the legacy characters (Danvers and Alexander). Marvel Studios has a chance at getting it right this time with Rider and the blueprint couldn’t be any easier to follow. Get out of your own way and let The Human Rocket save the universe…and the cosmic corner of your MCU.
After playing a key role in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Qi’ra, played by Emilia Clarke has had an expanding role in the pages of Star Wars comics as the leader of Crimson Dawn. Writer Charles Soule made Qi’ra the focus of an unofficial trilogy of comic book events that take place between the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that sees the character move out from behind the scenes to become one of the greatest thorns in the side of Emperor Palpatine.
Qi’ra was created by Solo co-writer JonathanKasdan, who is now making the press rounds promoting his Disney Plus sequel series, Willow. While talking to THR, Kasdan was asked if he believed Qi’ra might have a future on the streaming series. “I don’t honestly know”, answered Kasdan bluntly. “I’m always afraid to ask Kathy [Kennedy] because she can see right through me. She can see my desire to tell more stories there,” he continued. However, despite being unsure of what the future holds for the character, Kasdan isn’t short on ideas, including one that’s inspired by one of Marvel Studios’ most well-received projects of 2022.
But in recent months, I have been intrigued by the wonderful Werewolf by Night as a potential form of storytelling … So I would love to see Lucasfilm embrace a short-form novella version for telling some of their stories. That certainly seems like a place where future stories about those characters could live.
Jonathan Kasdan
Could Star Wars take a page out of Marvel’s book and start mixing in some Special Presentations on Disney Plus? Both Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special were praised and have given Marvel Studios something to think about in terms of perhaps using them more often. Given the relative overall success of Star Wars projects on D+, perhaps Kasdan’s idea might get some traction.
By now, the sudden and surprising cancellation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Batgirl film is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with the likes of Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser in starring roles, the movie was nearly complete by the time of its now-infamous canning at the hands of new WBD CEO David Zaslav. To make matters worse, the creative duo behind the project were reportedly unaware of its demise before the news broke online, and found out they were unexpectedly unemployed along with everybody else. However, despite the unsavory circumstances surrounding Batgirl‘s end, it would appear Arbi and Fallah are still game to return to WBD’s world of capes and crusaders.
Speaking exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter, the directors – also known for their work on the hit sequel Bad Boys for Life and Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel – revealed that their feelings aren’t hard enough to prevent another collaboration with the studio that blindsided them. Asked directly, Fallah explained a second job with Warner Bros. would come with a very understandable condition:
Yeah, we’d still work with them. But on the condition that the movie comes out. I mean, if Warner says, ‘Do you want to do the next Batman or Superman?,’ of course we’ll say yes. Just so long as the movie comes out!
Bilall Fallah
As for which project specifically the duo would like to take on, a recent post from Arbi on his Instagram stories might hold the answer. Over the weekend, the creative threw some fan art of the cult classic animated series Batman Beyond on his social media with no caption, causing many of his followers to believe he might secretly be working on something inspired by the show.
Batgirl Director, Adil El Arbi, shared on Instagram some Batman Beyond fan art by artist WeeArts 🦇 pic.twitter.com/YwX7QyC4th
In his THR interview, Arbi stated this was not the case, but that he and Fallah would not be opposed to helming an adaptation if an offer was on the table:
You know, maybe in the future … when Batman is not being made by Matt Reeves … Batman Beyond is really super cool. And I just saw that and thought that’s really badass. So who knows? Maybe in the future one day if they ask us to do that, we wouldn’t say no. But you can dream, right?
Ail El Arbi
Batman Beyond was an animated series that ran on WB Kids from 1999 until 2001. It served as a sequel to Bruce Timm‘s iconic Batman: The Animated Series set decades into a sci-fi future where an elderly Bruce Wayne is now retired and mentoring his successor, a young man named Terry McGinnis. Arbi and Fallah have already convinced Michael Keaton to play this version of Wayne once, so perhaps they might one day be able to do it again. Until then, the duo will remain hard at work on their next film – Rebel, a “pacey action thriller about two Muslim Belgian brothers dealing with identity alongside ISIS radicalization and recruitment during the war in Syria“.
If you’re an MCU fan, you can never have enough Cox. With appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law behind him and production on Daredevil: Born Again set to get underway early in the new year, Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock certainly seems to be a big part of the Multiverse Saga. The 18-episode Born Again looks to be the cornerstone of theMCU’s street-level stories with rumored appearances from such characters as Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, White Tiger and, potentially, Richard Fisk. As busy as filming 18 episodes should keep Cox in 2023, it sounds like he’s angling for a little more work anyway.
At an appearance at German Comic Con in Dortmund, Cox mentioned he’d like to see Daredevil show up in the strangest of MCU places: the currently untitled Deadpool and Wolverine film slated for a 2024 release.
I think because of the tone of our show, I think that there’s a place for Daredevil to show up in Deadpool. It would be really cool.
Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox says he would like to see Daredevil make an appearance in DEADPOOL 3.
“I think because of the tone of our show, I think that there’s a place for Daredevil to show up in Deadpool. It would be really cool.”
Cox’s comment about the tone of Daredevil: Born Again somehow meshing with that of Deadpool is incredibly interesting. While the lighter approach to the character in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law was refreshing, it doesn’t really seem in line with Deadpool’s sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek humor. Perhaps Cox knows a thing or two about what’s planned for the Deadpool film? One theory suggests that the film might be an adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and see the Merc With a Mouth “killing off” the Fox-verse, making it very multiversal. Could Daredevil: Born Again have some multiversal aspects to it as well?
This week, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased more mutants in the MCU’s near future. During the Q&A after the CCXP event showcasing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked on if we can expect more mutants in the near future and he definitely seemed optimistic: “No, look, we’ve already met a few. There’s a new Mutant named Namor that you might’ve met recently. So, more to come.”
Of course, the head of the production company is not going to give away what we can expect. We do know that Deadpool 3 will give Hugh Jackman one more chance to play Wolverine; hopefully finally wearing his iconic outfit. And, there are many opportunities to slowly introduce various versions of these characters throughout upcoming projects. Now, we just have to wait and see if the X-Men will get their time int he spotlight or if they even existed throughout MCU’s history to begin with.
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