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‘Mean Girls’, ‘Bring it On’ and More Inspired ‘Darby and the Dead’s Characters

Darby and the Dead is a new high school comedy that adds a new spin. As the name implies, it’s not just about a young teenager surviving high school, but her former bully suddenly dies and she’s stuck trying to help her pass on to the next life. It’s a creative premise and looks to be a promising new take on the classic film type.

During the official press conference for the Hulu Original, actresses Kylie Lyia Page, Nicole Maines, and Auli’i Cravalho got a chance to tease the inspirations of how they brought their characters to life in the Hulu Original. Page highlighted the rather obvious Mean Girls, but also Bring It IOn as inspirations on trying to bring their “popular girl” personas to life in the film.

I think Mean Girls is definitely one. I mean, just that’s easy, you know, we’re a group of four girls. You know, we’re at the top of the food chain. We’re cheerleaders, so a little bit of Bring It On in there. And Clueless for sure.
Kylie Lyia Page

Maines also went on to highlight that it wasn’t only the way they approached the dynamic in their friend’s group, but also that it heavily inspired their wardrobe. So, they had quite a few references to keep an eye out for in what the characters wear throughout the film’s runtime.

Even our wardrobe tried to give nods to different films that we loved, and yeah, ‘cause we wanted to just make a, like, a fresh take on the classics that we grew up with.
Nicole Maines

There are many iconic films that explored this familiar setting too many, and they do hint that while it’s inspired by classics, the film is mainly a more modern take to represent how high school looks for students living it currently. Here’s just hoping that no poor soul can see the dead while trying to live through the

November 27, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Strange World’ Directors Reveal Much Darker Version of Film

Strange World, Disney’s next major animated film, is almost in theaters, and it promises to be another joyous, family friendly ride from the House of Mouse. However, according to directors Qui Nguyen and Don Hall, there was almost a version of the movie that was much darker. Speaking exclusively with Murphy’s Multiverse, the veteran creatives were asked if there’d been any unused ideas they wished could have stayed in the movie, or that they hoped people might one day see. Nguyen answered the question first, revealing an early take on the story that involved a lot more violence:

We had so many. That’s the joy of making one of these films. We get to play with a lot of different ideas, especially in the story stage. We had a series of deaths that were – like we were murdering different characters throughout. There was a version of the movie where, like, the whole crew is dead and you have a feral Callisto at the end who’s like “I’m enraged! I will destroy this place no matter what I do!”
Qui Nguyen

Strange World revolves around the Clade family, as they explore an unknown world in search of something that might save their homeland. The farmer Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), his adventurous son Ethan Clade (Jaboukie Young-White), his proactive wife Meridian Clade (Gabrielle Union), and his larger-than-life father, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid). They are joined on their journey by Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu), the President of Avalonia and leader of an exploration group assigned to help the Clades on their mission. As Nguyen described, Callisto was almost a villainous presence in the film, and apparently, Jaeger was originally a bit scarier as well:

We had a much more barbarian type of Jaeger who like killed a giant caterpillar monster with his bare hands, which was really cool. So, there’s a lot of iterations of this film that were really fun to do…like, what if Jaeger was a lot more barbaric or Callisto was a lot more angry or something like that.
Qui Nguyen

Not all of the abandoned concepts were so gloomy, however, as Hall chimed in to discuss his favorite deleted scenes. The former Big Hero 6 director explained that one of the creatures in the film, lovingly referred to as a “Poop Pickle”, was intended to play a much bigger role. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow this to happen:

Yeah, and the creatures that show up, sort of, a little way through the movie in the acid lake. Those kind of green, blobby things we call “Poop Pickles”. We had storyboarded scenes where those creatures were explored more extensively and they were all very funny and kind of wonderful. We just didn’t have time to support that much. We needed them to do what they do in the movie, which is help them get out of a jam. But who knows? Maybe in the future we’ll get to explore some more about the world of the Poop Pickles.
Don Hall

Strange World is now in theaters.

November 27, 2022
The Fate of Elora Danan Became the Core of the D+ Series ‘Willow’

In creating a sequel series 30+ years out from the 1988 film, Willow executive producer and writer Jon Kasdan had quite a bit to sort through before getting started. Kasdan, who grew up a fan of the film, started the wheels in motion toward the series while on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story with Ron Howard and Warwick Davis, including trying to determine what would be at the core of the series. While the mysterious absence of Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan plays a key role, Kasdan explained that it was the fate of another character that got the ball rolling.

During the global press event for Willow, Kasdan explained that the real meat of the series came from a question about the character around whom the events of the first movie transpired: Elora Danan. “Well it evolved really out of the conversations that Ron (Howard) and I had on the set of ‘Solo’“, said Kasdan of how the story for the Willow series came to be. Continuing on, Kasdan made it clear that the fate of the baby who was destined to become empress was a must have, saying, “and one thing we always knew was sort of at the core of it was, who… what became of Elora Danan? We thought that that was a subject with a lot of promise.“

The events of 1988’s Willow saw the evil Queen Bavmorda’s plot to banish the spirit of Elora Danan, who was prophesied to dethrone her, thwarted by Willow and his friends. The film ends with Elora safely in the hands of Sorsha and Willow back in his village. According to Kasdan, the farewell between Willow and Elora didn’t sit well with him when he saw the film as child:

The movie ended with a sort of bittersweet moment of Warwick kissing this baby and then saying, ‘okay, goodbye, I’ll never see you again.’ And as an eight-year-old I was sort of like, well what is… you mean, they’re not going to live together and they’re not going to have a life together? And how is she going to find out about all this stuff that happened to her?
Jon Kasdan

30 years and change later, that bittersweet feeling and the questions of a curious child turned into the beginnings of a streaming series with an epic scope. Certainly, a child of Elora’s immense potential would continue to need protecting and as Kasdan explained, once it was clear she was going to be the core of the story, more questions about Elora and her safety came up.

And that felt like a great jumping-off place for a series, and we knew we wanted this question sort of right in line with that, we knew we wanted this question about, who was protecting her and was perhaps the best way to protect her not telling her who she was?
Jon Kasdan

What became of Elora Danan? See for yourself when Willow streams on Disney Plus beginning November 30th.

November 27, 2022
Fan-Favorite Character Confirmed to Return for ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is set to kick off Marvel Studios Phase 5 when it releases in theaters in February. The third film in the Ant-Man franchise, Quantumania is set to take the Ant-family into the Quantum Realm where they’ll meet the big bad not only of their film but also of the Multiverse Saga: Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror. The first two films in the franchise were smaller in scale, which means Quantumania will take the family into uncharted territory as the film will have “a profound effect on the MCU“, according to returning director Peyton Reed. However, heading into uncharted territory doesn’t mean some familiar faces from the franchise won’t return for the adventure.

A new theater standee shared on Twitter by user @charlestrotter has indicated that in addition to the main cast of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas returning for the film, one other actor is set to return for his third MCU film.

As can be seen just below Kang’s pinky finger, David Dastmalchian is credited with an appearance in the film. Dastmalchian has played Kurt Goreshter in the previous two Ant-Man films and along with Michael Pena’s Luis and T.I.’s Dave was a frequent source of comedic relief. At last check during the events of Ant-Man and The Wasp, the trio was now successfully running their business venture, X-Con Security Consultants. While Dastmalchian’s return for the third film may seem like it was a slam dunk, the actor did not believe he had a role in the film as recently as March of 2022.

Just how big of a role Kurt will have in the third film remains to be seen but, at the moment, he’s the only one of the “Wombats” who looks to be in the film. Trade reports confirmed that T.I. would not be returning for Quantumania and Michael Pena refused to comment on whether or not he’d return. While Pena’s name does not appear on the standee, be cautious in taking that as confirmation that Luis will not be in the film.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is set to hit theaters on February 17th, 2023.

Source: Twitter

November 27, 2022
It’s Time for Old King Thor to Join the MCU

I am Thor Odinson. King of a broken Asgard. Last of all the gods. And today I will try yet again to see Valhalla. I vaguely remember how this started, so long ago, with a dead god floating in the sea and later a little girl’s prayer on a world without gods, and now this is how it ends. With blood and thunder, with hammer and sword, with one last stand at the gates of heaven. Whatever happens now, whatever my fate, know that I face it like a god.

Imagine a Thor movie starting like that, with words ripped right from the page of Jason Aaron’s epic exploration of Thor, and you’ll understand which way we think the fifth installment in the Thor franchise should go. Thor is the only solo character so far to receive four films. While Ragnarok reinvented the franchise after the uneven The Dark World, Love and Thunder veered drastically into Bad Marvel territory. It still had its enjoyable parts (The Mighty Thor was a highlight and the end credit scene was a nice touch), but an under-utilized villain who didn’t do much god butchering and some awful attempts at humor left us with a bad taste in our mouths. One could argue that Love and Thunder was way worse than Eternals, a movie that gets so much more scorn than it deserves. Still, there is a way to reinvent Thor one more time, while also setting the stage for what’s to come, and Marvel need look no further than Jason Aaron for inspiration.

There would have to be some adjustments made, but a story where Earth-616 Thor goes on a multiversal adventure and meets some of his other selves would give Chris Hemsworth a chance to play multiple versions of Thor. Sure, you’d get some comedy, but it could be a real introspective look at a character who has lost more than almost anyone in the MCU. You could put Hercules in this, building off of the Love and Thunder end-credit scene, and have Hercules hunting Thor across the multiverse while Thor goes on a journey to find himself.

Thor could embark on this journey as a response to his grief for losing Jane while trying to teach Love about what it means to be a god. Marvel has really shown different sides of how people deal with their grief during Phase 4: with Wanda never moving past it, and the Wakandans burying themselves in their work to mask it. Thor would be the first character to actively run from their grief. While the idea of a multiversal adventure may seem similar to what Doctor Strange did in Multiverse of Madness, the difference here would be that you could explore what seeing different versions of himself means for Thor. Imagine a Thor that has lost Cap, Iron Man, Black Widow, and Jane Foster meeting a Thor who never returned to Asgard and stayed with Jane. Envision Earth-616’s Thor, a proud member of the Avengers, meeting a Thor who was an adversary for the Avengers. That sounds like the kind of thing Hemsworth is alluding to in what he wants to see in terms of character growth and the opportunity to do something different. Tying his own self-exploration (he saw Thanos coming and didn’t kill him, he didn’t see Gorr coming and couldn’t kill him, and he now wants to be ready for whatever is coming next) into the overarching multiversal war that is coming means that Thor gets the chance to step into the limelight as a leader of the Avengers as his life is winding down. Whereas King Thor fought Dr. Doom for almost 100 years, you could have this version of that character fighting Kang for almost 100 years.

Because Loki wasn’t pruned from existence after stealing the Tesseract, there is now an Earth where Thor actually becomes King substantially sooner than he was set to in the Earth-616 timeline. With no Loki to lull Odin into his eternal sleep, thereby replacing him on the throne, you have a Thor that returns to Asgard with no brother and no Tesseract. Putting that grief aside and stepping up to take the throne, he would stand to inherit the Odinforce upon Odin’s passing: in one of the What If…? episodes, Loki becomes King shortly after Thor comes to Earth and is killed by the Wasp, so while one would assume it is Loki’s trickster ways that lead to Odin’s death, it could be the banishment of his son and true heir. Earth-616 meeting this Thor, who warns him of a variant of Kang The Conqueror that he has been at war with, could set the stage for Thor versus Kang before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Earth-616’s Thor being warned of Kang by King Thor would be the first part of this journey. However, having this variant of Kang kill the multiverse’s King Thor so that Earth 616’s Thor becomes the new King of that world’s Asgard would finally allow Hemsworth to be King, briefly. It would be him taking the throne begrudgingly while trying to convince Hercules that they should work together to defeat Kang. Hemsworth would be moving closer to the Thor we see in Avengers: Endgame, albeit with more on his shoulders and returning to a point where he felt a responsibility to Asgard’s people. Having Earth-616’s Thor seek Kang out for revenge much sooner than he’s meant to could really up the ante in terms of what awaits the Avengers. Not only would this confrontation bring Kang The Conqueror from Quantumania’s quote about “have I killed you before” into focus, it lets the general public know that we haven’t met the worst version of him yet. Because I would have Kang kill Earth-616’s Thor and send him to Valhalla. This death would be the catalyst for Hercules swearing to protect Earth-616 for Thor in the war ahead.

In the Jason Aaron King Thor run, the only thing that can bring Thor back from Valhalla is the Phoenix Force. In that regard, he’s almost immortal. Saving a bearded Thor’s return, perhaps with the Necrosword in his possession, from Valhalla for Avengers: Secret Wars with all the fallen Avengers (Iron Man, Black Widow, Mighty Thor, Loki, a Star-Lord that dies in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man after Kang turns him into ant dust) would top the portal scene from Endgame.

All hail King Thor. It’s time. And let Gareth Evans direct it.

November 27, 2022
James Gunn Reveals ‘Lord of the Rings’ Inspiration For ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ Animation

James Gunn made a triumphant return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe this week with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Designed as an ode to classic Christmas shorts, Gunn crafted a sweet, heartfelt, and authentic new entry in the Guardians mythos with all the proper trappings to ring in the season. Among these delightful tropes, as unexpected as it may have been, was a series of flashbacks done with a familiar animation style. Rotoscoping, a type of animation made popular by notable filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, is a process in which scenes are filmed in live-action and then traced onto animation cells. The result is a cartoon with a uniquely real-world feel.

In a recent tweet, posted as a response to a fan on Twitter, director Gunn confirmed that the tribute to Bakshi was entirely intentional:

From the beginning I intended to do the animation Ralph Bakshi style
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 26, 2022

Bakshi is known for a variety of films, but his most popular might be 1978’s lesser-known The Lord of the Rings adaptation. He also directed 1977’s cult classic Wizards, 1981’s adult film American Pop, and has worked on several cartoons, including the classic 1960s Spider-Man series. Bakshi’s work is well-known in the animation community, and it’s great to see Gunn introduce the style to a broader audience. The short segments of the Holiday Special ultimately allowed for several key moments in the series’ lore to be revealed. And the look of the rotoscope made them appear more memorable than if a traditional type of animation had been used.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+, and Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5th, 2023.

Source: Twitter

November 26, 2022
‘Willow’ EP Addresses the Madmartigan-sized Hole in the Disney Plus Series

The upcoming Disney Plus series, Willow is a nostalgic return to the fantastical lands of Tir Asleen and Galadoorn and the characters who inhabit it. The series is a direct sequel to the 1988 film of the same name and set 20 years after the events of it saw the evil Queen Bavmorda defeated by a band of people that included Willow and The Greatest Swordsman that ever lived, Madmartigan. However, while Warwick Davis returned to the role of Willow Ufgood in the series, there’s no sign of Val Kilmer’s Madmartigan, who played such an integral role in the film. During the global press conference for the upcoming series, Willow writer and executive producer Jon Kasdan talked about how Madmartigan’s absence helped shape the series into its final form.

For Kasdan, the absence of the original film’s co-lead wasn’t a roadblock so much as the way to expand on his story by showing the impact it had on others, including his two children Kit and Airk, played by Ruby Cruz and Dempsey Bryk, respectively.

It was always sort of going to be, right at the core of the story we were, we were telling. And it really had to be… but because we were telling a story that had so many young characters, and they were all sort of searching for their identity, the search for Madmartigan, and the question of what had happened to him was right at the heart of the story we were telling. And we knew that it would be woven into this quest in a fundamental way, really, to see where he was and what had become of him, and what he’d given up. Particularly for Ruby’s character, Kit, and for Dempsey’s character, Airk, in order to do good.
Jon Kasdan

Both Kit and Airk have taken their father’s near life-long absence from their lives very differently and when your father is the legendary Madmartigan, the hole left by his absence is a big one. Indeed according to Kasdan, it’s something the young heroes will deal with for the entire season.

And that question sort of follows the whole season. And we always knew that we sort of wanted to pay it off in one way or another, and we had a lot of ideas about ways to pay it off and ways to leave it open.
Jon Kasdan

Though he’s not in the series, the tales of his deeds and adventures certainly play a large role thanks, in part, to the addition of a new character to the franchise. Amar Chada-Patel plays Thraxus Boorman, a warrior who shared an adventure or two with the Daikini Lady Lover and who Kasdan says was created out of need when Kilmer wasn’t able to be on set. And according to Kasdan, it provided an unexpected boost to the series.

And one thing that happened, because Val himself wasn’t able to come out to Wales and work with us, was that we were a- we added this texture of a friend of Madmartigan’s, who could give us some clues about his whereabouts. And… and deepened the mystery around what happened to him, in a way that only actually extended the story we were already telling. So it was very satisfying, and it sort of prevented… it provided an opportunity for us to add a whole new element that we didn’t expect to the show.
Jon Kasdan

Fans of Kilmer’s character shouldn’t despair at the star’s absence from the series, however, According to Kasdan, he and Davis are just as eager for his return as fans.

Madmartigan is still out there, I mean, I have had many conversations with everyone involved, and our feeling is, he is, he is out there to be found, should the day arrive. And I think Warwick and I would both love to see him pick up that sword again.
Jon Kasdan

Where is Madmartigan? What took him away from his family? Find out when Willow begins streaming November 30th on Disney Plus.

November 26, 2022
‘Wakanda Forever’ Concept Art Reveals Alternate Designs for Namor

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced one of Marvel Comics oldest and most conflicted characters to the MCU in Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. Writer and director Ryan Coogler wanted to give Namor, who is the Prince of Atlantis in the comics, and his underwater kingdom a unique makeover. The result was the underwater city of Talokan, a Mesoamerican-inspired twist on Atlantis.

While fans only see the finished look of Namor, Talokan and its people in Wakanda Forever, the design process takes hundreds of people thousands of hours with the majority of that work never being seen. Ultimately, dozens of designs don’t make the final cut of the film for whatever reason despite having just as much work put into them as the ones that do. Concept artist Anthony Francisco, whose look for “warrior” Namor was chosen for the film, released a series of alternate designs for the character via Twitter.

Francisco’s tweets detail the incredible amount of work the artist put into the character, including researching multiple cultures and their histories. His description of how he finalized the design for Namor’s necklace, which was featured throughout the film, provides a fascinating insight into the creative process.

The pearl in the middle represents the sun or life, so depending how you see it , the winged serpent is either presenting you the sun or taking it away from you.
— Anthony Francisco (@Art_AF_) November 26, 2022

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters.

Source: Anthony Francisco Twitter

November 26, 2022
Marvel Studios Can’t Produce a ‘Black Panther’ Spinoff Focused on Namor

There’s been a lot of hype around Tenoch Huerta‘s incredible performance as Namor, the leader of Talocan and antagonist in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Many have hoped that this performance would kick off interest from Marvel Studios to get this character his own solo project, but sadly it seems that rights are still an issue for some of the Marvel characters.

According to The Wrap, the rights are still not fully with Marvel Studios and are something from the pre-Disney era. When Marvel Comics was about to go bankrupt, they sold the rights to their characters to studios that would work on films. That’s how Sony and Fox originally got access to the pantheon of popular characters long before Marvel Studios was even a thought.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore has confirmed to The Wrap that the character can definitely return in a future project, but Disney is not able to produce a standalone project based around the character. It seems the rights are still with Universal, who also holds the rights to Hulk and was the reason that character never got a sequel since the Edward Norton film back in 2008.

Sadly, this means we shouldn’t expect any further exploration of Talocan in a solo outing in cinemas or even Disney+. Perhaps they’ll find a way to bring the characters back as part of another project where he isn’t the main character but still has a major role. Of course, there’s also the chance that Disney sees the potential and is open to repurchasing the rights to the character; though that may be more difficult with a potentially higher price given his newly found popularity.

Source: The Wrap

November 25, 2022
Filming Schedule and Details for ‘The Penguin’ Revealed

Following the release of The Batman in theaters earlier this year, fans have long anticipated what the future could have in store for the future of this world. While it may apparently be a bit of time before a theatrical sequel, Matt Reeves has been in the midst of creating multiple spin-off shows for HBO Max to follow different facets of Gotham City. One of which is The Penguin, which will focus on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot trying to gain control of the crime syndicate of Gotham after the new opening power vacuum following The Batman. While not much has been known about when audiences should expect the series, new details have come to light about the production that should leave people interested.

According to The Illuminerdi, The Penguin will be filming in New York City between January to August 2023. This is a logical filming location for the show given the city’s ties to mafia-based projects in the past. As well, this filming schedule would seemingly indicate that the anticipated Batman-based show won’t release on HBO Max until early 2024 at the earliest.

As well, “Boss” will be the working title for the series, which fits with the central theme of attaining control of the Gotham crime syndicate. It’s recently been revealed that Cristin Milioti will be playing Sofia Falcone, the main antagonist of the series who will have recently been released from Arkham Asylum. She will be joined by her brother Alberto Falcone, who will be the new don of the family following the death of their father in The Batman, and other relatives Johnny Viti and Consigliere Milos Grapa. No actors have been attached to these roles as of yet.

In addition, it’s been revealed that The Penguin will also cover family turmoil for the Cobblepots as matriarch Francis will be struggling with Lewy Bodies Dementia. This will force the main family to deal with losing control and stability from within.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to follow if The Penguin can match the creative and commercial success of The Batman and help further build this new universe. It certainly would be helpful for James Gunn and the newly revamped DC Studios as they seek a fresh start for the franchise.

Source: The Illuminerdi

November 25, 2022