Director Dan Trachtenberg breathed new life into the Predator franchise with 2022’s Prey which he followed up with Killer of Killers, an animated anthology that fundamentally reframed everything fans once believed they knew, opening the doors wide for new era of storytelling. The first chapter in that new era will be Predator: Badlands, also directed by Trachtenberg, who once again promises to deliver something audiences have never seen in a Predator film.
Where Killer of Killers expand the Yautja’s role in the history of the AVP universe and pulled the curtain back a bit more on the franchise’s killing machines, the Yautja, Badlands looks to expand on that, revealing more of what makes the species tick and by making one of them, Dek, the film’s protagonist rather than it’s Boogeyman. With just one month to go until the film’s release, 20th Century Studios has released a new trailer for the film, along with a synopsis that highlight not only Dek’s dangerous journey but also his partnership with Elle Fanning‘s Weyland-Yutani synth, Thia.
Set in the future on a deadly remote planet, Badlands follows a young Predator outcast (played by newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who finds an unlikely ally in Thia (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Elle Fanning) as he embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
-Synopsis for Predator: Badlands
While visiting the set of Predator: Badlands, Screen Rant spoke with producer Ben Rosenblatt, who shed some light on Thia, who will spend a great deal of the film on Dek’s back.
On this journey, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synth who has been severed in half and stuck in a nest on the planet waiting for some way to help get out of there. So the backstory on that is Weyland-Yutani has sent an all-synth mission onto this planet to pursue the very same beast for their own purposes.
-Ben Rosenblatt
“The big idea is that we are trying to do a Predator movie where the Predator is the hero, the protagonist of the movie,” Rosenblatt explained “So our story follows an undersized predator.”
With a Yautja as the lead, Predator: Badlands will get a chance to follow Dek to Yautja Prime, the home planet of the alien species as seen in Killer of Killers, though that’s not the film’s primary setting. “It begins on Yautja Prime with this predator and his immediate family,” explained Rosenblatt, “and through a series of both exciting and tragic events, he’s set off on a journey on a foreign planet, and that’s where most of the film is taking place.”
Given what fans learned about the Yautja and their home planet in Killer of Killers, it seems possible that Predator: Badlands will share some connective tissue with the animated project and may set the stage for whatever Trachtenberg has in mind for the franchise’s next installment.
Predator: Badlands will hit theaters on November 7th
As it was rolled out to fans in Hall H at SDCC ’22, The Multiverse Saga was originally intended to be composed of an incredible 39 projects. However, as part of a mandate from Disney Head Honcho Bob Iger, Marvel Studios deployed the Time Ripper on the 3-phase saga, accelerating its end by cutting projects–both theatrical and streaming–including recently jettisoning a 2027 movie.
We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three. And we’re working hard on what that path is.
-Bob Iger
The result was a net loss of at least two live-action films while projects such as Armor Wars, Blade, Nova, Strange Academy and Terror Inc. were shelved, in some cases forever. As 2025 enters the home stretch, only eight projects remain on the docket before The Multiverse Saga comes to a close. Ahead of NYCC ’25–where Marvel will update its streaming slate–we look at the remaining projects that pave the way to the end of what’s been a very rocky road for the studio.
TBD December 2025-Wonder Man
Joss Whedon may have hated on Simon Williams but thanks to Destin Daniel Cretton, the Avengers ionic engine will lead what’s been called “the best Marvel show” after early screenings.
Wonder Man is eight episodes. It’s a very new flavor for Marvel. It’s straight from the minds of Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest. Honestly, it is one of my favorite things ever. I think it’s the best show no one’s ever seen, and I’m very excited to see the audience reaction to it. I think it’s a love letter to what we do as filmmakers. It’s a love letter to acting as a profession, and it’s a very sincere, beautiful show.
-Brad Winderbaum
The eight-episode series, which Brad Winderbaum called “a two-hander between two amazing characters, this odd couple of Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery” will star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley in those respective roles. Heavily influenced by the comics, including Williams’ time as a West Coast Avenger, Wonder Man will satire the superhero genre by asking “what does Hollywood look like in a world where super heroes are real?”
TBD March 2026-Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
The first season of Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again left Matt Murdock and crew up against it, with Mayor Kingpin having near total control of New York City. Season 2, which will see Krysten Ritter join the cast as drunk private dick Jessica Jones, which executive producer Jesse Wigutow described as “a singular vision,” is likely to be more akin to its Netflix predecessor than what the “jigsawed together” Season 1 ended up being.
Without giving too much away…when you’re working in what I would call the Hell’s Kitchen corner of the MCU, those iconic characters are always in your mind.
-Showrunner Dario Scardapane
Season 2 will tell “a big New York City story” with crime and politics at its center while exploring the unique relationship between Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock.
TBD 2026-The Punisher Special Presentation
As Marvel Television continues to transition to the mid-10s Netflix era, Jon Bernthal‘s Frank Castle will find himself at the center of feature sometime in 2026. The Punisher Special Presentation will follow Castle, who was last seen escaping Kingpin’s dungeon prison, as he takes on organized crime, including Ma Gnucci.
It’s like a shotgun blast of a story, but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story.
-Brad Winderbaum
As one might expect, photos and videos from the New York City set of the project indicated it will be hyper-violent, feeding the blood lust of the TV-MA crowd. It also looks as though it will tee up the next chapter for Castle where he probably won’t be able to be quite so intense.
July 31, 2026-Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton walked away from the sequel to his 2021 film to jump on board Spider-Man: Brand New Day and it sounds as though he’s set to deliver a banger. While the details are a little murky, the fourth installment in the Spidey franchise is beginning to sound like it might be one of the studio’sost ambitious projects ever, with the Hulk, the Punisher and a slee of classic Spidey rogues, including Scorpion and Tombstone, all set to appear. Oh…and maybe that symbiote fragment that got left behind when Essie Brock visited.
[It] really feels like we aren’t making the fourth movie. We’re making the first movie in the chapter… This is a rebirth. This is something completely new.–Tom Holland
Star Tom Holland has made it clear that he wants to make something special for the fans and adding Cretton’s eye for action to the street-level Spidey story fans have been asking for is starting to sound like the right combination to make it happen.
TBD 2026-Untitled Vision Series
Like Wonder Man, the Paul Bettany-led Vision series has been developed and produced mostly under the radar. Originally developed by Jac Schaeffer, the project landed in the hands of Terry Matalas and it sounds as though it may be at least partially set in cyberspace where all manner of AI madness could unfold.
It’s about intergenerational trauma…fathers and sons and denial of pain and denial of your own truth and coming to terms with who and what you are.
In nearly two decades, Marvel Studios has never really dealt with what it is dealing with in Avengers: Doomsday. Despite bringing back its most successful directing duo and star, Marvel has been roundly criticized for nearly every choice it has made. Bringing back Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo brothers has been called desperation. Bringing in Fox’s original X-Men has been called fan service. And that may all turn out to be true but that doesn’t mean the film might not turn out to be alright.
Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.
-First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday
Believed to be inspired by Jonathan Hickman‘s work iconic Avengers and New Avengers runs, Avengers: Doomsday is rumored to see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes face off against the X-Men as their respective Earths are on course for an incursion. It will also feature the World of Wakanda and the TVA, allowing it to incorporate settings and characters from across the Multiverse Saga.
TBD 2027-Daredevil: Born Again Season 3
Recently renewed for a third season, Daredevil: Born Again remains, for the time being, Marvel Television’s flagship series. While it’s way too early to know much, rumors have begun to pop up that the third season may be a Defenders reunion with Elektra and Luke Cage among those believed to be joining the show. Filming on Season 3 will kick off next Spring in New York City.
December 17, 2027-Avengers: Secret Wars
All bets are off when it comes to Avengers: Secret Wars. Anthony and Joe Russo returned to the studio to tell this story, so while Avengers: Doomsday has been a bit turbulent, it’s likely the duo have something special in store for the Multiverse Saga finale.
Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us. You couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, “Well, that’s a story we need to tell.”
-Joe Russo
Production will commence next year, with the brothers working off a script from Stephen McFeely and, perhaps, Michael Waldron. It’s expected to be influenced by both the original 1984 comic book event and the 2015 version which, of course, heavily featured Doctor Doom.
As Daredevil: Born Again entered the back half of its first season, the goal of the series’ creative retooling under the purview of Dario Scardapane became clear: make it Netflix-ier. Sure, with Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Jon Bernthal and Ayelet Zurer all taking on major roles AFTER the overhaul, the new direction should not have come as a surprise but beginning with Episode 6, “Excessive Force”, the series pivoted aggressively, starting down a far darker path. The series continued to creep along in that darkness through the Season 1 finale setting up whatcm already feels more like Daredevil Season 4 than Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
With production on the series taking place largely in view of the New York City public, plenty of photos and videos from the set of the sophomore season of Daredevil: Born Again made their way online. While you can’t safely infer too much from set photos, it does seem as though the new season will indeed dwell in the darkness fans of the Netflix series loved and, perhaps, room for more of the Defenders-verse characters to join the MCU.
Krysten Ritter joined the cast of Season 2 and Luke Cage star Mike Colter all but confirmed he was set to return as Harlem’s Hero but a new report from a trusted insider claims they won’t be alone. According to Daniel Richtman, Elodie Yung, who played Elektra in Daredevil and The Defenders, will return to the role in Daredevil: Born Again.
I have confirmed Elektra is coming back. Not sure if it’s for season 2 or 3.
-Daniel Richtman
Richtman was unable to confirm whether Yung was among the many Defenders-verse era actors rumored to appear in Season 2 or set to appear in Defenders Season 2Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, which films next Spring, though it’s worth pointing out both options are a possibility.
Production on Matt Reeves‘ long-awaited sequel to 2022’s The Batman is still two years away from landing in theaters but that hasn’t kept the film from being a near-constant part of the news cycle over the past few months.
With a script finally complete, production is scheduled to commence on the sequel in the UK next April and with the Reeves-led spinoff streaming series The Penquin having made some noise at the Emmy Awards, the director spent some time in the spotlight talking about the project.owt notably, Reeves explained that while the first film was focused on the Batman, the sequel will put Bruce Wayne at the center.
“The first story is so much about The Batman. I always wanted in the movies, and let’s say we get to make three—I have no idea—that I always wanted the movies to be focused on his character,” said Reeves. “Once you get past the origin tale, then you start telling the rogues’ gallery story and that character’s arc. I never wanted to lose Rob at the center of these stories, so that is what we really set our aim on,” the director explained.
There is an exploration to be had, and one of the explorations for me was to do something that pushes even further into the character of Bruce Wayne.
-Matt Reeves on The Batman-Part II
Still, the villain of a Batman film still needs to be compelling, even if it isn’t one of the most well-known rogues. “Picking the right villain that digs into what that does and goes into his past and his life, that was what drove that discussion,” Reeves said and a new casting rumor could hint at how he plans to accomplish that in The Batman-Part II.
A report by Pop Crave claims that F1 and The Crown star Tobias Menzes has been cast in the sequel as Amadeus Arkham.
While it’s always wise to proceed with caution with casting rumors, this is an interesting possibility. The Batman established that Bruce’s mother, Martha, was an Arkham, rather than a Kane as is typically canon in the comics. Should Amadeus Arkham indeed be in the film, he would then be some relation to Bruce. The Batman established that after Martha’s mother killed her father and then herself, Martha was placed in Arkham State Hospital. While that film explored some of the dark corners of her and Thomas Wayne’s past, Reeves’ desire to further explore Bruce and his past could pull back the curtain even more on Martha and the Arkham legacy.
Interestingly, there’s also some intersection between Amadeus Arkham and the Court of Owls, long a favorite to be revealed as the big bads of the sequel. With Reeves making it known that the film’s villain is one that has never been used in a Batman film before, this rumor does seem one worth at least keeping an eye on.
Not since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down productions across the world has the studio seen such a reduction in the volume of its content output. With the recent removal of yet another project from its theatrical slate, Marvel will release just three films in the next 27 months. On the bright side, that should give them plenty of time to work on things behind the scenes, including devoting considerable effort to the post-production and marketing of Avengers: Doomsday, a film on which quite a bit is riding.
Official New ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ Tease featuring the Avengers, Fantastic 4, and X-Men logos from the @Disney Merchandise Expo in China!#AvengersDoomsday hits Theaters December 18, 2026! pic.twitter.com/r63SwxeHD7
Indeed, though the film won’t release until December 2026, it seems as though marketing for Avengers: Doomsday is already underway. A holographic teaser of the film debuted at Disney’s 2026 Merchandise Expo in China, which also provided a good look at the costume of Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. According to multiple reputable insiders, Disney has big plans to continue heavily marketing the film well ahead of its typical schedule, including getting the film’s first teaser trailer out to the public this year.
According to longtime Marvel Studios insider Daniel Richtman, Disney plans to attach the first teaser for Avengers: Doomsday to the theatrical release of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash. With the third installment in the Avatar franchise set for release on December 19th, Marvel will be providing a look at the first Avengers film in over six years nearly 12 months before it’s release.
Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.
-First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday
While Marvel has effectively kept production on Avengers: Doomsday out of sight for the most part, it is believed to be largely inspired by Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Hickman‘s work on Avengers and New Avengers titles. Cyclops star James Marsden‘s recent tease that “worlds are ready to collide” seems to have confirmed the belief that the film will feature Fox’s OG X-Men taking on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as an incursion threatens both of their worlds.
With the second season of Peacemaker landing on HBO Max shortly after Superman flew into theaters, James Gunn–the creator of both DC Studios’ projects–has been a constant part of the CBM news cycle for several months. With an official Peacemaker podcast, a near-constant online presence and plenty of interviews, Gunn provides fans of the growing DCU plenty to chew on, even if he does beat the odd dead horse.
To some extent, much of what Gunn has had to say in the past few months has been related to the future of the young shared universe, which has begun to shape up very differently than the original version of the slate he and DC Studios’ co-chair Peter Safran shared in January 2023. The original version of the studio’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters consisted of 10 projects (5 theatrical and 5 streaming) and as Gunn has frequently explained of late, some of those have not coalesced as well as he had hoped, while others have moved up in the queue. So while The Brave and the Bold, Waller, Swamp Thing, The Authority and Booster Gold wade through development hell, Clayface, Mister Miracle and, Man of Tomorrow and Wonder Woman have progressed a little more efficiently…but those may not be the only new projects on the horizon.
In a wide-ranging interview with GQ, Gunn addressed DC Studios’ future slate, teasing a trio of mystery projects.
“Right now, there’s actually two really cool film scripts that I’m hoping to take to the next level that we have general plans for, and I’m excited about both of those,” Gunn told GQ. “And then I’m excited about one TV project in particular. I don’t know why we’re not greenlighted on that already—it’s just figuring out the budget. So there’s a couple of things that are very present that I’m excited about.“
Without any further information, Gunn’s comments are left open to interpretation. On one hand, the “two really cool film scripts” Gunn mentions could very simply be Wonder Woman and The Brave and the Bold, both of which are known to be in development. On the other hand, given how projects such as Sgt. Rock and Clayface seemingly emerged from the ether, Gunn those two projects could be something he’s yet to address publicly. And the same goes for the TV project, where only Lanterns has moved forward among those projects from the original slate reveal.
Whatever the case, given how frequently Gunn finds himself in the headlines, it seems incredibly safe to assume that at least some bits of additional information about the three projects will make their way online soon.
Ryan Gosling was confirmed as the film’s star during Star Wars Celebration Japan, making good on months of rumors that the A-lister was set to join the franchise. Matt Smith, who joined the cast in August as “the next great villain in the Star Wars universe,”and Mia Goth, who was cast in June, are set to antagonize Gosling‘s character, who is rumored to be protecting his Force-sensitive nephew, played by Flynn Gray.
Billed as”an all-new standalone adventure,” Star Wars: Starfighter has been described as “an entirely original story set in a period of time never before explored in Star Wars.” Despite that description, there’s a growing belief online that Gosling‘s character will be tasked by Amy Adam‘s character with safely delivering his nephew to someone who can train him to use the Force and now a pair of new rumors have renewed hope that he’ll be delivered to a very familiar face.
According to My Time To Shine Hello, despite Lucasfilm’s designating Star Wars: Starfighter as a stand alone project, the film will include a “big cameo” and is meant to launch a new trilogy.
Given the rumors about the project, it’s easy to imagine that Gosling‘s mission in the film is to safely deliver his nephew to Rey Skywalker’s New Jedi Academy, which would allow Daisy Ridley to cameo, setting up a New Jedi Order trilogy.
Connecting the available dots, it begins to seem very reasonable that Starfighter might serve as a Rogue One-esque prequel to Ridley‘s trilogy, setting the stage for the New Jedi Order era. Of course, as Star Wars fans continue to grow increasingly frustrated with the franchise’s inability to bring ideas to fruition, nothing on that front will truly matter until production begins on Ridley’s project.
DC Studios upcoming animated series, Mister Miracle, will introduce Scott Free and the mythology of The New Gods (possibly) into the DCU and according to a new report, that will indeed include one of DC Comics most terrifying villains.
With casting now underway for voice actors for the project, Nexus Point News has revealed several members of the supporting cast, including the tyrannical ruler of Apokolips, Darkseid.
In addition to Scott Free/Mister Miracle, his wife, Big Barda, and Darkseid, the series will also reportedly feature Funky Flashman, Highfather, Lightray and Orion. The animated adventure–which has not been confirmed to be set in the main DCU continuity–is being written by Tom King as an adaptation of his own award-winning 12-issue Mister Miracle comic book.
To that end, NPN notes that the series will include some key points from the comic, including Scott’s Anti-Life Equation infection and his attempted suicide.
After filming for nearly five-and-a-half months, poduction on Avengers: Doomsday is done…for now. While additional photography is expected next year, the cast and crew have wrapped for the time being, allowing directors Joe and Anthony Russo time to tinker, determine what’s needed in reshoots and, of course, begin work on Avengers: Secret Wars. But before they get top busy, the Russo brothers have shared a cryptic tease by way of a phot from the UK studio set of Avengers: Doomsday.
The photo, which was captioned “Look hard…”, shows what appears to be nothing more than one of the directors in a chair surrounded by a green screen set up. However, upon closer inspection, it is possible a hooded figure is looking down from the top left of the photo.
Though the film doesn’t release until December 2026, the studio is said to have a large-scale, long-running marketing strategy planned. That plan is rumored to include a teaser for Avengers: Doomsday in theaters attached to Avatar: Fire and Ash, though that’s unlikely to be confirmed by Disney any time soon.
“Now in Creature Commandos, you’ll hear them talk about things that happened in [The] Suicide Squad or Peacemaker. Well then, those things automatically become canon,” said Gunn in a November 2024 interview with IGN.
And as additional DC Studios’ projects have been released, quite a few more things that happened in The Suicide Squad have been talked about and even seen on screen, leading to some speculation that Gunn’s admittedly arbitrary and amorphous canon guidelines may have been flexible enough to fully integrate his 2021 project into the DCU. Well…nope.
Only CC forward is pure canon; Peacemaker is almost entirely consistent with that canon other than the Justice League; The Suicide Squad has a lot of consistencies but I think of it as an imperfect memory.
-James Gunn
In a new interview with THR, Gunn explained that canonicity as it relates to The Suicide Squad “brings up more questions than answers,” and that is “not DCU.”
“People are always asking me about stuff from The Suicide Squad, and The Suicide Squad is a difficult thing because it is not DCU,” said Gunn. “But there aren’t too many things in it that aren’t [DCU]. Unlike Peacemaker season one–which is completely DCU, besides the ending and one or two mentions of different things–The Suicide Squad brings up more questions than answers.”
The truth is that canon doesn’t matter…until, of course, it does..and at some point, it might. And so while the entirety of The Suicide Squad is not canon, parts of it certainly are. In both Creature Commandos and Season 2 of Peacemaker, the death of Rick Flag Jr. at the hands of Christopher Smith during the mission to Corto Maltese has been addressed, leading THR to wonder whether or not Smith’s Task Force X teammates might come after him upon learning he’s alive. According to Gunn, that’s not a story he’s interested in telling.
“Now, I’m not saying that those characters won’t reappear. I’m just saying that I am [already] dealing with Peacemaker’s guilt over killing Rick Flag Jr. and his repercussions for that,” explained Gunn. “And that story is being told through his relationship with Rick Flag Sr. To tell it through Bloodsport, who was friends with Rick Flag Jr., would be an emotionally diminished story compared to the one I’m telling now. So it doesn’t interest me at all.“
The mention of Idris Elba‘s Bloodsport is interesting given that Gunn has claimed that he’s “always looking for a place to put Bloodsport.” However, it sounds as though once he finds that place, it won’t include much in the way of dealing with Peacemaker killing Bloodsport’s “friend”…which would seem weird. Whatever the case, it’s likely that with Gunn looking to continue carving out a nice-sized role for Peacemaker in the DCU, we can all look forward to more canonical inconsistencies.
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