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Christopher Walken Joins Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Two’

Here’s a surprising addition, but it looks like Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune sequel has added Christopher Walken to its cast. He will take on the role of Emperor Shaddam IV. The adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s sci-fi classic has recently cast Florence Pugh and Austin Butler. the story will take place right where the first one left off with Timothy Chalamet‘s Paul Atreides stranded on the desert planet Arrakis, as he meets destiny and the Fremen that made this planet their home.

Walken will act as the ruler of the known universe in the sequel, and is the reason for Atreides’s downfall. He takes on the role that Jose Ferrer played in the 1984 version by David Lynch. Pugh is playing his daughter, Princess Irulan. They will start production on the project in the summer in Budapest, Jon Spaihts also returned to help pen the script alongside Villeneuve, who is producing the film alongside Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, and Tanya Lapointe.

The first film made quite a splash at the box office with $400.6M at the box office and managed to win six Oscars, it was also nominated for best picture. This is Walken‘s next major project after working on Apple TV+’s Severance which has a second season on the horizon. So, the actor is going to be quite a bit busy soon.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

May 12, 2022
How Kevin Feige was Convinced to Produce ‘Moon Knight’ Series

In a recent interview, Moon Knight head writer Jeremy Slater brought up how the series was pitched to Kevin Feige in order for Marvel Studios to green-light and produce the project. The writer discussed the challenges with the character often being compared to Batman and a lack of originality that may come from producing a series like Moon Knight if done inadequately.

That’s always been a little bit of a Moon Knight problem is, in the wrong hands, he’s just a sort of Batman clone with a pallet swap and Batman’s got an 80-year head start on us. It’s very easy to do something that would just feel super derivative.
Jeremy Slater

With that in mind, it was certainly important for Jeremy Slater to track down what original elements would best thrive when developing this series. When discussing Moon Knight with other people working within Marvel Studios, they provided insight into what specific factors to focus on when Slater would pitch the project to Feige.

They gave us this and they’re like, ‘Look, he loves the mental health aspect. He loves the dissociative identity disorder and he’s really drawn to the Egyptology. He likes the Jeff Lemire run, the idea that you could be on the bus and look out the window and see an Egyptian god standing on the street corner.’ That was something Kevin [Feige] sort of identified early-on of like, ‘Okay, well, that’s interesting. That’s unique.’ That’s kind of all the information I had going in.
Jeremy Slater

All of the factors that were presented in the pitch were critical in making Moon Knight stand out as an original series. The influence of Jeff Lemire’s notable run with the character is very noticeable in the blend of the normal world with grandiose Egyptian mythology. As well, the series spending time in dealing with the Dissociative Identity Disorder of the protagonist helped prevent the show from being labeled as derivative of any Batman adaptations. Overall, it provides an insight into Marvel Studios’ focus into producing original stories within the field of the superhero genre.

Source: Comicbook.com

May 12, 2022
Chris Pratt on How Star-Lord in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is Different from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Star-Lord is about to make his return in Thor: Love and Thunder, as he is still recovering from traveling alongside a mopy God of Thunder. Of course, Chris Pratt‘s return in the upcoming Thor sequel will also act as a prelude to what may be the final Guardians of the Galaxy film. Vol. 3 is still a year away, but that didn’t stop Gizmodo’s Germain Lussier to ask Chris Pratt how different it is to tackle the same character in different franchises.

Well, you know, there’s James Gunn’s Peter Quill and then there’s the Peter Quill that has existed outside of James Gunn, which is in cameos in The Avengers and now the cameos in Thor.
Chris Pratt

He goes on to highlight just how different it is working on the character when director James Gunn is involved, as the character “is an extension of him.” So, naturally, it adds a special layer to the character and how the creative team tackles the character.

And so truly the Peter Quill that I do when James is in charge is an extension of him. And the Peter Quill that I do when it’s not him in charge is really kind of me let loose to do a little bit more than probably he would want me to do, in some way. So I guess the difference would be that.
Chris Pratt

The actor also teases how the projects will connect, as there will be a transition from where Star-Lord is during Love and Thunder before heading out into his own adventure with the rest of the Guardians in Vol. 3.

James Gunn has a [focus] for Quill that isn’t on for Thor or for Avengers. And so we’ll see how that plays out when it comes out. I mean, we’re obviously dealing with the end of Avengers and where that left the Guardians of the Galaxy with Thor [Love and Thunder]. We’ll see how that sort of transition works to set up [Guardians of the Galaxy] Volume 3.
Chris Pratt

It’ll definitely be interesting to see how the films connect, especially as there’s still the question of if they are still actively searching for Gamora, who has been missing since the events of Avengers: Endgame. Not only that, but she’s also not the version they spent their time with, as she’s displaced from a different timeline. So, we’ll see if they might hint at her whereabouts in the Thor sequel.

Source: Gizmodo

May 12, 2022
‘Somebody Feed Phil’ Gets a Season 6 Renewal, Was Filmed Back-to-Back

If you’ve ever needed a show to just make you smile, Somebody Feed Phil might be the show for you. The culinary travels of Phil Rosenthal are about to premiere its fifth season which consists of five episodes, but it turns out that they actually filmed a sixth season back-to-back. In an interview with Variety, Rosenthal confirmed that an additional season is on the horizon, as well as confirmed that they had to postpone one location due to the pandemic.

We filmed 10 episodes in the sweet spot between Delta and Omicron. Remember that? So from August to January, we pretty much filmed everything. We only had to postpone one location because of Omicron, but we swapped in another one in the United States for that. And we’ll go back to [that other location eventually.
Phil Rosenthal

The upcoming fifth season will include locations from Oaxaca, Portland (Maine), Portland (Oregon), Madrid, and Helsinki. So, there’s a good variety of Portland and other international locations that Rosenthal got to visit. Sadly, they wouldn’t confirm what the other five locations are going to be for the sixth location but it’s good to know that there’s more Somebody Feed Phil on the horizon no matter what. With a title like that though, you’d think the poor guy is starving.

Source: Variety

May 12, 2022
Jeremy Slater Tried Referencing Popular Dracula Meme in ‘Moon Knight’

Before Moon Knight debuted on Disney+, the majority of internet users probably knew the character best from memes rather than comics. A few years ago, it became a trend for online jokesters to take obscure comic panels and alter the dialogue to have Moon Knight shouting explicit, shocking, NSFW statements at other Marvel characters. One of these altered images became a viral sensation. It featured Marc Spector’s Moon Knight screaming at the vampire lord Dracula, demanding that the “big f—-ing nerd” give him his money.

Speaking with Comic Book, Moon Knight head writer Jeremy Slater confirmed that he did, in fact, attempt to put a reference to this meme in the hit show. Unfortunately, the crudeness of the dialogue made it hard to fit organically into a relatively PG-13 series on Disney’s streaming service:

I tried so hard. The problem is you can’t say f-ck on Disney+. And so you have to do a really awkward bleep where something breaks right when they say it. But it also felt to have him sort of recreate any part of that meme, but not do the part that people liked the most, which is the sort of inappropriate cursing. It was just kind of shining a spotlight on the fact that we couldn’t curse.
Jeremy Slater

Luckily for fans, Slater doesn’t think this will be the last chance someone gets to bring the meme to life. Moon Knight leaves plenty of room for the character to return later on down the line, and the upcoming introduction of Blade into the Marvel Cinematic Universe could open the door for an actual confrontation between Moon Knight and Dracula to occur in live-action. The writer elaborates on the opportunity:

I still think there’s ways to get some of those memes in there. I’ve also said on the record that I would love to see Moon Knight going after Dracula at some point. And maybe Blade has that area staked out, no pun intended, but look, if Moon Knight goes after Dracula, I can assure you that someone will work that meme in there somewhere.
Jeremy Slater

Moon Knight is now streaming in it’s entirety on Disney+.

Source: Comic Book

May 12, 2022
Danny Elfman on the Challenge of Creating Wanda’s Theme in ‘Doctor Strange 2’

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a special kind of MCU film, as it not only brought back director Sam Raimi but also long-time composer Danny Elfman. While he helped out in the past, it was something special to see him take over for the Doctor Strange sequel. In an interview with Fandom, the composer talked about what it was like tackling the project and highlighted the difficulty of creating a villain theme for Wanda.

Writing for Wanda and her character, she’s the weirdest antagonist I’ve ever written for. When you think of a Marvel antagonist, you think of Thanos. When you think of a classic villain, you think of Darth Vader and you think of writing these big, heavy, dark themes that play their characters. You don’t think of a woman whose entire purpose is not to possess the universe but just to return to her children… who never quite really existed. It’s crazy! So it really was a writing challenge, because I have to write a theme that can be malevolent but also, I want it to feel heartbreaking at the same time. She’s a very unique character.
Danny Elfman

It certainly sounds like it was quite a challenge to find a balance between the evil and kindness that represents Wanda’s transformation into the Scarlet Witch. She creates a very different kind of villain, as while Winter Soldier was also a former ally, Wanda’s motivation is very much grounded with some evil magic adding that extra push off the ledge. Yet, her reasonings are technically from a good place, as she wants to be back with her children. The theme that Elfman ended up with perfectly brought both of those worlds together.

Source: Fandom

May 12, 2022
‘Fant4stic’ Writer Responds to John Krasinski as Reed Richards

It might be a while before people stop commenting on the biggest surprise cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When the titular Master of the Mystic Arts and his newest protégé, America Chavez, find themselves stuck on the alternate Earth-838, they are confronted by that world’s mightiest superhero team – The Illuminati. One of the leading members of that team is John Krasinski‘s Reed Richards, billed as the smartest man on Earth-838 and head of the Baxter Foundation.

The character reveal was a huge shock to audiences. Very few people expected to see the patriarch of the Fantastic Four back on the big screen so soon, let alone played by one of the most popular fan casts in comic book internet history. The last time Richards was in a movie, it was 2015’s Fant4stic, where a younger version of the hero was brought to life by Miles Teller. One of that film’s writers, Jeremy Slater, has now reacted to Reed’s inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking with Comic Book, the creative revealed his enthusiasm for Krasinski in the role:

I think Krasinski is a really cool choice if that’s who they go with for whoever the real version of Reed that gets introduced. I think he’d be an awesome choice. We didn’t get to see him do a lot of fun stuff in there — [the Scarlet Witch vs. the Illuminati] was much more of an introduction and a sort of glorified cameo.
Jeremy Slater

Slater just finished a run writing Moon Knight for Marvel Studios. He’s received a lot of flack for his work on Fant4stic in the past, which was a critical and financial failure, but the writer has publicly stated he does not claim ownership for the movie. Supposedly, only a single line of dialogue Slater wrote made it into the final film.

Go see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters now.

Source: Comic Book

May 12, 2022
Michell Williams Hopes to Return for ‘Venom 3’

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has made quite the splash at the box office, as it was one of the first films to inch closer to a $100M domestic release, which was a rarity back in 2021. Its success seemed like a sure-fire hint that Sony is ready to start working on a third entry in the franchise. While there’s no exact word on a sequel being in development or how far it is, with many hoping to see Andy Serkis return as a director, it looks like Michelle Williams is also excited to return for a threequel.

I have every intention of continuing with the series. I certainly hope they bring me back.
Michelle Williams

Shea also talks bout the unique challenge these films bring pretending someone else has taken over your body and highlights how much Tom Hardy brings to the table.

Pretending that a monster is getting into your body and then taking over and leaving your body, that’s hard. The stuff Tom [Hardy] does is really challenging. They’re big movies and he’s climbing a lot of mountains in them.
Michelle Williams

It’s always great to see an actress excited to return to a franchise, and it seems she’s having a lot of fun with it. She talks about Venom 3 in the same article as her excitement to hopefully make a sequel to Greatest Showman, highlighting she loves “making things for kids that are full of joy and positivity.”

Source: Variety

May 12, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Sam Raimi Was “Always Pushing for a Shorter Runtime” for ‘Multiverse of Madness’

With the once-secretive Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness finally in theaters, reactions have been somewhat mixed, but the film has been extremely successful at the box office. While much of the debate among fans has centered around certain groups’ expectations about rumored cameos that in reality never existed. Perhaps the second-most contentious point among fans prior to the film being released was its runtime. While the sequel clocked in at over two hours long, many felt that a longer runtime would be needed to adequately showcase the speculated story.

When director Sam Raimi stated that the first cut of the film was significantly longer, it added to some fans’ cries that Marvel was not allowing the beloved director’s vision to come to fruition. In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, the Doctor Strange sequel writer Michael Waldron revealed that Raimi was actually always pushing for a shorter runtime:

Sam [Raimi], to his credit, was always really pushing for a shorter runtime. And, you know, he felt that the movie needed to move because of just how it was structured. It’s a chase movie, it’s an adventure, [ ] it’s got some Jurassic Park DNA…and so in a movie like that, it just didn’t feel like we needed three hours of it.
Michael Waldron

Waldron perfectly articulates how and why Multiverse of Madness is so fast-paced. Rather than being shorter for the sake of it or because tons of pieces were cut, the film moves to pull off and complement its “chase movie” structure. The writer went on to describe how his lack of tolerance for boredom may have played a role as well:

My threshold for boredom is [ ] astronomically low, and so I just have a phobia of the movie becoming exhausting. And so yeah, once we’re off to the races in this one, we just wanted to get on the ride and go on the ride, and when it’s over, get out of there.
Michael Waldron

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters worldwide.

May 12, 2022
‘Moon Knight’ Scribe On How Jake Lockley’s Absence, Relationship with Khonshu

Over the course of its 6-week run, Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series Moon Knight introduced audiences to Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Moon Knight, Mr. Knight and Khonshu, all of whom co-existed within the fractured mind of one man. Each episode of the series also built in teases to another one of Spector’s alters, Jake Lockley, but held off on delivering on those teases until the post-credit scene of the finale. In an interview with The Direct, Moon Knight writer Jeremy Slater explains why they held of on introducing Jake, his relationship to Khonshu, the potential future of the character and more.

As it turns out, Slater was aware right from the beginning that introducing Jake to the story would be too much to tackle in a short time:

My initial pitch to Marvel was that three alters, three personalities sort of clashing with each other over the space of six hours is going to be way too chaotic and hectic. That it’s possible to tell a story like this and build a really strong emotional bond between two people, between Marc [Spector] and Steven [Grant], and really make the audience care about that relationship. But once you introduce a third into the fray, it becomes impossible. Like, Steven’s sacrifice at the end of 105 wouldn’t have any sort of weight to it if he had Jake there to sort of console him.
Jeremy Slater

Slater went on to say that Jake’s presence would take the attention off of the series’ key relationship: the one between Steven and Marc:

So right from the beginning, I said [that] the first season could only concentrate on these two and we’ll find fun ways to tease the existence of Jake so that the fans recognize it. Marvel was really supportive of that approach right from the beginning. Then, in the course of our [writer’s] room, we started talking like, ‘what’s the best way to tease Jake? What’s going to really get the audience about a potential season two, or a movie, or another appearance down the line.
Jeremy Slater

In the comics, Jake has always been willing to do some dirty work, more so than Spector’s other alters. While that’s what we see of him here, Slater is quick to caution the fanbase from judging him too quickly on one act:

The idea of bringing in Jake [Lockley], and not having him be evil, because I don’t—I’ve seen people on Twitter unhappy that they think Jake is sort of falling into sort of the evil-alter trope that you see in movies like Split and things like that. From my perspective, we don’t know nearly enough about Jake to make a determination like that… ultimately, whoever takes over the reins of the story next gets to decide that, but [also] from my perspective, the interesting question about Jake is, what is his relationship with Khonshu? Why is he so willing to do these horrible things in service of Khonshu. Why is he the one guy who sort of believes in Khonshu’s mission? What does he know that our heroes don’t? I think there’s a lot of questions like that that haven’t necessarily been answered.
Jeremy Slater

Slater continued, arguing that “Jake is bad” would be the LEAST interesting thing that could be done with the alter:

I think that making Jake a generic evil guy would probably be the least exciting, or least interesting, direction to take that character in the future. So, I have no idea where Jake goes from here, and which writers and directors will bring him to life, but, I think there’s a lot of potentials. I think we’ve only teased the existence of this character at this point. We kind of still don’t know anything about him… I don’t think he’s evil. It’s Marvel’s decision, not mine, but I think calling him evil would be a mistake at this stage in the game.
Jeremy Slater

As Slater points out, and as is often the case with MCU writers, while he’s put a lot of thought into developing Jake, the next steps for the character are out of his hands. At this point, with Moon Knight’s next appearance still undetermined or unannounced, fans can’t even be sure they’ll see Jake again. Let’s hope if we do, whoever has taken over for Slater shows the same care for the character.

Source: The Direct

May 12, 2022