HBO is building the apocalypse, as new set photos have found their way online from their upcoming adaptation of The Last Of Us. The popular gaming franchise is making the big leap to live-action, as we once again follow Joel and Ellie on their adventure to give humanity a last bit of hope. We recently got some set photos teasing the post-apocalyptic city that they’ll have to climb through. It looks like production is still busy, as more images have found their way online.
The images don’t offer too many new details, but it does give us a better look at how they’re realizing this dark and gritty world. Everything is overgrown and even the cement is covered. The city surrounding these parts is still in top shape, which means they might utilize greenscreen to show its decay rather than build an entire set. It might even serve as the basis for the game’s version of Boston. Here, Joel and Ellie ended up getting lost in a skyscraper which might be where they are heading or escaped from.
It’s always great to see these projects realized in live-action. The base concept is luckily based on reality, which makes it an easier adaptation. Still, the practical effects at work to show the floor breaking apart and how much detail went into showing how these cars have withered away alongside humanity. As they tease a city landscape, it makes you wonder if we’ll see the iconic sequence where they pet a giraffe. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long for a tease of the clickers that inhabit this world.
In an interview with Fandango, James Bond producer and head decision maker, Barbara Broccoli, stated that the studio doesn’t have any future plans to create spinoff projects for other characters in the franchise, saying, “We have not done [a spinoff] in the past and I don’t think we have any plans to do it in the future.” While nobody can argue with the success of the Bond franchise, the unfortunate “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mindset (the TTWWADI mindset known as “the most dangerous phrase in business”) leans far too heavily into the past at the expense of the future.
The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?
And the reality is that those characters already exist within the orbit of James Bond, a character who, since 1953, has traveled the globe in adventures at which he has always found himself rightfully at the center. But those adventures have always been made more interesting by his supporting cast and, in the Craig films, that cast has become increasingly more diverse. No Time to Die introduced Lashana Lynch’s Nomi, a new 00, to a cast that already boasted Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Wishaw as Q. Each of those actors not only represents an underrepresented segment of society, but also potentially fascinating characters that could expand the world of James Bond from within. Craig said “there should simply be better parts” and there already are…it’s just that Broccoli is refusing to move forward with them.
There are plenty of films, film franchises and parts of films that serve as homages to the Bond franchise; unfortunately, none of them have been developed by the Broccolis. Wright’s Felix Leiter is a CIA agent who was introduced alongside Bond in the 1953 novel, Casino Royale. Leiter has bailed Bond out and been responsible for bringing him back into the world of espionage but the character, especially with a talent like Wright behind him, has to potential to spinoff into his own world and his own adventures worthy of a Bond-esque treatment. If Leiter can hang with Bond in a Bond film, he can be the man of action in his own.
Wright’s Leiter is just one example of how Broccoli and the creatives behind the Bond franchise don’t have to work too hard to give new life to the franchise. Bond films, on average have come out every 2 years or so with the exception of a 6-year gap between License to Kill and Goldeneye. Since Craig has been in the suit, however, that average trended closer to 3 even before the pandemic delayed No Time to Die. At a time when there are more shared cinematic universes than ever before, why not fill that time between Bond films with films about characters like Leiter, Moneypenny or Q? Why not develop those characters to a place where we’re having discussions 30 years from now about who might be the next actor in a line of great actors to have played them? For now, the only answer we have is because that’s they way it’s always been…and that’s no answer at all.
The critical success that The Suicide Squad has garnered these past few months doesn’t make it a surprise to know that director James Gunn is keen on bringing some people from that film to work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Composer John Murphy, specifically, has been revealed to be composing the score for the third Guardians film by Gunn himself. In an interview with Cinemablend, Gunn said:
I had to get off of a zoom right before this zoom because I was talking to all of my heads of department. We were going through the finale of the film from shot to shot, to shot, to shot and explaining exactly how each shot was going to be done. Now, this stuff we’re going to shoot in May. So this is about just planning. After I get off of this, I’m going to have to go listen to some music that John Murphy wrote that we’re going to be playing during the movie. … I guess I’m spoiling the fact that John Murphy is doing the score for Guardians. So you guys got a scoop.
Like OG Guardians composer Tyler Bates, who used to be Marilyn Manson’s lead guitarist, Murphy has a knack for writing heavier music for films. His 28 Days Later score is an absolute icon. His work on The Suicide Squad had a refreshing sonic palette that we don’t always hear from the DCEU side of things. Him working on Vol. 3 should be an exciting prospect.
The creators of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are coming, the Celestials, as Eternals explores the origins of this fictional universe. After some brief teases throughout the various space-themed films, we’ll finally get to spend some time with these mystical beings alongside their creations. Guardians of the Galaxy offered us not just one but two glimpses, such as the floating remains of Knowhere and a brief look at Eson destroying a planet through the Power Stone.
Of course, there was also Ego in the sequel that redefined our understanding of these mystical beings. The upcoming Eternals film will add one more layer to it, as shared by producer Nate Moore. During ScreenRant’s set visit, he discussed that the upcoming film by Chloé Zhao will introduce “true Jack Kirby Celestials.” He went on to compare them to the previously mentioned characters, as:
In the Collector’s lab, they’re frankly not as big as they would be in our mind, and obviously Ego was a much different version. So this gets to be the giant monolithic space gods and you get to see them, which is exciting.
Nate Moore
As the franchise continues to expand, we’ll get introduced to many interpretations of these characters that were popularized in comics. Kirby had some visually stunning visions of these creators of everything, which will finally come to fruition in the upcoming film. It also opens up the possibility of us meeting Death or the Living Tribunal, who had a recent cameo as a statue in Disney+’s Loki series. The franchise is continuing to embrace every aspect of the comics while still building a coherent world. Perhaps we’ll finally learn whose head ended up as Knowhere all those millennia ago.
Will Poulter’s casting as Adam Warlock dominated the afternoon news cycle yesterday, but earlier in the day, multiple sites published Eternals set visit reports and disseminated quite a few interesting tidbits. Key among them and certainly the one that produced the strongest reaction on our social media was the revelation by Executive Producer Nate Moore that Kit Harrington’sDane Whitman was going to be “just a dude” in Eternals rather than the Black Knight. To sum it up, people were angry. Angry that this news seemed to slight both Harrington and the character, who has a rich legacy in the comics; however, it’s possible that everyone is jumping the gun a little bit and possible that while Kit won’t be swinging the Ebony Blade in Eternals, Marvel Studios might have even bigger plans in store for him. In short, you know nothing, angry fan.
Marvel Studios has plans for the Black Knight. They have for the better part of a decade. Barry Gibbs, longtime Marvel Studios prop master and not Bee Gees falsetto, once told the tale of how the Ebony Blade, the cursed weapon of the Black Knight, was originally set to appear in 2016’s Doctor Strange (presumably in the room in the Sanctum Sanctorum where other artifacts are seen) but was taken out of the script for unknown reasons. They didn’t take it out for no reason. There’s been buzz about the Black Knight in insider circles for several years, so while WHERE they chose to introduce him might have been a little surprising, it wasn’t surprising that they did. And when it’s all said and done, introducing Whitman through his relationship with Sersi-which is comic accurate, by the way-will leave all kinds of stories to be told down the road, something Marvel Studios is very keen to do with new characters on Disney Plus.
You won’t see the Ebony Blade in this movie. He’s not going to be Black Knight necessarily, but that is something that we get to play with down the road.
Nate Moore
Moore’s quote above says as much but it seems that, in anger, fans may have overlooked the last part. Marvel Studios didn’t cast Harrington, a face that is both instantly recognizable and associated with swinging a famous, fictional sword, to have him be Sersi’s man candy. We will see Whitman pick up the Ebony Blade (a long-circulating rumor claims that will be a part of one of the film’s two post-credit scenes) and explore the legacy of the Black Knight. In the comics, it’s a long and dark legacy. A recent merch leak indicates that we’ll see part of that legacy teased (maybe explored a bit) through a ring worn by Whitman bearing the Raven crest worn by all iterations of the character over the years. They pulled the Ebony Blade from Doctor Strange for a reason; they cast Harrington for a reason; they are using the ring to tease the legacy for a reason. I would be absolutely shocked if shortly after Eternals premiers there wasn’t some sort of announcement about a Black Knight series being in development for Disney Plus (perhaps this is the project that goes with the recently formed Speyside Productions LLC: Harrington’s wife was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, the starting point for most Speyside Whisky tours).
A Black Knight series has the potential to change the narrative fabric of the MCU in much the same way as Loki has done. If Eternals is the portal through which Whitman enters the MCU, his series could serve as the portal through which the King Arthur, Merlin, Mordred and Morgan Le Fay join him through their connections to the original Black Knight and Dane’s ancestor, Sir Percy of Scandia. An introduction to those characters could set the stage for Pete Wisdom, MI13, Captain Britain, Excalibur and more…all because Harrington likes Sersi in Eternals. The series could also introduce Whitman’s uncle, Nathan Garrett, and explore the dark side of the nature of the Black Knight, something that will surely be explored as Whitman’s character grows over the years-and make no mistake, the 34-year old Harrington didn’t sign on Marvel without a vision of what he might do over the next decade. At his age, a steady job with Marvel Studios sets him up for life.
So don’t despair, fans of Whitman. While he might take a back seat in Eternals, he’s going to get his time to shine.
Paddington‘s Paul King is tackling the film for Warner Bros. and it’s currently eyeing a release in March 2023. Chalamet will be joined by Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, and Sally Hawkins as they explore the early days of Wonka. The adaptation will see the time when Willy Wonka built his famous chocolate factory long before the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took place. The actor has paid tribute to GeneWilder‘s famous line in his last post and his design does seem to take inspiration from the 1971 version of the character. As the Tim Burton version of the character also explored his origin, it’ll be interesting to see how this story stands out in comparison.
Just a few weeks ago, Webtoon released the first few digital issues for Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, a webcomic that focused on the everyday life of members of the Batfamily. The comic was an instant hit, giving fans of the characters a peer into the personal lives at Wayne Manor of some of their favorite characters like Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd and Tim Drake.
Fans were excited to learn that the comic was already being developed into a live-action project by Ismahawk studios. The series had kicked off pretty fast, setting a full cast as well as a premier as soon as mid-October. The first look at the project by IGN revealed that, along with the first look at the mini-series, a trailer would debut soon for the project, but that trailer never came. It seems the project has moved a little too fast, associating itself with DC Comics when it never actually was. The promotional stills for the series, and any mention of it, have been wiped from Ismahawk’s social media accounts, but IGN still has their article up.
Collider reached out for an update on the project when a trailer didn’t drop as scheduled. Ismahawk Studios issued a statement regarding the series soon after., confirming that was not an official adaption and was merely inspired by the Webcomic.
“Not an official live-action adaptation of the Batman: Wayne Family Adventures webcomic, and was not announced by DC or WEBTOON. The video was intended to be a short-form series created by Ismahawk, inspired by the webcomic.”
The three-part mini-series was expected to debut this month. It remains to be seen whether or not that’ll still occur.
Here’s a rather curious casting, as James Gunn‘s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has found its Adam Warlock. After getting a brief tease in a post-credit sequence in the last entry, Will Poulter will bring the character to life in the upcoming sequel. He’ll join the returning cast of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff. There have been rumors reported in the past that may have hinted at his inclusion and it seems it came to fruition. Borys Kit added some more information on who was included in the earlier shortlist:
Since at least August, it's been the role "every one wants." At least for young male Hollywood, which read and met on it. Rege-Jean Page was considered for it, 1917's George MacKay was on the shortlist. https://t.co/dwmJ2QGZFB
It’s probably the last name one might’ve expected connected to the character, but Poulter has proven he’s got acting chops in the past to take on this role. The plot still remains under wraps, but his inclusion does mean the Sovereign are definitely returning in the sequel. So, we can also expect Elizabeth Debicki to reprise her role. There’s also the question if he might have a first appearance in the upcoming Holiday Special heading to Disney+, which is confirmed to be canon. Still, the confirmation is quite an interesting one as James Gunn publicly discussed a piece by Illuminerdi back in March where he seemed to confirm and deny his inclusion.
Deadline goes on to highlight that Gunn and Marvel Studios have been eyeing an actor since the end of August. They’ve had quite a few auditions, which includes the above-mentioned actors, but Poulter‘s performance put him on top of the list. He’s worked on various projects such as The Revenant and Detroit. Though he’s also had some more TV-oriented projects in the works like Hulu’s Dopesick alongside Michael Keaton and Amazon’s The Underground Railroad.
There have been quite a few controversies surrounding Marvel. Its CEO Isaac Perlmutter has been the focus of many discussions surrounding his secrecy, frugality, and almost pushing Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to leave due to creative differences. Yet, there’s one more story that has regained some momentum as of late. Marvel Comic’s Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski is another figure that is surrounded by quite the controversy. The writer has been with Marvel for quite some time, but most notoriously worked under the Japanese pseudonym of Akira Yoshida, where he tackle projects like X-Men, Thor, and many more.
The thing is, he didn’t just use the name as a pen name but also gave interviews acting as if he was Japanese. This news has now drawn the attention of Daredevil showrunner and comic writer Steven DeKnight. In a statement on Twitter, he has now announced that after his upcoming issues release in December, he refuses to write for the comic powerhouse until the topic surrounding this controversy is “resolved.” He also calls out for others in the field to do the same.
Completely unacceptable. Writing for Marvel is a childhood dream come true. My next issues come out in December. But I can’t in good conscience accept any additional work until this is resolved. I hope other creatives will follow suit. https://t.co/vbKReksGk8
The whole story surrounding Cebulski’s pen name is quite a bizarre story. He wouldn’t take on the role of EiC until 2017, where this controversy was making the rounds. It’s a big and important stand to take by Steven DeKnight. We’ll likely see others join the cause and the comic industry might face a major shift in the near future to continue fighting for equality within the industry.
It looks like a Russian promotion for Skittles may have once again added fuel to the fire that is the mystery surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home. Twitter user @SpiderMan3news noticed a promotion that ties into the upcoming Marvel Studios-Sony production. Yet, the bigger surprise is that the image involved in it isn’t of Tom Holland‘s titular webhead but rather Andrew Garfield‘s. He is only seen on the billboard on the promotional website, but it mainly plays the trailer we saw release in August. It’s quite a curious slip-up, or potentially just a promotion that accidentally leaked online earlier than expected.
If you go on to the Russian skittles website and follow all the instructions you will see a billboard with Garfield's Spider-Man that plays a trailer saying "there is no way home"
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