We’re only two episodes in for Marvel Studios’ first attempt at an animated series with What If…?. The first episode explored a different take on Captain America: The First Avenger with Peggy Carter taking on the Super Soldier serum. In the latest entry, we explored the Guardians of the Galaxy films through T’Challa’s eyes, as he was the one that got picked up by Yondu.
That’s the fun thing about having the What If…? series now; we can explore questions just like that. And I will say, just as season 1 is tapping into films and storylines from the MCU that you’ve seen up to this point, season 2 will definitely incorporate movies from Phase 4.
Kevin Feige
Hopefully, What If..? becomes a long-running series that continues to explore various scenarios as the franchise continues to expand. Sadly, the reference seems to focus primarily on films of Phase 4. So, it’s uncertain if we might even get an alternative scenario from any of the series like WandaVision, Loki, or Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As the franchise continues to expand, it’ll be curious to see how they continue to reinvent their stories and characters.
Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow lawsuit caught the world’s attention when she moved against Disney on their new release model through Disney+ Premier Access. Believing it undermined her film’s success, she made the bold move. After some public shouting matches, Disney made the first move towards the lawsuit with them starting an arbitration against the actress. Not only did it offer some more insight into the actual lawsuit but forced Disney’s hand to release their Disney+ income as a result.
So, the interesting aspect about this lawsuit is that it’s not against Marvel but Disney. It constitutes that Disney allegedly induced the Marvel division to breach the initial contract on a theatre-only release. As such, the subsidiary is excluded from the lawsuit. Johansson proclaims she was promised an exclusive release while Disney states that the film was made available on 9,000 screens with the contract only including above 1,500. Her attorney, John Berlinski, gave the following statement on Disney’s move:
After initially, responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration. Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public? Because it knows that Marvel’s promises to give Black Widow a typical theatrical release ‘like its other films’ had everything to do with guaranteeing that Disney wouldn’t cannibalize box office receipts in order to boost Disney+ subscriptions. Yet that is exactly what happened – and we look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence that provides it.
John Berlinski
The litigation did offer some insight into the film’s current standing on the Disney+ streaming service. Supposedly download retail and streaming garnered the film a total income of $125M. That is on top of the $367M that it made in theaters worldwide. So, the film currently stands at a strong $492M with it definitely passing the $500M mark if counting the streaming income. There is no certainty if it will release in China, which could boost it to pass the $600M mark.
For now, the lawsuit is not a good look for Disney, as they push forward with this strategy. There was the highlight of the contract’s wording benefiting the company than its talent. Plus, the mention of a confirmation that it’ll release in theatres back in 2019 which was before COVID changed everything. Both sides are forced to represent their perspective. So, there’s no real “winner” in these kinds of scenarios. It’ll be curious to see if Disney can take the case out of the public eye moving forward.
It looks like the Armor Wars series has finally found its head writer, as Deadline reports that the Don Cheadle-led project has added Yassir Lester to pen the Disney+ series. The project is still in early development with no director attached to the project currently. Kevin Feige will once again produce the project, as he does with every entry in the franchise. Lester has worked with Cheadle in the Showtime series Black Monday and he made a very promising pitch that has the executives and its main star quite excited.
Armor Wars will continue the Iron Man franchise in an unconventional way. As Tony predicted, it took another ten years before they would catch up with his technology. The time has come and his worst nightmare became a reality, someone got their hands on his tech. There’s also a good chance that the upcoming Ironheart series will tie into it, as Riri Williams builds the most advanced suit since Tony’s armor. She will make her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which might even build upon what we can expect from the Disney+ series.
It’s long overdue that Cheadle‘s War Machine gets a series, and it’ll be interesting to see how it builds upon his past journeys. We don’t know if he might even take over the mantle of Iron Man, as he did in the comics. Tony Stark is known to have passed away during the battle with Thanos, but his appearance could create an interesting dynamic. Yet, it would be better to see him carry on his own mantle to not live in the shadow of the man that gave him the armor.
So, it’s not too uncommon for franchises to take a new direction under the supervision of a new director. Thor: Ragnarok proved that very point. There hasn’t been any information on it and we were left wondering when we might expect the second season. Luckily, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige offered an update on the series in an interview with Collider. In it, he stated that:
It is underway. We’re developing it as we speak. The hope is that much of the same team will return. Kate is going on to bigger and better things, so the director search will begin shortly.
Kevin Feige
The CEO did point out he wasn’t trying to be evasive, as they can’t currently pinpoint when it might enter production. He hints that they are “not sure exactly where it falls between next year and the year after.” It’s a strong hint that the second season might not enter production until 2023, as highlighted by Collider, and it’s hard to say if the series will release in that same year.
The ending teased the arrival of Kang the Conqueror, who will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. So, it might act as a continuation to that series, as Loki tries to find his place in this new version of the Time Variance Authority. Once Marvel Studios announces the new director we might have a better idea of when production might start.
It looks like She-Hulk may have wrapped production, as the show’s stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton shared an Instagram story confirming that production has wrapped. In it, she doesn’t directly refer to the series but confirms she got herself a wrap gift for finishing a production. It matches up with Normally, productions hand out these gifts with some kind of connection to the production, like the one for Matrix 4 that accidentally leaked the official title for the film.
Ganderton has worked on quite a few projects with Marvel Studios. Most notably she was involved with Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. Her last project was another Disney+ series with her involvement as stunt coordinator for Loki. She also helped develop Proxima Midnight’s fighting style in Avengers: Infinity War for which she shared a video a few days ago that was planned at one point for the character’s action sequences.
We haven’t heard much about the series since the casting of Arrow alum Josh Segarra back in July. We theorized he might be this series’ Augustus Pugliese but there has not been any official confirmation on his role. Marvel Studios has been good at keeping most of the production under wraps with only a few images finding their way online. Most notably one featuring Mark Ruffalo decked out in his motion-capture suit. Here’s hoping that with the production wrapped we’ll get an announcement in the near future for when we can expect the series alongside a first look.
There have been many mysteries surrounding the first animated series by Marvel Studios, What If…?. Before the show even premiered, many wondered why certain voices did not get included in the production. Dave Bautista famously voiced the fact he wasn’t invited, which turned out to potentially have been the result of miscommunication. Yet, there’s also the surprising absence of Tom Holland, who’s been very open on wanting any chance to play Spider-Man. In a Collider interview with executive producer Brad Winderbaum, he gave a clearer statement on his absence.
You know, I’m not treated to all the ins and outs of the relationship with Sony. But, I think it may have had something to do with it, yeah.
At the beginning of August, his absence caught many people’s eyes. There have been some leaks that hinted at Spider-Man not being who we think he is, which his absence gave some credence. It’s uncertain which exact episode the What If…? version of the character will appear, but he is definitely part of the MCU canon, as they were not allowed to introduce new characters. Of course, they may have also simply found a different actor to voice the character similar to how they approached the absence of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. Still, here’s hoping the constant right disputes between Marvel Studios, Disney, and Sony might find an end in the near future to not restrict Holland or the character’s future within the ever-growing franchise.
If you’re interested in the complete interview with Winderbaum, you can check out the Collider interview here:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, with quite a few productions going simultaneously worldwide. Still, all eyes are on the upcoming release of Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings, as they just recently held a red carpet event. Luckily, FabTV got a chance to chat with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige on how he feels about the success of their franchise.
He highlighted that his focus always remains on the future, in which he discussed the various projects currently filming, which included Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels. What stood out was that he confirmed that Secret Invasion hasn’t started production yet, as he states they are:
Getting ready to start production on our Secret Invasion series.
Given the character’s history, it seems likely, and they might re-use elements from the film in the spin-off series to cut down on production costs. It’s interesting to see if the series ends up taking place after the events of the film, or they might even set it up like Agents of SHIELD did with Captain America: Winter Soldier. So, the events of the film might take place during the season’s complete runtime.
If you are interested, you can check out the interview here:
It seems like the production start date for The Mandalorian‘s third season has been one of the biggest mysteries as of late. We knew for a while that The Book of Boba Fett would replace its usual December release in 2021, but it was uncertain if that meant the series would start production earlier and then release throughout 2022. As time went on, there was no real news on it and it seemed like it might not release until December 2023, as Lucasfilm ventures out with other Disney+ series in the Star Wars franchise.
Well, it seems we finally have a more clear date, as Carl Weathers revealed during a panel in Steel City Con that he’ll return as Greef Karga and also will direct at least one episode. Not just that, but he also gave us a time window with the Disney+ series entering production in September. Here is his quote from the event:
And so now, we’re gonna start a new season of The Mandalorian, within the next month. Yeah. And I get to be in front of camera again, and I get to direct again
It looks like Lucasfilm has finally shared its official voice cast for the upcoming anime spin-off Star Wars: Visions. They recently released a brand new trailer featuring the full voice cast and it’s quite impressive, as it includes various high-profile names including Lucy Liu, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Neil Patrick Harris, Alison Brie, Simu Liu, David Harbour, and many more. Temuera Morrison even returns to voice Boba Fett in one of the episodes. You can check out the full cast list right here for the English dub of the series:
The Duel”: Brian Tee (Ronin), Lucy Liu (Bandit Leader), Jaden Waldman (Village Chief).
“Tatooine Rhapsody”: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Jay), Bobby Moynihan (Geezer), Temuera Morrison (BobaFett), Shelby Young (K-344), Marc Thompson (Lan).
“The Twins”: Neil Patrick Harris (Karre), Alison Brie (Am), Jonathan Lipow (B-20N).
“The Village Bride”: Karen Fukuhara (F), Nichole Sakura (Haru), Christopher Sean (Asu), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Valco), Andrew Kishino (Izuma), Stephanie Sheh (Saku).
“The Ninth Jedi”: Kimiko Glenn (Kara), Andrew Kishino (Juro), Simu Liu (Zhima), Masi Oka (Ethan), Greg Chun (Roden), Neil Kaplan (Narrator), Michael Sinterniklaas (Hen Jin).
“The Elder”: David Harbour (Tajin), Jordan Fisher (Dan), James Hong (The Elder).
“Lop & Ocho”: Anna Cathcart (Lop), Hiromi Dames (Ocho), Paul Nakauchi (Yasaburo), Kyle McCarley (Imperial Officer).
“Akakiri”: Henry Golding (Tsubaki), Jamie Chung (Misa), George Takei (Senshuu), Keone Young (Kamahachi), Lorraine Toussaint (Masago).
As you can see above, the episode “Akari” is also strictly voiced by an Asian cast, which is a great move considering the episode’s focus and characters. They’ve also revealed the Japanese dub for the series:
It’s quite an impressive cast for this anime adaptation. Not just that, it’s also a sign of how invested Disney and Lucasfilm are in the project. They believe this new direction for an anthology series may stand out and also accompanies this same approach with What If…? which includes mostly actors who previously played the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It may be a sign for a new direction for animation and it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.
It looks like Emma Stone loved playing the character of Cruella de Vil so much, she has officially signed on for a sequel. Deadline has just revealed that she closed her deal with Disney that may offer some positive light on the controversy surrounding their Disney+ Premier Access model. After facing lawsuits from Scarlett Johansson, rumors started hitting the Internet that Stone would join in due to her film being a simultaneous release.
Yet, it seems she was open to returning, and with her joining the project, the Cruella sequel is a go for Disney. In June, Craig Gillespie already signed off to direct the project with Tony McNamara working on the script. It’ll be interesting to see how they follow up the project, as they either continue to explore her time before the fateful meeting with 101 dalmation or they jump straight into a live-action adaptation of it. It seems unlikely they’d want to paint the character purely in a negative light after building up her character throughout the first film.
It’s definitely a win for Disney, as it paints their digital distribution in a positive light. There’s no official word if Stone had any benefit from Cruella‘s release, as we also never found out how much money the prequel made during its opening weekend. Disney only released the information starting with Black Widow. So, the sequel plans already hinted at the first film’s success on the service alongside its strong Box Office showing. It’ll be interesting to see if the same will hold true for Jungle Cruise, which recently released on the service.
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