Tag: Disney Plus

REPORT: ‘Andor’ Adds ‘The End of the F***ing World’s Alex Lawther

Lucasfilm’s Andor series has been quietly moving its production along, and now we finally have a solid update. Alex Lawther has reportedly joined the cast of the Disney Plus series in a supporting role, though the identity of his character and the extent of his role in the story remains unknown. The report comes from The Direct, who adds that Lucasfilm has yet to confirm the news. The British up-and-comer is best known for his leading role in Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World, as well as a one-episode appearance on the smash-hit sci-fi anthology Black Mirror. Lawther could be playing anything from a fellow Rebel spy to an Imperial officer.

Andor was announced way back in 2018, but several bumps in the road of production have delayed the series to a 2022 release. The show will consist of twelve episodes and will follow the early adventures of Rebel spy Cassian Andor. Introduced in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Andor is portrayed by actor Diego Luna. The series will also star a mixture of old and new faces, such as Genevieve O’Reilly, Forest Whitaker, Stellan Skarsgard, Adria Arjona, and Fiona Shaw. Alan Tudyk was originally announced to be reprising his role as the sassy droid K2-SO, but has since been left out of the project.

The first three episodes of Andor will be directed by Toby Haynes, replacing former director Tony Gilroy after the latter was forced out of the role by the unexpected global pandemic. Rogue One also famously experienced behind-the-scenes issues, but that movie turned out alright. So there is most likely still hope for Andor.

Source: The Direct

August 9, 2021
UPDATE: ‘Agents of SHIELD and ‘Snowpiercer’ Composoer Jason Akers Not Working on ‘Hawkeye

UPDATE: It looks like Jason Akers isn’t working on the Disney+ series after all. The composer took to Twitter to reveal that he’s not directly involved with the project. So, he’s neither is its composer nor working in Hawkeye’s music department.

I’m seeing some rumors out there that I am the composer and/or a part of the scoring team of Marvel's Hawkeye, and I have no clue how they got started. I just want to state for the record I am not scoring that series and I am not involved in the score in any way. https://t.co/KTgWskkzd4

— Jason Akers (@RealJasonAkers) August 9, 2021

Source: Twitter

We haven’t heard much on the upcoming Hawkeye series since the announcement it would release in November. Disney+ has been focused quite a bit on its release of Marvel Studios’ first animated series, What If. So, it might still be some time before we get our first full trailer for the series. Luckily, it seems DisInsider’s Derek Cornell has an update for the series, as Jason Akers may have joined the series music department.

Jason Akers (@RealJasonAkers) has joined the music department (composing) for Disney+’s ‘Hawkeye’. pic.twitter.com/vdJidgWteS

— Derek Cornell (@DerekCorneII) August 8, 2021

He has quite the repertoire, as he worked in the music departments of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Sony’s God of War, Snowpiercer, and even Black Sails. He’s also had some experience with Marvel in the past, as he worked on 42 episodes of Marvel TV’s Agents of SHIELD series as a scoring assistant. So, he has some experience working with Disney and Marvel. His exact role in the series remains unknown.

It’ll be interesting how they tackle the soundtrack of Hawkeye. So far, each soundtrack stood out and matched the series perfectly. Loki was a standout among them. The Disney+ series focusing on the archer will have a more grounded story. We also know that Clint Barton will likely be deaf throughout the series, which could add a curious meta-level to the soundtrack.

We still know very little about the series, and it’ll be interesting how it expands the franchise. The latest entries have been more world-altering. So, a street-level series is a good chance to flip the pace. It also adds a new flair to their Disney+ ventures. There’s a lot more heading our way in the future. So, who knows, how it may surprise us.

Source: Twitter, IMDb

August 8, 2021
‘Black Widow’ and ‘The Suicide Squad’ Showcase Streaming’s Biggest Hurdle: A Lack of Transparency

There’s a major shift in the cinematic landscape happening as we speak. Up until before the pandemic hit, Netflix dominated the streaming landmark. We never found out just how successful their projects were, but saw their subscription numbers continue to grow. Now, Disney+, Apple+, and HBO Max have entered the market. In addition, we’ve entered a year when major motion pictures no longer are theater-only releases. HBO Max and Disney+ Premier Access offer accessibility to popular films in different ways. It’s taken a bite out of their Box Office numbers and shows we’re adapting to a brand-new market.

Disney+ is a very special case due to Disney doing something rather surprising. They’ve released the opening weekend sales of their Premier Access showings. Yet, they only did it as of Black Widow and never followed up on it. So, its success is up in the air due to no transparency if those numbers have changed at all since the initial opening weekend. Samba TV claimed its US market doubled over the course of the second, which would be insane considering it already made 60M in one weekend. A lawsuit followed by Scarlett Johansson to claim its digital release hampered her initial contract and is still an ongoing discussion to this day.

There’s also the uncertainty surrounding HBO Max. The Suicide Squad opened to a lower than expected Box Office, as it failed to hit its initial $30M prediction. The Delta variant is still considerable across the world and is hampering Box Office results alongside other key factors. HBO Max offers the film for free with a same-day release as theaters. Once again, we only know how it’s doing in theaters, but not on the service. We are reliant on Samba TV to give us information to guess if it’s a streaming success or not. We commonly only find out when an executive likes to share a success story, like he did today with The Suicide Squad being their second most-watched film during its simultaneous theater release.

We’re entering a new generation where a film’s success will be more than its Box Office income and physical sales. Just releasing information during its launch does not give a great estimate of a film’s overall performance. Plus, it seems like these metrics are more a PR move rather than useful information if it’s not communicated consistently. As we enter the new era, it’s time for more transparency. Third parties can only offer estimates, and it’ll get more difficult if this model wants to remain. Plus, digital-only releases like Pixar’s Luca or The Tomorrow War depend on estimated Nielsen ratings for any sign of life. It’ll become more difficult to understand how and why a film deserves a sequel or not. At some point, they can no longer keep these numbers under lock and key.

Relying purely on Box Office numbers could paint their productions in a negative light. The Suicide Squad is a perfect showcase of that, with headlines calling it a disappointment based on purely one metric. Black Widow’s Box Office is hindered by a lack of Chinese release and a lack of understanding of how Disney+ Premier Access performs for repeat viewers after its initial launch. Even if companies don’t want to provide these metrics, they are essential for understanding a film’s overall performance, as well as relevant for their talent’s individual contracts as the current allegations showcase. The streaming era is here, but the industry refuses to fully embrace all that comes with it.

Source: Twitter

August 8, 2021
‘Ms. Marvel’s Thematic Tie-In Comic Delayed Until December 2021

There’s been much discussion on Ms. Marvel’s possible delay. The official release date for Hawkeye in November with the upcoming What If episodes didn’t leave much room for the debut of the iconic hero. TVLine even recently reported that the series is now eyeing a potential early 2021 release, but there hasn’t been an official announcement from Marvel Studios or Disney. Well, it seems another piece of the puzzle may hint at the delay once again, as a thematic tie-in comic titled Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit got delayed until December.

Samira Ahmed and Andrés Genolet’s comic was originally announced for a September 15th debut, but will now release on December 1st. It’ll be the first time a South Asian writer will take over a Ms. Marvel series. It’ll act as a mini-series that’ll run for five issues and explores the origins of Kamala’s abilities. The story will see her travel to Bollywood as she takes on a doppelganger and her abilities go haywire. So, Kamala Khan has quite a lot of trouble heading her way.

It’s interesting that this was planned as a thematic tie-in, which might be a further hint at this new development regarding her abilities. Our first full look at Iman Vellani as Kamala teased her with a purple energy construct, which is a far cry from her comic iconic Embiggen-based abilities. It might be that Marvel Studios already adapted the series to include these new abilities that were planned by Marvel, or it’ll add a new layer to the abilities she’s famous for. It’ll be interesting once we get an official word on what the future holds for the young heroine.

Source: Games Radar, EW

August 6, 2021
Don’t Expect ‘Loki’s TVA in ‘What If’

A multiverse is a crazy place. It feels like almost anything can happen, and that is exactly what Marvel Studios hopes to bank on with their upcoming animated series What If. It’ll explore the different possibilities if a slight change happens at one point in the franchise we’ve come to love over the past decade. It follows directly in the shoes of Loki, which saw the multiverse expand at the end of its final episode. Yet, it also introduced us to the Time Variance Authority that controls what universe is allowed to grow.

Even in the finale, we learned of their new function as a new ruler took over. It made us wonder if we’ll see them at some point in the series, as they might want to prune some of these new timelines. Luckily, A.C. Bradley, the head writer of the series, confirmed that they will not appear in the series.

Basically I was like, OK, ‘I’m just going to go and show all the fun we can have in the multiverse… I’m going to show all the things that can happen and the places we can go, I’m not going to lay down any serious rules, I’m not going to touch anything to do with the TVA.’

It’s good to know, as we won’t be keeping an eye out for them at any point in the story. While it would’ve been fun to explore these different timelines with the potential threat of time-changing desk jockeys, it would’ve taken away from the main focus of this story. There’s also always the possibility to explore their story in a potential Loki spin-off that is dedicated to the TVA’s adventures throughout the multiverse.

Source: io9 via The Direct

August 5, 2021
‘Agent Carter’ Footage is Absent in Peggy Carter’s ‘Legends’ Episode

As is tradition, Marvel Studios released a new slew of episodes for their Legends series. It recaps the story of a character or specific group to ensure others can catch up quickly ahead of its release. What If came with an interesting combination featuring the Avengers Initiative, the Ravagers, and Peggy Carter. It teases the first three episodes of the new animated series What If and could hint at new entries for each new scenario in the future. Yet, there’s an interesting reveal with the episode focused on Peggy Carter, it’s missing a significant part of her story, Marvel TV’s Agent Carter.

Why is it significant? Well, there have been many discussions about the canonicity of Marvel TV’s ventures. Loki’s introduction of the Sacred Timeline and eventual expansion into the multiverse opened up the possibility of any type of story being part of the bigger piece. So, it seemed like the perfect time to include her story, especially with the inclusion of James D’Arcy’s Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame. Yet, the entire episode doesn’t feature a single piece of footage from the expanded ABC series.

There is some footage that some viewers might be surprised to see return, the original Agent Carter One-Shot. It was released in 2013 featuring the tease of the Zodiac. So, why did it make the cut but not the show? There’s a chance it is purely due to the Zodiac plotline finally getting picked up after its complete absence in the ABC series. As it was a Marvel Studios production, they may want to revisit the storyline through an alternative reality, which may also be their approach with the Fury’s Big Week adaptation.

With the confirmed return of Bradley Whitford, who only appeared in the One Shot, it seems very safe to assume that’s the reason for its inclusion. Yet, Agent Carter‘s second season ended on quite the cliffhanger that still never got resolved. Sadly, it seems we’ll never find out what happened to Agent Thompson and due to them not picking up those pieces, it wasn’t included in the Legends episode.

Yet, we’ve theorized that its absence may also continue the story that Marvel Studios is distancing itself from storylines set up through Marvel TV. Even a month ago, James Gunn declared WandaVision as the first true MCU series. So, Legends completely sidelining two seasons’ worth of stories while still showing us Peggy’s final days and even funeral, which does not seem relevant to the What If scenario of the original Captain America: The First Avenger.

It’s an odd balance and continues to showcase the growing rift between Marvel Studios and the old TV division. The appearance of the Marvel Netflix series in future entries could also highlight this direction by using the old cast with completely new stories, negating any canonicity of these original shows. For now, until they pick up or reference any story from that franchise, we’ll have to accept it’s part of a multiverse that seems forgotten. Yet, one could argue the use of the iconic red hat from the first season might be that glimmer of hope after all.

August 4, 2021
REPORT: ‘Werewolf by Night’ Series In Development At Disney+

The supernatural side of the MCU is getting bigger, and furrier. The good folks at The Cosmic Circus are exclusively reporting that Werewolf by Night, a fancy name for Marvel’s Wolfman, will be getting his very own live-action series on Disney Plus. The report claims the show will begin filming next February, under the clever working title “Buzz Cut”. The production company for the show will supposedly be “Natural History Productions LLC”.

If true, the news makes Werewolf by Night one of the many unannounced projects Marvel has teased in the past. The character was previously rumored to be making an appearance in Oscar Isaac’s secretive Moon Knight series, as the two characters share a long history together. That could still be true, given Marvel’s penchent for debuting characters in other projects before their solo outings. Not long ago, director Kevin Smith stirred the lycan pot by revealing Marvel Studios had prevented the character from appearing in his unproduced Howard the Duck cartoon. This sort of blockage is usually a good sign the company plans to use that character in the near future.

Debuting in 1972, the original Werewolf by Night has a complicated history that stems from usage of the Darkhold. A modern descendant of ancient werewolves, Jack Russell is born with his family’s curse and acts as Marvel’s first Wolven protagonist. In recent years, a Native American character named Jake Gomez took on the title. It’s unknown which of these characters might be the focus of the show when it airs.

Source: GWW, Cosmic Circus

August 3, 2021
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Batu Sener to Score Disney+’s ‘Ice Age’ Spin-Off

It looks like Disney+’s revival of the Ice Age franchise has found its composer, as Film Music reporter has revealed that Batu Sener will score Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild. The series will explore the character introduced in Dawn of the Dinosaurs, who is voiced by Simon Pegg. It’ll follow the story of the titular character in the Dinosaur World, alongside his sidekicks Crash and Eddie.

Sener has worked on various projects, such as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. He worked on the projects that were led by composer John Powell, who also worked on a few of the Ice Age films. He took over from David Newman, who led the original 2002 film. The final film in the series was composed by John Debney.

The series was first announced during Disney’s Investors Day back in December. Since, we’ve heard very little about the series. It’ll be animated by 20th Century Studios. The focus on Buck Wild makes sense, as the character was one of the more popular additions to the franchise. He became a mainstay returning in the sequels Continental Drift and Collision Course.

As the story explores their time in the Dinosaur World, it will act as a prequel before they meet the main gang in the original franchise. So, we’ll follow their everyday taking on the larger-than-life reptiles. It’s uncertain if this might revive the franchise, and we’ll see other spin-offs in the franchise. The entry is currently eyeing a 2022 release.

Source: Film Music Reporter, Batu Sener, Twitter

August 3, 2021
‘What If’ Executive Producer Brad Winderbaum Talks Recasting MCU Characters

Ever since the last trailer dropped of What If we’ve been hotly discussing the odd absence of actor Robert Downey Jr. Once the official cast list dropped, we noticed big names like Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, and Brie Larson were noticeably absent. There was even the surprise mention by Dave Bautista that he was never approached to reprise the role, which also got featured in the previously mentioned trailer. In an interview with Comic Book, executive producer Brad Winderbaum gave some insight into their approach with the voices.

One early decision was we were not going to let the show be defined by the actors we thought we could get. Part of the fun of What If…? is being able to tell stories in any corner of the universe you want to and that means that you need that infinite canvas, you need that infinite potential. Also, I was afraid we wouldn’t get any actors to come back. The fact that we got as many as we did, 85% of the actors came back or something like that. It’s incredible and it’s a real honor and privilege to work with all of them

Interestingly, they don’t mention why specific actors didn’t join. There’s a chance that the dealings with the various returning voices were not done directly by the creative team, but rather by Marvel Studios directly. Winderbaum did discuss their approach to finding

In the cases where we couldn’t get the original voice actors back, and many of which were very iconic roles, very identifiable voices, we prioritized the performance over the soundalike. So you might be able to achieve a perfect Tony Stark voice, but if the depth of the character wasn’t there and the acting, the performance didn’t have dimensionality to it, it wouldn’t matter. You’d be taken out. That would take you out.

He also goes on to discuss that working within a parallel universe does help them sell the fact that the voices aren’t the same. It’s great their focus is on keeping the character’s spirit alive, but it would be nice to know why specific actors didn’t join. Especially Brie Larson’s absence is odd, as she seems to love playing the character, but she may not be comfortable doing voice work. We do have a theory on why Tom Holland isn’t included with the confirmed appearance of Spider-Man, which you can check out here.

Source: ComicBook

August 3, 2021
Connecting Imaginary Dots: A Newly Formed LLC Could Hint at Ghost Rider Joining the MCU

A new Marvel Studios production LLC might be a hint that they’re working on a Disney+ series involving Danny Ketch’s Ghost Rider. It was recently revealed that Richmond Street Productions LLC was one among many new production companies created by Marvel Studios. Apart from the fact that Richmond Street Productions is listed as a production entity for a DTC (direct-to-consumer) streaming series, it might seem innocuous upon first look but when checking out that street in Brooklyn you can see how close it is to the Cypress Hill Cemetery.

Not only is Cypress Hill a featured location in 90’s Ghost Rider runs and the cemetery itself a base of the Midnight Sons for a time, it’s also the location where we first meet Danny Ketch in Ghost Rider Vol 3 #1. While oftentimes the production companies reference the events the film or TV show, they do occasionally reference the comics, like Grass-Fed Productions being used for Secret Invasion is a making a joke about some Skrulls who were tricked into transforming into cows in Fantastic Four Vol 1 #2. If Richmond Street Productions is a reference to Danny Ketch, it would seem to suggest a localised setting similar to the 90’s comic run.

Marvel Studios currently has 10 unannounced streaming series that haven’t been reported on at various stages of development. Nova, Secret Warriors, and Illuminati are other candidates for projects within those 10. Limited liability companies are created to mitigate risk and keep the accounting for each project separate, which might mean they are in the processes of hiring writers once the LLCs are created. With Marion Dayre listed as a showrunner for a yet-to-be announced Marvel Studios show, it seems Marvel Studios could be gathering creative talent for a new round of projects.

August 3, 2021