Tag: Disney Plus

RUMOR: ‘Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’ May Be Heading to Disney+

Disney has been quite busy trying to continue building its streaming platform. They invested quite a bit when they purchased all of 20th Century Fox to make use of its library, building upon it as one of the biggest competitors to join the market and producing original productions for Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Now, they have started embracing their international audiences with original Korean dramas and even trying to venture into anime, such as Star Wars Visions. If a new rumor is anything to believe, they may have seen the opportunity in building their anime offerings.

Known leaker @SugoiLITE has taken to Twitter to share that the upcoming continuation of the Bleach anime might be getting a new home. Supposedly, Disney has acquired the streaming license for Disney+ as the show is about to get its revival to tell the final saga from the manga, Thousand-Year Blood War. We have to keep in mind that there is no official confirmation and we’ll have to take it with a grain of salt.

https://twitter.com/SugoiLITE/status/1558106191146143745

There is still something interesting if this does turn out to be true. Disney+ has been trying to become a strong competitor with Netflix. Disney’s three streaming service totaled even managed to surpass Netflix’s subscriber count and while the numbers are slowing down, as to be expected with more competitors entering the market, it’s still seeing growth. Disney has recently upped the price with a new ad-supported model added in, which is likely to shake up things moving forward but we’re entering the cost-covering era for these streaming ventures. We’ll see if this potentially pays off for the streaming service.

Source: Twitter

August 13, 2022
‘She-Hulk’ Will Debut a “Lighter Side” of Daredevil

It has been a dramatic ride for Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, in his return to the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From the #SaveDaredevil campaign, Cox’s cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the recent announcement that Daredevil: Born Again, it is clear that Daredevil is set to make a significant impact on the MCU proper years after the Netflix Daredevil series.

Most recently, Cox has been confirmed to portray Daredevil in the upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and was teased in the show’s official trailer. Though his appearance is brief, it is obvious that Murdock is donning a yellow Daredevil suit rather than the red one fans of the Netflix series were accustomed to.

Now, She-Hulk series creator and head writer Jessica Gao has opened up about how the show approached Daredevil as he appears in the series. In an interview with The Direct, Gao teased a not-so-dark interpretation of the beloved character:

“What was so fun about bringing him and Daredevil into our world is that people have already seen a Daredevil who is very dramatic, little bit on the heavy side, very dark, brooding…And it was so fun to be able to do–and we do this with every character cameo from the MCU–is we take them from the environment that you know them from, which is a much more dramatic and action-oriented role, much more on the serious side, and we bring them into our world and they get to play in the tone of She-Hulk. And they got to explore and we get to see a lighter side of that character.”
—Jessica Gao

While some will be eager to see a new side of the live-action character, others have grown attached to the darker and grittier version of Daredevil that came out of the Netflix series. As Gao notes, Daredevil in She-Hulk is not the final word on how the MCU will work with the superhero. The writer makes it clear that the half-hour comedy series was able to play around with Cox’s character in contrast to how the character may otherwise exist in the broader MCU down the line.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will premiere on Disney+ on August 18.

Source: The Direct

August 12, 2022
‘She-Hulk’ Head Writer Teases Characters They Couldn’t Use in the Disney+ Series

With any Marvel project, it seems that the writers and directors want to use as many characters as they possibly could. Of course, Marvel Studios has some restrictions due to already set-in-stone ideas. A series that seemingly will include quite a few memorable appearances from the comics, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, also tried to get as many characters in it s they could as revealed by head writer Jessica Gao in an interview with The Direct.

While she doesn’t give away any details on what characters they wanted to include (one exception we’ll get to later), it does seem like Marvel still gave them quite a lot of playing field. Yet, there are always some things that got in the way, may it be rights issues or just plans that were already set in motion of some kind, as pointed out by Gao.

There were a lot of characters from the comics– we wanted a lot of the comics for characters for fun situations where we could bring in like a character and think of like funny reasons why they would be in legal trouble. But there were a lot of characters that were from the comics that we couldn’t use either because of a rights issue, or there were a few times where it was because Marvel… all they would say is that they had other plans. And that’s all they would tell us. And then, we tried very, very hard to poke, and prod, and get a little bit more information. Of course, they wouldn’t tell us.
Jessica Gao

She does go on to highlight that they had one definite restriction in the form of Spider-Man. It’s no wonder they couldn’t use the character due to the rights still being with Sony for live-action, which sadly seemingly limited how they handle the character moving forward but was a shame given how many fans of the webhead worked on the show.

But I will say, the one MCU character that really bummed out a lot of the writers in our room that we couldn’t use was Spider-Man and anyone involved around– like in the Spider-Man universe. Because we had so many Spider-Man fans in the room.
Jessica Gao

It’s definitely a shame that Sony isn’t playing along with Marvel Studios, as including the character in other projects contractually would give their next entry a little boost. They still have to produce Spider-Man films in a specific time frame and we’ll likely hear about the fourth entry in the near future but it’s still a shame Tom Holland doesn’t get to play in the sandbox like everyone else does.

Source: The Direct

August 11, 2022
‘WandaVision’s Jimmy Woo Gets His Own Marvel Legends Figure, Available for Pre-Order

The Marvel Studios’ series WandaVision may have ended its run on Disney+ nearly a year and a half ago, but the cultural impact the show has had on the Marvel Cinematic Universe fanbase continues to be evident. Now, a supporting character of the show is getting their own Marvel Legends action figure.

Marvel Legends has made available for pre-order an action figure of Agent Jimmy Woo. Played by Randall Park, Woo first made an appearance in 2015’s Ant-Man before having a larger role in WandaVision. Woo has been a fan favorite in the MCU even with his limited screen time. The figure even includes alternate hand to recreate Agent Woo’s sleight-of-hand magic trick from the series. Check out the full figure below:

Marvel Legends

The Woo figure joins Marvel Legends figures of the Scarlet Witch and White Vision from WandaVision. Recently, a Ms. Marvel figure was revealed to be part of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinity Ultron BAF wave, which also includes Kate Bishop, Clint Barton, Moon Knight, and Mr. Knight from other MCU Disney+ series.

The Agent Jimmy Woo action figure is now available for pre-order ahead of a March 2023 release date.

Source: Marvel Legends

August 11, 2022
Zoe Terakes is the Latest Actor to Join the Cast of Marvel Studios’ ‘Ironheart’

Nearly a month after reports first surfaced of Zoe Terakes joining the cast of Ironheart, Deadline has confirmed the Wentworth actor is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The outlet revealed Terakes’ casting late on Wednesday evening, confirming the actor will be playing a key role in the series. Further details surrounding Terakes’ role remain unknown.

The actor’s casting is incredibly noteworthy as Terakes is both transgender and non-binary. With still a long way to go regarding LGBTQ+ presentation within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the addition of Terakes is a step in the right direction. Terakes most recently starred in Wentworth and Nine Perfect Strangers. They can next be seen in a film titled Talk to Me where they’ll star as a character named Hayley.

Terakes is the latest to join the cast of Ironheart joining leading lady Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, Manny Montana, Alden Ehrenreich, and Shea Couleé. Ramos, as long rumored, was confirmed to be playing The Hood in Ironheart after set photos surfaced earlier this week, while Ehrenreich has long been rumored to be playing the son of Obadiah Stane, Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane. Details regarding the roles of the rest of the cast are currently unknown, although recent rumors suggest Couleé could be playing none other than Shade.

Production on Ironheart is currently underway in Atlanta.

Source: Deadline.

August 10, 2022
Marvel Studios’ Disney+ Attracts a New Audience for the MCU

With the Disney Earnings Call taking place for their third fiscal quarter, the public has received notable updates on where Disney stands in terms of its current business operations. Notably, official word has been revealed for Disney+’s ad-supported model which is scheduled to launch at the end of 2022. As well, the streaming service has defied the company’s own expectations and has added over 14 million new subscribers in the fiscal quarter.

When laying out components to the success of Disney+, CEO Bob Chapek specifically took time to reference Marvel Studios’ output of series over the past year and a half as a major point of success. What he states is quite interesting as he highlights that they have measured an audience that watch these series before any other Marvel offering on the platform, as shared by Alex Zalben on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/azalben/status/1557467286457487361

With this bit of information from Chapek, it paints a promising picture of the overall direction the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken in its fourth phase. It certainly seems to be the case that the audience that’s helped Marvel Studios produce some of the highest grossing films have followed them onto Disney+. And on top of that, the shows being able to attract new audience members that haven’t engaged with the Marvel Cinematic Universe prior is critical for the Disney-owned studio to maintain longevity moving forward.

One could formulate the belief that the distinctly different genres that Marvel Studios has been able to adapt as a series (namely with the likes of WandaVision and Ms. Marvel) have become a large factor in its success. And with the upcoming release of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which will be Marvel’s first foray into the “legal comedy” genre, it remains to be seen how the new series will impact the subscriber base of the still-young streaming platform.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is scheduled to premiere its first episode on Thursday, August 18.

August 10, 2022
New ‘Loki’ Set Photo Offers a Look at Sylvie’s New Suit

It looks like new set photos have found their way online for the upcoming second season of Loki. It’s the first series to get an additional season and we already got some teases from the Disney+ series’ set. The first photos we got revealed the return of Sophia Di Martino‘s Sylvie in an old McDonalds uniform while Tom Hiddleston’s Loki seemingly joined the TVA once again.

Now, a new set photo has surfaced that reveals that same sequence where she was seen at a McDonalds but this time around is wearing an updated version of her suit. Its design seems quite close to what she wore in the last season. The biggest difference seems to be the golden half ring around her neck which is even more damaged than previously.

There are still a lot of questions hanging in the air about how exactly Sylvie finds her way out of He Who Remains’ home and if she has taken on a new role to look over the multiverse. perhaps the existential crisis of her actions being foretold led to her just giving up and trying to live a very quiet life. Kang’s role is also unclear in the upcoming film, as the big bad for the next Avengers movie will let his presence be known throughout and the multiverse is nowhere close to slowing down.

Source: Weibo

August 10, 2022
Disney+ Beats Expectations and Adds 14.4M New Subscribers

It looks like the streaming market isn’t taking a nosedive after all. Netflix and HBO Max have been low expectations; especially the former continuing to lose subscriber count. The same fear existed with Disney+ but it seems that they managed to pull it to their advantage as they just reported that they’ve added 14.4M subscribers, which is ahead of their predicted 10M. As such, the stock is up 6% as a result and its revenue continues to be driven by its parks offerings.

Bob Chapek, the current CEO of Walt Disney, has shared the following statement on their third fiscal quarter:

We had an excellent quarter, with our world-class creative and business teams powering outstanding performance at our domestic theme parks, big increases in live-sports viewership, and significant subscriber growth at our streaming services. With 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers added in the fiscal third quarter, we now have 221 million total subscriptions across our streaming offerings. We continue to transform entertainment as we near our second century, with compelling new storytelling across our many platforms and unique immersive physical experiences that exceed guest expectations, all of which are reflected in our strong operating results this quarter.
Bob Chapek

Unlike most, Disney has a diversified portfolio that can counterbalance any scares with the booming streaming business. Plus, the confirmation that an ad-supported model of Disney+ will hit the US in December also adds to the excitement on what exactly the future may hold for investors. Of course, the price hike to $10.99 for an ad-free version might rub som the wrong way.

Chapek promised investors in late 2021 that they’d reach 230M+ subscribers by September of 2025. It’ll be interesting to see if that continues to rise or if we should expect a slow-down anytime soon. They also expect Hulu and ESPN+ to become profitable by then as well.

Source: Deadline

August 10, 2022
‘Disney+’s Ad-Supported Model Gets US Release in December

The day is coming closer as the ad-supported streaming variations of Disney+ has finally gotten a release date; at least for the United States. According to Deadline, Disney+ will be made available with advertising on December 8th. It’ll cost $7.99 a month rather than its premium model at $10.99. Naturally, they also have various bundles planned such as lower-priced basic plans with ads getting their own combinations for Hulu and ESPN+.

Disney+ with Hulu would go for $9.99 a month while adding ESPN+ would put it at $12.99. There’s also a basic monthly fee for Hulu with Live TV, which also includes Disney+ and ESPN+ for $69.99. Kareem Daniel, the Chairman for Media & Entertainment Distributions shared the following statement regarding the announcement:

With our new ad-supported Disney+ offering and an expanded lineup of plans across our entire streaming portfolio, we will be providing greater consumer choice at a variety of price points to cater to the diverse needs of our viewers and appeal to an even broader audience. Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ feature unparalleled content and viewing experiences and offer the best value in streaming today, with over 100,000 movie titles, TV episodes, original shows, sports and live events collectively.
Kareem Daniel

Disney’s quarterly earnings are just around the corner, which makes this announcement quite interesting and a hopeful grab to get on the good side of Wall Street. Netflix and HBO Max have been hit quite hard as of late due to Netflix’s recent tumble, which may be one of the reasons that the streaming war will continue the way it currently is going. Disney+ is a safe bet to remain but the rest are up for question.

Source. Deadline

August 10, 2022
REVIEW [Translated]: ‘I Am Groot’ is Just the Cutest

*For an original, untranslated version of this review – click here*

The first-ever Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off has arrived, and it’s just about the cutest thing ever. I Am Groot, also the first starring vehicle for Vin Diesel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a CG-animated mini-show from the minds of Ryan Little and Kirsten Lepore. It’s first season consists of five short episodes, each only a few minutes long, that mostly feature Baby Groot stumbling his way through an adorable series of shenanigans across the galaxy. While the project is technically canon to the wider MCU, it more or less functions as entirely it’s own affair. There is no prerequisite viewing, aside from maybe the aforementioned Guardians films, and there is no pressure to understand anything important. It’s really just Baby Groot being Baby Groot for a solid 20 minutes.

Obviously, this is not a serious show made for grown-up adults. That doesn’t mean an adult can’t love it, because this series is the definition of lovable, but nobody should go into I Am Groot expecting a deep dive into the character’s origin or personal beliefs. Instead, one should anticipate hearty laughter and a little bit of water to come out of their leaky eyes. It’s essentially the opening dance sequence from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stretched out long enough to give it its own title. Anyone with a child who loves Groot will want to turn this on immediately because it will likely become that kid’s new favorite show. Diesel‘s endearing, pocket-sized hero pulls out all of his signature moves. From antagonizing equally delightful intergalactic creatures to performing the most destructive arts-and-crafts time ever, Groot does it all with the sweetest, most amusing big eyes and tiny smile the universe has ever seen.

That being said, these shorts are genuinely worth the watch for parents and children alike. I Am Groot can be viewed as an entertaining, educational project designed for toddlers, using Baby Groot and the problems he runs into as great examples of overcoming adversity. Granted, Groot is not a well-behaved baby. He is, however, wildly entertaining and sure to give kids a good chuckle. On the parental, or adult-who-doesn’t-have-kids-but-likes-Marvel-a-lot, side of things, I Am Groot is an undeniably charming look into a corner of the Marvel Universe that, frankly, nobody ever thought they would see. The only other Marvel character to make an appearance is Groot’s best friend and father figure, Rocket Raccoon, voiced again by Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper. Isolating Groot from his peers allows viewers to take a rather interesting peak at what sort of chaos the little tree can cause when left completely unattended.

Although nothing too special, I Am Groot does earn it’s place as part of the Disney+ catalogue, and will probably leave young ones wanting more. The shorts have the potential to be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it chapter for the MCU, and may be the sort of thing people forget about after a single viewing, but it will ultimately be the response from the target audience that determines it’s longevity. More episodes have been confirmed to be on the way, so perhaps this is just the beginning of many Groot solo adventures down the line. Either way, it’s not anything worth stressing about. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy Baby Groot in all his precious glory.

August 10, 2022