Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Fantastic Four

  • Deep Thoughts: One Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2023 Release Calendar

    Deep Thoughts: One Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2023 Release Calendar

    With Marvel Studios finally revealing release dates for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (February 17, 2023) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023), it seemed like a good time to take a stab at how the rest of 2023 might shape up for the studio’s theatrical features and streaming series. We’ve played this guessing game before (here and here) and it’s been hit and miss; however, it’s still a fun game to play and can give us some idea of how things might turn out in a couple of years.

    ***NOTE***

    Please read and share responsibly and don’t latch your hopes and dreams onto this. Don’t take it seriously and don’t start marking your calendars. This is one possible option with the only real intention behind it being to see if it could be done well.

    One of the bigger surprises of 2021 so far has been the news that Marvel Studios was developing a solo Echo series. Newcomer Alaqua Cox was brought on board to bring Maya Lopez to life in 2021’s Hawkeye and must have made a huge impression as the studio quickly put together a writer’s room and greenlit the series. An Echo series could be an interesting way to reintroduce Kingpin and other Marvel Netflix characters to the MCU and her ties to Daredevil could leave open the opportunity for Matt Murdock’s adventures to continue on here. While this might seem like a pretty quick turnaround, I have a feeling this one is further down the development road than we think.

    The Marvel Legends episodes have served as recaps and while they may seem a bit underwhelming to longtime fans of the MCU, they have proven to be effective in catching new viewers up on who everyone is. With that said, We should expect episodes for Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne and, I’d imagine, Cassie Lang, in the weeks leading up to the release of the third Ant-Man film. Given that production on this is set to begin before The Marvels, a lot of folks had this begged for a 2022 release.

    I’ve consistently heard it was set for this date and that it was because it needed to come out when it did for storytelling purposes. I wish I had more context on that, but I just don’t and I guess we’ll all have to wait to see what stories needed to be told before we got this one. As it stands, we’re set to get a wild story that we know will include our second time meeting Jonathan Majors‘ Kang and some Quantum Realm shenanigans. As much as I still hope this is the first time we see the Young Avengers team up on screen, the fact that a new writer was brought on board since we first shared that info a couple of years ago makes me wonder if that’s no longer the case.

    We are still a month away from the first season of Loki and we are already looking down the road at how they might summarize his adventures in that series before we get to season two in 2023. Who knows what adventures will befall the Trickster in season one…

    Kevin Feige has made it clear that not all of the Disney Plus series are destined to have multiple seasons; however, before production on season one of Loki was underway, we knew a season two was part of the plans. Deadline later confirmed that Michael Waldron had inked a deal to work on season two and much like Echo has been fast-tracked, I think another season of Loki is closer than we might think.

    Catching up on the adventures of the Guardians will be a necessity for new fans before the threequel lands in May. Some of them will have been on different adventures and one isn’t even from the Prime timeline. An episode or 6 of Marvel Legends might even do us long-timers some good as well, so expect quite a few ahead of May 5th!

    By the time we see the Guardians on screen again, it’ll have been exactly 6 years since their last film and they’ll have been used in more films by other directors (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder) than by James Gunn. Gunn has been pretty consistent in saying that this film will wrap up the story of this version of the Guardians and that Rocket’s story will be a big part of the plot. Even though the script for this one has existed for quite a while, very little information about the plot of the film has gotten out though Gunn has debated Warlock’s presence in the film, that Earth-based heroes (like Nova) were on the table and, once upon a time, seemingly teased that it would include some version or another of Quasar. With production starting up this Fall, we might get lucky and catch a couple of leaks and get some idea of where this is headed.

    Black Panther director Ryan Coogler inked a deal to develop original programming for Disney Plus and chief among those was a series exploring the World of Wakanda. Details on this one are…well, they just don’t exist yet, but given the fact that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is out in 2022, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Coogler and his team keep the tidal wave of momentum going from that film and deliver more Wakandan-based stories to audiences sooner rather than later.

    It’s possible that we won’t see Sam Wilson, the MCU’s new Captain America, again before his upcoming and yet still unofficially announced solo film, but then again I know I’m not alone in saying I hope we don’t have to wait 2 years. Cap could show up just about anywhere now from Ms. Marvel to Hawkeye to Spider-Man: No Way Home or even Armor Wars. Let’s hope we get to see more Cap rather than less.

    Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson have been reported to be working on the script for this one and I don’t believe for a second that two guys who spent so much time working together on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier together have only just started writing this script. Even though we all just found out about it a couple of weeks ago, I’m willing to bet this is much, much more together than we think and will be underway much sooner than expected.

    This one is a pretty big stretch given that there’s no confirmation from Marvel Studios that they’re developing a Nomad series and even the guy who broke the story was unclear of what exactly this was but then again, we are doing hypothetical stuff here…
    When last we saw Bucky Barnes at the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he had finally moved away, at least personally, from his deeds as the Winter Soldier. With his past finally behind him, it’s possible that we could see Sebastian Stan back in the role as the character carves out a present and a future. Stan gave an incredible performance in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and reinvented the character. While we don’t know if Nomad is happening much less if it’s being developed for Stan, I don’t think too many people would frown upon it should it happen and a 6-episode run taking James across the country to deal with someone like the Scourge of the Underworld or, should they not appear in Captain America 4, the Serpent Socitey, would make for some great TV.

    Of course, it’s also possible that this is one of the projects that Chris Evans is rumored to be returning for (perhaps something set during the time between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War) or an entirely new character. With that last option on the table, I didn’t want to put a Legends episode on the docket, but if it’s either Bucky or Steve, we’ll certainly get one.

    It wasn’t too long ago that I was hopeful that this film would end up in an unused October 2022 slot. According to the Disney Investor Day Fact Sheet, it wasn’t too long ago that Marvel Studios might have held that same hope. At this point, however, Blade won’t make that date and even though fans are already freaking out about why it wasn’t included in yesterday’s Phase 4 trailer, this is definitely still a big priority for the studio. The studio has some time now to work on a script and line up dates with a director and if we’ve learned anything from the COVID pandemic it’s that giving studios more time to prepare can never be a bad thing.

    The Young Avengers are coming, of that, there is no doubt. What is entirely unclear is when. My guess: sooner rather than later. You can’t cast a bunch of young actors in roles and then wait 3-5 years between appearances, not without continually recasting at least. Marvel Studios has proven that they’re open to recasting, but at some point, you might like to hang on to some actors for a while, especially when the audience is supposed to be seeing a story in which they grow and develop together as a unit, such as the Young Avengers. My guess is that the actors being brought on board to play these characters will find themselves incredibly busy over the next 5 years (see Tom Holland) so that we don’t end up with some Harry Potter-esque growth spurts and suddenly have 30 year olds playing teens. So out of the pile of projects Marvel Studios has in development, this one could easily be near or at the top. I think it plays better as a Disney Plus series for a lot of reasons, so despite having absolutely no idea what the plan is for this, I’m rooting for the series route.

    We know Jon Watts is directing it and we have a fancy logo. We think we know it’s filming under Solve Everything Productions. Other than that, we don’t know anything about Marvel Studios Fantastic Four reboot. It seems like it is certainly a part of the studio’s Phase 4 plans given that it showed up in the Phase 4 trailer, but it has no writer, no cast, no release date and I have yet to hear any rumblings about when or where it’s going to get going. With all that in mind, I think it would make a mint at the box office as a family-centric holiday film so I am crossing my fingers that we’ll get another release date in 2023 and that the First Family will be home for Christmas.

    Obviously, the further out we get, the more liberties that have to be taken. We’re at a point where much of what we’re looking at trying to schedule here doesn’t even have known production schedules at the moment. Furthermore, I’ve picked a couple of properties that the studio hasn’t even acknowledged are in development yet so that I could get 5 D+ series in the calendar year. Whether I picked the wrong 2 projects or not isn’t much of a concern because the reality is that the studio has so many properties in development, I’m confident we’ll be able to see 5 series every year should they want to continue producing them at this clip. Let’s all bookmark this one and come back for a laugh in about 18 months.

  • How Marvel Studios Latest Reveals May Hint at the End of Phases

    How Marvel Studios Latest Reveals May Hint at the End of Phases

    We’ve kicked off the week with a rather curious reveal. May 2nd is the anniversary of when the first Iron Man was was released back in 2008. In addition, recent films like Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat have helped continue the revival of cinemas. So, in a way, Marvel Studios wanted to use this chance to highlight the future of the franchise alongside the silver screen’s return. In it, we got the release dates and titles for the Black Panther and Captain Marvel sequels. We even got the confirmation that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release in 2023. Now, these continuous reveals make us wonder how the classic “Phases” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will work without any information on it. Is this perhaps the end of their classic format?

     

     

    Let’s start with the noteworthy absentees. Of course, the cinema celebration trailer did not reference any of the Disney+ series. Yet, it didn’t showcase every single film. The upcoming Blade film, which stars Mahershala Ali, wasn’t mentioned at all. The film had a prominent role during Disney’s Investors Day among the line-up. Yet, it somehow was not referenced as Marvel Studios builds up into its 2023 slate. They even included the same teaser for Fantastic Four that got revealed during the December event. Even the Sony-owned Spider-Man: No Way Home had a teaser. So, it would imply that the film may have gotten pushed back. Stacy Osei-Kuffour has joined the project to pen the script. So, it definitely has entered a form of pre-production. We also have no sign of Deadpool 3, which also was confirmed to be part of the MCU moving forward. Now, this move may hint at these projects not releasing until after May 2023, but we’ve seen their scheduled shift before. There is also that mysterious slate for a Marvel project in October 2022, which had many wondering if it might be a placeholder for Blade.

    We’ve seen things change frequently. At one point, it was planned for Phase 4 to end with Thor: Love and Thunder. Suddenly, we’re talking about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being part of the slate in May 2023. It could be part of Phase 4, but there is a possibility they’ve already teased their fifth phase. Marvel Studios’ new strategy might have made the phases a thing of the past. We no longer have a strict slate but an ever-changing development cycle. Especially since the pandemic hit, they’ve had to adjust their focus with Disney+ growing in importance. So, we might not see the phases we are used to. There is no overarching saga for now, even if some points are hinting at a Multiverse arc. Yet, we’ve also seen many different storylines getting set up. WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier have offered many new avenues for the franchise to explore. It won’t be as straightforward as the Infinity Saga moving forward. So, we may be talking in Arcs rather than Phases as the MCU continues to expand.

    Source: Twitter, Marvel

  • FANTASTIC 1234: Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s Vision of the First Family is a Wild Fever Dream

    FANTASTIC 1234: Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s Vision of the First Family is a Wild Fever Dream

    Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s take on the Fantastic Four opens with First Family going through a routine that’s all too familiar for fans. Reed Richards is locked in his lab deep in thought while Sue rants about her husband’s unwillingness to make time for their relationship. Johnny runs off to get laid while Ben tells another sob story about how no one ever likes him. Meanwhile, Doom sets in motion his plan to destroy his enemies with the help of Namor and Mole Man while they get distracted by their squabbles. It’s business as usual for the first family, so how could this story be any different from the rest? In true Grant Morrison fashion, what seems to be like your run-of-the-mill story soon descends into a fever dream of Doom’s madness.

     

     

    In the late 90s, Marvel was in the shitter. They had no money. People were getting let go. Office furniture was literally being sold to keep the lights on. The glory days of the very lucrative early 90s had clearly ended. It was the lowest of the low so there was no place left to go but up. So up they went. 

    Editors Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti were given the keys to the kingdom and created the Marvel Knights brand, an imprint where creators were given as much freedom as they could have to create a Marvel comic. They brought in the industry’s most exciting writers to do their own take on Marvel’s most iconic characters. Established names like Kevin Smith, Peter Milligan, and Grant Morrison were brought in along with burgeoning names such as Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack.

    They probably were given too much freedom at first as Grant Morrison approached their own take of Marvel’s First Family in the most insane way possible. In an interview he did before the comic even came out, Morrison said: 

    “I’ve worked out this whole Freudian shit. The incest thing in The Fantastic Four. What you’ve got is a family. There’s Reed and Sue, the Mom and Dad. Johnny’s the big brother and Ben’s the little crazy baby. But in that situation you’ve got Johnny and Sue — brother and sister! So there’s an incest thing that the Fantastic Four hides.I looked at it and said, okay, Sue actually wants to fuck Johnny and Johnny wants to fuck Sue. So how do you do that? They make Namor, the Sub-Mariner who is always a linked pair with Johnny. The Human Torch and the Sub Mariner have always been together since the ’40s. Namor is the dark, seedy, watery, wet, dirty side of it. And Johnny’s bright, mercurial. So he doesn’t fuck his sister — but Namor does.”

    Thankfully, that idea never came to fruition as Morrison insisted their intention was to simply create a story out of that idea and not have Johnny literally bang his sister. Still, it’s a fucked up notion to begin but one that’s in Morrison’s wheelhouse, for better or worse. All that said, Morrison’s idea of the First Family was never going to be one that we fully recognize despite the story delving into each of the characters’ archetypes. 

    Fantastic Four 1234 is a great read for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is how Morrison and artist Jee Lee managed to concoct this unique tale of Doom attempting to destroy the First Family. Lee’s artwork is one of the most distinct in the business. His style, what I’d describe as gracefully grotesque, beautifully coalesces with Morrison’s bizarre sensibilities. The result is stunning; a vivid portrait of Marvel’s most iconic characters that cascades into nightmarish imagery with each turn of the page.

     

     

    Morrison explores each of the family members’ pathos and desires in different ways. By far their most interesting exploration is that of The Thing. The mopey Ben Grimm is thrust into an It’s a Wonderful Life scenario where he’s freed from his monstrous form. Unfortunately, this life is wildly unrecognizable to Ben Grimm, who’s a total normie now. Reed is a rockstar scientist while Ben is thrust into obscurity. Ben’s notion of what a good life for him means is put into question.

    As for Johnny, he does the only thing he knows how to do: have a good time. A chunk of the story has him driving with a girl who likes hanging out with him for his celebrity. However, the charade of being too cool for everything quickly wears off on Johnny, who soon decides to patch things up with Ben, who he fought with earlier. 

    Sue is visiting family friend Alicia Masters to vent about her marital woes when she is interrupted by the Sub-Mariner. Namor and Sue have always had a steamy dynamic, even more so than her and Reed. The sexual tension between the two is on full-display as Namor makes an argument to leave the life she complains about daily.  Sue has always been the family’s keeper so for her to be devilishly seduced by Namor, who is essentially the antithesis of Reed (handsome, attentive, and rich), is something to see. 

    And then you have Reed. The galaxy’s smartest being doesn’t do much until the very last issue when his master plan is revealed. I don’t wanna spoil it but his fight with Doom is one of the coolest showdowns I’ve seen with these two icons. It’s a highly cerebral battle of wits that spans the warping of reality and it brilliantly showcases what these two characters can really do when up against the wall. 

     

     

    Doom is absolutely stellar in this. His plan is over-the-top that it’s almost reminiscent of the silliness of the Silver Age days of Marvel.  Morrison writes Doom’s monologues as overindulgent poetry and it fits the madman perfectly. This version of Doom is grandiose and theatrical, something that tends to get lost in depictions of him throughout the decades I think. Jonathan Hickman does it the best but Morrison’s take on the character holds up. 

    With only four issues to it, some of the story beats don’t align as smoothly as Morrison’s deft take on thematics. I wonder if Morrison personally confined themself into doing 4-issues as a ludicrous easter egg of sorts. Moments feel rushed and don’t really get to simmer. I imagine that if this was a 5 or 6-issue arc, the story would be a lot more explorative. But even with all its flaws, Fantastic 1234 is a must-read for anyone interested in learning about Marvel’s First Family. 

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Release Date Leak May Hint at Marvel Studios’ 2023 Line-Up

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Release Date Leak May Hint at Marvel Studios’ 2023 Line-Up

    Marvel Studios has once again mapped out their projects years in advance. Even with the pandemic shifting everything by one year, we still have plenty to look forward to. During Disney’s Investors Day, we got a good look at the future of this franchise. They announced various films and Disney+ shows. Alongside them, we also got some release dates, such as Black Panther and Captain Marvel 2 eyeing a 2022 release. Now, the interesting thing to note is that these films will release in July and November respectively. At one point, a comment by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director, Peyton Reed, hinted at it also eyeing a potential 2022 release date.
    Yet, once the Investor’s Day rolled around, that seemed to have changed. The curious placement of Blade between the previously-mentioned titles points to it releasing in 2022. Keep in mind that it still has no official release date just yet. Helping that fact is that casting has already started for the film, as revealed a few days ago. There was always the risk of delays due to the pandemic. Even Black Widow‘s one-year delay may potentially get pushed back once again. Still, it would hint at 2022 consisting of five films, which will be kicked off in March with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Charles Murphy also had a similar prediction for 2022 based on similar information. Anything beyond that release date remained speculation.

    Ant-Man and the Wasp' unanswered questions after the movie

    Well, it looks like the site Cines Argentinos, who has been reliable in the past, may have accidentally unveiled the release date for the threequel. They have set the third entry in the Ant-Man franchise for February 16th in 2023. It makes sense with its placement in the fact sheet after Captain Marvel 2, which was already releasing as the potential fifth film in 2022. There is also the production that would line-up with this release date, as according to Evangeline Lilly, it will not enter production until the summer of this year. Film productions might try to plan in as much time as possible, especially as we’re still seeing temporary shutdowns due to the pandemic.

    This leak connected with the fact sheet makes it a bit easier to predict when they might release. The release order according to the fact sheet would place the long-awaited threequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in their usual May release slot. It is the only film confirmed for a 2023 release. Following it, Jon Watt‘s Fantastic Four would take one of the other 2023 release dates. 2023 has release dates slated in July and November, so it depends on how fast Marvel Studiospulls things together. Marvel Studios has been releasing information in smaller chunks rather than the entire phase in one go, as they did back in the day with Phase 3. So, we might get some official confirmations by the end of the year during the next Disney Investor’s Day for their 2023 line-up.

    Source: Walt Disney, Investor’s Day Fact Sheet, Collider, Slash Film, The Hollywood Reporter, Cines Argentinos, NME

  • Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 82

    Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 82

    The Charleses M. and V. discuss the ridiculous Fantastic Four/Jennifer Lawrence rumor and come with a bunch of reasons why they hope it’s untrue. But they also manage to talk about Evangeline Lilly confirming the start date of Quantumania, the legendary Danny Elfman scoring Doctor Strange 2 and Mena Massoud being up for the role of Ezra Bridger!

  • Marvel Studios Has Begun Their Search for ‘Fantastic Four’ Writers

    Marvel Studios Has Begun Their Search for ‘Fantastic Four’ Writers

    Yesterday, a rather bizarre story dropped about the possibility of Jennifer Lawrence joining the Fantastic Four. The report by The Daily Telegraph tabloid claimed that she was heading to Australia to film it. It was strange that its director, Jon Watts, is still actively working on the untitled Spider-Man 3, as laid out in the original article. The rumor regarding Lawrence‘s casting mentioned she is also there to film a different series, which would have to be in production for some time if she were to join the other potentially. So, like with many rumors, we can only take it with a grain of salt. Justin Kroll took to Twitter to share some information on the production. He dropped the return of Chris Evans as Captain America around a month ago. It offers some insight into where the production of the Fantastic Four film currently is.

    Fantastic Four got revealed at the tail-end of Disney’s Investors Day’s Marvel Studios panel, so it makes sense that it is later down the production pipeline. They only recently hired Stacy Osei-Kuffour to pen Blade. They might be looking for writers for a variety of projects at the moment. Speaking of, they have cast Bahershala Ali in the role of the vampire hunter already in 2019, so it isn’t new for them to sign-up talent long before they enter any form of pre-production. They have cast actors early for them to make an appearance in earlier projects. Either way, it will be interesting to see who they might get to write the project about Marvel’s first family and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s attempt at adapting the iconic characters.

    Source: Twitter, Deadline

  • RUMOR: Jennifer Lawrence Joins ‘Fantastic Four’

    RUMOR: Jennifer Lawrence Joins ‘Fantastic Four’

    So, this is a rather bizarre story but too interesting not to cover. Right now, Marvel Studios has started production on a variety of projects, such as Thor: Love and Thunder. They have been expanding beyond their usual Atlanta filming location, as Australia has been growing into a popular filming location. It looks like they will continue working there with another upcoming project, as according to The Daily Telegraph, Marvel Studios also plans to shoot the Fantastic Four film there. Not just that, as they also reveal that Jennifer Lawrence is already on her way there to film it.

    It’s a bit of a strange surprise if you consider that Jon Watts is set to direct the upcoming film. Yet, he is still at work on the untitled Spider-Man 3 film, so it would be strange to start production so soon. We’ve reached out to Disney, but they have not yet responded on the validity of this rumor. Daily Mail also sourced The Daily Telegraph, where they explicitly state that she is involved in a Marvel project. It also states that she will arrive there in a month to start production on a series in the coming weeks.

    So, even if the production will be in Australia but it is unlikely to start anytime soon. Jennifer Lawrence is quite a high-profile actress to join the franchise and the second former X-Men actress to join a Marvel Studios production. So, she won’t have a minor role and it would be easy to say that she might be playing Susan Storm, or better known as the Invisible Woman. We’ll see what the validity is to this story moving forward.

    Source: The Daily Telegraph via Daily Mail

  • Marvel Match-Up With 6 Confirmed Production Companies

    Marvel Match-Up With 6 Confirmed Production Companies

    A couple of months ago, Arlyn Murphy dug up what she believed to be 3 newly formed Marvel Studios production companies: Blueberry Waffles, Log Jam and Standoffish. Last month, just ahead of Disney’s Investor Day, we also discovered that Frequent Productions was set to begin work in Atlanta sometime this year and were able to confirm it as a Marvel Studios project. Today, I can confirm that Blueberry Waffles, Log Jam and Standoffish are all 100% Marvel Studios projects, joining Frequent, Grass-Fed and Solve Everything as production companies for upcoming Marvel Studios projects. With Marvel Studios having recently announced a slew of new projects, it seemed like a great time to try to make some sense out of which company each project might be!

    While Marvel Studios has a lot of upcoming projects, there are 6 without production company pairs. (5 if we’re being honest because Solve Everything is DEFINITELY Fantastic Four). As it turns out, there are also 6 production companies we haven’t paired up with films (again, it’s really 5). With that out there, it seemed time to have a little fun trying to work out the best pairings between production company and project and…solve everything.

    Blueberry Waffles                                                                Armor Wars

    Frequent                                                                              Blade

    Grass-Fed                                                                            Fantastic Four

    Log Jam                                                                               I Am Groot

    Solve Everything                                                                 Ironheart

    Standoffish                                                                          Secret Invasion

    As stated above and described in detail here, it’s pretty easy to pair up Solve Everything with Fantastic Four. Beyond that, the next most likely pairing is between Log Jam and I Am Groot, a series of original shorts separate from the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. During Investor Day, Kevin Feige mentioned that they would be filming the Holiday Special during production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, meaning it wouldn’t need to be given its own production company, whereas I Am Groot, as a separate entity, would.

    As we continue on, the only certainty is increased uncertainty in which goes with which. Early on in Riri Williams’ Marvel Comics appearances, her mother made a reference to her often making breakfast for Riri and having it go uneaten as she was always more interested in tinkering in her shop (I think I’m remembering that correctly. For the sake of argument, let’s make that a really good reason to pair Blueberry Waffles with Ironheart. Arlyn’s original premise was this it might be pointing towards a Young Avengers project, but that’s clearly farther off now and Ironheart is coming soon, so it could work.

    While I can’t make the case for it to be as good of a fit as the ones already paired up above, Standoffish could pair with Secret Invasion, though I can also make a case for Grass-Fed pairing up with Secret Invasion as a reference to the four Skrulls who did time on Earth as cows following their run-in with the Fantastic Four. However, standoffish could absolutely refer to Fury’s personality, making this a bit of a toss-up. Bringing Blade into the mix muddies the water even further, but even Fury is more personable than Blade, so Grass-Fed for Secret Invasion and Standoffish for Blade as the most current, but totally wild guess.

    Don Cheadle's War Machine Is Back in Marvel's Armor Wars Disney+ Series

    That leaves Frequent to pair with Armor Wars and no good connection. Often times, as was the case with Pandemic Productions and Static Productions (the production companies behind The Falcon and The Winter Solder and WandaVision, respectively), the companies aren’t comic book references but refer very specifically to the events of the series. Perhaps that’s the case here or perhaps it’s a joke in reference to how often Tony’s armor is compromised in the comics.

    Whatever the case, this important news here is in that following up on the newly formed production companies, I was able to confirm that they are all for Marvel Studios projects, meaning production on all of them is likely to get underway sometime this year.

     

     

  • Jon Watts to Helm Marvel Studios ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’

    Jon Watts to Helm Marvel Studios ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’

    During tonight’s Disney Investor’s Day presentation, The-One-Above-All himself announced that Jon Watts would helm the MCU reboot of Fantastic Four.

    First announced at last year’s SDCC, Fantastic Four will the first MCU film to fully incorporate Disney’s newly acquired characters which were once owned by Fox. The last Fantastic Four film released in 2015.

     

  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps

    The Fantastic Four: First Steps

    Premiere: July 25, 2025

    First teased by Feige at SDCC ’19, Marvel Studios Fantastic Four is one of the studio’s most highly anticipated projects. Though no date was given at the time of the announcement, it initially looked like the First Family could land in theaters as early as 2023. From the start, Solve Everything Productions, as you can read here, sounded an awful lot like someone at Marvel Studios got the ball rolling on the project.

    In December 2020, it was confirmed that Jon Watts would be directing the project, but less than two years later he announced he would be taking a break from superhero movies after finishing his Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel Studios, and thus vacating the movie’s director’s chair. This left the Fantastic Four feature film without a director ahead of what’s surely an extremely important period for the project with choices needed to be made in terms of its cast.

    Following the rumors attaching WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman to the vacant director’s chair, there was little surprise when Kevin Feige himself confirmed the news at D23 in September 2022.

    Fantastic Four was one of the five Marvel feature films affected by an October 2022 shift in release dates. It moved from its initial November 2024 slot to February 14, 2025 and then again to May 2, 2025.

    On Valentine’s Day 2024, Marvel Studios revealed that the film had been retitled The Fantastic Four and would now be released on July 25, 2025. They also revealed the long-rumored cast of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. As the cast began to round out in the Spring of 2024, Julia Garner (Shalla-Bal), Ralph Ineson (Galactus), John Malkovich and Paul Walter Hauser each boarded the project. On May 15, 2024, a trade report revealed that Natasha Lyonne had signed on for an undisclosed role.

    Cast

    • Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
    • Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm / Invisible Woman
    • Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
    • Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / Thing
    • Ralph Ineson as Galactus
    • Julia Garner as Shall-Bal
    • Natasha Lyonne in an unknown role
    • John Malkovich in an unknown role
    • Paul Walter Hauser in an unknown role
    • Unknown actor as the voice of H.E.R.B.I.E.