Marvel Studios is just like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It continues to expand at an exponential rate and it seems they’ve added one more talent to their repertoire. Liza Singer, who has worked as a storyboard revisionist and artist for projects like Harley Quinn, Disenchantment, and DC Super Hero Girls, took to Twitter to announce she joined Marvel Studios in the role of director. She previously directed Paramount+’s The Harper House. So, she’s no stranger to the brand and is currently working on a feature High in the Clouds for Netflix and Gaumont Animation.
Marvel Studios is truly all in with their upcoming animation projects, and her inclusion might hint that they’ve already had a few stories mapped out. We’re still waiting for any official announcements, which might happen during the upcoming Disney+ Day, but the timings are very different when it comes to animation. If they are starting work on it now, it might not see the light of day until 2024.
What If..? is still currently airing on Disney+ with only two more episodes left to go. It’s uncertain if they’ll stick to this very distinct animation style or try out different ones as they expand. Hopefully, it is the latter, as it’s the one advantage the medium has and could help diversify Marvel Studio’s portfolio. There’s also the question if every project will be considered canon, or they’ll also create franchises that exist in the multiverse separate from the MCU.
As a veteran of some of the biggest film franchises in the world, Andy Serkis knows a few things about what to anticipate in upcoming projects. From performance capture in Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, and Star Wars, and now directing his third feature film with Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He’s also had a rather important role in the MCU.
His character, the arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Panther, and even in the animated What If…? series. Given his fate in the original, it’s unlikely he’ll return for the sequel. Still, while talking about Venom: Let There Be Carnage to Gizmodo, Serkis was asked about an element of the MCU he is most excited about. He used the opportunity to share his love for Wakanda and his thoughts on the Black Panther sequel.
Wakanda as a world, as a place, as a philosophy is such an extraordinary thing. So I’m really excited to see how it evolves, how it unfolds. Obviously, it’s very, very sad in the wake of [Chadwick Boseman’s] departure, but I’m sure that the story will go some way to memorialize such an extraordinary performance and such an incredible actor and person in that movie.
Andy Serkis
It’s not surprising to find that someone with Serkis‘ interest in bringing digital to life has quite an interest in this digital world. Ryan Coogler‘s worldbuilding might be one of the most memorable due to interweaving real-world African history and culture into a fictional city. Coogler famously spent ten months on a 500-page worldbuilding document envisioning a futuristic urban space for Wakanda alongside Black Panther’s production designer Hannah Beachler. It seems, with reports of Namor that a version of Atlantis may appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, that they might be repeating that worldbuilding process. It will be fascinating to see the contrast and similarities between Atlantis and Wakanda, as well as how Wakanda evolves in itself.
Marvel Studios is back in action with the recent releases of Black Widow and Shang-Chi. Yet, the year is far from over, as we still have two more films heading our way, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Eternals. The latter is an especially important entry, as it’ll expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a very unique way. We’ll explore the long history of the earth long before the Avengers joined in their fight against Loki.
In an interview with Empire, director Chloé Zhao discusses the inspirations behind the upcoming film and how she loves “the idea of continuing to challenge the straight-forward morality we’re used to in the superhero genre.” It’s a great approach as we’ve seen it in the past as Shang-Chi made us take a different perspective on Wenwu’s motivations. She also highlighted that the story she’s woven is
[…] akin to stories of Greek and Roman gods, who live very human lives with human traits, rivalries, jealousies and frailties.Chloé Zhao
The first trailers offered a glimpse into that very story and we can see these god-like beings trying to pretend they are “normal.” Kumail Nanjiani‘s Kingo is living amongst humans as a Bollywood star. His obsession with attention pushed him to live on Earth as a human but enjoying the riches and fame that come with the job. Speaking of, Empire also provided a brand new image of the Eternal member, which you can check out here:
Since Disney acquired the rights to mutants and related characters in early 2019, fans have been abuzz about when and how they’d make their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fox made 13 characters with the films over 20 years with New Mutants wrapping up their efforts in 2020. Now it’s Kevin Feige’s turn to bring the characters to the big screen. Despite initially teasing them at SDCC ’19, very little has come to light about their plans and while rumors continue to swirl that we’ll see some holdovers from the Fox films make an appearance at some point, James McAvoy, who played Charles Xavier during the 2010 era film, isn’t quite so sure that’s what Marvel Studios has in mind, as he explained in an interview with ComicBook.com.
They’re clever people. They’re so good at putting their stuff together. They’ll figure out where to do it, but that might not involve people who’ve done it before. It might be a complete reimagining. And as a fan, I’m down for that as well and I’d be excited to see what happens next. If what happens next involves us, then that could be cool, but I’m not sure what way they’re going to go with it, basically. But as a fan, I’m excited to see whatever way they go.
As the Comic Book points out, Hugh Jackman seems to have made peace with his time as Wolverine and put it behind him. A recent round of rumors have Professor X making an appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. If true, could it be McAvoy reprising the role, would he be interested in doing so or, like Jackman, is he ready to move on?
I’m all about doing good stuff, and when I got asked to play Charles the first time, it was good stuff. It was good writing, and I was excited. If people offer me good writing, I’m always going to be excited, but I do feel like I’ve had a good ending with Charles and I got to explore some really good stuff, particularly in the first two movies that I did for him as a character. So if my time is done, I’m happy with the time that I spent and the time that I was given and if good writing comes in and people want to do stuff with me, I’ll always be open to that, but it’s got to be good.
That certainly sounds like someone who is in no hurry to return to the role of Professor X. If McAvoy is out and Patrick Stewart, who in early 2020 implied he had met with Feige and turned down the opportunity to play Charles again, can be taken at his word, it seems an all-new, all-different actor would have to portray Charles in the Strange sequel, inline with McAvoy’s comments about the MCU’s mutants being a complete reimagining. Of course, it’s possible that one or both of McAvoy and Stewart aren’t being entirely truthful and we could see one of their domes in a hover chair next March.
Shang-Chi has been surprising many throughout its box office run. Not only did it surpass its earliest expectations by a mile, but it also continued to perform far beyond what people expected. It’s a great statement for the return of cinema movie-going and a showcase for Asian-American-led projects. Only a few days ago, the film became the highest-grossing domestic earner passing Black Widow‘s $196M. Predictions already had it at passing the other Marvel Studios giant and adding an additional $10M over the weekend. They were on the money, as it has now added another $13.2M over the weekend taking the top spot.
#ShangChi will become the 1st movie of 2021 to spend 4 weeks at #1! FRI #boxoffice was $3.6M, down 39% from last FRI. Wknd gross looks headed to about $13M for drop of 40% on 4th wknd. It beat #BlackWidow last night to be 2021 domestic champ, cume shd rise to $196M thru SUN.
As such, Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings is only one of three Marvel Studios films to take the top spot four weeks in a row. It’s now joining the exclusive club alongside Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy. The film currently stands at $196.5M domestically in 24 days. Internationally, it has garnered §360M without opening in China. In a way, Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s delay helped the film get an additional weekend. Newcomer Dear Evan Hansen opened to only around $7.5M.
October is going to be tough competition with the Venom sequel, No Time to Die, Halloween Kills, and Dune. Predictions would put it at around $225 until 235M, which is ahead of other Marvel films like Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor: The Dark World, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Its higher point could compete with Doctor Strange or Logan. Eternals might benefit from all the upcoming releases and the hype for Spider-Man: No Way Home could become the final turning point for the box office.
Marvel’s upcoming Eternals film has a lot to unpack, and it looks like it might take some time to do it. It seems that the first indicators on director Chloé Zhao’s large-scale epic’s runtime may clock in at around 2 hours and 36 minutes. The information originates from a Russian site called Kino Metro, which operates as a “Film Distributor Bulletin” in Moscow. This news should be taken with a grain of salt for now, but if it turns out to be true, it would put Eternals just behind Avengers: Endgame as the second-longest film in the MCU. It also hints at an 18+ rating for the film, which is also a curious development given Marvel Studio’s focus on PG-13 releases.
A longer runtime for a movie like Eternals would make a lot of sense. The amount of lore and world-building a story on that scale might require would expand it quite a bit. Jack Kirby crafted a massive, complex universe when he first started writing stories about Ikaris, Sersi, and the Celestials in 1976. Zhao likely won’t be able to tackle all of it in a single project, but a runtime lasting almost three hours would certainly help her try.
While we can’t confirm the time listed by Kino Metro, it should be noted that the site lists other films lengths accurately, like Halloween Kills and The Last Duel. It should also be taken into consideration that the 2 hours and 36-minute mark might just be the current cut of the film, and its runtime could shrink by the time it releases in November.
We Might Finally Know Who is Voicing Kro! Wait, Who the Hell is Kro?
Eternals is next up for Marvel Studios and is going to introduce fans to the most obscure group of heroes and villains yet. The trailer revealed one of those villains: the Deviant warlord Kro. To be sure this Kro looks a whole lot different than his comic book counterpart but now we might know why he sounded so much like Dan Stevens. While talking to Collider, Stevens randomly namedropped the character and since only 0.05% of the population knows who it is, it might just be because he’s voicing him.
Hit Monkey Trailer Indicates He’s Set to Square Off Against Some Killer Foes
Marvel’s animated series Hit Monkey is set to debut on Hulu on November 17th and the first trailer for the series gave brief glimpses of a couple of characters that the merc turned macaque might find himself up against: Daredevil baddie Lady Bullseye and Immortal Weapon Fat Cobra! The trailer didn’t really give any context for their roles in the series, so they might be brief cameos for all we know, but they were certainly cool surprises in what was a fairly intriguing trailer.
Marvel Studios Victoria Alonso Gets Promoted
One of the keys to Marvel Studios continued success is that the people who built it beginning with 2008’s Iron Man have stayed the course and followed their vision. One of those key visionaries, Victoria Alonso, who Kevin Feige called “one of the most dynamic, candid and accessible executives in the industry”, just got herself a new job within the Studio. Alonso is now President of Physical and Post Production, Visual Effects, and Animation Production and we have no idea what that means but it’s great to see Alonso continue to climb the ladder of the company she helped shape.
Here We Go! ‘Super Mario’ Animated Film Has a Bonkers Cast List
One major announcement coming out of Nintendo Direct was the voice cast Illumination’s 2022 Super Mario. The animated film will hit U.S. theaters December 21st, 2022 and has a fully loaded baked potato of a cast. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day will voice Mario and Luigi, respectively, while Anya Taylor-Joy will voice Peach. Seth Rogen, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and more will bring other characters from the iconic franchise to life.
In a Murphy’s Multiverse exclusive, we reported that Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman’s unknown spy character will be sticking around the MCU in future projects. The character, described as a Fury-esque spy, will first be seen doing some shady work in Secret Invasion. Fury. The Contessa. Now this spymaster. Seems like things are going to get real interesting in the MCU. Who do you trust?
‘Aquaman 2’ Will Have a Shark, But Not King Shark
Aquaman andThe Lost Kingdom is rounding out its cast and it looks like they figured that since everyone liked King Shark so much in The Suicide Squad, that they should have a shark too. And since they aren’t using King Shark, they decided to have a telepathic shark!Sounds like this one is going to get pretty wild.
‘Secret Invasion’ Will Be Quake-free
Chloe Bennet will not be reprising her role as Daisy Johnson/Quake in the MCU…at least not yet…and probably not ever. The star of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. took time out of her day to break the news to her fans via Twitter. Nobody is exactly sure why she did it nor why anyone thought she was in Secret Invasion in the first place, but let’s not facts get in the way of fan theories. On a positive note, she has yet to deny that she will be joining the MCU as Mephisto, so keep your fingers crossed.
Information on Marvel Studios Secret Invasion streaming series has been tough to come by with little more than a handful of casting announcements making their way out via the trades. Of those announcements, Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman’s generated a great deal of buzz. Her role, like co-stars Emilia Clarke’s and Kingsley Ben-Adir’s, have been kept secret, but Murphy’s Multiverse is now able to share a few tidbits about Colman’s character.
While Disney and Marvel Studios are working hard to keep her character’s identity a secret, we can share that Colman is portraying a mysterious spy with a commanding “Fury-esque” presence. Indeed the series will be as spy-heavy as expected, with a half-dozen spy roles, including this one. Like Fury, Colman’s character will be a bit of a puppeteer who does and has done a lot of her dirty work behind the scenes. We’ve also learned that in addition to Colman’s character being a major player in Secret Invasion, she’s also set to return in the role in other projects down the road.
We’ve already seen Marvel Studios introduce Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine into the mix of shadowy characters with their own agendas; adding Colman as another master spy with a bit of a European influence (as you know from previous reports, Secret Invasion is doing a lot of location filming in and around the UK) will expand the universe and also make it a little less trustworthy. Secret Invasion should begin principal photography soon and is expected to stream on Disney Plus in 2022.
After a long wait, we’re finally getting the third and final entry of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. James Gunn will return to the director’s chair after his time with DC’s The Suicide Squad. The best part, we’re also getting a Disney+ Christmas Special ahead of the third film’s release. Gunn did confirm in July that it’s going to connect with Vol. 3, but it seems some curious secrets will be revealed in the upcoming special.
Of course, he doesn’t reveal what exactly that means, but the special will likely connect Thor: Love and Thunder with the third film. So, we’ll get our first hint a the main plotline that will drive the Guardians on their final journey. The secrets in question might also reference some curious revelations between the team, such as the origin of Rocket. There were some hints that the upcoming threequel will focus on Gamora and Nebula, which could come into play as well.
By the end of business today, Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings will surpass Marvel Studios Black Widow to become the highest grossing U.S. release in 2021. The Pandemic Box Office has been fickle but Shang-Chi has held course through 3 weeks and now actually looks set to be #1 at the U.S. box office for a 4th week.
Shang-Chi enters September 24th only $200,000 behind Black Widow, has been averaging a little more than $1.6M the last 3 days and should have enough momentum to earn another $10M at the box office this weekend which should be plenty to keep the #1 spot, especially as Dear Evan Hansen looks to be a bomb. If everything stays on track, Shang-Chi should cross the $200M mark in the U.S. sometime next week, making for an impressive theatrical haul in the midst of the pandemic.
Shang-Chi‘s success has emboldened Disney to keep its next Marvel Studios film, Eternals, as a theatrical exclusive opening on November 5th. The film will feature another set of unknown characters, like Shang-Chi, but boasts an ensemble cast full of big names. Shang–Chi is the champ but the question now becomes how long will it hold the belt.
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