In recent years, Hollywood has come under fire for its lack of diversity – both behind the camera and in front of it. And while studios have been making strides, some might feel it’s not enough. Jessica Alba expressed her frustrations in a recent interview with Glamour UK, noting that not much has changed since her time in the Fantastic Four films. The actress and Honest Company owner specifically called out the Marvel films, noting that they are still majorly Caucasian. Alba does mention that although the superhero genre has started to become more inclusive, it has quite a ways to go still.
“Even if you look at the Marvel movies – that’s the biggest driver of fantasy and what’s happening right now in entertainment, because it’s sort of the family thing – it’s still quite Caucasian,” the actress said. “I would say I was one of the few back in the day… And it was before Marvel was sold to Disney, but it’s still quite more of the same.”
She continued by explaining that she hoped that younger people would be able to see themselves in the world on screen and in the stories we consume. “I just think more for the younger people who are coming up, who are going to be our future leaders, it’s important for them to see the world on screen, or in stories, in the dreams that we create as entertainers; it reflects the world that they’re in.”
In recent years, Marvel Studios has made it a point to be more inclusive both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras. Recently, the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe saw the debut of its first Muslim superhero thanks to Ms. Marvel, its first Asian superhero with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as the introduction of two deaf heroes with Eternals and Hawkeye. Of course, as Alba notes, there is always room for improvement, and one can only hope studios continue to include more diversity in future projects.
Black Adam‘s upcoming film is going to do more than just change the power dynamic within the DC Extended Universe. Not only will Dwayne Johnson introduce us to the anti-villain counterpart of Shazam but also the Justice Society of America. Now, it was uncertain if they may have had some future plans in store for these characters, and luckily Dwayne Johnson wasted no time teasing what the future has in store.
In an interview with Den of Geek, the Black Adam actor has revealed that their plan was always to honor the mythology of the characters from the comics while building up their stories, which may potentially expand into movies TV shows or anything else they might.
The whole goal was that our film was going to set off a larger universe, where we were able to introduce the JSA and then also build from there. If audiences respond to these characters—which we believed that they would, and now we see that they do—we want to honor their mythologies and build out their stories on their own in terms of spin-offs, movies, TV shows, and things like that. That was always important.
Dwayne Johnson
It’s not too uncommon for projects nowadays to set up spinoffs and it’s interesting that they’ve already had it in mind when tackling the JSA. They don’t specify what direction they might take, especially as they won’t want to give away whatever may happen to the various members. So, we’ll have to wait a little longer until we find out what they have planned.
One day after becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of all time, Top Gun: Maverick has officially surpassed The Avengers to move up the list. The Tom Cruise-led sequel is now the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. As of yesterday, the movie is currently at $623.8 million at the domestic box office. That’s enough to push it past The Avenger’s domestic haul of $623.3 million.
After two months in release, Top Gun: Maverick seems to show no signs of stopping. The film is still within the top five at the box office, and word of mouth seems to be keeping the film afloat despite the growing competition. It remains to be seen just how high Maverick can fly. The top six films of all time might be hard to beat – Avengers: Infinity War sits in sixth place with $678 million – but it does seem likely Maverick will overtake Titanic’s $659 million and Jurassic World’s $653 million. Should that happen, Maverick would go on to become the seventh highest-grossing film of all time.
Maverick is Cruise’s best-performing film at the box office and the actor is certainly being rewarded for its success. Per Variety, Cruise is looking to earn a minimum of $100 million from ticket sales, his salary and his cut from rentals and streaming revenue down the line.
Top Gun: Maverick was directed by Joseph Kosinski and follow’s Cruise’s Maverick as he returns to the prestigious aviation academy for a special assignment. The film is currently set to hit home video on August 23rd.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine these days, in the beginning, that was far from the case. It’s no secret that Iron Man was a very loose production. Although a script had been written, most of it had been thrown out during production resulting in improve from the cast and crew. For Jeff Bridges, who starred in the film as the villain Obadiah Stane, the process was frustrating, and yet enjoyable.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Bridges discussed what it was like making the first IronMan movie. “It was Marvel’s first adventure into making movies,” the actor explained. “It was so lucky to have Jon on there and [Robert] Downey, because both of them are terrific improvisers, and we spent a couple of weeks working on the script and rehearsing together, because we didn’t like the original script and we thought, ‘Oh yeah, we fixed this, fixed that.’”
For Bridges, throwing out the script was frustrating because the actors had spent time going over their lines, only to find themselves confused with what they were doing. “There was a lot of confusion about what our script was, what we were gonna say. We’d spend hours in one of our trailers going over lines and exploring how we were going to do it,” Bridges said. ““It drove me absolutely crazy until I made a slight adjustment in my brain that was, ‘Jeff, just relax. You’re making a $200 million student film. Just relax and have fun.”’
Production might not have been smooth, but there’s no denying the legacy Iron Man leaves behind. Iron Man, which was directed by Jon Favreau, earned an astounding $585 million at the worldwide box office upon its release in 2008, including $318.6 million from the domestic box office. The film went on to not only reignite Robert Downey Jr.’s career, but also launch a billion-dollar franchise that continues to dominate at the box office twenty-something films in.
With Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con Hall H presentation just over 2 days away, Disney has made a move that might hint at one potential announcement from Kevin Feige on Saturday. Disney has revealed that 3 R-rated Marvel films from Fox will become available on Disney Plus beginning July 22nd. Deadpool, Deadpool 2 and Logan all hit the platform just one day ahead of Marvel Studios big panel.
While Marvel Studios’ plans for Hall H are being held pretty tightly, as usual, this move could indicate the studio’s plan to update its plans for a third Deadpool film, potentially giving it a release date on its 2024 slate. Ryan Reynolds has stayed passionate about seeing a third Deadpool film through following Disney’s acquisition of Fox which saw the X-Men and related properties move under the Marvel Studios umbrella.
Access to the films will be restricted via parental controls, meaning they’ll join Netflix’s Marvel properties such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Luke Cage and Iron Fist as R-rated/TV-MA properties available in the Marvel section of the streaming service.
When the first trailer for Rob Zombie’s The Munsters reboot dropped, it left many viewers confused by its tone and visuals. At the time, the trailer simply teased a September release. Now, it looks like not only is the film skipping theaters for Netflix, but it’ll also hit digital and Blu-Ray ahead of its Netflix debut.
Zombie’s The Munsters reboot will be available for digital purchase and Blu-Ray as of Sept. 27th. While no clear date has been announced as to when fans can expect it on Netflix, it is confirmed to be hitting the streaming service sometime later this year. The digital, Blu-Ray and DVD copies will include over an hour of Collector’s Edition bonus content that includes behind-the-scenes footage with Zombie and his cast, as well as commentary by Zombie.
The Munsters is based on the ‘60s black-and-white sitcom of the same name. Zombie’s film reboot stars Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman Munster, Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily Munster and Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa. Butch Patrick and Pat Priest, who were a part of the original series, also appear in the reboot. Fans can also expect an appearance by Cassandra Peterson, best known as Elvira, who will be playing a real estate agent named Barbara Carr.
News of Zombie’s The Munsters reboot was first announced by our team here at Murphy’s Multiverse in March 2021.
New Line is officially back in the Mortal Kombat game. In January, it was reported that Jeremy Slater would be returning to pen a sequel script to 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Deadline is now reporting that New Line has green-lit the sequel, and tapped Simon McQuoid to direct again.
Many fans were left a bit puzzled after the first film, as it didn’t include the fabled tournament between realms that had been hyped up throughout the films. Fans were also left hanging on series’ favorite, Johnny Cage, who made no appearance in the film but was teased at the end as Cole Young went off to recruit more to join Earthrealm’s champions.
In 2021 Warner Brothers made the unprecedented move to shift its entire theatrical slate to a day and date release on HBO Max. Mortal Kombat was among the company’s films that released in both theaters and on streaming and the film did incredibly well in both arenas, beating box office predictions and grossing around $84M and coming in as the most streamed film on the service that year, beating out Dune, Godzilla Vs Kong and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
It is currently unknown when the sequel will kick-off into production and no casting announcements have been made at this time, but we can only hope Johnny Cage is jumping into the fight.
Maybe the least discussed aspect of Marvel Studios’ future is it’s upcoming line of animated series. I hope that Kevin Feige and company treat these projects with an equal amount of respect as their signature live-action material, and we get loads of new information on What If…? Season 2, Marvel Zombies, and especially Spider-Man: Freshman Year. Until further notice, Freshman Year is the only officially announced Spider-Man project on the horizon for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I would love to have my hype levels increased with some casting announcements, or even a trailer that includes a villain reveal. As I’m constantly saying on Twitter…I just want pictures of Spider-Man!
Otherwise, I just hope Marvel’s Hall H panel gives us plenty to be excited about going forward. Title reveals for Captain America 4 and the Halloween Special, logo reveals for Daredevil and Nova, and more official word on projects that have huge creative potential. I love how different Phase 4 has been, and I can’t wait to see how Phase 5 might carry that torch. Oh, and please, second season announcements for Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel.
MTF III
4. I want to see who will win the Con between Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Two fantasy IP juggernauts square off in the late summer/early fall, and both want to leave an impression on fans. Much has been said about Amazon’s big money bet on Rings of Power, but for HBO, after the 4th Quarter goal line fumble that was the GoT Finale, Time Warner Discovery may have even more riding on House of the Dragon scorching old narratives and soaring into a more hopeful future.
3. DC Films Timeline – With no Flash to wow people, but with that film so essential to the future slate of their DC connected universe, it will be intriguing to see whether there are any nods to connectedness between their upcoming projects. Black Adam and Shazam! have natural connective tissue, but there isn’t a lot of clarity on Batgirl, or whether those BlackCanary rumors are true. And maybe we’ll get some Blue Beetle footage.
2. MCU Animation – In the Star Wars side, we’ve seen seamless integration between the live-action and animated prongs of the franchise under Dave Filoni. But What If only offered the smallest promise of seeing something similar with Marvel. However, between What If…? Season 2, Spider-Man: Freshman Year and X-Men ’97, animation could be used as a way of filling narrative in the massive multiverse undertaking Marvel is engaged in right now as they march to Secret Wars. I’d love some more details.
1. Marvel Phase 4 and Beyond – We’re all looking for a road map, and who can forget the massive calendar reveal for Phase 3. Marvel could really wow us by giving us the remainder of the Phase 4 slate, and how it will culminate. Marvel has a lot of balls in the air and places the stories could be going. Offering us some clarity for the next 3-5 years like they did back in 2014 would settle a lot of stomachs within the fanbase, as they strap in for the ups, downs, loopty-loops that Feige and Co have planned for us.
Anthony Canton III
When it comes to SDCC I’m thinking of two projects, one coming soon and one a bit off in the distance. First, Wakanda Forever is on my mind. The tribute to Chadwick, what that means to everyone who came out for the first film and supporters world wide. It’s going to be emotional. You want to protect this film and hope it’s treated with the utmost care. There’s a curiosity with everything around it so hoping to learn a bit more.
Secondly, there’s a project next year. Quantumania comes to the forefront. Sure it’ll be great to see Scott, Hope, and the gang all back. The real intrigue is Jonathan Majors. His “He Who Remains” performance is the most electrifying singular appearance we’ve seen in the MCU. Now we see Kang in all his glory and hopefully get some more answers to the multiverse. Hopefully there’ll be some footage with a “See You Soon.”
João Pinto
I’ll basically set this up in three different levels, each with decreasing odds of actually happening:
1) Some footage with our first look at Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Besides introducing audiences to the MCU’s take on Atlantis, Namor, Namora, Attuma, and Riri Williams, this would always be a special project following Chadwick Boseman’s passing. Ryan Coogler and the team behind the movie have worked extremely hard to give us a majestic sequel to Black Panther and seeing it finally come to fruition is extremely high on my wishlist.
2) New information regarding Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four. After years of expectations, and theories regarding who might get to portray Marvel’s First Family on the big screen, finally getting an official announcement would feel like the once impossible movie is one step closer to becoming a reality. Getting a director confirmation would also do wonders in terms of shedding some light on what might be Kevin Feige’s approach to the project.
3) With all the talk that the MCU’s Phase 4 lacks direction, getting an announcement of a project spinning out of several Phase 4 entries would do wonders in terms of making audiences relax regarding the MCU’s near future. Be it a project focusing on the Young Avengers (bringing together characters from Hawkeye, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Secret Invasion, Multiverse of Madness, and Quantumania), or on the Thunderbolts (Black Widow, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Falcon and the Winter Soldier), by getting news of what we might call Phase 4’s Phase 2 would bring us closer to understanding what secret wars might be in store in the MCU’s upcoming future.
Jared Kirschenbaum
Fans like myself were relieved to see the film rights to Marvel’s most beloved characters return to Marvel Studios after Fox somewhat butchered the X-Men and Fantastic Four. With the deal having only been completed 4 months before, it’s understandable that at SDCC in July of 2019, Feige could only bring mere mention to the plans the studio had for the F4 and mutants. However, it has now been 3 years since Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. And aside from the appearance (and prompt disposal) of Earth-838’s Professor X and Mr. Fantastic, and a directorless Fantastic Four film in the works, the only indication fans have had after 3 years that these characters are on the horizon is the word ‘mutation’ being dropped at the end of Ms. Marvel.
Yes, fans know that the pantheon of characters once forbidden to be touched by Marvel Studios will soon be making their way into the MCU. But after 3 grueling years, knowing just doesn’t cut it anymore. I want to see it. That is why my SDCC 2022 wish list simply consists of a rundown on how Marvel Studios plans to integrate the properties once belonging to 21st Century Fox into the MCU. Now, will this happen? No, there is no chance in hell that this will happen. Will Marvel Studios instead probably date their upcoming Disney+ series’, show some footage from an upcoming film or two, maybe even announce a certain Halloween special? Yeah, that sounds very reasonable. But the ‘what ifs’ of how Marvel Studios will choose to explain the fact that Mutants have been completely absent from the MCU thus far, or whether or not they will explore the Fantastic Four’s origin in their upcoming film have been cluttering my brain for far too long. So, if Feige takes the Hall-H stage and announces Marvel’s plans for the Mutants and Fantastic Four, which include the new director of the Fantastic Four movie and maybe a little more information on it, as well as a core X-Men movie, a proper Magneto origin project, a Storm movie, a New Mutants series, an X-Factor series, a Hellfire Club series, an Excalibur series, a Starjammers series, I will finally be at peace. Anyway this will certainly not happen, but you can bet that I am looking forward to that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer they will probably release. And who knows, maybe they’ll confirm Namor is a mutant.
Dalbin Osorio
Blade. When Mahershala Ali came out in 2019 and put on the Daywalker hat like the first pick in the NFL draft, it signaled that things were about to get real trippy and comic-booky for the MCU. 3 years later we don’t know much other than the director and some casting… Oh, and he stopped Jon Snow from picking up the ebony blade! That short intro was incredibly exciting, as was the casting of Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre (as perhaps Jamal Afari?), and with rumors that we could see Blade go toe to toe with Dracula, this is at the top of my wish list.
Then, I need to see Kang. Maybe a mash-up of different Kangs in different projects teasing the secret war ahead. Mahershala v Majors down the line in a Blade versus Kang fight? All in.
And, lastly, I’d kill for the Fantastic Four cast and director to be announced. There’s a lot of speculation on who will play who and where, but I loved Krasinski’s take on a weary and still arrogant Reed Richards and wouldn’t mind him being Mr. Fantastic. Him being directed by Spielberg, maybe? Home run.
Torbjorn Frazier
While more of an esoteric than any specific desire for San Diego Comic Con, I’d most want to learn as much context for the upcoming slate of Marvel Studios projects. When looking back at Marvel Studios’ showing at the 2019 event, the most interesting takeaways weren’t really the announcement of the projects themselves (there weren’t really any surprises on that front for those who knew where to look). Instead, curiosity was most piqued at what those projects would be bringing to the table. It was at the 2019 Hall H panel that the concept of the multiverse was quietly established as a major future narrative direction through Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki. It was also where audiences learned that the Ten Rings would be coming back into the fold of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Shang-Chi and that Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster would become the Mighty Thor in Love and Thunder. Being able to receive this level of context and major story elements for projects like potentially Secret Invasion, Echo, or Captain America 4 (amongst others) would go a long way in creating sustainable intrigue well past this year’s Hall H showcase.
Thor: Love and Thunder was full of surprises, but it’s biggest was perhaps one that came after the credits started rolling. A brief mid-credits scene introduced fans to Hercules, played by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein, in a reveal that will likely serve to continue the adventures of Thor and his cohorts. The cameo caught global audiences off guard, and apparently, it was just as much of a shock to the film’s writer as it was to everyone else.
Screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who partnered with director Taika Waititi to craft Love and Thunder’s story, told Variety that she was mostly unaware of Hercules’ inclusion before seeing it at the premiere. However, the creative didn’t seem to mind being left out of that decision:
I saw that at the premiere with everybody else. In the same way that I guess Taika didn’t know Thor was coming back, I did not know that Roy Kent was Hercules. I’m a huge Marvel fan, so I was delighted to have one moment in the movie where I was truly surprised.
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
When pressed over how she could have gotten all the way to the film’s release without knowing about the cameo, Robinson admitted she did have some idea the appearance could be happening. It would seem not all conversations at Marvel Studios are as secretive as people think:
I knew there was talk about Hercules. The name Hercules was not not said in conversations that I definitely, probably wasn’t supposed to overhear, but did. So the minute I saw the beginning of the scene, I knew he was gonna be talking to Hercules. I didn’t know who they cast. But I was like, is this gonna be Hercules? I just knew that it was a thing that they were like, “We’re gonna want leeway with this, so stay away from it.”
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
The last bit of Robinson’s quote is especially interesting, as it could suggest Marvel’s plans for the future of Goldstein’s character are still being figured out. Also, the fact that the film’s writer was kept in the dark about the script’s addition speaks volumes about the lengths Marvel will go to maintain a big reveal.
Sony is going all out when it comes to expanding their Spider-Verse without the iconic Spider-Man, as multiple films based on many of the characters within the wide library of characters Sony has at their disposal in the works. One of the projects with the most interest looks to be the upcoming Madame Web solo films, but it seems like fans are gonna have to wait just a little bit longer to dive into another corner of their new Marvel expansion.
Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Sony has delayed the upcoming Spider-Man spin-off film, Madame Web, from its previously set date of July 7th, 2023 back a few months to October 6th, 2023. The film just recently started filming in Boston, with set photos giving us a first look at the film that looks to be set within the early 2000s.
On top of the current delay for Madame Web, Sony has pushed back an untitled Marvel film that previously held the October 6th date and will now release said untitled film to June 7th, 2024. It’s unknown just what that film is, but it seems possible to be the currently untitled sequel to Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
And Sony pushes its secret Untitled Sony/Marvel Universe that was to open on Oct. 6 to June 7, 2024. https://t.co/zaBF4MU58Z
While many of what Sony has released under their banner of Marvel films has not been entirely well received, the cast for Madame Web has many people quite excited with the likes of Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Emma Roberts, Isabel Merced, Mike Epps, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, and most recently Adam Scott.
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