What’s next for Marvel Studios? Who’s recently joined the cast of your most anticipated series or film? Where can you find the teasers and trailers? Look no further, true believers. Everything you need to know about the future of the MCU has been collected for you here. Click on each logo to learn what we currently know about the upcoming MCU projects.
Even though the final film in Fox’s X-Men franchise was D.O.A. at theaters, it turns out there’s plenty of life left in those particular Children of the Atom. Kevin Feige and crew sprinkled a pair of Fox’s X-Men into a pair of projects before Deadpool & Wolverine, which was loaded with Fox (and non-Foz nostalgia) provided Marvel Studios with a much-needed boost this past summer. And even as the studio prepares to move ahead with its own X-Men film, rumors have begun to swirl that–at least for the time being–OG X-Man Hugh Jackman may well stay on as Wolverine.
While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the heavy nostalgia worked on both live-action and animation, via X-Men ’97, creating a palpable buzz around the mutants for the first time in years. Now, as the studio begins to lay out its approach to Avengers: Secret Wars, another actor who played a key role in Fox’s original X-Men trilogy has teased a future for his character in the MCU.
In an interview with Comic Book, Kelsey Grammer, who played original X-Man Hank McCoy, aka Beast in the Fox films and then again in a post-credit cameo in The Marvels, shared that he has had “conversations” with Marvel Studios about continuing on in the role.
“There’s nothing I can talk about,” Grammer told Comic Book. “What I do know is that there was a huge sort of outburst when I showed up at the end of The Marvels, I guess it was. The response was really almost… it wasn’t unexpected. There’d be some response, but it was pretty overwhelming, and so there are some conversations.” And given the way The Marvels came to an end, the possibility that the studio would return to the alternate universe inspired by Chris Claremont’s X-Men run shouldn’t surprise anyone.
While there’s been no clear indication as to what to expect from Avengers: Secret Wars, the post-credit scene implied that Monica Rambeau ended up in a universe where not only was her mother a powerful superhero capable of wielding both Quantum Bands but also the X-Men were a well-established team. It wouldn’t be too surprising to find out other heroes exist there, too, and those heroes might end up playing a major role over what’s left in the Multiverse Saga.
Source: Comicbook.com
Despite being a box office disappointment for Marvel Studios, 2023’s The Marvels found life on Disney Plus and continues to generate more conversation online now than when it was in theaters. The film’s conclusion saw Monica Rambeau stranded in another universe that not only had its own team of X-Men but also a Variant of her mother, Maria, who was the costumed hero known as Binary.
While the revelation of a universe in which the X-Men work with Avengers-level heroes was fascinating in its own right, a detail about Binary’s costume that was missed by many fans in theaters has become the center of some interesting theories. As can be clearly seen on more than one occasion over the course of the film’s final scenes, Lashana Lynch’s Binary’s costume comes complete with a complete pair of The Marvels‘ MacGuffin, the Quantum Bands.
First introduced to the MCU in the Disney Plus streaming series Ms. Marvel, the Quantum Bands are a pair of ancient artifacts of enormous power. Created by the Kree, the Quantum Bands were used to create wormholes in space that ultimately formed the Universal Neural Teleportation Network. The Network has been seen and used in more than a half-dozen MCU projects such as all three Guardians of the Galaxy films, Avengers: Endgame and both Captain Marvel and The Marvels. While both Kamala Khan and Dar-Benn were shown to be able to use one of the pair of Quantum Bands, when Dar-Benn attempted to use both together, the energy created not only eviscerated her but also ripped a hole in the fabric of spacetime, causing an Incursion. However, if Maria Rambeau’s Binary is who we think she is, the Quantum Bands won’t be a problem for her.
Binary, the cosmic alter ego of Carol Danvers, emerges from her background as a former Air Force officer and NASA security chief. Following exposure to Kree technology, she inherits a suite of extraordinary abilities, including energy manipulation, superhuman strength, and flight. As Binary, Carol harnesses cosmic energy, enabling her to create energy constructs, possess cosmic awareness, and engage in intergalactic adventures.
Despite her formidable powers, Binary faces vulnerabilities, notably her reliance on energy absorption and susceptibility to magical attacks. However, her resilience and determination shine through as she navigates cosmic challenges and confronts formidable adversaries. Through her experiences, Binary’s legacy as a cosmic hero solidifies, inspiring readers with her unwavering commitment to safeguarding the universe.
Carol Danvers’ journey as Binary represents a significant evolution in her character arc, showcasing her transition from a terrestrial hero to a cosmic force. Her time as Binary serves as a pivotal chapter in her superhero career, highlighting her adaptability and willingness to embrace her cosmic heritage. As she returns to her role as Captain Marvel, Binary’s legacy endures, leaving an indelible mark on the Marvel Comics universe and inspiring future generations of readers with her cosmic exploits.
The Quantum Bands, revered artifacts within Marvel Comics lore, are cosmic instruments of immense power. Crafted by the cosmic entity Eon, these bands are worn on the wrists and serve as conduits for quantum energy. Bestowed upon worthy individuals, the Quantum Bands grant their wielders a formidable array of abilities, ranging from flight and enhanced physical prowess to the manipulation of cosmic energies.
The Quantum Bands stand as symbols of cosmic authority and responsibility, embodying the balance between power and duty. Wielders of the bands often find themselves at the forefront of cosmic conflicts, tasked with maintaining order and protecting the universe from malevolent forces. As enduring artifacts of cosmic significance, the Quantum Bands continue to play a pivotal role in Marvel Comics narratives, representing the enduring struggle between light and darkness on a cosmic scale.
Should Maria Rambeau’s Binary possess the powers the character possessed in the comics, using the Quantum Bands would prove less problematic for her than they did for Dar-Benn. While there’s no way to know how Monica’s speech with the Variant of her mother went in the alternate universe where she was trapped, the fact that Monica is stranded in a universe other than her own and the comic book version of the Bands being so connected to major Cosmic events suggest that we’ve not seen the last of that universe. It rather seems more likely that the fact that Maria is the owner of her own pair of Quantum Bands suggests we’ll not only see that universe again in the MCU but that it may be central to the resolution of the Multiverse Saga.
Though it was a fun, fast-paced adventure, The Marvels will ultimately be remembered as Marvel Studios biggest bust to date. Finishing its domestic run with roughly $205M, the film is by far the lowest grossing MCU project to date and continued a worrisome trend of landing neither with critics nor audiences. That said, there’s always the possibility that–like some of Disney’s other less-than-successful films of late–it finds an audience at home. And now that it’s out of theater, it’s been revealed when The Marvels will hit digital platforms and be available for purchase at retailers.
USA Today broke the news that The Marvels will be available for purchase on digital platforms such as Vudu, Amazon Prime and more on January 16th.
Blu-ray and 4K UHD copies will hit shelves on February 13th, just about 3 months after the film began it’s theatrical run. That’s a pretty standard timeline for Marvel’s films though some have landed on either side of that window.
Like many other recent MCU projects, The Marvels reportedly underwent a serious facelift in post-production and that may have led to the film’s choppy feel. Additionally, the ongoing strikes in Hollywood cut out a significant portion of the publicity tour that typically accompanies Marvel’s projects.
The fall box office is rough, that’s certainly sure now. Though, not for everyone. In a surprise twist, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes seemingly pulled in a stronger second weekend than expected even with a B+ CinemaScore; further adding to its validity for telling movie’s legs nowadays given Five Nights at Freddy’s had an A- and just crashed in its second weekend. However, the film was also promoted by its cast before the premiere due to getting a waiver during the strikes,w which likely gave it a bit of a boost. It added $28.8M over the weekend (a 38% drop) and generally had a $42M run over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Marvels‘ managed to pull in $6.4M over the weekend with $9.2M in the holidays, which is putting it on a path to be the first MCU film to make less than $100M. Still, a 37% drop after its first massive drop is a much better hold than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s 60% and The Flash’s 65%. If it manages to surprise and hold a bit better it could still surprise but that just depends on if Marvel Studios and Disney decided to drop it before Christmas as an early gift for subscribers (which wouldn’t be new for them). Plus it had quite a bit of competition with two new releases and the other three from last weekend. Not going to change much but still worth noting.
The true disappointment of the weekend is, however, that Disney’s 100-year celebration release Wish only earned $35M over the weekend and pulled in $45M in the Thanksgiving timeframe. It’s miles ahead of Strange World from last year which opened to $18M, but it’s definitely not close to where Encanto was two years prior. It only opened in 27 markets overseas, which means its global tally is $49M as most of the slate this year has underperformed with very high budgets and the fall doesn’t come with that summer bonus. It does have an A- CinemaScore but glancing at Hunger Games and Five Nights at Freddy’s, who knows how valuable that really is.
It may be a general issue with Disney+ showcasing a similar effect with Five Nights at Freddy’s second-weekend drop. If Wish faces a similar development, it showcases that audiences are going to need some time before they adjust to the new non-45-day release schedule on streaming platforms. Plus, Disney turned its own films into “wait and see” releases with its overall push into streaming. It’ll take time and focus to heal, which will likely happen but has shown its thorns in 2023; an overall detrimental year for blockbuster releases.
The surprise was Napoleon who opened to $78.8M worldwide and had a $21M weekend opening with $32.5M over its first five days. Yet, it continues the trend of a $200M budget for a film that is massively underperforming to cover its bill similar to Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which stands at $151M globally. The comparison with superhero flicks is commonly that those are made for all age audiences and is also a point made by Variety, but given that many point to Oppenheimer as the “cinematic revival” of long-films with R ratings doing well at the box office: the point becomes far more difficult as that film’s success is looking more and more like an exception.
One thing continues to dominate the box office: it is struggling and while Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian points out that it’s doing better than the last few years and sees it as “encouraging,” it’s very likely that studios are going to avoid this timeslot moving forward if things don’t change with high-budget releases. The fall box office is looking grim overall, as even the second entry to the billion-dollar Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is going to premiere quite low and who knows if it’ll actually enjoy a holiday boost given just how volatile this year has been.
As is too often the case, the post-credit scene for Marvel Studios’ latest MCU installment, The Marvels, has generated more hype than the events of the film. The tag, which revealed what happened to Monica Rambeau following her universe-saving actions in the film’s climax, took place in another universe where Monica’s mother, Maria, was the costumed hero Binary and where Charles Xavier had put together a team of X-Men. One member of that team, Dr. Henry McCoy, was voiced by Kelsey Grammer, who first played the role in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and the scene seemed to hold some promise that it might not be the last time Grammer would reprise the role, though as we’ve learned from Marvel Studios litany of unfulfilled stingers, nothing is certain.
While Grammer’s return to the role in The Marvels was surprising to fans, it’s something the actor had hoped might happen. And, in an interview with The Wrap, Grammer has expressed his desire to return as Beast again…and perhaps teased that his return is imminent. “It is my hope that you will,” replied Grammer when asked if audiences might see him as the furry, blue genius. However, as is refreshingly becoming more and more common with actors working with the studio, Grammer went a bit further, adding, “I can say with a certain amount of confidence that you will. I would love to.”
The actor, who also recently returned to his career-making role as Frasier Crane, shared that he was “very pleased” by the reaction to his return as Beast. “I’ve always wanted to play him again, said Grammer. “I see him as an extraordinary character, a real character of gravitas and importance in our culture. I’m delighted Beast is back and hope he’s back in a real way.”
This certainly seems like a case where Grammer is well-aware of what’s in store for the character but is not quite willing to completely cross the line. Obviously, Monica Rambeau will be expected to reunite with at least Carol if not Kamala and find her way back to the 616 universe. Given the level of genius possessed by Hank McCoy–and his status as a member of the Illuminati during Marvel Comics Secret Wars–he seems as good of a character as any to start to figure out the just how damaging the ongoing Incursions are to the Multiverse.
Source: The Wrap
It’s not looking great for the fall line-up so far. All eyes will be on The Marvels’ historic drop, which pulled in 10.2M over its second weekend. That makes a 78% drop and the highest for any Hollywood superhero film to date. That is saying a lot considering just how bad this year has been. There was hope that it might hold a bit stronger given its core audience shifted with this project, but the two new releases might’ve hurt it more than expected.
Even with decent word-of-mouth, The Marvels had a core audience with more female and younger audiences, who showed up for two other releases this weekend. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released to a tepid B+ CinemaScore and had the lowest opening for the franchise. It’s even far lower than the initial predictions at $44M after being expected with around $55M to even going beyond $60M earlier this week.
That film skewed heavily toward females, an audience with a bigger affinity for the latest MCU release. Even Trolls Band Together with an A CinemaScore pulled in around $30.6M which is lower than the first release and isn’t breaking initial predictions. It stands at a strong $76.3M in international markets, which gives it a good boost as well.
The Marvel‘s global is doing alright with it pulling in $19.5M and standing at $96.3M. It’s currently at $161.3M and the question will be where it lands moving forward. As of now, it might not break $100M domestically and depending on its third weekend could fall short of hitting $200M worldwide. If it does see a bit of a boost, it might make it a bit lower than The Flash earlier this year.
It should be pointed out that The Marvels‘ drop is only slightly higher than that of Five Nights at Freddy’s not too long ago, which dropped 76% in its second weekend. That film even had an A- CinemaScore and perhaps we’ll see something similar happen to The Hunger Games next weekend. That Cost of Living Crisis is showing its fangs before the holiday season and we’ll see if any other releases in the coming month or so will manage to make up for it.
Source: THR
Seems that the fall cinematic line-up is having a hard time picking up with even pandemic standards. We’ve seen a number of projects flounder at the box office that would’ve been surefire wins but are barely even managing to open to 50M or falling below initial projections. The only exception was the fan-frontloaded Five Nights at Freddy’s that swiftly plummeted in its second weekend.
The same effect is hitting The Marvels which had the franchise’s lowest opening and now seemingly the lowest second weekend as well. Promotion by the cast only slowly started throughout the week, which was hopeful to give the film some room to improve a bit but it’s not seemingly working.
Predictions saw that the new releases wouldn’t have too much of an audience overlap, but it also just seems like audiences aren’t really coming back for a second weekend this fall. If The Hunger Games prequel faces a similar drop in its second weekend with a B+ score, we might be looking at a really rough fall release schedule ahead.
Expectations were that The Marvels from The Numbers’ prediction would land at $20,4M in its second weekend with a soft drop of 56% and their algorithms are pretty on point, as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is heading towards their predicted $45M after many even claimed it could go as high as $60M. That would place it slightly lower than even The Marvels with the only caveat being it has a $100M price tag.
So, it’ll be interesting to see if that second weekend drop is going to stand out or not. Even many try to put a selective positive spin on what amounts to the worst opening in The Hunger Games franchise with this opening being about a third of the original Hunger Games that opened to 152M back in 2012. The production budget is a fair point to this not being a bad opener but still oddly how different the framing is compared to last weekend.
The Marvels opened to 2.8M on Friday, and unless it suddenly gets a pick up it’ll likely fall under $10M which could post it towards the worst second weekend after this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Even Eternals had a stronger hold on a B CinemaScore during the pandemic, but perhaps we’re seeing more and more the Cost of Living Crisis affect audiences’ decisions on middling word-of-mouth and an eventual streaming release.
The only thing will be if this film ends up making $100M domestically, as of now the film could’ve either gone the same direction as Elemental and surprised with a stronger hold or ended up dropping like The Flash. Now, it’s even lower than that as it dropped around 72% in its second weekend. That means the film is likely not going to hit 100M domestically. So we could be looking at a lower than $200M box office run if the international box office sees a similar development.
It’s even lower than BoxOffice Pro, which had it at around 16M though for The Marvels. Promotion started this week and only gave the film a bit of energy going into the weekend, but it’s definitely hard to make up for lost time that swiftly. There’s of course the hope it would make a dent and perhaps hold it going into its second weekend but we’ll have to see how the coming weeks go for the franchise.
One thing to note as THR points out, Hunger Games and the new Trolls film both skewed heavily female and there’s a good chance that that is what took a big chunk out of the latest MCU release. It had a much stronger reception with female audiences and that would’ve been the ones to keep it going but with not one but two films released hitting that demographic, it may have been a poor placing on Disney’s part as well with decent word-of-mouth not being enough to carry it through the current prices and competition.
Source: Variety, The Numbers, The Numbers (Hunger Games), Box Office Pro, THR
2023 was certainly a rough year for Marvel Studios and potentially the one to reshape their future. Phase 4 seemed to be the most experimental for the studio, especially facing troubles during COVID and the recent strikes completely scrapping any plans that were finally coming together. The Marvels‘ box office is definitely going to be something many cling to for a variety of reasons, but it does look like Marvel Studios wasn’t just blinded by the troubles heading their way.
In a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, they claim that according to their sources, “Marvel studios and Disney were well aware The Marvels was in trouble” even before it was released in theaters. As such, they are going to take their time to rework their theatrical tentpole releases and also evaluate generally how they will move forward.
Marvel Spotlight is their first move to create a more distinct separation of the projects that are relevant for the bigger picture, but it does seem like this might be how they’ll brand most of their Disney+ series moving forward. THR also highlights that Deadpool 3 is a deliberate choice as the only release next year and perhaps is one of the reasons they are considering reworking Captain America: Brave New World. Marvel Studios’ future may seem uncertain but it’s definitely a good sign that they are learning from their lessons.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
The final scene of Marvel Studios’ action-packed The Marvels, which features Kamala Khan recruiting Kate Bishop to join a team of young heroes, was clearly inspired by the MCU’s first-ever stinger which introduced Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury as he recruited Tony Stark after the events of Iron Man concluded. The post-credit scene to The Marvels hit hard as well and while it’s inspiration might not have been quite as apparent to moviegoers, we had a hunch we knew exactly where it came from and now Executive Producer Mary Livanos has confirmed that suspicion in an interview with EW.
The scene features Teyonah Parris‘ Monica Rambeau waking up in an alternate universe and coming face-to-face with a super-powered Variant of her mother, Maria, played once again by Lashana Lynch. While it’s not the first time a powered up Variant of Maria has been seen on screen, this particular Variant was hanging out with the X-Men and going by the name Binary which seemed like a nod to author Chris Claremont’s beloved run on Marvel Comics Uncanny X-Men in which Carol Danvers spent quite a bit of time with the mutant super team. According to Livanos, that’s exactly what went down.
“The notion that Monica ends up in an alternate universe with the hope that it could tie in with the X-Men was something I always had on my to-do list. I love how in the comics, Carol Danvers as Binary spends some time with the X-Men in space,” explained Livanos of the inspiration for the tag. “I’m so delighted that Kevin [Feige] and folks were stoked about the idea of Binary and the fact that she does fit into the X-Men universe. As a fan, I was just absolutely floored and delighted that we got to get Beast in there and have a big old X, right behind Binary. It was bananas.“
As for how Kelsey Grammer, who first appeared as Beast in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, ended up back in character for the first time in nearly a decade, Livanos said that was all Marvel Studios One Above All. “Kevin Feige just called him up! Kevin, of course, worked on the X-Men films back in the day, so they have their own wonderful relationship. We were just so lucky to have him.” Only a couple of years ago, Grammer expressed an interest in returning to the role so it’s unlikely Feige had to twist his arm for this appearance; however, given the way The Marvels ended, it seems possible the actor might get at leat one more chance to voice Dr. McCoy in the future.
Source: EW
