Does Marvel Studios Have Big Plans For Paul Bettany's VISION?

We haven't see Paul Bettany's Vision show-up in recent Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers but the actor seemingly already has an idea when we'll be seeing his character next.

Paul Bettany spoke to an Australian news outlet (via ComicBookMovie) giving the impression the studio has given him a better idea of what his future projects could be.

“That’s the really great thing about the Marvel gig for me. I have never known if I have had a job six months out ever in my life. And now I know that they have plans and I can be even more judicious about the stuff that I do outside of that work. I can wait for the right thing and feel really attached to it.”

There is a bit of chatter of where The Vision could be seen next, mainly he could be appearing in both Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It hasn't been confirmed but sources are clearly hearing that Marvel wants more of the character.

During the early days of Marvel Studios they did commission a Vision feature film script when they first put together the Marvel screenwriters program, that program also gave Marvel drafts for Guardians of The Galaxy, Black Widow, Inhumans and possibly Captain Marvel.

Back in 2009, Variety reported on Marvel hiring a group of writers to develop film scripts for characters such as Nighthawk, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and of course Vision. It's possible since Vision is getting an introduction in Age of Ultron that he could be a viable candidate for a spin-off.

In the future we could see Vision getting his own film or at the very least branching-out towards a bigger role which the latter is already expected via rumors. We really don't have a clue what Marvel wants to do in Phase Four, a lot of things could happen.

I'm sure Marvel wants to test the waters with how audiences react to him in Age of Ultron before moving forward with bigger plans.


SOURCE: CBM

Casting Call Confirms Daniel Bruhl Is Playing ZEMO In "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR'

A casting call for Marvel's Captain America: Civil War has seemingly found it's way onto a casting website called MovieCastingCalls (via ComicBookMovie) and they are revealing a key role in the film.

This wouldn't be a spoiler in the slightest if it's indeed on this casting call, but it names Daniel Bruhl's (Inglorious Basterds) character as the Captain America villain Baron Zemo.

We had been under the impression it could have been either Zemo or Doctor Strange villain Karl Mordo. Bruhl previously worked with Doctor Strange's Benedict Cumberbatch in The Fifth Estate and Thor's Chris Hemsworth in Rush.

The reason we thought it might be Mordo is that the role was said to possibly crossover to Doctor Strange, Zemo could easily fit into a film like Strange if he's really into a occult stuff.

If you want to give audiences a villainous version of Captain America, Zemo is the way to go. He eventually setups the group The Thunderbolts who actually aligned themselves with Stark during Civil War.

This isn't 100% proof of his role but if it's circulating on an official casting call it's a good chance that he's playing Zemo in the film.








SOURCE: MOVIE CASTING CALLS

Black Widow Confirmed For Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

The directing duo The Russo Brothers have confirmed during an interview in China that they're indeed bringing back Black Widow for Captain America: Civil War revealing Scarlett Johansson is apart of the cast. An aspect that had yet to be made official by either Marvel or the actress.

I had some concerns that Scarlett Johansson's participation as the lead in Rupert Sanders' Ghost In The Shell could conflict with her taking a role in Civil War. However, this was cleared-up when the release date for Shell was confirmed by Disney for April 2017 giving the actress plenty of time to do both movies. Luckily, both projects are under the Disney umbrella which is likely the reason it's worked-out for Scarlett.

As it stands the cast officially includes Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson and Daniel Bruhl in a mysterious role. The assumption being that Daniel could be playing a villain the film which could be Baron Zemo, Baron Mordo or someone else entirely.

Check out the interview with the Russo Brothers below.



If you didn't already know Marvel and Chris Evans are huge in China and the country I'm sure is dying to see more of Captain America.

China's film market has been boosting many films international box office recently, mainly due to the country opening-up theatres to show more western films than previously. It's a market you'll be seeing studios leaning towards setting-up more promotional events and even could reflect a greater representation in the films.

Marvel actually partnered with a Chinese film company for Iron Man 3 which had a Chinese cut of the film that included scenes western audiences never saw.

Chris is also currently the face of Activision's promotional campaign for their China-only game Call of Duty Online. Evans taking the role of the "Hollywood action hero" in the game's very funny live-action trailer.

Badass Digest was the first to suggest her return, while people like myself were a bit concerned she might not make it out of Avengers: Age of Ultron alive. We know in the Ultimates comics Natasha does die and her fate could be paralleled in the films as well. It's looking like she'll be around for a little longer and we're happy to see that since Marvel has a limited amount of female badasses at the moment.

Digest also stated that Cap's lineup of his team is said to include War Machine, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and The Vision, Falcon and Black Widow. That's not leaving too many people signing-up to side with Stark in this conflict.

I'll be curious to see if Captain Marvel is also apart of the film since it's been suggested she could be on Team Cap at the end of Age of Ultron.

I have my own sneaking suspicions that Ant-Man and Wasp will also be in the film, and could be apart of Team Stark since he doesn't seem to have really anyone and his side at the moment.

Fans disappointed that Black Widow wasn't getting her solo movie should take solace that she'll likely have her origins and solo adventures explored in most of the films she'll be apart of as a supporting character.

An incarnation of a Black Widow film did exist at one time with X-Men and Watchmen writer David Hayter set to write and direct the feature. David even named his daughter after Natasha when she was born during it's development.

This was way before Emily Blunt and Scarlett Johansson were in the mix for the role.

Marvel would partner with Lionsgate on the project, who had handled the two Punisher movies. The two characters were eventually paired-up in the animated feature Avengers Confidential: Black Widow And Punisher.

After the disastrous receptions from Fox's Elektra and Warner Bros' Catwoman, Lionsgate pumped the breaks and pretty much ditched the project entirely fearing that audiences had completely rejected female superheroes and not that the quality of those films were lacking.

This move would be echoed in Hollywood as many studios slowed-down/halted any superhero movies with female leads. It was only just in 2014 that major studios announced plans to make films like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel as tentpole features. Funny, since it's likely both those films will end-up having budgets twice or triple the size of Hayter's Widow film which was considered a risky amount of money at the time.

Later on, a writer was tasked to update Hayter's script that was Guardians of The Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman. She's come out and said that her contributions were years ago, and had really nothing to the do with the project currently. I have to assume this was likely around the time of Iron Man 2 and the shooting of Avengers, since there was a lot of talk of developing a spin-off around that time.

Kevin Feige, has suggested Marvel currently doesn't have plans to pursue a film focusing on the character but she is integral as a supporting member of the cast for the Phase Three lineup which will be launched by Civil War.

It's possible that the Black Widow film and it's concepts have been folded into Age of Ultron and Civil War. As Marvel has done this previously with their in-development Nick Fury movie which the studio had been considering on making post-Iron Man.

Instead, elements of that film which was basically a cinematic take of the comic Nick Fury Vs S.H.I.E.L.D.  was combined with Ed Brubaker's Winter Soldier comics for the Captain America sequel. The Nick Fury film essentially has vanished and will likely not be happening any time soon. We could see the material from a Black Widow film used to bulk-up other Marvel films which might be the reason behind Kevin Feige's statements hinting she is more useful as a supporting character.

In the two trailers for Age of Ultron we clearly see some flashbacks to Natasha's Russian past, with a shot of her being experimented-on and hints to her past as a ballerina.

Are you excited for more Black Widow?


SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

New AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON Trailer Hinting To BLACK PANTHER Big Time?

Marvel Studios has posted a second teaser trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron and it's looking like it's already attempting to setup Phase Three films. There are at least two possible scenes in the trailer that hinting to two characters that could have links to both upcoming film Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther. We had confirmation a while back that Wakanda would make an appearance in the film.

Check out the impressive but short new teaser trailer below.

Is Andy Serkis playing iconic Black Panther villain Ulysses Klaw?

Here we have a better look at the character Andy Serkis is playing in the film. The assumption is that he is indeed playing Uyselly Klaw, the main antagonist to T'Challa aka The Black Panther played by Chadwick Boseman who will be first seen in costume in Captain America: Civil War.

It's expected that Civil War could explore T'Challa's rise from prince to becoming the new Black Panther and ruler of Wakanda.

He seemingly has tattoos all over his neck/throat, and is sporting a diamond earring. I could see this version of Klaw for the films could be more of a mercenary or assassin, possibly hired by someone to kill or kidnap a members of the royal family of Wakanda.

Klaw could end-up similar to Bane, but without the nuclear weapon. When he was busy running around starting military coups and securing mineral rights by force for large amounts of cash. I wouldn't be shocked if Hydra or A.I.M. are Klaw's employers.

The royal family have spent ages holding-back trade and relations with other countries, an aspect that will be explored in Civil War.

T'Challa's family double as monarchy and protectors, one who is worthy enough taking the mantle of the Black Panther and ruler.

Setting up both Wakanda and Klaw seems like a good move on the part of Marvel. Considering there might be a point in the film when Ultron heads to Wakanda to outfit his robot body with a layer of the rare mineral vibraninu, only found there.

Who the hell could this be?

Another possible shout-out to Black Panther is this quick shot of a mystery person disrobing in a cave. Looking at this person's frame I would have to assume it's an extremely fit lady.

I originally though this could be a Kree or Nebula but after resizing the image, you can clearly see that blue tint was coming from the background. This person could definitely be from Wakanda.

The possibility of a female Black Panther sign me up!

Some are claiming this could be T'Challa's sister Shuri, who also becomes a Black Panther at a point in the comics. She would eventually have her own run of comics as the titular hero. Establishing Wakanda's royal family would make a lot of sense but doesn't mean we'll see T'Challa before Civil War.

The Doja Milaje are ready to kick some ass.

Another more interesting suggestion comes from Comic Book stating that this could be member of the elite warriors of Wakanda known as The Dora Milaje.

The Dora Milaje are the personal bodyguards of the Black Panther. They are extensively trained and highly skilled martial artists and with various weapons. They are some of the fiercest warriors in the Marvel Universe.

We've been dying for more badass ladies in the Marvel cinematic universe and more importantly women of color. The Dora Milaje would be an excellent addition to the Marvel universe and could help beef-up the Black Panther movie.

SOURCE: MARVEL

Kevin Feige Rumored To Attend SPIDER-MAN Summit And Why I Don't Buy Russos Directing Reboot

Unproven site ScreenGonzo is claiming to have a "scoop" concerning Sony's Spider-Man reboot and the summit taking place in January. They go on to say that Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige will be there and will want to see Avi Arad removed from the franchise. Feige being there to workout a deal with Sony for shared rights to the character, and their help producing a new trilogy. Avi has been seen as the real problem creatively with the franchise, and his unwillingness to take suggestions from filmmakers. We've heard that Webb kept hitting walls with the producer, when his input was unwanted during production. Marvel coming into the picture would mean they get creative control and that would mean goodbye to Avi, this I believe is just a fact of doing business if Marvel is involved.

They also mention that the Russo Brothers are going to be writing and directing this new trilogy. A few things seem fishy about this one and we'll come back to that later.

It's sort of a case of an educated guessing here via the leaked emails. We know that Kevin Feige would be involved in any meeting between Sony and Marvel Studios, that's sort of a no-brainer. We actually haven't heard from other sources that Marvel will be in attendance. The thing we do know is that Sony is now open to the idea of working with Marvel, thanks to a nudge by Sony Corp. An invite to have Marvel attend is very likely.

They go on to mention that Kevin Feige wants Avi Arad out of the producing role. Again, another educated guess and something we've already seen hinted to in an email between Amy Pascal and The Russos. Where the brothers pitch to Pascal about producing the new trilogy (not directing or writing) and having "tough" talks with Arad. If this was their grand pitch to Sony, why not include the bit about the desire to direct the films?

The biggest problem I have with this "scoop" is the part about the Russo Brothers directing a new trilogy. First, Sony seems hellbent on pitching Phil Lord and Chris Miller for the directing dig. They've been connected to Amazing Spider-Man 3, this reboot and an animated film, Sony is going to pitch hard for them to make the trilogy.

Second, they are directing The Gray Man and then two intallments of Avengers: Infinity War , which will take-up their time until 2019. I highly doubt that Sony is willing going to wait until 2020 to release another solo Spider-Man film. That's going to be five years without the studio raking-in profits from an installment, something that sets-off alarm bells for me. Sony is having serious problems with losses and they aren't going to sit on their biggest property for five years. Only releasing Sinister Six in five years makes zero sense to me.

Another problem I have is why would Marvel allow the creatives who are spearheading Phase Three just leave for a shared venture like Spider-Man? I'm sure the Russos will have a huge role in Phase Four, factor in the possibility that Joss Whedon and James Gunn might be done after their two films. They won't have the people to head-up Phase Four is they are busy directing a new Spidey trilogy.

I'd also like to point-out that Sony's wish-list for reboot directors is from November, which is around the time of this exchange between Sony and the Russos. You'd think their names would be on the list, but they are not. I believe that they will only be providing services as producers, as I've already pointed-out that Kevin Feige is already too busy with his duties with in-house Marvel Studio projects. It's extremely unlikely he'll take a hands-on producing role here, beyond casting and shaping the vision for it. The Russo Brothers seem like in better shape to help godfather the interests of Marvel as producers of the new trilogy.

Again, we'll see what happens because I do believe a lot of ideas will be on the table at this summit.

SOURCE: SCREENGONZO

Sony Wants Ryan Gosling For SINISTER SIX And Is The Role VENOM?

We've been hearing for weeks that studios have been talking with Ryan Gosling about comic book film roles. They included leads in Marvel's Doctor Strange and WB's Suicide Squad. Sony also wants Ryan Gosling for a superhero project, as Amy Pascal wanted to offer him an unknown role in Drew Goddard's Sinister Six. More fuel that Drew's film is still moving forward, but might need some Marvel re-tooling. Again, Drew is part of the Marvel Studios family via Daredevil and could easily work with Marvel and possible producers The Russo Brothers.

It was revealed yesterday that directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War have offered their producing services for future Spider-Man films. Something that Sony should pounce-on before they change their minds.

This is actually the first casting tidbit we've had concerning Sinister Six. We've been hearing for a while that Six could include a "soft-reboot" of the franchise via BadassDigest. Marvel stating they want a complete reboot and recasting Peter Parker, this sort of makes a lot of sense. I highly doubt Sony wanted him as a new Spider-Man, since the actor is even older than Andrew Garfield. It's been said that Garfield could have already been fired from the franchise.

There are plenty of other roles in Six that could have in mind for movie including the six characters and the rumored villain/hero of the film Venom. I'm going to speculate that Venom might have be the kind of role that would be worth offering to Gosling. I don't see him agreeing to play one of the regular villains. Venom is a role that lends itself to major crossovers with the existing Marvel cinematic universe, since it's very possible that Marvel could get involved with future projects. Six hasn't started shooting it's probable this could be the first film in the collaboration.

Venom has huge connections to the rest of the Marvel universe in the comics. If Marvel is indeed focused on ignoring both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi's films, they could go with the current version of Venom. Who has veteran Flash Thompson (maybe SHIELD agent?) as the current host and eventually becomes a member of The Avengers and Thunderbolts. You might remember that James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) has mentioned a desire to give Thunderbolts their own film. Funny enough, Flash's Venom has also joined the ranks of The Guardians of The Galaxy as well. I still think Avengers: Infinity War could be the best place to give us the origin of the symbiote and Spider-Man.

However, Sony's original plan was to have Venom being created in the Oscorp labs, I assume in Sinister Six which had Amazing Spider-Man 2 spending all of it's time setting-up that movie. It's unlikely that will be Marvel's approach if they get involved.

Producer Avi Arad is still pushing the Venom solo film to Sony in emails, trying to convince them of the popularity and awareness of the character. Other Sony producers want to re-introduce him in Sinister Six before getting his own spin-off. Setting-up him and/or Carnage as the villains of the film, with Spidey having to team-up with the six villains. It's possible Venom could also take the place of Spider-Man in that film. (via NerdReactor)

Carnage is combination of a second symbiote spawned by Venom and his host Cletus Kasady who is a serial killer. One of the more dark characters in the Marvel cinematic universe, known for massacres.

The spin-off has had three directors involved over the years. Including Gary Ross who exited to direct Hunger Games, Josh Trank who exited to reboot Fantastic Four and Alex Kurtzman who exited to make the new Mummy movie. BadassDigest reported that the spin-off had been essentially axed by the studio. These email exchanges confirm the studio's cold-feet about the project. However, attaching someone like Gosling could be enough to bring it back to life.



If Sony is having a problem finding a director, they might as well consider Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 3, Knights of Badassdom, Everly) who directed the bootleg Marvel universe short film Venom: Truth In Journalism. He's the type of director that could catch the attention of Marvel Studios, and seems to "get" the dark side to the anti-hero. I'm still unsure if we'll ever see the Eddie Brock version again.

SOURCE: DAILYBEAST

Russo Brothers Offering To Produce New SPIDER-MAN Films And Confirm INFINITY WAR Directing Duties

The Sony leaks keep on rolling, as we actually have some Marvel talk now the focus. A Brazilian website Overtice (via CBM) is claiming they've found emails detailing exchanges between The Russo Brothers and Sony's Amy Pascal. The emails have the directors confirm they will indeed direct Avengers: Infinity War. They are also offering to produce new Spider-Man films, and mentioning a tough conversation with current producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach being "worth having". This makes sense since it's was their film Civil War that Marvel was trying get Spider-Man included.

A reply was never given by Pascal, but this is the first piece of development ideas that have been released concerning new movies. We know that Marvel has invested a lot into the Russos, having them mastermind the vision of the future of Phase Three. Winter Soldier proved they can handle huge sprawling superhero filmmaking, which has led to their hiring for major Marvel events like Civil War and Infinity War. Having them involved as producers with this new Spider-Man universe could work, as Kevin Feige's participation won't like have enough time to help.

This might also help support the idea that Spider-Man could have a real role in Avengers: Infinity War. Keep in mind we might need a second source to have dug up these emails, since this site isn't really known to us. A cool option that both Marvel and Sony should consider at that summit in January.

SOURCE: OVERTICE

Marvel Looking To Reboot SPIDER-MAN Without Andrew Garfield

LatinoReview has sparked a bit of hope that Sony will have to make some sort of deal with Marvel Studios concerning future Spider-Man films. The best sitution for everyone involved if you ask me. However, it seems like Andrew Garfield might be getting the short-end of the stick in the new deal.

As the site has an update concerning Marvel's creative control on that new trilogy, they want the all-female project and Aunt May pretty much axed right-off the bat. That isn't surprising since those seemed to be a bit much for Marvel to handle, Sony seemed even a bit overwhelming by that high level concept. The Aunt May movie being the most ridiculous of the two, since they should have just pursued a spy thriller with Parker's parents. In one of the "What-If?" comics they were SHIELD agents, which would have made a lot more sense for the revised origin in Amazing Spider-Man.

Anyways, I'm noticing there is nothing said about the fate of Drew Goddard's Sinister Six film. We know that Drew has a close working relationship with both Marvel Studios and Avengers' Joss Whedon. Working with Whedon on projects including his feature directorial debut with Cabin In The Woods, which he co-wrote with Joss and co-starred Thor's Chris Hemsworth. Before being plucked to tackle Six, Drew was working with Marvel's television division on the Netflix series Daredevil.

BadassDigest has claimed earlier that Sony had been considering a soft-reboot of Spider-Man in Sinister Six. Could that have been coming from Marvel and not Sony? We know that Amy Pascal has been fighting-hard to keep Marvel away from getting creative control, which would mean her star Andrew Garfield would be recast by the other studio. It's starting to look like that's going to be a sticking point with Marvel moving forward. This would follow how they've handled their own reboots of The Hulk and Daredevil. In my opinion this could be an excellent way for Marvel to reboot the character without having to rehash the origin we know nobody wants to see again.

It's very unlikely that the very busy Kevin Feige will be able to oversee this new trilogy. Having a Marvel friendly filmmaker like director and screenwriter Drew Goddard already involved with the franchise. I could see Marvel putting the task of rebooting the franchise to Drew Goddard, and backing him up on his Sinister Six film. I don't see how this movie couldn't be the first installment in Marvel's reboot of the character. We know Marvel won't want to rehash Spidey's origin and will likely have him already established as a hero, who has already built-up a rogues gallery.

I'm might also speculate that Joss Whedon not returning for Infinity War, could mean his role at Marvel Studios might be changing. Could he end-up taking the reigns of projects like Spider-Man for Marvel?

This news might be disappointing to fans and equally as much Andrew Garfield who has been quick to point-out his dedicated fandom since childhood. Yet, this is kind of how Marvel will rebrand the franchise and make it their own. Fans have been clamouring for a crossover, and rebooting the Spider-Man franchise to be included within the MCU is sort of a means to an end. Let's not forget all the canonical plot holes that would be attributed to just shoving this Spidey into the MCU without explaining why he's never shown up to the crazy shit during Incredible Hulk and The Avengers. Not to mention having zero presence in the Netflix shows, which are all set in New York's Hells Kitchen.

It's a shame the connective issues and Andrew being the face of the failing franchise could see him getting pushed out of the role.

They also reporting what we've all been assuming, that Parker won't be apart of Captain America: Civil War. Unless he's only given a small cameo, it's unlikely that both a deal and a new actor will have been chosen by then.

So who should replace Andrew Garfield as Marvel's new Peter Parker?

I've been vocal on this for a while and have been campaigning for rising Texas actor Tye Sheridan. The young actor, who just turned eighteen is the right age for the role and has some extremely impressive credits within his body of work. Working alongside Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick's Tree of Life. Another role in Mud saw him working with Matthew McConaughey, which was apart of Matthew's era of career resurrection. His performance opposite Nicholas Cage in Joe, earned him the Marcello Mastroianni Award award at the Venice Film Festival.

He will also be apart of the cast of Dark Places starring Charlize Theron, which is based on the novel from Gillian Flynn the author of Gone Girl. Tye is also not opposed to genre material, as he's co-starring in the zombie flick Scouts Vs Zombies.  The Yellow Birds would see him working with Doctor Strange himself Benedict Cumberbatch. Tye seems down to Earth while extremely focused on his craft, he's definitely more in the Marvel mould of actors than what Sony would be interested in.

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW 

Sony Producers Wanted Marvel Studios To Produce New SPIDER-MAN Trilogy

TheWallStreetJournal has pointed out a new story coming out of this huge data leak at Sony Pictures. Last night it was revealed that Sony had conversations with Marvel about the future of Spider-Man. There were conversations between Sony producers about Marvel Studios producing a new Spidey trilogy. This happened only two-days after the massive Marvel Phase Three announcements dominating the news cycle.

Sounds great, but Sony's stipulation was they wanted to keep creative control and marketing rights. This gives the impression Sony only wanted money and Marvel's brand attached to new films. It's glaring that Sony wouldn't be willing to give Marvel control of the direction of the character, since Marvel has been making genre landmarks. Avengers being the third biggest film of all time, and Guardians having one of the biggest debuts for Marvel film.

There is also an email exchange that Marvel had asked about using Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. While some are quick to think that this means Spidey would have replaced Black Panther. We have no idea the time frame of this Civil War email, but it's possible it was after they locked-in the main cast. Meaning, Panther was already in the Spider-Man role in the story, which will help promote Panther's solo film and introduce the character to the world.

Talks towards both ideas apparently broke-down, and Sony will move forward with their own slate.

Another potential project was an animated film produced by Chris Miller and Philip Lord, best known for Cloudy With Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie and 21-22 Jump Street. I'm sure Disney's Big Hero 6, might have helped push that idea.

Apparently, there is a "Spidey Summit" in January where producers will try to figure-out the future of the franchise. The company has been losing billions, and Spider-Man installments have been seeing slowly decreasing box office. We know that Disney has been eagerly trying to buy back the rest of the Marvel character catalog, ever since they bought Marvel. If Sony can't find a way to make these films work, it's extremely likely they'll just sell back the rights.

It's mind-boggling that Sony is really thinking about Marvel taking-over the reigns of the franchise, but not contributing to the creative-side of the films. They've obviously have done more damage with each installment since Raimi's Spider-Man 2. The Marvel-Disney produced Ultimate Spider-Man series has been so popular, that Disney changed the look/direction of their Avengers show to crossover to the Spidey toon. Rumors of projects like an Aunt May movie and delays of projects like Amazing Spider-Man 3/Venom give the impression the studio have no idea how to move forward. The Venom movie has been killed twice, and is now stuck in limbo.

Drew Goddard (mastermind behind Marvel's Daredevil Netflix series) was convinced to write-direct Sinister Six for Sony. He would be the kind of filmmaker that could spearhead a new trilogy. There had been rumors from BadassDigest that Spider-Man could be given a soft reboot in Six. This likely means a new actor and reworking the world to be cohesive to the MCU. Sorry Andrew Garfield, you are the face of a terrible franchise.

There is also some backlash recently from Amazing Spider-Man 2 composer James Horner, about the film. Sparking even brighter picture of the nightmare production. Sony, and producers including Avi Arad wanted zero input from director Marc Webb. Horner knew the film would be a disaster and wanted nothing to do with it. We rarely have a composer speaking-out about productions like this, but he obviously felt Marc Webb was treated poorly.

You'd think the director would be allowed to have a vision for the film. Instead, it's creative side was micro-managed by producers and Sony executives. We all know that leads to disaster and now after their meddling they are scrambling to figure-out how to un-fuck the franchise they've all had a hand in ruining.

Why not just give the franchise to Marvel Studios and share profits with them?

SOURCE: WSJ

Why Paul Rudd And Evangeline Lilly Are Likely Joining The Cast Of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

It was revealed this week, it's possible the real reason between the split of Marvel and Edgar Wright on the Ant-Man production. The likelihood was due the connectivity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Edgar's existing script. It's believed that Wright was keen on keeping his characters within his film, along keeping out references and characters from other films. Basically, he wanted to make a Marvel film set-apart from every single Marvel movie since Iron Man. I could see how that would cause massive tension between Edgar and the studio.

I'm unsure if the huge connection between Hank Pym and S.H.I.E.L.D., which is now a key plot point of the film was the main problem or only part of it. It's been confirmed that Agent Carter and Howard Stark will be appearing in the film, to connect Pym to the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's possible he didn't want his film to be a cog in the Avengers machine, which is why they've been kept out of the Avengers films. There's only so long that Marvel could have played that game with Edgar.

We know that this could have been the main reason why both Ant-Man and Wasp were held-back in both Avengers (early storyboards confirm Widow replaced Wasp) and Age of Ultron. The tiny heroes being founding members of the team, along with Pym creating Ultron it all seemed fishy to exclude them from both films. I have a feeling the reason was Edgar wanted to tell the origins within his film, which kept getting delayed due to Wright's other projects and constant script revisions. Now, with Wright out of the picture it looks like at least one of the Ant-Man stories connected to the Avengers can be explored in Captain America: Civil War.

In the comics Hank Pym had a huge role within the Civil War storyline, training meta-human recruits at Camp Hammond. Something I believe was already teased with set photos from Age of Ultron. I wouldn't be overly shocked to see Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd, actually take over this persona along with Pym's daughter Hope played by Evangeline Lilly. Pym used both the personas of Yellow Jacket (will be seen in Ant-Man) and Giant-Man in the Ultimates, so it's possible these could show-up in the films too. We might finally have some heroic characters joining Team Stark.

It should be considered that we've come to expect crossovers with these films, and this Captain America sequel is our last chance for an Avengers-type story until the cosmic epic Infinity War. It's also odd that while we'll be seeing a Guardians sequel, Marvel didn't even mention an Ant-Man sequel as a possibility. Since the cast signed multiple-film contracts it's expected they will appear in a bunch of different movies, without a sequel announced we have to assume they'll show-up in other Marvel movies.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!! 

You might be saying to yourselves, hey we've already have plenty of people returning for this Captain America sequel. To tell you the truth, Civil War's story lends itself to a massive cast and we could end-up seeing something even bigger than we've seen previously with Avengers installments. It's also possible Black Panther might be the only new character getting his origin told in the film, leaving enough room for established characters to mingle.

That's unless Marvel does indeed feel the need to include Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel into the lineup. We've heard that Danvers could be a member of Team Cap at the end of Age of Ultron. Again, this film can handle a huge sprawling cast.

The only two that make sense at the moment are Maria Hill who is revealed to be working for Stark Industries at the end of Winter Soldier. Along with Stark's super-science buddy Bruce Banner, who will likely take the side of his best friend. If rumors are to believed via BadassDigest Cap's side will include pretty much everyone else from Age of Ultron. Such as Hawkeye, War Machine, The Vision, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and even possibly Captain Marvel.

I'm leaving-out both Thor and Black Widow, because we haven't heard how these two could be factoring into the film, it's possible the ending to Age of Ultron will actually explain their fates. I'm actually unsure if Widow survives this installment, due to exclusion in Civil War casting talk.

Not to mention possibly lining-up a starring role in Ghost In The Shell, which will likely keep her out of the production. Her death in Age of Ultron, might also explain why talk of a Black Widow film has been essentially erased lately from the spin-off table. Even when Feige talked about the Widow film recently, he referred to it as a prequel, a clue to Natasha's fate?

I'm sort of thinking Hulk or Ultron ends-up killing Black Widow in Age of Ultron, this shocking event might be enough to spark Civil War. Banner lost control on the helicarrier in Avengers and almost killed Widow once before. Let's not forget Natasha was killed by a team member in the Ultimates comics, and those comics have been influencing these films a lot. She's been revealed to the world and her death could see the government react with the Superhero Registration Act, headed-up by Tony Stark.

If by the hands of Hulk it could also lead to his Planet Hulk banishment that's been rumored for ages now. Pym (or Scott/Hope) might take the place of Dr. Reed Richards in the Illuminati lineup. Since, we'll likely have Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Black Bolt established around Infinity War's release.

In the case of Thor, Age of Ultron reshoots are said to include Idris Elba's Heimdall and Tom Hiddleston's Loki, will likely see Thor too busy with Asgardian affairs to worry about the conflict back on Midgard. I assume these scenes are being shot to setup the events of Thor: Ragnarok, which could be happening during Civil War. The assumption is that Guardians of The Galaxy 2 and Ragnarok, will be planting seeds if not entire plot points for Infinity War Part 1.

Basically, Scott and Hope could fill the void if both Natasha and Thor are being left on the sidelines for this movie. Leading up to the massive all-out galactic threat in Infinity War. It could also be revealed that either Pym, Scott or Hope are secretly Skrulls taking the form of the heroes to spy for Thanos. We've talked about his connection to the Skulls previously, and how Secret Invasion could have Thanos behind it.

Emily Blunt Finally Talks About CAPTAIN MARVEL And How Likely Is Joss Whedon Directing?

While promoting her new Disney musical Into The Woods, Emily Blunt spoke to ScreenCrush who brought-up the Captain Marvel role. Seemingly unfamiliar with both the character and her fan-favorite status. This isn't a new phenomena, actors such as Paul Rudd and Benedict Cumberbatch have played dumb in-front of reporters. When questioned about the possibility of playing Marvel heroes. This is the first time Emily has ever been asked about the character directly, so she can very easily pretend to have no knowledge of her.

It might be a bit harder to come-off ignorant of the character the next time she is asked about her. I'm sure it'll end up start becoming "it's all, rumor man". That said, she could be generally unaware of the character. Yet, that feels off to me since her husband tested for Captain America and she was cast as Black Widow. You'd think she would have more of an awareness to what the studio is up to, even more so since the Phase Three news was in every trade and news outlet.




This is the entire interview with ScreenCrush, enjoy!

Are you aware of the Internet buzz surrounding you playing Captain Marvel?

Somebody told me about it this morning! I knew because my brother told me.

People want you to play Captain Marvel.

Which is kind of amazing.

You were in ‘Looper’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ you have that cred now.

I know. What’s she like, though? I don’t know anything about her. What’s it like, this character?

She’s great.

Cool. Is she fun? Or is she just like, straight…

No, she’s witty and strong. That’s why people keep bringing your name up. They don’t want a boring actor. A lot of personality.

Oh, cool.

I think people really liked what they saw in ‘Edge of Tomorrow.’

But it’s not the same type of character?

No. It’s weird I’m explaining this to you...

I know. Someone told me this morning, my brother, actually. They call it fan casting?

Yes.

Which is lovely. It’s my favorite kind of casting! I wish it was always like that.

Sometimes fan casting works.

Which would be cool.

Maybe they can make ‘Captain Marvel’ a musical now that you’ve done ‘Into the Woods.’

[Laughs] ‘Captain Musical Marvel.’ Let’s just call Marvel about that right now. We’ll call Kevin Feige about that. “Kevin Feige, we have one hell of an idea.” Yeah.

“Only if it’s a musical will you get your dream casting.”

Exactly.

But in seriousness, it does appeal to you?

I think, it’s always for me, it’s always about—and now, more so—what am I putting out there? What would be interesting for me and what would be interesting for people to see. So, if it’s an awesome part, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Marvel movie or a tiny movie, I’d be up for it.

You’d be a hero for every 10-year-old girl out there right now.

Really? Then that’s huge.

There’s no Marvel female superhero who has her own movie yet.

That’s huge. How awesome. I love this. No one has actually called me about it, so, we’ll hold our breath. [Laughs] I don’t know if I’ll get the call ever if I pitch it should be a musical.

Blunt talked to New York Magazine in March 2012 and her reluctancy to be involved with supporting Marvel roles like Peggy Carter. Sort of echoing what Jessica Chastain has said about passing on Iron Man 3. Perhaps, giving the impression what kind of comic book role she would be interested in playing.

"Usually the female parts in a superhero film feel thankless: She's the pill girlfriend while the guys are whizzing around saving the world," offered Blunt. "I didn't do the other ones because the part wasn't very good or the timing wasn't right, but I'm open to any kind of genre if the part is great and fun and different and a challenge in some way." 

"I would love to do a comic-book movie or a science-fiction film that would scare the bejesus out of me," she continued. "Maybe I need to be James Bond! I just did 'Looper,' because it's so original and breathtakingly cool. The time-travel aspect is just a backdrop to visit this heightened world, where you're atoning for something and attempting to be more than you've been."

Here's my case that Marvel wants Blunt for the role of Danvers.

We've been hearing Emily Blunt's name rumored for Carol Danvers since TheDailyMail (known for breaking Bond news) first linked her and actress Ruth Wilson for the role in Avengers 2. That happened to be back in October 2012, around the same time the studio was putting together ideas for the sequel. Before it's ultimate announcement next July at SDCC13 as Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is also around the same time that talk of a Black Widow spin-off slowly winded-down.

Funny, since we've been hearing from trusted sites and sources that there was a Ms Marvel cameo in the final Age of Ultron script. Which could still play-out at the end of Age of Ultron, unless Marvel axes the nod completely, seemingly the practice when these things leak. Basically, it was predicted back in 2012 that Danvers could be showing-up in Avengers 2, and it might actually happen. Shocking!

To those naysayers, this might be the reason why we never heard other names in the mix since that original rumor. It's extremely possible that Marvel took in consideration that Blunt was forced out of the Black Widow role by 20th Century Fox. Emily also tested for the role of Peggy Carter but passed on the character. We assume because the role wasn't meaty enough for her at the time, and it's quite possible in late 2012 Marvel put her on a candidate list for Carol Danvers. The studio is known to put actors on wish-lists without their knowledge.

A trade report in 2013 confirmed that a draft for Captain Marvel existed. It's possible that Marvel's screenwriting program developed an outline in-house and it's perhaps how they've been able to keep the development hush-hush. Kevin Feige stated that a Captain Marvel film had been in development at the studio almost as long as Doctor Strange, which could be true. Since the in-house script program wouldn't have revealed writers and what scripts they were working on. There are a pile of these scripts with unnamed titles and writers in their offices.

Some claim it was way too early for Marvel to consider casting for the role, which is kind of stupid if you ask me. Marvel is known for introducing characters in other installments, other than their solo adventures. Black Panther being a prime example, as he'll be first seen in costume in Captain America: Civil War and will get his own film in 2017. Marvel had been looking at actors for Panther for years before they announced Chadwick Boseman. I have a suspicion that Danvers might also have a role to play in Civil War as well.

Why would Marvel cast an actor before a director is even attached? It's likely a simple answer, they have a director already lined-up (Feige said we'll hear a director before casting) or they always knew they wanted Emily for the role (hence name on the top of their list). Due to her previous casting as Black Widow in Iron Man 2. I'm sure this was done without the awareness of Blunt, but they could have promised her another role in the future.

So who could they have in mind to direct? A bit of speculation on my part, but I have a sneaking feeling that Joss Whedon might be person behind this film. Clearly, early development took place behind closed-doors and Kevin Feige seemingly hints a director might be already chosen. We already know that The Russo Brothers are apparently wanted to direct the two Infinity War installments. Where does this leave Whedon if he's not making Avengers anymore?

That's a question a lot of people haven't been asking, automatically thinking he's done with Marvel (even though he has talked about writing a new Hulk film). Joss did show-up to that Phase Three announcement at the El Capitan, odd since none of his films are apart of that slate. I think it would be sort of odd that he would show-up just for his sneak peek. I'm sure he wanted to hear the fan reaction just as much as Feige did. What if he was directing one of those announced films?


Joss is known for writing strong female characters and already has a working relationship with Kevin Feige/Marvel. It wouldn't be hard to imagine Marvel insisting Whedon develop the film. He did plan on writing-directing Wonder Woman for Warner Bros. It would eventually get killed, and he would move on to Avengers instead. That potential for a female-driven superhero story could be refocused with a film like Captain Marvel. We've heard some interesting things from Whedon about the character. However, a recent interview with HeyUGuys gave some insight he or Marvel may have cracked the character. This eventually became true as the solo film is expected to come out July 2018. Whedon is known for keeping his mouth shut about scripts, and is the kind of writer to keep a secret Marvel script from scoopers.

If Joss Whedon is making Captain Marvel why are they waiting until 2018 to release it? I think we know the answer to this as well, he's going to be fucking exhausted once he's completed with the press rounds for Age of Ultron. It also might have to do with the overall release plans of Marvel and not just Joss possibly wanting to make more indie films. Whedon went straight into shooting A Much Ado About Nothing right after the Avengers release, that could happen again taking up a good chunk of his time. Having him tackle a smaller production would also give him enough time to put together the best script possible. I'm not excluding the idea that we'll see her possibly in both Age of Ultron and Civil War too.



SOURCE: SCREENCRUSH

Thomas Kretschmann And Frank Grillo Returning For CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR?

While we've been sort of focusing on Tony Stark becoming an unintentional villain of Captain America: Civil War and we try to figure out what secondary villain Daniel Bruhl (Zemo or Mordo?) will play. There are two bigger villains that we should expect to see return.

Thomas Kretschmann and Frank Grillo have confirmed signing contracts for multiple Marvel films. Considering the two are predominately known as being Cap villains, showing up in Civil War makes the most sense. I'm not really sure how they could factor into films like Infinity War. However, HYDRA is aware of Stephen Strange and that could be explored in Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange.

During promo for the film the Russo Brothers pretty much confirmed the return of Rumlow as Crossbones. Grillo is a fan-favorite and a member of Thunderbolts, a group of villains James Gunn wanted to make a movie about. Thunderbolts could end-up Marvel's version of Suicide Squad. Thomas reiterated returning for future films, but kept his lips tight to what that would be.

"I have a multi-picture deal which means I will not only appear in the 2nd part, but they're planning with me for a longer period of time. But I don't know details yet, they're keeping their cards close to their chest - top secret!"

There is speculation that Andy Serkis is playing Klaw in Age of Ultron. T'Challa and Wakanda having such a large role in Civil War, including Klaw there as well also makes sense. I have a bit of a theory concerning Klaw working for either A.I.M. or HYDRA. Trying to exploit Wakanda's minerals and technology for their weapons. I could totally see Zemo and Klaw teaming-up to develop world conquering weapon systems. I'm under the impression that Black Panther would be the hero to continue Rogers' fight against HYDRA and other human threats.

Another idea I have is that HYDRA starts aligning themselves with A.I.M. and The Ten Rings (real Mandarin?) to develop one single villainous group. Maybe some kind of version of Masters of Evil, a supervillain group that had been rumored for Age of Ultron. While I don't think we'll see this happen in Ultron, I'm sure Marvel could plant seeds for villains in Civil War. Having them use all their resources to tear-apart the Avengers, so that they can move on with their plans without interference.

Marvel revealed a faux title of Captain America: The Serpent Society, which could be hinting to more than people originally thought. Serpent Society is another off-shoot of HYDRA which was led by Madame Hydra, another Captain America villain we've been championing for years. Madame Hydra is also Strucker's second-in-command, so there is already an opening to have her working alongside Strucker and HYDRA. The Serpent Squad did aid the Thunderbolts in Civil War, the group does have ties to the original comics.

I could see Stark forming Thunderbolts only to have sleeper agents (serpents) working for this supervillain group, hoping to destroy Avengers from within. Similar to how Hydra helped wipeout SHIELD. Kevin Feige and The Russos have teased Civil War would include something as Earth-shattering as destroying SHIELD in the film. These are sort of the last of the Earthbound threats, which need to be explored before we start seeing Avengers going cosmic for Infinity War.

Who will end-up becoming the real villains and threat of Civil War?

The Russo Brothers Indeed In The Running To Direct AVENGERS INFINITY WAR

BadassDigest posted a juicy rumor that the Russo Brothers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War) were being looked-at to takeover the Avengers franchise from Joss Whedon. Deadline is hearing the same thing and both parts of Infinity War could shoot back to back.

Marvel is investing a huge amount on the directing siblings. The more we hear about the plans for Captain America: Civil War the bigger it sounds like the film will be. Something we didn't really get with Iron Man 3, but will likely be our last quasi Earthbound Avengers installment. I'm also curious what this means for the future relationship between Whedon and Marvel. Will he move on, or will he try to tackle other Marvel properties like Captain Marvel and Hulk?

SOURCE: DEADLINE