Marvel Confirms Andy Serkis Is Playing KLAW In 'AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON'

Disney blog Stitch Kingdom has got ahold of a batch of high resolution images from Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron. The images include a still of Andy Serkis and reveals his character to indeed be Ulysses Klaw as listed by Marvel.

We had our senses that Serkis was playing Klaw just by his facial hair alone. Not to mention his necklace that included an animal claw, very subtle Marvel.

This character confirmation of sorts seemingly also gives the impression that Wakanda's presence will be bigger than previously expected. Something that might have been hinted to in the second trailer.

Klaw is primarily known as the most well-known of Black Panther rogues.

There hasn't been word if we'll see Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in the film but there have been hints he could show-up at the very end with a cameo but that remains to be seen.

It's expected some of T'Challa's story will be told in Captain America: Civil War, we shouldn't be shocked to see Serkis' Klaw involved in that film as well since the role is expected to crossover a couple of films.

SOURCE: STITCH KINGDOM

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

Marvel Announces BLACK PANTHER Movie For 2017 And Confirms Chadwick Boseman For The Role

Today was Marvel's huge event at the El Capitan Theatre. They made some massive announcements, which we'll go over in a little bit. The biggest one being, that they've greenlit a Black Panther movie. Setting the release for November 2017 and confirming actor Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up) for the role. LatinoReview was the first site to stand-firm Chad was set for the role. They have been proven right, yet again.

We also have a piece of official concept art, which gives a mix of the traditional costume with some modern sleekness attributed to the cinematic universe. T'Challa will also have a big role in Captain America: Civil War, which will lead to the hero getting his own solo outing. Mark Bailey's script might still be the blueprint, but a new writer or director wasn't announced at the event. This also begs the question, is Andy Serkis indeed playing Klaw in Age of Ultron? Exciting times for Marvel fans indeed!

SOURCE: MARVEL

Black Panther And Hawkeye Showing-Up In CAPTAIN AMERICA 3?

Collider's Frosty was taking to Twitter to see if anyone has questions for the Russo Brothers, and LatinoReview's El Mayimbe coyly took him up on that. Adding what very well could be his own scoop, that Black Panther is rumored for an appearance in Captain America 3. I truly hope this one turns out to be right on-the-money.

.@colliderfrosty Yes, please ask Russo bros if it is true THE BLACK PANTHER will be making an appearance in CAP 3? :)
— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) August 27, 2014

There have been rumblings for years that T'Challa would have a cameo, before his own feature film. However, all we've had since those rumors have been easter eggs (Cap's shield/meta human map). It's said that Wakanda is actually going to mentioned and possibly even shown in Avengers: Age of Ultron, that also remains to be seen.

Kevin Feige has given an update recently during Comic-Con confirming Panther is back in active-development at the studio. We are expecting Black Panther to become one of the next new solo films announced by the studio. As the project was said to have competed against Guardians of The Galaxy for the August, 2014 release spot. There is even talk that Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up, 42, Gods of Egypt) is the top-pick for the role of T'Challa, another bit of information that originated from LR.

UPDATE: Co-director Anthony Russo was asked by Movies.com, what new characters would be included in the third film? His answer is obscure but promising since fans would "freakout" with this addition. The only character I could think off making fans freakout, would be Black Panther. Rogers and T'Challa have crossed paths on more than a few occasions, with Cap's modern-day globetrotting he'd have to at one point bump into Wakanda. Of course a new threat of HYDRA would also put the population of Wakanda at risk as well.

"I can't divulge who is going to be in the film, but I think the fans are going to freak out when they hear about it." 

Speaking of Collider, Jeremy Renner mentioned Captain America 3 "rumblings" to the site. That's if he can find the time to shoot it, since he has Mission: Impossible 5 and Bourne 5 on-deck. We already mentioned what this could mean for Barton and the MCU, bulking-up his presence in the universe could lead to him getting his own superhero team to lead (Avengers West Coast).

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

Marvel's Kevin Feige Finally Confirms Active Development On CAPTAIN MARVEL And BLACK PANTHER Movies

It looks like we all missed-out on the coolest tidbit of information about Marvel's upcoming projects, that Marvel's Kevin Feige briefly mentioned to IGN at SDCC. He was asked point-blank about Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies. In which Kevin replied in a much more positive way, than previously when asked about the projects. It's the first time Feige has confirmed development on a Captain Marvel film, which I've been talking about being in development for months now.

"There both characters that we like..development work has been done on it, and it continues to be done on...and certainly the public.. It's the question I get asked more than anything else...More than Iron Man 4, more than Avengers 3, and that's sort of the first-time that's ever happened to us...So I think that makes a difference, I think that's something we have to pay attention to."

He was asked if public opinion or online demands fuel Marvel's choices to what to make next. Kevin reaffirmed that they have their plans set out in advanced (likely by phases), and that fans attitudes change frequently. While stating Black Panther and Captain Marvel might be exceptions to this. It's also extremely possible that Marvel has been keeping plans in-house for the moment, and wanted to see Guardians success before moving forward with similar "risky" projects.

"But in this particular case, I think it's a groundswell, and I think it means something substantial." 

It's sort of a big-deal for this to happen, considering we have Marvel about to release their 11th film in May. None of the films have included female or non-white solo leads. Having Marvel's most recognizable female and black superheroes in theatres is something fans have been demanding since Avengers. It could change the landscape of the genre, and open-doors to actors/characters which might have been ignored for tentpole potential.

I have a feeling we'll see a bit of diversity casting when it comes to Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage. However, making the jump to the big-screen, might ruffle the feathers of the studio dinosaurs, who have been blocking the change-up. Warner Bros. has both Aquaman and possible Wonder Woman films in development, which won't have the typical white-male lead. Sony is actually the first of the new wave to announce development on a female-driven Spider-Man spin-off coming in 2017. The likelyhood is that film will focus on Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat. Kevin might be saying it's fan demand, but it's also pressure coming from competing studios.

As it stands now Marvel has two in-house scripts for both Panther and Captain Marvel. Both characters are expected to be hinted-to in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Not unlike Doctor Strange's Stephen Strange in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The former project has a draft by Mark Bailey, which Marvel seemingly likes but could eventually get extensive rewrites. The latter has a script, which is rumored to have been written by Guardians of The Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman.

It was told to me that the Captain Marvel script was written in-house (as usual), and by someone who has already produced scripts for the studio. Nicole also wrote an updated draft for the Black Widow script while being apart of Marvel's screenwriting program. It's actually unknown how many scripts Marvel had her working on, because Marvel hasn't made that information public. Considering both Guardians and Widow are female-heavy scripts, it would make sense that Perlman would at least get a shot at Captain Marvel. Perlman is also one of the best known writers from the program, and one of the few that has actually earned writing credit for her work.

Speaking of casting, we haven't heard much in the way of T'Challa, since LatinoReview first revealed Chadwick Boseman (Gods of Egypt, 42, Get On Up) as a strong candidate back in May 2013. Boseman himself has been coy, but recently stated.."Ahhh, I don’t know anything about that…Until the contract is signed, I don’t know". It's not definitive, but sounds like the usual runaround answers actors talking with Marvel would be expected to say. Chadwick is charismatic and charming as hell, and would make one hell of a Black Panther.

The only source concerning the casting of Captain Marvel goes all the back to October 2012, which comes from the DailyMail (usually right when it comes to Bond news). They said that both Emily Blunt (Looper, Edge of Tomorrow) and Ruth Wilson (Lone Ranger, Luther) were the main candidates for the role of Ms Marvel, at the time was linked for Avengers 2. Since then, we've got confirmation that Ms Marvel indeed appears in the Age of Ultron script, and could make a cameo in the sequel. Interesting enough, Joss Whedon confirmed to HeyUGuys a fourth major female lead in Age of Ultron, which some have assume is actually Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel.

It would make sense that Emily Blunt would be in the mix for this role, considering she was forced out of the Black Widow role in Iron Man 2, because of a contract with 20th Century Fox. She's been since linked to a few other Marvel roles including Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger. I assume that she could become Marvel's go-to actress to head-up this franchise. We've seen her play badasses in both Looper and Edge of Tomorrow, which the latter seemed like a test-reel for a campaign to play Captain Marvel. I wouldn't rule out Ruth Wilson considering she's closely worked with both Thor alumni Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba, but Blunt is currently my favorite for the role.



If I had to guess release dates, I would place Black Panther for either May or November 2017 (since we don't have a non-sequel announced for 2017, but have a cosmic one with GOTG2 and Thor 3 will take the Avengers-era spot), and Captain Marvel for a release in 2018 (since that year doesn't have either a cosmic film or new character). We can't be sure what Marvel's ultimate plan is until they make it official, but it sounds like Captain Marvel could be our next cosmic franchise and Panther our next new Earthbound hero.



SOURCE: IGN

Chadwick Boseman Says BLACK PANTHER Role "Not Out Of The Question"

Fan-favorite Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up, Gods of Egypt, Fringe) recently revealed to MTV, that taking the Black Panther role was "not out of the question" for him. Marvel placed Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch on one of their casting lists for Doctor Strange, after a large section of fandom championed him for the role. Ben is still one of the three in-the-mix for the role, alongside Tom Hardy and Jared Leto. I wouldn't be shocked if they've actually placed him on a similar list, or have already reached-out to him about the role.

It's assumed that Black Panther will indeed be apart of Marvel's upcoming lineup of new franchises. Which may or may not be announced at this year's Comic-Con.

SOURCE: MTV

Marvel Screen Testing BLACK PANTHER And Wakanda In AGE OF ULTRON?

LatinoReview is picking up on a rumor that Marvel Studios could be screen testing for Black Panther. It should be noted that they aren't 100% sure about it, but it's very plausible. As we've been hearing Marvel beating-the-drum that a Black Panther movie is on the way (script written by Mark Bailey). There was even talk that he might be apart of Avengers: Age of Ultron. At one point the last Phase Two spot was a head-to-head between Panther and Guardians of The Galaxy.

A bunch of actors have been linked, wanted or campaigned for the title role. Those names include John Boyega (Attack The Block, Star Wars: Episode VII), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave, Children of Men, Serenity), Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up, 42), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, Thor 1-2, Luther) and others. We have no idea if any of these people are indeed in the mix for the role.

Drew from HitFix has replied to the rumor by confirming that T'Challa's home country Wakanda will indeed appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The fictional Marvel African nation, which is self-sufficient and has the most advanced technology on the planet. It's currently unknown if Panther himself will show-up in the sequel, but Marvel has apparently "left the door open" for that to happen. I'm beyond excited to see Wakanda, it will be interesting to see how "sci-fi" the country becomes.

@elmayimbe Wakanda's in the film, but as of the start of production, Black Panther wasn't. They left the door open, though.
— Drew McWeeny (@DrewAtHitFix) May 5, 2014

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

John Boyega And Chadwick Boseman Talk BLACK PANTHER Role

Black Panther has been a hot-topic in development project at Marvel for years now, at one point Wesley Snipes was considered for the role. More recently, Mark Bailey completed a draft for the script which seemingly impressed insiders and the Marvel offices. However, the studio has pushed it back to make way for projects like Guardians of The Galaxy, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange. Kevin Feige stated last year, that they were indeed still developing the film. It's a bit more reassuringly than the shutdown on the Black Widow film.

When it comes to grilling potential actors about Black Panther, none are betting than BlackFilm. They've been getting a bunch of responses from actors over the last year or so. Another T'Challa candidate (according LatinoReview) is up-and-comer Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up, 42), and he commented on the possibility of doing Black Panther. He starts out coy, but eventually gives the impression the character would have to standout for him to do it. We currently don't even know if he's even in the running anymore.

Could you see yourself playing Black Panther?

Chadwick Boseman: I could see myself doing anything in terms of comic book, action, or anything like that. Black Panther, in particular, I’m not going to answer that.

If not, then which character?

CB: Let me put to you this way. If it’s character driven, I’ll do it. As long as it’s character driven, I would love to do it. If it’s just you in a suit and you with powers, then it doesn’t interest me, no matter how big it is. As long as it’s character driven, I’m totally into it. If they could figure out how to do Black Panther and make it fit the original or adapt to the times we’re in now and be new and innovative and be character driven and has the sense of what the comic book is supposed to be, but not bound by it, then yes, of course, I would want to do it.

As he finished speaking on the record, he asked if folks wanted to see a Black Panther film and I said yes. Then he asked, “What about Green Lantern?”

Attack The Block's John Boyega has been more vocal about his desire of playing a Marvel role. Speaking to FlicksAndTheCity he mentioned inspiring actors which included Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2), Anthony Hopkins (Thor 1-2), and fellow Star Wars candidate David Oyelowo (also a favorite for Panther). He was also asked about Marvel and Joss Whedon calling, and he specifically names Black Panther and Blade as dream-roles.

"First of all, if Joss Whedon called. I would leave my life behind and fly out to L.A., and train for the role...But I'm a big Marvel fan and I'm a big DC fan, so I'm into all that stuff. I know of what film is auditioning, I can tell you right now and futuristically speaking, that's just because I'm a fan. So, obviously I'd be very happy if that happened. And, I'm pretty sure hopefully if everything goes well, it might just happen."

"So..I'm just going to be specific.. I would play the Black Panther in Marvel, Joss Whedon if you're listening make a good choice. I don't know there's loads, there's Black Panther, there's Blade, they want to do a Blade reboot. If Wesley Snipes handed the baton to me, that'd be good."

Back in December, John spoke to Metro explaining why the Black Panther story speaks to him.

"The Black Panther, the Marvel character. For me it’s the back-story. My family is originally from Nigeria and the Black Panther comics are about this African nation that is wealthy and healthy and totally cut off from the world. It’s never known slavery, it’s the ultimate nation – it neither buys nor sells oil. The Americans and the British want to know: ‘What’s the deal with these people?’ – they see the Black Panther as a kind of panther god. If I ever got that role, I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven."

It doesn't hurt his Marvel connections working with Ant-Man's Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish on Attack The Block. Walking the red carpet to support Joss Whedon (Avengers) and Drew Goddard's (Daredevil) horror hybrid Cabin In The Woods, which co-starred Thor's Chris Hemsworth. Having experience at Comic-Con and being a comic book fan might be asset as well.

He was recently connected to roles in both Star Wars: Episode VII and Terminator: Genesis (didn't end up with the part). The former could allow extra international exposure which would be needed for the Black Panther lead role (similar to Hemsworth's Star Trek exposure prior to Thor). At the moment, we don't expect the Panther solo movie to show-up until Phase Four, allowing Boyega to knock-out a couple of Star Wars films first (if he ends up landing a role). ThePlaylist has also made the case to consider John for the T'Challa role.


SOURCE: BLACKFILM

Does Marvel Finally Have A Top Contender To Play BLACK PANTHER?

LatinoReview is revealing that Marvel Studios finally might have zeroed in on an actor to play Black Panther. That actor is none other than 42 breakout star Chadwick Boseman who plays Jackie Robinson in the film. While a solo film has been in the works for years now there hasn't been an official announcement concerning the King of Wakanda's addition to the Phase Three lineup. It's possible he could end up having a supporting role in either Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Avengers 2 before his first solo outing,