Elizabeth Oslen Circling Lead In Guy Ritchie's KNIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE: KING ARTHUR

Yesterday we learned that Guy Ritchie's Camelot pic with the working-title Knights of The Roundtable: King Arthur (thanks to ThePlaylist) had Charlie Hunnam (Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim, Sons of Anarchy) in final talks to take the title role of Arthur. Idris Elba was also in the mix with a possible mentor role that is Merlin-like.

Another role is being revealed thanks to Variety. They say that Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron) is circling the female lead of the film. Her role isn't mentioned, but I have to assume it's Arthur's sorceress sister Morgana or his Queen-to-be Guinevere. ThePlaylist believes it's latter role Olsen is up for.

A competing version was originally titled Arthur And Lancelot, and had Kit Harington and Joel Kinnaman attached in the leads. It's budget was too much for Warner Bros. and it would eventually get the axe. A second-take resurrected the project from writer-producer Joby Harold (produced Edge of Tomorrow), his original pitch included a six-part epic. Each film would focus on a different knight of the roundtable, it's unknown if Warner Bros. has agreed to this Avengers-like for their budding fantasy franchise. Considering the studio's Middle Earth saga is coming to a close, it's likely they wanted a genre replacement. I'm curious to see how far the fantasy elements will be explored in the film.

SOURCE: VARIETY

CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 To Begin Production In April And Title Reveal Coming Soon

While speaking with Collider the director siblings the Russo Brothers talked about Captain America 3, it's production returning to the States for an April start. However, the stage work will now be done in Atlanta, Georgia. Presumably on the new Pinewood Studios stage, where Ant-Man is currently shooting. This move is an interesting one, not only does the studio have a new location to film their growing number of projects. But, they will be shooting two movies at once, if Doctor Strange is still aiming for it's spring production start (confirmed by Kevin Feige). I have to assume that Scott Derrickson will be heading the UK and shoot Strange at Shepperton Studios.

The studio had been seemingly worried about having two film productions going-on at once. Possibly being too much to handle for the growing studio at the time. This has led to muted-talk of three Marvel Studios releases per-year. It's been now confirmed that starting in 2017, we'll have three Marvel Studios productions released annually. With production shoots now overlapping one-and-other, it's even possible the studio could push for four films a year. A mad notion, but considering the amount of people now involved with the studio and the production space in their hands, anything is possible.

Another tidbit was dropped by the Russo Brothers during their chat with Collider. They confirmed that the title for the third film will be announced in about a month or so. I have to assume the title is another villain reveal similar to The Winter Soldier or Age of Ultron. Considering how many unused major Cap villains haven't appeared in the film, any number of them could get top-billing. I'd hope that we'd finally get to see Baron Zemo and Madame Hydra, but I'm sure others want to see Alexander Lukin and Doctor Faustus take centre-stage in the film.

A great deal of rumblings have already started concerning the lineup of the film. The best guesses would that we'll see the return of Bucky Barnes, Brock Rumlow, Sam Wilson and Nick Fury. It's up-in-the-air if we'll see Natasha, Clint, Sharon or Maria return for the sequel. Since, it's rumored the Russos could be including T'Challa/Black Panther to the sequel, some characters might have to take a backseat.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Charlie Hunnam Will Likely Lead Guy Ritchie's KING ARTHUR Movie For Warner Bros.

Deadline has word that Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam is in final talks to take-on the lead role in Guy Ritchie's next film. A remaining of the classic tale of King Arthur, has been long in-develop at Warner Bros. So, much so that two competing projects were developed until Ritchie's vision won over the studio. This epic was originally envisioned as a six-part story, but it's unknown if Richie or Warner Bros. will pursue sequels. An official title has yet to be given to the project.

Hunnam has slowly developed into a budding blockbuster actor, taking-on the lead in Guillermo del Toro's mostly successful kaiju/giant robot homage Pacific Rim, which has spawned an untitled sequel set to release on April 7th, 2017. He also recently wrapped production on del Toro's haunted house horror flick Crimson Peak, it's due-out on October 16th, 2015.

Deadline adds that, actor Idris Elba who previously worked with both Guy on RockNRolla and Charlie in Pacific Rim, is currently circling the role of Arthur's wizard mentor/protector Merlin. If you ask me, give Elba whatever role you want knocked-out of the park.

Guy Ritchie's next film The Man From U.N.C.L.E. A period spy action flick based on the popular television series stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, and is set for release on August 14th, 2015.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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

SPECULATION: Marvel Studios Quietly Setting-Up AVENGERS WEST COAST?

Marvel has become the leader in finding new concepts and angles for the superhero film genre. It's a hard business to be in, but they've found their niche and it's not being predictable. The studio has taken some massive risks over their 10 film career. Mainly, releasing a film like Iron Man when a majority of the public had zero awareness or knowledge the character even existed. They took that success from Iron Man and ran full force. Releasing four more films, before making the giant-leap to an ultimate team-up film The Avengers. They went as far as tearing-down SHIELD in Captain America: The Winter Soldier to give us real stakes and prove nothing is safe in the MCU.

In Guardians of The Galaxy, the studio's most risky and ambitious project to date, they gave us our first real glimpse into the massive Marvel cosmic universe. Proving again, that even a talking tree and raccoon can be compelling if done right. The group of characters are way more obscure than previous characters explored on screen, the film becoming the biggest domestic hit of the summer is something of a miracle.

So, how does Marvel move forward without becoming stale? Shaking things-up is what seemingly the studio does best. The comics have a time-honored tradition of roster changes, guest-appearances and crossovers. We do expect The Guardians to cross-paths with The Avengers at some point in the films. However, what can we expect for our Earthbound heroes?

My theory isn't a new one, UnleashTheFanboy have already clued-in to the possibility of a second Avengers team coming in the future. UTF seemingly had word it will happen in Phase 4 (post-Avengers 3). I'm in the belief this has already been happening in-front of our eyes and Age of Ultron/Phase 3 will ultimately setup this new group. The team is being called The New Avengers by UTF, but I would bet that it ends-up being called the more established Avengers West Coast.

Ant-Man will be our first film in Phase Three, and convently enough includes two members of Avengers West Coast. Doctor Henry Pym, the mentor figure to Paul Rudd's Scott Lang and father to Evangeline Lily's Hope Van Dyne (likely Wasp). It's location of San Francisco is a bit telling as well, since we haven't really seen films other than Iron Man set in California. The second team's base of operations is L.A., but could be reworked to fit the more colorful city by the bay.

Another big clue, is that a majority of the team roster is pretty-much established, and there are enough actors to fill a new team. A bulk of them will be appearing in Avengers: Age of Ultron. That lineup includes team-leader Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Doctor Henry Pym (Michael Douglas), Vision (Paul Bettany), Wasp (Evangeline Lily), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Quicksilver (Aaron Johnson) and newly added heroine Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki former Gamora candidate).

Pym in particular could become the Nick Fury/Stark of the new team, since we might be seeing his origins with SHIELD explored in Ant-Man. Having Pym heading-up Avengers West Coast (like Nick Fury) with Hawkeye/Captain America leading the team could be a very cool way to go about it. We've heard rumblings that RDJ's role as Stark in MCU would eventually become more Fury-like as well.

Joss Whedon has talked about his destain for Wonder Man and wish to include Tigra into the film universe. These characters are also well-known West Coast Avengers heroes. He's changed his tune already concerning Carol Danvers, maybe he'll come-around concerning Wonder Man.

Another West Coaster we all love and are dying to see show-up is the complex supernatural vigliante Moon Knight, who just happens to live multiple personas (besides his superhero one). A TV show was in development for ages, but couldn't come together. The character might be a bit too dark and violent to get his own movie, but we've been rooting for Moon Knight to become apart of the second wave of Netflix's Marvel series (aka Midnight Sons).

What happens when these Avengers leave for California? Others will take their place of course. Characters like Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Doctor Strange (?), Black Panther (?), Ms Marvel (?) and others getting their own solo adventures on screen (Daredevil, Fist, Cage, Jones) could easily fill the gaps moving forward. Marvel could expand their Earthbound heroes doing it this way, and can interchange the lineups. This is where we might also see a rebranding of the Avengers name aka The New Avengers.

Why setup a second Avengers team? Well, the Civil War storyline has been mentioned before as a possibility by Kevin Feige. The storyline was slightly teased with the forest-fight in the film first. However, for it to even happen you'd need to established two groups, before the clash could start. That is a lot of Marvel characters to introduce and explore. Netflix characters like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage could also come into play here (there have been possible hints they could make the jump to movies). Civil War could also be the entry-point for Thanos, and his minions to invade Earth, perfect timing for the Mad Titan.

A set photo from Age of Ultron seemingly reveals that Stark and Rogers are recruiting candidates. Perhaps, developing a new version of SHIELD together (HAMMER/SWORD?). The extras are unlikely Ultron bot stand-ins, mainly because they aren't wearing motion-capture suits. But, more like warm-up/active wear, I assume Rogers is training them.

Having Hawkeye taking-charge of his own team might sound like something out of left-field, but we've been hearing his role in Age of Ultron is getting bulked-up from the last one. Not to mention Jeremy Renner's own teases he'll show-up in Captain America 3. If Marvel is able to develop Clint Barton into a capable leader of a splinter Avengers team, I think they might be unstoppable. Turning-around public opinion of the least-liked team member, would be a giant leap-forward.

Renner himself is an established action star, he is about to begin shooting Mission: Impossible 5 and his sequel to Bourne Legacy. Having him in a more active-role in the MCU sounds like a no-brainer. We've seen what the Russo Brothers can do for these action-based spy characters, so hopefully they're able to amp-up the character to the point we want to see him lead a film (even if it's not a solo one). We also haven't seen his other superhero personas come into play, since Barton has become alternate heroes in the comics (mainly, Goliath and Ronin).



What do you think? Is Marvel prepping for a second Avengers team, or will they keep adding-on to the existing group?

RUMOR ALERT! Jack Huston In The Mix For Marvel's DOCTOR STRANGE?

Boardwalk Empire's breakout actor Jack Huston (American Hustle) is now rumored to be in consideration for the lead role in Doctor Strange, according to ThisIsInfamous. We keep hearing news like this on a regular basis, new names are claimed to be front-runners, until new ones are added. I have a feeling he's on a list, like many of the others previously mentioned in trade reports. Actors such as Johnny Depp, Jon Hamm (apparently denies involvement), Jared Leto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy and Joaquin Phoenix have all been linked to the next Marvel franchise.

The studio has a tendency to hedge-their-bets, by looking at multiple actors for their new lead roles (similar thing happened with auditions for Steve Rogers and Peter Quill). Jack was actually a candidate for the Star-Lord role in Guardians, before Chris Pratt was ultimately hired. I don't doubt that Marvel would want to keep that short-list in consideration for other roles down-the-line.

He has a young-Johnny Depp (originally wanted for the role, years back) look to him, and is a bit younger than most of the other names previously linked. might be willing to take-on a lengthly Marvel contract. Jack could also be another diamond-in-the-rough story for Marvel. Considering the actor isn't entirely well known for his film work and could become a breakout star. Similar to Thor's Chris Hemsworth or Guardians of The Galaxy's Chris Pratt. We were a bit shocked when Paul Rudd was named as playing Scott Lang in Ant-Man, so anything could happen with Strange's casting. Let's just remember that Marvel meets with a bunch of actors, and this could be just another name among many.

Scott Derrickson (Sinister) is directing with a script from Jon Spaihts (Prometheus), production is expected to begin in the spring with a release date of July 8th, 2016.

SOURCE: THISISINFAMOUS

Listen-Up Marvel, Neil Marshall Wants To Direct That BLACK WIDOW Spin-Off

British director Neil Marshall has made a career making fun B-movies, from Dog Soldiers to the more serious cult horror hit The Descent. He's also known for having strong female characters in his projects, his last two films having been more female-driven (Centurion and Doomsday) than his peers. Neil is responsible for two of the big event episodes of Game of Thrones as well, directing episodes Blackwater and The Watchers On The Wall. Easily, the two more action-heavy episodes of the series.

The director's next project will be a sequel to the classic tale of King Kong entitled Skull Island: Blood of The King, set 25 years after the original events. He recently directed the pilot episode of NBC's Constantine, which is based on the DC comic series Hellblazer. That might be the only comic book property the director is willing to dip-his-toes-in with, as he tells VanityFair that he'd take a shot at making a Black Widow film. Explaining why he believes the super-spy would work as a feature film.

I would love to do a Black Widow movie. That’s perfect, I would love to do that. That character is really interesting, she doesn’t have any superpowers, she just has extraordinary skills, and the world that she comes from, being this ex-K.G.B. assassin, I find that really fascinating, yeah.

As it stands, Marvel has quieted their talk of a Widow spin-off. So much so, that Kevin Feige has basically stated Natasha is more valuable as a supporting character. This does make sense, considering she has helped-out three Marvel franchises (Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America). We know that screenwriter Nicole Perlman (Guardians of The Galaxy) confirmed herself, that she did work on a new script treatment back in 2010/2011. Resurrecting the previous incarnation that was setup at Lionsgate back in 2008 by writer-director David Hayter (Watchmen, X2, X-Men).  New development on the project is currently unknown, and is considered in limbo. It's assumed that Marvel might put resources towards a Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel movie first.

Scarlett has proven herself as a box office draw this summer with Lucy opening number one (beating Dwayne Johnson's Hercules which opened the same weekend), and her character appearing in huge box office installments are definitely helping awareness/demand. The character's mysterious past concerning the events in Budapest and Osaka could be fun to explore, but being left as a mystery might be better too. Also, Scarlett's recent pregnancy could slow-down her action roles for next little while.



While we'd prefer a female director handling the female hero films at Marvel Studios, I don't think we should automatically dismiss Neil from the running. Considering a majority of his films are female-positive and has given solid roles to women in his previous work. He could also be the next Russo Brothers or even James Gunn, with a little help from Marvel. Plus, we already know that the studio people are fans of Game of Thrones, since they ended-up hiring Alan Taylor to direct Thor: The Dark World.

SOURCE: VANITYFAIR 

Adrianne Palicki Cast As Mockingbird For AGENTS OF SHIELD, Will She Show-Up In The Films?

Agents of SHIELD isn't the greatest thing to come from Marvel Studios, but they are at least trying their best for it's second season. They've added an impressive new lineup of actors which include comedian Patton Oswalt, Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica) and Kyle MacLachlan (Dune, Twin Peaks). Another addition has been announced via THR, and it's kinda of a big deal. As Marvel has hired actress and former Wonder Woman, Adrianne Palicki to play super-spy Bobbi Morse, better known as Marvel heroine and SHIELD agent Mockingbird.

The big deal is that Mockingbird is the sometimes partner/love-interest to Clint Barton (Hawkeye), and actually has worked alongside the Avengers as a full-fledged member. It's possible the role could be just guest starring role for the television show, to give fans a solid character from the comics. I have to assume she might show-up in future films including Captain America 3 or Avengers installments. Since Mockingbird taking a role in the third Captain America film would make things a bit more diverse.

This is an interesting turn of events, considering Palicki had been in the running for role in Guardians of The Galaxy (rumored to be Gamora).

SOURCE: THR

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

Marvel Announces New Cast For ANT-MAN, Will Howard Stark And 1960's S.H.I.E.L.D. Play A Role?

Marvel has announced that cameras has begun to roll-on Ant-Man in San Francisco, which is directed by Payton Reed. Our primary cast consists of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, Evangeline Lily as Hope Van Dyne (daughter of Pym) and Corey Stoll as the main villain Darren Cross aka Yellow Jacket.

The new additions mentioned in the press release include Michael Pena (finally confirmed by Marvel), Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Blue Jasmine), Judy Greer (Archer, Descendants, Jurassic World, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes), John Slatterty, David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight, Prisoners), Abby Ryder Fortson, Gregg Turkington, and for some reason rapper T.I. (Takers).

John Slattery's (Mad Men) addition might be the confirmation we've been waiting for, as he played the original 60's version of Howard Stark in Iron Man 2. Bringing him back, gives us the impression that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Howard Stark will indeed play a role in the film. It's unknown what the actual timeline of the film will be, but it's expected we would see a younger version of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) kicking-ass as Ant-Man in the 1960s, possibly for S.H.I.E.L.D. We've been hearing that the rewrites were happening to include Pym's connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. and place Ant-Man into the greater lineage of the MCU.

There is talk from BadassDigest that Judy Greer  will play the ex-wife of Lang (Rudd) and Bobby Cannavale might be replacing Patrick Wilson as her new husband, a cop that also arrested Lang. I have to assume that child-actor Abby Ryder Fortson will be playing Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott. Cassie had been rumored since Edgar Wright's involvement, and seems to be a role that could develop in the future.

SOURCE: MARVEL

Stephen Strange Already Established As Sorcerer Supreme In Marvel's DOCTOR STRANGE?

A few comic book movie tropes are starting to fade-away, cheesy one-liners, horrible costumes and poorly done special effects. When it comes to revealing new heroes, we tend to see the classic "origin story" used. The main hero is normal (usually the first act or 20-30s of the film), but undergoes a massive transformation that finally gives us the hero in-action.

Marvel has been known to overlook this recent origin trope, by using exposition and flashbacks. We first saw this with the interesting flashbacks used in the opening sequence for The Incredible Hulk. Instead of rehashing Bruce Banner's origin in the reboot, we see him already on-the-run and hiding-out in Brazil. We kind of also saw this with Thor, as the god of thunder had previous adventures and is already wielding mjolnir. Again, this was done extremely well with Guardians as the trouble-makers were are already causing problems in the galaxy, just not as a group. Leaving a little mystery to the origins of our characters isn't always a bad thing, either.

According to Devin of BadassDigest, Marvel is finished with origin stories. This will likely effect Ant-Man as well, which will have the established hero (Pym) played by Michael Douglas hand-over the mantle to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). A great way to skip a bulk of the movie just setting-up sequels (where we see the hero in full-form) and the final action piece.

He goes on to mention that we'll see Stephen Strange already the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange and that we won't have to spend a large portion of the film without him playing the hero. Along with screenwriter Jon Spaihts' (Prometheus) extensive page-one rewrite of the entire script. Meaning, that the original draft that was circling a while back, is getting completely scrapped from the project.

We still haven't had Marvel announce who will actually play our Stephen Strange. The actors who are reportedly in the mix include Benedict Cumberbatch (seemingly out of the running because of a play in London), Tom Hardy (Mad Max Fury Road, Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Bronson, Warrior, The Drop), Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Fight Club, Lord of War, Requiem For A Dream, American Psycho) and more recently three-time Oscar nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Her, The Immigrant, The Master, Inherent Vice, Walk The Line). I'm personally rooting for Hardy and Phoenix to get the role, since they have an extremely strong body of work.

The production start of Doctor Strange will begin in Spring 2015, with a release date of July 8th, 2016. Casting announcements are bound to begin very soon, as pre-production starts ramping-up.


SOURCE: BADASSDIGEST

Marvel Pitching INHUMANS Script To Potential Filmmakers?

According to Collider, it seems like The Inhumans are apart of Marvel's next exploration of their expanding cosmic universe. The studio has a script by Joe Robert Cole, who is apart of Marvel's screenwriting program (Guardians' co-writer Nicole Perlman was also apart of that program). The situation sounds very similar to when Guardians landed in the lap of James Gunn, after the script was developed in-house at Marvel. Also, Doctor Strange went-out to filmmakers before Scott Derrickson was announced as it's director, and Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) was hired to do a page-one rewrite of the script. We could see another complete overhaul on the existing material. Apparently, the film/script is going out to filmmakers and might need a strong visionary to further develop it.

We previously heard that Marvel was developing the property for a feature-film, but a writer was never named. The last word was, Inhumans was one of three candidates competing for a release spot (Guardians and Black Panther being the other two), which Guardians of The Galaxy would ultimately get. The project was being described as Game of Thrones meets X-Men, as superpowered royal families fight over galactic thrones. Inhumans is such an interesting property, as we've heard this could be a way Marvel is able to develop their own type of "mutants" (owned by Fox) within the MCU.

Recently, Vin Diesel teased fans that he could be "Inhuman" for Marvel. This could be another misdirection by Diesel, or a way to push his own agenda to gain another role at Marvel. Many believe this might mean we might see Vin as the voice of Groot and the body of king of the Inhumans, Black Bolt. Black Bolt's voice is beyond destructive, which means he doesn't speak and would allow Diesel to play two roles within the cosmic universe.

We were a bit shocked that Marvel rushed to announce a sequel to Guardians of The Galaxy at Comic-Con, but since it's critical/box office success the move seems right. Moving forward with even more films set in the budding side-universe would be a way to develop that. Other cosmic projects that have been rumored include Captain Marvel, Nova, and Adam Warlock. The Inhumans, being a team-based film sounds like a solid prospect for the studio.

Could we see another creative/unexpected voice like Gunn spearheading our cinematic introduction to The Inhumans? I'd love to see someone unique like Ben Wheatly (A Field In England, Sightseers, High-Rise, Kill List), who I've been dying to see show-up on one of Marvel's director wish-lists. Given that Marvel went with someone a bit more rebellious like Gunn, someone like Ben (known for bizarre/dramatic projects) might be another winning combo. Ben is currently shooting his thriller High-Rise with Loki himself Tom Hiddleston, and has recently directed an episode of Doctor Who. He also wrote his darker films A Field In England and Kill List.




SOURCE: COLLIDER

New A-Holes We Want For GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2!

James Gunn is already beginning work on the script for Guardians of The Galaxy 2, as the director confirmed he's begun writing the sequel. The second installment already has a release date set for July 2017. We kind have an idea that Nova and Cosmo will likely have a part to play in the next movie. Yet, there are a few other Marvel cosmic characters we'd like to see used in the sequel as well.

ADAM WARLOCK: We had heard Warlock was going to have some sort of cameo in the film, but that likely was written-out or removed from the final cut. The assumption was that his cocoon in The Collectors' chambers would be involved in the film at some point, that didn't end-up happening. Warlock has worked alongside the Guardians for ages, and eventually becomes a member. He's crossed paths with Thanos on many occasions and is a major character connected to the Infinity stories. Having one of the infinity stones embedded in his forehead (soul gem), he's a sure-bet for the sequel. If, indeed Thanos will have most of the infinity stones by Avengers 3.

BLACKJACK O'HARE: It's likely a lock that Rocket's otter and walrus companions will have some role in the next installment, but I'd love to see the rabbit mercenary Blackjack O'Hare get his onscreen debut. He's a prime character to be a fellow bounty-hunter, antagonist to Rocket or just roaming around Knowhere as a hired-gun. Plus, a blue rabbit wise-cracking with Bradley Cooper's Rocket would be super-fun to watch. I'd honestly take him over Howard The Duck, but that's just my opinion.

THE INHUMANS: We've finally had the Kree Empire referenced in the films, and the success of Guardians could mean that Marvel will push-forward with their Inhumans movie. An ancient group of aliens experimented on by the Kree, are revealed to have superpowers when exposed to a mist. In the recent comics, Black Bolt releases this mist on the entire population of Earth. Which in-turn, creates a larger population of Inhumans on the planet. Some believe this is Marvel's way of creating another version of mutants for their film universe. Time-will-tell, but with a potential project that would end-up looking like X-Men meets Game of Thrones, it's a strong bet they'll have a film soon. Including them in small cameos, or at least introducing them in next Guardians film would make sense, if they are planning on expanding upon their existing cosmic universe.

HEPZIBAH: This skunk-humanoid would actually be a very interesting character visually, and could easily be one of Yondu's Ravagers (we've already heard James Gunn mention exploring the Ravagers a bit more). The space-pirate and member of the Starjammers, might actually be another shared X-Men character (similar to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch). Since she's an alien (not mutant), and was included in her own series alongside the rest of the original Starjammers lineup.

I've also noticed neither Fox or Marvel have commented on the rights concerning the Starjammers. The only one of the group I believe Fox could claim is Cyclops' father Cosair. Starjammers will likely become something discussed between Lauren Shuler Donner and Fox, post-Guardians. Since, we've never had aliens referenced in the X-Men film franchise, I'm possibly leaning towards they don't have the rights to the entire lineup/name. If they do, they'll possibly combine them into the world they are creating for the new Fantastic Four. Considering, Fox has control of rest of Marvel's cosmic catalog of characters and alien races.

MAR-VELL: We've already mentioned the Kree, and our first introduction to them wasn't great with Ronan. They aren't all that bad, case-in-point Kree hero Mar-Vell, also known as Captain Marvel (which I assume the title will be given to Danvers). I'm not sure Mar-Vell would become a straight-up Guardian (like I assume Nova would just work with them for the common good), but he'll likely have conflicts with the Kree Empire. Which could lead him to leave their ranks and look elsewhere to do good. I'd also like to give a shout-out to Wraith, another Kree who is banished but becomes a hero in the Infinity saga.

CAROL DANVERS: Speaking of Captain Marvel, wouldn't it be great if we saw the origin of Carol Danvers' powers in Guardians 2? I know the rumors say that she'll appear in Age of Ultron, but we don't know if she'll even have her powers in the film. Perhaps, as a pilot she's testing-out a new spacecraft for Stark or S.W.O.R.D. and is either captured by aliens, or is brought into the cosmic world. Leading to her to be exposed to the Kree technology, with the accident that grants her superpowers.

ANGELA: One of the newest additions to the Marvel universe, and acquired from Image Comics/Todd Mcfarlane. This lady is another badass outsider, that screams Guardian. She actually worked with the team recently in the comics, and is also revealed to be the daughter of Odin (sister to Loki/Thor). She could be a bridge for the Guardians to go to Asgard, leading them to meet Thor (a solid way to lead to their team-up in Avengers 3) and The Avengers, warning them that Thanos is coming to Earth.

CORVUS GLAIVE AND THE BLACK ORDER: Ronan and Nebula were okay as the villains of the film, but they didn't have the greatest motivation. Well it just happens that they aren't the only henchmen Thanos has doing his dirty work. He has his own group of supervillains, which are named The Black Order. This group are his generals and take-out worlds for the Mad Titan. They seem like worthy adversaries for the Guardians and The Nova Corps for an upcoming sequel. A great one to focus-on would be Corvus Glaive, an antagonist of a majority of the cosmic universe (including Earth and the Inhumans).

Lisa Joy Nolan Will Pen Female-Driven SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Coming In 2017, Is This A BLACK CAT Movie?

Deadline is reporting that Sony is looking to rollout another Amazing Spider-Man spin-off, on the heels of announcing the release date for Sinister Six. They say that, Sony is eyeing a 2017 release date for an untitled spin-off that would focus on an unnamed female character. A script will be penned by Christopher Nolan's screenwriting sister-in-law Lisa Joy Nolan (Burn Notice, Pushing Daises).

Lisa Joy Nolan ico-wrote HBO's upcoming Westworld series with her husband Jonathan Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight). She also recently sold an original spec-script to Legendary Pictures after a bidding-war.

The studio apparently has the rights to use Marvel characters such as Silver Sable, Spider-Woman (all of the different characters) and Spider-Girl. However, Felicia Hardy played by Felicity Jones was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man 2. Hardy eventually dons a mask, becoming the burglar turned Spidey ally The Black Cat. We are assuming that Black Cat is indeed the character that Sony will be trying to spin-off, since she is the most recognizable female character from the Spider-Man comics.

Hardy could also play a role in the Sinister Six film, which could lead to her branching out from villain to hero within that installment.

Sam Raimi tried to include Black Cat in his failed attempt to make Spider-Man 4, which had Anne Hathaway cast in the role. Anne would eventually leave the project, and take the role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman instead in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Hathway's performance turning-out to be the highlight of the film.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Marvel Isn't Making A Female Superhero Film Anytime Soon, Could There Be A Reason For The Delay?

We've been hearing (from Kevin Feige and Scarlett Johansson) for years that a Black Widow solo spin-off movie was coming in the future. More recently, Guardians of The Galaxy's Nicole Perlman had scripted a new draft for the resurrected project (originally given the axe by Lionsgate back in 2008). I've also been hearing from fellow bloggers that Carol Danvers (Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel) will indeed appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Joss Whedon confirmed to HeyUGuys that we would see a fourth female lead in Age of Ultron. So, where is our announcement concerning a female superhero film from Marvel?

Marvel's Kevin Feige has finally come out and commented on the status of a female-driven movie at the studio. The statements via ComicBookResources includes the realization of the demand, but also points-out they might not be ready for that film to be put into production. Feige mentions other new franchises being their current focus, but they might have something else up their sleeves.

“I think it comes down to timing, which is what I’ve sort of always said, and it comes down to us being able to tell the right story. I very much believe in doing it. I very much believe that it’s unfair to say, ‘People don’t want to see movies with female heroes,’ then list five movies that were not very good, therefore, people didn’t go to the movies because they weren’t good movies, versus [because] they were female leads. And they don’t mention ‘Hunger Games,’ ‘Frozen,’ ‘Divergent.’ You can go back to ‘Kill Bill’ or ‘Aliens.’ These are all female-led movies. It can certainly be done. I hope we do it sooner rather than later.”

“But we find ourselves in the very strange position of managing more franchises than most people have — which is a very, very good thing and we don’t take for granted, but is a challenging thing. You may notice from those release dates, we have three for 2017. And that’s because just the timing worked on what was sort of gearing up. But it does mean you have to put one franchise on hold for three or four years in order to introduce a new one? I don’t know. Those are the kinds of chess matches we’re playing right now.”


We've seen a large upswing in female casting in recent Marvel films, so we should also point that out as well. Guardians, Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron have a great number of female leads/supporting characters, who are more than just love-interests or eye-candy. Finally giving us a taste of female villains, mentors and fellow heroes. Feige sites hugely-successful female-led projects like Frozen, Aliens, Hunger Games and Kill Bill, as examples of successes, but also mentions the stigma from previous unsuccessful comic book adaptations. He gives the impression that they understand the demand, but just don't have anything to put out in theatres. This could be another reason why the studio didn't make title announcements for a majority of the new release dates. Because, they are still mulling-over which "new" franchises should come next. Inhumans (another cosmic team film with two major female leads) and possibly Black Panther are on-deck for the studio.

The level of development for both Black Widow and Ms Marvel, have never been made public. Trades have sited that the studio is working a Ms Marvel script, but it's writer and it's stage of development hasn't been revealed (it could still be in the extremely early stages). They could still be trying to outline stories for these characters, for their own feature films.

It's extremely difficult for writers of Widow, since they keep using her as secondary leads in films like Winter Soldier, Age of Ultron and likely Captain America 3. Adding updates from other scripts that feature her, mean that rewrites would be needed on a regular basis. Making it a very complex problem to give her own film, when she's getting strong character development and exposure as a supporting character/secondary lead. A prequel sounds like a way to break away from the tropes of the recent/future films.

Another reason for delaying a Black Widow film, is that Marvel could be thinking of killing-off Natasha in Age of Ultron or future films. In the Ultimate comics (MCU is inspired by these stories), she is revealed to be a traitor and is killed by Hawkeye, when it's revealed she was also responsible for the death of Barton's family. They've well-established her as a character with a dark-streak, and Whedon is known for manipulating are feelings for characters. Joss has teased that major characters could get bumped-off in the sequel.

They could be delaying for another reason, they want to focus on a superpowered heroine. Widow is great, but Carol Danvers (or Kamala Khan) has actual powers and could have more spectacle in a solo outing. Not to mention involving the cosmic-side of the MCU, something that could come in waves post-Guardians. First, placing her in Age of Ultron (I assume giving her origin there), then having larger roles in future films (Guardians 2?), leading to her own spin-off. A similar way Marvel ramped-up Natasha's role in the MCU.

The studio will be upping the yearly releases to three starting in 2017, so this could lead to more new films getting released. This move could lead to projects like a female-driven film fast-tracked.