Fun Marvel Shared Universe

[Doctor Omega]

AT&T & Time-Warner Merger Approved





The long in the works, and long in the courts, AT&T and Time Warner merger has officially been approved. The final decision from Judge Richard Leon has been handed down and rejects the government argument it would hurt pay-TV consumers and competition.

As a result, the two companies will be allowed to merge in a deal, first put forth nearly two years ago, that is valued at $85 billion. The crucially important ruling will have major implications on the media landscape moving forward and specifically on future large scale mergers of media multinationals.

The biggest impact of this deal will be felt right away in regards to 21st Century Fox with Comcast now free and clear to formally make an offer for the majority of Fox’s assets. Fox agreed in December to sell their entertainment assets (20th Century Fox, regional sports and parts of Hulu & Sky) to Disney for a $52 billion stock offer, but Comcast is expected to imminently offer Fox $60 billion in straight cash.

Fox shareholders will vote on both proposals next week. If Fox pulls out of the Disney deal there will be a penalty fee, but the Comcast offer more than covers it and still offers a much bigger profit return.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

Fox shareholders will vote on both proposals next week. If Fox pulls out of the Disney deal there will be a penalty fee, but the Comcast offer more than covers it and still offers a much bigger profit return.

I dunno. If I were one of the shareholders, I would have to look at how much Disney's stocks will rise if they get a hold of the X-Men and Fantastic Four. If those properties could be added to their already amazing roster, not only would stocks rise, but comic book values will skyrocket. Which would make me very happy.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Comcast Officially Offers $65B For Fox





Comcast has reportedly just made a $65 billion all-cash offer for 21st Century Fox in an attempt to nab the company and its assets from Disney reports AdWeek, The New York Times and several other outlets.

The offer comes in the wake of Tuesday’s verdict approving the merger of Time Warner and AT&T (or the TWATT deal as it has been nicknamed on social media) for $85 billion despite efforts by the Justice Department to block it.

Comcast’s offer is expected to spark a bidding war between itself and Disney who has offered Fox $52 billion in stock. Comcast is expected to match Disney’s $2.5 billion breakup fee should the deal fall apart due to regulatory issues.

Comcast already controls a major television network (NBC), a motion picture studio (Universal Pictures), several animation studios (Illumination Entertainment, Dreamworks Animation) and a theme park empire (Universal Studios). They also boast the second-largest pay-TV company, largest cable TV company and largest home internet service provider in the United States.

Comcast, Disney and Fox also all own interests in streaming giant Hulu. Potential TV conflicts could be settled by leaving regional FOX stations out of the deal. The big advantage of Disney at this point is that the deal would make the Murdoch’s influential Disney shareholders, and could allow for the potential re-integration of Marvel and Star Wars assets – something that wouldn’t happen with the Comcast deal.

 

[Doctor Omega]

$65 billion

Wow!

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel’s Feige On “Eternals,” “Avengers 4” & More





More comments have emerged from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige during recent interviews he conducted for “Ant-Man and the Wasp” in which he talked about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and potential plans for what comes after the fourth “Avengers” next year.

He says the studio has tentative plans for a “Power Pack” film: “because we wanted to do something for families, something that’s a little younger, Ant-Man has kind of become that franchise, certainly with Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Power Pack still is one of the many things that we discuss.”

Another thing in discussion is a film based on Jack Kirby’s iconic The Eternals characters: “There’s this notion of all of these myths and legends that we know from ancient times, were they inspired by the Eternals? Kevin Feige: Were they Eternals? It’s a very … you know, it’s an ancient aliens kind of sci-fi trope that we think would be fun to explore someday.”

Feige says “Avengers 4” is deliberately putting the focus on the original ‘Avengers’ with Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and The Hulk teaming up. He’s also indicated that despite everyone being aware of what future MCU films are coming out: “the mere fact that those films exist, people shouldn’t take any indication that they can now guess what will happen.”

Finally, Jake Gyllenhaal is NOT yet closed to play Mysterio in “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and the first “Captain Marvel” trailer is “still a few months” off and the fourth “Avengers” title won’t be revealed until after – sometime towards year’s end.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Atwell Uncertain About Reprising Peggy Carter





After several years of expressing interest in reprising the role, British actress Hayley Atwell revealed this past weekend she’s now hesitant to take on the role of Peggy Carter again for Marvel Studios.

Atwell played the role in the first two “Captain America” movies and briefly in “Ant-Man,” and notably starred in the title role in ABC’s short-lived “Agent Carter” TV series. Appearing at a Q&A panel at ACE Comic Con Seattle on Sunday, Atwell says if she were to come back to the character it would have to take a different approach:

“I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to play a beloved character for so long, as is. It’s very unusual. I wouldn’t have thought starting off in my career that that would happen. You do one character for however many months and then you go and do the next. So I think it’s an unusual position to be in – it would be very unusual to have the choice to do that again.

I think the main thing, though, is if it were – if there were interest in Netflix or in her being in a film or something – that it would have to feel… it would have to feel right. I wouldn’t want to go over old ground. It would have to be new, there would have to be higher production values so she could do more. I’d have to feel like it’s not just, you know, ‘a case a week with Peggy Carter.’

If she’s had an impact on audiences, let that impact grow, so it delights them, but I think it should be to do with more of the current climate now. What are smart issues to bring up? How to create any sort of kind of social weight, an emotional kind of gravitas to the show.

So I think on the principle of it, if somebody approached me with it, I would be appropriately kind of tentative about it. Because I would go, ‘well, but, you’ve got to convince me of why we need this, and what for, and how is this a development of the two seasons that we’ve done?’ So that’s more of the question — I’d just want to do something new with her.”

Fans have petitioned for Netflix to resurrect “Agent Carter” over the years, while critical appraisal of the show has only grown with time – some now citing it as the best thing Marvel’s TV division has done to date.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Fantastic Four Were Almost In “Deadpool 2”





Considered one of the worst films of the current superhero resurgence, 2015’s “Fantastic Four” was a train wreck of a film long before it made it into cinemas. Production dramas, extensive reshoots and all sorts of other problems led to a film widely rejected by critics and audiences.

Three years on one of the film’s writers, Jeremy Slater, has offered a slight apology on Twitter this week. Speaking about his career and recent hire to adapt Stephen King’s “The Tommyknockers” for the big screen, Slater said: “when I finally got my foot in the door, I only had three dream projects on my bucket list. One was Marvel (umm…sorry about that one, guys), one was Star Wars, and the third, of course, was Stephen King.”

The comment comes as some concept art for “Deadpool 2” has gone online from artist Alexander Lozano, art that includes the 2015 “Fantastic Four” cast reprising their roles. Sketched during the early days of development on “Deadpool 2” before director David Leitch took over the production, the art offers a new costume for each member of the team.


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However, it isn’t clear what the scene involving the Fantastic Four would have entailed. We do know at one time Chris Evans might have reprised his role as the Human Torch from the 2005 incarnation of “Fantastic Four” for the X-Force interview scene, but again that idea was chucked out before it got going. “Deadpool 2” comes to disc tomorrow.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Hemsworth Reflects On First Two “Thor” Films





In the individual Marvel franchises, quality has varied greatly. “Iron Man” had a great start, a widely disliked second and a highly divisive third entry. “Guardians” had a beloved first film and a more mixed second. “Captain America” had the best run with two good films bookending a great one in between.

Then there’s “Thor”. Kenneth Branagh’s initial entry is space opera extraordinaire with all its gilded camp trampings intact – it’s neither really hated or loved but how much people like it varies greatly. Alan Taylor’s ‘The Dark World’ has its defenders but often deservedly sits at the bottom of the entire MCU canon.

Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok” was widely beloved upon release and is still seen as a very welcome tonal shift towards more comedy and pulp trappings, even as its relative thinness means it wears out quickly. In a new interview with GQ, the franchise’s star Chris Hemsworth gets fairly honest about the previous films, saying after ‘The Dark World’ the change was very much needed:

“The first one is good, the second one is meh. What masculinity was, the classic archetype – it just all starts to feel very familiar. I was so aware that we were right on the edge.”

He adds that the big change that Waititi brought was to switch the masculine role model, changing it up from the classic action hero role to someone still definitely masculine but much more fun an interesting. That role model? Kurt Russell:

“Not to say that Kurt Russell has ever been ‘less masculine’ than contemporary heroes. [His characters were] just more flawed than contemporary heroes.”

The quotes come as it has been revealed over at Slashfilm that the scene towards the end of “Avengers: Infinity War” where Thanos and a younger Gamora briefly talk was going to be initially a whole lot darker – namely, the Mad Titan would be walking through a river of blood.

“Avengers: Infinity War” is out on disc this week.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Snipes On Possible “Blade” Future At Marvel





Twenty years ago, the Wesley Snipes-led “Blade” effectively kicked off the current superhero movie trend with the first and still underappreciated 1998 film from director Stephen Norrington. That was followed by Guillermo del Toro’s less lore-heavy sequel that some appreciated even more, and David Goyer’s not well received “Blade: Trinity” in 2004.

Marvel Studios scored back the rights to the character a few years ago, but haven’t made any apparent progress on doing anything with them. Snipes though is convinced a fourth instalment will happen and will see him reprising the role. Speaking with VICE recently, Snipes said:

“There are a lot of conversations going around right now and we’re very blessed to have the enthusiasm and interest in something coming from that world. We’ve created two projects that fit perfectly into this world and, when people see them, I think they’re only going to have a problem with deciding which one they love the most.”

Snipes goes on to indicate he’s actually met with Marvel Studios:

“All the main execs [at Marvel] and my team, we’ve been discussing for the past two years. Everyone’s enthusiastic about it, everybody gets it. But they got a business to run and they gotta square the things that they gotta figure out before they can get to it, I guess. In the meantime, we got a business to run and our own slate of things to do so. But the next time you see something in [Blade], mark my words: What we did before is child’s play compared to what we can do now.”

Despite Snipes’ comments, the chances are seemingly very slim of another “Blade” film in the near future – certainly it wouldn’t fit in with Disney’s family audience mandate, but something for a streaming service certainly could have potential. The three previous films earned in the $130-155 million range each at the global box-office.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

Bautista Not Sure About “Guardians” Return


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-2020.2148/#post-46390

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel Plans More Female Superhero Films





As part of EW’s cover story regarding the upcoming “Captain Marvel” film this week, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke with the outlet and confirmed the company is currently developing more female-led Marvel movies and plans to announce their release in the near future.

Currently “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is the first film which includes a female hero in the title, but “Captain Marvel” will serve as the studio’s first female-led superhero film. Feige says:

“With [Ant-Man and The Wasp] and now with Captain Marvel and many movies to be announced in the near future, I’m anxious for the time where it’s not a novelty that there is a female-led superhero movie, but it is a norm. And it is less a story of, ‘Oh, look, a female hero,’ and it’s more a story of, ‘Oh, what’s this about? Who’s this character? I’m excited to see that.’ And I think we can get there.”

Asked why a female superhero solo movie took so long to develop, Feige says there are many but one of them is the wrong perception that female superhero movies are not capable of having box office success.

“I think there are a lot of reasons, not the least of which was fighting for many years the erroneous notion that audiences did not want to see a female-led hero [film] because of a slew of films 15 years ago that didn’t work. And my belief was always that they didn’t work not because they were female-led stories — they didn’t work because they were not particularly good movies.”

Feige added that the success of “Wonder Woman” made him very happy. At present, the only other announced female-led Marvel film in the works is their long-awaited and long overdue Scarlett Johansson-led “Black Widow” movie which Cate Shortland is directing.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

The Marvel Studios Films Get A Timeline





1943-1945: Captain America: The First Avenger
1995: Captain Marvel
2010: Iron Man
2011: Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor
2012: The Avengers, Iron Man 3
2013: Thor: The Dark World
2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2
2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
2016: Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming
2016-2017: Doctor Strange
2017: Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War

When the fourth “Avengers” is set is unknown at this time, we’ll find out when it opens in cinemas May 3rd 2019.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Evans Not Done As Captain America Just Yet?





Last month, as additional filming on the upcoming fourth “Avengers” wrapped, actor Chris Evans posted remarks on social media that seemed to make it pretty clear he was done with playing Captain America in the Marvel Studios films.

It wasn’t a shock, Evans’ contract is effectively up and he has expressed a desire in the past to move on. This week however, speaking with USA Today, “Avengers” co-director Joe Russo says it’s not over quite yet:

“I think it was more emotional for him than it was us because he’s not done yet. I won’t explain what that means but fans will soon understand what I’m talking about.”

Cap’s fate in the next “Avengers” is unknown at this point. Russo also touched upon when a fifth “Avengers” might happen to which he says it’ll be a long time down the road as Disney will likely try to incorporate the X-Men characters into the MCU:

“It could be a little bit of time, with the integration of Fox and all the Fox characters – I haven’t talked directly to Kevin [Feige] about it so I don’t know what his plans are – but my guess would be there would be a little bit of time to integrate some of the other characters and take their time doing that.”

The Russos also showed up at a special screening of the film the other night, hosted by Collider, and confirmed (via Slashfilm) that they initially were thinking about including the Netflix characters in the film but the complications surrounding those characters were too much to make it work.

The pair also confirms that the firing of James Gunn and uncertain future of the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” hasn’t impacted “Avengers 4” as it was done and set before Gunn was let go.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Disney+ Chief Open To Marvel Shows Continuing?





He could’ve shut down the speculation then and there but Kevin Mayer, the newly appointed head of the upcoming streaming service Disney+, has dropped comments fuelling the fire of fan belief that Marvel’s cancelled Netflix series could live on at the new service.

in the wake of the axing of “Iron Fist,” “Luke Cage” and “Daredevil,” the various companies involved from Netflix to Marvel TV, Marvel Studios, Disney, ABC Studios and more have all either kept quiet or remained decidedly vague about the post-Netflix fate of the various series.

That continues with this week’s interview with THR in which Mayer was asked directly if he would consider reviving the Marvel shows that Netflix cancelled to which he responded: “They are very high-quality shows. We haven’t yet discussed that, but I would say that’s a possibility.”

What is known is that due to contractual clauses, none of the shows could appear again on any other service until late 2020 at the very earliest. That also assumes Disney simply won’t reboot the property either to avoid the expense of bringing back creative teams and actors no longer under contract – assuming they could get them.

For now, no-one involved seems to want to talk about any of the shows and their fates, meaning we don’t know if they’ll come back and if so where and when. Until someone does, we probably won’t have an idea about what’s going to happen until sometime well into 2020.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel’s Feige On Merger Impact In 2019





We’re still not sure what lies ahead for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2020 and beyond, and some of the biggest questions relates to the Disney/Fox merger which is expected to be completed early next year.

Once that done, Fox’s Marvel properties like “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” will come under the control of Disney and Marvel Studios. Many fans expect that to mean we’ll see a new Wolverine and the like sooner, rather than later, in the MCU.

However, speaking with Playback podcast this week, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige says the company isn’t rushing ahead at this point. Asked directly about the merger and its impact on Marvel Studios he says:

“We’ve been told it’s looking very, very good and could happen in the first six months of next year. The notion of the characters coming back is great. It’s nice when a company that created all these characters can have access to all those characters. It’s unusual not to. But in terms of actually thinking about it and actually planning things, we haven’t started that yet.”

Feige also spoke about the passing of Stan Lee and offered a very touching thoughtful comment:

“I was there not for every one but for almost every cameo he’s ever shot going back to ‘X-Men’. He was very special. I’ve never heard one story of somebody meeting Stan and not being overwhelmed with excitement. He never disappointed. In some ways I never thought this day would come. Kirk Douglas just turned 102. I thought Stan was going to be there. And in the same way it doesn’t seem like he’s gone. His influence will never go away.”

Lee’s most recent on-screen appearance was a cameo in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and that film’s co-writer Rodney Rothman tells IndieWire this week that numerous versions of Lee’s scene where shot with different tones. Ultimately though they went with the version that had “the lines that had the most meaning to him”.

“Avengers: Endgame” opens April 26th 2019.

 

[Doctor Omega]

The Real Reason Edward Norton Was Fired From The MCU


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-incredible-hulk-2008.878/page-2#post-54999

 

[Doctor Omega]

Fox Scraps Its Marvel Films In Development?





Not unexpectedly, a new report indicates that 20th Century Fox is officially ending development of almost all further Marvel projects as the Disney acquisition of Fox is expected to be complete in either February or March.

Film journo Daniel Richtman reports that previously teased “Gambit,” “Doctor Doom” and “Silver Surfer” films are all dead, even with rumors of Fox trying to get “Gambit” into production this year.

It also puts a big question mark over the “X-Force” film which wanted to shoot in coming months. The nearly completed “Dark Phoenix” and “The New Mutants” are still being released as planned, with another report at Observer indicating the reshoots on ‘Phoenix’ have pushed its budget up towards the $200 million mark.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Reed Talks Scrapped “Fantastic Four”

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/fantastic-four-2005.1327/#post-55336