Fun Marvel Shared Universe

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel Chief Talks Superhero Fatigue





With so many superhero films dominating the box-office and the film conversation, there’s also been the obvious talk of ‘superhero fatigue’. The talk has been there for years now, even as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to climb new box-office heights.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke Variety this week and says all that talk is poppycock, and he has $17.5 billion in global box office in global box-office success to prove him right:

“Not only has there not been the quote-unquote superhero fatigue that people have been asking me about since years before ‘Iron Man,’ but here we are having our biggest year ever. Our instincts have always guided us, and the successes have always just encouraged us to keep following those instincts.”

Marvel Studios has “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” coming in 2019, and later this year are expected to announce their future plans for the next few years.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Paltrow Retires As Pepper Potts… Mostly





As part of a long interview with Variety this morning, actress Gwyneth Paltrow says that after this Summer’s “Avengers: Endgame” she’s planning on retiring her Marvel Cinematic Universe character of Pepper Potts – the love interest of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).


Paltrow has played the role in all three “Iron Man” films, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and three of the four “Avengers” films including ‘Endgame’. She tells the trade: “I mean, I’m a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point. I feel very lucky that I did it, because I actually got talked into it.”

While Paltrow won’t commit to any more sequels, she does leave open the possibility that she could make a cameo down the line so long as it’s a short one: “I feel honored to be a part of something that people are so passionate about. Of course, if they said, ‘Can you come back for a day?,’ I will always be there if they need me.”

Paltrow spends most of her time now running her lifestyle brand Goop.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Merger Impacting “Dark Phoenix” Marketing





The Disney-Fox merger is expected to be completed mid-week with en masse layoffs to begin shortly after. Nearly 7,500 people are expected to be let go as a result.


That threat has long been looming over key marketing personnel at Fox, so much so many have already reportedly jumped ship. As part of a feature piece in Vanity Fair(via CBM, it has been revealed key positions that would normally oversee the marketing of major blockbusters are currently being managed by consultants and temp workers.

The article indicates longtime employees have spent much of last year and this in a kind of “prolonged trauma” with lots of vague guidance and a lack of business directives. This has apparently impacted the marketing of Fox films in recent months with filmmakers meeting with a handful of high-end consultants temporarily taking jobs recently vacated by long-term employees. Once in the job, they are reportedly offering a more ad hoc approach to selling films.

The magazine quotes sources who explain what a meeting about “Dark Phoenix” was like in February between filmmakers and these temp marketing and distribution departments execs:

Attendee #1: “We know when we are dropping a trailer, but we are nowhere near where we should be at this time. It’s frightening. I would be mad if I were a filmmaker.

Attendee #2: “What’s not normal is the elephant in the room, which is that most people there are not going to be the people that are still in the job when the movie opens.”

Attendee #3: “Nobody has come around and said, ‘This is what’s going on.’ Why can’t they just tell us that there is no place for us? Why can’t they let anyone know? We are not leaving because we didn’t make money for the company or we did a bad job. We are leaving because of pure capitalism.”

How much Disney intends to actually commit to pushing “Dark Phoenix” ahead of its June release isn’t clear at this point, especially with the possibility they could well make some “X-Men” reboot announcements a month later.

20th Century Fox has annually pumped out around 12-20 theatrical releases a year, the piece indicates once it’s merged with Disney and essentially a label within that company, that rate will be reduced to 3-5 theatrical releases a year

 

[Doctor Omega]

Disney Shuts Down Fox 2000 Division





In a surprise decision in the immediate wake of its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Disney Studios is shutting down the Fox 2000 division.


The group has championed mid-range releases and underserved demographics, and indications were it was going to remain intact after the merger even if its content was likely to be shuffled more towards Disney+ and Hulu.

The division has also produced numerous critical and/or commercial hits in recent years including “Hidden Figures,” “Life of Pi,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Love, Simon,” and “The Hate U Give”.

Joe Wright’s “The Woman in the Window” starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman will be the final film released by the label when it arrives in cinemas in October. The news follows a day of departures at Fox as numerous execs have been given their marching orders.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Don’t Expect Marvel “X-Men” Films Until 2022?





The Fox-Disney deal is complete with the “X-Men,” “Fantastic Four” and “Deadpool” franchises now officially back at Disney and under the purview of Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige like fans have been apparently clamouring for.


However, those hoping to see a new Wolverine joining the “Avengers” anytime soon – you’re in for a long wait. A new report in THR indicates the challenges of the two studio’s integration has only just begun with producing deals on the franchise needing to be either untangled or resolved first – including Lauren Shuler Donner and possibly Simon Kinberg’s deals.

Marvel Studios has not publicly revealed any plans for integrating Fox’s Marvel characters into its cinematic universe as yet, though Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is said to have “met with several members of the “X-Men” old guard in recent months”. One is Noah Hawley who was penning a “Doctor Doom” film for Fox and has downplayed the seriousness of those discussions.

Disney’s release schedule contains five untitled Marvel movies – two in 2020 and three in 2021 – but it remains unclear if an “X-Men” or “Fantastic Four” movie could make it onto the calendar in time. “Black Widow” and “The Eternals” are looking the likeliest to take the 2020 slots while “Shang-Chi,” “Doctor Strange 2,” “Black Panther 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” are all seemingly being lined up for 2021 and potentially spilling over into 2022.

This would suggest Marvel, unless it has something ready to go, won’t be utilising the newly arrived heroes in full force until probably 2022. The new characters arrive as “Avengers: Endgame” is expected to be the swan song for some of the key characters who helped launch Marvel Studios with Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man likely to bow out.

Disney has also inherited five projects from Fox that will be made – the currently filming adaptations of R.L. Stine’s “Fear Street,” the Ryan Reynolds-led ‘guy living in a video game’ film “Free Guy,” the Matt Reeves-produced comic adaptation “Mouse Guard,” Steven Spielberg’s upcoming “West Side Story” remake, and Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptation “Death on the Nile” with Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

the Matt Reeves-produced comic adaptation “Mouse Guard,”

If you guys haven't read any of these books, you owe it to yourself to find them.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Chris Evans Talks “Endgame” & His Politics





The Marvel Cinematic Universe features actors who seem very much like their characters in real life – Robert Downey, Jr. is flippant and charming, Chris Hemsworth is a godly physical specimen of good humour, and Chris Evans is seemingly a noble symbol of doing what’s right for the little guy.


Evans, in particular, is famous for not staying silent on social media. The actor uses his Twitter account on a daily basis to offer education and inspiration. He also doesn’t keep his political opinions to himself, including his dislike of the current Trump administration in the United States, and interestingly neither Marvel Studios or Disney has tried to censor him so far.

Speaking with THR, Evans discussed why he refuses to stay silent:

“You don’t want to alienate half your audience, but I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up. Especially for fear of some monetary repercussion or career damage – that just feels really gross to me. Marvel has never said anything. On the contrary – when I bump into Kevin Feige [Marvel Studios president] the first thing out of his mouth is ‘Man, I love what you’re doing [on Twitter].'”

Kevin Feige himself is all for it, saying to Evans: “I don’t see it as trash-talking. I see it as very astute, very honorable, very noble, very Cap-like. Commentary and questioning. I’ve said to him, ‘You’re merging! You and the character are merging!'”. Evans responded to that saying: “The characters I play do a lot of that heavy lifting. If people knew me – I’m just an a–hole.”

Evans also discussed the emotional final chapter of the MCU’s current saga with “Avengers: Endgame” and says “this one’s really good. I choked up like three times” and he can’t believe they cut together a trailer because “so much of it is a visual spoiler”.

“Avengers: Endgame” will hit theaters on April 26th.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Russos Re-Affirm “Secret Wars” Desire





Filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo are stepping away from Marvel Studios after “Avengers: Endgame” with no immediate plans to return for more films with the company for the next few years.

The pair, who’ve directed four of the biggest films in the franchise, the last two back-to-back, need an understandable break. If they were to return however, it would have to be for something big and recently they reconfirmed to MTV Newstheir desire for an adaptation of the ‘Secret Wars’ storyline from the comics:

“I keep saying Secret Wars ’cause that was one of the first books that I really fell in love with as a kid…this notion of event storytelling. That’s part of the reason that we gravitate so strongly towards these event films and these ensemble films is that the notion that you can contain so many different characters, and so many different points of view, and galvanize them around a story point is really compelling to us.”

In that twelve-issue crossover story, Marvel heroes are pulled into the alternate, wartorn dimension Battleworld by The Beyonder where it becomes a battle between a team of heroes (Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic 4 & Spider-Man goodies) vs. villains (Doctor Doom, Ultron, Doc Ock, Enchantress, Kang, Klaw, and in part Galactus).

The storyline, along with DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, birthed the cycle of major crossover events tied to comic book lines.

 

[Doctor Omega]

In that twelve-issue crossover story, Marvel heroes are pulled into the alternate, wartorn dimension Battleworld by The Beyonder where it becomes a battle between a team of heroes (Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic 4 & Spider-Man goodies) vs. villains (Doctor Doom, Ultron, Doc Ock, Enchantress, Kang, Klaw, and in part Galactus).

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

My only issue is that they've already done Venom, so they can't include the black suit in the story. Otherwise, I say do it!

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel Puts “X-Men” On Ice For Near Future?





Marvel Studios closes out its first decade of business with “Avengers: Endgame” in just a little over two weeks from now and those hoping to see a new Wolverine unfurl his claws in the post-credits scene – you’re out of luck.

Though Disney and Marvel have acquired the rights to 20th Century Fox’s Marvel properties, they’ve not been making much in the way of plans for them.

In fact Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, out doing press for ‘Endgame’ this week, says much of their post-Endgame plans were set in place before Disney bought Fox and so working them into the MCU is going to take time:

“It’ll be a while. It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of [the Fox sale] was set. So, really, it’s much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where [the X-Men will appear] right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they’re home. That they’re all back. But it will be a very long time.”

This would suggest Marvel will put the X-Men on ice for a few years and probably won’t even begin to bring them back until sometime well into next decade. With two “X-Men” films this year, and eleven previous ones since 2000, the franchise resting for a few years is not a huge surprise.

However, Feige’s comments don’t rule out “Deadpool” which is considered separate to the MCU anyway, or the possibility of a “Fantastic Four” reboot.

In terms of MCU films “Black Widow” and “The Eternals” are seemingly set for next year, “Shang-Chi” and “Doctor Strange 2” for 2021, and “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” for 2022 with further “Black Panther,” “Spider-Man” and “Captain Marvel” sequels likely.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel Puts “X-Men” On Ice For Near Future?


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-mcu-vs-fox-sony-rights.2533/page-3#post-58261

 

[Doctor Omega]

In terms of MCU films “Black Widow” and “The Eternals” are seemingly set for next year, “Shang-Chi” and “Doctor Strange 2” for 2021, and “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” for 2022 with further “Black Panther,” “Spider-Man” and “Captain Marvel” sequels likely.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Disney Denies the Request of a Grieving Father

.

 

[Doctor Omega]

The Sad Reason Spider-Man Will Be Cut From The MCU

Peter Parker continues to have bad luck with his parents.

While his real mom and dad are long gone, Spider-Man's real-world guardians Disney and Sony have been disputing over how best to look after him.

The web-flinging vigilante is a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to two Tom Holland-starring films - 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home. He's also made a handful of appearances in the MCU's ensemble movies - but he's always remained the property of Sony Pictures.

For months now, Disney, Marvel Studios, and Sony have been in talks over how to split financial stakes in the Spider-Man franchise as they worked to update the shared custody deal they struck in 2015. That landmark agreement allowed Marvel to have access to the Spider-Man character while Sony retained ownership.

The stand-off reportedly ended on August 20, when, according to Deadline, the two companies failed to reach an agreement.

The inability to strike new terms in a deal, which would have seen Disney obtaining a co-financing stake in the property, means that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will no longer produce Spider-Man films. Furthermore, Marvel will cease any involvement in the Holland-starring Spidey universe moving forward - meaning that Spider-Man is swinging away from the MCU and crawling back into Sony's web.

Deadline's sources indicated that the talks ended because of a disagreement over money. Disney is said to have requested a 50 percent co-financing stake in future Spider-Man films - of which there are reportedly two, anticipated to feature both actor Tom Holland, and Jon Watts returning in the director's chair. The talks also involved Disney potentially extending that stake into other Spider-Man-adjacent films, like the growing Venom franchise.

A 50 percent stake is a hefty increase from Marvel Studios' current share of the Spider-Man movie series, which is "five percent of first dollar gross" - or the money that a film makes during its first day out in theaters. Sony wanted to keep that deal intact, Disney didn't, and so Disney came forward with its own proposition.

As Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. put it, Sony executives, quote, "turned that offer down flat" - apparently not even approaching Disney with a counteroffer. According to the report, the studio had no interest in splitting ownership over what has become its most commercially successful franchise. It's probably not a coincidence that just a day before this news broke, Spider-Man: Far From Home officially edged out Skyfall to become Sony's highest-earning movie ever.

Kevin Feige, a big fan of Spider-Man, reportedly had every intention of continuing to produce movies featuring the teen hero if Disney and Sony were able to renegotiate terms.
Sony is clearly confident that the franchise has a bright future ahead without Feige or Marvel Studios involved in producing it.

In addition to the now Sony-controlled Spider-Man sequels, the studio is confirmed to be working on a sequel to Venom directed by Andy Serkis, a Morbius: The Living Vampire movie starring Jared Leto, and a film centered on Kraven the Hunter. According to Deadline, they're also still working on that Black Cat/Silver Sable thing they've been trying to get made forever.

The big question surrounding this news is how it will affect the MCU, which has heavily featured Spider-Man in its overarching narrative up to this point. In just a handful of movies, Holland's Spider-Man went from a spunky kid who played pinch hitter during one tense airport battle to a universe-travelling hero who would put his life on the line to save other people.

Peter Parker also developed a deeply moving dynamic with Tony Stark, serving as his protégé-on-the-rise and standing as the closest thing to a son that Tony ever had. For Marvel fans, now it looks like they're both gone.

It seems like Spider-Man will never again cross paths with other MCU heroes, and will instead spend his next few movies cozying up to characters in Sony's Spidey universe.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Poor Spidey......


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/marvel-shared-universe.861/page-4#post-59792

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

Marvel movies in order: release date
If you'd prefer to watch the MCU movies in release order, you'll want this list, which starts with Iron Man in 2008 and end in 2019's Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Watching the Marvel movies in this fashion makes for a great nostalgia fest, and you'll see how the MCU films steadily improve with time as their budgets spike up. We've also included the future MCU Phase 4 release dates below so you know what's coming up.
Phase One

• Iron Man (2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Thor (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

Phase Two

• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)

Phase Three

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Black Panther (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Captain Marvel (2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Phase Four

• Black Widow (November 6, 2020)
• The Eternals (February 12, 2021)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (May 7, 2021)
• Untitled third Spider-Man movie (November 5, 2021)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (February 11, 2022)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (March 25, 2022)

The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

• Black Panther 2 (May 6, 2022)
• Captain Marvel 2 (July 8, 2022)
• Untitled Marvel movie (likely Ant-Man 3, October 7, 2022)
• Blade (TBD)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (TBD)
• Untitled Fantastic Four film (TBD)

 

[Doctor Omega]

Keith David Was Almost Marvel's MODOK - Dark Horizons

Once Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige took control of Marvel Television, many of the previous titles in development under former head Jeph Loeb were abandoned. One such title was a “New Warriors” series for Freeform with a full cast announced back in 2017. Ordered to series, a pilot was...

www.darkhorizons.com