Tag: Marvel Studios

Cate Shortland to direct ‘Black Widow’

After searching through almost 70 directors, THR reports that Australian born director Cate Shortland will helm a standalone BLACK WIDOW film starring Scarlett Johansson.

Best known for Somersault, Lore, and most recently Berlin Syndrome, Shortland’s career has been defined by intimate portraits of women. Johansson herself is said to have had a hand in selecting Shortland from the longlist of female directors.

As one of the longest-running characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), first appearing in Iron Man 2 back in 2010, it’s surprising it has taken this long. Johansson has reprised the role in 6 additional films, including The Avengers, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and the latter’s untitled sequel.

So little is known about the film. When last we heard, Jac Schaeffer had penned a version of script set prior to The Avengers says the source. Marvel Studios head has been talking about this film since at least 2012, and much of this will depend on the fate of the MCU following the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War next year.

Johansson has a lot coming up in the next few years. In addition to next year’s Avengers Untitled, an Untitled Noah Baumbach Project, Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, and Rupert Sander’s Rub & Tug. The latter has copped some flack for the actor, who plays the transgender Tex Gill. Coming so close to accusations of “whitewashing” in Ghost in the Shell, this is an odd move for the actor.

At any rate, the MCU dance card is also pretty full at the moment. Captain Marvel, Avengers Untitled, and Spider-Man: Far From Home are on the slate for 2019, and James Gunn has indicated that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due out in 2020. That said, Marvel has 3 untitled release dates for 2021, and one of them may just happen to have Natasha Romanoff’s name on it.

July 13, 2018
Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp

The universe shattering Avengers: Infinity War was amazing, but it all started a decade ago with a single hero finding his way. With ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we are returned to a kind of self-contained storytelling where the primary purpose is fun.

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has been under house arrest. With only a few days left on his sentence, with plans to start a security firm with his old crew, he is drawn back into the lives of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). On the cusp of finding a way of rescuing Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), lost in the Microverse 30 years before, their efforts are stymied with the sudden appearance of the Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

From the opening moments of the film, where Scott and his daughter engage an elaborate box fort game, director Peyton Reed’s key concept is “playful.” After the success of the Thomas the Tank Engine sequence in the original Ant-Man, the whole city of San Francisco and its surround is Peyton’s sandbox in this follow-up. Like Doctor Strange before it, the everyday world is merely a facade for the physics-defying action on display.

From the moment Lilly first dons the Wasp costume in the opening act, it’s also clear that this is a co-headlining film. Staggeringly, it’s taken Marvel a score of films for a female hero to be the titular lead. Her debut is one of the best and most inventive action sequences we’ve seen in a Marvel film to date, fully utilising the scale and elasticity of the heroes. The same motif is later used for comedic effect with Scott unable to control the regulation of his own size.

Yet when he does go big, both literally and figuratively, Peyton is fully in control of this ship. Old-school chases through the streets of San Francisco use embiggening and shrinking to distort our sense of scale, turning a simple chase into a discombobulating mind-melt. If ANT-MAN AND THE WASP gets tangled up anywhere, it’s in this excess. An entire subplot about a tech smuggler (played by Walton Goggins) could have been excised without any real detriment to the script.

Perhaps they were necessary due to Ghost and Pym’s former colleague Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne) acting not so much as villains as tragic anti-heroes. Pym’s rivalry with Foster does allow Douglas to take more of a central role than expected. Pfeiffer, on the other hand, is a glorifed cameo, although she owns every inch of the screen when she’s on it. Nevertheless, this is almost Lilly’s film to carry, with Rudd being just one of the support crew she has available to her.

READ MORE: Where to Start: Ant-Man and the Wasp comics you should read

It also wouldn’t be an Ant-Man film without a barrel of humour to spare. Much of it comes from Rudd’s laconic wit and physicality, the rest from the wonderfully weird Michael Peña’s Luis. In one memorable sequence, he gives us the best Drunk History retelling of the last two years while under the influence of a “truth serum.”

Dedicated Marvel fans know that they should stick around for the credits, and this one is particularly important for anyone keen to get a little more Infinity War action. Filled with sight-gags and emotional moments in equal measure, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP shows us that the smallest heroes get to have the biggest amount of fun.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2018 | US | DIR: Peyton Reed | WRITERS: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari | CAST: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5 July 2018 (AUS)[/stextbox]

July 4, 2018
Why ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is the height of serialised cinema

Even comic books took a while to have crossovers.

As hard as it is to believe, for the first 13 years of their shared publication history, Superman and Batman never teamed up on panel. That would, of course, change with World’s Finest and Justice League of America. Marvel, on the other hand, made teams their thing during their modern inception. They kicked off 1961 with Fantastic Four, and followed with X-Men and the Avengers over the next few years.

Cinematic adaptations have always preferred the solo approach. Largely stuck in the origin story and sequel cycle, studio sentiment seems to assume that audiences can only remember things that happened within the last 2 hours of their lives.

Which is what makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and Avengers: Infinity War such a monumental achievement. Over the course of 10 years and 19 films, Marvel Studios has not only mirrored the serialised storytelling of comics, but readjusted audience expectations about what a film series can be. Here we look at the very long road to Avengers: Infinity War on screen.

Killer serials

This 1944 serial was Marvel/Timely’s first licensed film – and was very different to the source material.

Serial film is nothing new, of course. Old school cinema punters would typically rock up to a Saturday matinee with at least one serial chapter, a handful or cartoons, and potentially a double feature. Even in the silent era, shows like The Perils of Pauline perfected the art of the cliffhanger ending.

During the Golden Age of cinema, some of the leading lights in serial films were based on superheroes. Flash Gordon, The Green Hornet, The Phantom, Dick Tracey, The Batman, and Captain Marvel, were just some of the serialised films running between the 1930s and the 1950s.

In fact, this period saw the first Marvel (then called Timely Comics) characters on screen in the Captain America (1944) serial, the first example of the company licencing out their characters for the money. Never mind that Cap is depicted as District Attorney Grant Gardner, carried a gun instead of a shield, and was trying to stop evil from getting their hands on the “Dynamic Vibrator.” Insert your own joke here. This was the start of cinema history.

Television: the original Netflix and thrill

So then television kind of replaced the whole cinematic serial thing for a while. With the exception of that Captain America serial in the 1940s, one that ended with the untimely death of lead actor Nick Purcell, Marvel kept the majority of their adaptations on the small screen prior to the 1980s. Along with the animated offerings of the 1960s and 1970s, there were blended efforts like Spider Super Stories from the Electric Company. In 1977, Marvel dropped the double-whammy of Spider-Man (starring Australia’s Nicholas Hammond) and The Incredible Hulk (with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno) as their two most successful live-action series to that point. It didn’t start a TV universe, but we did get random cameos from Daredevil, Thor, and of course, Stan Lee. Of the era, the 1978 Dr. Strange film is strangely good as an origin story. 1979’s Captain America and Captain America II: Death Too Soon…not so much.

READ MORE: The evolution of Spider-Man on screen: 1960s – 1990s

The road to Marvel Studios

Prior to 2008, Marvel really had no interest in world-building. Much like the comics themselves, the early superhero blockbusters were all about solo adventures. The Marvel Entertainment Group (MEG) of the 1970s and 1980s really only produced two films of note: Howard the Duck (1986) and The Punisher (1989), neither of which connected with audiences. There was a 1990 version of Captain America, and the small screen Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998) starring David Hasselhoff. Yet perhaps the most infamous is Roger Corman’s 1994 Fantastic Four: it was made but never intended to be released.

By 1997, Marvel Studios was doing two things: licensing out characters, and pumping out solo films. In this era, we got the likes of Blade (1998), X-Men (2000) and its sequels, Spider-Man (2002), Daredevil (2003), Elektra (2005), and Fantastic Four (2005). What we didn’t get was any sense of connectivity. The best we could hope for is a newspaper headline or a cameo that hinted at a world beyond the central protagonist. This would change under the Kevin Feige era at Marvel Studios.

Serial event cinema

NB: This section of the article expands on some previously published ideas on the site.

Enter modern Marvel Studios. We won’t waste your time talking about all the legal wranglings that got the studio to the point, or the crazy amount of licensing that left Marvel’s characters estranged and adrift at the various studios around Hollywood. There’s whole Wikipedia articles on that. What’s important is that Marvel Studios began a concerted effort to unify the properties they had under their control. More importantly, it marked a change in the way a major studio was approaching storytelling, stepping away from the singles and doubles approach of a successful solo franchise and a possible sequel or threequel.

When Marvel Studios first launched Iron Man in 2008, it could have all ended there. There was a brief post-credits sequence that introduced Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his idea for the “Avengers Initiative.” If Iron Man flopped, it would have been a fun Easter egg. Except that it didn’t, and that small reference turned into a multi-hero adventure in Iron Man 2 (2010). The remainder of the Phase One films, as we now know them, were strictly solo adventures, occasionally teasing what would happen next. Yet when they culminated in Joss Whedon’s Avengers (2012), cinema audiences saw something on screen that had literally never been done before.

What followed is perhaps even more remarkable. The confidence to expand the Marvel Universe led to even more interesting properties being introduced to cinema audiences. In a bygone era, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ant-Man (2015), or Doctor Strange (2017) would have been a couple of crazy studio outings that critics and audiences half-expected to sink without a trace. Under the auspices of the Marvel Cinematic Universe they became stepping stones to a bigger story, where the smallest of characters (literally in the case of Ant-Man) could have a huge impact in a later entry. Even the traditional sequels – Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and to some extent Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – were as much about the lead characters interacting with a wider world of heroes and villains than they were about a solo resolution.

Comic books as movies

The success of these films relies in part on their storied comic book history. The very fact that decades of Marvel Comics exist allows for a certain amount of shorthand in cinematic storytelling. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel dispensed with the origin story entirely for a reinterpretation of a Millennial Peter Parker who grew up in the shadow of Tony Stark and his tower. This was also possible thanks to the many previous appearances of Spidey on screen, and the well structured universe Marvel had created around him. 2018’s Black Panther followed a similar route, acting as the connective tissue between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

READ MORE: Reviewing the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Yet as the films start to mirror the comic book formatting even more closely, with regular biannual installments punctuated by events, the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins to carry some of the weight of its printed counterpart’s woes. The comic books themselves have become so impenetrable that publishers are constantly looking for new tactics to draw in increasingly dwindling audiences, drawing criticism for endless reboots and crossovers. These blockbuster films are not giant advertisements for the comics, but instead offer a streamlined version of continuity that highlights the printed industry’s outdated practices.

In this vein, the MCU has now become the pinnacle of serialised storytelling. What we have with the MCU is a reversal of the Golden Age model: the serial is the main event, leaving everything else as a B-feature in its wake. Marvel is so confident of this storytelling model that they are willing to leave us on a cliffhanger at the end of Avengers: Infinity War and release two prequels (Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel) in the interim. While this might put some additional burden on the audience, asking them to remember plot points from almost two dozen films, it’s rare that the storytelling relies on excessive prior knowledge – it’s just enhanced by it.

The MCU will continue to grow and evolve past the (as yet untitled) fourth Avengers film. Some of the films are confirmed, while others are the subject of rampant speculation. While it isn’t the be-all and end-all of filmmaking, the box office takings continue to indicate that audiences are returning for the ride and the numbers of them are growing. The whole franchise is a bit like a cinematic whale, with audiences slowly attaching themselves like so many plankton to the unstoppable behemoth. Fears of comic book fatigue are yet to manifest at the box office, and perhaps that is because Marvel has created something that isn’t just a transactional encounter. It’s an emotional investment.

READ MORE: After Infinity War: Where does Marvel go next?

May 25, 2018
Annette Bening joins the cast of ‘Captain Marvel’

Marvel Studios has the amazing ability to conjure magnificent casting choices out of the ether, perhaps suggesting Stephen Strange himself is on staff. Now THR reports that four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening is joining the cast of CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Details of Bening’s character are under the same veil of secrecy that hides the title for the fourth Avengers film, but sources are indicating that she is some kind of “scientist.” The question remains: evil or benign?

It’s a sharp left turn from Bening’s more recent roles, which have includes smaller outings such as Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool and the Anton Chekov adaptation, The Seagull.

Bening joins Brie Larson as the titular hero, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, with Clark Gregg, and Jude Law.

READ MORE: ‘Captain Marvel’ production begins! Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace join cast

Principal photography has begun in Los Angeles. The production will also shoot on location in Fresno, California, as well as locations in Louisiana, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

It’s due to hit US cinemas ahead of the next Avengers film on 8 May 2019 from Disney.

May 10, 2018
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ trailer takes two to make a thing go right

Following the weighty magnificence of Avengers: Infinity War, it’s nice to see that the Marvel Cinematic Universe can still return to the smaller stories. Especially the microscopic ones. Director Peyton Reed’s new ANT-MAN AND THE WASP trailer is a fun and energetic and packed to the gills with action. You can check it out below.

Set to the tune of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, it shows a sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man that gets surprisingly big in parts, whipping out Giant Man in the opening moments and flipping in and out of the tinyverse from there on in. Showcasing Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) teaming up to enter the Quantum Realm, working with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to find his long lost wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), it’s everything you’d want a modern film about an Ant-person to be.

We also get to see the first real footage of Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) in action, and Laurence Fishburne and Rudd comparing size at the end of the trailer might be worth the price of admission alone. We don’t get any sense of the fate of the Avengers following Infinity War, because this film takes place shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. That said, we wouldn’t rule out any post-credits sequences giving us a hint of the rainbow connections, and where we can expect to see Scott and Hope in Avengers Untitled.

Now our only question that remains: what happens to the plumbing when they shrink that building? ANT-MAN AND THE WASP hits cinemas on 5 July 2018 in Australia, and on 6 July 2018 in the US, from Disney.

May 2, 2018
Marvel Studios unveils new ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ poster, trailer tease

If you were wondering where Scott and Hope were during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, then we finally have the answer: on this poster! On the new one sheet from Marvel Studios and Disney, Evangeline Lilly takes the lead as the MCU unleashes its latest unconventional team. They’ve also released a short video asking the big questions.

After the shocking ending of Marvel’s latest film, punters may be wondering where the story goes next. This is not the film to tell you. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is a prequel to Infinity War, taking place shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War, with Paul Rudd and Lilly reprising their roles as the titular characters.

The poster itself is a slick variation on the Marvel Studios Poster Template™®, creating a montage of the cast in various sizes and states of dismemberment. That extended cast includes Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne, Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen, and Michael Peńa. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, this racing stripe here we feel is pretty sharp.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP is released in cinemas on 5 July 2018 in Australia, and on 6 July 2018 in the US, from Disney.

May 1, 2018
After Infinity War: Where does Marvel go next?
At last Avengers: Infinity War is upon us, bringing 10 years of world-building to a suitably orgasmic crescendo. While many series might sit on their laurels, Marvel Studios already has plans for another crop of films set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So what’s next? Here we take a look at the films that are already on the slate for Phase 3, what we know lies beyond so far, and the potential films that will pad out the rest of Phase 4.

READ MORE: Reviewing the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe

While much of this article is based on educated guesses, compiling information from a variety of confirmed reports around the web, there will nevertheless be some assumed ***SPOILERS*** if you’ve not seen Avengers: Infinity War yet. So proceed at your own risk.

Finishing Phase 3 (2018 – 2019)

Before we get into the next wave of films, we’re going to have to deal with the giant purple elephant in the room: the end of Avengers: Infinity War. So rather that just throw the spoilers at you, we’ve cleverly hidden them in this toggle box. Isn’t the future great?

[toggle title=”SPOILERS – Click to reveal”]

There is, as expected, a lot of death in Avengers: Infinity War. Before the opening credits drop, Loki, Heimdall and most of the Asgardians lie dead at the feet of Thanos and his minions.

Yet the carnage doesn’t stop there. Thanos obtains the Stone in The Collector’s possession, killing the character in the process. In the middle of the film, Thanos can only gain the Soul Gem by sacrificing something or someone he loves. Cue the death of Gamora after falling from a great height. We don’t actually believe this is the last we’ll see of her, but it’s a potentially permanent death as well.

In the climax to the film, Thanos succeeds in getting his hands on all six of the Infinity Stones, killing Vision in the process. Then with the snap of his fingers, he undoes reality and rids existence of half of its population. Heroes and citizens disappear in a cloud of dust, including Bucky Barnes, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Maximoff, Parker, Quill, Strange, T’Challa, and Wilson. In a post-credits sequence, Nick Fury and Maria Hill are also dusted in a scene straight out of The Leftovers. At the last minute, Fury manages to send a signal to Captain Marvel.[/toggle]

READ MORE: Review – Avengers: Infinity War

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (5 July 2018) – The first confirmed follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War is actually a prequel of sorts. Set shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War, it will probably go a long way towards explaining where Scott Lang was during the epic event. (In fact, sharp-eared fans will notice a throwaway reference to “Clint”and “Scott” in Infinity War). In the film, as Scott struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside the Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from the past.

CAPTAIN MARVEL (8 May 2019) – Just because it’s set in the 1990s, don’t think that it won’t impact on the Avengers Untitled film below. We know it’s going to involve Skrulls, and see the return of Clark Gregg (Coulson), Djimon Hounsou (Korath), and Lee Pace (Ronan) to the MCU. It’s also hard to believe that it took Marvel 21 films to have a female-led superhero film. Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, it will be the first time we see Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, but not the first time we see evidence of her. Handy hint: stay until the very end credits of Avengers: Infinity War.

AVENGERS UNTITLED (3 May 2019) – This doesn’t even have a name yet, but this looks set to be the culmination of everything. Set photos have indicated that there is potentially some kind of time travel element. Joe Russo said we won’t know the title of the fourth Avengers film until sometime after Avengers: Infinity War. “We need people to see this movie, digest this movie, and then we can tell them what the next story is they’re going to see.” We suspect the title is a spoiler. Following the events of Infinity War, holy hell does this film have some rebuilding to do (See the spoiler section above). Speculation has been around Secret War, Secret Invasion, or even the time-travel story that Age of Ultron (the comic book) was based on.

Post-Phase 3: Known Unknowns

(2019 – 2020)

SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING SEQUEL (5 July 2019) – This is the only film we actually have completely confirmed beyond the Untitled Avengers film, thanks to Sony doing the distribution, and it is said to pick up minutes after that event. Speaking with Gizmodo, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said the film will start shooting in London in July with a globe-trotting Peter Parker: “Spidey, of course, will spend some time in New York, but he’ll spend some time in other parts of the globe.” Feige adds that “the two Avengers films that precede [the sequel] will greatly inform, probably even more so, the next movie.”

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (TBA/31 July 2020) – While the date is yet to be confirmed, we know this one has already been greenlit. In many ways, Avengers: Infinity War acts as a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.5. Still, the third Guardians film is likely to have a very different line-up of characters and, judging from at least one of the post-credits sequences in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the introduction of Adam Warlock as a major villain and/or eventual ally. It could follow the path of the comic books and introduce a team of cosmic heavy-hitters in the aftermath of a disastrous line-up change, or incorporate the likes of Tony Stark or Captain Marvel into the team as they have done more recently in print.

Phase 4: “It’s gonna be very, very different.”

(2020 – 2022)

Marvel isn’t ready to confirm what lies beyond just yet. Speaking to Den of Geek, Feige has stated that they won’t be appearing in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con this year, taking a much-needed publicity break after Avengers: Infinity War. Saying that they’ll wait until after Avengers: Untitled in 2019 to make the next wave of announcements, he compared the break to the massive slate Marvel Studios announced back in 2014. However, Disney have already indicated that they are holding places for 7 Marvel films between 2020 and 2023. Those 7 unnamed dates are as follows:
- 31 July 2020 – Untitled Marvel
- 7 May 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 30 July 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 5 November 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 18 February 2022 – Untitled Marvel
- 6 May 2022 – Untitled Marvel
- 29 July 2022 – Untitled Marvel
At least one of those (potentially 31 July 2020) can be assumed to be GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3. It is, after all the first date for 2020, and the year James Gunn indicated the sequel would probably drop. We fully expect this to be more solo adventures or the introduction of new IPs. There’s some presumed sequels, but what could the others be? Thankfully, Feige has given us a few indications on the massive press junket on the road to Avengers: Infinity War. Here’s some more guesswork:

BLACK PANTHER 2 (18 February 2022?) – The biggest original character debut in the MCU to date, with a global total of $1.3 billion and counting, you better believe that this film will be getting a sequel. Feige told Collider: “We definitely want Ryan to come back and that’s actively being worked out right now. When will it be? A lot of it will be when Ryan wants to and not rushing anything, but I think we have an idea of when it will be.”

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING “3” – This is another no-brainer, and would round out the planned films that we know about in the agreement between Sony and Marvel. If the plan sketched out above holds, it will see Peter dealing with the aftermath of another event while going back to school for his senior year. Calling it now: Spider-Man: Graduation.

ETERNALS – “One of many many many things that we are actively beginning to have creative discussions about to see if we believe in them enough to put them on a slate,” Kevin Feige has recently said in an interview, carefully choosing his words. In the comics, the groups are an advanced offshoot of humanity as part of a process begun by the Celestials. If you recall, the Celestials were mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Created by Jack Kirby as a Marvel analogue for the mythological/sci-fi work he was doing with New Gods, writer Neil Gaiman later wrote a run on the series with artist John Romita Jr. This has serious potential if they can avoid associations with the disastrous Inhumans.

BLACK WIDOW – There’s been so much talk about this film, it already feels like it’s a done deal. In fact, there was a positive chatter by Feige back in 2012. Why have they not announced anything yet? Well, the Avengers/Infinity saga is far from over, and the announcement of any film would be the biggest spoiler of them all. Red Sparrow showed us the possibilities of a Soviet spy saga with an ex-ballet dancer. Black Widow could show us how to do it right. However, in 2016 Feige commented “I would say certainly the one creatively and emotionally that we are most committing to doing is Black Widow…We think she’s an amazing character. We think Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her is amazing.” THR has also recently reported that Marvel is looking for female directors to helm the film, with Deniz Gamze Erguven (Mustang), Chloe Zhao (The Rider), Amma Asante (A United Kingdom), Maggie Betts (Novitiate) and Angela Robinson (Professor Marston and the Wonder Women) names bandied about.

NOVA – “Immediate potential,” is the phrase Feige used in conversation with Comic Book. Keeping things cosmic, the characters have already been introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy, with the events of Avengers: Infinity War offering a few hints as to their fate. The Nova Corps of the comics are a bit more like DC’s Green Lantern, with Richard Rider being a swashbuckling Hal Jordan figure prime for the screen. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s version of the character was closely tied to the modern Guardians of the Galaxy, and the aftermath of the war with Thanos. It would be a heck of a way to end a saga.

Hopeless Speculation and Wishful Drinking: To Infinity and beyond beyond

There’s a lot happening between now and 2023, and a lot more could happen. The Disney purchase of Fox is far from a done deal, so we have to cool our jets a little on any hope for the X-Men or Fantastic Four characters turning up in the MCU any time soon. We can still cross our fingers and toes, can’t we?

MOON KNIGHT has long been mentioned as a film or Netflix series in the works. It’s a no-brainer in some ways, functioning as the Marvel equivalent of a Batman character. Indeed, this kind of character has recently been the playground of the Netflix limited series. Feige has stated that there are active plans for the film, but don’t expect it to be right around the corner. Feige has said it could be “five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now.” So Phase 6 then?

FANTASTIC FOUR is a bit more of a long-shot, but there’s a little bit of weight behind the speculation. Disney is in the process of buying Fox film assets, although this is by no means a done deal. What we would love to see is the Silver Surfer and Galactus take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – or at the very least Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Tony Stark, Black Bolt, and T’Challa in a room together. You know: the Illuminati. Especially if they are joined by Professor X. Which brings us to…

AVENGERS V X-MEN is the longest shot of them all. Feige has indicated that Marvel haven’t even started thinking about films involving Fox licenced characters because so much has to happen. Marvel Studios are just getting on with the job of telling the best story they can.

Still, we can dream, can’t we?
April 27, 2018
Review: Avengers: Infinity War

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a decade old and, as of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, a total of 19 films deep. It’s a fact that will get bandied about a bit in the countless reviews that will pour onto the the Interwebs over the coming days and weeks. Some will speak of Marvel fatigue, while others will sploosh in fanboy and fangirl delight. Yet what both sides of the fence are getting at is the significance of the series on the cultural landscape.

Whether you connect with the Marvel films or not, the series of movies that began with 2008’s Iron Man have all meant something to the viewers. Whether you were introduced to the characters on the screen, or have been reading their printed adventures for decades, this series has offered an unprecedented chance to develop superheroes across a multitude of platforms. Now it’s all coming to a head.

Picking up immediately after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the Asgardian god of thunder runs afoul of universe conquering Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the Mad Titan intent on collecting the six Infinity Stones and taking over the universe, the worlds of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange intersect to stop the coming threat.

Given the scale of the film, there’s so much to process here. For much of the first act, invested audience members will sit with our sloppy grins agape at the spectacle. Some of it is simply the unique couplings of characters, such as the unlikely success of Thor and Rocket, or the Sherlocks in stereo of Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch. This is as much as celebration of character as it is an event, and it would take a separate review to list all the wonderful quips, cameos, and nods to lore.

Structured around these small clusters of teams, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is mostly an accelerating car with scant regard for the destination. A legitimate complaint might be that this bloats out the running time for the sake of giving every character time to play. This might be true, and at 149 minutes it tests audience endurance levels and bladders. Still, at this late stage in the game, isn’t that what we’ve signed up for?

The effects and photography are unsurprisingly top-notch, which is not exactly a shock for a film that reportedly cost between $300 and $400 million to put on screen. There are at least half a dozen points in the film that will rattle the roof off with audience applause, from the Wakandan battlefront to the lightning filled arrive of a certain Asgardian. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script tempers this scale with some sharp dialogue and innumerous one-liners. Indeed, James Gunn is said to have had a hand in the Guardians of the Galaxy’s lines.

Ultimately AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR needs to be considered as part of a larger whole. On one hand, directors Joe and Anthony Russo have never made any secret about this being intrinsically tied to the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers film. More than that, it’s the culmination of an idea that began as a post-credits sequence a decade ago. It’s an emotional, sometimes downbeat, and always powerful piece of storytelling. The best part? It’s not over yet.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2018 | US | DIRECTOR: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo | WRITERS: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | CAST: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 149 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 April 2018 (AUS) [/stextbox]

April 25, 2018
Reviewing the Marvel Cinematic Universe

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is the culmination of 10 years of cinematic world-building. Starting with Iron Man back in 2008, a simple post-credits sequence starring Samuel L. Jackson has spawned a franchise model that few have attempted before, and many have tried to emulate since. By the time this epic is released, the MCU will account for 19 films worth of content, 5 short films, and about 17 seasons of television. Try binge-watching that.

If we cast our minds back to 2008, the superhero landscape was very different at the time. We’d had a handful of X-Men and Spider-Man films start a series, Fantastic Four had two cracks at the bat, and even Blade has passed its third entry. Yet all of these films were isolated in their own little universe. With the release of IRON MAN, a character who had not managed to become a household name yet, there was no reason to think that this would be any different.

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PHASE 1

Iron Man (2008) ★★★★½

It all began here. Robert Downey Jr is every bit a star from scene one, completely aware that Stark’s redemption story mirrors his own (minus the weapons of mass destruction). Structurally similar to every other origin story on the horizon, director Jon Favreau wastes no time in blowing up the would-be hero. Cleverly combining elements and designs from one of the earliest comics through to more contemporary fare, the script manages to get us caring about billionaire Tony Stark and understand his motivation in less than the time it takes for a string of pearls to hit the gravel of Crime Alley. The action is all top-notch, and a few obvious CG elements aside, it’s also remarkable how much of this still works flawlessly. This was the very making of a major modern Marvel.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) ★★★½

This is sort of a bastard, green-skinned stepchild in the MCU these days, mostly because of Mark Ruffalo taking on the role since The Avengers. In fact, it’s entirely possible to take this out of the mix when rewatching the saga. Yet despite the lingering memories of Ang Lee’s Hulk only 5 years before, and the massive success of Iron Man only months before, it’s still a fun action flick that manages to tell a compact origin and get on with the business of a man trying to maintain his rage.

Iron Man 2 (2010) ★★★½

With the benefit or hindsight, and an additional 15 films to date, this sometimes messy first MCU sequel wasn’t sure if it wanted to be an Iron Man story or build a universe. In other words, it became the prototype for the next 8 years. Yet there’s still so much to love. Tony sticking it to the man over his right to party hard in a WMD. A (recast) Rhodey turning up in the War Machine armour. The first appearance of ScarJo as Black Widow, merely hinting at the character she would become. Tony in a donut hole. Everything that Sam Rockwell is doing as Justin Hammer. Howard Stark as a blatant Walt Disney figure. It isn’t always faithful to comic book lore, but the kick-ass finale in a beautiful garden is the roller coaster that we came to this theme park for.

Thor (2011) ★★★★

THOR will always hold a special place in our hearts. It was the first Marvel film we reviewed on The Reel Bits, and our first major interview (with Tom Hiddleston and Jaimie Alexander). Before Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange, this was Marvel’s biggest gamble. It would take Marvel another 2 Thor films before they realised that Led Zeppelin was absolutely necessary for heroes that come from the land of the ice and snow. Read full review >>>

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) ★★★★½

What we have here is Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first period film. What could have been a jingoistic, flag-waving bit of saccharine is given the perfect tone by Joe Johnston. Drawing on the same magic he pulled out for The Rocketeer, this is an unabashed tribute to a bygone era. Yet what makes this work the most is Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. We truly believe at all points he is simply a man who doesn’t like bullies. Read full review >>>

The Avengers (2012) ★★★★

The culmination of a four-year plan, this takes the principle of escalation and amps up the action incrementally throughout the film, leading us to a conclusion that is just as massive as the finales that have since tried to one-up it in later chapters. Read full review >>>

PHASE 2

Iron Man 3 (2013) ★★★★½

This one divides audiences, but we love it. Taking the Extremis storyline of the comic books and infusing it with Shane Black’s unmistakable rhythm, it began Phase 2 with right amount of scale and humour. A legitimate case can be made against Sir Ben Kingsley’s depiction of The Mandarin, but all is forgiven with the All Hail the King Marvel One-Shot anyway. Read full review >>>

Thor: The Dark World (2013) ★★★★

Continuing the divisiveness of Phase 2, it’s a film that certainly has its problems, not least of which is the lack of a strong villain and the occasionally inconsistent tone. Yet it’s also one of the first MCU films to fully embrace the full extent of the cosmic universe, and for that it will always remain jaw-dropping. Read full review >>>

Captain America: The Winter Solder (2014) ★★★★★

It’s The Shield vs S.H.I.E.L.D.! Back in 2014, we rashly declared this “the best Marvel film to date.” Of course, Guardians of the Galaxy came out a few months later making it a short-lived title. A throwback spy thriller with impeccable action, it addresses the idea of what powerful organisations do with their influence during times of great fear, not just in the wider plot but within the interpersonal relationships as well. Read full review >>>

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) ★★★★★

There are some comics that are just made for the big screen, and this group pops straight out of the panels. A crazy concept pays off in spades as the group of misfits join the big leagues to show the rest how it’s done. It is hard to imagine a more perfect comic adaptation, or a straight-up more enjoyable film, than this. Now: where’s that new Howard the Duck movie? Read full review >>>

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ★★★½

The capstone sequel takes everything up several notches, and can barely keep it all inside. The first film to actually show a fully-functioning Avengers coming out of the gate, it’s a film that has its problems. Whedon’s biases are on his sleeve, including a second wisecracking Tony Stark in Ultron. It becomes increasingly obvious in the final scenes that Whedon was more interested in bringing Scarlet Witch to the screen that anything else, so it’s best to view this as a hinge in a bigger story. Read full review >>>

Ant-Man (2015) ★★★

There’s a lot to like here. The rapid-fire dialogue (especially from Michael Peña) and the deadpan Paul Rudd makes this instantly distinguishable from its predecessor. The climactic Thomas the Tank Engine train fight is ridiculously inventive and clever, a throwback to high-concept films from the 1980s. Yet the tone is also incredibly inconsistent. Humour slaps up against a familiar plot of corporate rivalry and conflicting ideals for technology – in fact that it was largely the basis for the Obadiah Stane character in 2008’s Iron Man. Read full review >>>

PHASE 3

Captain America: Civil War (2016) ★★★★

Sure, both Tony and Steve go from rational to jerk far too quickly, and the length is more noticeable in a repeat viewing. This is one of the instances where less would be more. Having said that, the film distills 100+ comics down into a manageable debate. It’s also the film that introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man to the MCU. Read full review >>>

Doctor Strange (2016) ★★★★

One of most straightforward origin narratives, but also surrounded by the MCU’s most visually inventive and beautiful worlds, opening up a vast Multiverse for the first time. In Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius, the series finally overcomes Marvel’s issue with uninspiring villains. Although single-minded, and to some extent one-dimensional, he provides a solid focal point for Strange’s mono-mythic journey. Also: TILDA. SWINTON. Read full review >>>

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) ★★★

An all-out melee happens just off-camera, and our attention remains on the adorable Baby Groot. Drax might mistake this for a metaphor for the entire film. If we’re going to criticise Marvel films for underdeveloped villains, we need to point out GOTGV2’s total absence of one until about 90 minutes in.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) ★★★★

Larb. The Infinite Spider-Verse expanded a little more with this outing. Or is it Iron Man 3.5? After 5 Spidey flicks in 15 years, it’s amazing there’s still an original take to be had. Larb. Plus: a Spidey fully integrated into the MCU was worth waiting for. How many times do I have to say larb? Read full review >>>

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) ★★★★½

One of Marvel’s most grand and epic stories is also one of its funniest. It’s disarming, charming, and ridiculously fun: so now you’d better stop and rebuild all your ruins. Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost’s script flies by the seat of its pants through a narrative that is equal parts Norse mythology and pure comic bookery. Strangely this is never a detriment to the film, and it should come as no surprise that the god of thunder works best when placed in the heart of a swirling maelstrom. Read full review >>

Black Panther (2018) ★★★½

The first half of this film is magical, mystical, and magnificent, one in which the Afrofuturism of Wakanda is given ample time to evolve. Most criticisms can be confined to the final act of the film (and arguably the South Korean car chase) in which the digital rag doll fight could have been lifted out of literally any film. Still, in the marketing for Avengers: Infinity War, Wakanda serves as a large part of the narrative. The superb Shuri (Letitia Wright) needs her own movie. Read full review >>>

Avengers: Infinity War (Coming Soon)

Which leads us to here.: the culmination of 10 years of cinematic world-building, and the historic screen union of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a bunch of other heroes that will require wider screens for us to fit them all in. You better believe a full review is coming soon.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is in Australian cinemas on 25 April 2018, despite Karl Stefanovic’s best attempts to get us to sit quietly in a darkened room and think about ourselves. It hits (most of) the rest of the world on 27 April 2018.

April 23, 2018
‘Captain Marvel’ production begins! Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace join cast

Carol Corps have a new reason to rejoice: Marvel Studios has announced the start of filming on CAPTAIN MARVEL, the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’ve also given us the first official look at Brie Larson as Carol Danvers. It’s due to hit US cinemas on 8 May 2019.

Principal photography has begun in Los Angeles. The production will also shoot on location in Fresno, California, as well as locations in Louisiana, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The really interesting bits and pieces come with the official cast list. Marvel lists Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, with Clark Gregg, and Jude Law.

A couple of those names stand out as familiar, especially in the case of Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, and Lee Pace, who played Agent Coulson, Korath, and Ronan the Accuser respectively in the MCU. They are all distinct for not faring so well at the end of The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy respectively. This is because CAPTAIN MARVEL has been pegged as a prequel, previously announced to be set in the 1990s.

This looks like it will all come together to form somethnig distinct in the MCU, although we always worry when the writing team is referred to as an “all star collective.” Indeed, there are seven credited writers: Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch, and directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.

March 27, 2018