Breaking Down Marvel, DC Updates, CinemaCon Showdown with ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Captain America 4’ Footage, ‘Super/Man’ Christopher Reeve Doc, ‘Spider-Man 4’ Release, A Director Scoreboard
Plus, my thoughts on Craig Gillespie directing ‘Supergirl,’ Julia Garner's ‘The Fantastic Four’ casting, my ‘Blade’ recasting skepticism is furthered, and Marvel’s increasing UK presence.
Welcome back to the first April issue of TheTrailBlazer newsletter! Pardon for the delay, as I had waited for further verification on some reports and listings, and then rummaged threw all of the CinemaCon presentations to gather my thoughts and details on them to share with you all. I have another round of production updates to discuss, so much that I’ve decided to split up this next issue into two parts. This first one is solely focused on the superhero side of the content with capes, shields, spiders, vampires, mercs, and more, while the second will be for all of the miscellaneous films and TV series productions. Be sure to be on the lookout for that one, which should be out within this next week.
In this issue, I break down the production updates and tidbits for various Marvel Studios productions on the horizon. These include the Disney+ series-turned-feature film Armor Wars, the tentatively titled Avengers 5, the X-Men reboot pic, Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi 2 production, and the WandaVision spin-off Vision Quest, as well as some updates on the DC Studios front with the second season of Peacemaker and clarity on Booster Gold’s schedule. Included below are some interesting premises, obvious yet relieving castings, and production schedules tucked away in Rich Browski’s reputable production listing magazine Production Weekly’s latest two issues to discuss. I also analyze Marvel’s relocation to the United Kingdom for many of these productions and what may be the driving cause behind it (other than tax incentives), compared to DC Studios which appears to be doing the opposite, for now.
I also have some thoughts on Craig Gillespie flying to DC to direct their Supergirl film, Julia Garner’s casting as the Shalla-Bal version of the Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four which caused an unnecessary cosmic stir, my ongoing presumption that Blade is close to putting another star in the coffin (figuratively, of course), and when Spider-Man 4 may release and who could possibly direct it with all of its swinging production hurdles now that Drew Goddard has entered The Matrix 5 and is clearly out of the spider’s web, and my thoughts on Sam Raimi possibly directing it, among others. Puns and wordplay aside, I’m very serious with this.
All subscribers can enter ablaze for the Marvel and DC goodies and my analysis on these recent production developments, while paid subscribers can access The Trail House column of TheTrailBlazer to figure out when Spider-Man 4 may release and to indulge in my scoreboard for its prospective director candidates.
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Superheroes at CinemaCon Recapped: DC Studios Wows with Emotional ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’ Documentary, Touts “Summer of Superman” While Marvel Delivers Serious Punches, Fun Multiversal Shenanigans
As Marvel Studios and DC Studios both attended the National Association of Theatre Owner’s prestigious CinemaCon event with anticipations and concerns high for the superhero franchise to perform and keep movie theaters afloat, the two competing studios pulled out all the stops and didn’t spare many details in their showcase of their upcoming feature fare to exhibitors.
Going into this summer, the film industry is still wrestling with the stark reality of superhero fatigue, evidenced by a significant downturn in box office revenue for superhero and anticipated blockbuster films in 2023. This decline has been exacerbated by the Hollywood labor strikes and disputes that occurred in the middle of last year, creating a perfect storm of challenges for Hollywood’s major film studios to get it right. These events have triggered a widespread reevaluation of the established norms surrounding mega franchises that had dominated the landscape since 2019, being particularly lead by fan and audience commentaries across social media expressing skepticism and even criticism of the status quo made-by-committee studio model.
The landscape of these mega franchises, which was already disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, is now facing further upheaval due to cultural, technological, and socioeconomic shifts in society today, as exhibited by cultural reckonings surrounding topics of race, gender, sexuality, individualism, and community, advancements in technologies with chatbots and text-to-image models (including deepfakes) ushered in by generative artificial intelligence (AI), and the ever-increasing economic precarity across generational, cultural, and racial lines coupled with the renewed leverage of labor power over issues of wage growth (or lack thereof), work-life balance, harassment in the workplace, and corporate share buybacks. These are all pressing issues that now encapsulate our world in the new normal of work for the creative industries. This all just goes to show that the once-unstoppable momentum of these mega franchises has been significantly altered, and this is now prompting stakeholders in these franchises to reassess their strategies and business models in light of evolving audience preferences and market dynamics.
That is why Marvel’s dedication to the theatrical experience after unsuccessfully experimenting with their release strategy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and their unconventional streaming television model, which were both more hit-or-miss in terms of overall performance, is seen to be of the utmost importance. Their shift into building up content for streaming on Disney+ and experimenting with the theatrical release timeframe was not received well by some of their actors (namely Scarlett Johansson and Simu Liu) and saw some behind-the-scenes shake-ups (from the likes of Jeremy Slater quitting Moon Knight, Jessica Gao taking over She-Hulk in post-production, the whole Secret Invasion debacle, and the Daredevil: Born Again creative overhaul). Marvel and Disney are in desperate need of another huge hit. They can’t just count on nostalgia fare such as Spider-Man: No Way Home or Avengers: Endgame for guaranteed success every time.
I was pleased to see Marvel propping up different spins on their some of their characters and most popular IP that harkened back to what made the MCU so rich and diverse for a shared universe in the first place: How a multitude of characters that were so niche and of their own distinct flavor and styles from various distinct worlds could coexist in the same world without detracting from what makes them original from one another. As Marvel has grown and been successful, they have lost sight of how they got to that point, and it seems they have learned some right lessons along the rocky road of the past few years.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who is known for putting on a good show with these presentations, truly delivered with enough material to splash cold water on those fatigue concerns for just enough time to highlight Marvel’s next two major releases: the ever-still provocative and raunchy Deadpool & Wolverine and the political thriller Captain America: Brave New World.
For Deadpool & Wolverine, Feige touted the R-rated superhero pic in a rather unconventional, non-Disney way for the producer, saying “It’s fucking awesome!” before proceeding to drop two more F-bombs, much to the shock and delight of exhibitors. Feige attested that he could do so because of the pic’s R-rating, and the Marvel chief going all in and embracing the unfiltered language of the Merc with a Mouth cements that the studio is totally on board with the direction of the character from the first two Deadpool films at 20th Century Fox. This third one, which director Shawn Levy insists is not Deadpool 3 as it had long been called, is Marvel’s only theatrical release this year, bowing July 26, 2024. Of course, that doesn’t count for Sony’s Marvel titles, such as the earlier release Madame Web or their forthcoming Kraven the Hunter and Venom: The Last Dance. Those were absent from the convention, anyway.
Because of this, Marvel Studios needs it to do incredibly well at the box office and with critics and audiences alike. The addition of Hugh Jackman reprising his role as X-Men favorite hero Wolverine after retiring from the role following the character’s death in James Mangold’s 2017 pic Logan is sure to draw a huge chunk of fans who swore off later installments of the X-Men and Marvel franchises by playing into that nostalgia that the Fox films have.
And Marvel is betting on this film being successful. They pulled out all the stops at the convention by showcasing a Deadpool-styled public service announcement with the foul-mouthed antihero that is intended to play as an in-theater ad for the film after it was screened at CinemaCon last week. The spot features Deadpool sharing his Secret Wars theories with Wolverine, obviously teasing the upcoming film Avengers: Secret Wars, although every time the merc tries to say what rumors he’s heard will happen in the film (a reference to the rumor mill that the MCU franchise has long been associated with, and a nice nod to the rampant rumor discussion surrounding Avengers: Endgame ahead of its release), Deadpool is interrupted by a cellphone ringing.
The repeated cellphone ringings, and funnily enough not Deadpool’s antics, are enough to piss off Wolverine, who directly addresses the camera with some crude bleeped out F-bombs and insults directed towards the audience. He only ceases once Deadpool calms him down. Marvel proceeded to showcase 9 whole minutes of footage from Deadpool & Wolverine to those in attendance, which featured Deadpool entering the bureaucratic organization the Time Variance Authority (TVA), last seen in the second season of Loki, and is tasked by the org’s Agent Paradox (played by Matthew Macfayden) to help save the Sacred Timeline from an imminent threat, which is likely Cassandra Nova, who is the twin sister of Professor Charles Xavier played by Emma Corrin. Deadpool quips, “Why is the Sacred Timeline being saved...? We just had two seasons on why that is a terrible idea!” And he’s absolutely right! Let it get destroyed and fall apart, and only put it back together again in a very fractured way to let the infinite multiverse thrive!
The next forthcoming Marvel feature highlighted at CinemaCon was Captain America: Brave New World, which Feige promoted with the ever still charming Captain America himself Anthony Mackie, who reprises his role as Sam Wilson. Feige called the film a “relatively grounded action thriller”, and that leads me to believe the reported reshoots, which I previously disclosed are set to take place from May to August 2024, may not be as extensive as many have presumed.
The footage showed Harrison Ford’s newly-elected President of the United States Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in the White House, where he talks about wanting Captain America, or at least the idea of him, to rebuild the Avengers. Wilson is there watching Ross’ speech, which could be a State of the Union Address or special presidential broadcast. However, some mysterious music begins to play which results in former super soldier Isaiah Bradley, last seen in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, attempting to assassinate Ross. He is apparently under some form of mind control. “Our inner circle has been compromised,” Wilson tells Ross in another scene, while Ross says to him “You’re not Steve Rogers,” to which Wilson responds, “You’re right, I’m not.” This is a man of action, and he’s not going to put up with someone who he has clear moral disagreements with.
This footage and content reminds me of another White House-based film where the location was under siege with a heroic figure swooping in to save the day: Roland Emmerich’s White House Down from 2013 starring Channing Tatum as a divorced US Capitol Police officer who, during a White House tour, works to save his daughter and the President, played brilliantly by the man himself Jamie Foxx, when it is attacked by a terrorist group. Right when I heard of this footage from CinemaCon, I immediately remembered this stupendous action flick and compared this to being Marvel’s version of White House Down as a very complicated political action thriller.
As many have likened Brave New World as a return to some of Marvel’s best genre work with 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I have high-flying hopes for this pic. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was one of my favorite Marvel Disney+ series and I have considered it to be a true underdog ever since its release. It was unfortunate that its production and plot were reportedly affected by the pandemic, although what is more unfortunate is the fact that Mackie’s co-stars Sebastian Stan and Daniel Brühl won’t be returning this time around. Mackie’s Wilson was compared to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa by producer Nate Moore as being “an underdog in any situation”, and I for one will always root for the underdog!
Given Thunderbolt Ross is looking to put together a team under his presidency, it is fitting that one of the next films on the docket after Brave New World is aptly titled Thunderbolts*. Feige confirmed that both Thunderbolts* and the highly-anticipated The Fantastic Four would be shot with IMAX in mind, highlighting those as two more big features being made for cinemas. Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts* actually does have that damned asterisk as part of the official title, and said it would only be explained after the film’s release, for which there was a slight adjustment made. Thunderbolts* was pushed back from Friday, May 2, 2025, to May 5, 2025, a Monday. That new date falls on Cinco de Mayo. Why are they abandoning the Friday start for a weekend release? That is anyone’s guess. This move reminds me of the extended first 4-day weekend start of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, which did not bode well for them. Assuming something similar may happen here, it’s almost as if they want this film to not perform well in its first week. Having worked at movie theaters for years, I can attest that Mondays are typically one of the slowest business days for movie theater attendance (aside from Wednesdays), so I can’t make sense of this decision from a business standpoint.
For what it’s worth, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom learned from Dead Reckoning’s mistake and moved its release up from the middle of the week, December 20, 2023, to that Friday, Dec. 22, to capitalize more of the Christmas weekend rather than having almost a whole week before the holidays. The opposite seems to be the case with Thunderbolts* now, though it doesn’t seem like this film is being directed toward that Cinco de Mayo audience, anyway. Not all of the actors in this pic are considered leading actors who could put butts in seats for guaranteed attendance, other than diehard Marvel fans, so I’m concerned that this move could be to the pic’s detriment rather than a benefit that some distribution exec may have thought it could be. However, while the traditional Friday release remains popular due to the potential for high opening weekend box office numbers, a weekday release isn’t necessarily a bad strategy. It could theoretically create a longer “opening week” buzz, and if the movie is well-received, it could still perform well at the box office in the following weekend.
DC Studios’ presence at CinemaCon was not as big as some may have hoped for, though just as I thought it would be, it was not intended to fill the space of a Comic-Con panel. James Gunn sent in a pre-recorded message from the set of his film Superman touting that next year he would be back at the convention to kickoff the “Summer of Superman” marketing campaign for the pic, which is likely to be one of the studio’s biggest marketing stints since Barbie and The Batman. The teaser trailer for director Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux was saved for last and delivered on its eerie team-up of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck and Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, who will burst out into song and dance in this crime thriller despite the trailer not really marketing it that way. Though, for the real show stopper, we look no further than the Superman!
Peter Safran was up on the CinemaCon stage where he told attendees that the studio had worked with Warner Bros. Pictures and its corporate siblings CNN Films, HBO, and the streaming service Max to acquire the documentary film Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story for $15 million to give it a multi-platform release. Safran announced that the documentary has been given an unspecified release date in September 2024 in theaters. It marks the first true feature film to come from DC Studios since it was formed in November 2022 to take over production and oversight of all DC-oriented media moving forward under the Warner Bros. Discovery regime, which has been the subject of much controversy for its cost-cutting and use of tax write-offs to cancel already completed projects. Suffice to say, I am over the moon that they coughed up enough money to give this documentary the platform it deserves! As an avid documentary watcher, I am definitely going to catch this on the big screen!
The documentary chronicles the life of actor Christopher Reeve following his near fatal horse riding accident which left him paralyzed. The actor, who starred as Superman in Richard Donner’s classic 1978 film Superman and its sequels, subsequently worked as a disability rights activist to raise awareness and funding for those with similar disabilities. Those in attendance were swept off their feet with a slew of emotions and tears after viewing this documentary, which many deemed stole the show out of Warner Bros.’ other presentations. The documentary is from directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui from a script Ettedgui wrote. The duo produced the pic alongside Robert Ford, and it hails from Words + Pictures, Passion Picture, and Misfits Entertainment. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City on January 19, 2024, where it was met with similar acclaim.
I want to hear from you to see which of these upcoming features you are most excited about. Feel free to cast your vote in the poll below!
How Director Craig Gillespie Can Make ‘Supergirl’ Fly, Thoughts On ‘The Fantastic Four’s Julia Garner Casting As The Silver Surfer, What’s Going On with ‘Blade’?
I have some thoughts on recent reports and rumblings that have caught my eye of skepticism and intrigue, and I’d like to make them known as means of providing insight and my own analysis on them, as I know many have already shared perspectives of their own. I do want to further plant my skepticism and commentary to bounce it off of others for some fruitful discussion in of itself.
Warner Bros. made some more headlines earlier this month with their DC Studios unit as Deadline reported that the studio is in talks with director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella) to direct Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which has a late 2024 filming start in its heat vision sights. Gillespie is not your first choice for a superhero tentpole, though his work on the likes of the supernatural comedy film Fright Night, biopics such as I, Tonya and Dumb Money, and the drama series Pam & Tommy have showcased his expertise with character stories that deal with more mature themes and topics while highlighting the strong characters, who are frequently female, in these stories.
The film counts its writer as actress and playwright Ana Nogueira, who co-wrote the 2018 short film We Win with director Michael Stahl-David. In the short, the Vampire Diaries actress starred alongside William Jackson Harper as Rachel and Ben, who are a happy couple until their relationship unravels during a game of “Mafia”. Ali Ahn also stars in the short, which premiered at the South by Southwest Festival, and can be viewed officially on Vimeo. Stahl-David had nothing but praise for Nogeuira’s work as a co-writer on this short, which came together after they starred in a play together. and she originated the role of Eliza Hamilton in the 2013 Vassar College workshop production of the Hamilton musical.
The combination of Gillespie’s and Nogueira’s talent and range makes me pleased and confident in the direction and take that this Supergirl will go. Gillespie’s experience working with some of the best actresses working today, such as Margot Robbie and Emma Stone, makes for a compelling addition. Pairing Nogueira’s taste for the more character-focused darker tales with Gillespie’s intrigue for the mature and complicated compliments the direction being taken with this version of the Supergirl character portrayed by Milly Alcock. Given this is a jaded and more violent depiction of the character which is darker and edgier than Sasha Calle’s portrayal in The Flash and contrasts with the light-hearted iteration played by Melissa Benoist on the CW’s Arrowverse series, the talent from these two creatives can bring a fresh veracity and flare to a character who has a rather complicated upbringing in this iteration, channeling her anger and longing for a home and answers while seeking retribution for those who murdered her family, which draws on a more personal human connection for this cosmic tale.
Another Marvel-ous surprise earlier this month came in the casting of Julia Garner in director Matt Shakman’s retrofuturistic superhero film The Fantastic Four. The Ozark actress, who also stars in next year’s Wolf Man pic from Blumhouse, is set to portray the Shalla-Bal iteration of the Silver Surfer in the reboot from Marvel Studios, in what is the first major casting since the titular team for a pic that has long been subject to speculation and rumors. As previously reported, the Fantastic Four’s main enemy Galactus is expected to feature as the main antagonist again, though the changes with certain actor demographics (i.e., Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and now Garner) are sure to signal a fresh take on one of Marvel’s oldest and classic roster of characters. Of course this does not in any way preclude the potential introduction of Norrin Radd, the original male Silver Surfer from the comics, in a future MCU installment. After all, Shalla-Bal is commonly depicted in the comics as Norrin’s lover, not his replacement; in the alternate Earth X continuity she even becomes a Herald of Galactus with similar cosmic powers as her lover, demonstrating how the Silver Surfer mantle can be adapted as a legacy title instead of simply recycling the Norrin Radd character for a gender-bent ashcan copy.
Another cause for concern is the lack of development updates on one Marvel pics’ particular development from hell (pun intended), the reboot Blade starring Mahershala Ali. The film was excluded from Disney CEO Bob Iger’s annual shareholder meeting announcements and was not mentioned by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige in his CinemaCon presentation, leading to renewed speculation it may be facing another delay. The pic, as I previously noted, is likely going to see another prominent actor drop out in Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) after his name was excluded from a recent production listing. It seems the actor may have scratched his vampire itch after he joined the vampire genre thriller from Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan alongside a slew of in-demand talent including Josh O’Connell (Ferrari), Wunmi Mosaku (Loki), and Hailee Steinfeld (Bumblebee, Hawkeye, The Edge of Seventeen).
Adding more fuel to the fire is that Jeff Sneider reported in his The InSneider newsletter that Marvel was recasting the Daywalker pic “from scratch” all but for Ali. This could signal that Lindo and Mia Goth, who was rumored to play the antagonist Lilith, are both cut off from the feature as Marvel continues to regroup and rethink their approach to their cinematic universe, which has not been as untouchable in recent years as it used to be back in its heyday.
The question remains: who would replace him? Surely an actor of Lindo’s caliber was set for an important role in the Daywalker’s new solo outing, and I think it could have been that of his arch-nemesis Deacon Frost, who is a vampire and the dictator of Transylvania responsible for the murderer of Eric Brooks’ mother. He caused Blade to become half-vampire in the first place.
The superhero genre is not free from key talent changes during long productions. Look no further than the switch from Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man that was being developed in the early days of Marvel Studios to what the finished product was under director Peyton Reed. A slew of cast and crew changes occurred, including replacing Patrick Wilson (who went on to a better super-role as Aquaman’s evil brother Orm in the DC flicks) with Bobby Cannavale, due to the new schedule caused by its delays. More recently, Ron Livingston took over the role of the Flash’s father Henry Allen for the 2023 DC pic from Billy Crudup, who could not commit to it due to schedule changes and other commitments.
I initially believed that a similar situation could be happening here with Lindo’s involvement, though I can understand why the trades haven’t gotten to it yet. The studio wants to hold onto one of their hottest stars on this pic for as long as possible until they can begin casting for newer parts with the updated script (and Ali’s approval). While Coogler’s vampire pic is now filming, the reboot of the Vampire Slayer franchise is staking out a filming start this fall in the United Kingdom, as previously revealed by Production Weekly. I wouldn’t expect those timeframes to cause too much of an overlap, so I’m inclined to believe something else may be at play here.
Superhero Bits: ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2, ‘Booster Gold’ Shooting Schedules, Marvel Gears Up UK Filming for ‘Vision Quest’ in 2024, ‘Avengers 5,’ ‘Shang-Chi 2,’ ‘Armor Wars,’ ‘X-Men’ Reboot in 2025, ‘Spider-Man 4’ Eyes July 2026 Release
It has been a busy past few weeks for the Marvel and DC Studios offices as it seems they are gearing up production to go full steam ahead on some of their most hotly anticipated and underrated properties, as revealed in the past two issues of Rich Browski’s reputable production listing magazine Production Weekly, which tracks upcoming film and television productions in development or pre-production.
The second season of the John Cena-led vigilante superhero series Peacemaker from Gunn and DC Studios is set to make some changes when it kicks off the bulk of filming in the next couple of months, as pro wrestling news site PWInsider (which is aware of Cena’s schedule given his work with WWE) reported earlier this month that principal photography will take place from June to November 2024, this time in Atlanta rather than at Mammoth Studios in Vancouver where the first season was shot. Filming is expected to conclude around Thanksgiving, and again uses the working title “The Scriptures”.
Gunn did recently share a “pre-shoot” photo on the series’ set indicating that some filming has begun, though I think it is more likely to be for some second unit or additional filming to work around Gunn’s schedule with his Superman film commitments in addition to some likely costume fittings. Three other directors are currently attached, though no names were revealed by the filmmaker. Gunn, Jennifer Holland, and Cena have all previously stated filming would begin this summer, and during an appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show to discuss WrestleMania XL, Cena shared that he would begin filming Peacemaker after completing his movie Heads of State in Europe with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Idris Elba that filmed from May to late June 2023 before the strikes. Cena said the season would film through “just about Christmas”.
Principal photography for this season was previously expected to last from this June to September in Vancouver, and this change to Atlanta makes sense. For some context, it should be noted that Gunn chose Vancouver as a filming location for Peacemaker in part because Canada was handling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic better than the US had during its height in 2020 and 2021, although, as the years have gone on and cases have mitigated, it appears that DC Studios is flying Peacemaker to enforce peace and justice by any means necessary in Atlanta, where a fellow peace and justice hero is currently based out of. Moving Peacemaker to Atlanta for its second season is likely due to the fact that Gunn will still be filming Superman until around August 2, at least for the US unit, per Production Weekly.
Keeping these productions schedules staggered at the same lot makes for a seamless transition for the DC co-head and all the creatives involved. It could also be an indication that Cena’s Peacemaker may just be integrated into the wider DC Universe sooner than expected, as Cena may have every opportunity to drop by the Superman set during prep or shooting for his next season. Maybe he could even cameo with the likes of Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern character Guy Gardner in the DC film or vice versa, Fillion cameoing in Peacemaker season 2? I would love to see those two playing off of each other.
James Gunn has written all episodes and is producing this season alongside DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran, with Gunn expected to direct multiple episodes. DC Studios, the Safran Company, and Warner Bros. Television are producing the series, while Matt Miller, Simon Hatt, Bryan H. Carroll, Cena, John Rickard, Vicki Wagner, and Fred Raskin all serve in various producer roles.
The DC superhero comedy series Booster Gold is listed by Production Weekly for a summer 2024 filming start (despite some saying the listing reported a 2025 start, which does not appear to be the case), though there has not been any official word on which creatives are attached to that series as of yet. There have been rumors that Jody Hill could be the writer after directing an episode of Peacemaker with Gunn potentially writing episodes, though Production Weekly did not address any of these rumors.
Another DCU series that is aiming for take off is Lanterns, which is listed as still being in active development. Chris Mundy is attached as showrunner with Damon Lindelof as a consulting producer and Tom King as a writer and producer, as was previously affirmed. The series taking a longer development timeframe should not come as any surprise given it is likely tackling higher concepts with a mystery story that is set to connect to the DCU’s main storyline.
On the Marvel side of the multiverse, the next Avengers film from Marvel Studios tentatively titled Avengers 5 is set to begin filming at the top of next year in Q1 2025 in the United Kingdom, under the working title “Apple Pie 1”. Insider Daniel Richtman previously shared last month that filming on the superhero blockbuster would now begin sometime next year, and it seems a more concrete timeframe has been locked in.
Filming on the studio’s next feature crossover event was originally slated to begin this spring, though that was before Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors was found guilty of harassment and reckless assault in the third degree last December, and was fired from the MCU big bad role. Filming was then reportedly planned to shoot later this year, although it seems Marvel is allocating more time to see how they will handle the time conquering warlord’s plans for seizing the multiverse in his grasp.
The long-in-development Armor Wars film starring Don Cheadle from writer Yassir Lester (here’s hoping he doesn’t get canned by Disney for his views on Israel’s genocide in Gaza) has been listed for a 2025 filming start in the United Kingdom. This is a change from the initial plan to shoot the project at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, which was from when it was originally being developed as a Disney+ series before it was transitioned into a feature film.
Noticeably absent from this listing are Dominique Thorne and Walton Goggins, who were previously reported to be appearing in this project when it was a series; Goggins’ involvement was first revealed by Production Weekly in October 2021, though that was quite a while ago so plans could have changed. As I previously discussed, Ironheart reportedly underwent reshoots from February to the start of April of this year, and is expected to connect to Armor Wars in some fashion with the character’s link to Tony Stark’s Iron Man technology. Paging Sam Rockwell anyone…?
Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings breakout star Simu Liu, who just recently signed with talent company M88, has reaffirmed to passionate Marvel fans that the martial arts superhero film’s sequel is still moving forward, responding to a fan via Threads about the sequel’s status with: “I promise it’s happening”. Production seems to be moving quietly forward as the sequel has locked in a more solidified filming start date, which has been listed as March 2025, also in the UK. Liu and Awkwafina are listed as returning cast members from the first film, with Awkwafina reprising her role as Shang-Chi’s best friend Katy who joins him on his quests. The first pic was Marvel’s first critical and commercial success after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Destin Daniel Cretton is returning to write and direct through a deal with his company Family Owned / Hisaku, and he will begin filming after completing his Naruto film.
While Marvel Studios and Disney+ have experienced critical and viewership success with their revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ‘97, the studio is looking beyond to bringing those characters into their main franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, once and for all. As the studio is relying on their summer tentpole Deadpool & Wolverine, which features multiple mutants, to rebound their poor performance as of late, they have their sights set on the next generation of heroes by embracing those mutant characters.
The in development X-Men reboot film from Marvel Studios is gaining traction as it has been listed for a filming start in Q4 2025 in the UK. Kevin Feige is producing the feature after previously working for 20th Century Fox’s X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner during his early years with Marvel, while the studio has reportedly been hearing pitches from writers for the past few months. A brief logline was included for the pic:
“Charles Xavier’s team of merry mutants is charged with the mission of protecting a world that hates and fears them for their unusual appearances and abilities.”
While this description may be a brief generalized summary of the team, it could be an indication that Marvel will likely embrace the social and political issues that have surrounded the X-Men team for decades.
The WandaVision spin-off series Vision Quest has also received some updates, with filming listed for a Q4 2024 start in the UK, which was subsequently reported to be starting in October 2024. Feige and Mary Livanos are listed as producers along with writer/creator Jac Schaeffer, while Megan McDonnell and Peter Cameron are also writers returning from Marvel’s first Disney+ series. Another nice little tidbit featured in the listing is the fact that the Scarlet Witch herself Elizabeth Olsen is listed as part of the cast, after Deadline previously reported there was potential for her involvement. The series will focus on the “White Vision” version of the character that debuted in WandaVision as a rebooted iteration, and follows the android trying to regain his memory. Olsen’s Scarlet Witch will likely play a factor in attaining that aspect for the character, given their relationship in a past life.
The fact that multiple of these Marvel productions have transferred their main filming bases to the UK over Atlanta, where the Disney-based Marvel Studios has become a mainstay, could signal the impact of Disney’s cost-saving measures on Marvel’s productions. When productions are filmed in the UK, this allows them to benefit from the UK government’s Film Tax Relief scheme that allows production companies to claim back up to 25% of the costs they incur there. This has been used for the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, the second season of Loki, the disastrous Secret Invasion, and more. It has also been a point of contention on Wikipedia.
Marvel and Disney would love to save money on their high-end productions, especially as they seem to be willing to spend the necessary amount to fix their current projects that had issues i.e., Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again), although I do believe that there may be another factor at play here: Disney’s long-standing opposition to the abortion ban in Atlanta, Georgia, where they have frequently based many of their productions at the local Trilith Studios. It also seems odd to me that despite DC Studios signing a deal to move their production hub to Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden by 2027, to essentially be WB and DC’s equivalent of Trilith or Disney (formerly Fox) Studios Australia, that they continue to remain operating in Atlanta, from Superman and Peacemaker season 2 now shooting there.
The filming start for Marvel Studios’ and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man 4 has been further verified, despite a report from Variety stating that no start date has been finalized. Production Weekly has doubled down on the September 2024 start time that was first reported by TheInSneider’s Jeff Sneider and listed an expected start by late September, again, in the UK. This was from before the start time was verified by Daniel Ritchman, who reported that an offer was made to an undisclosed director. Though there is another tidbit of information included on the potential release date that has been overlooked.
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