…Moving on to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now and with Doctor Strange heading towards the $600 million mark at the global box office this weekend, some new concept art from the Phase Three blockbuster has arrived online, which feature designs for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Karl Mordo [see here], as well as an early alternative version of one of the Zealots, a.k.a. Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius’ henchmen [see here]…
…Sean Gunn, brother of director James Gunn and the on-set performer of Rocket Raccoon, has been chatting about what’s in store for the gun-toting Rocket in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, stating that: “Rocket has a lot of great stuff to do in this movie. There are a few relationships that are central to the theme of the movie and that really go towards keeping a family…and Rocket has the same sort of crisis of faith about whether or not he belongs in this family…”
…Having already denied that she’s portraying a love-interest in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Zendaya has now outright dismissed the rumour that she’s playing Mary Jane Watson in July’s hotly-anticipated Spider-Man reboot: “I’m not Mary Jane unfortunately, but I am in the movie which is exciting. My character’s name is Michelle. If that’s what everybody wants to think, I’m gonna let people think whatever they want to think…”
…Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has reportedly expressed his interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with a report this week suggesting that “he said if Disney and Marvel were looking at doing a Maximum Carnage movie or bringing Carnage in [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] as a character, he wants to be Carnage. Genuinely as a fan, he would love to play Carnage. That’s a goal of his.” While virtually every actor under the sun would surely like to appear in a Marvel movie, it should be noted that Miranda does have a good working relationship with Disney; he’s contributed to the soundtrack for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and has written music for Moana and the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, while he also has a role in Mary Poppins Returns…
…Now, this one comes from IMDb, so it’s far from confirmed, but it seems that WWE Superstar John Cena may have a role in Thor: Ragnarok, where he’d be playing himself. Pure speculation here, but perhaps Cena could find himself as one of the combatants in the Grandmaster’s arenas..?
…In other more official casting news, American Horror Story star Angela Bassett has signed on to 2018’s Black Panther movie, where she’ll play Ramonda, the mother of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. She joins a cast that includes Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan (Fantastic Four) as Erik Killmonger, Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead) as Okoye, Winston Duke (Person of Interest) as M’Baku, Forest Whitaker (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya (Black Mirror) as W’Kabi, Florence Kasumba (Captain America: Civil War) as Ayo and Letitia Wright (Ready Player One) in an unknown role…
…Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has been talking about the casting of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, stating that: “With Captain Marvel, who has powers that approach a level that we haven’t seen before in our films, you need to counter- balance that by finding somebody who is also very human and very relatable and can get into a groove with the audience, where they’re willing to see her fly through the sun and punch a moon away from a spacecraft. At the same time, we need her to land and have relatable flaws. Brie is a person you’re going to want to go on this journey with, just like Benedict Cumberbatch or Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Pratt…”
…Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns this coming Tuesday after a short break, and we’ve got a promo and clip from the seventh episode ‘Deals With Our Devils’ [watch them here and here], along with a batch of promotional images for the following week’s Winter Finale ‘The Laws of Inferno Dynamics’ [see here]…
…Some new set photos from The Defenders arrived online this week, which show Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) sharing a rather passionate kiss; check them out here…
…Some bad news for any fans hoping that the recent deal between Marvel and Fox to swap characters for Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 could ultimately lead to the X-Men joining the MCU in a similar fashion to the Sony deal for Spider-Man, as Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has stated that: “It’s an impossibility at this juncture. We certainly have enough films to keep us busy for a number of lifetimes…”
…That leads us nicely into the X-Verse, and this week has saw the release of a new image from Logan featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine carrying X-23 (Dafne Keen) away from a burning building [see here], as well as another showing Logan with a rather frail-looking Professor X (Patrick Stewart) [see here]. Director James Mangold also spoke briefly about his approach to the film, stating that: “The goal was to make something human. We made an effort to scale back on the gloss and greenscreen,” with Jackman adding: “It’s essential you see this as the story of a man who is struggling with mortality and legacy and whether the world has been better off with him or without him…”
…With New Mutants reportedly gearing up to go into production in the Spring, it’s been rumoured this week that writer-director Josh Boone is looking to reunite with The Fault in Our Stars Nat Wolff, who has been tipped for the role of Cannonball. Wolff joins the previously rumoured Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as possible additions to the cast of the film, while an alleged animatic also surfaced online this week suggesting that the central villain the movie will be Demon Bear…
…And finally, Fox has added another couple of untitled Marvel movies to its slate on November 2nd, 2018 and February 14th, 2019, joining the previoulsy announced October 6th 2017, March 2nd 2018 and June 29th 2018. The studio has several projects in development, including the aforementioned New Mutants, Deadpool 2 and Gambit, as well as another instalment in the main X-Men series, but at this point it’s completely up in the air as to which movies are being eyed for which dates – and given the development status of those projects, it’s looking like that October 2017 date is going to go to waste.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
Originally published November 26, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
