Tag: Marvel

Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot reportedly finds its Silver Surfer and it’s a surprise for fans

This is some awesome casting.

Marvel’s highly-anticipated reboot of the Fantastic Four announced its primary cast back in February but the upcoming superhero film has reportedly added another key cast member and it’s a move that will surprise many superhero fans.

Ozark star Julia Garner will join the cast of Fantastic Four as the iconic Silver Surfer, according to a report from Deadline. Like the rest of the cast, Garner is a fast-rising star in Hollywood who got her start on TV, earning three Emmys for her work in Ozark as well as another nomination for the limited series Inventing Anna.

The gender-flip casting move will certainly come as a surprise to some but there’s plenty of precedent from Marvel Comics. Garner will reportedly play Shalla-Bal, a character who first appeared all the way back in 1968 and has donned the mantle of the Silver Surfer multiple times over the years various Marvel Comics stories.

The film is set to begin filming this summer for a summer 2025 release.

4 takeaways from Marvel reportedly ‘retooling’ it’s cinematic universe

Some big changes are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s no secret that Marvel needs a hit, and badly. The blockbuster franchise that took over the box office for the better part of a decade has finally started to look mortal. 

The Marvels lost money at the box office, something previously unheard of for a Marvel Studios film, while off-screen troubles have led to numerous projects being delayed, revamped or potentially even scrapped altogether.

The Hollywood Reporter released a new report detailing some of the big changes being made behind the scenes at Marvel Studios as parent company Disney attempts to get its superhero cinematic universe back on track. Here are some of the biggest revelations from THR’s report and how they could impact the MCU going forward.

Marvel reveals its long-awaited Fantastic Four cast with a fun Valentine’s Day graphic

We have a Fantastic Four cast and a release date!

It’s been five years since Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige announced the Fantastic Four was finally coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. Now on Valentine’s Day of 2024, we finally know who will be playing Marvel’s “first family” and when the film will hit theaters.

MORE: The wild Super Bowl trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine made Marvel fans rejoice

Accompanied by a snazzy new logo with a 1960’s aesthetic (perhaps suggesting the time period in which the film will be set?), Marvel dropped a graphic featuring the new cast as well as the film’s official release date of July 25, 2025.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon-Moss Bachrach and Joseph Quinn will take on the roles for the MCU.

 

Marvel Studios has a lot riding on this movie after a disappointing 2023 at the box office followed by strike-related delays that have led to a lull in their normal breakneck pace of new releases. Let’s take a closer look at the cast for one of the MCU’s most important movies to date.

The most divisive Final Fantasy inspired The Marvels, director says

The Marvels director Nia DaCosta found inspiration in one of the most divisive Final Fantasy projects – Advent Children

The Marvels director Nia DaCosta found inspiration in one of the most divisive Final Fantasy projects – the CGI animated film Advent Children. Or more specifically, Advent Children’s style and fight scenes.

DaCosta made the comments in an interview with IGN ahead of The Marvels’ Nov. 10, 2023, release date.

“It’s just an amazing, amazing movie, and has really great fight scenes and has a really great ending sequence with the main character being thrown into the sky by all the other characters,” DaCosta said. “I didn’t want The Marvels to look like a video game in the sense that it’s more linear, but it’s the best kinds of games and stories that inspires me to play and I think inspires people to see movies like this.”

Advent Children looks exceptional, especially for a 2005 CGI movie, but it doesn’t always go over well with series fans. It’s an odd sequel, set two years after Final Fantasy 7, but one year before Dirge of Cerberus, where a bunch of evil little Sephiroth spirits try to revive him using what’s left of Jenova, because apparently there were parts of the alien creature left (of course there were). 

It was the start of Final Fantasy 7’s transformation from an introspective game about identity and purpose to a connected universe with a sometimes-flimsy story and even flimsier reason for existing. Maybe that’s fitting for Marvel depending on your relationship with the ever-growing superhero franchise, but the impenetrable plot didn’t endear Advent Children to critics and fans then or now. 

It did, however, give Square Enix plenty of fuel for Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, both of which play around with the game-slash-series’ established lore in creative ways.

The Marvels is in theaters from Nov. 10, 2023, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches on Feb. 29, 2024 for PS5 on two discs.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Marvel’s Echo trailer has fans surprisingly hyped for new show

We’re sorry, Marvel. We owe you an apology. We weren’t really familiar with your game.

Marvel Studios just dropped a new trailer for its latest show, Echo, and fans are surprisingly hyped for its premiere.

Since 2020, Marvel has been scrambling to recreate its success leading up to 2019’s blockbuster smash Avengers: Endgame. As pressures and demands grew, Marvel needed to ensure fans had access to its content as much as possible. That meant releasing more movies and shows, even if the scripts were half-baked and the storylines didn’t make sense.

Unfortunately, a boatload of bad decisions has led to several missteps, and the quality that Marvel was once praised for has been slowly evaporating. Yet, that hasn’t stopped Marvel from trying.

The company is back with Echo, a brand-new show that features a deaf Native American superhero, Maya Lopez, who fans first saw in the 2021 series Hawkeye.

Echo is the first Marvel show that will debut simultaneously on Disney+ and Hulu. Also, fans are getting several surprises: all episodes are available to watch at once, and the series will be rated TV-MA.

When the show’s trailer dropped Friday, fans couldn’t get over how good it looked.

5 revelations from a blockbuster report on Marvel Studios’ missteps

The path to good intentions is secretly paved with gluttony, and the ghost of decisions past is currently driving a massive bus down the road.

If you think you’re lonely now, wait until you’re no longer able to distinguish a Marvel project from anything else.

That’s the reality Marvel Studios is facing. Several missteps have created a swirling microcosm of chaos that is slowly growing into an impossible mountain to climb.

“The quality is suffering,” says Joanna Robinson, co-author of the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios. “In 2019, at the peak, if you put ‘Marvel Studios’ in front of something, people were like, ‘Oh, that brand means quality.’ That association is no longer the case because there have been so many projects that felt half-baked and undercooked.”

A new blockbuster report by Tatiana Siegel of Variety tells the potentially tumultuous journey Marvel has recently undertaken to be at the top.

Here are the top five revelations from the report:

Messi’s sons came up with idea for Marvel celebrations

We’ve already seen Thor, Black Panther and Spider-Man so far

Lionel Messi said his Marvel-themed celebrations were an idea thought up by his three sons.

After scoring during several Inter Miami home games in the Leagues Cup, Messi has celebrated with poses from Thor, Black Panther and Spider-Man.

In an interview with the Miami Herald, Messi said that his sons Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro came up with the idea for the celebrations amid a summer of heavy Marvel movie watching.

“My three sons are still on vacation, have not started school yet, so every night we watch Marvel superhero movies,” Messi said. “They came up with the idea and asked that whenever I have a game and score a goal, I do a Marvel superhero celebration.

“That’s how it started, and we continued that ritual. Each time we watched a new movie, we would practice a goal celebration. But I only do them for home games, when the kids are here, near me, so we can share those moments. When I see them in the stands, that is when I do them.”

Messi has had plenty of opportunities for celebrations in his brief Inter Miami career thus far, scoring nine goals in just six Leagues Cup games since making his debut last month.

Thanks in large part to Messi’s heroics, Inter Miami will play for the Leagues Cup title against Nashville SC on Saturday night.

Don’t expect any Marvel celebrations, however: The game will take place at Geodis Park in Nashville.

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New Marvel actor Harrison Ford claims he has absolutely no idea who the Red Hulk is

Will we see Ross transform into Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World?

If the Red Hulk is to appear in Captain America: Brave New World, Harrison Ford doesn’t know anything about it.

That what he says, at least, in a recent interview with Comicbook.com.

Ford is making the rounds with the media to promote his newest film, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But Ford is also set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon, taking the reins of the character General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross in the new Captain America movie set for release next year. Ross was previously played by the late William Hurt, who died in 2022.

Ross made his on-screen debut in the MCU in The Incredible Hulk (2008) as a general who is hunting down Bruce Banner. By the time Captain America: Civil War (2016) rolls around, Ross has become Secretary of State.

In the comics, Ross eventually obtains the powers to transform into a Hulk-like figure, but one that is red, thus simply and appropriately named: Red Hulk. But Hurt’s Ross never transformed into Red Hulk on the big screen.

A few weeks ago, a photo from the Captain America set surfaced online, and it seemed to show Ford wearing ripped pants, leading a lot of folks to wonder if Ross’ transformation is coming in this film.

And so, at the end of this interview, Comicbook.com’s Jamie Jirak asks Ford, “Might we be seeing Mr. Ford as the Red Hulk?”

Ford keeps a straight face, takes a beat, and then deadpans: “What’s a Red Hulk?”

The 80-year-old actor then says Red Hulk “may or may not” appear in the new Captain America film.

Judge for yourself: Is Ford legitimately clueless about the MCU, or is he playing dumb here?

And stick around for a nod to Han Solo at the end.

5 things we learned from the new Disney, Marvel and Star Wars film release dates

We’ve got a lot to talk about with Tuesday’s Disney, Marvel and Star Wars news.

On Tuesday, Disney reshuffled its release calendar in a substantial way.

The studio provided brand-new release dates for films in the Star Wars, Marvel and Avatar universes, as well as a live-action remake for Moana and other new projects.

Even one of the biggest media companies on the planet isn’t immune to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, as a number of film and television projects have been shut down in wake of the holdouts.

However, Disney fans will still get plenty of new projects in their favorite series in the years to come.

Let’s break down five of the biggest takeaways from Tuesday’s news.

Layoffs come to Firaxis after Marvel game’s commercial failure

Firaxis, makers of Civilization and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, laid off roughly 30 employees following the Marvel game’s sales flop in 2022

Firaxis, makers of Civilization and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, laid off roughly 30 employees, a source familiar with the matter told Axios. While Axios’ source and the studio’s official comment didn’t mention a reason, the layoffs come a few months after Firaxis admitted their Marvel game underperformed.

A Firaxis representative told Axios that the layoffs are meant to help with the “sharpening of focus, enhancements of efficiencies, and an alignment of our talent against our highest priorities. The studio remains focused on developing critically acclaimed video games.”

Firaxis’ parent company Take Two Interactive announced a $50 million cost reduction program earlier in 2023, and these layoffs are likely part of that program.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns released in December 2022, and Take Two recognized soon after that it underperformed. Company CEO Strauss Zelnick said during Take Two’s February 2023 earnings call that poor timing likely factored into the game’s lackluster reception. It launched just weeks after God of War Ragnarok, and the promised Switch version didn’t happen after all.

As for what’s next with Firaxis, the company also announced in February 2023 that development on Civilization 7 has begun, though without two senior leads – Jake Solomon and Steve Martin, both of whom left the company that month.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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