Deadpool & Wolverine Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

We all know Marvel Studios loves a team-up movie. Even their “solo” movies typically feature another recognizable name in the supporting cast.

As the sole MCU release in theaters for 2024, “Deadpool & Wolverine” marks a critical moment for Marvel Studios. It’s the first glimpse of the X-Men (or at least an X-man) in the live-action MCU.

It’s taken six long years for a third “Deadpool” movie to arrive and then morph into “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and the reasons seemed clear from the jump: integrating a foul-mouthed R-rated character into the PG-13 world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe proved to be tricky and complicated for Marvel, Ryan Reynolds and everyone involved. And according to a new Vanity Fair story, a third “Deadpool” movie was almost scrapped—it took Hugh Jackman to change his mind about reprising his famous Wolverine character before the movie finally came to life.

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo goes on a joyride with one of the stars of “The Bikeriders.” The film follows the members of a Chicago-area biker gang from their innocent inception in the 1960s to their descent into a darker underworld.

The 2024 box office is in the pits, clearly, and Sony just bought the Alamo Drafthouse in a disturbing, do-anything-to-survive sign of the times. But is there hope on the horizon, with Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” already expected to save the 2024 box office? Well, the early word is massive and good.

The world of Taylor Swift took a bite out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe a while ago, as rumors began to swirl that the singer would show up in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Fans were convinced the singer would either show up as Lady Deadpool or Dazzler in the film. The rumors burned hotter when people saw Blake Lively (Ryan Reynolds’ wife) show up at the Super Bowl to hang out with Swift.

In a big show of confidence about the hopes for “Deadpool & Wolverine,” set to hit theaters in July and maybe save summer 2024 from the box-office doldrums, its director Shawn Levy (“Free Guy”) is apparently the first in line to be offered “Avengers 5,” formerly known as “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” According to Deadline, Levy has emerged as the top choice for the director’s chair, and apparently ‘Avengers 5” screenwriter Michael Waldron (“Loki”) has given him the latest version of the script for his eyes only.

This is an odd Summer Movie Season. Sure, there are some blockbusters being released, but it really doesn’t feel like any are destined to be monumental hits.

In this week’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo dives headfirst into “Outer Range.” The mysterious and compelling Prime Video series follows a rancher who discovers a mysterious hole in his pasture, leading to land wars, family drama, and time-jumping mysteries. The show stars Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Lewis Pullman, Tom Pelphrey, Will Patton, and more (read our review here).

Whenever Marvel releases a project that deals with the idea of a multiverse, fans go crazy with rumors about who will show up as a cameo. And for “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the multiverse story was compounded by the fact that many believe the film will end the “X-Men” universe that began over at Fox in 2000.

As everyone knows, the otherwise untouchable Marvel Studios had a particularly rough 2023. The disappointment of “Ant-Man: Quantumania,” the box office flop of “The Marvels,” and the critically reviled Disney+ series, “Secret Invasion,” severely put the studio on the ropes for the first time ever.

Up until now, many just assumed that “Deadpool 3,” aka “Deadpool & Wolverine,” was always going to be a team-up story with the two massively popular heroes. Well, apparently that wasn’t the case.

As you are likely well aware, the Walt Disney Company bought 20th Century Fox back in 2019, just one year after “Deadpool 2” hit theaters, and in the process, became the owners of all of Fox’s Marvel properties, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and the Deadpool franchise. But if you’re wondering why it took so long for a third ‘Deadpool’ movie to happen, six years after the second film, well, we finally have answers.

Yes, the countdowns to “Deadpool & Wolverine” have started; they are real; there are websites dedicated to it, and as of right now, the film is 85 days away from release. The irony around it all might be Marvel’s release strategy.

While known for their blockbuster, saving-the-world narratives and often billion-dollar grossing earnings, given their costs and expectations, superhero films frequently have a reputation for the way studios often interfere in their making, the endless noting, the insistence of reshoots and sometimes, even the sidelining of the director (see “Thor: Dark World” filmmaker Alan Taylor who has said in the past that Marvel effectively locked him out of the editing process).

When the highly-anticipated blockbuster superhero film “Deadpool & Wolverine” slashes its way into theatres this July, fans can expect to see the nostalgic return of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and probably a whole ton of cameos, if the rumors and meta trailer jokes are any indication. However, as already reported, one character that viewers may have wanted to see but sadly won’t be in the anticipated blockbuster is Josh Brolin’s Cable, who previously appeared in “Deadpool 2.” Brolin’s absence from the film is already known; he was never reported as part of the film, and there’s no trace of him in any of the recent trailers; he even joked that he had beef with “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds.

The movie industry is arguably waiting around for “Deadpool & Wolverine” to hit theaters, Marvel Studios’ only film of 2024, though hopefully someone enlivens the box office before then. Originally scheduled to be a May 3 release at the top of the summer, the film was delayed because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike of 2023, moving the film into July (before that, there were two previous fall dates in 2023 that the film also had to push off from).

“Deadpool & Wolverine” has been called one of the most anticipated movies of the year, and with an ailing box office in 2024 so far, perhaps it’s the movie the industry needs. But if there was a chief complaint about the “Deadpool & Wolverine” teaser revealed during the Superbowl, it’s that, well, it hid a lot and especially any real appearances by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine other than a brief silhouette and an over-the-shoulder shot of Logan getting pissed and seemingly stabbing Ryan Reynold’s Wade Wilson.

LAS VEGAS – The Walt Disney Studios showed 75 minutes, yes almost an hour and a half of film footage for movies it’s releasing over the next 12 months at CinemaCon 2024. Most of which will not be released publicly.

Is everyone and their mother in “Deadpool & Wolverine”? Filmmaker Shawn Levy has hinted at cameos several times (as has filmmaker Matthew Vaughn), and so has ‘Deadpool’ actor Karan Soni. The expectation, in general, seems to be: expect a ton, with many speculating that the upcoming third ‘Deadpool’ movie will be a goodbye to the 20th Century Studios era of Marvel movie-making.

Fresh off his appearance in Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentleman” Netflix spin-off series (read our review), actor Vinnie Jones is opening up about his “disappointing” turn as the Juggernaut in Brett Ratner’s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” Additionally, the actor reveals he turned down a role to appear in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which he suggests was money related, but describes it as a “budget” problem.

As we all know by now, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” set for July 26, is Marvel Studios only film for 2024. Speaking at a Morgan Stanley event yesterday, Disney Chief Bob Iger predicted the film will be “one of the most successful Marvel movies we’ve had in a long time.” Clearly, the hype for the film is rising.

If you watched the recent “Deadpool & Wolverine” trailer, which brought the whole “Deadpool” gang back together, mostly, you’ll have noticed three absent players critical to the “Deadpool” franchise. One is easy to explain.