Marvel Studios Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Almost one year ago, Marvel Studios, DC Studios, and all of the millions of superhero film fans were optimistic. Sure, 2022 wasn’t the best year on record for the film/TV superhero genre, but there was plenty to give hope, especially after the pandemic really threw a wrench in things.

Let’s face it: from ‘Quantumania,’ to the Victoria Alonso and Jonathan Majors dramas, and “The Marvels,” Marvel Studios had a really bad 2023 (we went over their stressful year in much detail here). At the very least, they’ve ended 2023 on a very good note with “What If…?” season two, a series we gave some really top marks for for its mythical and archetypal writing.

Even though he’s a legendary filmmaker, it’s safe to assume Michael Mann isn’t the top name on Kevin Feige’s short list of directors to discuss Marvel Studios projects with. Sure, Feige would probably love to have Mann involved in a superhero project, but let’s be real, the filmmaker isn’t someone who would likely decide to work within the Marvel content factory.

After a particularly brutal year for the brand, Marvel manages to end 2023 on a last-minute positive note with the animated series “What If…?” The series continues to surprise and even disarm the viewer with the unexpected. Just when you think it’s content to provide simply entertaining fan-service-y alternative multiverse stories of your favorite with a twist— and it surely can do that too— it turns and deepens leveraging the freedom of the inventive, imagined what-if presentation to tell darker, richer versions of Marvel Cinematic Universe tales, often with a meaningfully tragic bent that really compel.

OK, it’s that time of year, the holidays. As you generally know, we mostly avoid the scuttlebutt of daily internet rumors.

Honestly, it feels as if “Echo” isn’t getting as much marketing love as Marvel Studios projects typically do. Perhaps that’s because the series marks the first TV-MA project for the studio and is part of the Marvel Spotlight banner, which makes it not as dependent on MCU continuity.

In today’s episode of ⁠Bingeworthy⁠, our TV and streaming podcast, host Mike DeAngelo dives back into the mystery of Apple TV+’s latest mystery series, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” The show follows multiple characters in different eras on a twist-filled journey to uncover the mysteries of the organization at the center of the MonsterVerse films. The show stars Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, and many more.

Following the announcement of a guilty verdict in his domestic violence trial this afternoon, Marvel Studios has fired actor Jonathan Majors. Majors was convicted on December 18 of two misdemeanor counts of reckless harassment and assault of Grace Jabbari, his ex-girlfriend.

Taika Waititi has already clarified he won’t be back for “Thor 5“ if Marvel Studios wants one. So who will take his place in the directing chair for that hypothetical sequel? Don’t look at “The Creator” director Gareth Edwards who, despite rumors to the contrary, insists he’s not connected to the project.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire? Are the rumors of “Captain America: Brave New World” true? What rumors? Well, “‘Captain America: Brave New World” was once a summer 2024 movie set right in the heart of July. However, after the strikes, Marvel Studios revamped their entire schedule, moving “Deadpool 3” into that July position even though its production shoot—which is still going on now as we speak—wasn’t complete and ‘Brave New World’ had finished its principal photography.

The new season of Marvel Studios’ animated hit, “What If…?” debuts right around the holidays, so why not include a bit of Christmas spirit in the marketing?  READ MORE: The 67 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Series Of 2024 And as seen in the newest trailer for “What If…?” Season 2, which is a little more than a week away, Marvel Studios is tying the new batch of episodes in directly with the approaching holiday.

Marvel Studios opened a bit of a can of worms when it announced the return of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, in the MCU. This is after the studio basically disavowed the events of the Netflix “Daredevil”/“Defenders” continuity when the character was brought back under the Marvel Studios umbrella.

Though 2023 has been a rough year for Marvel Studios, it’s not like the studio is giving up and shutting down shop. There are still an absolute ton of new projects on the horizon for the biggest franchise in cinema history, and one, relatively small, branch of this massive cinematic universe is the animated series that are being produced.

Jon Favreau‘s 2008 film “Iron Man” is usually referred to as the blockbuster that first kicked off Hollywood’s superhero movie craze (well, that one and “The Dark Knight“). But according to Pepper Potts herself, Gwyneth Paltrow, “Iron Man” wasn’t pitched to her as a sure-fire success.

If you believe the scheduling, as of now, then Marvel Studios is putting all of its 2024 film eggs in one basket, “Deadpool 3.” Thankfully, anticipation for “Deadpool 3” is through the roof, as it’s a beloved franchise and the new one will be the first in the MCU. And if set leaks are any indication, the film is going to have a ton of Easter Eggs and cameos.

As we close the book on 2023, one of the biggest stories coming out of Marvel Studios this year was the reshuffling and uncertainty surrounding “Blade.” What was once announced with so much confidence in 2019, has now entered a place where it’s unclear if we’ll ever see it get made. Directors have come and gone.

Whether it’s true or not, 2023 will largely go down as a bad year for Marvel Studios. A couple of the films greatly underperformed (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels”) and one of the TV shows was just a big turd (“Secret Wars”).

Is a sequel to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” imminent? Not according to Tom Holland, reports Deadline. And that’s because writers haven’t written a decent enough story idea to greenlight another movie.

Thanks to “The Marvels” being the first MCU film not to break $100 million domestically at the box office, yes, superhero fatigue is a real thing. And according to actress Jodie Foster, it’s a good thing, too.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had plenty to say about the MCU‘s current issues at The New York Times‘ annual BookDeal summit yesterday. But CNN reports that Iger also had a multilayered explanation for why “The Marvels” did so poorly in theaters earlier this month, taking in just $47 million domestically its opening weekend.

After a shaky 2023, Marvel Studios finds itself in unfamiliar territory: looking like a vulnerable enterprise instead of an unstoppable entertainment juggernaut. But despite creative overhauls and several release schedule changes for projects in Phases 5 & 6, the MCU machine keeps turning.

One of 2023’s biggest stories in the entertainment industry is Disney CEO Bob Iger‘s call to retrofit the swollen release calendar of various IPs, namely the MCU and the “Star Wars” universe. Iger’s reasons? The sheer glut of releases in theaters and on streaming dilutes focus and attention from moviegoers and lowers the overall quality of what Disney creates.

Though it’s clear that Zack Snyder’s filmmaking interests, as of late, have brought him to the stars for his “Rebel Moon” franchise, the man really did generate a cult-like following thanks to his DC superhero films. In fact, to this day, there is still a legion of devotees posting on social media, begging Warner Bros.

2023 has not been a wonderful year for Marvel Studios. Much like many of the other studios producing big-budget franchise films, Marvel was hit with some really low box office numbers this year, as well as some surprisingly harsh critical and fan reviews.

When Marvel finds a writer or filmmaker they like, particularly Kevin Feige, the studio tends to hang on to them. And perhaps recently, no one in the current Marvel Studios bullpen has done more repeat business with Marvel Studios with writer/producer Michael Waldron.

Of all the director hires that Marvel Studios has made over the last 15 years, there are few that are more surprising than Taika Waititi to direct a “Thor” film. However, not only did the decision to bring in a young Waititi to direct “Thor: Ragnarok” pay off in a big way (the film was a huge success, both financially and with fans), but it led to a continued relationship where the filmmaker returned for another round of ‘Thor’ goodness (though ‘Love & Thunder’ wasn’t received nearly as well as the previous film).

Way back in 2018, during the whole “New Mutants” debacle (remember that mess?), it was reported that Jon Hamm was actually expected to make an appearance in the film as the villainous Mr. Sinister.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo uncovers the mystery of Apple TV+’s latest mystery series, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” The show follows multiple characters in different eras on a twist-filled journey to uncover the mysteries of the organization at the center of the Godzilla MonsterVerse films. The show stars Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, and more.

Sadly, for actor Iman Vellani, one of the stars of Marvel Studios’ latest feature, “The Marvels,” the discussion surrounding the release of the film has revolved around the box office performance. The film opened to the lowest debut for a MCU film ever, and its second weekend has experienced the biggest drop for the studio.

To say that this year has been rough for Marvel Studios is a bit of an understatement. The studio that was once thought to be invincible has shown that it has weaknesses and audiences are starting to take note.

As you likely know by now, season two of “Loki” ended last week, and the ramifications of the series have echoed on. And Tom Hiddleston finally did the press rounds now that the strikes are over, talking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast and Entertainment Weekly, among others.

While he’s already in “Star Wars” in Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” and leads HBO’s “The Last Of Us,” Chilean actor Pedro Pascal is not done taking on prominent franchise roles. The actor is reportedly in talks to join Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” as the lead character Reed Richards, aka Mr.

No, Marvel Studios’ “The Marvels” didn’t have the best opening weekend at the box office. Why is that? Well, that’s something a bunch of people have been trying to analyze over the past several days.

Following a not-very-great week for Marvel, the box office flop of “The Marvels,” change is afoot at Marvel studios, and a pretty major one at that. Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, who was all set to direct the next major ‘Avengers’ movie, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” has exited the film.

The old saying goes, “Timing is everything.” Well, if that’s the case, this probably isn’t the best timing for Marvel Studios to release a new season of the multiverse-iest multiverse show to ever multiverse, “What If…?” After nearly a full year of people complaining about the Multiverse Saga leading to superhero fatigue and the first signs of weakness in the giant that is Marvel Studios, it appears 2023 is going out with a bang.  Continue reading ‘What If…?’ Season 2 Trailer: Marvel’s Multiversal Animated Series Returns With A 9-Episode Daily Run This December at The Playlist.

Yes, yes, we all know—Marvel Studios is in trouble. There are reports claiming the MCU is crumbling.