Marvel Studios Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Marvel Studios, over the course of its decade-plus history, has become a premier place for newer/indie directing talent looking to break into big-budget studio filmmaking. We saw this with folks like the Russo Brothers, James Gunn, Destin Daniel Cretton, and many more.

When it was released, “Captain Marvel” surprised everyone in a couple of big ways. First, it earned more than $1 billion, which is massive, especially for a female-led superhero film.

Next year (depending on when these WGA and SAG strikes get worked out), we’re expected to see Anthony Mackie finally take on the role of Captain America in a Marvel Studios film. Years after he is given the shield in “Avengers: Endgame” and after he accepts the role in “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” Mackie is finally ready to fully lead the MCU in “Captain America: Brave New World.” That said, there are still plenty of Marvel fans already anxiously awaiting the return of the previous Captain, Chris Evans.

At this point in his career, moviegoers know Woody Allen more for his notoriety than his ability to make good films. Let’s face it: Allen’s late-career period has been waning since at least 2017’s “Wonder Wheel,” but arguably earlier than that.

Has it been a good year for movies at the box office or a terrible one? Depends on who you ask, and arguably, it would be a bad one if it were for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” rescuing the year with great box office success. How has the usually-dependable Marvel fared at the box office? So far, one big underwhelming disappointment, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which only grossed $476 million worldwide, the lowest-grossing Marvel movie since 2011’s “Thor” (not counting the pandemic releases of “Black Widow,” “Shang Chi” and “Eternals” which were all lower, but those were different circumstances).

When people think of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s superhero work, they probably think of the “Batgirl” situation. But really, the filmmaking duo started working on superhero stuff well before then, as the directors of episodes of the acclaimed Marvel Studios series, “Ms.

Are superhero films in trouble? It’s an argument that everyone’s been having in the last few years, and the pandemic hasn’t helped, given that it’s affected the bottom line of all moviegoing that’s in decline. DC doesn’t help the super narrative; they’re in freefall.

If you’ve been paying close attention to the recent reports of VFX workers being overworked and underpaid and you’re aware of labor disputes in American history, you had to know that sooner or later the VFX crews would take the next logical step—unionizing.

We’ve said this a million times when new actors join the Marvel Cinematic Universe—fans need to stop expecting these people to be diehard fans of the franchise. People are genuinely surprised when an actor admits to not knowing the inner workings of who Nick Fury is and what happened between Captain America and Iron Man in ‘Civil War.’ And after dozens of films and TV projects, it’s hard for people to expect anyone other than diehard fans to know everything about the various storylines and characters.

We’ve said this a million times when new actors join the Marvel Cinematic Universe—fans need to stop expecting these people to be diehard fans of the franchise. People are genuinely surprised when an actor admits to not knowing the inner workings of who Nick Fury is and what happened between Captain America and Iron Man in ‘Civil War.’ And after dozens of films and TV projects, it’s hard for people to expect anyone other than diehard fans to know everything about the various storylines and characters.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo returns from the stars to discuss Marvel’s latest Disney+ series, “Secret Invasion.” The show follows Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as he beams back from outer space in order to stop a rogue faction of Skrulls that are hell-bent on taking Earth for themselves.

“Secret Invasion” is done. Whether or not people will look back fondly on this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unknown at this time.

To say that fans weren’t happy with the finale of “Secret Invasion” would be an understatement. Honestly, people just really weren’t all that interested in much about the latest Marvel Studios series.

Even though it was a risk at the time, it’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Robert Downey, Jr. taking on the role of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sure, Marvel Studios and Disney had to imagine “Loki” was going to be a hit for the fledgling Disney+ streaming service when it debuted in 2021. Why else would they spend a ton of money to make it? However, what they didn’t expect was “Loki” to easily become the most-watched Marvel series on the streaming service.

The sixth and final episode of “Secret Invasion” premiered on Disney+ this week, and the critical response was …not good at all. In fact, the show’s last episode is the worst-reviewed MCU project ever, with a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo puts back on the badge to talk about “Justified: City Primeval.” The show follows Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) as he gets pulled into a case in Detroit after a chance encounter along a Florida highway. The series also stars Boyd Holbrook, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Adelaide Clemens, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and more.

“Mission Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One” and one of the revelations of the film, at least if you haven’t been paying attention over the years, is Haley Atwell, a huge scene stealer, who matches Tom Cruise beat for charming beat within the film. For many, she’s the real find and gem of the film, the discovery if you maybe haven’t seen much of the other work.

Spoilers if you haven’t seen Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” series yet, because this new mid-season trailer pulls out a lot of the stops and reveals a lot of the spoilers the series has featured so far. So, spoilers, yes? You’ve been warned.

Spoilers abound, you’ve been warned, do not pass go, etc. For real, if you haven’t seen “Beloved,” the fourth episode of Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” show, turn yourself around and watch before you read this story; thanks! OK, as you know by now, Marvel’s Disney+ show, “Secret Invasion,” is Nick-Fury (Samuel L.

With poor box office numbers so far for Pixar‘s “Elemental” and James Mangold‘s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” Disney sees itself in the middle of its worst theatrical slump in a long time. And it arguably started back in March with “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania,” which made less than $500 million worldwide and suffered the steepest second-week drop at the domestic box office of any Marvel film.

Even though Hugh Jackman is pretty much universally beloved as Wolverine in the various “X-Men” films over the past two decades, there has big one major complaint about his portrayal of the character—his lack of costume. Sure, he has worn a superhero suit in several films, but none of them have even come close to the bright yellow and blue comic book costume he is famous for wearing in decades’ worth of Marvel Comics.

While the ending of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” put a bow on a lot of the dangling storylines developed by filmmaker James Gunn, it did also tee up what is to come.

Even though Hugh Jackman is pretty much universally beloved as Wolverine in the various “X-Men” films over the past two decades, there has big one major complaint about his portrayal of the character—his lack of costume. Sure, he has worn a superhero suit in several films, but none of them have even come close to the bright yellow and blue comic book costume he is famous for wearing in decades’ worth of Marvel Comics.

As the rumors have suggested so far, it’s starting to look like Marvel’s “Deadpool 3” will host a cornucopia of cameos from the 20th Century era of Marvel. The third, currently unofficially titled “Deadpool” movie will already feature a long-dreamt-for crossover between Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson and “X-Men” actor Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

MCU fans know Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, aka: The Falcon, who will soon don the Captain America mantle in “Captain America: Brave New World” next year. But if Mackie had his way, he’d be another Marvel superhero altogether: Black Panther.

Once upon a time, after “Zama” wowed audiences at the Venice Film Festival, Marvel Studios had its eye on Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel to direct “Black Widow.” The short version: Marvel wanted a woman to helm the Scarlett Johansson vehicle, and they met with several female filmmakers about the movie in 2018. Martel wasn’t interested, and directing duties eventually landed with Cate Shortland.

While the discussion surrounding Marvel Studios’ “Secret Invasion” over the past week seems to have been mostly about the fact that generative A.I. was used to create the title sequence, there was something pretty impactful to the MCU in the episode.

Let the speculation begin. Deadline reports that Sony has reserved two dates on the upcoming movie calendar for Sony/Marvel projects: November 8, 2024 and June 27, 2025.

Massive release date changes were fairly commonplace over the past few years, as we watched the COVID pandemic shift entire distribution strategies for film studios. Now, it appears the WGA Strike has finally shown its impact on film releases, at least over at Disney, as the studio delays some of the biggest films on its schedule including new “Avengers,” “Star Wars,” and “Avatar” films.

The “Marvel formula” is a term used to describe the same-sameness of the dozens of films and TV projects from Marvel Studios. Most people focus on the obvious similarities in tone and structure.

Marvel Studios typically hates when set photos get leaked and fans around the world get a sneak peek at one of the upcoming films or TV shows. But it’s not so bad, I suppose, when someone from Marvel is actually doing the leaking, as is the case with Anthony Mackie giving people a behind-the-scenes look at the new “Captain America” film.

While it will definitely (as Kevin Feige so eloquently puts it in the same discussion below) go down as one of the best decisions in Hollywood history, there has already been so much written about Robert Downey, Jr. being cast as Tony Stark in 2008’s “Iron Man.” However, in a new interview with Feige and filmmaker Jon Favreau, it’s revealed that RDJ could have shown up in a Marvel film years before his “Iron Man” debut.

Finally, a little bit of clarity from Marvel Studios when it comes to their lineup of 2023 shows on Disney+. After a heap of back-and-forth rumblings, it’s been officially announced that following Marvel’s event limited series “Secret Invasion” debuting on the streaming service on June 21, “Loki” and “Echo” are now confirmed for the fall.

Whether he likes it or not, one of the biggest discussions surrounding the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is how James Gunn is balancing being the filmmaker for this new Marvel feature while also the co-CEO of DC Studios, the presumed “rival” company.

This week saw the Writers Guild of America call a strike after they couldn’t reach a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which led to a vote for work stoppage for its 11,500+ members across the film, television, and streaming mediums. Writers are seeking fair compensation, job security, and salaries over gig positions and to block the disruptive use of A.I.