LIst of Top 5 MCU Trailers Ranked Most-Watched on YouTube (and their Rankings Overall)

It goes without saying that the films which comprise the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios are nigh-guaranteed magnets for the movie-watching crowds. It’s gotten to the point that the very trailers for MCU films also draw plenty of viewers, to the point that they are among the most-watched videos on video-sharing site YouTube.

With the recent release of the trailer for next year’s Avengers: Endgame, the closing chapter of Phase 4 and the first ten years of the MCU, here now are the Top 5 most-watched trailers of the MCU franchise on YouTube:

Avengers: Infinity War trailer 1 (November 29, 2017) – 216+ million views, also all-time most-viewed trailer
Avengers: Infinity War trailer 2 (March 16, 2018) – 90+ million views, ninth overall most-viewed
Avengers: Age of Ultron teaser (October 22, 2014) – 86+ million views, 14^th place overall on YouTube
Captain America: Civil War trailer 2 (March 10, 2016) – 80+million, 17^th all-time most-viewed trailer
Avengers: Endgame (December 7, 2018) – 72.1 million views as of Monday, the new all-time most-viewed trailer within a 24-hour period (289 million cumulative views); will soon surpass the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice SDCC trailer which is the 20^th place all-time with 72.8 million.

The fourth Avengers movie for the MCU will premiere with an “ultimate game-changing showdown” on April 26, 2019 and “will end with a bombastic bang”.

List of California on Location Awards (COLA) Won by Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel”

It won’t be coming out until next year, but already Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, starring Bree Larson, is already racking up some awards. News has it that last Sunday, December 16 it received some accolades from the California on Location Awards (COLA), which honors film professionals and public employees that help movie crews shoot and do production in the state.

So it’s not an award for the actors or anyone on the main production credits, but Captain Marvel, during its location shooting in California, saw, the area get a boost of 11.7% in on-location feature film production at the start of 2018, a double-digit increase not seen since late 2015. Captain Marvel was shot in Los Angeles, Oxnard and Fresno.

Here are the COLAs won by the MCU’s Captain Marvel:

Location Manager of the Year (Studio Feature Film) – Ilt Jones
Location Team of the Year (Studio Feature Film) – Captain Marvel location team (10 members)
Teamsters Local 399 Assistant Location Manager of the Year (Studio Feature Film) – Lee David Lee

Captain Marvel is the 21^st feature installment of the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will arrive in theaters on March 2019.

Updated Cast List of “Star Wars” Spinoff “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ Streaming

After percolating for several years following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, a major live-action Star Wars TV series has been announced this year to arrive with the upcoming launch of the Disney+ streaming service. Entitled The Mandalorian, the show would take place between the Original and Sequel Star Wars trilogies, it would follow a lone gunfighter from the mercenary planet from which Boba Fett is reputed to hail from.

With Jon Favreau as creator along with a list of notable directors from film and TV being in charge of episodes, Star Wars: The Mandalorian is to be headlined by Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones fame accompanied by Gina Carano. More names have been added to the cast since. Here is an updated list:

Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones)
Gina Carano (Angdel Dust from Deadpool)
Nick Nolte (Lt. Col. Tall from The Thin Red Line)
Giancarlo Esposito (voice of Akela in 2016’s The Jungle Book)
Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from Rocky films)
Werner Herzog (filmmaker-actor)
Omid Abtahi (Homes from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2)
Emily Swallow (Amara/The Darkness from Supernatural)

Aside from this series about The Mandalorian, another Star Wars show for Disney+ still being conceptualized involves the other adventures of Rebel Alliance spymaster Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna) before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

List of Disney Media Arriving on Australian Streaming Service Stan

When Disney began pulling out its content on the online streaming giant Netflix, followed by the eventual announcement of their own digital streaming platform Disney+, it seemed to signal to everyone that the entertainment juggernaut will in future offer streaming of their movies and shows only within its own backyard.

But this latest development seems to debunk that theory. Disney has apparently stuck a new deal with a streaming service based outside the US. This is Stan, one of Australia’s homegrown streaming platforms, and the first to have an original program to score a nomination at the Logies (Aussie Emmys).

This partnership will see Stan carry an astonishing number of films and TV series from Walt Disney and its various subsidiaries. Here’s the full list:

Disney-Pixar

Toy Story trilogy
Finding Nemo
Frozen
The Lion King
Cars (1 and 2)
Monsters (Inc. and University)
Big Hero 6
The Incredibles
Up
Wall-E
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Maleficent
The Little Mermaid
Cinderella (2015)
Coco
A Wrinkle in Time

Marvel

Iron Man trilogy
Thor trilogy
Captain America (First Avenger and Winter Soldier)
Avengers films (up to Infinity War)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Ant-Man
Black Panther

Lucasfilm

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Solo: A Star Wars Story

Disney Channel

Sofia the First
The Lion Guard
Tangled: The Series
Star Wars Rebels
Andi Mack
Ducktales (2017)

All these Disney goodies should already be available on Stan throughout Australia by December 14. So no, the House of Mouse isn’t hogging all its media for streaming yet.

List of Notables that Cameoed as Stormtroopers in “Star Wars”

Over the decades that films of the Star Wars saga has been released, the production teams has sometimes sneaked in some notable people in cameo appearances: one-off characters ranging from background bar patrons to Rebel and Empire officers. That latter faction is something of a favorite for having helmeted Stormtroopers.

As a nod to some of its production team, and later to prominent celebrities, Lucasfilm has brought them in to cameo as Imperial stormtroopers, either suiting up in costume or having them provide voices. What we have here is a short list of famous celebrities that made cameos as stormtroopers:

A New Hope

Joe Johnston (effects artist under George Lucas, later major film director) – voice for three stormtroopers

The Force Awakens

Michael Giacchino (film/TV composer and collaborator of J.J. Abrams) – voiced First Order trooper FN-3181, part of the unit that captures Resistance pilot Poe Dameron; he also reprises the role in Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet in an appearance at the Oh My Disney website.
Nigel Godrich (music producer for rock band Radiohead) – voiced First Order trooper FN-9330, part of the Starkiller Base garrison; killed by Chewbacca
David Accord (supervising sound editor of the film) – voiced First Order trooper FN-2199, who calls defector Finn “traitor” on Tadokana and fights him until killed by Han Solo; fans jokingly call him TR-8R
Kevin Smith (filmmaker, “Silent Bob”) – voiced an unnumbered First Order stormtrooper in the battle of Tadokana, who notices the incoming Resistance X-Wing fighters
Daniel Craig (“James Bond” actor) – portrayed First Order trooper FN-1824, assigned to guard Rey only to be subjected to her first use of the Jedi Mind Trick; fans also give him a joke serial number, JB-007

The Last Jedi, or What Could Have Been (scene cut in theatrical release, but restored on DVD)

Tom Hardy (actor) – portrayed First Order trooper FN-926, part of the complement of the Supremacy, flagship of First Order Supreme Leader Snoke, recognizing the undercover Finn
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and…
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex – both portrayed First Order troopers in scene with FN-926

Star Wars Episode IX, or What Comes Next (a rumor for now)

Ed Sheeran (music artist) – announced to cameo in the film as a First Order trooper; whether he will only voice or portray the character in costume has yet to be determined

List of Situations Covered in First Trailer for “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019

After months of having nothing to call the final installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 – and fourth Avengers film – but simply Avengers 4, we now know the movie’s subtitle with the recent release of the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame. It certainly sells the ending vibe of this first decade of the MCU.

While it’s a no-brainer that the plot of this direct sequel to the tragic events of Avengers: Infinity War earlier this year, would be the heroes that survived the Decimation (aka cosmic finger-snap) of Thanos assembling to take him down once and for all, were’ still short on specifics regarding how the survivors are doing before Endgame begins. We’ll enumerate the statues of characters seen in the trailer so far:

Tony Stark/Iron Man is adrift in space after using the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship to escape Thanos’ home world. Losing power and air supply, he records a poignant message to Pepper Potts on his armor, not knowing if he’ll make it to Earth alive. Nebula, daughter of Thanos and “sister” of the fallen Guardian Gamora, is apparently accompanying him.
Thanos, triumphant in his quest to use the Infinity Stones to reduce all life in the universe by half, is in retirement at a rural world, his armor set up as a scarecrow in an alien field (a direct reference to the original Infinity Gauntlet storyline in the comic books).
Surviving Avengers on Earth – Steve Rogers/Captain America, Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Thor – take stock of the Decimation in their HQ, including making records of prominent heroes and associates listed as missing: Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Princess Shuri of Wakanda.
Clint Barton/Hawkeye, unseen since Captain America: Civil War, resurfaces under a new masked identity, known in the comics as Ronin.
Speaking of Scott/Ant-Man, he shows up unexpectedly despite being stuck in the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, with Cap and Black Widow wondering just how.

Avengers: Endgame is due to premiere on April 26, 2019.

List of Characters for Disney’s “Gigantosaurus” on Janaury 2019

Mira: Royal Detective, the recently announced upcoming 3D-animated series for Disney Junior based on the culture of India, sounds like it’s going to be a great hit in the vein of Sofia the First, and other shows like it. But there’s a problem: it’s premiering two whole years from now.

If you can’t wait that long for something new and animated on Disney’s cable programming, well they actually have a production premiering in January next year. Titled “Gigantosaurus”, it’s an adaptation of the prehistoric-themed children’s book by Jonny Duddle, and produced for Disney Junior by Cyber Group Studios from France.

The show will focus on a foursome of young dinosaurs exploring their Jurassic-era world to uncover the secret of the titular Gigantosaurus. Along the way they’ll encounter new things and situations to overcome with teamwork.

Here’s a list of characters:

Mazu – the young dinosaur who wants to learn more about the world
Tiny – the fun-loving dinosaur who wants to enjoy their escapades
Bill – the cautious dinosaur who isn’t that excited to go on adventures
Rocky – the brave one who confronts any problems and the unknown head-on

Gigantosaurus premieres January 18 on Disney Channel and app.

Cast List for Disney Channel’s “Kim Possible” TV Movie

In 2002, Disney Channel premiered Kim Possible, an action-comedy animated series about a high-school girl who sets herself up as a general do-anything freelancer online, only to become a globe-trotting crime-fighter with a number of friends, allies and foes. The show combined awesome action sequences with Kim’s personal issues as a growing adolescent, and her relationship with her best friend/sidekick.

Some 12 years after the fourth and final season of Kim Possible ended its run on Disney Channel, they’re bringing it back – as a live-action feature-length TV film, with a story written by the original animated series creators. It’s the third Kim Possible TV movie, a retelling of the story with Kim and Ron starting out at Middleton High School.

Here’s a list of the cast announced for the live-action Kim Possible next year:

Sadie Stanley – Kim Possible, high-school cheerleader, problem solver, crime fighter
Sean Giambrone – Ron Stoppable, Kim’s sidekick and best friend.
Alyson Hannigan – Dr. Ann Possible, Kim’s mother, a brain surgeon
Connie Ray – Nana Possible, Kim’s grandmother
Todd Stashwick – Dr. Drakken, a mad scientist and Kim’s primary archenemy
Taylor Ortega – Shego, Drakken’s energy-wielding henchwoman, Kim’s personal rival in hero-villain terms
Erika Tham – Bonnie Rockwaller, Kim’s childhood frenemy and cheerleading rival
Ciara Wilson – Athena, transfer student at Kim’s school
Issac Ryan Brown – Wade, computer genius, ace inventor and hacker, Kim’s “voice with an internet connection”
Patton Oswalt – Professor Dementor, another mad scientist with an over-the-top German accent; he is the only character from the animated series to be reprised in live-action by his voice actor

There will also be a cameo from Christy Romano, the original voice actress of Kim Possible from the show.

Kim Possible will premiere February 25, 2019 on Disney Channel.

List of Dates for Disney California Adventure’s Spring Festivals 2019

In the happiest places on Earth, no matter which specific parts of them you may happen to be, there’s always a festival going on. Whether it’s the string of festivities there always seems to be in Disney World’s EPCOT, or a more natural sequence of special events, Disney theme parks won’t let you down celebration-wise.

Take for instance this flash from Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. They’ve got a reminder of the major multi-day festivals that will be going on at the early months of 2019 at Disney California Adventure. And while this is a short list, we’ll be sure to add important, necessary details so you’d know what to expect when dropping in at the DCA to celebrate New Year’s:

Festival of the Holidays (until January 6) – Just because the year has turned doesn’t mean DCA can’t squeeze a few more days to see the yuletide season of 2018 off
Lunar New Year at DCA (January 25 to February 17) – take part in the grand welcome for the Chinese New Year. Since it’ll be the Year of the Earth Pig, the Three Little Pigs will take center stage, along with the return of the always-anticipated Mulan’s Lunar New Year Procession
Food and Wine Festival (March 1 to April 23) – giving a respectful yet fun tip of the hat to the agricultural industries of the state, it will be even better than before thanks to Disneyland Resort expanding the Sip and Savor 2019 Pass not just to the annual pass-holders but to everybody coming to Disney California Adventure to partake in the occasion.

All these DCA festivals as spring comes next year will also have the ever-present Festival Marketplaces offering merchandise to fit the event and commemorate your visit. Plan your trip to Disneyland Resort soon.

List of Upcoming Attraction Additions to Tokyo Disneyland

The news about a new expansion area for Disney theme parks around the world that is inspired by Lucasfilm’s Star Wars saga, and that of similar areas but themed after Marvel, may have dominated recent park-related news for Disney. It’s come to the point perhaps that new in-development attractions under Disney in general are overlooked.

But there are indeed new attractions that even now are under construction in Tokyo Disneyland, looking forward to opening sometime in the year 2020. The centerpiece of the new additions is a Beauty and the Beast indoor ride opening in Fantasyland over there. Here’s a list of these attractions headed for Tokyo in due time:

Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Tale – indoor spinning cup ride with scenes from the movie, housed inside a replica of the Beast’s castle, with all major characters featured in animatronic form
La Taverne de Gaston – new Fantasyland restaurant
Fantasyland Forest Theatre – 1,500 seat capacity indoor stage for Disney musical productions
Happy Ride with Baymax – Big Hero 6-inspired ride opening in Tomorrowland
The Big Pop – new Tomorrowland popcorn shop

These new in-development attractions will make visiting Tokyo Disneyland new again for returning guests, and will inspire more first-time visitors to come.