Category: Marvel Studios

Filming for Post-Phase 3 MCU Film “Eternals” Might Start Early this August

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are all on tenterhooks this year as the film “Avengers: Endgame” nears its premiere date on April. With that, the longest storyline arc of the live-action superhero franchise, Phase 3, comes to an end with what feels like a soft MCU reboot. Post-Phase 3 movies are already on the way such as “Spider-Man: Far from Home” following in July, and more.

The general theme for some of the announced MCU titles after “Endgame” is that some of them are from lesser-known Marvel Comics series. One of these is “Eternals,” which has a new filming schedule announced.

Screen Rant has it that Marvel Studios has stated a new date for the official start of camera work for “The Eternals” a full month ahead of the last date scheduled. This also comes with a set location change. Whereas production was first reported in November 2018 to begin this September in the UK, this time filming will be done in August at Atlanta instead.

Already Marvel Studios has tapped names to spearhead this MCU film, with brothers Matthew and Ryan Firpo to work on the script as of May last year, and then Chloe Zhao to sit in the director’s chair later in fall 2018. Barring any delays in getting casting started, there is the possibility that “Eternals” will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie lineup 2020.

Part of the reason for this schedule adjustment is a general reshuffling of filming dates for MCU films in the wake of “Avengers: Endgame” and the end of Phase 3. A potentially R-rated “Black Widow” solo movie under director Cate Shortland was supposed to start its own production at the end of this month, but has been moved to June.

Little is known about the plot for “The Eternals,” based on characters created by legendary comic book artists Jack Kirby. Rumor has it that, like the source comics, it might begin millions of years ago well before prehistoric times, and thus serve as a prequel to the whole MCU franchise.

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List of Possible New Marvel Shows Being Planned on Hulu

We are well aware of the recent shifts in the general media landscape where TV series connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe are concerned. Where once there was a thriving multi-show MCU presence on Netflix, only two of them remain while everything else has been canceled.

Under the polite excuses one can only surmise that the streaming giant wants no part in indirectly promoting new MCU series that will launch with Disney’s own exclusive streaming platform this year or next. But if observers are concerned that Disney will be hoarding all TV productions of its Marvel subsidiary then they can rest assured with this development.

Polygon reports that there’s a new media partnership that Marvel Television has inked with over-the-top media streaming company Hulu. This will lead to the production of four new series featuring more Marvel characters from its massive library.

Granted, the fact that these shows are going to potentially be on a media platform that Disney has a stake in (and one that might grow once the acquisition of Fox and its own Hulu share is completed) is a different fish compared to the Netflix situation. But still, it does point out that Disney will not be a proprietary media hog with their incoming Disney+ streaming service.

Here we have a list of the four planned Marvel series planned for Hulu. There is no word yet if they will also be set in the MCU as the Netflix series were. Let’s see:

  1. Howard the Duck – one of Marvel’s more off-the-wall creations; Disney almost got into a rights dispute over it against Marvel, now moot with the latter joining the former; Kevin Smith and Dave Willis (“Aqua Teen Hunger Force”) will write and executively produce
  2. MODOK – a series with a villain protagonist, a baddie that normally tangled with tech-themed Marvel heroes in comics; recognizable as a giant head with a tiny vestigial body, supported by a bio-tech flying platform; show-runners will be Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum (“American Dad”)
  3. Hit-Monkey – a supporting character for X-Men supporting character Deadpool, he is an intelligent Japanese snow monkey that learned ninja skills from an assassin; his TV story will also be handled by another tandem, Will Speck (“Blades of Glory”) and Josh Gordon
  4. Tigra and Dazzler – with Chelsea Handler and Erica Rivinoja as show-runners, this show brings together two females superheroes, one from the Avengers camp and the other from the X-Men; Tigra (Greer Nelson) is a magically-enhanced superhuman famous for being a sexy tiger-woman in a bikini, with fur, tail and claws, plus cat-like strength and reflexes; Dazzler (Allison Blaire) is a pop star and mutant that can convert sound waves around her into solid light with various special effects

The presence of X-Men related characters in the titles seems to indicate that the Disney-Fox deal, which will regain the film/TV use of X-Men characters, seems all but done now. No release date was given as to when the shows will appear on Hulu. For now, the ball’s in the Disney+ Marvel shows as well as the MCU in general.

List of Licensed Toy Tie-Ins for MCU “Captain Marvel” from Diamond Select Toys

The release of a major blockbuster movie based on a “child-friendly” property like superheroes is bound to come with some tie-in merchandise. And if it’s from a powerhouse studio like Marvel Studios (under Disney), then you can expect many toy brands partnered up to bring quite the variety of products.

For instance, Captain Marvel which premieres March next year has just been announced to be having tie-ins coming out from Diamond Select Toys, the toy-making sister company of Diamond Comics Distributors. Thus far they have two products announced, but they sound quite impressive. Let’s put them in a nice list.

Diamond_Select_Toys_Logo

  • Marvel Movie Minimates: Captain Marvel Box – 2-inch DST “minimate” minifigures with articulated and exchangeable body parts; SRP $24.99 due to release in spring 2019
  1. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
  2. Kree Soldier Att-Lass
  3. Kree Sniper Minn-Erva
  4. Skrull Agent Nuro
  • Marvel Select: Captain Marvel (Starforce Uniform) Action Figure – 7-inch fully articulated (16 points) action figure of Captain Marvel in her Kree Starforce uniform; facial likeness of Captain Marvel film lead actress Bree Larson; SRP $24.99 due to release in summer 2019

Captain Marvel arrives in cinemas just over a month before the premiere of Avengers: Endgame, late April 2019.

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:

  1. Avengers: Infinity War trailer 1 (November 29, 2017) – 216+ million views, also all-time most-viewed trailer
  2. Avengers: Infinity War trailer 2 (March 16, 2018) – 90+ million views, ninth overall most-viewed
  3. Avengers: Age of Ultron teaser (October 22, 2014) – 86+ million views, 14th place overall on YouTube
  4. Captain America: Civil War trailer 2 (March 10, 2016) – 80+million, 17th all-time most-viewed trailer
  5. 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 20th 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:

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

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

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).

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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

  1. Toy Story trilogy
  2. Finding Nemo
  3. Frozen
  4. The Lion King
  5. Cars (1 and 2)
  6. Monsters (Inc. and University)
  7. Big Hero 6
  8. The Incredibles
  9. Up
  10. Wall-E
  11. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  12. Maleficent
  13. The Little Mermaid
  14. Cinderella (2015)
  15. Coco
  16. A Wrinkle in Time

Marvel

  1. Iron Man trilogy
  2. Thor trilogy
  3. Captain America (First Avenger and Winter Soldier)
  4. Avengers films (up to Infinity War)
  5. Guardians of the Galaxy
  6. Ant-Man
  7. Black Panther

Lucasfilm

  1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
  2. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Disney Channel

  1. Sofia the First
  2. The Lion Guard
  3. Tangled: The Series
  4. Star Wars Rebels
  5. Andi Mack
  6. 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 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 Asian Actors Being Proposed for Marvel’s Planned “Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu” Film

When Marvel Studios released Black Panther last February as part of the MCU they score a jackpot at the box office. With African-American and African-descent cast members, director and production team, the film resonated with the African-American community and Africa as well, the way Wonder Woman from rival Warner Bros.-DC did for women in 2017.

With Phase 3 of the MCU about to end, the matter of what new Marvel characters to be given movies in Phase 4 has been brought up. One of them feels like kin to the recently-cancelled Marvel-Netflix series Iron Fist. The hero in question is Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, a 1970s creation inspired easily from real-life actor Bruce Lee.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is looking at the possibility of a future Shang-Chi film being the Asian equivalent of Black Panther, in casting, director and production. Fan discussion has begun on which Asian-descent actor might be approached by Marvel for the part. Possibilities include:

  • Daniel Wu (New Police Story, Warcraft) – from Hong Kong
  • Eddie Peng (The Great Wall) – from Taiwan
  • Wu Jing (Wolf Warrior) – from China
  • Zhang Jin (stunt double of Zhang Ziyi on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) – from China

Already Marvel Studios is in talks with Chinese-American Dave Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984 co-writer) for the screenplay of Shang-Chi. They also hope to cut down on the stereotypes present with the Shang-Chi character and his background. No further details have been shared about the film, including whether it might really be part of the MCU Phase 4 or not.

Tentative List of Films in MCU Phase 4, After “Avengers 4”

Disney and Marvel Studios must have hammered it hard and often enough to its movie-going audience that the current “Phase 3” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise will end with Avengers 4 next year. The phase-based storytelling of the superhero franchise had helped to manage its overall plotline quite nicely.

The epic ending of Avengers 4 has been marked as the conclusion of MCU Phase 3, the longest phase in the saga with the most films. Afterwards, the still-being planned Phase 4 outline will serve as a soft reboot of the franchise with increased focus on heroes outside the Avengers.

While only one MCU film has been confirmed to be in production for release after Phase 3, there’s been several other titles either in development prior to full filming, or merely announced. Here’s a rough list of what to expect after the Avengers deal with Thanos on Avengers 4 (2019):

Confirmed

  • Spider-Man: Far from Home

Announced

  • The Eternals
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – uncertain status following director James Gunn’s departure
  • Shang-Chi
  • Black Panther sequel

Possible

  • Doctor Strange sequel
  • Black Widow (prequel)
  • Captain Marvel sequel
  • Ms. Marvel

Fan-Compiled List of Inhabited and Habitable Worlds in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

When Marvel Studios and its fans call their hit superhero film franchise the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that term has quite the literal meaning to it. While it started with a strictly earthbound story in Iron Man (2008), the introduction of Thor (2011) opened the door to a wider fictional setting.

After everybody’s favorite God of Thunder, the MCU went further along, with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and even the Avengers during Infinity War. A redditor named sirvante70 thought it’d be nice to compile a good composite showing all the inhabited and potentially habitable worlds visited during the MCU. To that, we make this list, including a brief on each of the planets/realms in turn.

MCU Planets That Are Capable Of Life For Humans from marvelstudios

Since IRON MAN

  1. Earth – center of the MCU storyline, where most Marvel super heroes are located

Since THOR

  1. Asgard – home of the Asgardians, regarded as Gods by ancient man; destroyed by Surtur in Thor Ragnarok
  2. Jotunheim – home of the Frost Giants who once sought to conquer the Nine Realms; nearly destroyed by Loki

Since GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

  1. Conjunction (prequel comic) – where Gamora was contacted by the Collector regarding the Power Stone
  2. Praxius IX (prequel comic) – alleged location of Infinity Stone of Power; investigated by Nebula
  3. Xandar – capital of the Nova Empire and Nova Corps HQ; allegedly destroyed by Thanos to claim the Power Stone

Since GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

  1. Aakon – a planet seeded by Ego; almost destroyed but saved by Ego’s death
  2. Contraxia – ice world with settlements that are favored hangouts of the Ravagers; Stakar Ogdor finds Yondu Undonta here
  3. Ego – the true form of the same-named Celestial, father to Star-Lord; was killed by his son
  4. Sovereign – home of the Sovereign Race who hired the Guardians for a job and pursued them due to theft

Since THOR RAGNAROK

  1. Sakaar – artificial world ruled by the Grandmaster, major location of the movie’s events
  2. Muspelheim – realm of the Fire Demons ruled by Surtur, setting of the movie’s prologue
  3. Niflheim – ice world prison of Odin’s rebellious daughter Hel, where she is trapped as long as Odin lives

Since AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

  1. Titan – home planet of Thanos; rendered uninhabited after he destroyed his race for disregarding his view of universal balance
  2. Vormir – hiding place of the Soul Stone, watched over by the cursed Red Skull; Thanos claims the Stone by sacrificing Gamora

Not included is Svartalfheim, the Dark Elf homeworld seen in Thor: The Dark World (2013).