Jon Bernthal joins Daredevil as The Punisher

The Walking Dead's Jon Bernthal officially joined the Marvel universe today as Frank Castle (aka, The Punisher). Bernthal will primarily appear in season two of the Netflix series, Daredevil, but it is important to remember that the actors signing onto Marvel television shows have film options in their contracts. This might be paving a future path towards another Punisher solo film.

 Bernthal is most recognizable to television viewers as Shane from The Walking Dead where he exited the zombie drama after two seasons. He's also been seen in films such as The Wolf of Wall Street and Fury and also appeared in the short-lived series, Mob City.







The Punisher previously had a film treatment back in 2004 with Thomas Jane in the lead role. It was alright for what it was, but still nothing special. That film eventually got a sequel, Punisher: War Zone, in 2008 complete with Ray Stevenson in the lead role but the franchise kind of died after that. 

To those unfamiliar with The Punisher, he is basically a similar vigilante to Matt Murdock (aka, Daredevil). He acts as an individual with a mission to keep Hell's Kitchen clean by any means necessary. He crosses the line of life and death that Murdock doesn't want to cross so it should prove an interesting feud, or ally, for him. My guess is they are bringing in as many potential allies as possible for Daredevil seeing that The Kingpin is in jail and very angry and rumor has it that Bullseye will be a part of season two as well. It's naive to think they will introduce all of these villains and leave Murdock out on his own.


I personally really loved the Daredevil series and I think the character is well suited for a show and not a single film. It works and I'm happy to see Marvel is exploring the television/streaming platform for lesser known, or lesser liked, heroes and villains. It also leaves good potential to tie everything together so I wouldn't be surprised to see cameos from some of these actors in Phase Three films. 

Confirmed: Marvel is skipping SDCC 2015

It's been rumored for months, but we now have confirmation that Marvel will not have a Hall H panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con International. Marvel has been the star of Hall H for quite a few years now and it's a bit confusing as to why they are skipping this year.

Many are speculating this is due to Marvel's somewhat lackluster panel last year. They had attempted to use the platform to announce all of Phase Three, tease Guardians of the Galaxy, and announce Joaquin Phoenix as Doctor Strange, but his negotiations fell through just prior to the convention. As a result, they didn't reveal much at all.
However, there are a couple options why. Seeing that Marvel is a Disney owned entity now, Kevin Feige might decide to save whatever they have for the D23 Convention in Anaheim. They are Disney owned, after all. Another theory is they just don't have enough to show. Captain America: Civil War just started filming, Spider-Man hasn't begun production yet, and there is no point trying to hype Ant-Man because it's hitting next month.

Deadpool officially wraps filming

It's done. It's actually real!

Principal photography for Deadpool movie has officially wrapped. I've been trying to stay away from set photos and spoilers that the trolls of the internet have kindly leaked just about everywhere, but seeing that filming is done is like... this is really happening. Finally!

We are set to get Deadpool in theaters on February 12, 2016. It is directed by Tim Miller and stars Ryan Reynolds, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin, and Briana Hildebrand.

Rumor: Asa Butterfield tops the list for Spider-Man

Rumor has it that Marvel has its frontrunner for the upcoming (new) adaptation of Spider-Man. After Kevin Feige announced they were indeed taking Peter Parker back to high school and they wanted to cast a real teenager, many actors were added to shortlists throughout the internet. Apparently the actor on the top of the list at the moment is 18-year old British actor, Asa Butterfield.

Latino Review, who is notoriously correct, reported that Butterfield is the frontrunner on Marvel's list of potentials; the list also contains Nat Wolff, Tom Holland, Liam James, and Timothee Chalamet. Some insiders told LR that Butterfield had already been cast as Peter Parker, but Marvel is waiting to announce it. Butterfield is no stranger to the screen despite just being 18-years old. His big breaks included being cast in starring roles in both the film adaptation of Ender's Game and Martin Scorsese's, Hugo.

Either way this casting announcement should come soon as the plan is to include Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War and then have another reboot film for the character by 2017. I have liked Asa Butterfield in what I've seen him in so far and I think he would make a great Spider-Man. We shall wait and see, though. If the internet has gotten the jump on Marvel they might make an announcement sooner rather than later.

Daniel Bruhl to play Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War

We learned that Inglorious Basterds actor, Daniel Bruhl, had been cast in Captain America: Civil War months ago but we never got confirmation for which character he'd been cast to play. Bruhl said in a recent interview with The Independent UK that he has been cast as the villainous Baron Helmut Zemo.

If you're not familiar with Zemo, he is the son of one of the top scientists in Hitler's Nazi regime and he directly blames Captain America for the death of his father. Zemo's father, Heinrich, created numerous weapons of mass destruction for the Nazi regime including a large-scale death ray cannon.
He first appeared in The Avengers comics in 1964, so he's definitely a seasoned Marvel character and has been listed on many top Marvel villain lists around the internet. Zemo's abilities include a superior intellect, excellent marksmanship, and extensive training in hand-to-hand combat. Later on in the comic arcs, he was granted superpower abilities of energy, gravitational, and light manipulation. 



Captain America: Civil War is set to begin production this week in Atlanta. It stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen, Daniel Bruhl, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Frank Grillo, and Anthony Mackie.

First look at Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler

Pretty much what everyone expected it to be.

X-Men: Apocalypse is set to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.

Elizabeth Olsen confirmed for Captain America: Civil War

Looks like Marvel isn't finished with Scarlet Witch just yet. Elizabeth Olsen, who debuts the character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, confirmed that she will reprise the role of Scarlet Witch in the third installment of Captain America, Civil War, next year. She will evidently begin filming her scenes in Atlanta in a couple weeks.

Marvel has yet to confirm Olsen's involvement, but I'm sure a list of character confirmations are coming. Given the involvement required for this Civil War arc, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of Marvel actors make cameos in this film. My fingers are crossed for another Erik Selvig appearance or Jane Foster.

The Russo's to direct Avengers: The Infinity War

Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, have officially been hired to direct Avengers: The Infinity War - Part 1 and Part 2. This isn't much of a surprise as they also were selected to direct Captain America: Civil War. Also in talks for The Infinity War are screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The pair has written scripts for all three Captain America films along with Thor: The Dark World and ABC's Agent Carter.
The Infinity War is going to be the biggest production yet as both parts will shoot back to back in 2016 and 2017. Part 1 is set for a 2018 release while Part 2 is set for 2019. 

A random sidenote, but this also confirms that Joss Whedon is indeed finished with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He previously stated that Avengers: Age of Ultron would most likely be his last Marvel film and that seems to be true. He wants to move on and start doing some more original projects. Sad day.

Jennifer Lawrence to exit X-Men franchise

I hope you all enjoy X-Men: Apocalypse because after that installment the X-Men universe will lose Jennifer Lawrence. The actress confirmed that Apocalypse will be her last appearance as Mystique in Fox's longstanding X-Men franchise. Lawrence first appeared as the blue mutant in X-Men: First Class back in 2011. She returned for X-Men: Days of Future Past last year. Personally, I have really enjoyed what she's brought to the character so it's sad to see her go.

X-Men: Apocalypse is proving to be fairly interesting so far. Knowing now that it will be the last we see of Lawrence, it is also going to be just the second X-Men film not to feature Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen. Bryan Singer is returning to direct and we will see new additions Oscar Isaac, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, and Alexandra Shipp. It's set to open in theaters May 27, 2016.

Deadpool officially begins production

It's been years in the making and the production of a solo film for the X-Men character, Deadpool, is finally underway. The Deadpool project was announced after Ryan Reynolds' portrayal of the character in the 2009 film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and it sat in development hell until now. At last year's San Diego Comic-Con some test footage leaked from a couple years back. Since then Fox played catch-up and finally announced the project was actually happening in late 2014 after a massive fan uprising demanding the film finally happen. This also came after Fox confirmed a solo film for Gambit, another X-Men character who appeared in X-Men Origins. Channing Tatum will replace Taylor Kitsch as Gambit in the announced solo film.

Deadpool stars Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, and Gina Carano. It is being directed by Tim Miller.

Fantastic Four 2 delayed one week in 2017

After confirmation that Star Wars: Episode VIII will be hitting on May 26, 2017, 20th Century Fox has decided to shift the sequel to this year's Fantastic Four reboot by one week. Fantastic Four 2 was originally set to hit theaters on June 2, 2017 but the studio wants more of a break between the two films and it will now be released on June 9th.

As it currently stands, Fantastic Four 2 has June 9th to itself but I highly doubt that will hold. Not to mention we haven't seen Fantastic Four yet and there is no telling how it's going to be received. If it sucks and people hate it, Fox might scrap the sequel altogether. Only time will tell.

Fantastic Four stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan, and Toby Kebbell. It hits theaters on August 7th, 2015.

Wolverine 3 to start filming in 2016

The Wolverine director James Mangold went to Twitter to confirm that the sequel, still starring Hugh Jackman, will begin filming sometime in 2016. The only thing we really know about this project so far is that it's been in development at Fox pretty much since The Wolverine hit theaters in 2013 and it's set for a 2017 release.

Hugh Jackman has been Wolverine seven times since making his debut as the character in 2000. He previously stated that he wanted to wrap up his tenure as the character after this new Wolverine film, but he now says that he wants to play the character as long as X-Men movies are being made.
I'm pretty sure Jackman is on board to play Wolverine in X-Men: Apocalypse but I'm not positive. We're getting Apocalypse on May 23, 2016 while the release for the third Wolverine movie is set for March 3, 2017. 

Can you complete the ultimate Marvel marathon?

AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment are giving moviegoers in select cities the ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe experience with the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Select theaters will be screening an 11-movie Marvel marathon starting on April 29th. Yes, this marathon begins with Iron Man and ends with Age of Ultron. There is no word on if those who complete the marathon will get special perks or prizes, but those who choose to complete it better expect to bring blankets and some coffee... and prepare to fork out a hefty price to see all 11 films.

The schedule looks like this:

6:00pm - Iron Man
8:25pm - The Incredible Hulk
10:35pm - Iron Man 2
1:00am - Thor
3:10am - Captain America: The First Avenger
5:30am - The Avengers
8:48am - Iron Man 3
11:15am - Thor: The Dark World
1:45pm - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4:20pm - Guardians of the Galaxy
7:00pm - Avengers: Age of Ultron


So far it looks like Regal is only showing the marathon in Houston, Ontario (CA), Atlanta, and King of Prussia (PA). AMC doesn't give the locations, but I'm sure they will surface before too long.
Personally, I wouldn't do this but I can see why people would. The idea of staying awake that long in a movie theater just isn't happening.

Kodi Smit-McPhee joins X-Men: Apocalypse

Fox is underway casting younger versions of the X-Men heroes and we have our fourth official casting announcement. Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee joins the young cast already consisting of Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), and Alexandra Shipp (Storm) and he will be playing the character of Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse. 

Smit-McPhee came onto the radar fairly young and was fantastic in Let Me In, the American version of Let the Right One In. He most recently reunited with Let Me In director, Matt Reeves, in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Nightcrawler was previously portrayed in the X-Men movies by Alan Cumming. Director Bryan Singer previously stated that he wanted to include Nightcrawler and Gambit in Apocalypse and he's already halfway there. Channing Tatum has been cast as Gambit for a solo film, but there is no confirmation (or denial) that Gambit will appear in Apocalypse.

How exactly can, and will, Spider-Man fit into Marvel?

There is a lot of speculation right now regarding the announcement of Sony and Marvel teaming up for Spider-Man. The main question on everyone's mind is, how exactly will Spider-Man fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Not only that, how will he be introduced?

There are a few possibilities here...

First of all, we already have confirmation that Spidey will appear in one Marvel film prior to a new solo film in 2017 and that it will feature a new actor, not Andrew Garfield. My personal guess is the same as a lot of other guesses... Captain America: Civil War.
Civil War follows the rift between the heroes as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers form their own teams to fight against one another in light of the Superhuman Registration Act and Spider-Man is one of those heroes. There are already rumors floating around regarding X-Men characters making cameos as well as the new Fantastic Four, so it would make perfect sense for Spidey to be introduced in some way for Civil War. Not to mention that is the next major Marvel film following Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man and the only one that makes sense prior to 2017. I doubt we will get a Spidey cameo in either of those as they have both finished filming and we don't have a new Peter Parker yet.

Another possibility is to just continue The Amazing Spider-Man story that's already happened. This is possible to just continue the foundation that's been laid out already and it would further support Sinister Six and Venom which are both still in development at Sony. However, with Andrew Garfield not returning there would be no real reason to continue it. If they do decide to continue it with a new actor they could still go off the fact that Gwen Stacy is dead, Peter's father might be alive, and that Spider-man has super blood.

However, they very well could just have Spider-Man appear out of nowhere. The option here is to just introduce Spider-Man as if he already existed but just wasn't focused on. Easy as pie.

If all else fails, maybe we could just go for another origins story! This is by far the worst idea out of all of them because we've had two Spider-Man origins in just a little over a decade. Not to mention everyone knows it. Peter gets bitten by a genetically altered spider, Uncle Ben dies, and Oscorp is his evil foe. It's been done and we don't need it again.


At the end of the day, even with Marvel's help, Sony will have final creative approval over Spider-Man so who knows what will happen.

Spider-Man spinoffs still on without Marvel's help

With the news of the agreement between Sony and Marvel regarding Spider-Man, there were some questions regarding the upcoming spinoff films Sony already has given the green light to. We learned today that Sinister Six and Venom are indeed still moving forward and they will not require the assistance of Marvel and Kevin Feige.

There is no confirmation on whether Alex Kurtzman and Drew Goddard are still attached to their respective films, but the fact that Sony managed to hang out to these projects is pretty surprising. With that said, I would assume that Kurtzman and Goddard are going to stay in the picture. Without the involvement of Kevin Feige, who will co-produce the next solo Spidey film, Sony seems to want to try and prove once again that they can create a successful interconnected universe.
One thing to remember is now that Spider-Man can appear in Marvel films, that means Marvel characters can appear in the Sony films. This does open a possibility of introducing Marvel cameos into Venom and/or Sinister Six. Goddard does have some experience dealing with Marvel as he was originally attached to the Daredevil series set to premiere on Netflix, but he departed due to his commitments to Sinister Six. 

With the announced agreement between the studios last night it was also confirmed that previously announced Sony versions of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 have been officially canceled. Sony had already delayed the projects by a year but with Marvel stepping in they have opted to restart with a new Spider-Man film in 2017. This all was kickstarted by the complete failure that was The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Many fans called for yet another reboot of the character with new villains and a new Peter Parker and it looks like they are getting their wish as Marvel is hoping to cast a younger actor to portray Spidey. Sorry, Andrew Garfield.

Sony and Marvel agree to terms on Spider-Man

Guys.. this is finally happening.

There is confirmation that Marvel and Sony Pictures have agreed to terms and Spider-Man will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal between the studios outlines a plan to have Spider-Man appear in an MCU film prior to the next solo Spidey film to be released by Sony in 2017. Another big tidbit is the next solo film will be co-produced by Marvel President, Kevin Feige. It is also possible that MCU characters might crossover into Sony's realm and vice versa. 
Rumors of this surfaced a few months back in the midst of the big Sony hack when leaked emails between Marvel and Sony were uncovered. Just about the only thing to come from the hacks was Sony co-chairman, Amy Pascal, stepping down. She will, however, still co-produce the Spider-Man film with Kevin Feige. There is no definite word yet on whether Andrew Garfield will continue as Peter Parker, but my guess is they will recast him at some point. He hasn't been a big hit so far.

My guess is the film Spidey will appear in will most definitely be Captain America: Civil War. That's really the only major Marvel release, aside from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, coming prior to a 2017 solo release. It would also make sense as Spider-Man appears in the Civil War comics.


This is good news!

Fantastic Four - Teaser

We finally have our first glimpse at Josh Trank's adaptation of Fantastic Four. Despite the movie opening this year we haven't seen anything about the film before now except for a selfie from the cast the night filming wrapped.

The trailer reveals our cast (Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell) as they become physically mutated and transformed after a visit to an alternate universe. While we don't get a glimpse at Toby Kebbell's version of Dr. Doom, we do hear his voice for the first time.




Fantastic Four hits theaters on August 7th in 3D.

Deadpool set to begin filming in March

20th Century Fox has been sitting on this project since before X-Men Origins: Wolverine showed up and pretty much failed to meet every possible expectation anyone had. As a result, Deadpool was shelved and was pretty much thought to be dead until Comic-Con International last year. Some old test footage leaked and (yada yada yada) Fox greenlit the project. We now have even more confirmation that this is actually happening as the studio has set a filming date and location.

Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds, will start filming in Vancouver in March of this year. Vancouver is not only Reynolds' hometown but it is a big film hub for Fox. X-Men: Days of Future Past was even filmed there back in 2013. Tim Miller is attached to direct the film that is set for a February 12, 2016 release.
I still think that Guardians of the Galaxy had a lot to do with this as it proved that audiences were open to a superhero film not 100% grounded in reality. It also showed that we were willing to laugh a bit and be silly with our heroes. With that said, the reason that Fox never moved forward with Deadpool was because they weren't sure there was a wide market for it outside of the existing fanbase. I think the success Marvel has had with Guardians and their upcoming gamble on Ant-Man, Fox finally decided to take the plunge. There is no confirmation on whether they will stay completely true to the character and go for an R-rating, but even if it goes PG-13 I'm sure we will get an unrated version on DVD/Blu-Ray. 

Kristen Stewart wants in on the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Since Twilight came to an end in 2012, Kristen Stewart has changed her career path a bit. Granted she did also get caught cheating on one of the most famous actors in Hollywood with a married man, but after her massive franchise ended she decided to take a year off and has now begun to resurface in a series of more independent releases. She's appeared in the military drama, Camp X-Ray, and has also appeared in Clouds of Sils Maria and Still Alice and will appear in Anesthesia, Equals, and American Ultra this year. It didn't work out in her favor, but there were even some people who said she might have gained an Oscar nomination for her work in the latter. In addition to her career picking back up she recently stated that she has her eye on another potential franchise universe.

In recent interviews for Still Alice, Stewart mentioned that she has a lot of interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She expressed specific interest in joining the Captain America arc and reiterated that despite the Twilight fiasco she wouldn't be opposed to joining another franchise. In her own words:

"I love watching those movies. I would love to show people that I can do more than just be ‘Kristen Stewart’ in a different movie, in a different circumstance… I’m sure I could get on board with Captain America, you know what I mean?… It would just have to be the right thing."

Now... despite the hatred Stewart gets she shouldn't be underestimated at all. There is no denying her work in the Twilight franchise was atrocious, but that's what happens when you cast teenagers in a film and then trap them into a franchise. If you watch her in more independent roles, like Welcome to the Rileys, she can be quite fantastic. She also shined very brightly in Adventureland, Camp X-Ray, and The Runaways. I'm not saying I'm necessarily rooting for Kristen Stewart to be part of the MCU, but depending on the role I don't think she would do a terrible job. I think she's grown enough as an individual and as an actress to know better than to repeat Bella Swan.

What says you guys? Are you open to Stewart potentially entering the MCU at some point or is it a big, fat no?