With Avengers: Engame looming over the summer movie season, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have revealed they are developing a documentary on none other than Stan “The Man” Lee.
“We are fascinated by the life of Stan Lee and we are actually developing a little something that has to do with his work in the history of Marvel.”
-Anthony Russo via Superhero Hype
Lee of course passed away late last year at the age of 95, and had over two dozen of his signature cameos in Marvel TV and film projects. He served as an Executive Producer for many Marvel films, most of which were based on his creations. The Russo brothers have confirmed Endgame will be the legendary creator’s final cameo.
We did predict on Episode 225 that this would happen, because it’s common sense. Though it will likely be several years before we get the MCU Proper X-Men film.
The creation of Batman has its roots in the pulp crime magazines of the 30s. Several of the panelists mentioned the characters of The Shadow, The Phantom, and Green Hornet as pre-Batman inspirations.
Well, who are three out of the first four entrants in our Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame? The Shadow, The Phantom, and Green Hornet
Is there a favorite incarnation of Batman?
All this and more in another fun-filled edition of Geekville Radio!
Every few years, Marvel does something to refresh the X-Men franchise. This summer brings two new X-Men titles, House Of X, and Powers Of X. Both set to be written by Jonathan Hickman.
As usual, Marvel was tight lipped over what will happen, but the presentation did have an interesting piece of art showing many characters from, as they put it “Past, Present, and Future”.
Official artwork for House Of X and Powers Of X hint characters from the Past, Present, and Future
This time around, Carnage is hunting down everybody who has EVER used a symbiote suit. This means not just Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, or the other usual suspects. Even The Guardians Of The Galaxy, Deadpool, and dinosaurs are potential targets.
Admittedly, I could only think of about 20 off the bat, but there were others who fit the bill of using a symbiote
Peter Parker (obviously)
Eddie Brock
John Jameson (He brought symbiotes to Earth in the first place)
Ben Reilly (Spider-Carnage)
Scorpion
Scream
Flash Thompson (dead, but dead characters always come back in comics)
Norman Osborn
Dr. Octopus
Maniac
Toxin
Scream
Punisher
Deadpool
Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel
Hybrid
Silver Surfer
Knull
I’m curious how Carnage would last against those last two, wince their cosmic level characters
The others that I forgot were (and this is by no means a complete list)
Wolverine
Rocket Raccoon
Groot
Drax
Gwen Stacy
Thunderbolt Ross
Tony Stark (if artificial symbiotes count)
Not only that, the special variant covers seem to imply other Marvel heroes may bond with symbiotes. Including Captain America, Black Panther, and Thor.
Science Fiction icon Mark Hamill is allegedly back in negotiations to appear in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3. It was widely reported last year that Hamill had talks with director James Gunn, but what role they had discussed remained under wraps.
Of course, Gunn was famously fired by Disney last year over controversial tweets made a decade previously. Gunn was re-hired earlier this month, but no major casting news came about in the interim.
Now the site We Got This Covered is reporting that Hamill may in fact be in talks to play Rocket Raccoon’s creator. This could easily be an original character, or a take on secondary or tertiary characters from the Marvel Universe.
To be clear, these are all speculative possibilities based on Rocket’s history. The true role Hamill will play, if hired, has not been publicly discussed.
Over the years, Marvel had revamped the X-Men franchise several times. At C2E2, the next X-Men revamp was announced, and it will be hitting shelves this summer.
House Of X, and Powers Of X will launch in June, and will both be written by Jonathan Hickman. The rest of the creative team will be Pepe Larraz, R.S. Silva, and Marte Garcia. It is important to note that the X in Powers Of X is the Roman Numeral 10, so its proper pronunciation is “Powers Of Ten”.
While the entire premise of these new titles was still under wraps, artwork teased at the panel showed several characters from X-Men past, present and future.
Just looking at that image, you can see Mr. Sinister, Wolverine as Weapon X, Wolverine in his 80s brown suit, Apocalypse, Emma Frost as Black Queen, Dazzler in her disco tights, and a ton of others.
At Friday’s C2E2 panel, Marvel announced the next epic story to span across the Marvel Universe will be called War Of The Realms. The proper series drops in April, and will consist of six issues. Like with most Marvel Universe tie-ins, multiple heroes will be affected in their own ongoing titles.
As the name implies, this involves Asgard and all the other realms in Marvel lore. Malekith The Accursed, the Dark Elf Lord, will be the main force behind these wars. All but one realm has felt the effects of these wars. The last one left untouched is, of course, Midgard aka Earth.
This means Asgardians, Frost Giants, Dark Elves, Light Elves, etc… will all be wreaking havoc on Earth, in it will be up to the Marvel heroes to deal with it. It also seems to be an attempt to make Malekith an “A-Lister” on the level of Loki, Dr. Doom, or Kang.
Marvel has pulled out all the stops with this tale, including releasing an official theme song for this comic event. It is linked below for listening
Squadron Supreme will be re-introduced and will be based out of Washington DC, making them “DC’s Finest Heroes” (ba-dump CHING!). Not to be outdone, fan favorite Phil Coulson will be a part of the war as well in the Avengers title.
War Of The Realms will be written by veteran Thor writer Jason Aaron. art will be by Russell Dauterman and Natthew Wilson. The first issue hits April 3rd and the series will run through the summer. Aaron did state that this will end his seven year run on Thor, and he will be part of a new (presumably ongoing) Valkyrie stand-alone title.
Overall, this is looking like another solid epic story from Marvel. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this becomes the basis for a future Thor film, should Chris Hemsworth stick around for Phase Four or Five.
It’s a mega-sized collection of news on this episode of Geekville Radio. Seth “Zandrax” Zillmann and “Crazy Train” Jonathan Bolick return to talk some of the major headlines
Perhaps the biggest news, possibly even bigger than the obvious Star Wars distribution rights, is the Fox owned Marvel properties that can now be incorporated into the MCU.
The most obvious addition would be that of The X-Men. One of fans’ biggest complaints about the MCU is it never incorporated Marvel’s famous mutants. Now, that plethora of of characters can be introduced in Phase Four.
The other Fox owned Marvel property is The Fantastic Four. While the three movies may not have been as successful as most MCU movies, two characters linked to that specific brand could easily become major players as villains in future films. Those are of course Doctor Doom and Galactus.
While many fans are understandably thrilled about this, it is very possible there may be some major changes in store for the franchise.
First off, it is not a given that the existing X-Men actors will carry over into The MCU. And yes, that includes Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Despite already having five films’ worth of Spider-Man films, Marvel still recast Tom Holland in the role.
There is also the possibility that, by using the same actors, continuity just would be less sensical. After all, if the X-Men movies are considered part of the MCU, why didn’t The Avengers assist with any of those world-threatening situations.
Deadpool may stay according to reports, though as Train points out, the studio change may legally be a recasting of the role to Ryan Reynolds, just under a new company.
Disney/Fox Merger and Star Wars (19:20)
Another fan friendly wish that may become a reality is the re-release of the Original Trilogy, aka “Non-Special Editions”, Star Wars films. As discussed before, Fox owned the distribution rights to Star Wars. Thus, any theater or home video release could only be through Fox, unless some deal was worked out with Disney. That of course is no longer an obstacle.
Disney Rehires James Gunn (32:10)
Disney announced the return of director James Gunn to Guardians Of The Galaxy vol. 3. Was the reaction to past controversial tweets overblown? Did Disney cave? Was it just trolls? Or did they have this planned all along? There is evidence for all of these possibilities.
Gunn will still be writing and directing Suicide Squad 2, so Guardians 3 will have to wait for that project to finish before it starts filming.
Oliver Queen himself revealing that Arrow is coming to an end
We already know that Crisis on Infinite Earthswill be next years crossover. We also know they’ve been teasing Crisis since the pilot episode of Flash.
In the comics, Flash and Supergirl die during Crisis. Does this mean their respective TV shows will end as well?
Speaking of deaths, Oliver Queen did die in the DC Universe, but was brought back by Hal Jordan as Spectre. So it is very possible that Ollie may bite the big one, and be brought back in some capacity later on.
Bill And Ted 3 (52:40)
The last segment off the show is devoted to the long-awaited confirmation that a third Bill An Ted movie, now titled Bill And Ted Face The Music, has begun filming. Could a sequel to a 30 year old cult classic work in mainstream 2019?
As always, we welcome your thoughts on all these stories. Let us know in the comments section or on our social media
Variety reports, as expected, that Disney shareholders are happy with the news. Meanwhile, Fox shareholders are less enthusiastic.
The good news is, of course, that movie distribution rights for previous Marvel and Star Wars properties are now all under one roof. This means that The X-Men can be formally introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fox also had rights to Fantastic Four, which means A-Listers like Doctor Doom and Galactus could be part of the next MCU phases as well.
And, as classic trilogy fans have wanted for 20 years, it could conceivably mean that Disney could release “Non-Special Editions” of the original three Star Wars films. It also means the 3D releases, hyped a number of years ago before LucasFilm sold to Disney, could become a reality as well.
Conceivably, Disney could do crossovers with the properties. Could we see a Guardians Of The Galaxy crossover with Star Wars? Or The Deadpool Goofy Movie?
Like with many mergers, there is a downside. In this case, as many as 4,000 people could be laid off. No major business deal goes without losses.
Do you have any hopes for the new Disney/Fox era? Let us know in the comments.
Nearly eight months after being fired by Disney, James Gunn has reportedly been rehired to direct the third installment of the Guardians Of The Galaxy film series.
Deadline reports that Disney chairman Alan Horn met with Gunn to discuss his return to the franchise. Gunn was of course fired last summer over controversial tweets he made a decade previously.
According to the Deadline report, it was Gunn’s public apology and the way he’s handled himself since that persuaded Disney to rehire him.
The social media messages were indefensible, but the filmmaker never did anything but blame himself for poor judgment displayed at a time when he was emerging from the Troma film factory and attempting to be a provocateur.
Avengers: Endgame will release next month, which will wrap up Phase Three in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 will be part of Phase Four, which will include Spider-Man: Far From Home, Doctor Strange 2, and a standalone Black Widow film for Scarlett Johansson.
