It’s a huge week of news, especially for Marvel MCU fans. Subjects are tagged with timestamps if you want to get right to them
(1:55) Kevin Feige to produce a Star Wars film
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story last week that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will develop a new Star Wars movie. It certainly could be in response to the Sequel Trilogy fan reception, especially The Last Jedi. And, of course, the underwhelming performance of Solo. Given Feige’s track record with the Marvel films, it seems like a natural pairing.
Geekville Radio #243: Disney vs. Sony plus D23 News
A ton of news to go over in this jam-packed episode! In the first segment, Seth and Crazy Train talk about the problems between Sony and Disney over Spider-Man. The second half is devoted to Star Wars and Marvel news coming out of D23.
(3:03) Sony vs Disney and Marvel
Unless you’ve been out in deep space for the last week, you’ve probably heard of the split between Disney and Sony over Marvel’s Spider-Man in The MCU. To fully comprehend what happened, we have to take a step back and look at how we got to this point in the first place.
Attempts at making a Spider-Man feature film date back to the 1980s. But over the years, the film companies set to make the picture would go under or were bought out. This made deciding the film rights a real nightmare. Eventually, Sony got the rights in the late 90s.
Around this time, Marvel opened their own film studio. Once Marvel Studios was created, Marvel no longer needed to shop around film rights. They could control their own properties when it came to the big screen. This is one of the reasons Marvel was able to make successful films that pleased fans and critics alike.
So here are the main talking points of the Disney vs. Sony fiasco.
The previous deal between the two had expired – When Sony and Disney agreed to share Spider-Man, it was for a certain number of films. Sony would produce the stand-alone films, with Marvel and Disney helming Avengers and other crossover films.
Sony was happy with the previous deal – It looks like Sony would have been happy with a continuation of that agreement. They weren’t necessarily looking for a bigger or better deal.
Sony has several Spider-Man related characters – Most, if not all of the Spider-Man rogues’ gallery, are within Sony’s rights. Sony is making Venom 2, and an Into The Spider-Verse sequel seems likely. Plus, there is the Morbius film, as well as other Spidey movies that would pave the way for a Sinister Six movie.
It’s not over yet– It is very possible that Disney and Sony may mend their fences and work out a deal. It is also possible that Sony may have learned their lesson when it comes to producing a Spider-Man story. This story will likely have a few more chapters before it’s over. Spider-Man is the last remaining property that Marvel Studios has yet to regain control of when it comes to feature films.
As discussed during the show, The Geek Twins have this handy chart which shows the characters Marvel has direct control over vs. Sony and Netflix. Sucks to be Rick Jones…
Please include attribution to TheGeekTwins.com with this graphic.
(36:30) D23 News
Disney held its annual D23 Expo where, as expected, future Star Wars projects were officially announced. Plus, new Marvel shows were also revealed.
(37:30) Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi Series
Ewan McGregor confirms his return to Obi-Wan Kenob
The long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi series was confirmed at last, with Ewan McGregor reprising the role. No premise was given, but fans have assumed it would be about Kenobi’s time on Tatooine between the prequels and the classic trilogy. With it being set approximately 8-10 years after Revenge Of The Sith, it would be taking place at approximately the same time as Solo and Star Wars Rebels.
(39:34) The Mandalorian
The first official trailer for The Mandalorian
The highly anticipated series The Mandalorian finally got an official trailer. To say it felt like a Western would be an understatement. Ming-Na Wen, who played Agent May for all seven seasons of Agents Of SHIELD, has joined the cast.
Not only that, IG-88 saw some action almost 40 years after his debut in Empire Strikes Back. Could more bounty hunters be on the way? 4-LOM? Zuckuss? Dengar?
It’s also worth noting that Disney will be releasing one episode per week, rather than all of them at once.
(50:25) The Rise Of Skywalker
Of course, it would not be a true Star Wars event if it didn’t have footage from Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker. We covered that in detail in our last show. Seth does make two bold, albeit unoriginal, predictions about the Skywalker Saga finale.
(55:45) Marvel
Black Panther 2 will hit theaters in May of 2020, making it right in line with the end of Phase Four. For The Eternals, Kit Harrington (Game Of Thrones) has signed on to play Black Knight
Not one, not two, but THREE more Marvel series will be added to the lineup. No casting or release dates were announced.
Moon Knight: Arguably the most fitting of the three shows. We had speculated before how Moon Knight would make for a perfect addition to a Netflix or TV lineup.
Ms. Marvel: The current Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, will do double duty between her own show and appearances in films.
She-Hulk: Possible the biggest surprise was the announcement of She-Hulk. It will be interesting to see how she is handled for a TV show. Would it be ab actress? Or a CGI created character?
Spidey and His Amazing Friends: Clearly aimed at children, this show will be a comedic take on the classic 80s series Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends.
Finally, unrelated to Disney or Sony, Supergirl will don a new costume for her fifth season.
Supergirl’s new costume for Season 5
As stated in the show, Crazy Train has a new Playlist called “Chicks That Rock“. You can find it on Spotify.
According to Deadline, Disney proposed a 50/50 deal that would have seen both companies split the costs and earnings, and presumably would include movies involving Venom, Carnage, Miles Morales, and others. Sony refused and made a counter-offer that Disney turned down.
What this means for the future remains to be seen. But for the time being, everybody’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be swinging solo unless immediate changes happen. The sequel to Venom is in production, and actor Tom Holland is attached to at least two additional films. It is only a matter of time before Venom and Spidey cross paths onscreen. Will Sony keep the billion-dollar income without the rest of the Marvel MCU attached? We may not have to wait too long to find out.
