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Source: Marvel Studios / Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel Studios did something entirely different by announcing that Avengers: Doomsday is in production and revealing the highly anticipated comic book movie with a huge cast.
X, formerly Twitter, was buzzing when the Marvel Studios account went live, leaving fans wondering what big announcement was coming. Little did they know they were in for five hours of watching chairs with names lined up to reveal who would be in the film.
The live stream began at 8 am PT Wednesday with Disney-owned studio slowly revealing each cast member by playing accompanying music associated with their characters while placing down the chairs.
Millions of fans tuned in to the 5 hour live stream in hopes their patience would eventually be rewarded, but nope, it was just chairs, and it also just proved how much of stranglehold Marvel Studios still has on the culture.
Out of all of the 27 cast members announced, there was only one person in the exceptionally large soundstage, Robert Downey Jr. himself who was revealed to be playing Dr. Doom in the Russo Brothers directed superhero epic.
Almost Everybody And Their Momma’s Are In Avengers: Doomsday
Some of the names revealed to be in the film should have come as a surprise, especially to those who follow Marvel Studios. Those names include:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent
Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / Thing
Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Lewis Pullman as Sentry
Danny Ramirez as Falcon
Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
David Harbour as Red Guardian
Winston Duke as M’Baku
Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom
The biggest surprised had to be the announcement of the return of OG X-Men from the Fox movie franchises, Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebacca Romijin (Mystique).
A huge surprise was the announcement of Channing Tatum reprising his role of Gambit we met in Deadpool & Wolverine which was a hit. So clearly he did make a name for himself.
Glaring Ommissions
There were some glaring omissions, no Halle Berry Famke Janssen, or Anna Paquin. Also, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman were also missing plus, fans couldn’t help but bring up Chris Evans, the original Captain America in the MCU.
But chances are high that Kevin Feige has plenty up his sleeve in terms of cameos and other easter eggs when it comes Avengers: Doomsday, so we don’t think these announcements begin to scratch the film’s surface.
But, like with the poster reveal for Avengers: Endagame which became a hilarious meme, the cast reveal for Doomsday has also spawned jokes with users on X, formerly Twitter adding random pop culture characters to the film’s cast.
Lol bruh.
You can always count on social media to deliver some laughs.
Hit the gallery below for more reactions to the Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal.
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After months of rumors as to who would be directing the highly anticipated Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, it seems like Marvel Studios might be bringing back the duo that gave us some of the greatest Marvel films ever — the Russo brothers.
Variety is reporting that Joe and Anthony Russo are in negotiations with Marvel Studios to have them direct the upcoming Avengers films after the duo took a break from comic book-themed films, following the record-breaking success of the Infinity Saga’s conclusion in Avengers: Endgame. Though the Russo brothers had initially stated they’d return to Marvel to direct a Secret Wars film if it ever came to fruition, Marvel has spent the last year or so searching for directors to take the helm of said film once it was announced.
Why Marvel didn’t simply ask the dynamic duo of directors to return is anyone’s guess, but everyone from Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi) to Ryan Cooler (Black Panther) to Shawn Levy (Deadpool, Wolverine) was said to be in the running to take the helm. Ultimately, the Avengers projects still remain without a director.
Complicating the matter is the fact that Jonathan Majors was supposed to play the main villain in both films as Kang The Conqueror, but after Marvel let him go due to his domestic abuse conviction, no one knows how they’ll resolve that storyline going forward. It seems like Marvel will recast the role, however, with word that the next installment of Avengers will no longer be called The Kang Dynasty, rumors are swirling that Kang may play a smaller role than expected if he’s even in the films at all.
Variety reports:
It’s unclear when Marvel plans to begin production on the upcoming “Avengers” installments. Anthony and Joe Russo’s next film is Netflix’s “The Electric State,” a sci-fi adventure with Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown that completed shooting in late 2022.
The Russos have directed four Marvel films, including 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.” “Avengers: Endgame” is the second-highest grossing movie in history with $2.79 billion while “Infinity War” is the sixth biggest with $2.05 billion. They’re in the company of James Cameron as the only directors with two $2 billion blockbusters.
With a proven track record of not only creating classic but also well-written Marvel films, the Russo brothers are probably the safest bet to take on such a task at the current moment as many feel that Marvel Studio films have fallen way off over the past few years.
What do y’all think about the Russo brothers possibly returning to direct the next two Avengers films? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: Getty
It’s a busy week on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart (dated Sept. 30), as the original cast recordings of StarKid’s Nerdy Prudes Must Die., Disney and Marvel’s Rogers: The Musical and the world-premiere complete studio cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! debut at Nos. 1, 2 and 8 respectively. Meanwhile, New York, New York: A New Musical re-enters at No. 4 (a new peak) after its release on CD.
With the arrivals at Nos. 1, 2 and 8 on Cast Albums, it’s the first time at least three albums have debuted in the top 10 in the same week in more than four years. It last happened on the June 22, 2019-dated list, when the original Broadway cast recordings of Beetlejuice and Tootsie launched at Nos. 2 and 6, while the 2019 Broadway cast recording of Kiss Me, Kate! bowed at No. 8.
Billboard’s Cast Albums chart ranks the top-selling musical cast recordings of the week in the U.S., based on traditional album sales, as tracked by Luminate.
Nerdy Prudes Must Die. is “a teen slasher comedy about a group of geeks and their ghostly tormentor.” The show, with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim, had a brief run at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood, Calif. in February. It’s the third No. 1 on the Cast Albums chart for the StarKid production team, following Black Friday (in 2020) and Starship (2011). In total, Nerdy Prudes is the 17th charting effort on Cast Albums from StarKid, with 13 having reached the top 10. StarKid’s first entry on the tally was Me and My Dick, which peaked at No. 11 in 2010.
Rogers: The Musical – an abridged version of the life of the first Avenger, Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) – had a limited run at Disney California Adventure Park’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif. from June 30-Aug. 31. Rogers’new original songs were written by composer Christopher Lennertz, with lyrics by Jordan Peterson, Lennertz and Alex Karukas. The new tunes were joined by earlier-penned songs like “Save the City” (music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman) and “Star-Spangled Man” (by Alan Menken and David Zeppel).
Rogers: The Musical is the first cast recording from a Disney Parks-presented stage show to chart on Billboard’s 17-year-old Cast Albums ranking. Previous musical shows staged at the Hyperion include Frozen: Live at the Hyperion (2016-20) and Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular (2003-16). (The Broadway versions of Aladdin and Frozen saw their companion cast recordings hits Nos. 1 and 2 on the Cast Albums chart.)
Both Nerdy Prudes Must Die. and Rogers: The Musical were only available to purchase as digital download albums. The third debut in the Cast Album chart’s top 10, the new studio cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, was available as a download and on CD and vinyl.
The studio cast recording of Oklahoma! was released by Chandos Records and is the first recording to boast the complete score performed with Robert Russell Bennett’s original orchestrations. Oklahoma! was the first musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and it premiered on Broadway in 1943. It was later adapted into a film in 1955, which won two Academy Awards and launched a soundtrack that spent four weeks atop Billboard’s Best Selling Popular Albums chart in 1956. Oklahoma! has been revived on Broadway four times, most recently in 2019, when it won two Tony Awards, including best revival of a musical.
Finally, the original Broadway cast recording of New York, New York: A New Musical, re-enters Cast Albums at No. 4, having previously spent one week on the list at No. 7 (on the July 8-dated chart). The album returns to the list following its Sept. 15 release on CD, as the set was only previously available to purchase as a digital download. New York, New York played for three months at the St. James Theatre in New York earlier in 2023 and garnered nine Tony Award nominations, winning one for best scenic design of a musical.
Rogers: The Musical will see its cast recording album hit digital retailers and streaming services on Friday, Sept. 15 from Walt Disney Records, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
The 12-track set is the companion album to the stage show of the same name, which played for two months this past summer at Disney California Adventure Park’s Hyperion Theater in Anaheim, Calif. (See below for the tracklist to the album as well as a preview of the set’s “What You Missed.”)
The mini-musical – from the creative teams at Disney and Marvel – brings to life an abridged version of the life of the first Avenger, Captain America (aka Steve Rogers), alongside singing-and-dancing Avengers (including Nick Fury!). The one-act show – which boasts a range of musical styles – premiered June 30 for a limited run at the nearly 2,000-seat theme park venue, and closed on Aug. 31. No further presentations of the stage show have been announced.
The musical grew out of a sequence in an episode of the Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021. In the episode, the title character (an Avenger himself) attends a showing of Rogers: The Musical, and the song “Save the City” is performed by characters playing Avengers. Both the musical and “Save the City” became fan favorites, with the latter generating over 1 million on-demand official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate.
Presently, the Rogers: The Musical cast album will only be commercially available as a digital download album and via streaming services. There’s no word on if it will be released in any physical formats, such as CD, vinyl or cassette.
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Following the premiere of Rogers: The Musical at the Hyperion, the show’s composer, conductor and arranger Christopher Lennertz said, “[It] was really important to all of us … to give everyone — both musical theater fans and superhero fans — something they would love about the music. And the fact that we get to span 70 years and do everything from ‘40s-style big band jazz to a singer/songwriter style pop tune and obviously the Nick Fury patter song meets ‘Uptown Funk’ — it’s the idea of giving everyone something that they can grab onto and really feel like it’s part of their story too.”
Rogers: The Musical Tracklist:Title, Artist“U.S. Opening Night,” Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Alex Karukas, Matthew P. Selby, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“I Want You,” Josey Montana McCoy“Star-Spangled Man,” Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“Just One Dance (Preprise 1),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz“Star-Spangled Man (Reprise)/Just One Dance (Preprise 2),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz“What You Missed,” Jay Donnell, Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Luke Monday“Save the City,” Bella Hicks, Andrew Hubert, Luke Monday, Alex Karukas, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“Save the City (Playoff),” Luke Monday, Rogers: The Musical – Cast“End of the Line,” Luke Monday, Josey Montana McCoy“Just One Dance,” Rachel Wirtz, Luke Monday“Rogers: The Musical Finale/Save the City (Reprise),” Luke Monday, Rachel Wirtz, Josey Montana McCoy, Jay Donnell, Andrew Huber, Bella Hicks, Krystle Rose’ Simmons, Alex Karukas“Rogers: The Musical (Playoff),” Christopher Lennertz, Alex Karukas
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