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With the success of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, the MCU once again seems to be back on track for a successful run and are hoping to make their upcoming Thunderbolts movie it’s latest blockbuster hit by adding another familiar face to it’s growing roster.
Deadline is reporting that Marvel has just cast The Walking Dead alumni and fan favorite actor, Steven Yeun (a.k.a. Glenn) to the cast of Thunderbolts which already includes heavy hitters such as Harrison Ford (General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/Red Hulk), Florence Pugh (Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier) and David Harbour (Red Guardian) amongst others. Though the character he’ll be playing hasn’t been revealed, it’s being reported that he will be playing a “significant” role in the film and could actually become a mainstay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward.
Jake Schreier is set as director of the new Marvel tentpole. Black Widow scribe Eric Pearson is penning the script, with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige producing. Not much is known about the plot of the film, but in the comics, it revolves around a group of villains who are sent on missions commissioned by the government.
Since leaving his hit TV show The Walking Dead, Yeun has not boxed himself in to any specific role and done a strong job of building out a diversified slate of various kinds of projects. His starring role in A24’s Minari, earned him not only his best reviews of his career but his first Oscar nomination for best actor in a leading role. He would follow that up with the Jordan Peele tentpole Nope, which went on to become one of the big hits of the summer.
You have to wonder who Yeun will be playing in the MCU and just how important he’ll be to the universe going forward. As for who the Thunderbolts will be taking on in their upcoming movie, rumors have it that the super villain known as the Sentry will be the film’s antagonist and Marvel Studios have their eyes on either Alexander Skarsgård or Ryan Gosling to take on the role. Whether or not that will be the case is anyone’s guess, but it would be pretty cool to see one of these actors join the MCU even if it’s only for one film.
Until we get some more solid information on what’s going on with Marvel Studios Thunderbolts film, everything will be left to speculation but until then you can expect all kinds of theories and rumors to fill the air and have us either excited or shaking our heads.
Who do you think Steven Yeun will be playing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Keep in mind just because he’s Asian doesn’t mean it will be an Asian character as Marvel has a history of changing up the ethnicities of some of their fan favorite comic book characters. Sound off in the comments section below.
Growing up on shows like Fat Albert, musical multi-hyphenate Raphael Saadiq knows the value of representation in children’s television. “If I turned on my TV and found somebody Black,” he says, “those people were superheroes — even though they weren’t flying through the sky.”
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Today, the three-time Grammy winning producer, songwriter and instrumentalist is working as executive producer of Disney’s animated Marvel series, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. The series marks Marvel’s first Black teenage girl superhero (actress Diamond White is voicing Moon Girl) and will feature guest voices from Alison Brie, Andy Cohen, Daveed Diggs, Maya Hawke, Jennifer Hudson, Method Man, Cobie Smulders, Wesley Snipes and more.
“In the comic book world, this is huge,” Saadiq tells Billboard. “To be able to see a Black teenage genius girl doing amazing things, working out problems, explaining to people how not to get caught up in a box without being preachy.”
When it comes to the lyrical messaging of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Saadiq is hitting on topics like loving your hair, overcoming insecurities and being yourself, by way of a fusion of genres that the music legend grew up around. “I had everything from Motown to Neil Young and Steely Dan,” recalls the Oakland native of his own childhood. “Latin music in my neighborhood from Pete Escovedo, so many different layers and soundtracks blaring out of cars in my neighborhood. Music is the backdrop to [children’s] lives. For me, it’s a contribution that I want to give back to the community of kids and their parents.”
Based in New York City, the show is centered on Lunella Lafayette (a.k.a. Moon Girl), who accidentally brings her 10-ton T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur to the city. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur explores universal themes of family and community, while centering the experiences of a Black family living on the Lower East Side. The series arrives to Disney+ today (Feb. 15).
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We knew that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would do big numbers once it hit Disney+’s streaming platform, and estimates are showing that the Ryan Coogler directed film is crushing all expectations in its first few days already.
Deadline is reporting that Wakanda Forever has taken the streaming app by storm and upon its release has already become Disney+’s most watched Marvel premier based on the hours its been streamed in its first five days. Having already racked up an amazing $842.3 million at the box office since it’s premier this past November, one would think that it would’ve had a modest premier on Disney+, but nope. The film hit the streaming platform running and we couldn’t be happier to hear the news.
That’s a notable number, tracking 400% ahead of the same frame for Black Adam‘s 1.5M draw on HBO Max, the same as Disney/Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and just under that of Thor: Love and Thunder (2.2M).
Of the above movies, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever over-indexed by the highest margin among Black households (+44%), Hispanic households (+27%), and adults 20-24 Gen Z households (+9%).
The takeaway in all of this: windows work. Juxtapose this with the theatrical day-and-date numbers of Disney’s Labor Day 2020 launch of Mulan (1.12M), Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow in July 2021 (1.1M weekend per Samba) and Jungle Cruise (777,000) — granted, they were both available on an extra pay-tier on Disney+.
Y’all knew that Black and Latino households would be streaming this movie the most given the whole cultural aspects of the film. It’s not every day we get to see a film centered around Black royalty introducing Aztec mythology and Mesoamerican culture to a cinematic universe. We loved every minute of it.
Said Cole Strain, VP Measurement at Samba TV, “Just as it smashed box office records last year, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made a splash in its debut on Disney+ as 2.1 million U.S. households streamed the much-anticipated sequel to the iconic film featuring a star-studded cast.”
“Black households were more likely to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever than other recent superhero franchises, including Batman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Adam. There was a significant over-index of 44% against the average U.S. household among Black households based on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever viewership in the first five days, surpassing that of the other films. The Black Panther sequel also caught fire with younger audiences, including Gen Z households who were nearly 10% more likely to tune in compared to the average household,” Strain added.
It will be interesting to see if Namor and his mutant Mexican carnales return in Black Panther 3 which is already said to be in the works. We sure hope so.
Have y’all streamed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? Let us know in the comments section below.
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As Marvel continues to chug along with their massively successful cinematic universe and get Phase 5 of their plan underway, Deadline is reporting that their upcoming film, Thunderbolts, just added a new actress to their impressive roster. Details are being kept under wraps for now.
According to the report, Marvel has just signed The Bear breakout star, Ayo Edebiri, to take part in the Thunderbolts film in an undisclosed role. Edebiri joins an all-star cast that already includes Harrison Ford, Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Olga Kurylenko. Fans are curious as to what role and which comic book character (if any) Edebiri will take on in the Jake Schreier directed film.
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Regardless to whom or what though, this is a great look for the up and coming star who’s been making a name for herself in the acting game as of late.
The project marks Edebiri first major studio starring role. She plays Sydney Adamu in The Bear, earning a Critics Choice Award nomination, and is expected to be a player in this year’s Emmy race. Season 2 will premiere this summer on FX on Hulu.
On the film side, she recently appeared in Theater Camp opposite Ben Platt, which just had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The film became one of the bigger sales at the fest, with Searchlight landing rights to distribute.
Should be interesting to see what Marvel has in store for Ayo Edebiri in Thunderbolts. Aside from starring the aforementioned actors in their already established Marvel superhero roles (Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier (Stan), Ava Starr a.k.a. Ghost (John-Kamen), John Walker a.k.a. U.S. Agent (Russell), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Louis-Dreyfus), Yelena Belova a.k.a Black Widow (Pugh), Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. The Red Guardian (Harbour) and Antonia Dreykov a.k.a. Taskmaster (Kurylenko), little is known about the actual plot of Marvel’s Phase 5 film.
What we do know is that Harrison Ford will be taking on the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross after the character’s original actor, William Hurt, passed away last year. Ford will be making his MCU debut in Captain America 4: New World Order where he’s said to be the President of The United States while also being the film’s antagonist against Anthony Mackie’s Captain America. Only question fans have is will Ford turn into the Red Hulk in Captain America 4 or the Thunderbolts?
Who do you think Ayo Edebiri will be playing in Thunderbolts? Will you be checking for the film when it drops July 26, 2024? Let us know in the comments section below.
Expect more Starfox! A Marvel executive teased the future of Harry Styles‘ roguish character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a new podcast interview on Monday (Jan. 9).
“We certainly didn’t cast Harry for a tag,” Nate Moore said with a laugh on Deadline‘s Crew Call podcast when questioned by host Anthony D’Alessandro about whether the pop star’s surprise cameo at the end of 2021’s Eternals was “just a stunt.”
The producer when on to describe Starfox as “a character maybe I have too much affection for” and revealed Eternals director Chloé Zhao almost singlehandedly gave Styles the role. “Chloé is a giant Harry Styles fan,” Moore said. “I’d always pitch, like, ‘Eros, he’s really cool.’ And she’s like, ‘It’s Harry Styles’ and I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ And she was obsessed and chased him down and got him into the movie.
“But there are more stories to be told with that character,” the exec added. “He’s fascinating. He has a really interesting connection with Thanos — they’re half-brothers, they share the same father. He has an interesting power set, like, he’s a complicated character but a really fun character…Having met Harry Styles, he is as charming as you think you want him to be. And I think there’s no limit to how popular that character’s gonna be once we get to bring him back.”
Since his appearance in Eternals, Styles has continued to flex his burgeoning acting chops in both sci-fi thriller Don’t Worry Darling directed by his now-ex-girlfriend Olivia Wilde and gay romance My Policeman.
Listen to Moore dish on his love of Styles and Starfox below.
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It’s been a little over four years since the death of comic book legend/icon, Stan Lee, and in honor of what would’ve been his 100th birthday, Marvel has announced a new documentary dedicated to the man who helped make our childhood’s rock.
Taking to Twitter to announce the new documentary set to drop on Disney+, Marvel posted a quick 25-second teaser of the upcoming documentary while stating “100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee. Stan Lee, an Original documentary, is streaming 2023 on @DisneyPlus.”
Showcasing his random appearances in multiple Marvel movies, the quick clip pays homage with a montage to the man behind Spider-Man, Ironman, the Incredible Hulk and many other classic comic book superheroes.
Being that it was his 100th birthday, many well-known celebrities and hardcore comic book fans took to Twitter to pay homage to the legend along with his official Twitter account which showered him with praise.
Should be cool to see how the documentary delves into Stan Lee’s thought process behind the creation of countless classic comic book characters and how they impacted pop culture.
Will you be checking for the Stan Lee documentary when it streams on Disney+ come 2023? Let us know in the comments section below.
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After four years of waiting, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is almost here. The long-awaited sequel to Black Panther will premiere exclusively in movie theaters on Friday (Nov. 11).
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A lot has happened in the years since Black Panther became a billion-dollar franchise, namely in that the film’s star, Chadwick Boseman, died from colon cancer in August 2020. Coogler was still penning the script for Black Panther 2 at the time of Boseman’s death.
“You’re a different person in four years,” the 36-year-old director shared in a cover story for Variety. “You don’t know what your life is going to bring. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Chadwick was so unique of a person that it’s actually hard to understand him if you had never met him or had a chance to see him work,” Coogler continued. “He really was the most unique person that I’ve ever met.”
Instead of shying away from the devastation of losing a central figure, the film leans into the grieving process. Black Panther 2 focuses on the leaders of Wakanda — Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the rest of the Dora Milaje (played by Florence Kasumba, Keisha Tucker Maya Macatumpag, Ivy Haralson, and Marija Abney) — as they fight to protect the kingdom from invaders and mourn the death of King T’Challa.
Want to skip the ticket line? Purchase an advance ticket for $11.49 through a special promotion offered by Fever and AMC Theaters. The ticket is valid any day and time at participating AMC Theaters.
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Black Panther 2 has already raked in $45 million in advance tickets and is expected to debut with $175-$185 million, per Deadline.
Tickets are also available on sites such as Cinemark, Atom Tickets, Regal, and Fandango, where you can get a six-month subscription to Peacock for $12, with the purchase of any movie tickets.
Check below to watch the official trailer for Black Panther 2.