Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige at Disney’s 2024 CinemaCon Presentation. Photo: Disney.
Preview:
Kevin Feige has given a wide-ranging interview about the state of Marvel.
He touched on the delays with ‘Blade’.
He also admitted that recent disappointments necessitated a change in thinking.
With the studio’s latest giant release –– and one of its biggest gambles in years on the way via ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, Marvel boss Kevin Feige took the opportunity to address some of the topics that have been floating around, including recent underperforming movies and TV series under the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his own future (spoiler alert: he aims to stick around!) and more.
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Among the other subjects? The long-gestating and troubled development of a new ‘Blade’ movie, and his team’s new seven-year plan for new movies and shows and whether we’ll see actors from end credits cameos in the future.
(Left) Mahershala Ali attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images. (Right) Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade.’
Blade, the Daywalking half-human-half-vampire character most famously played by Wesley Snipes, was announced for a reboot back at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con. Since then, it has been a drawn-out log of multiple script drafts, directors coming and going, different time periods considered and, all through it, Oscar winner Mahershala Ali staying attached to the lead role.
Here’s what Feige had to say about it:
“You can start and have a good script and make it a great script through production, but we didn’t feel confident we could do that on ‘Blade’. We didn’t want to do that to Mahershala and didn’t want to do that to us. we landed on modern day and that’s what we’re focusing on. We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on Mahershala and have him start killing vampires.”
Feige also joked that Ryan Coogler –– who is developing a third ‘Black Panther’ outing for the company –– added to the delay by utilizing some of the costumes the company had created for a Prohibition-era take on the story in his own recent hit, ‘Sinners’.
The executive also touched on complaints that the sheer output and deepened connectivity between the Disney+ MCU series and the big screen outings were feeling like homework and turning off viewers who hadn’t seen them, which in turn hurt the box office revenues of ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Thunderbolts*’:
“Some of them were still feeling the residual effects of that notion of, ‘I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is,’ I think if you actually saw the movie, that wouldn’t be the case, and we make the movie so that’s not the case. But I think we still have to make sure the audience understands that.”
According to Feige, the company has a seven-year plan to take it up to 2032, admitting that while he most much of it will stay on track, projects are on magnets on a board in a conference room so they can move around as necessary.
His answer wasn’t entirely convincing, but he took a stab at explaining the change:
“We had started even before what had happened to the actor happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that, because he was that in the comics for decades and decades. Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it, and it was Dr. Doom. So we had started talking about Dr. Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before ‘Ant-Man 3’ even came out. It was a long plan that we had, to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors.”
What’s next for Marvel?
As mentioned, ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ lands in theaters on Friday.
Kris Kristofferson in ‘Convoy’. Photo: United Artists.
Preview:
Musician and actor Kris Kristofferson has died at the age of 88.
In movie terms, he was best known for performances in films such as ‘A Star is Born’ and ‘Blade.’
Kristofferson’s music also appeared on many soundtracks.
Kris Kristofferson, who forged a wildly successful and impactful career in country music but also made an impression on the world of cinema, died on Saturday at home in Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.
Kristofferson was that rare artist whose career crossed between both music and movies successfully, and he had several memorable roles, including in the original ‘Blade’ trilogy, and 1976’s ‘A Star is Born.’
(L to R) Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson in ‘Semi-Tough’. Photo: United Artists.
Kristofferson was born on June 2nd, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas. His father was a career Army Air Corps and Air Force officer, and his family moved frequently.
He attended high school in San Mateo, Calif., where he proved both a strong student and a gifted athlete. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English from Pomona College and attended Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar.
After initially failing in his creative pursuits (he unsuccessfully attempted to publish two novels), he joined the Army, married his childhood sweetheart, had a daughter, enlisted in the Army and was deployed to Germany as a helicopter pilot.
After he was discharged, the Pentagon offered him a teaching position at West Point. It was a career-making honor, but Kristofferson decided to first stop in Nashville to see if he could sell songs he’d been working on with Army friends in a band he named the Losers.
It took just two weeks to change his path once more, this time for good. “I fell in love with the whole life, of songwriters hanging out writing songs to each other,” he recalled. He turned down the West Point offer and moved to Nashville.
It was a controversial decision for his family –– his mother, for one, disowned him.
Kris Kristofferson: A Life in Music
(L to R) Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand in 1976’s ‘A Star Is Born’. Photo: Warner Bros.
As a musician, he broke through as the author of such No. 1 country hits as “For the Good Times, ” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” His song “Me and Bobby McGee” became a posthumous No. 1 pop hit for his former girlfriend Janis Joplin in 1971.
His first four albums for Monument Records, which showcased his unique singing style and, all reached the country top 10, and 1972’s “Jesus Was a Capricorn,” which contained his No. 1 country hit “Why Me,” topped the country LP chart.
He won three Grammys: for best country song (“Help Me Make It Through the Night”) and a pair of duets with Rita Coolidge, to whom he was married from 1973-80. Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004.
He retired from performing in 2020, at the age of 83.
Kris Kristofferson: Movies
(L to R) Kris Kristofferson and Isabelle Huppert in ‘Heaven’s Gate’. Photo: United Artists.
The musician made his first mark on screen in Bill L. Norton’s 1972 movie ‘Cisco Pike,’ in which he played the titular character, an L.A. musician and drug dealer under the thumb of a corrupt narcotics cop (Gene Hackman) –– in keeping with his other career, the film also employed several Kristofferson songs on its soundtrack.
In 1976, co-starring with Barbra Streisand, he won a Golden Globe Award as a dissolute rock star in the third version of “A Star is Born.”
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Despite some bumps along the way –– including in the much-maligned ‘Heaven’s Gate’ –– Kristofferson enjoyed an eclectic film career both as a performer and on soundtracks.
In 1984, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for ‘Songwriter’ alongside Willie Nelson, with whom he also co-starred in the music drama.
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Kris Kristofferson: Tributes
Kris Kristofferson in 2006’s ‘Kris Kristofferson: Live from Austin, TX’. Photo:
Kristofferson’s family took to social media to pay tribute:
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28th at home. We’re all so blessed for our time with him. Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.”
He was also remembered by Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum:
“Kris Kristofferson believed creativity is God-given, and those who ignore such a gift are doomed to unhappiness. He preached that a life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work gave voice not only to his soul but to ours. He leaves a resounding legacy.”
Kristofferson leaves behind his third wife, Lisa; his eight children, Tracy, Kris Jr., Casey, Jesse, Jody, John, Kelly and Blake; and his seven grandchildren.
(L to R) Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in 1976’s ‘A Star Is Born’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking exclusively with editors Shane Reid (‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’) and Emmy-winner Dean Zimmerman (‘Stranger Things’) about their work on ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, working with Shawn Levy, how they got involved in the project, making an MCU movie, creating a love letter to the Marvel Fox movies, the addition of pre-MCU characters like Blade and Elektra, Madonna’s editorial note, and cutting the Void and van fight sequences.
SPOILER ALERT!!! Major spoilers for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ below. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!!
Moviefone: To begin with, Dean, you’ve worked with director Shawn Levy for a long time. What was your reaction when you heard that not only would you be working on a ‘Deadpool’ movie, but that Hugh Jackman was returning as Wolverine and that the film would take place in the MCU?
Dean Zimmerman: Here’s the ironic thing about this whole thing. The movie was dead. Ryan couldn’t crack the script. Shawn was attached, obviously, they were trying to come up with an idea. It wasn’t working. I was literally in the Hamptons cutting in a house that we were renting. He had a meeting with Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito at 2pm that day. We were literally cutting in the morning. He gets a call at 11am from Ryan Reynolds and says, “Hugh Jackman just called me and wants in.” Like that morning! So, the meeting was going to be, “Guys, we’re passing. We can’t crack it. We’re done. We’re not going to do the movie. We’ll come back to it later in time.” To, “We’ve got Hugh Jackman on board who’s going to put on the suit and be Wolverine. Does that work for you guys?” That’s literally how the meeting went. It was the craziest. It happened instantaneous, literally the moment Hugh said he was in. It was like someone lit a candle on a rocket. We were shooting within months of that. That’s how fast it all came together. The script essentially wrote itself. The fact that I was going to be doing this was … because there was such a lead up to doing this. It was like, “Oh, wait. We’re not going to do it.” So, the letdown was just dreadful and cutting with Shawn on this other thing, I was like, “Such a bummer. What are we going to do next?” The fact that that happened that day, the day I’ll never forget the rest of my life. I’ll always remember where I was and exactly what I was doing when that call came in. Obviously, it’s changed all of us. I got to meet Shane, which is now, he’s a lifelong brother and partner now. There are so many great things that happened, but at the end of the day, we told a great story, and we made a great movie. It’s what Shawn and I have been doing for 22-years and we’re going to continue to keep doing so.
MF: Shane, how did you get involved with this project and teaming up with Shawn and Dean?
Shane Reid: I hit the lottery in life, and I met Blake Lively doing a music video with her that she directed for Taylor Swift. She was a very fast friend and a fast creative partner, a wonderful person, and so generous. I got so lucky because Ryan and her are so involved in the work that they do with each other that I just got through proximity to get to know Ryan. I’d be cutting that video and then Ryan would be sending me a text message, like, “You’re the nicest guy in the world and I can’t believe what you’re doing. This was so awesome and she’s so happy.” It was like you’re all of a sudden involved in this relationship with the two of them and they’re such creative supporters of each other that when Ryan announced ‘Deadpool’ was going to happen, I was just like, “This is insane, but I’m going to ask Blake if she feels like there’s any position that I could have on this movie and if there isn’t, I get it.” It’s a big ask. I started talking to her and it was a little almost quiet for a minute. Then I didn’t realize that she was selling me through to Shawn and selling me through to Ryan and just really telling these guys, “This guy’s special. He is right up the alley of the creative collaboration that you and Dean and Ryan have assembled and is going to fit in with that and is going to bring you some ideas.” She was just such an unbelievable force in that way. So, I took a meeting with Shawn, took meetings with Dean and I think there was a little bit of a like, “Let’s just see how this goes.” I would say that the toughest thing for me going into the film and still the toughest thing to the end of it was that Dean and Shawn have this couple decade long relationship. When I first saw them on set together, I was like, “Oh, my god. These guys feel like they’re godfather and godson or something. They’re so tight and close and how do I possibly enter that and be respectful, additive, and someone who doesn’t become obtrusive or in their way?” Also, because I have a relationship with Ryan, how do I not show him stuff and respect Shawn’s position? It was a dance that was difficult, at first. They were so welcoming and warm and very much like, “Hey, man, you fly, and you do your thing, and we’ll see where this all fits.” It was just my luck that it all worked so well, and that Dean was such a generous person and Shawn a generous person and also people that expected a high threshold of turnaround and talent. I feel very fortunate to have met the requirements and now we’re all like a group of brothers.
MF: Dean, you spent a large part of your career working on the 20th Century Fox lot editing movies for that studio. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is very much a love letter to that company and particularly the Marvel movies that they made. Given that, how did it feel to work on this movie, and can you talk about the Fox outtakes sizzle reel that plays during the end credits?
DZ: So that was an idea that was spawned by Ryan. He wanted to do a love letter to Fox to thank them for all the opportunities that they gave him. Shane cut that. It was kind of all hands-on deck at 21 Laps. Shawn’s company sent us a zillion YouTube clips of behind-the-scenes footage, and poor Shane poured through hours and hours of footage to make this legacy reel. We had a song that we wanted to use, the Green Day song. So that was all done, but it was all spawned from Ryan’s appreciation and love of Fox. But for me, personally, it was the culmination of a legacy that no longer exists. It’s kind of a shell of what it used to be. When I saw it, it was very moving and very powerful. I knew even if people didn’t understand what was happening, they could appreciate what it was. Right? Which are these years of this iconic studio pushing out some of the biggest titles in the world. To be in the MCU and our first time working at Marvel and Disney, their not only willingness to be open to something like this, but their enthusiasm and support behind it all is really what made the whole experience even more special because it felt like we were going back home. Right? I felt like I was back on the Fox lot because they really embraced the same qualities and uniqueness that existed at Fox for so many of my early years. So, it was great, and it was fun. I hope for a long career at Marvel. I love them. I think they’re great. Again, the support they gave us on not only just that part of it, but the whole movie in general is what made this thing so special and unique.
The cast of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Photo: Marvel Studios.
MF: Okay, let’s talk spoilers! Shane, what was it like editing the scenes with pre-MCU actors and characters, and which one surprised you the most and was your favorite?
SR: It’s hard to say which one is my favorite. They’re all so my favorite, but I think one of the things that Dean and I have not really talked about is what we all did with Chris Evans coming out as Cap, and then turning it into Johnny Storm, which was always one of our favorite surprises. In the boards, we had a little bit of an idea of how that sequence would end with Pyro (Aaron Stanford) extinguishing his flame, but we all built him hitting the tower and falling in post. It was a collaboration between the four of us and our pre-viz team and our visual effects team where we were like, there’s this tower just sitting here and there’s such a funny way to utilize it. So, it became about how do we have one of the biggest characters in movies, but completely flip the script on who he is and what the expectation of that character is by bringing back this other character and then just humiliating him in a very Deadpool way and leaving him as this broken person on the floor that they go, “We don’t even know who that dude was.” It was such a microcosm of what it’s like to be in a ‘Deadpool’ movie and how the characters are treated differently. I think it’s my favorite because Chris was so fun and funny. I think I was saying to people who love Chris as Cap, which there are quite a few, and he has had all these great sequences where he’s very serious and quite earnest, but now they get to add to their lexicon, a moment where he is having fun and in on the joke with everybody. So, we constructed that scene. I had found a YouTube videos of a drunk woman on her husband’s shoulders at a wedding who fell off and she sort of scorpions on the ground, and it was so brutal. We’re like, “Let’s do this to him at the end.” So, we built that from pre-vis, we would record a bunch of scripts on top of it, all the way to finishing it through in visual effects. So, that might be my favorite of all of them.
Channing Tatum as Gambit in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
MF: Dean, which surprise appearance was your favorite?
DZ: I will say Gambit, Channing’s character. Just because I really hadn’t known much of him, but that character I loved every second, every word it was amazing. The fact that Ryan just can’t understand him is I just thought brilliant and the casting was amazing. Channing just killed it. It was great.
Wesley Snipes in 1998’s ‘Blade’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
MF: Dean, what was it like seeing Wesley Snipes return as Blade and have a chance to shape his performance?
DZ: It was as rewarding as anything could be because obviously his movies I was watching as a kid, right? Now being able to cut something that he would be in was awesome. Just the presence and the power of his character. By the way, he’s such a sweetheart. In real life, you’re meeting your heroes. These are the guys, and you know how sometimes people are like, “You don’t want to meet your heroes because sometimes they’re not who you expect them to be.” You just can’t say that to anyone in this crew. There are actors I work with and I’m like, “Oh, man. What a bummer. They’re not who I was expecting them to be.” But then there’s the ones that you’re just like, “Oh, my god.” Every single person on this cast was just the most beautiful soul. They were all just there for the right reasons and they gave 110%. Everyone on that crew did. It was spectacular. I mean, it was one for the record books, for sure.
Jennifer Garner attends ‘The Adam Project’ World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall on February 28, 2022 in New York City. Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Netflix.
MF: Dean, was Jennifer Garner’s appearance as Elektra a result of you, Shawn and Ryan working with her on ‘The Adam Project’?
DZ: No. I think it was just kind of bringing in these legacy people. At one point we had Jen and Ben Affleck coming back as Daredevil. Obviously, there was some stuff. But it was funnier to just have the one and then joke about it, you know what I mean? So that kind of worked out that way and I think the relationship with Jen on ‘The Adam Project ‘pushed the cards to her side a little bit more, but either way it would’ve worked perfectly. But no, it was also just to have another female badass character come back and who better than Electra, like come on!
MF: Dean, Ryan Reynolds said during the press tour that he and Shawn had to meet with Madonna to get the rights to use ‘Like A Prayer’ in the movie. He also said that during that meeting, Madonna had a note about that scene that was eventually implemented. Can you reveal which scene that was and what was her suggestion?
DZ: The editorial note that she wanted to do was I think a tonal note, but I think that came off what was recorded. So, we were always going to do an orchestra accompaniment with ‘Like a Prayer’ and we did it. We recorded it in London. What her big note was, was that it wasn’t “urban enough”. It sounded like a group of 50 white British men and women singing and she wanted it more “urban”. She wanted a robust gospel choir and more soul. So, that forced us to re-record in LA with this gospel choir and thank God, she did it. It’s just her brilliance and her being around for as long as she has that made this happen and it literally took it to a totally different level. It was a headache to do because we were literally on the final mixing stage doing the mix on the movie, and to do all this stuff last second. Also, (composer) Rob (Simonson) had to write it. So, it was all, again, happening so fast. The whole thing did, the post schedule on this was nothing like I’ve ever seen as long as I’ve been doing this, 30 something years. I’ve never experienced a post schedule this quickly with this many visual effects and the amount of scrutiny and pressure to have this be as a massive hit because the industry was depending on it almost.
MF: Shane, can you talk about cutting the fight sequences in the Void between Wolverine and Sabretooth, and Deadpool and Wolverine?
SR: The void fight, it was the first fight sequence I’ve ever cut. I remember thinking, maybe there’s these tricks that I must know. Do I cut frames out? Do I add these speed effects? Like anything, it’s just a feeling. It’s just a flow and a rhythm. I mean, I will say that the choreography by our stunt choreographer and just Hugh Jackman, my God, the faces he would make, the performance that he gave. I think what it did was it effectively gave audience members a fight that they feel like they’re sometimes missing. It gave character performance and personality to a fight sequence, and it kept it really grounded. Everything that we did from the van fight and the Void fight with Sabretooth were very grounded experiences in real world locations with props that were real. I think it’s what allows people to connect a little bit more to the physicality of the film and the characters and make them feel more human. One of the things that I keep saying from the trailer, when we first did one of the trailers where Deadpool unloads all the bullets in Wolverine’s rib cage. I was thinking, “I think that we are underestimating how powerful these visuals are.” When have we ever seen a character in any movie that’s a human being take a rib cage full of bullets in a trailer or anything? It was one of the things I thought was most exciting going into this movie is that you have that ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’, ‘48 Hrs.’, ‘Rush Hour’ tension that exists between two characters you want to see grow, but now you’ve weaponized them and they’re indestructible and they can take out that frustration physically. I think that’s the first time an audience has ever gotten to experience that take on it.
MF: Finally, Dean, what was it like cutting the incredible fight sequence in the van between Deadpool and Wolverine?
DZ: I mean, that sequence again was choreographed within an inch of its life because of the constraints of what it is, you’re fighting in a van! Deadpool couldn’t use his katanas, so we had to use the little knife that he had in his chest piece and his baby knife, where Wolverine just had these claws. So, it was always going to be a bloodbath. The biggest challenge was getting that sequence and then finding the right music to go to it. We obviously knew we were going to do the head against the radio with a full nod to ‘The Greatest Showman’ there. But then where do you go? What do you do? That’s where, again, Shane is so great with music. He picked the AC/DC song for the Void fight. I can’t remember what we came up with (for the van scene). (Note: It was “You’re the one that I want” from ‘Grease’). It’s just one of those things, like, “Let’s just put in this.” It’s like how do you do the contradiction of it? Make it weird and different but keeping it visceral and real. But again, where Shane was saying, having Hugh’s face and the anger and just the pure hatred for this character. Again, this is something that’s been built up for so long because in the press they (Ryan and Hugh) pretended they hated each other, even though they were best friends. So, it was literally both these fights were like this long time coming. To see that viscerally on Hugh’s face, and again, he went there because he was going through stuff emotionally, in his personal life as well as professionally. The performance he brought is what really made this all not only grounded and real, but just it brought it to the next level where you felt the palpable tension and you felt the hatred and you felt like, “Yeah. They’re going to fight, and they want to kill each other.” It was great. It was a little bit paint by numbers, but at the same time there were some things that wasn’t working, and we had the opportunity and luxury of having a production team very open and receptive to how fast that we work in the cutting room. Getting dailies and cutting them so quickly and showing Shawn and going, “We don’t think this works. Can we come up with something else better for this?” Then them just going out and doing it the next day. The other thing that I will say is all these fights, they were shot on location. They weren’t on a stage. They weren’t on a green screen or a blue screen. It was all out in the real world. That’s what makes this so different than a lot of these other sequences because they’re all CG. They drove the car! We trashed the van! All this stuff, we did in real life out in London, which Marvel doesn’t do because it’s all so secretive. So, it was a real testament to the lengths that they went to give us the support that we wanted to do, which was to make a real film out in the world. Yes, there were some leaks, and we had our trials and tribulations with paparazzi and all that kind of stuff, but we got through it, and it all worked hand in hand, and it made us better. I think what it showed is that we are doing something different and more unique than any other Marvel movie has done. I think that’s what audiences are enjoying more than anything, not knowing that that’s why it is because we did it for real in real life.
SR: I’ll just add one thing onto the van fight that I’m realizing I haven’t really commented on that notches up the performance and the joy of that scene, which was such a weird choice by Hugh to just start laughing while Deadpool’s on top of him, which is such a character moment of just like, “Come on.” Then Ryan had the idea to add some dripping blood onto his cheek and teeth, and it’s just such a weird piece of the puzzle that elevates sequences like that from a fight scene to like, “God, I’m getting story and character in a moment that should just be getting punches and kicks and flying around.” I think that’s the difference in this film is that you feel it everywhere.
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What is the plot of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’?
Six years after the events of ‘Deadpool 2’, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) lives a quiet life, having left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)—a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline—pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins an even more reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) on a mission that will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
(Left) Mahershala Ali attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images. (Right) Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade.’
Preview:
Director Yann Demange has left Marvel’s ‘Blade’.
Mahershala Ali is still attached to star.
Marvel is hoping to have the movie out next year.
And so the wheel turns on ‘Blade’. Possibly the most troubled of Marvel’s movies in development, it has been a nightmare for the studio, losing writers, cast and directors as it stumbles through the process.
Today brings yet another issue, as, according to The Wrap, Yann Demange becomes the latest director to depart the film, which –– at least for now –– still boasts ‘Green Book’s Mahershala Ali as its star.
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What’s the story of ‘Blade’?
Blade from Marvel Comics. Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
Originally crafted by Gene Colan and Marv Wolfman as a human who was immune to vampire bites, he was later changed to Eric Cross Brooks, whose mother is murdered by the bloodsucker Deacon Frost as she gives birth. The attack passes on vampire enzymes to her child, who becomes a Dhampir – a mix of both human and vampire.
Gifted with speed, strength, and the ability to walk in the daylight (hence his other name, the Daywalker), his mission is to hunt down and destroy vampires. In his time, he’s crossed paths with many notable Marvel characters in the comics, including Spider-Man and the Avengers. He’s also battled living vampire Morbius, who had his own movie out in 2022, starring Jared Leto.
Yet Blade is probably most famous for the trilogy of movies released by New Line in 1998, 2002 and 2004, starring Wesley Snipes as the gruff, sword-swinging character.
The MCU version’s story is still so far a mystery: whether it’ll deal with Blade’s origins is unknown for now, but we can expect plenty of vampire-killing action.
What has happened with ‘Blade’ so far?
Blade from Marvel Comics. Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
The movie was launched on the public consciousness with much excitement: Ali was announced as the star as a surprise at the end of Marvel’s 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel.
Roughly two years later, ‘Mogul Mowgli’ director Bassam Tariq was hired to make the movie and with Stacy Osei-Kuffour on board to write the script, the movie was headed towards a shoot planned for late in 2022 and a November 3rd, 2023, release date.
That, obviously, did not happen. Multiple reports of script issues led to changes. Marvel veteran writer Eric Pearson, who most recently worked on ‘Fantastic Four’ is currently looking to salvage the ‘Blade’ script. Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto and Michael Green wrote previous drafts.
With Marvel’s new commitment to quality over quantity (only one movie from the company will be released this year –– ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, next month) the delay is likely more a sign of it trying to get ‘Blade’ right as opposed to rushing it into theaters.
‘Blade’ is a movie that Disney and Marvel have dated more than once, only for the film’s to require a shift. Currently, the release is set for November 7th, 2025, though the latest director departure may well scupper those plans.
Since then, director Shawn Levy has said that he and his team were halfway through filming when the shutdown hit. Since then, he has been able to come back to work editing what footage was shot and overseeing any effects shots for those sequences.
A new report in Variety says that the movie, a big priority for Disney/Marvel, will be gearing up to get back to shooting in the coming days and weeks, with the current aim to have production in the UK up and running before Thanksgiving (which this year falls on November 23rd).
The rush is partly because the holiday period will mean another shutdown for festivities over Christmas and the New Year, and also so that the movie can meet its planned summer 2024 release date.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman discuss Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool 3.’ Photo courtesy of Ryan Reynolds YouTube channel.
The ‘Deadpool’ team have yet to release formal details of the third movie’s plot, but we do know it’ll see Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine meeting up with Reynolds’ Wade Wilson –– and that things will not necessarily go well, since the pair tend to fight when they interact in the comics.
We’re promised plenty of the usual meta madness inherent to Deadpool’s adventures. This time around, expect prods at the X-Men’s (and Wade’s) previous home at 20th Century Fox (before Disney’s purchase of it nabbed them the rights to the characters), and plenty of cameos from other people, including Jennifer Garner as Elektra.
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) reacts to Colossus’ (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) threats in ‘Deadpool.’
Reynolds, who is once more allowed to promote the movie since the strike has been called off, hit twitter today to reveal that the comics character known as “Dogpool” will be showing up in the movie (assuming he’s not joking, but it doesn’t seem that way).
Did Dogpool save the day? Not a chance in gremlin hell. But she IS currently causing the Disney plushy merch department nightmares. Coming with the movie, Summer 2024 🐶💩L pic.twitter.com/mMtUb4wSsk
For those who might not be up on the sprawling history of Deadpool in the comics, the idea was introduced in a storyline where Deadpool traveled to Earth-103173, a parallel reality in which scientists conducted Weapon X-level experiments on a dog named Wilson, transforming him into Dogpool. The canine hero would become a member of the Deadpool Corps., a team of alternate-reality Deadpools.
Think the likes of Alligator Loki in the Disney+ series named for Tom Hiddleston’s God of Mischief. Marvel has been using the Multiverse a lot in its current run of movies and TV series, so naturally this is something they could explore with Deadpool.
When will ‘Deadpool 3’ arrive in theaters?
The rapid start looks to be somewhat in vain, though, at least in terms of getting the movie ready for its planned May 3, 2024 opening. According to Variety, the movie is now shifting to July 26th of that year (so still summer at least).
‘Deadpool 3’ is inheriting that July date from ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, which though it was thought to be closer to finished, is now moving to February 14, 2025. We’d assume that is to allow the Marvel team to maintain their hefty MCU chronology.
The changes mean ‘Thunderbolts’, which hadn’t yet kicked off filming when the strikes hit, is shifting from December 2024 to July 25th, 2025. And the troubled ‘Blade’ will now hit screens on November 7th, 2025.
(L to R) Zazie Beetz as Domino, Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool, and Terry Crews as Bedlam in ‘Deadpool 2.’
(L to R) Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Danai Gurira, and Chadwick Boseman in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview
Marvel is reportedly considering a return for some beloved Avengers stars.
Jonathan Majors’ ongoing legal problems are proving a headache.
The studio has faced issues with newer movies such as ‘Blade’ and others.
There was a time when Marvel was on top of the Hollywood tree –– its movies were almost always guaranteed hits, people were loving the interconnected storylines and there was hope that the Marvel Cinematic Universe could stretch its Hydra-like tentacles into the world of streaming, providing a wealth of content for Disney+.
These days, there is more trouble than an assault from Doctor Doom (who we’ll have to wait to see on screen). Recent releases aside from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ have failed to set the box office alight and there have been quality concerns about visual effects on screens big and small, a key element of making the stories work.
(L to R) Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr. in ‘The Avengers.’ Photo: Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
While this is far from a concrete possibility, the Variety story cites sources saying there have been discussions about bringing back the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson to reprise their roles as fan-favorite Avengers characters.
Of course, all that would depend on whether the actors would even want to return at this point, and perhaps more crucially, the realization that the budget to pay the salaries of the likes of RDJ would require breaking several piggy banks.
Still, the idea of the Avengers as a selling point would help assuage issues with someone who was planned to be the big bad of future team-up films. ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’.
Yes, one of the biggest problems currently facing Marvel is Jonathan Majors, who appeared as different variations of the multiversal character Kang in ‘Loki’ Season 1 (he’s back as another version for Season 2) and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’.
But Majors is embroiled in a huge domestic violence legal case with a trial set for later this month. And that is a giant headache for both Marvel and parent company Disney (which pulled the planned release of his Sundance movie ‘Magazine Dreams’ from the release slate amid all the legal worries).
The MCU team has yet to specify how it’ll address the issue going forward –– but it needs to figure it out quickly as the first of the new ‘Avengers’ movies was supposed to be shooting next year (though that could also be delayed thanks to the knock-on effect of the actors’ strike). There’s a chance the studio could recast the role or pivot to some other villain.
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‘Blade’s blunted path to screens
Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade.’
‘Blade’ was supposed to be one title that got fans particularly excited. Marvel boss Kevin Feige announced Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as the new version of the vampire-battling vigilante once portrayed by Wesley Snipes.
Yet that has faced its own issues – two directors so far, several writers, innumerable drafts of the script (including, reportedly, one where Blade was the fourth lead in his own movie) and a shutdown six weeks before shooting was to begin.
Michael Green, who wrote ‘Logan’, is the latest writer aboard and the aim is to shoot the movie on a cheaper budget next year.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in ‘Deadpool 3.’ Photo courtesy of Ryan Reynolds Instagram account.
There are, at least, some positives if the Marvel team can get the right –– the Fox deal gave Disney the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men, and Feige and co. have been figuring out how to introduce two of the most famous comic book teams into the MCU.
‘Deadpool 3’, which was halfway through shooting when the actors’ strike shut it down, is certainly seeing some excitement, and that’s a potential way to bridge to the future.
And no one should write off the Marvel team completely –– they’ve shown a remarkable ability to bounce back and come up with hits.
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Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine in Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool 3.’
(Left) Henry Cavill as Superman in ‘Man of Steel.’ Photo: Warner Bros. (Center) ‘Foundation’ season 2 showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer. (Right) Wesley Snipes in ‘Blade.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
David S. Goyer is a man who has had quite the career: he’s worked on a lot of movies, some of which have gone on to giant hits, and others which got stuck in development limbo.
And his success working alongside Christopher Nolan on his Batman trilogy, particularly ‘The Dark Knight’, meant that Warner Bros. considered him a key player when it came to expanding its DC universe to compete with Marvel’s successful early offerings.
According to Goyer, though, the studio was so committed to its game of movie-catch-up, that it was not the most pleasant time to be working with them.
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David S. Goyer on developing DC movies
Henry Cavill as Superman in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’
“I know the pressure we were getting from Warner Bros., which was, ‘We need our MCU! We need our MCU!’ And I was like, ‘let’s not run before we walk.’ The other thing that was difficult at the time was that there was this revolving door of executives at Warner Bros. and DC. Every 18 months someone new would come in. We were just getting whiplash. Every new person was like, ‘We’re going to go bigger! I remember at one point the person running Warner Bros. at the time had this release that pitched the next 20 movies over the next 10 years. But none of them had been written yet! It was crazy how much architecture was being built on air… This is not how you build a house.”
Goyer would write the script for ‘Man of Steel’, which helped Zack Snyder kick off his run overseeing the DC cinematic universe. And Goyer certainly knows a lot about building universes, since he’s currently show-running Apple TV+ series ‘Foundation’.
Long before that, and even before he was involved with DC’s output, he was known for his work on the ‘Blade’ movies starring Wesley Snipes.
And, ironically, that was a Marvel adaptation that preceded even the Marvel Cinematic Universe –– some would argue that there might not be an MCU without the success of ‘Blade’.
David S. Goyer talks about ‘Blade’ and David Fincher
(L to R) Gary Oldman and David Fincher. Cr: Miles Crist/NETFLIX.
‘Blade’ in its final form was directed Stephen Norrington. But before he got the job, a slightly more famous filmmaker (albeit in the days when he wasn’t so well known) was in the running.
Here’s what Goyer had to say about Fincher and ‘Blade’:
“I developed a draft with Fincher before he had done ‘Se7en.’ I think he had done ‘Alien 3’ and maybe he was developing ‘Se7en.’ I developed a draft with him. I remember going to our producer’s office… There was this giant conference table. Fincher laid out 40 to 50 books of photography and art with post-it notes inside them. He said, ‘This is the movie.’ He took us on a two-hour tour around the table of the aesthetics of this scene, that character. It was such a fully fleshed out visual pitch… I had never seen something like that before. A lot of that thinking infused my further revisions.”
Oh, to imagine the ‘Blade’ movie that David Fincher would have made! Still, the world is probably better off that he stuck to ‘Se7en’ when the Daywalking vampire warrior’s first movie hit developmental roadblocks.
Kevin Feige at the world premiere of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3’ at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood CA on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages.
The last few years have not been kind to San Diego’s huge celebration of all things pop culture, Comic-Con. Despite a high point in the early-mid 2000s where massive crowds showed up to hear about new developments in franchises such as ‘Twilight’ and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the view of the event as a premium launching point for new movies and TV shows has taken a hit more recently.
And the COVID pandemic, which saw the 2020 and 2021 versions of the event reduced to a sparse virtual shadow of its former self, didn’t help.
But while hopes were raised by a largely triumphant return last year (including the traditional big panel from Marvel announcing its upcoming slate and trotting out stars and creators to generate buzz), it appears that the biggest issue on Hollywood’s mind will now have an impact on which companies are bringing anything to the event.
Writers’ strike delays
Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade.’
According to a new story in The Wrap, Marvel in particular has decided to make this a skip year, deciding not to bring any of its shows or movies to the huge Hall H space where it has traditionally been a highlight of the four-day event. It will still, however, have a presence on the trade show floor of the Con.
While the studio has not shown up before (or had a reduced presence due to it saving some big reveals for parent company Disney’s own D23 event, which falls after the July dates of the Con), the writers’ strike is reportedly behind the new move.
And it’s not just the writers –– acting union SAG-AFTRA has yet to make its own deal with the studios, and that could mean talent on strike, unavailable to take the stage since they a forbidden from promotional duties while engaged in industrial action. Which would put a dampener even on projects Marvel could conceivably promote, including ‘Captain Marvel’ sequel ‘The Marvels’.
President & CEO of Discovery Streaming & International JB Perrette. Photograph by Jeff Kravitz/Warner Bros. Discovery.
Marvel is not alone in this decision, as The Wrap additionally mentions that Universal and HBO are among the other names mentioned as pondering whether to show up this year.
HBO is perhaps understandable, since its own parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery is on a serious cost-cutting run (including news that it is exploring licensing big HBO series for viewers to watch on Netflix to drum up extra revenue) and would not want to splash the cash to bring talent to the Con when hotel accommodation and other expenses would be extremely high. And, like Marvel, the companies are also seeing projects being pushed back because of the strike.
Comic-Con is still scheduled to run between Thursday July 20 and Sunday July 23, but it sounds like its impact will be smaller this year.
(L to R) Louis D’Esposito and Kevin Feige at the world premiere of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3’ at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood CA on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages.
The ongoing writers’ strike (and potential action from other guilds such as the actors’ union) is having a major impact on studio output. And Disney is not immune to changes in schedule. The company has announced that it is moving the release dates for a lot of its big upcoming movies, and that means we’ll all have to be patient when it comes to the likes of Marvel, James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ and the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy.
Marvel, of course, has been delaying some of its films’ production and that is having a domino effect for the highly connected cinematic universe, which relies on films to set up the next entries. Lest the tapestry all unravel, that means moving some movies back.
And because there is only so much space on the calendar (and Disney seemingly already takes up a third of it), that means the next giant, phase-ending team-up movies are also on the move. ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ will be bumped back a year, to May 1st, 2026, inheriting the release date for follow-up ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’, which itself is headed to May 7th, 2027.
It’s not all delays for the MCU, though; ‘Deadpool 3’, which is in production, will move up from its original November 8th, 2024, date to May 3rd of that year.
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More ‘Avatar’ delays
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will be available exclusively to purchase on Digital March 28th.
Though James Cameron’s movies would seemingly not be impacted by a writers’ strike since their scripts are essentially finished, the series can’t avoid the release date shuffle.
That means ‘Avatar’ fans, already well used to the waiting game, will see their patience tested further, since ‘Avatar 3’ has moved to December 19th, 2025, ‘Avatar 4’ to December 21st, 2029, and ‘Avatar 5’ all the way to December 19th, 2031! which means the apparent final movie will land 22 years after the original 2009 film.
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New ‘Star Wars’ movie dates
(L to R) Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daisy Ridley at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
If you were starting to wonder when we might ever see a new ‘Star Wars’ movie, then there’s good news.
2026 will see two movies set in that galaxy far, far away from Lucasfilm, one on May 22nd, 2026 (not the fourth?) and another set for the more traditional recent slot of December 18th that year.
A third film is reportedly headed our way on December 17th, 2027. Disney has yet to clarify any details of which of its in-development movies are taking those berths, but we can assume one is the Rey follow-up starring Daisy Ridley which has Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy in the director’s chair and was confirmed at Star Wars Celebration. On the basis of that, we can also predict that Dave Filoni’s film and possibly James Mangold‘s movie might be in the other two slots.
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Live-Action ‘Moana’ and more
Dwayne Johnson announces live-action ‘Moana.’ Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
There are also dates on the calendar now for films that didn’t have them previously –– the live-action ‘Moana’ is set to surface on June 27th, 2025, while Fede Álvarez’ movie set in the ‘Alien’ universe is arriving on August 16th next year. Espionage thriller ‘The Amateur’, starring Rami Malek, is set for November next year.
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Frustration ahead for film fans, then, but hopefully the movies will be worth the wait.
The ongoing strike, which sees writers taking industrial action for a fairer deal from the studios, is starting to have more and more impact on movies and TV series.
Most of the main networks have indicated that they’re planning to change their fall schedules to favor reality, other unscripted series and reruns because of the lack of new scripts. Much of their scripted output has been moved to mid-season and other changes are on the way. During the most recent strike, in 2007-2008, US screens saw a rebounded era of reality television, which doesn’t require union writers.
Even Marvel is not safe from delays and issues with its shows and movies. The company recently hit pause on ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, had had been in the midst of a lengthy shoot in New York, while ‘Wonder Man’ shut down also. And it faced another delay on ‘Blade’, which had already been through its share of problems, including a director switch and script re-writes. But with no work allowed on the screenplay, production will have to wait.
‘Blade’ is not the only movie facing delays –– according to Deadline, ‘Thunderbolts’, the company’s anti-hero adventure, which was due to kick off filming in Atlanta in three weeks, is also shutting down until a deal is reached and the strike ends.
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Who is in the Thunderbolts movie?
We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced last year at Disney’s D23 event: Bucky Barnes (formerly The Winter Soldier), played by Sebastian Stan, is a key figure alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, those three having been introduced in ‘Black Widow’.
Then there’s John Walker, AKA US Agent, played by Wyatt Russell and first seen in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and Hannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr, the phasing character known as Ghost, who debuted in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’.
Marvel is far from the only company with projects seeing delays. Lionsgate stopped work on Aziz Ansari’s new film, ‘Good Fortune’, which has Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen in its cast. It’s the latest blow to Ansari’s directorial career, which had seen previous effort ‘Being Mortal’ curtailed following claims of inappropriate behavior on the part of star Bill Murray.
The series was scheduled to shoot in Northern Ireland, but the strike means that it’s also been delayed.
Here’s what the country’s film had to say on the matter:
“Northern Ireland Screen is extremely disappointed that ‘Blade Runner 2099’ is not going ahead at this time due to the ongoing writers’ strike. The project has been prepping on the ground in Belfast for many months now. The WGA strike has been halting production all over the world and we hope a fair deal is reached soon so crew can get back to work.”
1982’s ‘Blade Runner’ Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
If the delay is significant, it’s likely to shift the show’s production back until next spring, a significant postponement. Silka Luisa, showrunner of Apple TV+’s ‘Shining Girls’, is writing and executive producing ‘Blade Runner 2099,’ which comes from Alcon Entertainment and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions (Scott, of course, directed the original movie and has been involved in the franchise ever since).
In the wider world, we know that the likes of ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Cobra Kai’, ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Loot’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ are among the big-name series seeing the impact, but while those will be later arriving, viewers are already seeing the impact, as the late-night shows, such as those hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are on indefinite hiatus and ‘Saturday Night Live’ has curtailed its season.
As mentioned, it will be a while before we see the total fallout of the strike, since some shows, including ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘Good Omens’ have second seasons that were finished before the strike began.
Some companies and networks –– especially the CW, though that appears to have been its policy even before the strike –– are looking to shows produced outside of the States to fill gaps and help maintain viewers.
And there will be a full program of movies for at least the next year and likely into 2024 as many productions were at least wrapped or in post-production.
It is also an issue for companies looking to promote their work, either for upcoming releases or (in the case of TV shows) awards consideration, as talent is skipping interviews and events in solidarity with the writers.
Finally, there is more trouble for studios on the horizon since the Directors Guild and SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, still have to work out their contracts and their members have already been showing their support for their fellow creatives on strike lines.
David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
The ongoing writers’ strike (and potential action from other guilds such as the actors’ union) is having a major impact on studio output. And 
