Landing on Disney+ on September 24th is the new Marvel Animation limited series ‘Marvel Zombies’, which spins off from the zombie-filled episode of ‘What If…?’ and loosely adapts the comic book run.
While Marvel’s Disney+ output has been somewhat hit-and-miss, the Marvel Animation team has been enjoying much more success, and ‘Marvel Zombies’ certainly counts as one of those.
It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly a lot of gory, darkly-hued entertainment.
Zeb Wells has enjoyed unusual power in the Marvel world, overseeing much of the animated output, but with good reason –– he and his writing team have crafted sharp, clever takes on the MCU, with ‘Zombies’ as no exception.
It’s not for the faint of heart and certainly dives into some dark areas (don’t get attached to all the characters, even some well-known ones), but it delivers the Young Avengers action many have been waiting for on the big screen, albeit in bite-sized chunks.
Bryan Andrews’ direction is also solid. Though the animation might not be the most advanced, it’s certainly stylish enough and gets the job done.
Featuring the usual mix of MCU veteran performers and some talented voice types who imitate others, this is a great showcase particularly for the infectious enthusiasm of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan and the usual great work of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Kudos also to Simu Liu, whose Shang-Chi really goes through it in this story, and to Todd Williams, who voices a very different version of Blade from any we’ve seen before.
‘Marvel Zombies’ is by turns full of action and drama, some impressive set-pieces and ideas, and emotionally fun performances from MCU actors and others.
It’s funny despite the post-apocalyptic storyline, and with just four episodes, doesn’t outstay its welcome.
After the Avengers are overtaken by a zombie plague, a desperate group of survivors discover the key to bringing an end to the super-powered undead, racing across a dystopian landscape and risking life and limb to save their world.
Who stars in ‘Marvel Zombies’?
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff
David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov
Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
Awkwafina as Katy Chen Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop Randall Park as Jimmy Woo
Todd Williams as Blade Knight
Sacha Baron Cohen makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Mephisto in ‘Ironheart’.
Mephisto makes a deal with Riri Williams to bring back her friend Natalie, which is sure to have serious consequences.
Mephisto will likely be a big part of the MCU moving forward.
SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for ‘Ironheart’ below.
Ever since ‘WandaVision‘, Marvel fans have been speculating when and where Mephisto will show up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and now the time has finally come. Sacha Baron Cohen portrays the demon in ‘Ironheart‘, making his debut in the season one finale. While the Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) led series may not continue with a season two, Mephisto is likely not going anywhere, and is sure to have a major impact on the future of the MCU.
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There is a reason fans have been begging for Mephisto to show up. He is known for making deals and mucking things up. While he looks like the devil, he is not Lucifer, but he certainly allows others to think he is. In Marvel Comics he has ties to many characters that have already been introduced, most notably Scarlet Witch, Thor, and Doctor Strange, as well as others that are coming soon including Doctor Doom and Franklin Richards.
Mephisto is powerful, extra-dimensional demon. As showcased in ‘Ironheart’ he is a master manipulator who almost always gets his way. His deal with Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos) corrupted him, leaving him with scars all over his body and an obsession with the cloak he was gifted. When Mephisto decided to be done with him, he simply moved onto his next victim, Riri Williams.
While the demon behind Parker’s hood was initially suspected to be Dormamu, the finale reveals that this is not the truth. It is, indeed, Mephisto, something that is sure to make fans jump up and down with glee, since his debut in the MCU has been long-awaited. During his final conversation with Parker, he admits to being very busy, hinting that he has had his hands in a lot of the events that have been taking place over the course of previous Marvel projects.
After Riri defeats Parker, Mephisto appears to her, inviting her to sit down for a meal. He is very charasmatic and during their conversation, she ends up making a deal with him. Her friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) was murdered, but she was able to bring her back as an AI, only to lose her again. This is something that Riri is not able to deal with, so she asks Mephisto to bring her back.
In the end-credit sequence it is discovered that this is not an AI version of Natalie, but rather the actual Natalie, who is very confused and does not remember her fate. This is likely to cause a lot of problems for Riri going forward, because how to you explain someone returning to the world after being dead for several years?
Why Sacha Baron Cohen Is The Perfect Casting Choice For Mephisto
Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto in ‘Ironheart’. Photo: Disney+.
Casting Sacha Baron Cohen as Mephisto is a brilliant choice for several reasons. All you have to do is take one look at his scenes in the ‘Ironheart’ finale to know this. He is able portray someone who is trusting as well as mischievous. His human form is unsuspecting enough, but it is the fact that he knows how to pull information from his victims to discover what would be worth it to them to forfeit their souls.
For Parker Robbins, he wanted revenge against his father and money. For Riri Williams, she just wants her friend back, especially after getting a taste of what it was like to have her back in her life. The kicker for her is that this version of Natalie will not remember all of the healing and growing they did together when Natalie was an AI.
Sacha Baron Cohen is great at playing a character. We have seen that with his films like ‘Borat‘ and ‘Bruno‘. Even though Mephisto is mostly in his human form, there is one quick shot of him in his demon form, seen in a reflection, that is equal parts chilling and exciting. Sacha Baron Cohen, if given the chance, will bring Mephisto to life in a way that fans could seemingly only have imagined.
Mephisto Can Easily Return In ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Or ‘Champions’
What fans have seen in the ‘Ironheart’ finale is just a small glimpse at what Mephisto is capable of. In the comics, he is the reason that Billy and Tommy Maximoff even exist. While they were created by their mother’s chaos magic, this was done in tandem with parts of Mephisto. At one point he goes so far as to reabsorb them. However, they find a way to return. This exact scenario is not likely to play out in the MCU, but it would make sense for the twins to cross paths with the Mephisto eventually, likely in a ‘Young Avengers’ or ‘Champions’ title.
It is not far fetched to believe that Mephisto could have orchestrated the events of ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ as well. As we have seen, he is known for making deals and has the ability to bring people back from the dead. With Robert Downey, Jr. returning to the MCU, this time as Victor Von Doom and not Tony Stark, there is a chance Mephisto could absolutely be behind it. If someone wanted to make a deal with him to bring Stark back, it absolutely makes sense that this was Mephisto’s evil twist on things.
While it has not been revealed the lasting effect that Mephisto will have on the MCU, there is no way he is being introduced for Marvel to then do nothing with him. He is a powerful, manipulative demon who only has his own best interest at heart. One thing is for sure, our heroes are in trouble now that he is in the mix.
Marvel’s TV output continues to be something of a mixed bag, though things have certainly taken an upturn with the likes of ‘Agatha All Along’ and ‘Daredevil: Born Again.’ Now here comes ‘Ironheart’ aiming to maintain that momentum, utilizing the Riri Williams character from the comics whose youthful genius rivals that of Tony Stark even if her bank balance and living situation certainly don’t.
The Williams character was a key component of Ryan Coogler’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, but couldn’t stop sometimes feeling like she was jammed in to add something else. And in her own show, she’s a definite highlight even if not everything about the limited series around her works as well.
The tone of ‘Ironheart’ can sometimes vary wildly, with some scenes feeling like they come from a gritty, emotional drama about grief, loss PTSD or crime and others looking to bring some wackier, Freeform-level comedy. They don’t always fit together as well as they might.
Still, the team has a clear handle on the Riri character, her desires, frustrations and trauma (her stepfather and best friend were shot dead in front of her), and they launch her on an entertaining new adventure, even managing to find rational reasons why she wouldn’t simply pick up the phone and ask for help from Shuri (Letitia Wright) and the Wakandans when things get thorny.
Riri’s interaction with the AI she accidentally created from a scan of her own brain, which is embodied in the form of her late friend Natalie, is always entertaining, the two written believably as best friends. Likewise, the moments with her mother Ronnie are also effective.
Also on the plus side is the Joe McGillicuddy character, a fun addition to the story who becomes something more –– and has a connection to someone that Riri admires that you might not see coming.
The villains are less well drawn –– Parker Robbins, AKA “The Hood” and his magic outfit can’t help but look like he’s cosplaying as Little Red Riding Hood sometimes, and the character, despite some much-needed depth in some family connections, is often written as one-note, and that note is B-flat.
Directors Samantha Bailey and Angela Barnes bring some varied styles to the show, but it works together as a whole. There are some well-conceived and realised action set pieces, especially one set at a high-tech greenhouse complex.
Dominique Thorne has put in some great performances in the past, including in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ and ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ and brings real soul and depth to Riri. Given the space to explore the character without needing to be part of a bigger blockbuster tapestry, she’s always good here –– whether she’s having a quiet moment with friends or being badass.
Alden Ehrenreich is a highlight, his Joe character one of the more entertaining in the show. While he takes a slightly predictable turn later on, Ehrenreich keeps him entertaining and he plays well off of Thorne in moments such as the pair belting out an Alanis Morissette track or bonding over biotech.
Anthony Ramos struggles slightly with the big bad role, burdened by the fact that, for all of his inventive elements, Parker Robbins is a slightly dull dud as a character. Ramos plays him cool and composed, mostly staying away from campy villain tropes, but it doesn’t really register.
Lyric Ross is an energetic delight as Natalie –– or at least the AI drawn from Riri’s memories –– bringing needed energy to the series, but also a healthy dash of emotion that helps supplements our lead’s storyline.
Around Ramos is a varied bunch of criminals who are fine for what they need to be, but the group does rather waste the comic talents of Eric André as tech guru Stuart, who so desperately wants to be known as “Rampage”.
Finally, Anji White makes an impact in a smaller role as Riri’s mother, Ronnie Williams, a woman with her own grief, but also a deep amount of care for –– and no-nonsense attitude to –– her daughter.
Despite its tonal issues and a frankly unsatisfying final scene that falls into the Marvel trap of nodding to the future without really resolving the present, ‘Ironheart’ makes better use of the Riri Williams character than ‘Wakanda Forever’ ever could.
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What’s the plot of ‘Ironheart?
Set after the events of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ Marvel Television’s ‘Ironheart’ pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) — a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world — returns to her hometown of Chicago.
Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins, AKA “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos).
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones in ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’. Photo: Netflix.
Preview:
Krysten Ritter will appear in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2.
She’s bringing Jessica Jones back to screens.
Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio star in the show.
Looks like the Defenders are getting back together. Well, some of them at least.
As part of its presentation at the big Disney Upfront this week (where the company touted its upcoming and returning shows in the hopes of luring advertising dollars), Marvel brought Krysten Ritter on stage to announce that she will appear as Jessica Jones in the second season of Disney+ series ‘Daredevil: Born Again.’
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This is what Ritter said about returning to the role:
“It’s so great to be back, returning to Jessica after three seasons and ‘The Defenders’ and now joining the MCU. I’m so excited to bring back this iconic character, and without giving too much away, there is much more in store for Jessica Jones. This is going to be an incredible season!”
Ritter’s gritty, funny portrayal of the character was widely acclaimed, and she was a definite standout among the Netflix/Marvel heroes.
There had been talk that other Netflix characters might be making the leap, following Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil and his arch nemesis The Kingpin, AKA Wilson Fisk, as played by Vincent D’Onofrio.
Hopes remain high that Mike Colter, who played Luke Cage, a hulking hero with great strength and impenetrable skin, might also show up. And that’s it for the Defenders line up. There definitely was not anybody else we’d want to see.
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones in ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’. Photo: Netflix.
One of the key characters during the Netflix/Marvel TV run, with her standalone series launching in 2015 and lasting for three seasons. She also appeared in the ‘Defenders’ team-up miniseries in 2017.
Jessica was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ‘Alias #1’ (November 2001) as part of Marvel’s Max, an imprint for more mature content.
She gains super strength and the ability to fly (to some degree, it’s more like giant leaps) and relative invulnerability but the accident also kills her family (or so she thinks).
In the show, much as in the comic, she’s an extremely troubled young woman, an alcoholic who funds her life through working as a private investigator.
In Season 1, she must deal with Kilgrave (David Tennant), a cunning and sadistic mind manipulator who forced her to kill someone while under his power and effectively ended her brief heroic career.
A continuation of the ‘Daredevil’ series that aired on Netflix from 2015 to 2018, ‘Born Again’ picks up with our hero Matt Murdock (Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, amid a continued fight for justice through his bustling law firm.
At the same time, former mob boss Wilson Fisk (D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.
Season 2 will pick up after the cliffhanger of the first, in which crime lord Fisk violently consolidated power, leading Matt to go underground and begin reaching out to allies to resist Fisk and his anti-vigilante task force. Jones will be part of that group of allies.
“People were watching it as a season four, not at as a first season. It’s given us the confidence of making the show annually into the future.”
Just don’t got expecting this to open any floodgate for other characters, according to the executive:
“It’s about not rushing and telling the best story. Yes, it’s exciting to think about characters interacting, but it’s about the reasons why. At times we’ve done that very well, at times we’ve rushed. The story has to lead the path.”
The show follows Riri’s further adventures as she works on her technological creations (including her version of the Iron Man suit) and encounters some dangerous villains.
‘Ironheart’ launches on Disney+ on June 24th, and you can see the trailer below.
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Then there is ‘Wonder Man,’ about a superpowered actor and stunt man (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who auditions to be in a superhero movie.
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
The long-awaited sequel to 2018’s Oscar-nominated Marvel movie, ‘Black Panther,’ which is entitled ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ finally opens in theaters on November 11th.
The film was put in jeopardy in 2020 when the franchise’s lead actor, Chadwick Boseman tragically died of cancer. Returning director Ryan Coogler and co-writer Joe Robert Cole were forced to rewrite the script, and choosing not to recast the character, find a way to explain his absence. Their choice was to kill off the character, which would be the second and ultimately last time T’Challa died in the Marvel Universe, after disintegrating when Thanos snapped his fingers in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’
The sequel begins shortly after King T’Challa‘s death, but I’ll let the film itself explain exactly what he died from. The Kingdom of Wakanda is mourning their fallen king, as Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and M’Baku (Winston Duke) rally around their Queen, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), while a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan ruled by Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
With war brewing between the two powerful nations, the CIA dispatches Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) to keep an eye on the situation, and while Wakanda’s royal family decides what to do with the Black Panther mantel, they seek the aid of MIT student and genius inventor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who in the comics is known as the hero Ironheart and soon will have her own Disney+ series.
The result is a solid and entertaining sequel that truly explores the concept of grief and loss, and introduces some great new characters to the MCU, however, unfortunately never overcomes the unmeasurable absence of Boseman and his character.
The film does have a few issues, and one of the problems with the movie is it is just too long for the story it is telling. At 2 hours and 41 minutes, it’s longer than ‘Infinity War’ and the story just does not warrant it. Also, without giving anything away, the character of Black Panther does not show up until after the two-hour mark, and that is a problem for a movie with the words ‘Black Panther’ in the title.
Ultimately, the film suffers from the loss of Boseman, and in turn T’Challa, but obviously there is nothing that could be done about that. But now that we’ve mentioned all of that, let’s talk about what does work. Director Ryan Coogler has crafted an epic film, huge in scope, that basically deals with the simple idea of grief and how we as people deal with loss.
The returning cast is excellent, and every actor has a chance to step-up their roles in the wake of Boseman’s absence. Leading the charge is Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett, who gives a passionate performance as the Queen of Wakanda, and a mother who has lost her son. Her performance is the heart of the film.
Danai Gurira is also a standout, with Okoye questioning her place in the world after the death of T’Challa. Her character comes in conflict with Ramonda and has some terrific scenes with Bassett. Winston Duke’s M’Baku also has a larger role this time around, now as an advisor to the royal family.
Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia is also a welcomed return to the franchise, and while she plays a pivotal role in the story, her character does not have as much screen time as I had hoped.
But Letitia Wright’s Shuri is clearly the focal point of the film, and while the actress gave a strong performance in the original as a supporting character, she stumbles a little leading the movie on her own but is ultimately helped by the rest of the cast’s strong supporting performances.
But it’s the movie’s new characters that really shine including the MCU introduction of Dominque Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart and Tenoch Huerta as Namor.
Thorne, who actually auditioned to play Shuri in the first ‘Black Panther,’ is excellent as the MIT student that will eventually become the MCU’s new Iron Man. Williams and Shuri hit it off right away, and the two actresses have great chemistry together. The character is a great addition to the MCU, and while the movie acts as a backdoor pilot to her upcoming Disney+ series, I can’t wait to see what they do with the show.
But the standout of the film is truly the introduction of Namor and the career-making performance by Tenoch Huerta. Namor first appeared in Marvel comics in 1939, but due to the film rights being tied-up at another studio, Marvel was not able to bring the character to the big screen until now.
It’s a shame that DC was able to launch an ‘Aquaman’ franchise first, because there will unenviably be comparisons. The Talokan people will also undoubtedly be compared to the characters in Disney’s other big sequel opening this year, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ as they are blue and have a passing resemblance to the Na’vi.
But the character looks very comic book accurate on screen, and the effects used for his ankle wings is fantastic. Huerta brings a lot of passion and gravitas to his role and is extremely commanding as Namor. While the character is basically a hero in the comics, he has had arcs where he is an anti-hero, so using him as the antagonist for this movie makes sense, but there is still room in the future of the MCU for the character to play a more heroic role.
There are a few surprise cameos that I won’t give away, one connected to the original ‘Black Panther,’ and another connecting to presumably the upcoming ‘Thunderbolts.’ And while there is no end-credit scene, there is a mid-credit scene that adds a heart-warming element to the franchise for future installments.
In the end, director Ryan Coogler has crafted a strong sequel and a truly beautiful film about loss and dealing with grief, that unfortunately can never surpass the original due to the seismic loss of Chadwick Boseman. Coogler and the cast have created a loving tribute to the late actor, but we’ll always have to wonder what this sequel could have been if Boseman had survived.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
The new sequel follows the leaders of the kingdom of Wakanda as they fight to protect their nation from invading forces in the wake of King T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) death, as a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan ruled by Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Ryan Coogler and actress Danai Gurira about their work on ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ what audiences can expect, the challenges of making the sequel, the death of Chadwick Boseman, how Okoye is dealing with the loss of T’Challa, and what it meant to Gurira to be part of this beloved franchise.
Danai Gurira stars in Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Coogler, Gurira, Mabel Cadena, and Alex Livinalli.
MF: Danai, Okoye has been through so much since the first movie. She survived the Blip, battled Thanos, and now has lost her King again. Can you talk about where Okoye is mentally and emotionally when this movie begins?
Danai Gurira: She’s definitely in a very difficult place, but I think also she hasn’t allowed herself to fully live in the grief or to process it because she has to take care of the kingdom. She has to take care of the remaining royal family. She has to make sure that things remain stable and that the job is done.
They’re dealing with new threats, folks coming in, trying to steal things. So, there’s a lot that she has to stay very focused on, and I don’t think she’s taking the time. But I don’t think her or most of the people in the film have taken the time to process their grief.
MF: The movie is a very loving tribute to Chadwick Boseman, can you talk about how the emotions the characters are experiencing in the movie parallel how you all felt about the real-life loss of your friend?
DG: I mean, everything was dedicated to his honor. As Ryan said when he first told us we were doing it again, and that we were doing the second one without Chadwick, that clarity that “This is what he would’ve wanted” was very clear to him, and then it became very clear to us.
So, that was really the journey in there for us and the way that we were anchored was knowing that. So, Ryan was very amazing helping us navigate the story with that knowledge in the forefront. What he put together in terms of what the story had allowed us to feel a grounding, to feel grounded despite the fact that it was a very difficult time in terms of our own grief process.
MF: What has it meant to you to be a part of this franchise, that is so beloved by so many people, and get to play this character over the course of these films?
DG: It’s meant a great deal. I grew up definitely not seeing this sort of narrative told, and wondering why? I always was that kid who was like, “It didn’t make sense to me.” You know what I mean? There’re some folks who are like, “Oh, that’s just the way it is.” I was like, “No, no, no. It makes no sense.”
There’s no reason that people of different ethnicities or of African descent are not seen on epic scales on screen, like white people are. There’s just no reason. That was something that always annoyed me, and I did not accept it as just the way things were. I’m just excited. I was just excited it came to existence. The fact that I got to be a part of it on top of that just feels like a crazy blessing.
MF: What was it like working with Ryan Coogler again on this movie and watching him execute his vision for this specific sequel?
DG: It was pretty incredible. There was no easy task. There was nothing easy about making this film. There was absolutely nothing easy about it, and he had to hold on very tightly to a vision and to the clarity therein, and we had to really be anchored by him. He was an anchoring force in that regard and guided the process in a way that and was very helpful to us.
There are times I didn’t understand. In the very beginning, I didn’t understand what was going on with me. He’s like, “You’re going through grief. That’s grief.” I was like, “Oh crap. That is what this is.” There are times you can’t even isolate what you’re dealing with until someone helps you see it and helps you understand the journey you need to take. I think in some ways that was paralleling my character.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ director Ryan Coogler.
Moviefone: Ryan, what would you say to fans who have been looking forward to this sequel as they get ready to sit down and watch it?
Ryan Coogler: Honestly, I would say thank you for showing up, and then I would let the film speak for itself.
MF: Can you talk about the challenges as a director of making this sequel, and how the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman changed your plans for the movie?
RC: I would go backwards, and first talk about the challenges not specific to our personal and professional loss and the tragedy that was his passing. The movie’s big. It has a lot of locations and a lot of things that I had never done before. There’re seven languages spoken in the film, oftentimes by actors who aren’t fluent in the language that they’re speaking. I’m a monolingual person myself, you know what I’m saying?
So, it was a complicated process to direct those languages that I don’t speak. We wanted to do things sonically in the film that hadn’t really been done before, specifically around vocal work and music. We had to do set building and costume design, and lighting design that worked for sets that were amphibious, sets that worked dry, sets that worked wet, sets that could go from dry to wet on camera.
We had a whole regimen of free diving and water stunts that all of our main actors and all our main supporting actors had to do. Everybody had to get in the water at least 10 feet down most times. Some of our actors had never swam before, and that was something that we had to overcome together. As a director, I was not comfortable in the water like that before this movie. I had to get comfortable, so I could direct it.
So, it was a lot of challenges overall, not to mention the challenges that Joe (Robert Cole) and I had to deal with in terms of writing this thing. But the challenge of losing our lead actor, friend and leader was unique, and at times felt insurmountable. But quickly, once we wrapped our heads around it, we were motivated to make something that could continue on his personal legacy.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the choice to introduce Namor and Ironheart to the MCU with this movie, and the casting process for those roles?
RC: I feel blessed to be able to do it as a filmmaker. What’s great about Ironheart is, I got to work with an actor who’s style I was very familiar with in Dominique Thorne. She auditioned earlier on for Shuri, so I met her through that audition process and she was very young, but incredibly talented. I knew she was going places even though it didn’t work out for that role.
I got to work with her again in a producer capacity, where the production company that I founded was able to produce for Shaka King, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah.’ Shaka cast Dominique in that, so we got to work together in that capacity. I got to see her do some incredible work as Judy Harmon in that film, and she got cast in another friend and colleague of mine, Barry Jenkins’ film (‘If Beale Street Could Talk’). She had some great scene work in that.
So, when the opportunity came for us to cast Ironheart, I kind of had Dominique in mind already, knowing what she could do, and knowing how she had grown as an actress and as a young woman. So, I was happy to make that happen. We are also wrapping up production on our Disney+ series (‘Ironheart’) that my company Proximity Media is helping Marvel Studios produce, so I’m super excited about that. I feel honored to bring a character with that incredible history in publishing to life cinematically.
With Namor, what a gift to a filmmaker to have the opportunity to bring Namor to the big screen after nearly a century of history and publishing, and just no representation of him either in film or television. So, it was with great pleasure and tenacity that I wanted to make sure we represented Namor in the right way, but in a way that could exist inside of a ‘Black Panther’ film.
Sacha Baron Cohen in Netflix’s ‘The Spy.’ Photo by Axel Decis.
Here’s a fun piece of casting – assuming it turns out to be true and not the latest round of speculation on the MCU’s future. Sacha Baron Cohen, the British comedian best known for the characters of Borat and Ali G, is reportedly taking on the role of devilish villain Mephisto in ‘Ironheart’.
Should it turn out to be true, Cohen is a surprising get for Marvel, as he’s someone who often prefers to generate his own projects or the odd prestige movie such as ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ and hasn’t shown much interest in superhero work. Still, the lure of Marvel can be strong, and recently pulled Harrison Ford into its orbit.
Rumors have swirled recently on social media about the idea and now Deadline has tapped its sources at Marvel to report that he has been seen on the show’s set (the company has, of course, refused to officially comment). The majority of the talk points to him playing the demonic role.
‘Ironheart’ stars Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. The character will first appear on screen in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ which is out in theaters on November 11th.
If Mephisto does indeed make an appearance, the scope is there for future appearances in typical Marvel fashion, including potentially in ‘WandaVision’ spin-off ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’. The prospect of Cohen sharing the screen with Kathryn Hahn is certainly an appealing one.
Though he’s been rumored to show up before – some thought Doctor Strange would be unmasked as Mephisto in disguise in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ while others believed he was truly the power behind all the chaos in ‘WandaVision’ before Agatha revealed herself. Yet that show’s head writer, Jac Schaeffer confirmed she’d never heard of the character before friend and fellow Marvel show writer Michael Waldron started joking with her about him.
Marvel Comics’ Mephisto. Photo courtesy of Marvel.Fandom.com.
Mephisto, for those (including Schaeffer) who aren’t aware of the character, made his proper Marvel Comics debut in ‘Silver Surfer #3’, and was created by Stan Lee, John Buscema and Jerry Robinson.
He’s an extra-dimensional Demon who rules a fiery pocket dimension that he calls “Hell” or “Hades” although it is neither the Hell of the Christian religion nor the Hades ruled by Pluto, the Olympian god of the dead. Mephisto calls his extra-dimensional realm “hell” to exploit Earth human beings’ belief in a single being of absolute evil, who is often referred to as Satan.
The character has bedevilled many a hero and villain in his time, and while he’s more normally found around supernatural characters, it’s sounding like ‘Ironheart’ will have an increasingly magical presence.
We know, for example, that ‘In The Heights’ Anthony Ramos is playing The Hood, a character who dabbles in sorcery and would be an antagonist for Thorne’s Riri Williams.
With Chinaka Hodge as head writer and Samantha Bailey and Angela Barnes sharing the directing work, the six-episode series will debut on Disney+ next year.
The first trailer for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ was heavy on the emotion, a beautiful, stylish tribute to the fact that the filmmakers have had to deal with the loss of star Chadwick Boseman.
For the new look at the movie, though, we get a little more story and a lot more action.
Following on from T’Challa (Boseman) introducing the wider world to a much more advanced and powerful Wakanda than anyone outside understood, there are naturally those who are motivated to exploit it.
And, as Wakanda reels from the death of its king (that aspect is still shrouded in mystery), there is another looming threat on the horizon. As Wakanda revealed itself, that also caused problems for the nearby, undersea kingdom of Talokan, ruled by the powerful Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
A mutant with wings on his feet and superior abilities, he’s none too happy with the new world order, and Talokan makes its feelings felt.
Fortunately, they do have some help: Martin Freeman is back as Everett Ross, while the movie will introduce Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a young genius who has effectively engineered her own version of Stark technology, becoming the hero known as Ironheart.
Oh, and we get our best look at whoever is taking over the mantle of the Black Panther – and from the suit, it’s pretty clear that it’s a woman. Whether than means Shuri (who is tellingly front and center on the poster), Nakia, Okoye or someone else remains to be seen at this point.
Co-writer/director Ryan Coogler has a lot to accomplish here – follow up one of Marvel’s biggest standalone hits, a zeitgeist success that meant an awful lot to many people. And he’s got to do it without the charismatic lead.
Still, there is plenty of performing power to be found in the cast – and with the addition of Huerta and Thorne, even more has been added.
Given the undersea nature of Talokan, comparisons with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (which will be released a little over a month after the superhero film), are inevitable. Yet there’s plenty more going on here
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ itself faces big challenges, but given how well the first movie turned out, we’re confident it’ll rise to meet them.
Tickets are now on sale for the movie, which will be in theaters on November 11th.
With Chinaka Hodge as head writer, ‘Ironheart’ will follow the adventures of genius teen inventor Riri Williams, who creates the most advanced armor suit since Iron Man.
She made her comics debut in 2015 from creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato and has quickly become popular. Though her storyline in the comics involves Tony Stark, that will naturally have to change for the MCU version.
Disney announced that a series based on the character among many revelations at last May’s investor day. ‘Dear White People’s Samantha Bailey and ‘Atlanta’s Angela Barnes are directing the episodes.
‘Ironheart’ has yet to lock down a release date for Disney+, though with filming underway, it should be on screens in 2023. ‘Ms. Marvel’ has just wrapped up its first season, and we can expect the likes of ‘She-Hulk’ (launching August 17th), ‘What If…?’ Season 2, ‘Secret Invasion’, a ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special,’ ‘Echo’ and ‘Armor Wars’ to also debut in the next year or so.
Ehrenreich’s character is, in the usual Marvel fashion, a mystery for now. But while he’s only in the small screen branch of the MCU, as we’ve seen from other series, that is no bar to eventually showing up in theaters. And Ehrenreich is a big enough name that if Marvel has further plans for him, we’ll see him again.
Even being a newcomer is no bar to that if the character is destined to go on – ‘Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani was an unknown before her show, but her character was already earmarked to share the screen with Brie Larson in ‘The Marvels’ landing in theaters on July 28th next year.
