Ke Huy Quan poses backstage with the Oscar® for Actor in a Supporting Role during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Preview:
Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan is leading new action pic ‘With Love’.
Jonathan Eusebio is making his directorial debut with the movie.
It hails from David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North company.
He’s showed up in the likes of Marvel projects (‘Loki’s second season) and fellow Disney+ series ‘American Born Chinese’ and has more movies on the way. He’s now taking the leap into an even more action-orientated sphere as he’s set to star in Universal action movie ‘With Love’.
What’s the story of ‘With Love’?
Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang in A24’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’
So far, according to Deadline, the studio has not released any plot details for the new movie, though we do know that Luke Passmore (‘Archenemy’) is writing the latest draft of the script, following work by Josh Stoddard (‘Warrior’) & Matthew Murray.
Given the title, are we to speculate that this could be a riff on Bond movies (as in ‘From Russia With Love’)? Or could it be a blend of rom-com and kick-ass action?
Whatever it turns out to be, this could do for Quan what ‘Nobody’ did for Bob Odenkirk. And he’s already got a leg up since Quan has years of experience as a stunt choreographer.
(L to R) Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brad Pitt in Sony Pictures’ ‘Bullet Train.’
The new movie comes from 87North, the production company run by ‘Bullet Train’ director David Leitch and wife/producing partner Kelly McCormick. The pair, who have plenty of action filmmaking experience between them (Leitch co-directed ‘John Wick‘ and has also worked on the likes of ‘Atomic Blonde’ and ‘Deadpool 2’, while producing ‘Nobody’, ‘Violent Night’ and more), are shepherding this one as producers.
The ‘Violent Night’ connections continue via the director, Jonathan Eusebio, who has been a colleague of Leitch and McCormick for years. His resume includes stunt coordination or 2nd unit directing experience on movies including the aforementioned Santa thriller plus ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘Black Panther’, ‘Birds of Prey’, and Leitch’s upcoming ‘The Fall Guy’. ‘With Love’ will mark his directorial debut.
He’s just the latest stunt expert to graduate to directing from working with Leitch –– previous examples have included Sam Hargrave, who has since made both the ‘Extraction’ movies for Netflix.
‘With Love’ is at an early stage and doesn’t have a release date set yet, but we will see Quan in the RussoBrothers’ ‘The Electric State’, which should arrive via Netflix this year. And before that, we’ll hear him as the character Han in ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’, due to be released on March 8th.
‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ will be in theaters on March 8th 2024.
‘Loki’s second season scored huge viewership on Disney+ upon its return last week.
Only ‘The Mandalorian’s Season 3 premiere this last March had higher initial viewership.
The show sees the return of Tom Hiddleston’s Marvel character, whose original season debuted in 2021.
After some less than thrilling reviews and audience figures for recent Marvel series such as ‘Secret Invasion’, Disney must be breathing a sigh of relief and offering up blessings to the God of Mischief.
Because the first episode of Season 2 for ‘Loki’, starring Tom Hiddleston, has racked up some healthy viewing figures.
What were the viewing figures for the premiere of ‘Loki’ Season 2?
The premiere of the new season, which dropped on Thursday, October 5th, has garnered 10.9 million views globally within three days of becoming available for streaming, at least according to Disney’s own calculations.
And the Marvel series was not just popular with viewers, but also critics. Season two of ‘Loki’ holds an 88% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it certified “fresh”. That goes along with a stellar 94% audience score on the site.
So clearly, people are happy to see the return of Loki and the Time Variance Agency. And we also enjoyed the latest episode.
In fact, the only series that has scored higher than ‘Loki’ is the third season of ‘The Mandalorian’, which landed on Disney+ this past March. Mando’s triumph is not really a surprise since there was plenty of pent-up demand for the return of the ‘Star Wars’ series.
‘Loki’ similarly benefitted from fan anticipation since Season 1 landed all the way in 2021.
The new season picks up immediately in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority.
Along with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
Returning from Season 1 is Eugene Codero as Casey, a low-ranking TVA worker who was shown as a Hunter in a parallel timeline at the end of that first season but will be back in his original role to help Loki and co. Jonathan Majors, meanwhile, is once more playing another Kang variant, this time a 19th century professor named Victor Timely (first glimpsed in an end credits scene of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’) who has a strong connection to the organization.
Premiering on Disney+ beginning October 5th is the six-episode second season of the popular Marvel series ‘Loki.’
What is the plot of ‘Loki’ Season 2?
Following the events of ‘Loki’ season 1, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Producer and Marvel Creative Executive Kevin Wright about his work on ‘Loki’ season 2, the show’s time-jumping, if Loki is truly a hero or a villain, Loki and Mobius’ relationship, Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson’s on screen chemistry, introducing Victor Timely, and setting up Kang’s variants for other MCU projects.
‘Loki’ Season 2 producer and Marvel Creative Executive Kevin Wright.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Moviefone: To begin with, season 2 of ‘Loki’ deals with the concept of time and you also play with time within the story. Can you talk about plotting the second season and the challenges of playing with time?
Kevin Wright: They are immense. We thought, “Hey, we made a show about timelines and multiverse in season one. We’re going to make it even harder on ourselves this season by doing time loops.” It was something we decided really early on, Eric Martin, our head writer, and myself. It was really appealing. Eric had said jokingly early on, but also seriously, “We can land this. It’s going to be messy for a while because we’ve got to take apart the engine and plant flags in various places, but we can get there. It’s just going to take a lot of refinement and fine-tuning.” It was an exciting proposition because we didn’t want to come back and just repeat season one. We knew we couldn’t come back and play the hits, and we knew that the audience was on board for the weird timey stuff in season one, and that if we are smart about it and we make it digestible, they’ll be on board for this too. The trick was just always make it as serviceable as possible so that we can tell our character story. If it doesn’t get in the way of that, if it ever starts feeling like homework, or it’s confusing and not intriguing, we’ve got to recalibrate. So that was always the baseline for us.
MF: One of the questions season 2 asks is: Is Loki truly a hero or a villain at his core? What is your personal opinion?
KW: I think to ever be the best version of yourself, you have to embrace all aspects of your past. Loki has a lot of things in his past that I’m sure would be seen as villainous. He’s been an anti-hero. He’s played completely in that gray. He’s had redemptive arcs. I think what we liked was putting him on the path to heroism and seeing if this character could get there or if it becomes too hard, if he backslides, or if he’s going to make the right choices. Because heroism gets very tough if you’re put in a position where maybe you have nothing to gain from it. So to me, it was about, could this character ever be the best version of himself because we all see the promise, and it feels like the audience is always rooting for him to get there. That was fun to build into the narrative itself.
MF: Can you talk about Loki and Mobius’ relationship in season 2 and Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson’s on screen chemistry together?
KW: It’s unreal what the two of those have captured. Look, I think the exciting thing was, people really liked them in season one, and it makes it very easy then to continue on to not only the detective work but the further exploration of these two characters. The great thing in season one was, Mobius disarms Loki in that first episode in the time theater by saying, “I see what you are. I’m not judging you. Let’s have a conversation.” He was very accepting in a way that I don’t think Loki ever had, and it allowed us to kind of get this version of Loki that we hadn’t seen before. So it just felt natural that we could continue to do it this season. But also that Loki hopefully could start disarming Mobius so we could learn more about him and what makes him tick. So for those guys, I’m sure every one of our writers would say it’s a joy to write for them. So it’s about giving them meaty things to dig into because they’re going to bring so much of their own to it, not just in performance, but character, dialogue, and everything. They take it and run with it.
MF: Finally, can you talk about the challenges of introducing He Who Remains last season, as well as Victor Timely this season, and setting up the different variants of Kang for other future Marvel projects?
KW: I think for us, it wasn’t a challenge. I think the fun thing was, we knew we wanted to do Victor. Victor was an idea that we were trying to get into season one, and it was just never going to be able to fit because there’s too much story. But it was exciting because the last thing we’re hearing is that war’s coming. All of these terrible things are happening, and then the most unexpected version of this guy pops up, and he pops up in the past. That was exciting. He was going to be an eccentric. I think for us, we were like, “Are we going to be allowed to do this? Do we have to go further and do the scary version?” It was nothing but embraced because I think it just allows for that much more dynamic storytelling going forward that this guy can be anyone. He can pop up in any form. That’s what gets exciting about it.
Launching on Disney+ on October 5th (with one episode), the second season of Marvel’s ‘Loki’ is a welcome return for one of the better shows to be produced by the company and maintains a lot of what worked the first time around.
And new additions to the story, such as Ke Huy Quan (who knows a thing two about acting in a multiversal story after ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once), add to the entertainment value.
The new season picks up immediately in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority.
Along with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
The ensemble for the new season also features (as mentioned) Ke Huy Quan, plus other new recruits Rafael Casal, Kate Dickie and Liz Carr.
Returning from Season 1 is Eugene Codero as Casey, a low-ranking TVA worker who was shown as a Hunter in a parallel timeline at the end of that first season but will be back in his original role to help Loki and co. Jonathan Majors, meanwhile, is once more playing another Kang variant, this time a 19th century professor named Victor Timely (first glimpsed in an end credits scene of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’) who has a strong connection to the organization.
Even without show creator Michael Waldron (who remains peripherally involved as an executive producer) and director Kate Heron, who was responsible for so much of the style and tone of the first season, it’s pleasing to report that ‘Loki’ continues to be a fantastically fun watch.
With Eric Martin, who was a key part of the team for the first season, taking over running the show here and the likes of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (‘The Endless’ and ‘Synchronic’ in theaters and already part of the MCU thanks to their work on ‘Moon Knight‘) inheriting directorial duties, ‘Loki’s second run happily maintains the quality and pulp fiction of the first.
Shouldering the heavy load of continuing the story after that universe-hopping cliffhanger, the new episodes (press were given the first four), throw us straight back into chaos and confusion of the Time Variance Authority as Loki (Hiddleston remains perfect in the role, switching between confident and frazzled on a whim), Mobius (Wilson, still a great counterpart for him) and others try to figure out what is really going.
There are several solid cast additions, but we have to single out Ke Huy Quan, who continues to enjoy a remarkable yet well-earned career renaissance. Off the back of his Oscar win for ‘Everything Everywhere’, he’s superb as genius technical whizz Ouroboros (“OB” for short) who maintains all the technology of the TVA from his cluttered basement lair. Quan fits in perfectly into the show’s world, able to make the humor work and delivering exposition without having you scratch your head or reach for the fast-forward button.
This is a show that knows how to use its ensemble and while the focus is usually on Loki, Mobius or the ever-snarky Sylvie (Di Martino continues to impress), the character love is shared, with some of the supporting roles (Quan and Casal’s Hunter X-5) given their own convincing stories.
Reason to celebrate the show and its title character’s return, then –– which has not always been the case for recent Marvel TV work (looking at you, ‘Secret Invasion’).
The problems with the second season are relatively minor –– though, again, we were only sent the first four episodes, so it remains to be seen if it sticks the landing, and whether it opts for the frustration of another cliffhanger.
There might be some checking their watches through the first episode, which somewhat has the burden of re-introducing the complex central conceit with all of its time branching, time-slipping and odd technology. Fortunately, later episodes pick up the pace and the story kicks into gear, though there is something of a whiff of familiarity occasionally as many of the plots involve a mission to find [insert name of object or person here] so as to avert [crisis X].
And in the annals of Obvious Product Placement, having Sylvie tracked down working at a McDonald’s must rank as quite the most ridiculous for a show as smart as this –– but then, Disney does love a good tie-in. What, no place for her at an Apple Store, with Loki-themed Apple Watches just waiting for eager consumers? Probably wouldn’t work with Loki’s retro futuristic aesthetic. But that’s a minor complaint.
More troubling is one aspect that ‘Loki’, even with all of its time-jumping couldn’t have predicted –– the more dubious (allegedly) aspects of Jonathan Majors’ personal life that complicate the experience of watching his work. His performance as Timely is good (it’s actually more entertaining in some ways than ‘Quantumania’s Kang), but it’s tough to separate what is going on legally from what is on screen.
Yet ‘Loki’s second season still represents one of the most inventive and entertaining examples of what Marvel’s team can do. Even with the connective tissue that is required to the rest of the MCU, this does a lot more than some more basic superhero stories and continues to proudly chart its own weird branch of the massive, linked universe.
Fans of Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, the rest of the ‘Loki’ gang (and multiverses in general), get ready to be happy. Because the Marvel Disney+ series about the character is back in just a few days’ time.
Yet Season 1 screened back in 2021, so what if you’ve forgotten some of the pertinent details and need a refresher? Never fear, we are here to help. Like the Time Variance Agency, we will make sure you are on the right track (and we won’t prune you out of existence, either).
Created and run by Michael Waldron (who would end up spending more time in parallel dimensions when he was hired to re-write Marvel movie sequel ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, ‘Loki’ picks up the story of Tom Hiddleston’s title character back at a time when he was very much more a villain than the heroic character he has become in the likes of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.
You’ll recall that Loki spotted a chance to escape custody at the end of ‘The Avengers’ when heroes such as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) travel back in time looking for the Tesseract. Instead of them getting it then, Loki grabs it and uses it to transport himself away.
But he is picked up by agents of the Time Variance Authority, where he has been deemed a dangerous “variant”, a chaotic version of himself that disrupts the timeline that the authority –– or so it claims –– is working to protect. A bureaucratic, retro-futuristic organization that exists outside of time and space, it gives Loki a choice: face being erased from existence due to being a or help fix the timeline and stop a greater threat.
Loki ends up in his own crime thriller, traveling through time hunting a female version of himself named Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino).
Sylvie, as mentioned, is a female Loki Variant. Targeted for “pruning” (AKA removing from the timeline), she’s been fighting back across time and space, looking to discover the truth behind the TVA.
She’s causing chaos to attract the organization’s attention and ends up crossing paths with our Loki.
The two actually start to fall for each other, realizing their innate connection. But after figuring they could hide in apocalypses (as Sylvie has been doing), their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when they are brought before He Who Remains (but more on him later) and ends up killing him, shoving Loki into a portal.
She will be back for Season 2, so we’ll find out what happens between the two Lokis. Let’s be honest: “it’s complicated” barely begins to encompass this one.
One of the first faces that any arriving prisoner sees is Miss Minutes, an animated clock who cheerily greets people. Voiced by Tara Strong, this mascot provides information –– but she’s also got a hidden agenda.
The authority is overseen by the “Timekeepers”, mysterious creatures represented by statues in a hidden chamber that some at the TVA see as godlike. As it turns out, that’s a giant lie crafted by He Who Remains (again, more later).
The Timekeepers are androids created to control the TVA and its employees, who, it is revealed, were not specially created to work there, but were in fact all variants themselves, with their memories wiped.
Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson): An agent of the TVA who specializes in the investigations of particularly dangerous time criminals. He befriends Loki, and the two work the Sylvie case. But once he learns about his variant nature, he helps Loki and Sylvie battle his former employers.
Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw): A former TVA Hunter known as A-23, who rose from the ranks to become a respected judge; she oversees the Loki variant investigation. An ambitious, fervent believer in the TVA’s mission, she’s forced to face hard truths about the organization. And when they are revealed, she vanishes into a portal in search of free will.
Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku): A high ranking Hunter of the TVA determined to stop the variant that has been killing Minutemen troops. She’s among those who believe the Timekeepers are gods.
Hunter C-20 (Sasha Lane): A TVA Hunter kidnapped and enchanted by Sylvie to reveal the location of the Timekeepers.
At one point, Loki is “pruned” and banished to an apocalyptic, ruined New York, and meets a host of other variants of himself, including Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant) who wears a comic-accurate costume and has more extensive illusionary powers than Hiddleston’s version.
There are various others, including Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei) and, of course, Alligator Loki (himself), who we can all agree is the best Loki.
That is being complicated for Marvel by the allegations surrounding Majors’ personal life, but he is back for Season 2, playing Victor Timely, yet another Kang variant. He has been somewhat downplayed in the promos for the new season, but we’ll see how much he appears in the show itself.
‘Loki’ will launch with its first episode (of a planned six) on October 6th. Will the producers announce a third season at the end of the second? Only time will tell…
The consequences of the studios and other big companies that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) not negotiating in good faith with writers and actors are continuing to be felt.
We already learned that Disney and Marvel have been juggling their schedules for big screen output to accommodate films that are delayed due to the strikes (or completed projects for which they want talent to be available to promote).
Yet that is also having a knock-on effect on the various Disney+ series that the superhero-focused studio produces. Which is hardly surprising given the deep intersections between Marvel’s movie and TV output (and the fact that the shows are also seeing delays due to writer and actor availability).
Animated series ‘What If…?’, which explores variations on characters and stories, has a second season ready to go, but will now launch in December this year (an exact date has yet to be announced).
‘Hawkeye’ spin-off ‘Echo’, based around Alaqua Cox‘s deaf Native American character, is shifting from November to January, while ‘X-Men ‘97’, a revival of the 1990s animated show, will fly from this fall to early next year.
Perhaps the biggest move underway is for the series currently known as ‘Agatha: Darkhold Diaries’ (formerly ‘Agatha: House of Harkness’ and then ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’), now shifting to next fall, likely (probably a smart move) to arrive around Halloween 2024.
As for shows that were still in production (or post-production)? The likes of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ and ‘Wonder Man‘ will have to wait to gear up shooting again, while ‘Ironheart’ (featuring Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, first introduced in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’), is stuck in post-production limbo, and does not currently have a launch slot.
‘Loki’s second season is still on track to launch on Disney+ on October 6th.
Marvel is no doubt figuring that the show –– which is still the most successful of the small screen MCU offerings –– will effectively sell itself. And it also doesn’t want to have the fall completely empty.
‘Loki’ picks up the story of the title character’s (Tom Hiddleston) journey around the multiverse, figuring out what is wrong with time and encountering variant versions of himself. Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino star in the series, with Ke Huy Quan a big guest star in this second season.
AMC scores waiver
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
It’s not all bad news for those who produce TV series (and movies). Many independent productions have secured waivers to keep shooting or to promote their projects.
Perhaps the highest profile of recent examples is AMC, which is behind shows such as the mammoth ‘Walking Dead’ franchise and ‘Mayfair Witches’.
It might surprise you to learn that AMC Networks, whose AMC Studios produces most of its shows, is not an AMPTP member but is an “authorized” by the alliance, meaning AMC agrees to abide by any contracts between the AMPTP and industry unions such as the WGA or SAG-AFTRA.
The recent waiver from SAG-AFTRA (the union representing actors, which is currently on strike) means that three shows can continue work.
(L t R) Danai Gurira as Michonne, and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead.’
‘Walking Dead’ spin-off ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ (surely self-explanatory for fans) can resume production while ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ (which sees the return of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne to the franchise) finished shooting before the strike but can have the cast head to the studio for post-production work such as additional dialogue recording.
Anne Rice adaptation ‘Interview With the Vampire’ will return to shooting in Prague after shutting down when the actors’ strike started. No other AMC shows are currently included under the waiver.
The reaction to Marvel’s most recent TV offering, ‘Secret Invasion’ (in which Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury tackles an uprising by dissatisfied members of the alien Skrull race) has been, it’s fair to say, somewhat muted. The reviews were not kind and the viewing figures (at least as far as Disney+ allows them to be known) were lackluster.
Marvel Studios (and Disney at large), then, will be keeping their corporate fingers crossed for bigger and better things from the return of ‘Loki’ to screens. And with Tom Hiddleston back as the title character for more chaos, our hopes are that this will deliver more solid entertainment. From the looks of the first trailer, it’s certainly promising.
This new season picks up in the aftermath of the shocking season finale when Loki finds himself in a battle for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. Along with Mobius (Owen Wilson), Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and a team of new and returning characters, Loki navigates an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous multiverse in search of Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) and the truth of what it means to possess free will and glorious purpose.
Loki’s got more than just the TVA situation too, as following his trip to a parallel timeline, he’s now glitching in time and needs some help to sort that out. He and Mobius go to see mysterious new character OB, played by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan.
‘Loki’ Season 2 will see with Loki and Mobius poking around into the past to learn more about Kang (Jonathan Majors), or the man who became He Who Remains, which hopefully brings a solution to the whole time-slipping situation too. Cue a trip to an old-timey fair, which seems to connect with the post-credits sting of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, with Majors turning up as ‘Victor Timely’. While Majors doesn’t appear much in the trailer, it does seem here that he will remain present in Season 2. Marvel is yet to comment on, or announce plans for, Majors’ ongoing role as Kang in the wake of his arrest and the abuse allegations against him.
With luck, the return of Di Martino’s Sylvie will also keep us guessing as to her real agenda (she’s pictured at one point in a McDonald’s uniform), while Miss Minutes is something of a bigger threat this time around –– literally.
‘Loki’ Season 2 will launch on Disney+ on October 6th. The streaming service has yet to announce how many episodes of the six-episode run will debut that day.
At this point, it’s looking that ‘Ballerina, the Ana de Armas-starring ‘John Wick’ spin-off, will feature a wealth of people from the main franchise, at least to help it initially.
The latest recruit for the movie, according to Variety, is Lance Reddick, who has appeared in all three ‘Wick’ movies, and will once again play Charon, concierge at the assassin-catering Continental Hotel.
“Charon is an indispensable part of the world of ‘Wick,’ ” producer Erica Lee said in a statement. “It’s great to know that Lance will continue to make his mark on this franchise.”
He’s just the latest piece of crossover casting for the movie, since Keanu Reeves (aka John Wick himself) is reportedly going to show up, though that has yet to be officially confirmed.
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in ‘John Wick: Chapter 4.’
More solid is word that Ian McShane will be Continental manager in the movie, while Anjelica Huston is aboard as The Director, who is the head of the Ruska Roma crime organization.
‘Ballerina’ will follow the Ballerina character glimpsed briefly (and there played by Unity Phelan) in ‘Parabellum’ and tracks a young assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. Which does feel apt for something set in John Wick’s world.
‘Ballerina’ has yet to chalk up a release date, though ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ is headed our way on March 24th next year.
(L to R) Michael Gandolfini and Alessandro Nivola in ‘The Many Saints of Newark.’
Elsewhere, we have a double dose of Marvel/Disney+ casting news.
Michael Gandolfini, who so far is best known for playing the younger Tony Soprano (the role his father James made famous on TV in ‘The Sopranos’) in ‘Sopranos’ movie prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark’, is joining ‘Daredevil: Born Again’.
The much-anticipated Disney+ series will see Charlie Cox’s blind lawyer-turned-vigilante fully make the transition from his Netflix years (assuming it is exactly the same character, the jury remains out on that) to the MCU after popping up in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and his even more memorable recent run on episodes of ‘She-Hulk’.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ promises to re-ignite the clash between Daredevil and Kingpin, AKA Wilson Fisk, brought to hulking life by Vincent D’Onofrio on the Netflix show and now in ‘Hawkeye’.
Written and executive produced by ‘Covert Affairs creators’ Matt Corman and Chris Ord, the new series’ story is a mystery for now, though we do know it’ll span 18 episodes in its first season.
As for who Gandolfini is playing, Deadline has heard from sources that it could be an ambitious sort called Liam from Staten Island––though that, of course, could be misinformation to throw scoopers off the trail. And who knows if that’s also cover for another comic book character. We’ll know more when the series arrives in 2024.
The show, which saw Tom Hiddleston’s adopted Asgardian and trickster god fall afoul of a mysterious organization known as the Time Variance Agency after affecting the timeline by absconding with the Tesseract during ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ended in a cliffhanger, with Loki in a different timeline.
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are the main directors for the second season of the show, which has finished shooting and should be on screens next year.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Loki’ Season 2.
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D23 Expo 2022 achieved peak genre fan love today with the Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios presentation in the jam-packed Anaheim Convention Center.
You can watch Moviefone’s exclusive backstage interviews with talent by clicking on the video player above.
Disney chairman Alan Bergman took the stage of the center’s Arena to welcome fans and introduce tons of upcoming offerings from the House of Mouse’s most successful studios.
Lucasfilm got things started with a first look at what the ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ are up to. Lucasfilm president Kathy Kennedy presented a new look at ‘Andor.’ Debuting in just 11 days on Disney+, it begins five years prior to the events of ‘Rogue One.’
Courtesy of Lucasfilm.
Stars Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma) and Diego Luna (Cassian Andor) described it as the tale of “a revolutionary [learning] there’s a purpose. That there’s something to fight for.”
The two were joined by co-star Adria Arjona, whose character Bix Caleen has feelings for Andor. “She cares deeply for him,” said the actress, “sometimes to her own detriment. It’s complicated.”
The film’s final trailer was tenser and grittier than most ‘Star Wars’ we’ve seen before, with nary a cute sidekick in sight. The first three episodes debut on September, 21st.
Next up was a detour from ‘Star Wars’ with another Disney+ spinoff series – the return of ‘Willow.’ The 1987 film’s stars Warwick Davis and Joanne Whalley appeared – “At last we have some scenes together,” laughed Davis – alongside new co-star Christian Slater and presented a new trailer. It featured the returning Brownies, knights, sword fights, and a far greater number of female warriors than the original movie.
Courtesy of Lucasfilm.
There was lots more ‘Star Wars’ presented to fans when writer-producer-Force guru Dave Filoni appeared in his trademark cowboy hat and announced the first two episodes of the 16-episode second season of the animated ‘Bad Batch’ will drop on January 4th.
Filoni also offered a peek at a six-episode series of animated shorts called ‘Tales of the Jedi,’ half of which will star fan-fave Jedi Ahsoka Andu, with the other three featuring Count Dooku. All episodes drop on October 26th, and the trailer promises appearances by Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Yoda, Bail Organa, and Darth Maul.
Filoni’s co-producer on ‘The Mandalorian,’ Jon Favreau, arrived from the midst of shooting the ‘Ahsoka’ live-action series starring Rosario Dawson. And ‘Spider-Man‘ director Jon Watts and actor Jude Law showed up to rep ‘Skeleton Crew.’ A live-action show about a group of kids who get lost in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy, it’s a new story set, like Ahsoka, in the New Republic era.
Then it was turn for the cast of the third season of ‘The Mandalorian’ to take the spotlight: including Katee Sackhoff, Amy Sedaris, Giancarlo Esposito, and everyone’s favorite Mando, Pedro Pascal. The season’s first teaser revealed a platoon of sky-diving, jetpack firing Mandos, Mando and Grogu in a chase through space, lots more of Swallow’s mysterious Armorer, Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze taking command, and a regal-looking Carl Weathers.
Fans thrilled to the sight of a horsebound Ford racing though a subway, chases along the tops of trains, motorcycles chasing planes, the welcome John Rhys-Davies back as Sallah, and a very Toht-like Mads Mikkersen as the baddie.
A visibly choked up Ford returned the audience’s gratitude. ”No, thank you, said the veteran actor, “for making these films such an incredible experience. I’m very proud to say that this one is fantastic. And [Phoebe Waller-Bridge] is one of the reasons. Indiana Jones films are about mystery and adventure but they’re also about heart. I’m really happy that we have a really human story to tell as well as a movie that will kick your ass.”
“This is it!” he joked of his return to his most iconic role, “I will not fall down for you again! But thank you so much. Thank you James Mangold for picking up the pieces and making a spectacular film.”
Courtesy of Lucasfilm.
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Not to be outdone by Indy, it was then Marvel Studios turn on stage, with chief Kevin Feige introducing a live musical presentation of “Rogers: The Musical,’ with composer Mark Shaman conducting as a full Broadway cast cavorted on stage.
The most anticipated Marvel release followed – with a new look at November’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’ The scene consisted of Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda defending Wakanda’s Vibranium reserve before an international committee, as the Dora Milaje thwart a mercenary attack on a Wakandan research center.
“Chadwick [Boseman] was with us every step of the way,” saidBassett of her late co-star. “He showed us the way.”
“I’m excited for my bro to look down on us and smile,” added Wright.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
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Coogler is also responsible for ‘Ironheart,’ the upcoming Disney+ series featuring Riri Willaims, Tony Stark’s genius-inventor successor in the MCU. A first look saw star Dominique Thorne confronting antagonist The Hood, played by ‘Hamilton’ star Anthony Ramos, a practitioner of the dark arts. Expect a unique battle of tech versus magic when the show drops next year.
A first look depicted Scott Lang flying high after the success of his autobiography, the return of his frenemy Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), and his daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton) opening up a whole world of trouble when she sends a signal to the Quantum realm, drawing the attention of the fearsome Kang, the cybernetic MODOK, new co-star Bill Murray, who plays an an old friend Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet van Dyne.
“Have I killed you before?” asks Kang upon first meeting Ant-Man.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
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Fans won’t have so long to wait for Marvel’s first Halloween “Special Presentation” – ‘Werewolf by Night.’ Stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Laura Donnelly hit the stage alongside director Michael Giacchino, best known as the composer of many beloved Pixar film scores.
Shot in retro-style black and white, debut footage was reminiscent of classic Universal Monster movies – and revealed a quick shot of Marvel Comics’ Man-Thing in his MCU debut.
‘Secret Invasion’ next wowed fans, with star Don Cheadle offering a first look at the upcoming Disney+ series. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Olivia Coleman, and ‘Captain Marvel’ Skrull Ben Medohlson appeared in footage that took the espionage side of the MCU to a new level.
“Sorry, I’m so confused right now,” said Quan, who debuted in 1984’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.’ “Is this NOT the ‘Indiana Jones’ panel?”
The footage featured the return of actors Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Wunmi Mosaku, along with the intriguing return of Kang as a sculpture Loki uncovers.
Marvel had more in store for Disney+ subscribers with ‘Echo,’ spinning off the deaf villain of ‘Hawkeye’ into her own series. Stars Alaqua Cox, Graham Greene, and Vincent D’Onofrio debuted footage that saw the return of D’Onofrio’s Kingpin (with a bandaged eye after the events of ‘Hawkeye’).
“To bring Fisk and Maya back together again was a thrill,” said the actor. “We had some crazy scenes.”
Though nothing was revealed of another Kingpin-starring project – ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ – star Charlie Cox presented a look at his blind hero’s appearance in TV’s ‘She-Hulk.’ The scene showed Daredevil flirting with Jennifer Walters during a stakeout, as he described his ability to hear heartbeats.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
More Marvel movies arrived with ‘Captain America: New World Order’ stars Anthony Mackie, Shira Haas (as Israeli superhero Sabra), Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, and Tim Blake Nelson – back in the MCU after 14 years as The Leader.
“It’s amazing,” said Mackie of bringing his Cap to the big screen. “I’m nervous. It’s exciting. It’s everything I expected it to be.”
“I had such an amazing time with these beautiful women – inside and out. It was so nice to have a team. I have a team!”
Footage from the July release opened with Monica Rambeau in a space on a mission for Fury, before being suddenly body swapped with Ms. Marvel.
Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
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Last but not least… The panel concluded with a treat from 20th Century Studios, with director James Cameron dialing in from New Zealand, where he’s finishing the first of several ‘Avatar’ sequels, ‘The Way of Water,’
“Right now it’s pretty hectic around here. We’re finishing up a five-year production cycle. This has been a bit of an odyssey. Shooting and capturing for movie 2, movie 3, and the first part of movie 4. We’re finishing up movie 2.”
Several scenes of 3D were presented of the films’ new Na’vi warriors, with underwater footage drawing gasps from the audience.
“The whole movie deals with the protection of family and protection of familial love,” said Sam Worthington.
