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.
z9uHs9M5vfCiKZCJCNg4I6
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.
“You’re not Steve Rogers,” growls President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) at Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) during one especially tense moment in ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’ And while Chris Evans’ portrayal of the original Cap remains an iconic element of the first 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mackie’s Sam Wilson certainly holds his own as the current owner of the shield and – according to this film – last Avenger standing.
Mackie is terrific in the film, as is Ford – who’s awake and engaged, unlike in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ – and the movie itself, directed by Julius Onah, is neither a game-changer like ‘Captain America: Civil War’ nor an outright embarrassment like ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ With much of Phases 4 and 5 set in space, the quantum realm, or another universe, it’s also refreshing to watch an earthbound Marvel adventure for a change. While it still requires some homework – watching ‘The Incredible Hulk’ or ‘Eternals’ would be a good start – it’s an entertaining, engrossing action thriller carried by its leads’ charisma and flashes of that old Marvel allure.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ opens with the election of former Hulk hunter and Avengers hater Ross to the presidency, but it’s clear from the start that not all is well with him. He’s estranged from his daughter and haunted by his past, to the point where he summons Sam Wilson to his office and asks him to rebuild Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after loathing them for years (as usual, where the members who aren’t dead or retired are currently hanging out is not really discussed).
Sam is understandably suspicious, since it was just a few years ago that Ross (back when he was Secretary of State) had Wilson and other superheroes thrown in the maximum-security prison known as the Raft. And Sam himself is still coming to terms with the enormous responsibility and pressure of wielding the shield, although his confidence is boosted by original super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), who’s still getting over his bitterness regarding the way he was treated by his own government (uh, yeah, watch ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ too).
Ross has other things on his mind as well: the giant Celestial that fell into the ocean in ‘Eternals’ a few years back turns out to be made out of an incredible, previously unknown element which Ross calls “adamantium,” a word which should set off five-alarm sirens in fanboys’ brains. Wary of what could happen should adamantium get out in the world, Ross is trying to nail down a groundbreaking treaty with Japan – in whose territory the Celestial landed – to explore the element’s uses peacefully, a sign that he’s desperate to change his formerly bellicose ways.
No sooner does Ross announce the finalization of the treaty, however, then there is a terrorist attack on his life. How that attack takes place and who does it throws everything – including the cautious rapprochement between Sam and the president – into chaos, but Sam, with the help of the newly minted Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), is determined to find out exactly what happened, who is behind it all, and what their ultimate agenda is.
The rest of the story involves clashes with Serpent terrorist organization leader Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), presidential security chief Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), and various other players, with Sam unsure of who he can trust and who might turn at a moment’s notice. At the heart of it all is a ghostly apparition from the early days of the MCU in the form of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who’s pulling the strings for purposes unknown.
‘Brave New World’ deliberately channels the paranoid thriller bona fides of what is still one of the MCU’s finest films, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ although in this case Julius Onah’s direction doesn’t have nearly the style of Anthony and Joe Russo’s work (although if this film went through massive reshoots as reported, it still mostly holds together). And there is a lot of clunky exposition in the script (which bears five writers in the credits) to either recap what’s happening or bring us up to speed on some of the plot points from other movies.
But even if ‘Brave New World’ chugs along instead of truly soaring, it’s still a tight two hours of superhero entertainment. Marvel’s biggest successes have led to outsized expectations and an eventual critical backlash, but it’s almost unfair to expect each entry to be a ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ or an ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ ‘Brave New World’ is a solid double, a fun, action-packed adventure that occasionally channels the vibe of older, finer MCU movies. It may rattle or stall out here and there, but it gets where it’s going with efficiency and energy.
As mentioned earlier, Anthony Mackie handles the lead role with aplomb and grace, differentiating himself from the Evans version of Cap simply by virtue of the fact that he’s not a superhuman; he can get hurt, sometimes badly, he doesn’t have super strength, and he has to depend a bit more on the accoutrements of his tricked-out uniform (courtesy of Wakanda) than his predecessor did. This is a vulnerable Cap whose confidence occasionally wavers: at one point he confesses to an old friend, “[Steve] stopped two alien invasions. What made me think I could follow that?” Yet he also throws himself unconditionally into battle in the best tradition of his title, while also deploying empathy as a tool in his arsenal.
It might be enticing to wonder what the late William Hurt would have done with “Thunderbolt” Ross’ biggest MCU appearance to date, but Harrison Ford steps smoothly into the role and embraces Ross’s steely demeanor and the character’s seemingly earnest yearning to atone for his past. But that past still catches up to him, making the character both flawed and tragic, and Ford chomps down on it in a livelier performance that we’ve seen from him in a while. Of course, it’s no spoiler to mention his transformation into Red Hulk, and the climactic fight between him, Cap, and a good chunk of the armed forces mostly lives up to its billing, some rough visuals aside.
Giancarlo Esposito and Carl Lumbly are reliably excellent with less to do, with the latter especially bringing an emotional center to the movie. Shira Haas is striking as Ruth, the president’s security chief with a past of her own, while Danny Ramirez delivers enthusiasm but not a ton of personality as the new Falcon. Our favorite? Tim Blake Nelson, returning after 17 years to the character known as The Leader in the comics, who’s sinister, snarky, and – in his cheesily macabre prosthetics and glowing eyes – rather eerie.
It’s a bit jarring to see the U.S. and Japan, of all countries, almost get into a shooting war, but fear not, the politics of ‘Brave New World’ are not nearly as topical as those of ‘The Winter Soldier’ or, hell, even the original ‘Iron Man.’ In fact, the geopolitical ramifications here are, while perhaps important for the MCU, generally an inch deep.
And that’s probably the biggest criticism of ‘Brave New World’: it echoes the MCU’s past, sometimes literally, but doesn’t quite channel the surprising emotional depth that the first decade managed to convey (one scene near the end, a heart-to-heart between Sam and someone else, recaptures some of the chemistry of the characters in that first round of films). The script and visuals, while stronger than other recent outings, still fall down from time to time. But ‘Brave New World’ also manages to get back up and keep punching, delivering superhero antics without a whole lot of pretension. It may not be especially brave or new, but it’s fun.
38PIIqJ72BWyVUfWZQqug4
What is the plot of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?
Now operating as Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) uncovers a deadly conspiracy centered around President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and fights to discover who is behind it before an international war breaks out.
Who is in the cast of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’?
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America
Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/Red Hulk
It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains –– or at least anti-heroes –– brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.
In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.
Who is in the Thunderbolts movie so far?
Sebastian Stan from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
We know (most of) the characters who will be showing up, since they were announced back in 2022 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’.
ySD9fRBhzaiO2TcznWDp2
As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross –– last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death in 2022, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over.
(Left) Vin Diesel and Director Louis Leterrier on the set of ‘Fast X.’ (Right) Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Iron Man.’
Preview:
‘The Incredible Hulk’ director Louis Leterrier discussed the movie on a new podcast.
Leterrier reveals he’d hoped to direct ‘Iron Man’.
He also talks about the tension between Marvel and star Edward Norton over the tone.
It rarely makes the list of Marvel fans’ favorite MCU entries, but ‘The Incredible Hulk’ has earned something of a reassessment in recent years.
And it was infamous for having a troubled history, as star Edward Norton clashed with the Marvel team.
The film’s director, Louis Leterrier has offered his own thoughts on a new podcast spin-off from ‘Happy. Sad. Confused’, hosted by Josh Horowitz. Titled ‘Watch-A-Long’, the first episode features a blend of Leterrier interview about the movie and director’s commentary.
24396
Louis Leterrier on ‘Iron Man’
(L to R) Vin Diesel, Director Louis Leterrier and Rita Moreno on the set of ‘Fast X.’
While Leterrier landed the job on ‘The Incredible Hulk’, what he originally had hoped to make was ‘Iron Man’, which famously ended up in the hands of Jon Favreau and helped kicked off the whole MCU.
Here’s what he said on the subject:
“They had this big poster in the lobby and said, ‘Well, pick a superhero, that you’d like,’ and I went, [points finger at imaginary wall], this guy, Tony Stark, Iron Man. That’s what I wanna do. They were like, ‘Great, great, great.’ I go back home and literally, three weeks later they called me, and they said, ‘We’ve got great news, we’d like you to direct a movie for us.’ I was like, ‘Iro–‘ and they were like, ‘Hulk.’ ‘Hulk’? Ang Lee did it three years before they gave me the call and I thought about it and realized, my favorite movies growing up were ‘Frankenstein,’ the original ‘King Kong,’ werewolf movies, and the ‘Hulk’ TV show being so formative, so I was like, ‘Of course.’ They saw what I couldn’t see.”
As it turns out, Leterrier had other close calls with MCU characters –– he met about making ‘Thor’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ but didn’t connect with either. He did throw his hat into the ring for ‘The Avengers’, though he ultimately did not get a meeting on that one.
Edward Norton in ‘The Incredible Hulk.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Infamously troubled thanks to the strong opinions of star Edward Norton –– who wrote new dialogue and even submitted a darker cut of the movie that Marvel ultimately chose to reject –– the movie sounds like it was a nightmare assignment. But according to Leterrier, he had a good relationship with Norton.
34376
Here’s what he said about their collaboration:
“I think the whole way, we were all very much in lock step. It just got tense at the end. And I think at the end it was very tense about the tone and the level of humor, although Edward is very funny and, all is friends are comedians. He’s an extremely funny guy. But I think [Edward] was very right in defending the seriousness of the movie. You have to remember it was the mid 2010s, ‘The Dark Knight’ had such an impact on superhero movies.”
Liv Tyler in director Bryan Bertino’s ‘The Strangers.’
Given that we already know that ‘Captain America: New World Order’ will have some connections to ‘The Incredible Hulk’ –– most notably “Thunderbolt” Ross (now played by Harrison Ford following William Hurt’s death) and Samuel Sterns, AKA The Leader, played by Tim Blake Nelson, whose villainous future was only hinted at in the 2008 movie, we suppose it was only a matter of time before Betty Ross returned.
And so she has, with Liv Tyler joining ‘New World Order’ as the character who in her first appearance (and often in the comics) was the great love of Bruce Banner (though there’s no word yet on whether Mark Ruffalo will show up as Bruce).
The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Tyler is returning, which of course will make for a more emotional storyline for Ford’s first appearance as Ross (who at this point has become President of the United States).
And while a tricky rights issue means Marvel can’t make a solo Hulk movie, that hasn’t stopped them placing Betty in at least one other project –– she was seen (albeit briefly) in an episode of animated series ‘What If…?’, though there the character was voiced by Stephanie Panisello.
38PIIqJ72BWyVUfWZQqug4
What’s the story of ‘Captain America: New World Order’?
It remains to be seen how all these Hulk hangovers affect the plot of ‘New World Order’, but the focus will be on Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) who was chosen to carry on as the new Captain America by Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers at the end of ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
Sam spent the duration of the Disney+ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ debating whether he should take on the mantle but embraced the role towards the end. Now he’ll be facing fresh threats as the new Cap makes his big screen debut.
While we’ve yet to learn whether The Winter Soldier –– AKA Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes ––will return for the film, Danny Ramirez’ Joaquin Torres, the US Air Force lieutenant and intelligence officer to whom Sam passed the Falcon mantle (and wing suit) once he became Captain America, is back.
And Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) a former super soldier who was ill-treated by the American government will also appear.
New to the cast are Shira Haas, playing comic book character Sabra and Xosha Roquemore in an unknown role.
Behind the scenes, ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’s Julius Onah is calling the shots on the movie, which has is now in production. He’s working from a script by ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson.
Whether this all means that we can expect to see more of Betty in future MCU entries remains to be seen, but it’s good to have her back.
‘Captain America: New World Order’, is scheduled for release in theaters on May 3rd, 2024.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Captain America: New World Order.’
Other Movies Similar to ‘Captain America: New World Order:’
Directed by Julius Onah, and produced by Marvel Studios, and Kevin Feige Productions, ‘Captain America: New World Order’ is scheduled for release from Marvel Studios on May 3rd 2024.
Ayo Edebiri has gained a lot of attention lately for her role as driven chef Sydney Adamu in FX’s ‘The Bear’, for which she has been nominated for several awards and won some trophies.
Which has led to her getting a call from the Marvel team, and now Deadline reports that Edebiri has been recruited for the ‘Thunderbolts’ cast.
Ayo Edebiri from ‘The Bear.’ Photo courtesy of FX.
It isn’t an exact match, but the simple way of explaining the Thunderbolts is that they’re Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad: a group of villains––or at least anti-heroes––brought together by third-party schemers in a possibly ill-advised attempt to turn them into a force for good.
In Marvel’s case, they were originally assembled by Baron Zemo and the Masters Of Evil and have sometimes been linked to Hulk regular General Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (hence the name). They made their debut in the pages of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in 1996, introduced by writer and artist team Peter David and Mike Deodato. They continued to their own series the same year, created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, and have been brought back with a bunch of alternative line-ups in comics ever since.
Sebastian Stan from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
For the movie we know (most of) the characters who will be showing up: 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’.
Wyatt Russell from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
As for those overseeing the team, we have Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, AKA Val, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was also introduced in the ‘Falcon’ series and has since cropped up in the likes of ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’. We also have Thaddeus Ross––last seen in ‘Black Widow’ and played since ‘The Incredible Hulk’ by William Hurt. But because of the actor’s death last year, Marvel has had to recast the role, tapping genre icon Harrison Ford to take over. It’s unknown what position Ross will have in the new movie––the former General was Secretary of State in ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
Given Marvel’s typical shroud of secrecy, nothing is yet known about how Edebiri will fit into the story or what character she’s playing. She could be a character drawn from the comics, but even if that’s the case, her backstory could be changed for the film’s story.
So far, all that is really confirmed about the film beyond the main cast is the presence of ‘Paper Towns’ and ‘Robot and Frank’ director Jake Schreier and ‘Black Widow’ writer Eric Pearson providing the script.
‘Thunderbolts’ will be in theaters on July 26th next year.
David Harbour from ‘Thunderbolts’ at D23 Expo 2022.
eXEQEtjd5Lta9eQzxMGTa1
cI48UWAN
We’re finally in the home stretch, and things are about to get insane. Welcome to the season finale of ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ episode 9, ‘Whose show is this?’
But it’s all a dream, and Jen wakes up in custody, in Emil Blonsky’s (Tim Roth) old cell, with her friends visiting her. She asks if they got ahold of her cousin, but Bruce is not returning his calls.
Jen mentions targeting the people who went after her, but Mallory (Renee Elise Goldsberry) stop her and explains they need to discuss her case. They tell her that no charges will be filed, but she needs to wear an inhibitor and can no longer be She-Hulk. She takes the news well but isn’t happy about it.
Jen packs her stuff up at work, after being let go from the job, with Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) and Pug (Josh Segarra) helping her walk out. At home, the news is all about her, including the reporters outside her home. Her parents offer for her to move back in, and she has no choice but to take it. The reporters chase her to her family’s home, where her father (Mark Linn-Baker) goes after them with a water hose.
Later that day, Nikki meets Jen to go over the Intellegencia website. Jen is planning to do this legally, but Nikki wants to do it by any means necessary, while Jen’s mother (Tess Malis Kincaid) embarrasses her with a video of her dancing as a teenager. We then see Dennis (Drew Matthews), Jen’s old coworker, on a talk show spreading lies about Jennifer and She-Hulk.
As she lays in bed, Jen asks the audience if we really wanted this sad story? The 1970’s ‘The Incredible Hulk’ narrator from earlier begins again, and she quickly asks him to stop. She tries to text Bruce but gets no reply. Same for Emil but decides to take up his earlier offer to stay at the retreat. “I’m not running from my problems, it’s a mental health break,” she says.
Back at the office, Nikki uploads Jen’s old dancing video to get the attention of HulkKing, which works. She gets a meeting with him, and ropes Pug into helping her. Jen arrives at Emil’s retreat, as we cut to the other two pulling up to the meeting.
Nikki sends Pug undercover into the meeting, and he walks up on a group of men talking about how She-Hulk and Lady Thor (Natalie Portman) don’t deserve their powers, and that they do instead because they are men. Classy!
Pug is then spotted by Todd (Jon Bass), who is happy to see him there, thinking he’s one of them. Todd explains that Jen didn’t earn her powers. He then reveals that he is actually HulkKing,
Todd calls everyone together and congratulates them on a job well done. We then cut to Jen with Wrecker (Nick Gomez), and she asks where Emil is. He mentions he’s at the lodge, and we move back to Todd introducing Emil to the group as their guest speaker. Pug looking absolutely confused.
It turns out Todd hired Emil to be the life coach of Intellegencia, with Blonsky not knowing the group’s true intentions. Jen opens the door, revealing the entire group including Todd watching Emil give his speech.
Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky / Abomination in Disney+’s ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.’
At the same time, Nikki breaks into the lodge while Pug reveals to Jen that Todd is HulkKing and that he stole her blood to make himself a Hulk. As Todd injects himself, Jen turns to the audience to ask, “This isn’t going to work, right? “As it indeed does starts to work. Jen then questions where this finale is going.
Then, Titania also comes in through a wall, with Smart Hulk dropping down from the ceiling a moment later as a Hulked-out Todd calls for the men to attack Jen. But all her cousin sees is the Abomination grabbing her, really to save her, but misunderstanding orders him to drop her. It’s very clear Emil doesn’t want to fight him.
Jen, off to the side, comments how none of these storylines make any sense. She looks to the camera, and asks us, “Is this working for you?” As the screen cuts to the Disney+ Marvel select screen, an absolutely insane fourth-wall break begins. Jen asks what we’re doing and breaks her inhibitor, then breaking into the menu.
As if this can’t get any crazier, she crashes into the “real world,” wandering the Disney lot in Burbank and breaking into the ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ production room. Meeting the writers, she questions them “what kind of stupid finale is this?” They defend that it’s a great twist.
Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk in Disney+’s ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.’
They say that it’s a thing in all superhero films and tell her she must talk to Kevin. She-Hulk asserts that she’s going to talk to him. Yes, that Kevin! (Which is an obvious reference to President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige). The front desk man at Marvel Studios pulls the emergency button, after making her sign an NDA, and Jen takes out the guards trying to stop her.
She enters Kevin’s office and sees the entirety of her universe (all the past Marvel Studios productions) played out on a big screen. A robot descends from the ceiling wearing a baseball cap, calling itself K.E.V.I.N (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus), and asks if she was expecting a real man? He says that he will answer her questions, but only if she turns back to normal Jen off screen because they don’t have the budget to see her transform again.
K.E.V.I.N explains he makes near perfect products, but that the internet sometimes says otherwise. Jen asks why her show is the way it is and offers to give her closing arguments on why her final episode should be different. She goes into a huge speech about how all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV shows end the same.
She says the ending detracts from her story, and that her stakes are more important. The machine asks what ending she would want, and Jen offers that Todd doesn’t get her powers, because her blood isn’t the bad guy, he is! She also wants to remove Bruce from the finale, but K.E.V.I.N claims he was there to reveal what he was doing in space and introduce someone … but Jen says, “Save it for the movie.”
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Smart Hulk in Disney+’s ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.’
Jen also wants Emil to be held accountable for his actions, the finale to be in daylight, and to see Daredevil (Charlie Cox) again, quipping; “A woman has needs.” She even questions the daddy issues in the MCU and asks where the X-Men are!
After K.E.V.I.N complains that she ruined the finale he designed, Jen mentions that she did what Hulks do, smash! “Bruce smashes buildings, and I smash forth-walls and bad endings, and sometimes Matt Murdock!”
Back at Emil’s retreat, She-Hulk angrily threatens Todd, but then surprisingly transforms back to normal telling him, “I’ll see you in court, babe”
Then, out of nowhere, Daredevil drops in, telling Jen he’s there to help. She explains how he missed everything, but that she’s happy to see him. Leaving him there, Jen walks over to explain to Emil that he’s going back to prison for violating parole, to which he agrees, and holds himself accountable.
We then cut to Jen and Matt Murdock with her family, having a fantastic time. Her parents are surprised to hear that even though he is a lawyer, he doesn’t make a lot of money working in Hell’s Kitchen, and then even bring up the idea of grandkids. Jen tries to save Matt from the conversation when Bruce suddenly shows up. He talks about being away on Sakaar, and then introduces his son, Skaar (Wil Deusner)!
In the final scene, it’s revealed Jen is cleared of her conviction, and she explains that if people come after her, she will go after them as a superhero and in court, ending the season. However, the end-credit scene reveals Wong (Benedict Wong) breaking Blonsky out of prison to go live in Kamar-Taj.
This last episode absolutely solidified ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ as a must watch for me among the Disney+ Marvel library. It’s honestly been a long time since a season finale has really pulled the whole show together for me, and the team behind Jen’s story really killed it.
The humor was well placed, the silly references to other properties, and even K.E.V.I.N and the reveal of Bruce Banner’s son were great little winks to the community behind this giant universe. And let’s not forget how Charlie Cox’s Daredevil was utilized as not just a guest, but a fantastic side character to Jennifer.
Honestly, it’s going to be tough for Marvel to top what they did with ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,’ but I cannot wait to see what they do with ‘Secret Invasion,’ which will obviously be much different.
There has been chatter about this in the recent past (mostly about how it was supposed to be announced at last month’s D23 event but never materialized), but the idea that Harrison Ford will take on the mantle of the MCU’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross has taken a big step closer to reality.
Reporters Jeff Sneider and John Rocha brought word on their Hot Mic Podcast that the iconic actor has indeed closed a deal to play Ross in at least a couple of upcoming MCU movies.
According to the pair’s sources – which tend to be solid – Ford will make his debut as the character in ‘Captain America: New World Order’ in May 2024 and have a bigger role to play in ‘Thunderbolts’, due in theaters July of that year.
Ross was introduced to the MCU in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ back in 2008. As originally played by William Hurt, he’s the stern, no-nonsense military man and father of Betty Ross (Liv Tyler in the movie). And he’s no fan of the idea that she’s in love with Bruce Banner (Edward Norton, in his solo appearance as the character).
The Hulk connection has faded in the years since, but Ross has popped up a few times, including in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, where he is now the U.S. Secretary of State, pushing the Sokovia Accords, designed to limit superhero behavior.
Hurt died in March of this year, and while there was thought that Marvel might simply retire the character (he’s not exactly a main player in the MCU), the decision has instead been made to cast Ford.
Marvel Studios’ ‘Captain America: New World Order.’
Of course, given the actor’s age, no-one expects him to be bounding around as a superhero, but since most of Ross’ scenes involved him gruffly demanding things of the Avengers, that’s certainly something Ford can handle.
And even if the studio does decide to go down the route of having Ross somehow transform into the powerful Red Hulk (as he has in the comics), well… that’s what stunt teams and visual effects are for.
The wait begins to see when (or even if) Marvel decides to officially announce this, though there’s every chance Ford’s version of Ross could pop up in a future end credits sting.
Meanwhile, he’ll more solidly be back on our screens for the fifth ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, headed to theaters on June 30th next year.
After last week’s explosive (both figuratively and literally!) episode finale, it’s time to go back to court in ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘ Episode 2: “Superhuman Law!”
We open on multiple news stations discussing Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) as she “Hulked Out” in court. Jen is outside of a bar with Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) as they chant “She-Hulk” from inside. “That name better not stick,” Jen says and talks about how she doesn’t want to be a derivative of her cousin.
This is all while she is still fighting against the idea of being a superhero. Saying that it’s only for narcissists and somehow, orphans! Jen is approached by the head of her law firm, and he explains that they didn’t win the last case due to her saving the jury (meanwhile she is drunk during this whole exchange). Jen doesn’t see that as a bad thing but then … she’s fired, with her boss claiming that she’s a liability. Cue the title screen!
The scene moves to her attempting to find a job, with the Hulk side of her destroying her ability to find employment. We see her looking at other incredibly random postings and being invited to a family dinner (with a wonderful phone wallpaper of Captain America’s behind).
She arrives home to her family, only to find out that they know that she got fired. turning an already awkward dinner more awkward. Her mother (Tess Malis Kincaid) is already trying to set her up, and her family fully believes she’s a superhero now.
Her dad (Mark Linn-Baker) pulls her aside and asks how she’s really doing. Jen explains that she’s “okay with not being okay” and how her Hulk got revealed to the whole world. Her dad brings up how she at least didn’t destroy a city like “someone else” in the family.
He tells her that she’s still standing, which is what’s most important. We see Jen at the bar, and she’s approached by the head of the opposing law firm in her case, named Holden Holliway (Steve Coulter). He offers her a job, citing her abilities to lead a new division. Jen accepts the offer but says she wants to hire her own paralegal.
The next day is her first day at her new job, and she finds out she is the head of the superhuman law division. But not her specifically, the She-Hulk, which she doesn’t take well at first. Holliway leads her through the office and explains they are the first law firm to handle superhuman law.
He asks her what she thinks about it, and Jen tells a fantastic lie. “I’ll spend the year worrying about what I just said,” she tells the audience. Nikki is there and points out the new office. Another member of the legal team, Augustus “Pug” Pugliese (Josh Segarra), pops in with a gift basket for the new employees.
Next, Jen is sitting with Holliway who explains her first case is with Abomination, one of her cousin’s biggest enemies. He explains if she doesn’t take it, then her new job is gone.
So, the case is forced upon her, and Jen goes to visit Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) in prison. They explain the heavy rules, and she’s let in to meet the man who tried to kill Bruce. She stands in front of the Abomination and he explains that he’s a changed man … spiritually. He’s Emil, and that’s it. Choosing not to turn to his own hulking form.
He brings up Bruce and does confirm he tried to kill him. “It’s nothing personal.” Emil explains the government was the reason he attacked Bruce and all of Harlem. Claiming that nothing was his fault. Jen gives him advise, and she begins to question if she really wants to help him.
After thinking, Jen calls Bruce (Mark Ruffalo) and tells him that she is being forced to represent the Abomination. Once again, Jen dumps on her cousin and doesn’t even allow Bruce to talk. He admits that Blonsky sent him a nice letter and that he himself is a changed man, or rather, Hulk.
Bruce asks what the public named her, and he tells her that it’s an amazing choice. He also tells her to be careful and we see Bruce is literally on the Sakaarian ship from the first episode, cruising through space. Jen tells Holliway she’ll take the case, and he tells her to turn on the TV.
She does, and we see footage of the Abomination from ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ in the ring fighting with Wong (Benedict Wong), clearly having escaped prison. “Oh, that sucks,” Jen says before the episode ends.
This new episode does way more to the Marvel Cinematic Universe then we can even think! A lot of it hidden in plain sight. First, the main one being bringing Abomination officially into the MCU. While he was revealed in ‘Shang-Chi,’ this is the first time that the MCU has made the events of ‘The Incredible Hulk’ verbally spoken about in detail.
While this can be confusing, as Mark Ruffalo did not play the Hulk in the 2008 film (that was Ed Norton!), but it just shows how much backstory that Marvel is reusing, in order to not have to waste time with more origin stories. Why waste a good story that was already written?
Another fun little Easter egg to come out of the episode was the website Jen was using to look up wacky jobs she could apply for. Hidden on the right of the website was a list of what seemed like clickbait articles.
One of these read “Man fights with metal claws in bar brawl.” Very obviously, the first thought related to that is Wolverine! Who else has metal claws and specifically would fight with them in a bar? This is one of the many recent references to the ‘X-Men’ in recent MCU properties.
While we’ve known for a while that Marvel Studios had reclaimed the film and TV rights to the ‘X-Men,’ these recent sightings in the MCU are really the first time we are seeing that come to fruition. So obviously we have to ask the fun question … who do you want to see playing this clawed bar fighter?
Episode 2 was filled with fun jokes and some interesting plot development for Jennifer Walters. Can’t wait to see you all next week and find out where episode 3 takes us!
Opening in theaters on July 29th and on-demand beginning August 5th is the new psychological thriller ‘Resurrection’ from writer and director Andrew Semans.
The movie stars Rebecca Hall (‘The Town,’ ‘Iron Man 3’) as Margaret, a single mother raising her teenage daughter, Abbie (Grace Kaufman). Trouble begins for Margaret when her abusive ex-boyfriend David (Tim Roth) mysteriously returns and begins stalking her after twenty-years, causing extreme stress in her life and threatening her relationship with Abbey.
Tim Roth is an acclaimed English actor and Academy Award nominee who has successfully been working in film and television for over forty-years.
He will soon be reprising his role again in the Disney+ Marvel series ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,’ which premieres on August 17th.
Moviefone recently spoke to actor Tim Roth about his work on ‘Resurrection,’ his unique role, the unusual plot, and acting opposite Rebecca Hall, as well his return to the MCU and his appearance in the upcoming series, ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.’
(L to R) Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth in IFC Films’ ‘Resurrection.’
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with both Tim Roth and Rebecca Hall for ‘Resurrection.’
Moviefone: To begin with, what were your initial thoughts when you first read the screenplay and discovered the wild journey your character goes on in this movie?
Tim Roth: Well, I didn’t know anything about it when it was sent to me. I knew nothing. I’m always on the hunt for new directors, always. I find that to be fascinating. I love to do that as an actor. For me, it’s very important. My agent called me up and said, “Look, there’s this new director. Take a look at this.” They didn’t tell me anything about it, which is a good thing. I prefer it that way. I read it and I was jaw dropped. It’s like, “What is this?”
But I was with my son, Cormac and we were going to Cannes. We’d stopped in Paris just to have a quick bit of food. I thought, “All right, let’s sit down and read this thing.” I read it and I was like, “Okay, I don’t know.” My son said, “What is it?” I said, “Well, I don’t know. I can’t explain it.” He said, “Give it to me.” So, I gave it to him and he read it and went, “Yeah, you’re doing it.” I was like, “Okay.” I picked up the phone, called him back and said, “That’s a yes.” Then went on to Cannes.
The thing is, I don’t know if you’d call it a horror movie or a psychological thriller or whatever term you hang on it, but I’d never really done anything like that. I’d never been in that world, but another one of my boys back in California read it and went, “Oh yeah. You’re doing it.” They love that world. They’re really interested in that world, how and what the camera does, and what the directors and the actors do. It was new on many fronts for me.
If they hadn’t had said, “You’re doing it,” I don’t know if I would’ve. I guess I’ll never know. Because I might have gone, “Okay. It won’t work.” It’s always good to jump into the water that you don’t know, I think as far as being an actor’s concerned, and they pushed me in.
MF: Can you talk about David’s relationship to Margaret, why he returns, and why it causes her so much trauma?
TR: I know Andrew and I got our motivations and facts correct before we started. Rebecca knows her side of the story too. We were very careful. So, we knew, because it’s a minefield and you want to be clear. But from my character’s perspective, he’s there to help. He’s there to help her. Obviously, this woman is having a difficult time and he is only there to help and try to calm her down, and she doesn’t understand. Then it shifts a gear and then he’s just there to bring her some fantastic news, so the idea is that I suppose he’s a gentle soul who is very charitable and garrulous and gentle.
Even on the page, it was clear that you could play him, and you could do the dark horror movie thing. But I wanted to scrap that, take that away and play him as a nice guy until you reach the end of that particular sentence and he turns, and then he turns again. Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, he turns again, and again, all the way through, that kind of thing. But then it’s over to the audience. What do they get from it? And hopefully everyone gets something a little different, which I always like.
MF: Through the course of the film, your character truly believes something that is absolutely impossible for the audience to believe. As an actor, how do you convey that conviction of your character through your performance?
TR: Well, the thing is that with that, and Rebecca had the same from her side of it, you have to go with that as real. That is a possibility, and it is real. If you play the reality, then the magic and the weirdness and the nightmare of it is for the audience to look at and observe and to unpick. From our perspective, it’s real, a hundred percent real and with all of the baggage that that brings. Once you make that decision as a group of actors and filmmakers, once that’s the fact, then you cater to that constantly.
(L to R) Tim Roth and Rebecca Hall in IFC Films’ ‘Resurrection.’
MF: You have some really intense scenes with Rebecca Hall, what was it like working with her on this project?
TR: The thing about her, first of all, she’s a top-class actor, proper actor. You got to be ready for that. There’s a couple of sides to it. One, what I really liked and what I got from my perspective, I was closer to her character than you will have been because there’s a screen between you guys. I was sitting inches from her, watching this go down. I never knew what she was going to bring.
We would rehearse, we would work the scenes, but up to a point, and then they knew where they were going to put the cameras and then let’s go. I never knew what she was going to bring. It was always fascinating, but I had to be ready for that. Sometimes it’s very difficult for actors to deal with.
But we changed around, just slightly, just subtly. Andrew would say, “Try one like this, try one like that.” It was homing in on what he wanted. It was fascinating. They were very difficult scenes at times, bizarre and difficult scenes and very twisted at times. But as is quite often the case, it was hard sometimes not to laugh. Sometimes it’s nervous laughter.
But also, you have to be careful not to step out of it because if you looked at it, you go, “Okay, what hell is that?” At the end of the take laughter was the first thing that happened because it’s just wild. Our job was to make it, in whatever sense we could, real. Just make it real, make those emotions real and see what the audience makes of that. She is utterly extraordinary. She was amazing.
MF: You mentioned that you are “always on the hunt for new directors,” what was your experience like working with Andrew Semans and what are you looking for from a director on set?
TR: Well, that changes. You’re looking to see how the actors are handled by the director, the director’s sensor of the overall image that he or she wants to put forward and get across to the audience. They’re all different. Actually, the best ones aren’t forced into a cookie cutter, they make their own cookie cutter and they play.
With Andrew, the first thing that we got to do was sit and talk about how we want him to be, and we came to a pretty rapid agreement that what was on the page wasn’t necessarily what we were going to turn the character into. It would be easy to play him one dimensional, very easy. It might have been fascinating to do that, but the choices that we made were, “Okay, what about if he’s just this lovely, gentle soul, who’s just trying or really caring, and how creepy is that?”
What was he like? Incredibly engaging, very gentle, very funny. At the end of the day, we would meet to get ready for the next day. We would sit in this little cafe at the hotel and we would go, “Okay, what are the scenes for tomorrow?” Because that’s the only time that you have. It didn’t feel like working with a new filmmaker at all. Obviously, you’re limited by the budget and all of that stuff. This is what you got. He’s on his way, that guy. He’s one of those. He really feels it.
MF: Finally, as an actor, what has it been like for you to return to the MCU and reprise your role from ‘The Incredible Hulk’ in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ and the upcoming Disney+ series ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law?’
TR: Originally, I did it for my kids. I just thought it’d be hilarious to be a monster for the kids when they were at school, and they would roll their eyes, but they kind of dug it. When it came back, I was like, “Okay. Yeah,” the idea is intriguing to see if you can revisit that kind of thing.
But that being said, it’s changed since ‘Iron Man.’ ‘Iron Man’ was the game changer. We were before that, but they really figured something out. It was (Robert) Downey, it was his relationship with his director (Jon Favreau) and their sense of humor that came through. That was the absolutely key.
So, the whole thing changed. I was coming back to a world that had really changed. So, in a way, it was very Marvel. I was a little concerned about it. When we were first shooting, I was a little bit worried. “What do I do? Do I make it real to me somehow?” I didn’t know. A couple of days in, Mark Ruffalo rolled up to do some shooting with my character, and with the brilliant Tatiana (Maslany). Gosh, she’s amazing. He rolled up, I was watching the two of them do their thing and I went, “Oh, that’s where we’re at.” It just opened it up. Then I had such fun making it.
But it’s an odd thing. She had been filming for a while, and he had obviously done it for years. There’s a way about them that you have to find the language, find your way in and not be afraid of it, and play with it and have fun with it. It’s a hard thing to do initially but when you’ve got good teachers like Mark Ruffalo, you’re all right.
