MarvelBlog News for June 6th, 2022
This week, Disney+ enters the Multiverse of Madness sooner than expected, Suicide Squad and She-Hulk add cast, Marvel casts a wide net, and Jessica Jones switches to 4K; We have plenty of stories to discuss in the latest MarvelBlog News.
Indecision May or May Not Be Their Problem
Source: Marvel Studios
(SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen the film) In the wake of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, MarveBlog News may have an inclining of who is playing Reed Richards in the MCU.
Amusingly, the dude who campaigned for the job during the pandemic walked away with the role of a lifetime. You know that Reed Richards leads Marvel’s First Family, and Kevin Feige knows this project must go smoothly.
After all, we’ve already watched two different versions of Fantastic Four flame out due to lackluster/bad quality. The 2015 version of Fantastic Four is legitimately one of the worst box office disasters of the 21st century.
Source: Fox
While seven years have passed, people still remember Fox’s humiliation when that film debuted. It was a perfect storm of bad reviews and poor sales.
Fox spent at least $155 million on the production – although they’ve since tried to downplay that – for a project that opened to $25 million and finished with $56 million domestically.
Comic book fans care about the Fantastic Four, and movie-goers should as well. Sadly, the quality of this project and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer deserve mockery instead. So, Feige has spent the past few weeks interviewing potential candidates to direct the project.
Source: Marvel Studios
Without sharing any spoilers, two names that jumped to the front are Bryce Dallas Howard, a Disney favorite from The Mandalorian, and John Krasinski.
Both are actors who have recently proven their chops as directors, with Krasinski creating a new franchise, A Quiet Place. However, new reports suggest that neither candidate has earned the gig yet.
Who Could It Be Now?
Source: Marvel
Instead, MarvelBlog News reports that Feige has seemingly cast a wide net for this project.
In fact, Marvel is trying to land a whale, although I don’t quite know what that means. They just had the reigning champion for Best Director at The Oscars helm Eternals.
Krasinski has emerged as a box office icon, and Howard has already established herself as approaching the level of her dad, one of the best directors alive today. Somehow, Feige is aiming higher, and the explanation makes some sense. At the moment, Marvel’s leader feels stretched quite thin.
Source: Marvel
Feige loved having Sam Raimi as the director for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. A proven director like Raimi doesn’t need any oversight. He can do everything on his own, which Feige quite appreciated.
Apparently, he wants someone similar for Fantastic Four. Bryce Dallas Howard may not quite fit the bill since she hasn’t helmed a project this big yet. Feige wants someone bigger, and the three names in play are – get ready to gasp – Brad Bird, Denis Villeneuve, and Joseph Kosinski.
Source: Marvel/ Disney
You may not know Kosinski’s name, but his current film in the release is Top Gun: Maverick, which is…doing pretty well. I don’t see how Villeneuve could have time for this with his upcoming work on the Dune sequel.
So, that brings us to Brad Bird, who directed the sublime Mission Impossible 3. And he’s known for an animated franchise called The Incredibles. Remember how people described The Incredibles? Yes, it’s an animated version of Fantastic Four.
I dunno if Bird wants to create a live-action project so similar to those films, but he’s the perfect candidate on paper.
Speaking of the Multiverse
Source: Marvel Studios
MarvelBlog News hasnt done a Multiverse of Madness update lately for fear of spoilers. Even now, I’m avoiding them like the plague. However, I would like to bring you up to speed on some other things happening with the film.
For starters, the movie has earned $378 million domestically. In the process, it has passed The Batman’s $369.3 million to become the number one hit of the year. Unexpectedly, Doctor Strange 2 won’t hold that title for long.
The aforementioned Top Gun: Maverick claims a scalding box office pace. It could feasibly pass Multiverse of Madness by next week. Worldwide, the Doctor Strange sequel has grossed $880 million. I’m no longer certain it will pass $1 billion, but as I said previously, it’ll get close enough.
Source: Marvel Studios
Disney lacked confidence about such overall global strength after what happened with Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Fists. Multiverse of Madness puts Disney right back on track with its continued plans for global box office domination.
In other news, Disney+ has confirmed the movie’s debut as June 22nd. Yes, that’s only 16 days from now! Here’s the Tweet:
Take a trip back into the Multiverse 🌀 Marvel Studios’ #DoctorStrange in the Multiverse of Madness streams June 22 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/PyoLBmikK5
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) June 2, 2022
Disney+ has learned from its mistake with Eternals, which took too long to go to the streaming service. By the time it debuted, it had lost all its heat.
Disney desires to sustain Multiverse of Madness’ momentum by putting it on the service pretty much the first day possible.
By the way, Disney also announced Disney+ Day on September 8th. You should mark that date on your calendar as the next huge Marvel update.
Mark. Your. Calendars. ➕🥳🗓#DisneyPlusDay is returning on September 8 leading into D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event! pic.twitter.com/E4dlWPRx5J
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) May 31, 2022
Marvel Miscellany
Okay, MarvelBlog News has a handful of other items to cover, one of which excites me more than the rest.
I’m a huge fan of The Flight Attendant on HBO Max. While I’m a Kaley Cuoco fan, it’s some of the supporting players who have stolen my heart.
One of them is actor Griffin Matthews, who plays a fellow flight attendant harboring a secret in season one. He actually stole the season two finale with his performance.
Source: Phil Caruso/WarnerMedia
Well, Matthews apparently snuck in some work on She-Hulk when he wasn’t filming The Flight Attendant. So, you will be seeing a lot more of him in August! The other casting news isn’t much of a surprise. Director James Gunn previously cast rising actress Daniela Melchior in The Suicide Squad.
As usually happens when a director likes a performer, Melchior finds herself working in an unidentified role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as well. Speaking of which, the cast also recreated their roles on the recently opened Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT. Here’s a ride video:
In other MarvelBlog (or Disney+) news, fans lamented their initial viewings of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and the rest. The various series had aired in 4k on Netflix, but Disney didn’t broadcast their way at first. Well, I’m happy to report that Disney has fixed the issue.
You can now watch the characters from The Defenders in 4k on Disney+!
Source: Marvel Studios
Finally, Lea Sedoux has broken our hearts. The actress revealed that she had previously accepted a role in the since-canceled Gambit movie. Sedoux would have portrayed Belladona Boudreaux. Dear Disney/Marvel: this remains a good idea that needs to happen!
That’s it for this installment of MarvelBlog News; have a fantastic week everyone!
Source: Marvel Studios
