MarvelBlog News for October 30th, 2026

This past week, we learned more about Zodiac’s story.

Also, we’ve got a few hot casting rumors, but before then, we should talk about Dune 3.

Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this one in MarvelBlog News.

IMAX Has a Few Regrets

Remember the pandemic? Yeah, nobody likes to talk about it, but it happened.

Well, during the pandemic, everyone found out who their friends were.

In the case of IMAX and other theater owners, let’s just say that Christopher Nolan is a made man.

While other studios, including Disney, pivoted hard to streaming, Nolan stood his ground.

He insisted on a theatrical release for Tenet even as his studio, Warner Bros., preferred streaming.

Nolan similarly remained steadfast about theatrical viewings with the debut of Oppenheimer.

Long before all that, the director had filmed a purely IMAX opening for The Dark Knight.

So, he’s been with IMAX and theatrical releases for a long time, as has a friend of his.

Dennis Villeneuve followed Nolan’s lead in staying true to the theatrical experience.

As his reward, Dune and Dune Part II were given plum IMAX screens for their releases.

Then, something unexpected occurred. Villeneuve scheduled Dune Part III for December 18^th, 2026.

Do you know what else comes out on that day? It’s a little film called Avengers: Doomsday.

The MCU has buttered IMAX’s bread for many years now, but that doesn’t matter.

During the pandemic, directors like Nolan and Villeneuve supported IMAX and movie theaters.

As a reward for that loyalty, IMAX has made a tactical error and potentially a devastating one.

Never Play Favorites

You may have heard that Dune Part III has scored all the IMAX screens.

Marvel got left out in the cold, even though Avengers: Doomsday will be the bigger release.

IMAX punished Marvel for Disney’s decision to release films on streaming in 2020-2022.

Meanwhile, the director of the Dune franchise was paid back for sticking with theatrical during its darkest days.

Infuriated by this action, Disney struck back in a surprisingly forceful manner.

Disney basically started its own competitor to IMAX…but it’s not what you think.

The company introduced Infinity Vision as a new kind of theatrical release.

Well, that’s what Disney says. In reality, it’s simply a conglomeration of hundreds of existing movie theaters.

IMAX has threatened all of their business models since it’s the industry’s gold standard.

Customers willingly pay more for IMAX because they believe it’s worth the money.

Disney has assailed that notion by collating roughly 1,000 very good theaters as an entity.

The company primarily took this step to boost the box office of Avengers: Doomsday.

Since IMAX tickets cost more, Doomsday will earn less. It’s not any of that IMAX money.

So, Disney’s plan was born from a place of desperation. Doomsday needs to be a hit.

For the box office to sound good, Disney must sell tickets at a higher price.

Without IMAX, that would be impossible, at least historically. Disney’s challenging that notion.

Doomsday’s Wrecking Dune

When Disney announced Infinity Vision, nobody took it seriously.

Then, the re-release of Avengers: Endgame shattered box office records.

It’s the most successful re-release ever, and a lot of that revenue came from Infinity Vision theaters.

Now, Wall Street has noticed Disney’s success with this initiative. The stock’s increased since then.

Meanwhile, IMAX’s stock has fallen $6 or 12 percent since that date.

So, that was already telling behavior, but now we have an additional update.

According to some theater owners in the know, Doomsday’s crushing Dune.

Some people had pegged this date as Dunesday, a play on the Barbenheimer phenomenon.

For that to happen, Dune Part III needs to pick up some steam.

Reports indicate that Doomsday is outselling Dune by at least a factor of three.

Some insiders believe the gap is even larger, which makes IMAX’s position even more tenuous.

We’re still six weeks from the release of both movies, but this is a fascinating twist.

Disney has thrown something together to protect Doomsday, yet it’s legitimately threatening IMAX.

Marvel Miscellany

We’ve got a couple of casting rumors to report, one of which sounds like a done deal.

Connor Storrie will reportedly join Ryan Gosling in Ghost Rider.

If you don’t know who Storrie is, well, I’ve got bad news. You’re old.

He’s one of the main characters in Heated Rivalry, the biggest new show of the past year.

This seems to be the new Marvel playbook. As soon as somebody gets hot, they join the MCU.

Then, the question becomes whether Marvel ever does anything with them again.

If you don’t believe me, ask Brett Goldstein, Kit Harrington, and Tatiana Maslany.

On a seemingly unrelated note, some sources suggest that Peter Claffey will play Beast in X-Men.

He’s currently Dunk the Tall, a breakout character from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

So, yeah. Marvel has a type. If you want to be in the MCU, just get famous for something else!

On the Zodiac front, Marvel provided a teaser for the story of this television series.

According to Deadline, “The story will follow a pair of spies who are chasing targets who have special abilities.”

Marvel reportedly wants this series in production by mid-2027.

I reiterate that the success or failure of VisionQuest’s ratings will determine whether that happens.

Finally, the world has lost a titan with the death of Patrick Stewart. This tragedy occurred after I’d finished this week’s article.

So, I will discuss it more next time, but let’s just call him what he was: Legend!

 

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