marvel

Oh, Marvel people. The actors, the directors, the screenwriters, the producers. You just can’t get anything out of them these days, can you? Marvel Studios fiercely guards its secrets, and information about upcoming movies or TV shows only gets out when it’s supposed to, which is why asking these people any kinds of questions is often an exercise in futility. But, for those of us willing to read between the lines, sometimes you can get more information out of what someone won’t say, than what they will.

X-Men isn’t the only superhero franchise with some major updates today — there’s also some interesting new info from Sony and Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Homecoming star Tom Holland has revealed the details of his contract with both studios, while Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has offered official confirmation of Michael Keaton’s villainous role in the new Spidey film.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has already made some major strides in bringing diversity to the big screen. With Black Panther on the way and Spider-Man: Homecoming casting an actress of color in the (rumored) role of Mary Jane, we’re looking at a much less white future for superhero movies. But the latest Spider-Man movie will also look much different from the previous iterations takes to one small details: realistic high schools.

For decades, Marvel has benefited greatly from having Stan Lee as the unofficial ambassador of all things comic book-related. Over the past few years, though, director James Gunn has given Lee a run for his money with his (relative) candor about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the challenge of keeping the characters and mythology of the comic books all in a row. When Lee is finally ready to hang up his Marvel hat, Gunn might be the obvious chose to succeed him as the creative face of the company. And that makes the two of them working together on Lee’s MCU cameos just about the perfect match.

Late yesterday, Taika Waititi treated Marvel fans to a surprisingly lengthy video from the set of Thor: Ragnarok, which offered our first look at Tessa Thomspon’s Valkyrie makeup (or some of it) and showed off a few of the characters and props we’ll see in the new sequel (among other things). You might have missed a followup to that video over on Instagram, where Chris Hemsworth shared a photo to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe — and revealed his sleek new Thor costume.

Nothing gums up the works during a high-profile film shoot quite like looky-loos poking around the set. When a big-name production gets up and going, the goal is to attract as little outside attention as possible, leading many crews to adopt “working titles” that conceal the true nature of the project. Most famously, George Lucas shot Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi under the codename “Blue Harvest” in an effort to give his legions of fans the slip. Christopher Nolan, perhaps in an effort to evade Batman geeks and summon Gilmore Girls geeks in one fell swoop, worked on The Dark Knight using the title “Rory’s First Kiss.” More recently, one of the production designers for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters informed me during an interview that the remake shot as “Flapjack” while on set in Massachusetts.

It’s almost impossible for filmmakers and executives to discuss sequel ideas without name-dropping Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (the same goes for discussing reboots / origin stories without citing Batman Begins). Such is the case with director Scott Derrickson, who was recently asked about his ideas for a potential sequel to Doctor Strange. Unsurprisingly, he referenced The Dark Knight — though not entirely without merit.

The recent release of Luke Cage may have crystallized how out of touch Marvel’s Defenders series feel with the current MCU film slate, a problem not likely to get better with Doctor Strange splitting New York into multiple dimensions. Timing makes it difficult to write any of the four Netflix stars into the films, but with Infinity War on the horizon, new comments from Kevin Feige again dash our hopes.

Well that was quick! Not long after debuting the first official teaser poster, James Gunn has revealed the first honest-to-goodness teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — and if you were digging that poster, you’re going to love this teaser, which features the delightfully familiar sound of “ooga chaka, ooga chaka, ooga ooga chaka.” Everyone sing along!

Doctor Strange could come out of nowhere and wow us all, but barring that, it’s been a lackluster year for superheroes at the movies. And as if responding to our culturewide cry for help (or at least a little fun from time to time), James Gunn and the crowd-pleasing Guardians of the Galaxy franchise have returned to get audiences psyched up for the impending sequel, cheekily titled Vol. 2, as if the second installment in cassette-obsessed Star-Lord’s mixtape series. The first theatrical poster is here at last, obviously:

On my Marvel Unlimited app, I’ve been slowly working my way through the very first Doctor Strange comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, which originally appeared in the pages of the appropriately named series Strange Tales. At the time, of his introduction Dr. Strange was a backup feature in the book, which was primarily devoted to the solo tales of Fantastic Four member the Human Torch. The stories of these early Strange adventures are pretty hit or miss (one involves a haunted house which is not haunted but is actually - SPOILER ALERT - a house from another dimension. ) but the artwork, even in the earliest issues, is just fantastic. Ditko (who also co-created Spider-Man with Lee) had this amazing conception of alternate dimension and realities that was just incredible.

Marvel’s Netflix Iron Fist may only have finished shooting this morning, but Finn Jones’ final Defender was more than ready for New York Comic-Con. See for yourself, as Marvel’s living weapon glows in a new trailer, and find out details of four new clips shown in the panel!

We’ll be seeing a great deal of Marvel’s Netflix Iron Fist over the weekend at New York Comic-Con, but even the first photos lacked for a bit of that classic look. No more, as a new Netflix comic cover from New York Comic-Con reveals Finn Jones in (almost) all his Iron Fist glory, tattoo, chi and all.

We’re still not entirely clear on how The Punisher managed to start filming without any real casting announcements, or where Marvel’s gun-toting antihero might fit in The Defenders, but a bit of crossover is to be expected. Just as Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle emerged from Daredevil, the spinoff series returns the favor in a new set photo appearance.

If your Luke Cage binge has ended, there’s only one thing left to do. Okay, eleven things, if you feel compelled to watch ten more times, but we’re talking about the easter egg hunt. There’s plenty overt ones a bit of Iron Fist foreshadowing, but did you know a newspaper clipping puts Back to the Future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Every good superhero needs a super-villain. Or two. Or if you’re making a Spider-Man sequel, like six. Marvel is slowly putting together its cast for Black Panther’s solo film, directed by Creed’s Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman as the Wakandan hero. They’ve already lined up Michael B. Jordan to play Erik Killmonger, who you know is a bad guy because his name is Erik Killmonger. And Lupita Nyong’o is playing Nakia, also known as the baddie Malice, who you know is a baddie because her name was Malice. But that’s not enough!

Here’s another mind-boggling tidbit from the fascinating Captain America: Civil War Blu-ray commentary. Every shot of Black Panther in Civil War is CGI. Not just the obvious ones, like where Panther’s chasing the Winter Soldier on foot or he’s in a hand-to-claw fight with Captain America. Every. Single. Shot.

We’ve got one of the biggest movies of the summer (or any summer!), with superheroes doing battle with each other instead of the bad guys, the sequel to one of the most popular comedies of the last decade, and Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes in a steamy film about love and betrayal amongst a rock star and her friends.

Just last week, Joe and Anthony Russo shared a behind-the-scenes photo of Josh Brolin rehearsing for Avengers: Infinity War, giving us our first look (sort of) at Thanos’ return. But Jon Watts isn’t about to let the Russos get away with stealing the superhero spotlight — in response, the director of Spider-Man: Homecoming has offered up a new set video that shows off Tom Holland’s breakdancing skills, complete with mo-cap Spidey action.

Are you sitting down? You might want to be seated when you read this. You should also be warned of potential spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so if you’re the sort of Marvel fan who likes to go in knowing as little as possible (how do you live without the internet??), you might not want to read on. But if you’re curious to learn more about Baby Groot, James Gunn has revealed something very interesting, and a little sad?