Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige promises fans that the X-Men’s hotly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe debut will happen soon. He responded to a question about the X-Men’s MCU arrival in an interview with Deadline: “That’s what Jennifer Walters just asked the robot in the final episode of She-Hulk and I’ll give you the same answer he gave, which is — I don’t remember, no answer is what I think he gave. But Deadpool and Wolverine [are both in upcoming MCU instalment Deadpool 3, you know. We’re getting close.”
Fans have been clamoring for the X-Men to join the MCU since Marvel Studios’ parent company Disney gained control of the film and TV rights to the franchise via its 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Feige announced that same year that an X-Men reboot set within MCU continuity was officially in development, however, the movie is still yet to materialize. This delay has further fuelled the hype surrounding the X-Men’s MCU debut, something which (as Feige himself noted) She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s finale recently poked fun at. That show’s X-Men gag represented the first instance of the team being referred to by name in the MCU itself.
That said, Feige isn’t wrong when he points out a recent uptick in X-Men-related characters and concepts in MCU movies and TV shows. As the Marvel Studios boss noted, both Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine belong to the X-franchise and are set to appear in Deadpool 3, the first entry in that series set in the MCU.
Jackman recently revealed that his return as the X-Men’s resident berserker was part of Reynolds’ original Deadpool 3 pitch, an element Feige evidently approved of.
Wolverine and Deadpool aren’t the only connections between the X-Men and the wider MCU, either. Notably, X-franchise veteran Patrick Stewart portrayed an alternate universe version of Professor Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Disney+ series Ms. Marvel officially introduced the concept of mutants to the shared universe’s canon. There are also reports that Emilia Clarke will portray Abigail Brand in Secret Invasion, the commanding officer of S.W.O.R.D. who first appeared in the Astonishing X-Men comic book series.
Director Antoine Fuqua is teasing ‘Michael’, the Michael Jackson biopic he is set to work on and says he’s “blown” away by the “uncanny” resemblance between the lead star and his real-life uncle, the King of Pop.
Jaafar Jackson, who is the son of Michael’s brother Jermaine Jackson, will play the iconic singer in the Lionsgate biopic.
“It’s uncanny how much he’s like Michael,” Fuqua told EW in a recent interview. “Sounds like him, dances like him, sings. It’s really uncanny. Graham King, who is a fantastic producer, found him, and introduced him to me, and I was blown away.”
Although the film is on hold due to the writers and actors strike, Fuqua said the biopic will retell Michael’s story “as we know it” and would tackle some of the controversies the singer was involved in during his lifetime.
“Just to tell the facts as we know it, about the artist, about the man, about the human being. You know, the good, bad, and the ugly,” Fuqua added.
‘Michael’ will be directed by Fuqua with a script from John Logan. Graham King is set as a producer, who was behind the Freddy Mercury Queen story of Bohemian Rhapsody. GK Films will produce alongside the co-executors of Jackson’s estate, John Branca and John McClain.
One thing longtime fans of DC have come to count on is that while the company spent the last ten years floundering around in a pool of confusion, their animated films rarely, if ever, miss. Justice League Warworld continues to lend credence to this argument, though not in a particularly new, unique, or memorable way.
Here’s the premise: The big three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) are scattered across time by some phenomenon they do not understand. They have no memories of who they are or how they got there, but they know they have to consistently ‘keep moving’.
Wonder Woman visits a wild western town in which a distinct DC anti-hero rules with an iron fist. Batman is stuck in a prehistoric world, complete with dinosaurs and warlords and warrior women. And then, the big three reunite at the end for what starts as a ‘mystery-in-a-diner’ noir-esque story that sort of explains what’s been happening but does nothing with that revelation.
The big three reunite at the end for what starts as a ‘mystery-in-a-diner’ noir-esque story that sort of explains what’s been happening but does nothing with that revelation.
But there’s a lot to root for in this film: the voice cast is splendid, with Jensen Ackles playing Batman, Darren Criss as Superman, Stana Katic as Wonder Woman, Troy Baker as Jonah Hex, and so on. Somehow Ackles has avoided the Conroy comparisons (probably because he started voicing Batman before Conroy passed) so far, and in a good way.
The art style stays within the confines of the Tomorrowverse comfortably, and the animation looks great and fluid. The action sequences leave quite a bit to be desired, though, with Batman going through the motions and forgetting what makes him such a much-revered hand-to-hand fighter. The heroes also act out of character a number of times, Batman leaving someone who just freed him to die, and Superman being quite thick-headed and missing several obvious clues.
The heroes also act out of character a number of times, Batman leaving someone who just freed him to die, and Superman being quite thick-headed and missing several obvious clues.
Still, the biggest letdown is the fact that the movie ends, but there’s no resolution. It rather spends the climax setting up a sequel, which may be the just-announced Crisis on Infinite Earths. The movie skimps on the emotional satisfaction that comes with a perfectly-landed climax and instead jerks the audience away on the ‘something-bigger-approaches’ segue. It feels as though the ending was changed just before it left the cutting room. Still, ‘Justice League: Warworld’ is worth a watch.
While hyping his snazzy new sci-fi thriller, ‘They Cloned Tyrone’ (Netflix), John Boyega also dropped some choice nuggets of info, including details of a day during the production of one of the Star Wars films, when he and co-star Harrison Ford ditched security to sample Nigerian cuisine, taking a drive along one of South London’s most famous roads.
Describing a tense day of shoots aboard the Millennium Falcon and strict dieting, Harrison popped by and asked: “Hey, kid. I want to eat something that’s gonna be a little different. If you can take me to a restaurant, that would be great.” The duo left Pinewood Studios, where they were filming ‘The Force Awakens’ and headed to Old Kent Road’s West African-themed restaurant, ‘805’ after Ford shook off his security.
The Indiana Jones legend topped off the Nigerian experience by falling asleep after the meal on the car ride back.
Boyega describes Ford as going beyond the often-introductory jollof rice, and going on to polish off plates of “Amala, Ewedu, pounded yam and Egusi,” described as the food of his forefathers. The Indiana Jones legend topped off the Nigerian experience by falling asleep after the meal on the car ride back. (Editor’s note: It’s probably the pounded yam)
Boyega ended his story by posing a question to the retired Indiana Jones actor: “When’s the Nollywood debut?”
