Disney Is Open to Making Fox-style R-rated Superhero Films

The senses-shattering news that Disney, home to Marvel Studios, has acquired 20th Century Fox‘s library was met with elation by many comic book fans, but the blockbuster deal also struck fear into the hearts of some, who worried that the family-friendly brand would neuter Deadpool’s famously NSFW aesthetic and turn the foul-mouthed and bloody murderer into someone acceptable at a small child’s tea party.

While not a promise, it sounds like Disney is at least willing to consider releasing R-rated superhero movies like Deadpool and Logan in the future — as long as they are segregated from the PG-13 heroes and the kiddie stuff.

It’s Official: Disney Buys 20th Century Fox Properties

The Walt Disney Company has announced that it is acquiring 21st Century Fox‘s film and television studios, cable entertainment networks and international TV businesses for $52.4 billion dollars.

But forget all that financial babble — all comic book fans want to know is: When will the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool be reunited with the House of Ideas? Well, it’s certainly going to happen, as Disney’s release stipulates:

“The agreement also provides Disney with the opportunity to reunite the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool with the Marvel family under one roof and create richer, more complex worlds of inter-related characters and stories that audiences have shown they love.”

Japanese ‘Black Panther’ Trailer Boasts New Footage

 

The just-released international trailer for Black Panther contains a significant amount of new footage and dialogue not seen in either version of the first domestic trailer, shedding more light on the characters and hinting at the film’s storyline.

We also get a slightly clearer look at Andy Serkis‘ villain — Ulysses Klaue a.k.a. the supervillain Klaw — using the sonic device on his left arm. (We saw his arm get chopped off in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.) There are also some nice shots of Michael B. Jordan as the film’s Big Bad, Erik Killmonger.

Does this new international trailer make you more excited to see Black Panther when it opens Feb. 16, 2018, in the USA and on March 1 in Japan?

‘Black Panther’ Trailer Showcases Futuristic Wakanda

A double-dose of fantastic trailers for the forthcoming Black Panther movie was released today, setting the scene — quite literally, in Wakanda — for the latest solo movie starring one of the Avengers.

Both trailers highlight what an amazingly advanced society the hidden African nation Wakanda is — light-years ahead of Western society. Yet Wakanda is shrouded in mystery and mostly the stuff of rumors, which is exactly how the Wakandan people and their king. T’Challa, like it.

‘Guardians 2’ Video Features The Hoff – Nuff Said!

Since the Guardians of the Galaxy is the most cosmic film franchise of them all, we cannot expect director James Gunn to make a pedestrian announcement about the Blu-ray release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – it has to bend reality!

And this does. Gunn has brought in no less a cosmic entity than David Hasselhoff to break the news of Guardians on home video with an original song, “Guardians Inferno.” Grab hold of something and roll video:

New ‘Spider-Man’ Posters: The Good News and the Bad News

Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Sony/Marvel Studios co-production that aims to rehabilitate the film franchise saw the release of two new posters today — and the results are decidedly mixed. Like the two-headed monster that this dual-studio movie is, the promotional material appears schizophrenic. One poster looks like it’s promoting a new Iron Man flick, while the other looks much more like a Spider-Man movie.

Let’s look at the posters designed for release in the USA first. This poster is a jumbled mess: a bunch of no-Spider-Man characters dominate — most notably, Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark and Iron Man. Now, I don’t blame Marvel for wanting to make sure audiences know that one of their most popular characters is in this movie, but is he the star? RDJ’s matinee-idol mug is clearly the largest, while his alter ego, Iron Man, is depicted rocketing toward the viewer, no doubt to save the day!

But what about Peter Parker/Spider-Man? The movie’s star, relative newcomer Tom Holland, is there, but as a fresh face, is he immediately identifiable? Who are all those other people? And, to top it off, Spidey himself is depicted turning around, as if in shock. Maybe he’s thinking, “How did all those people get behind me?” Way to go, Spidey-Sense!

Poor hard-luck Webhead — he doesn’t even get to be the star of his own poster!

Look! A ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Synopsis at Last!

Disney has finally released a synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok that at least hints at how the movie will tie together the dangling plot threads from Thor: The Dark World, the “Planet Hulk” comic book story and the “Twilight of the Gods” tale from Norse mythology — not to mention a guest appearance by Doctor Strange, the villainous plotting of Hela, queen of the underworld, and, of course, Loki.

Fans have known for some time that these story elements would be involved on the third Thor solo (or “solo”) movie, but not how. Check this out to see if it helps:

In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok — the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization — at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger — the Incredible Hulk!

Introducing “Doctor Strange” Characters via Posters

Doctor Strange, the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, opens in just over one month, and these character posters are intended to get folks familiar with the main characters — and the topsy-turvy mystical world they inhabit.

Magic has not yet been seen in a Marvel movie, but Doctor Strange will introduce the concept in a big way. Ant-Man showed vans that other realities, such as the microverse, are possible, so viewers shouldn’t be too shocked that magic can exist in the largely science-fiction-based MCU.

The reality-bending images include Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine “Night Nurse” Palmer, Benedict Wong  as Wong, Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius and Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One.

Directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister), Doctor Strange also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt and Scott Adkins. Jon Spaihts (Prometheus), Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill wrote the screenplay.

Doctor Strange will appear in theaters Nov. 4.

Get Psyched for ‘Captain America: Civil War’ With New Photos!

We’re less than a week away from opening day for Captain America: Civil War, and if you need any more help getting excited for this blockbuster, just take a peek at these photos Marvel Studios and Disney have unleashed upon an already-rabid fandom.

Team Iron Man

Team Captain America

Scarlet Witch

Black Widow

Black Panther

Iron Man

Vision

Hawkeye

Spider-Man

Winter Soldier

Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch

James “Rhodey” Rhodes

Wanda Maximoff

Steve Rogers

Sharon Carter

Falcon

War Machine and Iron Man

Iron Man

Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch

Agent 13 and Everett Ross

Captain America

Tony Stark

Captain America and Iron Man

Tony Stark

Black Widow

Scarlet Witch

Vision wearing a sweater.

Spider-Man

War Machine

Winter Soldier

Captain America

Winter Soldier

Captain America

Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter

Captain America

Wanda Maximoff

Wanda Maximoff

Sharon Carter

Iron Man

Agent 13, Black Widow, Captain America

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

Behold Baron Mordo in All His Costumed Glory!

Filming Marvel’s Doctor Strange continues in Nepal and, thanks to The Kathmandu Post and the ubiquitous spies of Twitter, the first sightings of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo have surfaced.

Chiwetel joined the previously-spotted Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange) in Patan Durbar Square, to film scenes together. One photographer said it appeared that Mordo was Strange’s “guide” in the scenes.

Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film stars Cumberbatch, Ejiofor and Rachael McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Doctor Strange opens Nov. 4, 2016.