Marvel just made a couple of surprising changes. So, why did they do it, and what does it all mean? We’ll discuss in MarvelBlog News.
The Wolverine Casting Mystery
Photo: Polygon
Okay, we’ve got two big stories this week, and they both involve the Avengers. Let’s start with the sillier one.
During an appearance on The View, the panel understandably asked Hugh Jackman whether he would appear in Avengers: Doomsday.
As a reminder, at one point, Disney was courting Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy to this project as well as its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars.
After at least some negotiations, Levy backed out…and for good reason. He’s currently working on a Star Wars movie that stars Ryan Gosling.
Cosmic Book News
That title sounds like a billion-dollar winner for Disney, who owns the Star Wars and Marvel franchises.
And despite what comic books have led you to believe, Levy cannot be in two places at once. He simply lacked the bandwidth to take on three major projects like that.
Elite Readers
Still, the negotiations with Levy underscore Marvel’s vision for Avengers: Doomsday. The studio wants to drive the project via star power.
Since Levy just functioned as the third wheel in the Hugh Jackman/Ryan Reynolds bromance, he seemed like the ideal choice to helm the next Avengers film.
Source: @VancityReynolds
His presence also suggests that Marvel fully intended Jackman and Reynolds to appear in the film.
Alas, when Marvel did the whole “ten hours of chairs” teaser for Avengers: Doomsday, Jackman’s name wasn’t shown.
Source: Fox/ Marvel
That’s amusing since pretty much every other X-Men actor of old got a chair. Since Marvel is getting the band back together, the expectation is that Jackman will co-star as well.
Winter is Coming
Source: @VancityReynolds
Since nobody has said anything, the hosts of The View asked him, and this was his passive-aggressive reply:
“I really can’t say much, except when you say ‘appear,’ more like dominate and destroy every other character—I’m kidding.
I really have nothing to add, and if I did, I would find a really cool way to not say it, but I actually have nothing to add.”
So, that’s either a weird yes, or he’s no longer appearing and is salty about it. But let’s be real. It’s a yes. Expect later confirmation.
Source: Fox/ Marvel
For the time being, the confirmation we DO have involves the release dates of the next two films.
Yes, I realize that we thought we already had those, but something just changed. On Thursday, Disney announced the shuffling of several of its upcoming films.
In a slight surprise, two of them were Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
These are no longer May releases. Instead, they’ll anchor Disney’s December box office lineup in 2026 and 2027.
Why Marvel Changed Release Dates
Source: Marvel Studios
From Disney’s perspective, this announcement is full of win. Including Avatar: Fire and Ash, which debuts this December, that’s three different potential $2 billion theatrical releases.
The benefit of releasing films in December is twofold. First, the holiday box office campaign is unquestionably the most lucrative time of the year.
Everybody in North America enjoys plenty of vacation days, some of which they’ll happily spend at the movie theater. That’s been true even during the pandemic.
As proof, remember that Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $1.92 billion and debuted on December 17th, 2021.
Source: Marvel Studios/ Sony Pictures
Disney and Marvel hope to model that performance with two other films that may or may not co-star Tom Holland, as we discussed last week.
Anyway, the point is that December films perform exceptionally well throughout the holiday season and spill over into January, too.
Source: Marvel
That’s another benefit for Disney, whose fiscal quarter typically ends right at the start of the year.
The Avatar and Avengers movies will continue to perform well in January, boosting Disney Entertainment’s revenue for another quarter.
Photo: BBC
On a spreadsheet, a December blockbuster boosts a full six months of the fiscal year. The December portion covers one quarter while the January portion enhances the other.
So, part of this decision involves accounting, but there’s more to it. Disney needs these films to succeed…and I don’t mean like Thunderbolts*.
Photo: Marvel
That movie just reinvigorated the MCU. It’s not making enough money, though. Disney will spend about half a billion dollars on the next two Avengers movies.
They need to perform well enough to justify the expense. So, Disney just stacked the deck here with the scheduling.
Image: Marvel Studios
Just as importantly, the special effects team gains another seven months per title to perfect the look of the films.
Marvel Miscellany
Photo: Marvel
While Avengers matters more than everything else combined in the MCU right now, other things are still happening.
For example, Marvel just filed the paperwork for the writers’ room for Vision Quest.
Photo: Mavel
The studio is running another one of those mini-rooms where contributors get listed as producers.
We also had one of the weirdest announcement locations in recent memory. Some Disney execs were appearing at a trade show.
Source: Marvel
During their speech, they blithely named the villains in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Apparently, the troublemakers are Boomerang, Scorpion, and Tombstone.
Weirdly, the people who made the comments are probably folks who would know. Still, the setting doesn’t inspire much trust in the accuracy of these villains. We’ll find out.
Vision #1. Photo: Marvel Comics
Finally, there’s a tantalizing rumor about Vision Quest. Please keep in mind that this one isn’t the least bit confirmed.
However, some folks believe that Jocasta will appear in the series. Not to be confused with Virginia, Vision’s “wife” in the 2015 comics, Jocasta is another synthezoid.
Photo: Marvel Studios
For reasons passing understanding, she has the same brain waves as The Wasp, just as Vision’s brain waves come from Wonder Man aka Simon Williams.
The presence of another synthezoid in the MCU is a tantalizing thought. So, I really want this rumor to prove true.
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