So, I'm pretty sure Santa is working with (or for) Disney. This past Thursday, Disney announced A TON of news regarding their Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney/Pixar properties. What are they? We'll get into that a little later. First, some of the other stories that made the headlines this week. Let's geek out!
The Doctor Is Back
To start things off, this 100% looks like that a live-action Spider-verse film is coming from Marvel and Sony. Announced this past Tuesday, Alfred Molina, who portrayed one of Spider-Man's greatest rogues, Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 back in 2004, is going to put on his tentacles once again for the next Spider-Man film with Tom Holland. This news comes out a few months after we learned Jamie Foxx is set to reprise his role as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and it is rumored that both Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield are in talks to reprise their roles as their respective wall-crawlers for this 2021 film. Personally, not a fan of a possible live-action spider-verse film. Why bother? We have that animated movie and it did wonders. To me, it feels Marvel is just piggybacking on what Sony has already done and not being creative. For Marvel, that's not good and should be held to a higher standard.
The New Bats Are In Town
This part of the Geek Freak is a two-parter. Arriving on CW in January, here's the first look of Javicia Leslie as Batwoman.
Along with a new Batwoman coming to the Tv screen, DC Comics is bringing in a new Dark Knight. This is part of the next big DC storyline called "Future State" and will be available in January 2021. The identity of this new Batman is Tim Fox, son of Lucius Fox and brother to Luke Fox aka Batwing.
So, who is Tim Fox? He's no stranger to the Batman mythology. He first appeared back in 1979 but reappeared recently after the conclusion of The Joker War. At the end of that storyline, Lucius inherited the entire Wayne fortune, including Wayne Enterprises, Wayne Manor, and of course, full access to the Batcave and gear for the Gotham War on Crime.
With the arrival of Tim into Batman continuity, and how we see a live-action version of his brother, Luke, in the Batwoman series on the CW, it should be no surprise if we see Tim arriving or putting on the mantle of the Bat in a future season. If I were to guess, it seems that DC is utilizing its new characters from Future Slate for upcoming TV adaptations. A few weeks ago it was announced that the CW is developing a Wonder Girl series based around newcomer Yara Flor. Considering DC and Warner Brothers are hesitant on using their heritage heroes this gives the networks, writers, and comics a little bit more room to use these characters in new and exciting ways.
Disney Rolls Out The Content
Ok, the next section is all about Star Wars & Marvel. This will be a long one.
On Thursday, December 10th Disney held one of their "Investors Day", which, I guess, translates into "let's show off all these teasers and plans we have going forward and created sizzles for them" It started with Star Wars...
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron. With a theatrical release date set for 2023, this movie, directed by Patty Jenkins, is going to show us the tales of some of the New Republic's best and most popular fighter squadron of X-Wings.
- Star Wars The Bad Batch. A Disney+ series to be released in 2021. This will be a spin-off from Star Wars: Clone Wars.
- Star Wars Visions. Inspired by Japanese animation. This series will debut in 2021 on Disney+ as 10 short animated films
- Star Wars: Andor. Remember Cassian Andor from Rogue One? He's getting a prequel series. Expect it to fly in 2022 on Disney+.
- Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hello there! Not only will we see the return of Ewan McGregor as the Clone Wars General and Jedi Legend, but this series will bring back Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.
- Star Wars Rangers of the New Republic. A spin-off series from The Mandalorian that will focus around Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and a few other New Republic recruits to bring order and peace to the galaxy after the Empire falls and the New Republic rises.
- Star Wars: Ahsoka. The second spin-off from The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson's live-action version of Ahsoka is set to arrive in Disney+ in the near future.
- Star Wars: Acolyte. Get ready to go back in time as Disney+ brings us to a never before seen era of the Star Wars universe...the High Republic days.
Marvel Time
Movie announcements and updates
- Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania will be the title of the third installment.
- Black Panther II will not recast Chadwick Boseman. The movie will explore the world of Wakanda. Expect this to arrive in the summer of 2022.
- Fantastic Four movie is coming! Marvel's first family will be getting the big-screen treatment and directed by Jon Watts.
- Thor: Love and Thunder will now be released May 6, 2022. Christian Bale will play the villain as Gorr the God Butcher.
- Captain Marvel 2 will fly into theaters on Veterans Day, November 11, 2022
- Black Widow will NOT be going to Disney+. Expect Natasha to kick ass again in theaters on May 7, 2021.
Update on Marvel's upcoming shows and some new ones!
- Armor Wars. Don Cheadle is suiting up as War Machine once again (or Iron Patriot, who knows) for a Disney+ series based on the popular Marvel comic story arc of the same name from 1987-1988.
- Ironheart. A Disney+ series that will introduce Riri Williams (Dominique Throne) and have her pick up the tech suit making skills where Tony Stark left off.
- Secret Invasion. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) returns with Skrull Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) from Captain Marvel in a Disney+ series as they prepare for the Skrull and Kree conflict.
- She-Hulk. Yes, Tatiana Maslany will be the MCU's She-Hulk series on Disney+. Mark Ruffalo will reprise his role as Professor Hulk along with Tim Roth returning as Abomination.
- Loki has released a sizzle to get us excited. Watch that here
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will start streaming on March 19th on Disney+. That trailer can be seen here
Did you get all that with the Marvel and Star Wars news? I have it all broken down in the latest Geek Freak of the Week Podcast! Take a listen on iHeart Radio or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Until next week.
I'm Maz and that's the Geek Freak of the Week!