Rebecca Furguson rumoured for Captain Marvel

The Phase 1 Avengers lineup (Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner) was added to in Phase 2 (Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd). We know that Phase 3’s additions include Chadwick Boseman, Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch but Marvel’s new major female hero Captain Marvel has been elusive to cast.

Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Katee Sackhoff (Oculus), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Emily Blunt (Looper) had previously been mentioned or rumoured but now Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and The White Queen’s Golden Globe nominated actress Rebecca Ferguson is reportedly in line for the role.

Sadly, Ava DuVernay (Selma) ruled out directing so there currently isn’t a serious candidate for directing. However, some rumours have included Angelina Jolie (Unbroken), Adam McKay (Anchorman) and Joss Whedon (Serenity).

Captain Marvel – October 26th 2018

Ant-Man review

Director: Peyton Reed

Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Tip Harris, David Dastmalchian, Martin Donovan, John Slattery, Hayley Atwell

The production of Ant-Man is the most troubled in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s history: the departure of fan favourite director Edgar Wright seemed to leave an irreplaceable hole in the superhero production. His replacement – rom-com filmmaker Peyton Reed who’s credits include the mediocre Bring It On, The Break-Up and Yes Man – didn’t inspire a great amount of confidence but the flick might have been able to overcome its rough road to the big screen.

Low level thief Scott Lang (Rudd) is released from prison and attempts to fund his estranged daughter (Ryder Fortson) by breaking into the house of an old inventor/businessman Hank Pym (Douglas) and stumbles across a suit that can shrink its user to the size of an ant. Pym then recruits and trains him to pull off a heist to prevent Pym’s former pupil and successor of his company from using that technology for evil.

Despite concerns, Peyton Reed has managed to pull off an accomplished superhero adventure even though he was only drafted into the project just over a year ago. The studio’s trick of banking on a risky candidate for the director’s chair (Joss Whedon in Avengers, Anthony and Joe Russo in The Winter Soldier, James Gunn in Guardians of the Galaxy) often pay off more frequently than films from seasoned filmmakers (Joe Johnston in The First Avenger, Kenneth Branagh in Thor).

While sequels such as Avengers: Age of Ultron seek to take the action to new heights in scale and stakes, Ant-Man cleverly brings the action to a smaller stage to make some of the more preposterous events more relatable. However because of that it often feels more like a charming sidenote to the films that are actually developing and expanding the MCU. The film still impresses off of its conservative $130 million budget (less than half the cost of this year’s Age of Ultron) but the special effects, while far from second rate, are also far from the groundbreaking likes of the similarly budgeted Rise of the Planet of the Apes or Life of Pi.

The film’s ensemble of performances are decent but never prove to be as engaging as the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson or Chris Pratt. Anchorman star Paul Rudd’s portrayal of Scott Lang is likable the first act, bringing Rudd’s trademark flair and charisma but also being far more down to Earth than either his previous work or various other heroes in the MCU. Sadly, later on in the film, he struggles from the same problem of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man: once Lang is in the suit he’s hard to appreciate as a character and sinks to just being a vehicle for the action, a problem that Downey Jr’s Iron Man easily overcame with the in-suit camera to capture Stark’s typically arrogant persona in the midst of an epic fight sequence.

Two time Oscar winner Michael Douglas’ aging inventor Hank Pym who becomes Scott’s mentor exists as this film’s venerable-actor slot (previously occupied by Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford or Samuel L Jackson). His performance is distinctly standard as the world weary original Ant-Man, a 1970s SHIELD project that turned sour after a fatal final mission. Pym’s infamous temper and checkered past are alluded to but never actually deepen the character or effect the plot.

Similarly, Lost alumni Evangeline Lilly’s role as Pym’s hard edged daughter Hope is one of the better aspects of the cast but is frustratingly written out of the finale and never significantly contributes to the action. A post credit scene teases the future of the character of Wasp but the filmmakers disappointingly missed out on not providing a platform for the fan favourite sooner.

House of Cards star Corey Stoll manages to prove why Marvel’s villains are some of the weakest around. Crooked businessman Daniel Cross is sadly one of the more generic, cookie-cutter stock villains in the MCU so far; his motivations are never explained until they’re no longer relevant to the plot and he becomes an attempted child murderer and terrorist, besides the unconvincing implication of his disappointment in Hank in a mentor. Too many elements of his story tread on the toes of Obadiah Stane (a wealthy sucessor of a protagonist’s business who turns his power and technology to terrorism) and Loki (a spoiled protegee who turns on his disappointment of a father figure). Despite the success of James Spader’s Ultron earlier this year, Marvel’s issue with bad guys appears to be ongoing.

The main gem among the ensemble is Michael Pena’s performance as Lang’s hyperactive, fast talking and eternally optimistic partner in crime, Luis. The role is one of the best original characters in the series so far and Pena’s electric double act with Rudd is one of the few pairing’s in the film with a tangible dynamic. Sadly, the other members of Lang’s crew don’t match up: two outdated racial stereotypes played by David Dastmalchian and rapper T.I.

The film struggles to find use of the talents of Judy Greer (Archer) and Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine) as Scott’s estranged ex-wife Maggie and her new husband/cop Paxton but there was a surprisingly likeable performance from newcomer Abby Ryder Fortson as Scott’s young daughter Cassie. Overall, too many members of the ensemble are stand-ins (only present to advance the plot or fill time) with no real emotional connection to the story or the audience.

However, Ant-Man thrives in other moments: the shrinking sequences (while hardly groundbreaking) are entertaining and well executed and thankfully Marvel’s formula of the finale setting up the heroes to defend a city from an aerial threat is finally retired with one of the studio’s most funny thrilling and refreshing endings in years. Additionally, Lang’s close encounter with an Avenger is a hilarious highlight. Aside from the action, the humorous elements suffice (“Baskin Robbins always finds out.”) but never reach the erudite heights of Joss Whedon’s zingers in Avengers or James Gunn’s iconic dialogue in Guardians of the Galaxy.

While it’s unquestionably enjoyable, exciting and action packed, years from now Ant-Man will most likely go down as one of the more lightweight and less revolutionary flicks in the Marvel cannon. Far from disappointing, Peyton Reed has done a fine job considering his short amount of time at the helm of the film but (with the exclusion of Edgar Wright) many fans will leave wondering what could have been.

7/10

“Scott, I need you to be the Ant-Man.”

“One question…is it too late to change the name?”

Disney’s D23 announcements – The Force Awakens, Toy Story 4, Doctor Strange, Finding Dory and more!

If you felt that Comic-Con didn’t lift the lid on Disney’s upcoming works enough than D23 is for you. The expo of all things Disney enlightened us on all of their properties from Star Wars to Pixar to Marvel and all of the studio’s very own animated and live action features. Sadly there’s been no word on the likes of in the works projects such as Wreck-It Ralph 2, Frozen 2 or proposed remakes of Dumbo and Pinocchio. Firstly…

Pixar!

After critical and commercial triumph of Inside Out, the studio is rolling out its slate of six upcoming movies. The Good Dinosaur will tell the story of an alternate reality where humans are the Earth’s secondary species and dinosaurs still rule. It comes from director Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy) and stars Anna Paquin (X-Men), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading). November 25th 2015

Thirteen years after Finding Nemo, Finding Dory will pick up with the characters of the previous instalment when Dory finds herself in a marine study institute. Newly announced cast members include Hayden Rolence (Whom I Fear), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) and Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) and Angus MacLane (Toy Story of Terror) direct the cast of Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), Albert Brooks (Drive), Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Dominic West (The Wire), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man). June 17th 2016

Toy Story 4 is also on the way and a teaser poster graced and it was revealed that it will focus on a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. John Lasseter (Toy Story 1-2) and Josh Cooley (George and AJ) direct while we expect Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Joan Cusack (Say Anything) and Tim Allen (Galaxy Quest) to star. June 16th 2017

Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) has long been developing a film centred on the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead. It has finally been given a release date and a title, Coco. No casting announcements have yet been made. November 22nd 2017

Another sequel on the way is Cars 3. No plot details were offered but we do know that John Lasseter (Cars 1-2) will write and we’d expect Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) and Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector) to reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater respectively. June 15th 2018

The sequel Pixar fans have actually asking for will finally come out, 15 years after they asked for it. Assuming that the studio don’t want two sequels in the same year, The Incredibles 2 will head for a 2019 release. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) will direct while we’d expect Craig T Nelson (Poltergeist), Holly Hunter (The Piano) and Samuel L Jackson (Avengers Assemble) to star.

Next up…

Disney Animation!

Disney’s latest animation Zootopia will portray a metropolis populated by mammals. Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) were already set to star but the latest addition is pop star/actress Shakira. The directors are Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (behind the creative team of Big Hero 6). March 4th 2016

Next, the team behind Aladdin, Hercules and The Princess and the Frog arrived to unveil more from their latest work, Moana. Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) will star in the story of a plucky young woman who is assisted by a demi-god to reach a fabled island. November 23rd 2016

The newest announcement was Gigantic. Tangled‘s Nathan Greno will collaborate with Frozen’s songwriters, Robert and Kristen Lopez to bring the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to Spain in the age of exploration. March 9th 2018

Following that was…

Disney live action (aka Worlds, Galaxies and Universes)

True life disaster thriller The Finest Hours will depict the struggle for survival of a group of sailors in 1952. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs with a cast including Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella) and Eric Bana (Munich). January 29th 2016

The latest adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book was promoted by director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) as well as Oscar winning stars Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and newcomer Neel Sethi. The classic story of an orphan raised by the animals of the jungle also stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers Assemble), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters), Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter). April 15th 2016

Alice Through the Looking Glass will build upon the established world built in the Lewis Carroll books and the Tim Burton’s 2010 billion dollar hit. James Bobin (The Muppets) directs a cast featuring Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Alan Rickman (Die Hard), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Andrew Scott (Pride), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Lindsay Duncan (About Time), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner). May 27th 2016

Next up was the family fantasy adventure Pete’s Dragon, about a young boy who seeks refuge from his family with a dragon. David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) directs while the film stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Wes Bentley (Interstellar), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). August 12th 2016

Two films delivered no material as such but were teased or mentioned. Firstly, Queen of Katwe – a drama about a girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and David Oyelowo (Selma) will star with director Mira Nair (The Namesake). 2016

Also, Disney’s new iteration of Beauty and the Beast was present. The reboot (telling the story of a relationship between a monstrous prince and a young woman) is directed by Bill Condon (Mr Holmes) and stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Josh Gad (Frozen), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wonda), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks) and Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings). March 17th 2017

Finally, there was news from the fifth instalment of a legendary franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. This one will see Captain Jack in search of the trident of Poseidon. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) was announced to be returning as Will Turner for the first time since 2007. The duo of Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) direct an ensemble including Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Brendon Thwaites (Maleficent), David Wenham (300), Stephen Graham (This is England) and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men). July 17th 2017

Marvel

We won’t include Marvel’s full extensive line up but two of their instalments next year. Because of the studio’s infamous secrecy, none of the material shown has made it to the public. Captain America: Civil War showed off its trailer to the D23 audience. Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier) direct with a cast including Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Tom Holland (The Impossible), William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). April 29th 2016

Doctor Strange is another of Marvel’s latest. Scott Derickson (Sinister) directs the supernatural thriller of which the recent concept art many likened to Inception. Marvel head Kevin Feige (Iron Man trilogy) could neither confirm or deny the rumours of Rachel McAdams joining the film but we do know that Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). November 4th 2016

Star Wars

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was heralded by this stunning poster from Drew Struzan – the legendary poster designer who craft iconic works for Back to the Future and Blade Runner. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) directs a cast including Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Frances Ha) and Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island). December 18th 2015

The first spin-off has had a full title announcement, cast reveals and first still. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has added to its ranks Alan Tudyk (Serenity), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Wen Jiang (Devils on the Doorstep) and Mads Mikkelson (Casino Royale). Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will direct with the cast of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly), Diego Luna (Elysium), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). December 16th 2017

There wasn’t any news on Star Wars: Episode VIII – directed by Looper’s Rian Johnson and coming out May 26th 2017 – or the Han Solo spin off – directed by 21 Jump Street’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and coming out May 25th 2018.

It was revealed that the third and final instalment of the new sequel trilogy (Star Wars: Episode IX) will be directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) but the returning cast members are yet to be announced!

Tom Holland is the new Spider-Man

Tobey Maguire had an impressive five year run playing Spider-Man from 2002 to 2007 in three films directed by Sam Raimi. Following him was Andrew Garfield who starred in two films of two years from 2012 to 2014 under the supervision of Marc Webb. The latest pairing of director and star to be bringing Spidey to the screen have just been revealed.

Nineteen year old Brit Tom Holland will take on the role of Peter Parker in the new reboot for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there’s various pros and cons for the casting. While Garfield was at least a decade over the preferred age for the role, Holland fits the bill for a teen Peter and he impresses in The Impossible and TV’s Wolf Hall. However, considering the other candidates (Asa Butterfield, Nat Wolff, Timothee Chalamet, Liam James) there wasn’t one black actor in the mix. Holland makes his debut as Spider-Man in next year’s Captain America: Civil War.

The director whose been appointed is Jon Watts, who is behind the upcoming thriller Cop Car. He may not seem like the candidate most suited to the job but Marvel made unexpected talents out of newbies such as The Winter Soldier’s Anthony and Joe Russo and underrated filmmakers such as Avengers’ Joss Whedon (Serenity) and Guardians’ James Gunn (Slither) while directing veterans The First Avenger’s Joe Johnston (The Wolfman), The Incredible Hulk’s Louis Leterrier (Red Dragon) or Thor’s Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet).

For the supporting cast, we’d propose rumours about Matthew MacConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) as Green Goblin or Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as Mary Jane Watson – replacing the abandoned Shailene Woodley casting. Or perhaps Vincent D’Onofrio (Jurassic World) will step up from Netflix’s Daredevil to play Kingpin on the big screen.

Civil War also stars Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), William Hurt (Humans) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit).

Captain America: Civil War – April 29th 2016

Spider-Man – July 28th 2017

The Avengers: Age of Ultron review

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, James Spader, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Andy Serkis, Stellan Skarsgard, Claudia Kim, Thomas Kretschmann, Linda Cardellini, Anthony Mackie, Julie Delpy

It’s fair to say that Joss Whedon’s 2012 superhero smash hit Avengers Assemble has reached phenomenon status. With $1.5 billion hauled in at the international box office, the film paved the way for a massive cult following as well as consecutive hits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s second phase including The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Whedon is now reassembling the team for a sequel that has anticipation and dread at fever pitch.

The Avengers – arms dealer Tony Stark (Downey Jr), war veteran Steve Rogers (Evans), ex-spy Natasha Romanoff (Johansson), split-personality scientist Bruce Banner (Ruffalo), expert archer Clint Barton (Renner) and alien prince Thor (Hemsworth) – return to combating Earth’s biggest threats their days may be numbered. When Stark and Banner harness the power of the Infinity Stone from Loki’s sceptre, they use as the basis of an advanced AI to shield Earth from extra-terrestrial threats. However, the machine they create, Ultron (Spader), sees evil in humanity and views them as the threat in need of extinction.

The highest compliment one can give Age of Ultron is that Whedon revives the character-driven, quotable dialogue that makes spies, robots, monsters and gods as human and grounded as possible. Each and every ingenious gag and one liner fleshes out the Avengers from mere heroes to a band of characters as iconic, engaging and lovable as his previous creations such as Buffy and her vampire slaying troop or the crew of the Serenity.

His directorial flair also comes to light in some fantastically constructed action sequences with the excellent special effects we’ve come to expect from Marvel, even if they don’t quite reach the epic or thoroughly detailed levels of Godzilla or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Sadly the finale resorts to the series’ cliche of the heroes defending a city from an aerial threat but at least this applies the twist of the city itself being the threat. Overall the ridiculousness of the action only serves as an uncanny reflection of the comic’s brash, adventurous tone.

Reinforcing the incredible character dynamic is a brilliantly acted ensemble that may be the films curse as well. We get to witness Stark’s decaying assurance as his own brainchild becomes his downfall in a series best performance from Sherlock Holmes star Robert Downey Jr. Snowpiercer’s Chris Evans and Lucy’s Scarlett Johansson excellently revive their likeable charisma to roles that could easily be annoying as Captain America and Black Widow respectively. There’s nothing wrong with Rush’s Chris Hemsworth performance but the character of Thor struggles with a lack of purpose without his brother Loki driving the plot.

The standouts really are Shutter Island’s Mark Ruffalo (who harnesses the power of donning motion capture to make his Hulk the best and most emotional depicted on screen) and The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner. The latter finally brings in the wise-cracking class that Hawkeye missed out on last time and re-establishes him as the everyman who rallies the team in their time of need.

There’s of coarse some new blood to shake up the lineup. The Blacklist star James Spader brings menace, malice and unnerving showmanship to Ultron, a villain distinguishing himself by being taken far more seriously. Ultron resembles and manifests every Avengers’ fear of an opponent who is more of a frightening concept of their hopelessness rather than a straight forward villain. His recruits are twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (AKA Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver). Accents aside, Wanda is an engaging, powerful character to watch tanks to the agency of Elizabeth Olsen’s first rate performance but Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Quicksilver is far less fun or interesting than the Evan Peters incarnation seen in last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the filmmakers know this.

The roster doesn’t end there. Paul Bettany expands his long running role as Stark’s digital personal assistant JARVIS into Vision, a synthetic android whose deeds will have fans raving for months to come. The likes of Samuel L Jackson, Don Cheadle, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie and Stellan Skarsgard all reprise their roles from various MCU films while Andy Serkis, Thomas Kretschmann, Linda Cardellini and Claudia Kim join the fun plus there’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em cameos from Julie Delpy, Idris Elba and more. With fifteen plus principal characters, there’s a clear flaw in messy overcrowding.

There’s a possibility that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting too big for its shoes with overpopulation and the increasing pressure to go even bigger than last time. And so its fitting that (alongside bonkers comic book spectacle) Age of Ultron thrives in its smaller moments, It’s a hilarious, extravagant, worthy sequel to a film whose cult status is only boosted by the follow up.

8/10

“The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims! But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no…wounded screams…mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and… gout.”

Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Frank Grillo in new Captain America 3 shots

Back in 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier, HYDRA’s double agent Brock Rumlow was crushed and severely burned but still alive and he’s returning for the sequel, Civil War. Frank Grillo (Warrior, The Grey) is back in his menacing armour with these on-set photos we can also see new looks at Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, The Iceman) as Captain America/Steve Rogers and Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau, Real Steel) as Falcon, Sam Wilson.

Civil War also stars Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes) as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson (Lucy) as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as Hawkeye, Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla) as Scarlet Witch, Don Cheadle (Boogie Nights) as War Machine, Daniel Bruhl (Rush) as Baron Zemo, Emily Van Camp (Revenge) as Agent 13, Sebastian Stan (Black Swan) as Winter Soldier, Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up) as Black Panther, Paul Rudd (Anchorman) as Ant-Man, William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence) as General Ross and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit).

Captain America; Civil War – April 29th 2016

New Avengers return for Civil War: Vision, Agent 13, Ant-Man and more to star

Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

In the end of Age of Ultron, Captain America and Black Widow have assembled a team we’ll be referring to as the New Avengers (Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Falcon) while the Original Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye) have gone their separate ways but various cast members from across the Marvel Cinematic universe are uniting. Here’s the lineup of Civil War:

Name: Captain America/Steve Rogers
Star: Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, The Iceman)
Appearances: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Avengers Assemble (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Iron Man/Tony Stark
Star: Robert Downey Jr (Chaplin, Sherlock Holmes)
Appearances: Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers Assemble (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff
Star: Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Lucy)
Appearances: Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers Assemble (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Hawkeye/Clint Barton
Star: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, American Hustle)
Appearances: Thor (2011), Avengers Assemble (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Falcon/Sam Wilson
Star: Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau, The Hurt Locker)
Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff
Star: Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla)
Appearances: The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Vision/JARVIS
Star: Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World)
Appearances: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers Assemble (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: War Machine/James Rhodes
Star: Don Cheadle (Crash, Boogie Nights)
Appearances: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Name: Agent 13/Sharon Carter
Star: Emily Van Camp (Revenge, The Girl in the Book)
Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Name: Ant-Man/Scott Lang
Star: Paul Rudd (Anchorman, Knocked Up)
Appearances: Ant-Man (2015)

Name: Black Panther/T’Challa
Star: Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up, 42)
Appearances: Black Panther (2018)

Name: Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes
Star: Sebastian Stan (Black Swan, Ricki and the Flash)
Appearances: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Name: Crossbones/Brock Rumlow
Star: Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy, The Grey)
Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Name: Thaddeus Ross
Star: William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence, A History of Violence)
Appearances: The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Name: Baron Zemo
Star: Daniel Bruhl (Rush, The Bourne Ultimatum)
Appearances: 0

Name: ???
Star: Martin Freeman (Fargo, The Hobbit trilogy)
Appearances: 0

Captain America: Civil War – April 29th 2016

First still from Scorsese’s Silence, Martin Freeman joins Civil War and Indiana Jones 5 confirmed

Martin Scorsese is a director renowned for his acclaimed crime epics The Departed, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street as well as works like Raging Bull, Hugo and The Aviator. His latest work is a missionary drama titled Silence and we’ve just got our hands on the first image from it. Silence stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, The Amazing Spider-Man), Adam Driver (The Force Awakens, Girls), Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Road to Perdition) and Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, Schindler’s List).

Following an iconic debut in Steven Spielberg’s (Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln, Jurassic Park) 1981 adventure Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones completed a near perfect trilogy with the well liked prequel Temple of Doom and classic sequel The Last Crusade (featuring an ingenious turn from Sean Connery as Indy’s dad). Spielberg revived the series in 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but it spoilt the series’ clean streak despite classy additions like Cate Blanchett and John Hurt.

There’s been plenty of chatter about a fifth film and producer Kathleen Kennedy (Poltergeist, Back to the Future, The Sixth Sense, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has spoken out about the possibility. “”An Indiana Jones film will one day be made inside this company,” said Kennedy. “When it will happen, I’m not quite sure. We haven’t started working on a script yet, but we are talking about it.” Harrison Ford (Blade Runner) and Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy).

Martin Freeman (Fargo, The World’s End) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Imitation Game) are have turned out to be an inseparable on screen force following playing Watson and Holmes on the hit show Sherlock as well as Baggins and Smaug in fantasy epic trilogy The Hobbit. After Cumberbatch joined the MCU as Doctor Strange, Freeman is following suit by joining the ensemble of Captain America: Civil War. His role is still undisclosed but we’d love to see him play Norman Osborn (former Green Goblin-turned key politician in the Marvel universe).

Civil War stars Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Jeremy Renner (The Town), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Chadwick Boseman (42), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan) and Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes).

Silence – 2016

Captain America: Civil War – April 29th 2016

Indiana Jones 5 – 2018?

New images from Force Awakens, concept art for Civil War and Suicide Squad unveiled

Marvel (makers of The Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy), DC (makers of The Dark Knight, Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice) and Star Wars (makers of Empire Strikes Back, The Force Awakens and Rogue One) are all competing for press attention today with a load of material released from all three.

The latest issue of Vanity Fair has debuted with a plethora of reveals for the seventh Star Wars film: The Force Awakens. The shots show off returning characters Harrison Ford (Blade Runner, Raiders of the Lost Ark) as Han Solo and Peter Mayhew and Chewbacca but more interestingly we get to see Adam Driver (Girls, This is Where I Leave You) as Kylo Ren – the broadsword wielding villain we got to see in the trailers who is now unmasked. He’s accompanied by the new style of snowtrooper. The snow backdrop may be Hoth but we’ve been wrong footed before when what we thought was Tatooine was in fact Jakku.

Additionally we get to have closer looks at Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones’ Brienne of Tarth) as conflicted antagonist Captain Phasma, Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina) as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and Oscar winner Lupita Nygon’o (12 Years a Slave) is revealed to be providing motion capture for the alien pirate Maz Kanata. There’s also on set footage of awesome practical effects aliens and fan hero JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8) directing newcomer Daisy Ridley as speeder-biker Rey.

The Force Awakens will also star Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Max Von Sydow (Minority Report).

DC are set to shift their focus towards their villains with the instalment Suicide Squad. Director David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) has tweeted the latest look at the team. From left to right there’s: Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) as Slipknot, Jai Courtney (Divergent) as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevigne (Anna Karenina) as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Will Smith (Men in Black) as Deadshot, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) as Killer Croc and Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino) as El Diablo. The cast also includes Jared Leto (Panic Room) and Viola Davis (The Help).

Finally, we have some leaked concept art for the superhero sequel Captain America: Civil War and shows the titular hero battling it out with Iron Man. The Winter Soldier directors Anthony and Joe Russo return to helm the cast of Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Robert Downey Jr (The Judge), Scarlett Johansson (Her), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy) and Daniel Bruhl (Rush).

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – December 18th

Captain America: Civil War – April 29th 2016

Suicide Squad – August 5th 2016

Michael Fassbender in new shots from Macbeth and new Avengers: Infinity War details

The upcoming retelling of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is already gathering the potential to be a prime Oscar candidate. The latest set of stills have been released and show what’s expected of the Scottish period drama. Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) directs the cast of Michael Fassbender (Prometheus, X-Men, Frank, 12 Years a Slave), Marion Cotillard (Inception, Rust and Bone, Two Days One Night, The Dark Knight Rises), Paddy Considine (The World’s End, Dead Man’s Shoes, Pride, The Bourne Ultimatum), Sean Harris (Harry Brown, ’71), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, The Man From UNCLE), Jack Reynor (What Richard Did, Delivery Man) and David Thewlis (Harry Potter, Kingdom of Heaven, War Horse, The Theory of Everything).

The second instalment of the Avengers film franchise, Age of Ultron, debuted recently and plans for the third are already underway. Infinity War will release in two parts of 2018 and 2019 and the details of the filming has emerged. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (who replace Joss Whedon after impressing with The Winter Soldier, the films will shoot back to back over a course of nine months starting in late 2016.

We have no idea which characters will actually survive Phase 3 but we can expect the cast list to include Robert Downey Jr (Chaplin) as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island) as Hulk, Scarlett Johansson (Her) as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth (Rush) as Thor, Jeremy Renner (The Town) as Hawkeye, Chris Evans (Snowpiercer) as Captain America, Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla) as Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) as Vision, Don Cheadle (Crash) as War Machine, Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) as Falcon, Karen Gillan (Oculus) as Nebula, Paul Rudd (Anchorman) as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly (Lost) as Wasp, Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up) as Black Panther, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Doctor Strange, Tom Hiddleston (Crimson Peak) as Loki and Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) as Thanos.

Macbeth – 2015

The Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 – April 27th 2018

The Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2 – April 29th 2019