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!

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

Daniel Bruhl joins Civil War and Doctor Strange as villain

Ron Howard’s racing drama Rush became one of 2013’s most acclaimed films and is still IMDB’s 154th greatest film of all time. Although completely snubbed come the Oscars, it rejuvenated Howard’s career and gave Chris Hemsworth a major dramatic role away from Thor. Most importantly it put Spanish-born, German actor Daniel Bruhl (The Bourne Ultimatum, Inglourious) properly on the map. He’s now set to rejoin Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Captain America: Civil War is a major Marvel crossover event starring Chris Evans (Snowpiercer) as Captain America and Robert Downey of Jr (Sherlock Holmes) as Iron Man. As well as being the culmination of the disastrous events of next year’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron it’ll be setting up ties with the future of the Marvel universe. Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up) debuts as Black Panther, who receives a solo film in 2017, while The Winter Soldier’s Anthony and Joe Russo return to direct.

Bruhl will slot in as a villain who will then go on to oppose Benedict Cumberbatch’s (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Imitation Game, Sherlock) Doctor Strange, soon to be directed by Scott Derickson. The role is still unspecified but rumours range from Baron Modo to The Punisher but it’s hard to judge the casting if we’re unsure of who it is. Punisher, AKA Frank Castle, makes sense for Civil War (especially with the fan theory that Punisher’s truck is aiding Cap and Fury at two points during Winter Soldier) but doesn’t quite match Strange.

I’d expect Civil War to also star Cap’ trilogy regulars Samuel L Jackson (Jurassic Park) as Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau) as Falcon, Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) as Maria Hill, Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy) as Crossbones, Emily Van Camp (Revenge) as Agent 13 and Sebastian Stan (Political Animals) as The Winter Soldier. More Avenger-associated characters, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson – Lost in Translation), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen – Godzilla) or Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson – Kick-Ass), may sit out.

Captain America: Civil War – April 29th 2016

Doctor Strange – November 6th 2016

Winter Soldier to return in Captain America 3 and Charlie Hunnam and Elizabeth Olsen in line for King Arthur

Since being introduced in 2011’s mediocre The First Avenger, Captain America hasn’t exactly been the best respected of Marvel’s heroes however Joss Whedon’s handling of the character out of time in 2012’s The Avengers formed a new fanbase. Following this year’s The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers is now fully pledged action star and Captain America 3 is one of Marvel’s most hyped upcoming projects. Be warned that there are great spoilers for Captain America 2 ahead.

Anthony Russo, directing partner of brother Joe Russo, has now confirmed that Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan – Once Upon a Time) will return for the third instalment, to no great surprise. Bucky was of coarse Cap’s wartime sidekick before he was believed to have been killed. However, Steve wasn’t thrilled to bump into him once more seventy years later as Barnes had now been brainwashed into a HYDRA assassin.

Russo seemed greatly excited about the prospect of Bucky’s inclusion. “Thinking about where that relationship can go is a piece of the puzzle for us for sure. That character is a wonderfully, beautifully tragic figure in the sense of is he the world’s most feared assassin or is he the world’s longest serving prisoner of war? Is he innocent by reason of insanity or the equivalent of it because he’s been mind controlled or is he irredeemable? Is he ever going to be acceptable to Cap again as the friend that he used to be before he was the Winter Soldier? These are very philosophical, emotional questions that pique our interest and definitely form one layer of the next movie.”

We’d expect Winter Soldier’s cast of Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Emily Van Camp (Revenge), Hayley Atwell (All Is By My Side), Toby Jones (The Mist) and Samuel L Jackson (Jurassic Park) to return while it’s rumoured that Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) may crop up as Hawkeye.

Despite the fan demand for Sherlock Holmes 3, director Guy Ritchie (A Game of Shadows, RockNRolla, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) has opted to instead make spy thriller The Man From UNCLE and the first in a new saga of new King Arthur films. It was recently reported that Idris Elba (Luther, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Prometheus, American Gangster, Thor: The Dark World) was in talks to play Arthur’s mentor Bedevere. It has now emerged that Ritchie is looking to cast Elba’s Pacific Rim co-star Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) as their titular hero as well as Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Avengers: Age of Ultron) as the female lead. We say “female lead” as there’s no word on whether the role will be Queen Guinevere or Arthur’s nemesis Morgan La Fey.

Previous attempts at adapting Arthurian legend have gained mixed success. Monty Python’s classic parody The Holy Grail is an immortal comedy but Excalibur, starring Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicol Williamson, Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson, is the only real serious successful version. Since then First Knight (Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond) and King Arthur (Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Kiera Knightley, Mads Mikkelson, Hugh Dancy, Stellan Skarsgard, Joel Edgerton, Ray Winstone) have been great flops. However, this time around the cast building and shear awesomeness is building up great promise.

King Arthur – July 22nd 2016

Captain America 3 – May 6th 2016

Marvel Triple-Bill: Jack Huston rumoured for Doctor Strange, Neil Marshall wants to direct Black Widow and Jeremy Renner won’t rule out Cap’ 3

Under Kevin Feige’s leadership, Marvel Studios have conquered both the box office and fan’s hearts, over ten films they’ve garnered near $7 billion in total with an average of around $700 million a piece. With Joss Whedon’s The Avengers becoming a worldwide smash hit, the studio significantly upped their game for their second phase and their new property Guardians of the Galaxy has defied numerous predictions of disaster to become the biggest hit of this summer. Phase 2 concludes early next year with Joss Whedon’s follow up The Avengers: Age of Ultron and that’s followed by Phase 3 instalments Ant-Man, Captain America 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and a further six unannounced projects but before that things are going to get a little Strange.

Doctor Strange is on the way for a 2016 release. Sinister’s Scott Derickson is confirmed to be directing the project whose current focus is finding its leading man. Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty), Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Million Dollar Arm) and Adrien Brody (The Pianist, King Kong) have proved as popular choices; it’s rumoured that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Fight Club) and Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises) were on Marvel’s wish list but Joaquin Phoenix (The Master, Gladiator) is currently the only star we know haJack Huston had a similar meetings had discussions with Marvel about the role until now. It’s reported that Broadwalk Empire’s Jack Huston has entered similar meetings. Should he get the role he’d be the second Broadwalk Empire star to join MCU after Charlie Cox was cast as TV’s Daredevil however I’d tip the role in the favour of either Jon Hamm or Joaquin Phoenix.

After The Winter Soldier’s huge success, one of Marvel most anticipated upcoming instalments is Captain America 3. Anthony and Joe Russo are confirmed to be returning as directors although our official knowledge of the cast besides Chris Evans as the titular hero. We’re expecting there to also be appearances from Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) as Black Widow, Sebastian Stan (Black Swan) as The Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau) as Falcon, Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Hill, Frank Grillo (The Grey), Emily Van Camp (Revenge) as Agent 13, Toby Jones (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) as Arnim Zola and Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction) as Nick Fury. What fans are desperate to know is if the pinpoint-accurate archer Hawkeye will return in Cap’s next outing.

Hawkeye, played on film by two time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Bourne Legacy, American Hustle, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Town), or Clint Barton has so far made two MCU apperances: first a cameo in 2011’s Thor before probably being the least prominent of The Avengers the following year, in that he spent crucial character development time as Loki’s flying monkey (I understood that reference). He’ll continue his role next year in Age of Ultron and Renner himself hasn’t ruled out a reappearance claiming he’d experienced “rumblings” of a role in Cap’ 3.

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is one of Marvel’s greatest icons. With three feature film appearances under her belt, she’s up there with the big three of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man but so far she’s only been tagged into supporting roles in Iron Man 2 and The Winter Soldier. It has been strongly suggested that one of Marvel’s upcoming spaces should be dedicated to a Black Widow solo adventure although there may be greater demand for Thor 3, Ant-Man 2, Black Panther, The Inhumans or Ms Marvel. Johansson proved that she could gain success without relying on a more bankable male hero in this year’s Lucy so Marvel may just be waiting for the right person to propel the project. Emmy nominee Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Game of Thrones) has now expressed great interest in tossing in his hat.

“I would love to do a Black Widow movie. That’s perfect. I would love to do that. That character is really interesting, she doesn’t have any superpowers, she just has extraordinary skills, and the world that she comes from, being this ex-K.G.B. assassin, I find that really fascinating, yeah.” Marshall appears to be on the right path with heading the films towards exploring, not necessarily setting in, Romanoff’s murky past. Since the flops of Elektra and Catwoman, both DC (Wonder Woman) and Sony (Black Cat/Spider-Woman) are keen to once again expand into a female-centred comic book film but Marvel seem as if they’re the ones to set mould for the new market.

Black Widow – 2017?

Captain America 3 – May 6th 2016

Doctor Strange – July 8th 2016

Captain America writers talk new villain and Man From UNCLE gets a new release date

With a summer packed full of potential $1 billion plus movies (Avengers 2, Star Wars 7, Bond 24, The Hunger Games 4, Mission: Impossible 5, Jurassic World, Fast and Furious 7 and The Minions all prime contenders) box office goods are assured for some but not for all. Dozens of riskier projects are frantically scrapping for golden release dates in fear of the saturated 2016 schedule. It has now been announced that spy thriller The Man From UNCLE has leapt from January to a lucrative August release. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and stars Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, Immortals) and Armie Hammer (The Social Network, The Lone Ranger).

Also, action American Sniper has shifted into a much more awards friendly Christmas opening (could it be a genuine awards contender alongside Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Interstellar or Gone Girl?). Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Invictus, Changeling, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima) directs, after succeeding Steven Spielberg, with Bradley Cooper (Limitless, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hangover, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Sienna Miller (Stardust, Casanova, GI Joe) starring.

Marvel’s thriller sequel Captain America: The Winter Solider has become of the year’s biggest financial and critical hits and directing pair Anthony and Joe Russo are confirmed to return. So far we know nothing to with characters or even a title. With Marvel’s rich expanse of unexploited villains, most of the speculation is on who could be the new instalment’s chief wrongdoer. Writer Christopher Markus, partner in crime of Stephen McFeely, has expressed his preferences. “I don’t know if there’s anybody that we had in the wings that we couldn’t pull off. There are people that I’m always wanting to bring in. I want to put Modok into something.”

However he did state that Modok’s presence may be hard to pull off. “You can’t just drop a giant floating head in! It’s not like “Oh, we have to go talk to this guy – there’s something I should tell you about him first.” Suddenly the whole movie needs to take on that structure in order to accommodate him. I never win that fight!” Modok, who many would suggest as the ideal role of Torchwood/Pacific Rim star Burn Gorman, may be a possibility for future MCU films but we’ve got a few more spoiler heavy suggestions below.

The concept of AIM, and therefore Modok, could be possible following the corporation’s introduction back in Iron Man 3. Then there’s the real Mandarin, the leader of The Ten Rings, who was teased by Scoot McNairy’s assassin in the One Shot short film All Hail the King although The Ten Rings are more of Iron Man’s story arc. The most likely suggestion would be the trilogy coming full circle with Cap’ battling the forces of Hydra, fronted by Toby Jones (Harry Potter, Berberian Sound Studio) as Arnim Zola, Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist, Stalingrad) as Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker or Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, V For Vendetta) as a revived Red Skull – I’d say the Baron is more likely.

Captain America 3 will likely star Chris Evans (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Emily Van Camp (Agent 13), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Cobie Smulders (Agent Hill), Frank Grillo (Crossbones) and Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury) while I reckon Thomas Kretschmann (Baron Von Strucker), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) or Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) could crop up.

American Sniper – December 25th

The Man From UNCLE – August 14th 2015

Captain America 3 – May 6th 2016

The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Momoa in casting report for DC’s Aquaman and Grillo talks Crossbones’ role in Cap 3

This year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been far greater a success than any of our or Marvel’s expectations, currently sitting as the third highest grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with just over $700 million worldwide. Marvel therefore aren’t going to halt progress with the sequel, speedily slotting it into a 2016 release. No cast members have yet been revealed although you may remember that the sinister Brock Rumlow, or Crossbones, can be seen alive and being admitted into an ambulance after the film’s explosive finale. Now Rumlow’s portrayer Frank Grillo (The Grey, End of Watch) has spoken out about the possibility of reappearing in Cap’ 3. “I’m cautiously optimistic that you will see me in the not too distant future in the next instalment of Captain America.

“We’ve had multiple discussions about what comes after that, that thing,” Grillo said. “So, you know, it’s obvious Rumlow is covered in rubble and burned to crisp at the end, but you see he’s still there. They don’t do that for no reason.” We expect Cap’ 3 to also star Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Cobie Smulders, Toby Jones, Emily Van Camp and Samuel L Jackson and will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

There was a recent rumour of DC’s plans to release seven comic book adaptations within just two years yet this schedule didn’t seem to be making room for the underwater icon Aquaman. Recently, Hitfix has published a report stating that Jason Momoa has been cast as DC’s equivalent to Namor. The Hawaiian actor Momoa took up Arnie’s mantel of Conan in 2011’s unsuccessful reboot yet is still best known for his role as Khal Drogo in TV’s Game of Thrones. It’s unclear when Aquaman will first appear but, should we trust this claim, he’ll likely turn up in small roles in Zack Synder’s (Watchmen, 300) Man of Steel follow ups Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and ultimately Justice League. The franchise will star Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – April 29th 2016

Justice League – 2017

Captain America 3 – May 6th 2016

Captain America: The Winter Soldier review

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Frank Grillo, Cobie Smulders, Toby Jones, Emily Van Camp, Hayley Atwell, Maximiliano Hernandez, Georges St Pierre, Garry Shandling, Jenny Agutter

Throughout Kevin Feige’s Marvel movies, three strong key characters have developed: Iron Man, Thor and Hulk. It’s evident from the box office that 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger is a while behind its successors. The writing and directing quality is below par and, wherever he goes, Cap is the dullest Avenger – one mocking scene in Thor: The Dark World perfectly sums up the characters cinematic faults. The Winter Soldier doesn’t get our hopes up from afar, especially when it’s from the directors of You Me and Dupree.

Captain America/Steve Rogers (Evans) is catching up with a world seventy years ahead of his but his morals are beginning conflict with those of SHIELD, with whom he’d allied. When the mysterious Soviet assassin The Winter Soldier (Stan) begins a head hunt on Cap’s friends in the heart of Washington, SHIELD’s shady head Alexander Pierce (Redford) sends his legions after the first Avenger who unravels a mystery, forcing him to requestion his trust in the world, and his comrades – Black Widow (Johansson), Falcon (Mackie), Maria Hill (Smulders) and Nick Fury (Jackson).

This sequel certainly isn’t upping the scale particularly from any Phase 2 movie so far but what it’s done remarkably well is to create a sharp and refreshing script, hats off to Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus for upping their game this time round. The dialogue is snappy and fun, evicting the static moments found often in previous attempts. The other key feature is the removal of the overly clean and artificial style of the first film. This one’s a bit more rock ‘n’ roll and exciting.

The action is brilliantly choreographed, bringing both a Bourne-like realism but just enough ridiculousness to make it fun. Besides the ramped up finale, everything is slightly scaled down just to make the belief-requiring plot more credible. The other way it brilliantly conjures excitement with the twists, one major example being incredibly surprising, and casual name dropping – “Steven Strange”!!! There’s so much to keep looking, and more importantly listening, out for.

On occasion, it’s evident that they’ve attempted to intersect each set piece with a meaningful mini-speech which drags out the running time a bit too far. Chris Evans’ performance is one you can easily root for but there’s still very little effort to boost any emotional quality in the performance. Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson seem a little detached from their characters but Samuel L Jackson (hot on the heels of his brilliance in RoboCop) brings his excellent form into action, quite literally. He does a lot of the film’s heavy lifting.

Marvel’s villains so far have produced perfection with Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Ben Kingsley (Mandarin) and Jeff Bridges (Obadiah) as well as some misfires with the disappointing Whiplash, Aldrich Killian, Red Skull, Malekith and Justin Hammer. The titular Winter Soldier though is one of the most compelling villains yet though. Stan gives excellence with a man as confused and mistrusted as Cap himself, and you’ll find out why.

This is Marvel going a little back to basics in the sense of bringing the action down to primitive and brutal combat and keeping it just as exciting as ever. The plot’s a little scattershot and there’s a bit too much going in the the final sequence to take in but it just builds up the hype throughout until we arrived with perhaps the best Marvel movie there’s been yet. It keeps it’s cards close to its chest long enough to bring genuine shock when it reveals all. This spectacularly entertaining, smart and refreshing instalment needs to be credited.

9/10

“This isn’t the age of spies. This is not even the age of heroes. This is the age of miracles… and there’s nothing more horrifying than a miracle.”