As Disney looks for ways to appeal to the next generation of viewers, Disney+ will soon introduce short-form vertical videos. Social media apps like TikTok and Instagram have made the format popular with younger users, and YouTube later adopted it with YouTube Shorts.
While Avengers: Doomsday is currently in post-production, marketing for the movie is already in high gear. However, a recent social media post from directors Joe and Anthony Russo — known collectively as the Russo Brothers — has deliberately raised questions. They hinted that each trailer holds a secret.
Fans could see The Hulk sporting a whole new hue in the MCU. According to scooper Daniel Ritchman, Bruce Banner’s alter ego is going from green to gray in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Gray Hulk in the comics was a slightly depowered but more intelligent version who sometimes worked as a Las Vegas gangster operating under the name Joe Fixit.
On Tuesday morning, Netflix released the trailer for the long-awaited second season of One Piece, a live-action adaptation of the long-running anime. The first season was one of 2023’s biggest hits for the streamer, and fans have eagerly anticipated a second season. However, the decision to race-swap the new character of Vivi is causing some online controversy.
A new graphic novel, born out of frustration with the agenda-driving and uninspired stories Hollywood is producing, is promising readers the opportunity to go on a fresh adventure with new characters. Daughter’s Revenge is a pirate story about an honorable man, Jonathan Reed, who is thrust into an impossible situation.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison may have just gotten more ammunition in his battle for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Netflix appeared to win the bidding war in early December, when its combined offer of cash and stock was accepted by the WBD board. Paramount countered, bypassing the board and going directly to shareholders with an all-cash offer. The weak debut of Versant, Comcast’s spinoff of its cable assets, is now calling into question the value of Netflix’s bid, which according to New York Post columnist Charles Gasparino, depends on the sale of WBD’s own cable assets.
Even with the massive cast assembled for Avengers: Doomsday, it was inevitable that not every major character would return. Last March, during Marvel’s live cast reveal stream, several notable names were missing. Among those not mentioned was Evangeline Lilly, who played Hope van Dyne/Wasp in the three Ant-Man films. According to the X account The Beyond Reporter, her character will die offscreen.
Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz’s daughter, Hope Walz, said in a recent interview that the new media bears an ethical responsibility because of its relatability and accessibility. In her sit-down on the One Hour Detours podcast with John O’Sullivan, Walz said that people see themselves in content creators like Nick Shirley and are more inclined to trust them than traditional journalists.
Call it an unintended consequence of Disney fandom. According to CNN, Chinese e-commerce platforms have seen increasing interest — and prices — for the highly venomous blue Indonesian pit viper following the release of Zootopia 2. Gary De’Snake, a new character voiced by Ke Huy Quan, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Apparently it’s not just Gary merch that Chinese fans want to bring home.
The DC Elseworlds is looking more like the golden age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with every new casting announcement. Deadline exclusively reported on Tuesday that Sebastian Stan was in talks for a role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II. If the deal works out, Stan, who played Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will likely be reteaming with MCU alum Scarlett Johansson.
According to Variety, Barry Keoghan is expected to return as the Joker in Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II. The character was teased at the end of 2022’s The Batman — Keoghan was only credited as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner” — though Reeves later confirmed the character’s identity.
According to Matt McGloin of Cosmic Book News, James Gunn may soon step down as co-CEO of DC Studios. That possibility casts into doubt the future of the DC Universe (DCU), which Gunn has been leading since parent studio Warner Bros. shuttered the previous DC Expanded Universe (DCEU).