Robert Pattinson Has Been Cast To Play The New Batman

Robert Pattinson Has Been Cast To Play The New Batman

Ever since Ben Affleck retired as Batman at the beginning of the year, fans have been wondering who would play the next version of the Caped Crusader in the DC Extended Universe. All that had been revealed was that it would be someone younger than Affleck and that The Batman director Matt Reeves was looking for someone well known. Well, evidently Twilight star Robert Pattinson was the best man for the job with those qualifications.

Weeks after he was among the rumored actors up for the Batman role, word has come in Robert Pattinson will don the cape and cowl next, with a deal set to close shortly. This makes him the seventh actor to play Batman in a live action theatrical movie, and the second youngest actor to ever bring the character to life in his superhero persona, following Christian Bale. According to Variety, Pattinson has been cast to lead The Batman even as Matt Reeves is still polishing the final draft of the script.

Robert Pattinson is best known for playing Edward Cullen in the five Twilight movies from 2008 to 2012, and his other notable credits include Queen of the Desert, Life (2015), The Lost City of Z and High Life. The Batman marks Pattinson’s second upcoming Warner Bros project, as he’s already set to star alongside John David Washington and Elizabeth Debicki in Christopher Nolan’s next movie.

It is worth mentioning that Deadline claims that Nicholas Hoult is still in the running for The Batman, though Robert Pattinson has the edge on the short list. Given that Hoult had already played Beast in four X-Men movies, it’d be nice if Pattinson gets the opportunity to leave his own mark on the superhero genre.

Although The Batman is featuring a younger version of the eponymous protagonist, it will not be an origin story in the vein of Year One. No specific plot details have been revealed yet, but it’s said to be a noir-driven tale that will highlight Bruce Wayne’s detective skills, which haven’t been explored in-depth in previous Batman movies.

As far as villains go, Matt Reeves has said that The Batman will feature a rogues gallery, with Penguin said to be one of the antagonists. Beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see what kind of stamp Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson put on this 80-year-old character that distinguishes him from past iterations. Production is reportedly scheduled to begin either towards the end of the year or in early 2020 in London.

The Batman will cast its shadow in theaters on June 25, 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, you can learn what other DC movies are on the way by looking through our comprehensive guide.

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This Rotten Week: Predicting Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, And Tolkien Reviews

This Rotten Week: Predicting Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, And Tolkien Reviews

We’ve got four movies coming out this week with themes that are all over the map. A cartoon character solves crimes, two ladies work a con game, some senior citizens go rah-rah, and there’s a famous author’s biopic. Get ready for Pokemon Detective Pikachu, The Hustle, Poms, and Tolkien.

Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at This Rotten Week has to offer.

A live-action Pokemon movie based around the video game/cartoon of the same name really seems like it should be a massive failure - something meant for only the superfans of the franchise or perhaps mindless youths. But they might have actually pulled something off with Detective Pikachu. It’s a buddy cop film, pairing a rather unsuspecting kid sleuth with an adorable Pikachu as they work to solve a mystery.

Director and screenwriter Rob Letterman seems to be taking Pikachu into a more funny direction with this film, and it seemingly makes for a movie that looks like it actually works. Letterman has a couple of wins with Goosebumps (77%) and Monsters vs. Aliens (73%), but also a bit miss in Gulliver’s Travels (20%). Critics are mostly positive about his latest, with the Tomatometer sitting at 70% with 37 reviews posted. Maybe it ticks down a little, but this already seems like a critical surprise.

If there's a lesson I learned from the trailer for The Hustle, it's that if you want to take power from someone, you should just run a couple of cons on them and bilk them out of all their cash. Apparently that's how you beat the bad dudes - by hitting them where it hurts the most.

It’s hard to know where critics are going to land on this movie. On the one hand, we have two great actresses in Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson carrying the comedic load and that could be enough to get the job done. On the other hand, this is a movie about two (probably) unsympathetic con-artists whose freedom comes from scamming rich dudes out of their fortunes. Ultimately comedies like this really don't seem to fall in the critics' favor, and I suspect that this remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels ends up on the rotten side.

Movies like Poms are generally made to appeal to a specific demographic: namely older women who don't typically get to see themselves properly represented on the big screen all that often. That being said, it's not exactly a demographic that dominates the world of film criticism, so I don't suspect that a ton of them will be going gaga over this one

Poms centers on a group of women at a retirement community who form a cheerleading squad, and watching the trailer I was initially concerned that the whole thing would feel too hokey. And then it took a turn for the sentimental and empowering, and I think it might have actually sold me. I'm not sure an overwhelming majority of critics will feel the same way, but a song by Pink playing in the background and a story of strength in spite of age has me more bullish on the film than I might have otherwise been.

At this point, most know the story of Blibo and Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gangee, Gandalf, and the rest of the folks in Middle-earth. Those dudes have had their stories told to the tune of billions of book and movie dollars. Tolkien, however, works to tell the story of the storyteller. The movie centers on J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult), and informs audiences about his fellowship of friends, how he found the love of his life, and the war that haunted him to the point that he was inspired to write both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As compelling as this story seems, critics are really mixed on the output so far. Tolkien is sitting at 53% currently, with more than 30 reviews posted. The opinions about the title are definitely wide-ranging, from “loved it” to “hated it.” This really appears to be polarizing among the critical crowd. Some loved the artistic look at Tolkien’s early life, while others don't appreciate the tone and lead performance. It really is all over the map, making me think the score winds up in the middle when it’s all said and done.

I went four for four last week, which was definitely an awesome showing for This Rotten Week. Long Shot (Predicted: 85% Actual: 83%) was almost dead on, and with a couple of more positive reviews we might find this one right on the nose. Though this movie finished very high on the Tomatometer, many of the reviews were mildly apologetic and focused a bit more on the performances than on the actual script. That being said, this is still a huge win for a comedy to finish this high.

Meanwhile Uglydolls (Predicted: 42% Actual: 35%) finished a little lower than predicted, but still within range. Animated flicks can crush it with critics when the story is tight and there are enough laughs for the adults. This movie apparently had neither. It was fairly clear from the trailer that they were working on a thin, commercial premise that focused mostly on the songs.

El Chicano (Predicted: 48% Actual: 40%) almost fell out of range, but this vigilante movie about a cop taking on a mythic persona and laying waste to the Latin gang world was just good enough to be considered a Rotten Week win. This seems like one of those films destined to be a fun watch on basic cable in about two years. There are worse fates for poorly-reviewed action movies.

Finally, The Intruder (Predicted: 35% Actual: 27%) was predictably bad. The story of a deranged dude who doesn’t want to let go of his house even though the closing papers are fully signed just didn’t have the legs with critics. This was easy to see from a mile away.

Next time we’ve got John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, A Dog’s Journey, and The Sun Is Also A Star. It’s gonna be a Rotten Week!

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Fantastic Four Director's Perfect Tweet Reminds Us Superhero Movies Can Fail

Fantastic Four Director's Perfect Tweet Reminds Us Superhero Movies Can Fail

Many superhero movies like to emphasize that their characters are flawed but, more often than not, they still save the day and slay at the box office. But not all superheroes win in the end. This weekend, Captain Marvel raced to a $153 million domestic opening, leading at least one pontificator to spout that no superhero movie fails. Well, Josh Trank -- director of the ill-fated 2015 Fantastic Four movie -- had something to say about that:

Burn. On himself. It's true, though. Captain Marvel's domestic gross alone is already almost more than Fantastic Four made during its entire worldwide run. Not that Fantastic Four is the only movie to tank (or Trank?). Still, since he brought it up...

Fantastic Four only made $56,117,548 at the domestic box office and $111,860,048 internationally for a total of $167,977,596 worldwide. That's just four years ago, and it only made $168 million worldwide. That was off a reported production budget of at least $120 million, per Box Office Mojo, and the film was ultimately said to have lost around $100 million.

That's not good.

Captain Marvel has already made $455 million worldwide, and it just opened. And Captain Marvel isn't even the biggest superhero movie of all time. It may or may not follow previous MCU movies and the DC movies that have crossed the $1 billion mark. But clearly it's doing a lot better than Fantastic Four ever did, and it's not a given that any and every superhero movie will succeed. That was the self-deprecating point Josh Trank seemed to be making. Sometimes superhero movies do fail.

Fox's 2015 adaptation of the Marvel Comics characters was panned by both critics and fans. Fantastic Four only has a 9% rating from critics and 18% rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It got a C- CinemaScore from polled moviegoers. It "won" Razzies for Worst Director; Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel; and Worst Picture (tying with Fifty Shades of Grey).

Fantastic Four was infamously troubled, with Josh Trank reportedly clashing with 20th Century Fox. A lot of blame was put at his doorstep, alleging the director behaved erratically. Trank criticized the final cut right before its release, writing in a later deleted tweet, "A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would've received great reviews. You'll probably never see it. That's reality though."

One of the Fantastic Four producers tried to explain what went wrong, saying it wasn't just one thing. One of the screenwriters also apologized to fans for the movie going wrong.

You could blame lack of interest in Fantastic Four vs. other Marvel characters, but the 2005 Fantastic Four movie -- the one with Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch -- made $330.5 million worldwide. That's not exactly blockbuster level these days, but it was off a reported $100 million production budget. So a modest profit was probably made.

Still, it is pretty rare for major superhero movies to fail these days. The DCEU took a beating from critics for a while -- and there was certainly trouble behind-the-scenes, especially with Justice League -- but even the least successful of the six DCEU movies (Justice League) made $658 million worldwide. Meanwhile, the least successful MCU movie was The Incredible Hulk in 2008, which "only" made $263.5 million worldwide off a reported production budget of $150 million. Halle Berry's Catwoman only made $82.1 million in 2004 (off a reported $100 budget), and Green Lantern also only made $219.8 million worldwide in 2011 (reported $200 million budget).

This is not to restart the never-ending Marvel vs. DC battle. It's just to show it's rare but not unheard of for a superhero movie to flop the way Fantastic Four did. We keep hearing that moviegoers just love superhero movies -- like we'll see anything with a superhero in it -- but it's clearly not that simple. Just let it be a lesson, a reminder, a fear to keep your kids in line. This too could happen to YOU if you don't eat your vegetables and finish your homework.

Now that Fox and Disney are joining forces, and the Fox Marvel characters will fall under Disney's Marvel umbrella, fans are curious to see what might happen with characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four.

As we wait for updates on that front, keep up with everything that's playing in theaters this year with our handy 2019 movie schedule.

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Josh Brolin Hilariously Responds To Viral Ant-Man Theory

Josh Brolin Hilariously Responds To Viral Ant-Man Theory

It's an extremely exciting time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avengers: Endgame is less than a month away, so moviegoers will finally see what happened after Josh Brolin's Thanos snapped his finger and destroyed half the galaxy. But until then, the rabid fandom will continue pouring over the brief trailers and making their own creative (and sometimes ridiculous) theories.

A new fan theory went viral this week that is absolutely bonkers. It involves Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, and alleges that he's the key to killing Thanos one and for all. The theory says that Ant-Man should use his shrinking abilities, and then jump into the big purple butt of the Mad Titan. And once he grows, he should tear the villain apart from the inside out. It's scatalogical and kinda brutal, and now Josh Brolin himself has responded. And in the best way possible.

Seriously, how can you not love this man? On top of bringing a surprisingly vulnerable performance to Thanos through motion-capture, Josh Brolin also has a good sense of humor about playing the Mad Titan. So much that he's willing to record viral content from a porcelain throne.

Josh Brolin's video comes from his personal Instagram, and shows that the actor is definitely aware of what the internet says about his signature MCU villain. While not explicitly referencing the wild theory about Ant-Man, Brolin takes the time to get real punny about Endgame's imminent arrival in theaters. His miming of using the toilet was apparently meant to show the tension of the upcoming blockbuster. He also references the marketing "push" ahead of its release. It's all very delightful and gross.

The theory about Ant-Man using Thanos' butt against him has actually been around for a while, although it gained some serious traction in the last week. Plenty of viral memes and videos have hit social media, each more bonkers than the next. While the fans are almost salivating with anticipation ahead of Avengers: Endgame, it's nice that everyone can lighten up and have some fun in the interim period. Because the stakes for the MCU couldn't be higher leading up to the blockbuster's release.

The ending of Avengers: Infinity War shocked everyone, as Thanos assembled the Infinity Stones and wiped out half the galaxy's life with the snap of his finger. Both the audience and surviving heroes were left to watch in horror as countless fan favorite characters faded to dust. It's been a year since that movie arrived in theaters, so the wait for answers has been excruciating.

It should be especially fascinating to see how Josh Brolin's Thanos functions within Endgame's plot. While he finally succeeded in his quest, he did so at great cost. Gamora and the Black Order all perished during Infinity War, and clearly Nebula has it out for him. Thanos has been noticeably absent from the film's marketing material, save for his armor and a quick shot of his hand in a field. Does retirement suit the Mad Titan? And how will he react to the the upcoming battle against The Survivors?

All will be revealed when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman Has One Blunt Response To All MCU Questions

Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman Has One Blunt Response To All MCU Questions

Tom Holland, take note. This is how not to spoil a Marvel movie. Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman recently went to CinemaCon to promote his new film 21 Bridges, but if you get a Marvel star in front of you, it's basically law that you have to ask about Avengers: Endgame. T'Challa was ready for that. He was also ready for follow-ups on Black Panther 2.

Like Lady Gaga before him, Chadwick Boseman went with one simple response to put on repeat for all MCU-related questions. And it was hilarious.

Interviewer: People are ready to see this movie [Avengers: Endgame].

Chadwick Boseman: Of course.

Interviewer: They're buying the tickets, it's nuts. How does that feel to know people love this film so much?

Chadwick Boseman: It's great, but I'm dead. So I can't answer any questions about that.

Interviewer: OK, so you don't want to give us a spoiler or anything like that.

Chadwick Boseman: I'm dead.

Interviewer: How about Black Panther 2, anything you can tell us?

Chadwick Boseman: I'm dead.

Interviewer: We're not ready for you to be dead, Chadwick!

Chadwick Boseman: But I am. I'm dead.

His "I'm dead" response instantly became a meme, of course. It's the ultimate deadpan reply, no pun intended, and now I kind of want to see him in dry comedy (like the soon-to-be-departing Veep).

The "I'm dead" clip is now making the rounds on Twitter, but his full interview was given to Access and starts with talk about the movie he was actually there to promote.

So many Marvel Cinematic Universe stars are in the exact same awkward position, and it's interesting to see how they handle it. We expect circumstances to change dramatically after Avengers: Endgame, and not just because that film will be closely followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home, starring Tom Holland as the also "dead" Peter Parker. Doctor Strange 2 is also in the works, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the also "dead" Dr. Strange. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is also back in the works with writer/director James Gunn, despite most of that group also getting snapped by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. And of course we have Black Panther 2 as the follow-up to that $1.3 billion hit.

Right now, the Avengers: Endgame stars are on the press tour, but even the ones who didn't get snapped -- like the Original 6 -- can't really tell us much. And I wouldn't want them to. We only have a few more weeks to wait until the movie opens and can explain itself, and show us where we go from here in the next phase of the MCU. Let's see who is staying and who is going, and then we can probably come back and ask Chadwick Boseman about Black Panther 2.

Hopefully you had a chance to get your Avengers: Endgame tickets after they went on sale this past Tuesday. The world is going to be flooded with reactions after the film comes out, and one question will be on the fate of the Black Panther characters who are expected to return for Black Panther 2. That includes T'Challa but also Letitia Wright as Shuri, who was also snapped, and also the rest of the cast -- possibly even Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, somehow. Danai Gurira's Okoye survived the snap, and she's featured on the main Avengers: Endgame poster, but it's not clear what her role will be in Avengers 4.

Answers, and probably more questions, are coming when Avengers: Endgame opens here on Friday, April 26. It's just one of the many movies worth keeping tracking of with our handy 2019 movie schedule.

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Hellboy Hasn't Done Well With Critics, But Did Audiences Like It?

Hellboy Hasn't Done Well With Critics, But Did Audiences Like It?

Things were looking rough for the new Hellboy going into this past weekend after reviews were released by critics and the movie was savaged. The film now has a 15% positive score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, which is a slight improvement over where that number was going into the weekend. However, now that audiences have actually seen the film, Hellboy is faring slightly better with them, as the movie has a 64% audience score on RT, though it has received a C CinemaScore and opened in third place at the box office.

Hellboy's fortunes have been something of a mixed bag over this opening weekend. The best thing going for the movie right now is that about two-third of the fans that have seen the movie have liked it according to Rotten Tomatoes. While that number isn't overwhelmingly positive, getting a strong majority of the people who saw the movie to publicly say they liked it isn't ever a guarantee.

Things are a little bit rougher when it comes to the film's CinemaScore. While a score of C is, well, an average, and thus things could be a lot worse, when compared to other recent releases, Hellboy doesn't do quite as well. Of all recent movies, only Rupert Wyatt's Captive State has a lower score than Hellboy (C-). CinemaScores are tabulated based on surveys given to audiences on opening night, so things are weighted in favor of the film scoring well, as fans who go to see any movie on opening night are likely to be serious fans who have been planning on seeing the film. Most movies do better than a C with CinemaScore and few actually do worse than that.

Finally, there's the box office, which is the ultimate determination of a film's success. While most of the people who saw the movie may have liked it, the fact is not a llarge number of people actually did. Hellboy was projected to bring in something in the neighborhood of $17 million, which wasn't exactly a blockbuster movie number, but would have competed for the box office crown against Shazam!'s second weekend. However, the film ended up doing a much poorer than expected $12 million. That wasn't even enough to be the best new release for the weekend, as the comedy Little was able to do $15 million. Both films fell to Shazam! which added another $25 million to its growing total.

It's possible Hellboy could pick up business internationally. The movie opened in most territories on or before this past Friday, but international numbers have yet to be reported. If other countries were attracted to Hellboy more than people were domestically, the movie could actually turn out ok, or even become a hit if things go very differently. At this point, that's about the only thing left that could save Hellboy, which is probably sad news for those people who actually saw the film and thought it was good.

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Avengers: Endgame Seemingly Confirms Valkyire, More Characters Made It Through The Decimation

Avengers: Endgame Seemingly Confirms Valkyire, More Characters Made It Through The Decimation

While we learned the fate of many of the most important heroes at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a massive place full of characters that we've all come to care about. The last film didn't take the time to show us what happened to all of them, but a collection of new character posters seems to reveal that several characters whose fates were unknown, like Valkyrie, Happy Hogan and Wong appear to have survived Thanos' snap of doom. Here's the new character poster for Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie.

The posters of all the Marvel characters look basically the same. They're all simple headshots of the Marvel hero with the words, "Avenge the Fallen" written across them. However, there is one major difference. Some posters, like the ones for characters we know are alive, like Tony Stark or Nebula, are in full color. Others, for characters we know are dead, like Black Panther or Doctor Strange, are in black and white, as you see here...

If we can safely assume that all characters who get a poster in color are alive, then we can conclude that Valkyrie, Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan, and Wong are all alive, as is Pepper Potts, as their posters are all in color. Since we never saw them fade away or saw them in any scene after the snap had happened, we simply didn't know their fate until now.

Unfortunately, with the good news comes some bad news as well. Letitia Wright's Shuri, who stole the show in Black Panther has been confirmed to be dead by this method, as her poster is in black and white.

Of course, in the case of Valkyrie, one has to wonder if the poster means even more than that. Tessa Thompson's character never appeared in Avengers: Infinity War despite the last place we saw her being the same ship with Thor, Loki, and Hulk. Does the existence of this poster at all mean that Valkyrie will play a role in Avengers: Endgame? Neither Valkyrie nor Happy Hogan had any major role in Infinity War, so one has to wonder why they're getting posters now. The obvious reason is that the characters will matter in the new film. Valkyrie and Happy Hogan save the universe? I'm good with that.

All of our questions will finally be answered, and the fallen will be avenged, April 26.

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Why Shazam! Reshot Mark Strong's Intro As Sivana, And How It Originally Looked

Why Shazam! Reshot Mark Strong's Intro As Sivana, And How It Originally Looked

Reshoots are pretty commonplace in filmmaking, especially for blockbusters. Big studio films are almost guaranteed to reserve a block of time for reshoots. Sometimes things change in the editing room and filmmakers decide they need to get the cameras back out. For example, that very same thing happened on Shazam! The fun superhero film reshot the intro scene for its villain, Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong), because the room he was in was a bit too sterile.

In Shazam!, Dr. Sivana is a man obsessed with breaking into the Rock of Eternity and freeing the Seven Deadly Sins, a group of demons who symbolize the worst traits in humanity. Technically, the first time we see Sivana is as a child in the opening minutes of the film, but the scene that was reshot was his intro as an adult.

The scene in question had Sivana overseeing the questioning of a person who visited the Rock of Eternity in the hopes that he could finally get a clue to return there. Originally, the room he was in was much more sterile with blank white walls, but director David F. Sandberg felt that this wasn't quite the right way to introduce his baddie.

Replying to a comment on Twitter, David F. Sandberg revealed that there wasn't enough extra footage to do a director's cut of Shazam! The footage on screen is exactly what he wanted and all of the unused footage is really just alternate takes of scenes in the film. As an example, he showed a pic of the original introduction for Sivana. It's still the same scene, it just takes place in a different room.

While I can't remember for the life of me what this conference room looked like in the actual movie, I think it was a good call to change the room. It's pretty boring looking, and while I'm sure it could have been spruced up in post-production, that wouldn't likely change much.

We don't know what else was changed in the film during reshoots, but maybe some of these alternate takes will be available on the digital and home release of Shazam! The movie has been enjoying a pretty healthy run at the box office, earning $322.8 million worldwide at the box office. That's pretty good for the first film in what is sure to be a franchise, and DC's hot streak still lives on.

If you missed out on Shazam! or just want to kill some time before Avengers: Endgame later this week, you can still catch the superhero film in theaters. For everything else DC has coming down the pipeline, here's our DC movie guide. If you'd like to know what else is coming this year to plan out all your upcoming theater trips, here's our 2019 movie release guide.

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6 Most Powerful Moments From The New Avengers Endgame Trailer

6 Most Powerful Moments From The New Avengers Endgame Trailer

Another trailer for Avengers: Endgame has arrived out of nowhere, and it's loaded with some footage fans are just now seeing for the first time. While some of it was a bit spoilery (but not really if you've been following the news cycle), it was okay because there were some really powerful moments throughout. These moments really set the tone for how epic the Phase 3 capper will be, and somehow, elevate the already high expectations of fans. Let's go over what was shown.

Black Widow Comforting Hawkeye/Ronin

Clint Barton was absent in Avengers: Infinity War and seemed to be enjoying his life out in the country with his family. Clint is seen showing his daughter archery, and then we wipe to him looking broken and sad in some Asian country in the present. He's hurting, and it's not just evident on his face, it's evident on Black Widow's as well. Natasha sees her longtime S.H.I.E.L.D. comrade is hurting,and holds his hand.

It's that kind of pure moment between them that gives a subtle reminder that these people are more than heroes. They're friends, and they've been brought even closer by this devastating event that surely has all of them hurting. It's a safe assumption there will be a lot of that type of camaraderie as the movie continues, as each Avenger bonds and fights their hardest to honor the ones they've lost.

Thor Charging Up

Thor missed his chance to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and that mistake resulted in half of the universe being wiped out. Thor probably recognizes that, but he doesn't look to be sulking in this trailer. Far from it actually, as he's looking like a man on a mission as he's gathering lightning either to charge up for some attack or to power some device.

Thor looks at Stormbreaker shortly after this scene, which could mean a couple things. It could be used for some crazy lightning attack, or perhaps that's his way of teleporting between locations. Chances are fast travel will be a necessity during this high-risk mission, and he's one of the few people capable of it besides Captain Marvel. If someone needs to get somewhere fast, expect him to provide transport.

Nebula Charging Into Battle

Nebula had about the worst time of anyone in Avengers: Infinity War, at least among those who are still living in Avengers: Endgame. Now, she's reconstructed, off that ship she was stranded on with Tony and ready to help the Avengers in their fight against Thanos. Whoever she's running towards in this trailer is surely in for a bad time because she looks pissed.

It's a type of rage I'd like to think she's reserving for her father, regardless of his current power status. Thanos admitted to Gamora in the previous movie that Nebula very nearly killed him, which is surprising given those who've have failed before. Perhaps she knows something the rest of the team doesn't and will attempt to exploit that weakness again in a rematch? Provided she gets one, of course, because it's very possible this war charge is directed towards someone else.

Cap's Grimace

Captain America looks mostly composed throughout the Avengers: Endgame trailer, all except one scene in which he's seen strapping into his old shield. Cap tightens the strap and seems to react with a rather painful grimace which signifies he's in some pain. The trailer makes it appear it's related to the arm, which could be broken. Had he put that shield on a bit sooner, that may not have happened!

If there's a positive to this scene, it appears as though someone scooped up Steve's shield after he dramatically dropped it to the ground following Captain America: Civil War. My personal hope is that Tony saved it, hoping to return it to his friend after telling him he didn't deserve to carry the shield. Hopefully these two manage to get on better terms before the action really kicks off, and we get a heartwarming moment peppered in between the ass-kicking.

Rhodey And Rocket

Well, here are two characters no one really expected to team up. It's not that there's any reason to think Rocket Raccoon and War Machine wouldn't make a great dynamic duo, but like, how did this come about? If I had to guess, Rocket's probably drawn to Rhodey's impressive weapons array on the suit, and may even have a few upgrade suggestions he could provide for him.

Another thing worth mentioning here is that Rocket is wearing the same outfit he's usually seen with in the comics. That doesn't really make this moment anymore powerful, but the fact he has a look on his face that makes it look like they're about to rain hell on somebody definitely does. Hopefully these two wreak havok on whoever they're targeting and we get three spinoff films after this titled Rhodey and Rocket.

The Team Walk

We've seen edited and different iterations of The Avengers' team walk in previous Endgame trailers, but this was the first time we witnessed the scene in this way. Everyone's rocking new suits, they look determined and have that cool swagger that only really comes through in slow motion. Who can look at this scene and say anything other than "Hell yeah" after watching?

It gets even better, as it's entirely possible this isn't the final version of the Avengers: Endgame scene. It seems very likely at this point that Marvel is intentionally excluding one more character from the epic walkthrough,, although I'm thinking Hulk or Okoye are reasonable candidates. We'll keep those looking to avoid spoilers free from exactly who that may be, but suffice to say it's going to elevate that scene just a bit more. Now if we just knew where they were walking to!

The mystery behind all these questions will soon be revealed as Avengers: Endgame is due out in theaters April 26. CinemaBlend is the place for movie lovers to be before and after its premiere, as well have plenty of reactions, news, and analysis following the movie. For more on the MCU, check out our breakdown of the places the Tesseract has been since this all kicked off.

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Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard And More Are Returning For The Jurassic World Ride

Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard And More Are Returning For The Jurassic World Ride

After the Jurassic Park ride had an over 20-year run in Universal Studios, the attraction became extinct last year to give way for an upgrade reflecting the current Jurassic World movies. Ahead of the new ride opening its gates sometime this summer, it has been revealed that a few of the franchise's stars will be part of the Jurassic World - The Ride experience.

Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady, Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing and BD Wong’s Dr. Henry Wu will each reprise their Jurassic World roles for the upcoming ride, which will feature an original storyline. The cast will offer facts and information about the dinos (presumably as guests wait in line) and may have roles in the interactions with the prehistoric creatures on the ride itself.

This is an exciting addition to the upcoming ride! It always helps with the immersion in the experience when your favorite characters get to tag along, and Jurassic World - The Ride is doing just that. Additionally, the new Universal attraction will feature the Aquatic Mosasaurus in a massive aquarium observatory appearing to be 60 feet in length, 30K pounds and enclosed in 3.5 million gallons of water.

Industrial Light & Magic assisted in giving spectators an authentic view of the Mosasaurus. The creature’s tank will have different lighting depending on the time of day it is visited. The trailer for the ride offered a sneak peek of Mosasaurus, along with a sure appearance from T-Rex. Take a look:

The ride will also see the opening gates and outside landscapes and will feature additional appearances from the more gentle Stegosaurus and Parasaurolophus before encounters with Velociraptors and Dilophosaurus disrupt the peace. Jurassic World - The Ride will still have guests boarding rafts and finishing their journey on a 84-foot waterfall drop at the end as the previous version did. This time it looks like riders will be escaping a battle between T-Rex and “new behemoth dinosaurs.”

Along with the redesigned ride, there will be a “Raptor Encounter” next to it, which will include Blue meeting with guests. “Dino Play” will be an area catered to kids exploring and finding giant dino fossils in the Universal land as well.

The ride comes right in between the success of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom last year and the upcoming third film coming in June 2021. The main cast will soon be returning to close out the trilogy after the dramatic events of the sequel, and could potentially feature the return of some of the original Jurassic Park cast.

Universal Studios has not yet given a specific open date for Jurassic World - The Ride, except for indicating it will come in the summer. The park also has a special Dark Arts at Hogwarts experience going on over at its Wizarding World of Harry Potter area, including a new show projected on Hogwarts Castle.

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Stan Lee Has A Few Marvel Cameos Left

Stan Lee Has A Few Marvel Cameos Left

Last November, longtime Marvel Comics heavyweight Stan Lee died at 95, and needless to say it was a heavy blow to the world of comic book media fandom. That said, it didn’t mark the last time we’d see him since months before his passing, Lee filmed/recorded several more of his trademark cameos, including his quick scene in Captain Marvel, which hit theaters this past weekend. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has now clarified that there are still a few Lee cameos left to be shown to the masses. When asked if Lee will appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Feige responded:

We'll see. We're heading-- We shot a couple of others, so we're coming up on the last of them, yes.

Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo said shortly after Stan Lee died that the comic book icon did shoot something for Endgame, as it was grouped together with various other MCU cameos that Lee shot during a short period. That said, it’s been unclear if Lee shot anything from Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Feige’s comment to ET is cagey in that regard. That said, an Endgame cameo is definitely on the table, and the fact that Feige said “the last of them” indicates that there’s more than just one cameo to look forward to.

Spider-Man: Far From Home filmed from last July to October in England, New York and several other countries. Stan Lee wasn’t able to travel much in his final years, but as with his other recent cameos, presumably it would have been easy enough to get him to a movie set in California where he could shoot something quick for Far From Home. Nothing’s official yet, but I’m guessing that it’s likelier than not that Lee will have some presence in the next live action Spider-Man movie, whether it’s on screen like all his other past MCU contributions or if he was only able to record a vocal cameo, like what he did for last December’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where he played a shopkeeper who interacted with Miles Morales.

Stan Lee already had an extensive cameo resume even before the MCU launched with Iron Man in 2008, but in that particular franchise, he was a regular fixture, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 revealing that he was actually the same character who was keeping tabs on things around Earth and other areas of the galaxy on behalf of The Watchers. Sadly, all things must come to an end, and either Avengers: Endgame or Spider-Man: Far From Home will mark his last film appearance. That said, future MCU movies could take a cue from the Marvel Netflix shows and include a picture of Lee in tribute to the man who helped make Marvel the powerhouse company it is today.

Warning: SPOILERS for Captain Marvel are ahead!

Along with being his second or third-to-last MCU cameo, Captain Marvel was also special for Stan Lee because he was basically playing himself. While Carol Danvers was aboard a train searching for a disguised Skrull, she passed by Lee, who was practicing his lines for Mallrats, Kevin Smith’s second movie which, where Lee had a small, but important role. That movie came out in 1995, the same year Captain Marvel was set. Danvers studied Lee for a moment and then gave a smirk when she realized that he was 100% human.

But that wasn’t the only way that Captain Marvel paid tribute to Stan Lee. The Marvel Studios intro also replaced artwork and clips of its various superheroes with Stan Lee’s various cameos in this franchise over the last decade. Kevin Feige explained how shortly after Lee died, he and others at Marvel Studios were figuring out how to honor Lee and whether it should be something that’s part of a movie or released online. They eventually decided on the former, and rather than attach something “depressing at the end,” Feige settled on something “touching and rousing up front,” hence that heartwarming intro. Feige continued.

I know that, not specifically but in general, a celebration is what Stan always wanted as opposed to any sort of mournful event. So, it happened very, very quickly soon after we got the unfortunate news.. We put that together and our visual development department, led by Ryan Meinerding, illustrated all those illustrations of him that you see, before we then go into the clips.

We may only have a few more Stan Lee appearances left, but because of what the man accomplished through his long life, his characters will live on for decades more. Although Stan Lee didn’t have a hand in creating Carol Danvers, writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan have that honor), he did co-create (with Colan) her comics predecessor, Mar-Vell, who was portrayed by Annette Bening in the Captain Marvel movie.

Captain Marvel was the first MCU movie of 2019, but there’s a lot more to look forward to this year. In less than two months, Avengers: Endgame will pick up where Avengers: Infinity War left off, with half of all life in the universe being wiped out by Thanos and his Infinity Stones-powered fingers. Marvel is still keeping tight-lipped about specific plot details, but we can at least look forward to the surviving heroes banding together to defeat Thanos and undo his genocide. Carol Danvers will be part of this group, and the Captain Marvel mid-credits scene showed her arriving at New Avengers base questioning where Nick Fury was, as before turning to dust, the former S.H.I.E..L.D. director summoned her using his spruced-up pager.

Then in July, Spider-Man: Far From Home will kick off Phase 4 with Peter Parker traveling to Europe over summer vacation. Unfortunately, Peter won’t get a break from his superhero lifestyle during this trip, as Nick Fury will recruit him to fight the Elementals alongside Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio. Since Spider-Man was arguably Lee’s most famous creation, it would be a shame if Far From Home didn’t involve him in some way, so fingers crossed that gets to be his final cameo.

Don’t forget to read CinemaBlend’s review of Captain Marvel, and stay tuned for more updates on the MCU. Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26 and Spider-Man: Far From Home follows on July 5. You can also find out what non-Marvel movies are coming out this year by looking through our 2019 release schedule.

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If Marvel Retconned X-Men For The MCU, I Wouldn't Shed A Tear

If Marvel Retconned X-Men For The MCU, I Wouldn't Shed A Tear

It's a wild time in the X-Men franchise. Fox's second attempt at a movie centered on Phoenix in due in June, and The New Mutants is presumably coming at some point as well. The larger news, however, is that Disney will soon be getting control of the mutants via the Disney-Fox merger, and there's been endless speculation about how the Marvel Cinematic Universe could incorporate the characters. It's either taking the existing lineup of characters and folding them them in, or scrapping the entire franchise and starting from scratch with a reboot.

Truth be told, if Marvel retconned the X-Men franchise to incorporate it into the MCU, I wouldn't shed a single tear. In fact, it's my preferred strategy for the merger at this stage, as incorporating the current characters in with Phase 4 and beyond would be a big mistake. Why? It comes down to a recent revelation I had after seeing the powdery blue new look that Jennifer Lawrence is sporting in Dark Phoenix:

This particular makeup job is arguably representational of the X-Men franchise at large over the years. It started off as one thing, constantly changed over the years, and has varied drastically in quality. Sometimes the franchise is looking good, like Mystique in X-Men: First Class. Then there's the other times where it's been less than good, and it's more like her latest appearance.

There's been good X-Men films, and there's been horrifically bad ones - and it's a level of inconsistency that we thankfully haven't seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even the Rotten Tomatoes score of Thor: The Dark World is higher than X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men: Apocalypse. It's gotten to a point where, as an audience, we've come to expect the quality of an upcoming film is a dice roll at best, and that's a problem when it comes to merging the brands.

This is particularly true for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is in the process of saying goodbye to several heroes integral to its success throughout the past decade. It will be a big enough task for Marvel Studios to lay new groundwork and attempt to replicate its success over another decade, and adding the currently existing X-Men franchise to canon would make that so much harder. Hard enough, at least, that one has to sit back and wonder if it's really worth doing at all.

Admittedly bringing the X-Men into the Marvel Universe would potentially net the franchise some solid talent. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner, and Evan Peters would all make for great additions provided they're on board. That's a big if, though, because let's not forget, Dark Phoenix takes place decades before the events going in the contemporary MCU.

So, either Marvel could age up the characters in makeup, which seems unlikely, or they could continue the continuity with a new set of actors, such as the original X-Men cast. The latter doesn't seem likely, though, given the bulk original X-Men's cast is approaching or beyond 50. Plus, let's remember that, no offense to the rest of the cast, the two main people most fans would want to return are now dead in the X-Men timeline. For years many have begged for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to appear in an Marvel Cinematic Universe feature, but it's just not a realistic dream to hold anymore. Bringing Jackman back to play the character now would create another plot inconsistency in the X-Men timeline, and kind of shit on the emotional weight and awesomeness of Logan - which also saw the death of the other aforementioned beloved hero: Patrick Stewart's Professor X. There was once a time where this was a great dream to have and fight for, but those days are long gone.

The remaining character in the X-Men continuity seemingly worth keeping around is Deadpool. I count myself among those who want to see his integration happen, but also worry that keeping the X-Men out or rebooting the team for the Marvel Cinematic Universe would keep him from ever being included. The hope is that the Merc With The Mouth's nature could help him in this arena. He's pretty far-removed from the franchise as is, and his fourth-wall breaking abilities make it easy enough for him to outwardly address the elephant in the room in a comedic way rather than having to create some elaborate plot to explain the situation.

Beyond the chance to potentially succeed doing something incredibly challenging, there doesn't seem to be much reason for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to absorb the current X-Men continuity. Doing so would only put the burden of its uneven and sometimes incomprehensible story lines into a universe that's been so well constructed, and basically the gold standard for a shared universe. What's so bad about starting fresh and introducing a rebooted batch of mutants that can carry us into the next decade and beyond? This is especially true when Marvel has story lines like Avengers vs. X-Men, which, while polarizing within the comic book world, would still be an absolute blast to see on the big screen. Plus imagine a future Avengers lineup that includes characters like Cyclops or Storm, or even a new Wolverine. Sure, there may never be another actor to play the character as well as Hugh Jackman, but we'll never know until Hollywood tries someone else.

Do you feel the same way, or do you think there is good reason why the X-Men movies franchise should exist as canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? You can feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section, and vote in our poll below. Dark Phoenix is due out in theaters June 7th, and New Mutants will be released August 2nd - and it's possible we'll have a much better idea of what the future holds for the X-Men then. Check out the latest international trailer in the meantime, and read what the director had to say about the film's delay.

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Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’s Ending Was Changed During Filming

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’s Ending Was Changed During Filming

Although it’s important for a script to be finished by the time a movie starts shooting, that doesn’t mean certain elements of the story won’t change during filming. In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s case, its ending went through various changes in the creative process, including as the cameras were rolling on the final installment of the Skywalker Saga. As Daisy Ridley recalled when asked how she found out about The Rise of Skywalker’s ending:

J.J. had told me and then I read the script, and then it was sort of shifting. The ending was always pretty similar, and then I was told there was a new, I guess, a slightly different beat added that I was told, which was awesome. Because it's nice to be told a thing, and then you can experience it with the filmmaker. But also, we don't always know how it's going to turn out. We did the thing on this side of the camera, but we don't know how it's going to turn out. So I'm as excited to see it as everyone else.

So going off what Daisy Ridley told Fox 32 anchor and ReelBlend cohost Jake Hamilton, while the overall scope of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s ending sounds like it will be the same as what J.J. Abrams told the actress who knows when, there were some minor adjustments made during the course of production. Even then, given that there’s still a lot of postproduction work to finish, plus any time that might be set aside for reshoots, maybe even more changes will be implemented.

Of course, given how secretive Disney and Lucasfilm are when it comes to upcoming Star Wars movies, even in comparison to other major film franchises, we probably won’t get any inkling of what Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s ending holds in store through advertising and marketing. Ideally after the movie has come out, Daisy Ridley, J.J. Abrams or someone else on the cast and crew will be forthcoming about how the final ending differed from what was originally put on paper.

Taking place approximately a year after the events of The Last Jedi, no specific plot details for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker have been revealed yet. That said, the trailer did reveal some interesting tidbits, like how the protagonists will be visiting a site containing some Death Star wreckage and that Emperor Palpatine will somehow fit into the proceedings.

Daisy Ridley’s Rey is joined by other familiar faces from the Star Wars movies, like John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker and Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian, while unused footage of Carrie Fisher from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi will allow Leia Organa to be included. As for new characters, Naomi Ackie’s Jannah will be along for the ride, as will Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant and Dominic Monaghan’s still-to-be-identified players.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20. If you’re interested in learning what else the Star Wars franchise has coming up, look through our handy guide, or browse through our 2019 release schedule to find out what movies not taking place in a galaxy far, far away are coming out this year.

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Chris Hemsworth Was Psyched To Work With Tessa Thompson Again For Men In Black International

Chris Hemsworth Was Psyched To Work With Tessa Thompson Again For Men In Black International

In the entertainment world, it isn't unique for collaborators to frequently work with each other. Directors Quentin Tarantino and Joss Whedon have employed the same actors time and time again, fostering an ongoing working relationship. And there's a new onscreen collab that's delighting audiences and those involved in nerd culture: Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth.

The pair of actors made a great combination in Thor: Ragnarok, as Valkyrie's attitude was a great foil to the title character's ego. Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth clearly had great chemistry, and made their enjoyment for each other on set known. The dynamic duo star in Men in Black International, and Hemsworth recently explained why he was so pleased to work with Thompson again. He said:

It is a gift, being able to have pre-established a chemistry, and not chew up a lot of shooting time getting to know each other and find each other’s rhythms. We were able to pick up where we left off and hit the ground running. It was a massive benefit.

Well, this makes sense. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson didn't have to start from scratch, and develop a give and take in Men in Black International. Instead, they could hit the ground running on set, and bring life to their respective Agents throughout the course of the upcoming blockbuster.

Chris Hemsworth's comments to The Hindu make a great deal of sense, and shows how grateful he was to work with his Thor: Ragnarok co-star in the upcoming Men in Black sequel. The trailers for the movie highlight this relationship, and the positive reaction to Ragnarok should only help build up the blockbuster's anticipation.

In Thor: Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie was a great foil to the title character. She reduced the God of Thunder to her prisoner with little effort, and didn't have any of the fancy royal attitude that we'd seen in other Asgardians. But she'd eventually reveal her vulnerability and trauma, and unite with Thor, Loki, Hulk, and Korg to take out Cate Blanchett's Hela.

Men in Black International looks like it might follow suit with Agents M and H. Tessa Thompson's M is a newcomer to the organization, after searching her whole life for the MIB. Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth's H is a high ranking agent with a major ego. Sound familiar? But it looks like the two new companions will compliment each other, and their teamwork will presumably save the galaxy throughout the course of the movie.

It should be interesting to see how Men in Black International does in theaters, and whether it kickstarts a new set of films. That would put Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson back in front of the camera together, likely resulting in more movie magic.

Related: Chris Hemsworth Is Definitely Interested In Making Thor An Asgardian Of The Galaxy

The two also shared a brief scene in Avengers: Endgame, with Valkyrie being named the ruler of New Asgard as Thor departed to head into space. If the Thor franchise ends up getting more life in Phase Four, perhaps we'll see yet another collaboration between the two actors.

Men in Black International will arrive in theaters on June 14, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Captain Marvel Just Crossed Another Box Office Milestone

Captain Marvel Just Crossed Another Box Office Milestone

When Captain Marvel hit theaters, it was far from a shock that the movie made money. That's pretty standard for Marvel Studios at this point. However, exactly how much money it was going to make, nobody could be quite sure. Nearly two months later, the answer is, quite a lot.

In its seventh weekend of release Captain Marvel hit another major box office milestone by breaking the $400 million mark in domestic box office totals. When combined with the nearly $700 million the movie has made overseas, that brings its global number to just short of $1.1 billion.

Captain Marvel actually made more money this past weekend than it did the weekend previous, even though it was on 300 fewer screens, coming in at over $9 million. It also jumped up to being the fourth highest grossing movie of the weekend. It's never been lower than the sixth spot since it opened.

Basically, Marvel has owned the box office for the last two months, and that's not going to stop with Avengers: Endgame set to debut this Friday.

Considering how strongly Captain Marvel is still performing, it will be interesting to see how the movie performs next weekend. Many of those who have been going to see Captain Marvel may be doing so to make sure they're caught up on the MCU before Endgame hits. Once it does, all attention will probably shift there.

It makes one wonder if Marvel Studios is currently wishing it had released Captain Marvel earlier in the year so that it could have made even more money before Endgame came out. The movie is only $12 million short of overtaking Wonder Woman at the domestic box office. It might have had an easier time doing that without another Marvel movie to compete against.

While Captain Marvel hasn't done nearly as well as Black Panther did domestically last year, the newer film has a slight edge over Panther internationally. Either way, both movies have been tremendous hits. Captain Marvel is the highest grossing movie of the year both domestically and internationally by a wide margin. While that will almost certainly change over the next couple of weeks, Marvel will be more than happy to see its current number one replaced by its new number one.

The fact that Captain Marvel not only started strong but has had legs that have kept it going for the last two months is great news for Marvel. While we still have no idea what's in store for us in the next phase of the MCU, the expectation is that Captain Marvel as a character will be a big part of the future, the fact that the movie has done so well is an indication that the audience is on board with that idea.

And since Captain Marvel as a character will still be a part of Avengers: Endgame, the character will be at the center of the two highest grossing movies of the year very soon.

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With Disney And Fox's Merger Official, What Happens To These X-Men Movies?

With Disney And Fox's Merger Official, What Happens To These X-Men Movies?

Well folks, it’s officially official, Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox and all its properties is complete, meaning that the X-Men have returned home and now belong under the same corporate umbrella as the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Naturally this now begins a fan countdown to some unknown future date when we see the mutants standing across from the Avengers on the big screen.

That reportedly won’t happen until 2021 at the earliest, but the X-Men will not remain completely stagnant from now until then. This June brings what will presumably be the last of Fox’s mainline X-Men films with Dark Phoenix; and The New Mutants is supposed to arrive this year, but when and where it arrives are open questions. Nevertheless, those aren’t the only two mutant properties that Fox was working on when it came across a particularly hungry mouse named Mickey.

Fox was developing multiple X-Men movies, some for quite a while, in an effort to continue to broaden the universe, but with everything now owned by Disney, there is an open question as to what will happen with those titles or whether they will get scrapped entirely. Read on as we look at some of the X-Men movies that were in development and talk out what could happen to them.

Gambit

Gambit has been in development for years with Channing Tatum set to star as the ragin’ Cajun. Given Tatum’s involvement, Gambit seemed like a priority among the X-Men projects and at one point was expected to have a $150 million budget. It always seemed like Gambit was getting close to production, only to never escape development hell. Over the years Gambit has gone through multiple directors, starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt, then Edge of Tomorrow’s Doug Liman, then Pirates of the Caribbean’s Gore Verbinski.

The film was, at different points, a mutant mob movie, and according to Simon Kinberg, something with elements of a romantic comedy. As of last year, Gambit was set to film in February and was schedule for release this June. That didn’t happen and that won’t happen. With a serious case of director curse, earlier this year we heard that Channing Tatum might want to helm the movie himself. So what happens now?

Late last year Simon Kinberg said that like the rest of the X-Men movies, Fox was continuing to work on Gambit prior to the closure of the Disney deal. That said, this project has had nothing but problems. With Channing Tatum’s interest, Disney may still want to keep him on board, but the film would probably undergo some changes. Gambit is a fan favorite character and Disney will want to take advantage of that and maybe even have Tatum play the character in an ensemble X-Men film in the MCU. I expect Gambit to show up eventually, but when, in what capacity and who will be playing him are unclear for now.

X-23

In Fox’s 19-year history making X-Men movies, 2017’s Oscar-nominated Logan stands among the very best. That film introduced Dafne Keen’s Laura, codename X-23, a ferocious mini-Wolverine who seemed poised to take the mantle from Hugh Jackman’s iconic hero.

For a brief time it seemed like that was the idea. Fox had interest in a possible spinoff solo film starring the character and Logan director James Mangold talked about the possibility and what such a film would be about. However, talk of this film has been quiet for a while and it seems extremely unlikely that solo film will still happen given its seemingly nascent stage of development. If it wasn't dead before, it may be a casualty of the Disney deal.

That’s not to say the character, if not Dafne Keen, could make her way to the MCU someday. Hugh Jackman left massive shoes to fill and Marvel could opt to go a different route and introduce X-23 first to put more distance between whoever plays Weapon X next and the actor who so defined the role on screen.

Kitty Pryde

One of the most curious X-Men films Fox was working on is one we first heard about a little over a year ago. Deadpool director Tim Miller was set to helm a mystery project called 143 with Marvel Comics legend Brian Michael Bendis set to write the script. We later learned that 143 was a reference to Uncanny X-Men 143, a story that focused on Kitty Pryde A.K.A. Shadowcat as she fought off a demon while alone in the X-Mansion on Christmas.

Given the talent involved and the small scale story, this project sounded really cool and different than what we’ve seen before in this universe. We don’t know exactly where the Kitty Pryde movie stands now. Tim Miller is in post-production on Terminator: Dark Fate and could presumably tackle 143 after. Back in February, Bendis said that he was still working on the script and he seemed excited about it, but it should be noted this was before the closure of the Disney-Fox deal.

Like the rest of the X-Men films outside of Deadpool, 143 is up in the air at the moment. It doesn’t seem like it would fit with Disney’s big MCU type approach to superhero films, but we don’t know what the plans are for the X-Men or Phase 4, so that could change. Honestly, with the MCU content coming to Disney+, this sounds like a perfect project for that service, or Hulu, if it works with Disney’s plans.

X-Force

The success of the first Deadpool opened up a whole new world of possibility. That possibility began to be realized with Deadpool 2. That film partially setup a future R-rated X-Force movie from Drew Goddard. We know that Deadpool himself will be making the jump to Disney, although not necessarily the MCU. Disney is in the business of making money and the Merc with a Mouth makes a lot of it.

So, Deadpool is safe, he’s even on Disney’s website and he will remain rated R. As for his superteam, their future is less certain. Deadpool and X-Force co-creator Rob Liefeld recently said that the X-Force movie has been cancelled, a victim of the Disney-Fox deal. But, Rob Liefeld is not necessarily an authority on what is going on in the executive offices of Disney, so he could be wrong.

If Disney is keeping Deadpool and its rating, I don’t know what the justification would be for cancelling X-Force, unless Disney just wanted to take time to figure out what the plan is with Deadpool, how it will be branded and such. I wouldn’t rule out an X-Force movie down the line, though, because if Disney is in the Deadpool business, X-Force would provide some variety beyond Deadpool 3. And Drew Goddard did just ink a new deal with Disney.

Multiple Man

In late 2017, we heard that Fox was developing a Multiple Man movie with Simon Kinberg producing and James Franco set to star as the mutant with cloning abilities. Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg was set to write the script for the film.

We haven’t heard much since that announcement other than Simon Kinberg mentioning that the script was being worked on about six months ago. But Simon Kinberg has always been very savvy in this whole Disney-Fox deal, basically saying that everything is still happening and in the works. With the Disney-Fox deal now closed, that may no longer prove true.

This is just speculation based on the most recently available information about these projects. The truth is, we don't have access to a Cerebro and there are far more questions than answers when it comes to the future of the X-Men and many properties now that they are under the Disney banner. The X-Men are destined for the MCU at some point, so whether it is these films or not, mutant lovers will have plenty to look forward to.

For movies you can look forward to this year, check out our 2019 Release Schedule.

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