Apparently Robert Downey Jr. Didn’t Want To Do Tony Stark’s Last Big Line In Avengers: Endgame

Apparently Robert Downey Jr. Didn’t Want To Do Tony Stark’s Last Big Line In Avengers: Endgame

The following story contains massive spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. Stop reading now if you haven’t yet seen the movie.

It was the very last scene that Joe and Anthony Russo shot for Avengers: Endgame. For all that they know, it might go down as the last thing they ever filmed in the MCU. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), staring at Thanos (Josh Brolin) and snapping his fingers, reducing the Mad Titan and all of his minions to dust.

It was a reshoot. And according to the brothers, it almost didn’t happen. During a recent conversation the ReelBlend podcast had with Joe and Anthony Russo about the making of Avengers: Endgame, they revealed how the pivotal shot came about … and how it almost didn’t happen. Let’s start with Joe Russo, who told ReelBlend:

It’s an interesting story. I had dinner with [Robert Downey Jr.] like two weeks before we were supposed to shoot it. And he was like, ‘I don’t know. I don’t really want to go back and get into that emotional state. It’ll take… it’s hard.’ And crazily enough, Joel Silver, the producer, was at the dinner. He’s an old buddy of Robert’s. And Joel jumps in and he’s like, ‘Robert, what are you talking about? That’s the greatest line I’ve ever heard! You gotta say this line! You have to do this!’ So thank God that Joel Silver was at dinner, because he helped us talk Robert into doing that line.

That’s incredible that the sequence of Tony’s snap, and the perfect line delivery, is a reshoot that the brothers didn’t originally have during the initial production. They always knew they needed a reply to Thanos. But it took them a few tries before they landed on the right reply. As the brother recalled to ReelBlend:

Anthony Russo: Originally when he snapped, he didn’t say, ‘I am Iron Man.’ The idea came up while we were in post production. Our editor, Jeff Ford…

Joe Russo: We were sitting on our editorial, and we were reworking that sequence, and Thanos says ‘I am inevitable.’ And we were like, ‘We need a response to that. What is the response to that?’ And our editor said, ‘What about I am Iron Man?’ And we were like, ‘That’s it!’

Anthony: We must shoot that, we have to shoot that!

I knew this story when I went back to see Avengers: Endgame for my third time. And sure enough, knowing this, it looks like a reshot scene, though you’d never know unless you knew to look out for it. It’s such a monumental moment of sacrifice, a tragic and heroic act that redefines the legacy of Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it’s the idea callback to the final line of Jon Favreau’s first Iron Man movie.

As it turns out, though, the logistics of the reshoot also turned into an historic callback. As Anthony Russo elaborated to ReelBlend:

And we did that shot at a studio in Los Angeles called Raleigh Studios. And the stage that we shot that shot on was adjacent to the stage where Robert Downey Jr. screen tested for Iron Man.

Chills. Goosebumps. Nerd tears.

You have to listen to all of the amazing stories like this one, told by Joe and Anthony Russo on our ReelBlend podcast. This one is truly special, if you are a Marvel fans.

Having the Russos on ReelBlend was an amazing accomplishment for us, and we are thrilled that they took the time out of their incredibly busy schedule to talk about the making of the biggest film in our lifetimes. The movie continues to destroy at the box office, setting new records left and right. And now we know some incredible behind-the-scenes trivia facts about the making of, and we hope you enjoyed it.

ReelBlend is a weekly podcast hosted by Sean O’Connell, Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton. Find it on your normal podcast portals, and give us a subscribe if you liked what you heard here today.

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The Twilight Franchise Had The Perfect Response To Robert Pattinson’s Possible Batman Role

The Twilight Franchise Had The Perfect Response To Robert Pattinson’s Possible Batman Role

Robert Pattinson… we know who you are. Alright, I’ll say it out loud. He’s Batman! The 32-year-old actor best known for his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight films is reportedly closing a deal with Warner Bros to play the next Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Meaning it's time to dust off those coffin cobwebs and get out all those Twilight related references. Even the Twilight Saga itself couldn’t resist commenting on social media. Take a look:

Good one! Since the series of films centered on Bella Swan’s love triangle between a sparkly vampire and a shirtless sometimes-werewolf, the fandom was always divided between Team Edward and Team Jacob respectively. With this casting news, the franchise is showing its support for Robert Pattinson’s new high-profile role on Twitter.

The actor has been rumored as one of potential Bruce Wayne’s for the upcoming DC film for a few months following Ben Affleck officially stepping down from the role at the beginning of the year. It should be noted that Warner Bros has not officially announced Robert Pattinson as the next Batman, and other reports name Nicholas Hoult also among the shortlist for the role, but the studio hasn’t denied the news since it broke on Thursday evening.

Robert Pattinson’s fame may have kicked off with a franchise heavily criticized and loathed by the public, he has since showed off his acting chops in indie projects including Good Time, High Life and The Lost City of Z. Not everyone is willing to see past his early work, as a petition for his casting has already made its way on the internet. An insignificant number of people have signed it so far and are based off passing judgements that dismiss the vision of Matt Reeves.

The filmmaker is behind the last two Planet of the Apes films and is currently polishing the final draft of the script for The Batman. He’ll also direct the superhero flick that is said to embrace the noir elements of the comics and see the Caped Crusader really utilize his detective skills. The Batman will also reportedly feature a rogues gallery of villains, with the Penguin reportedly at the forefront of them.

Robert Pattinson has said he’s “been a little wary of doing big movies for years and years,” but then Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie came his way. Pattinson is set to star in the Dark Knight filmmaker’s action blockbuster in 2020 with Elizabeth Debicki and John David Washington. Maybe he figured he’s doing a big movie already, why not go for another? What if Nolan himself played a part in endorsing or convincing the actor to take on the Bat!

The Batman is expected to begin filming within the year and arrive to theaters on June 25, 2021. Are you Team Bruce after this casting news? Let us know in the comments below.

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Why Captain Marvel Crushed At The Box Office

Why Captain Marvel Crushed At The Box Office

It’s a familiar refrain, ‘X superhero movie made X amount of dollars in a huge opening weekend.’ We are over a decade, arguably almost two, into the comic book movie boom and it is common knowledge that superhero movies make a lot of money, those from the Marvel Cinematic Universe especially so. Yet the predictable nature of these successes does not make them any less impressive, and sometimes a movie surprises us, surpassing even the loftiest of expectations and thus warranting further examination.

It happened with Black Panther and Aquaman last year and now it is happening with Captain Marvel.

This is not to say that Captain Marvel will reach the heights of those aforementioned films, it’s far too early to tell, but it is off to an incredible start. Captain Marvel obliterated the most optimistic forecasts, rocketing to $153 million domestically in its opening weekend. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) was an international hit as well. The movie earned $302 million overseas for a worldwide opening weekend of $455 million according to Deadline.

Those numbers are good enough for the 6th highest global debut of all time, the biggest March opening ever and the 2nd biggest worldwide opening for the MCU and superhero movies overall. So how did Captain Marvel go higher, further and faster than so many films before it to crush at the box office? Here are some ideas.

Avengers: Infinity War’s End-Credits Scene

Captain Marvel has not historically been an A-list character, and anecdotally, I don’t think she enjoyed the same cultural cachet or name recognition prior to her MCU debut of any of her forbearers save the Guardians of the Galaxy. So what did Marvel do? It gave her the ball in the red zone, a running start, a softball to knock out of the park via the end-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War.

Captain Marvel really couldn’t have been teed up better than it was thanks to that end-credits scene, which came on the heels of the most jaw-dropping, cliffhanger-y ending to the biggest superhero movie ever. Thanos had snapped his fingers and the Decimation scattered half our heroes to the winds, we were looking for answers and most importantly, hope.

That hope came when Nick Fury, in his dying act, when the hour was most late, called out for help using a strange pager that showed a symbol unfamiliar to many. That symbol was Captain Marvel’s and whether the majority of audiences knew that or not at the time, they probably found out and only became more curious to see the debut of the hero that could be the key to defeating Thanos.

That made Captain Marvel necessary viewing for Avengers: Endgame (although maybe audiences should have paid more attention to Ant-Man and the Wasp). It’s kind of remarkable that the Captain Marvel trailers and marketing didn’t lean into this by beginning with Nick Fury’s page, but it is clear that it didn’t matter.

Captain Marvel Is A New Hero

The MCU has grown by leaps and bounds since it began in 2008 but it still largely revolves around the same core group of characters. And while we love Black Widow, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the rest, it is always exciting when a new hero gets introduced. It’s like unlocking a new character in a fighting game, we’re eager to see who they are and what they can do.

The introduction of new characters acts like a soft reset for the universe, like a new coat of paint or a software update, opening up new storytelling possibilities and different permutations for how they will interact with existing pieces. When that character is a new female hero leading her own movie, displaying powers we haven’t seen before, it feels fresh and different and that’s exciting for audiences.

Moreover, there is a reason that superhero movies go back to the well of origin stories so often, and that’s because they work and audiences love them. The last time we got a big new hero being introduced with their own solo movie in the MCU was last year’s Black Panther and before that in 2017 with Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Both of those characters were introduced first in Captain America: Civil War and their successes and the opening weekend of Captain Marvel shows that audiences are ready to meet new characters and see this universe expand. And that’s a good sign with many established characters likely leaving the universe as we head into Phase 4 and new ones take up their mantles.

The Release Date

As is the case with most MCU movies, Captain Marvel entered the weekend unopposed by any other major studio releases, so competition was null. More than that though, Captain Marvel came into the marketplace at a time when audiences were thirsting for a new blockbuster. The first two months of the year have not exactly been full of movies that have forced audiences to brave the winter cold.

Despite wonderful family friendly animated fare like The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World hitting theaters, they don’t really motivate mass audiences to go to the theater the way a live-action, PG-13 tentpole does. The only real movie that could qualify as a blockbuster in the same vein as the MCU flick is Alita: Battle Angel, which sadly didn’t have the power of the Marvel brand behind and was somewhat ignored by domestic audiences, despite being, I would argue, a better movie.

So audiences were ready and waiting for something like Captain Marvel to hit theaters and specifically they were waiting for an MCU film. In a lesson Star Wars could learn from, Captain Marvel arrived 3 months since the last big superhero film Aquaman; 8 months since the last MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp and nearly a year since Avengers: Infinity War.

That build up since our last visit to the MCU meant that the public was eager to return and Captain Marvel arrived just in time to get us ready for Avengers: Endgame. Arriving on International Women’s Day was also a nice touch.

The Marvel Brand

Success breeds success and there is no more successful brand at the multiplex right now than Marvel Studios. Marvel movies crush at the box office both domestically and overseas and thanks to Captain Marvel’s performance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon cross $18 billion at the box office over 21 films.

This level of unprecedented success isn’t just a result of the quality or entertainment value of the individual films themselves, it is the achievement of the Marvel brand. The MCU is more than the sum of its parts and audiences turn up on opening weekend because it is a Marvel movie. The Marvel name is a trusted one among general audiences, a guarantee of quality and entertainment regardless of what hero gets top billing.

That’s why nothing is really a gamble for Marvel anymore. The days when it was feared that Guardians of the Galaxy might be too obscure and weird to succeed are long gone. Marvel can take perceived risks with its films, like its first female-led superhero film with a lesser-known character because it’s not really a risk with the Marvel name attached.

That Marvel name also lets audiences know that this is the next chapter in the cinematic television series that is the MCU. Skipping out on Captain Marvel would be like missing an episode in a serialized television show. You have to see it because you want to be part of the conversation and see how this impacts things moving forward.

Captain Marvel Offered Something Different

The last reason I think Captain Marvel is crushing at the box office is because of all the things that it brings to the table that seem to set it apart from what’s come before. Captain Marvel herself is a new hero and this is Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie and that’s exciting but this film also offered us smaller things that may have appealed and enticed audiences to come to the theater.

For one the Skrulls and their shape-shifting ability offered a new type of villain in these movies and something that looked like it could be a lot of fun, as the battle with granny Skrull on the train in the trailers showed.There is also the fact that this is Marvel’s first film set in this time period. Many of the people who went to see this film may have lived through or grown up in the 1990s and have some affinity and nostalgic sentiment towards that decade.

Lastly, this film featured some strong supporting players. Audiences have been following Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury since 2008 and we all wanted to see him be in a buddy cop movie with Carol Danvers and find out how he lost his eye. Plus Goose, I mean come on; featuring the cat in the marketing was a smart play.

These elements may be superficial and ultimately Captain Marvel feels like fairly standard superhero origin story stuff, but it doesn’t matter because it looked different and interesting enough for people to show up and help it crush at the box office.

Whatever the reason for its success, Captain Marvel's debut has gotten the MCU's year off to a great start ahead of the all-important Avengers: Endgame next month and it is a positive sign that Carol Danvers can be one of the faces of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the years to come.

Captain Marvel is now playing. Check out what we thought of the film and what ticket you should buy when you see it. For everything else you can look forward to this year, take a look at our 2019 Release Schedule.

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The Cool Wonder Woman Comic Memory That Inspired Brie Larson Growing Up

The Cool Wonder Woman Comic Memory That Inspired Brie Larson Growing Up

On paper, comic book (and comic-book movie) fans have established a rivalry between Marvel and DC. Sure, they compete in the same space, but the “rivalry” is largely overstated, with both companies often finding inspiration in each other – and admitting that healthy competition often brings out the best in each other. Even Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige admits frequently on the record that he wants all comic book movies to succeed, because it benefits the industry.

Brie Larson is taking a page from that shared-inspiration playbook. When we spoke with Larson at the Captain Marvel press junket, we asked about comics that inspired her interpretation of Captain Marvel, expecting her to discuss a love for Stan Lee, Jim Starlin or Kelly Sue DeConnick (an inspiration for the screenplay of the new movie). However, Larson took a left turn and mentioned a love of Wonder Woman growing up that led to her finding the right balance for Carol Danvers. Larson told CinemaBlend:

There was a series where she was fighting in Mount Olympus and then would get that work done in time to go back to Earth and do a book signing. And there was something about that dynamic that really stuck with me my whole life. Like, ‘I want that!’ I want to be up in the clouds, and I also want to be down on Earth. I feel like that’s still who I am.

Ah, the concept of a dual identity. World-saving hero in one moment, ground human being the next. That does seem to be a signature of some of our favorite comic book personas, be it mild-mannered Clark Kent, or the bookish newspaper photographer Peter Parker. They often are able to escape from their “heroism” by disappearing into mundane existences. Many wouldn’t mistake them for superheroes, and yet, they are the ones putting their lives on the line when duty calls.

We haven’t yet seen Captain Marvel, so we don’t know how normal Carol Danvers will appear when she isn’t battling alongside the Kree. We know that part of her mission her on Earth will be sniffing out shape-shifting Skrulls, but how much down time does an adventure like that provide?

While you wait to see Captain Marvel, here’s Brie Larson talking about how one of DC’s biggest heroes helped her shape Marvel’s latest on-screen leader:

Captain Marvel is the next big MCU movie, and the last one to drop before Joe and Anthony Russo conclude Thanos’ storyline in Avengers: Endgame. It continues the cosmic storylines of the MCU, and potentially opens the doors to new worlds where movies can explore. It starts screening in theaters on Thursday, March 7. Are you going?

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Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

In the years since she made her professional acting debut in a 2005 episode of Cold Case, Tessa Thompson has seen her star rise to incredible heights. Recurring roles on television shows like Veronica Mars, Heroes, and Detroit 1-8-7 eventually led to leading parts in impressive features, and now she's at a point where she is concurrently starring in three different major franchises. Thanks to years of dedicated and outstanding work, her name now carries a significant amount of clout in the industry – and it’s something of which she’s not only aware, but using responsibly.

This brings us to her new film, Little Woods: the feature debut from writer/director Nia DaCosta. It’s an example of a smaller production that’s garnered more attention because of the cast involved – the ensemble also including Lily James, Lance Reddick, and James Badge Dale – but it should also be noted that Tessa Thompson’s involvement goes beyond just her part as the story’s protagonist. The movie also sees her credited as an executive producer for the first time, and as I recently learned during an interview, it’s a reflection of her desire to become more hands on with the projects that she chooses. Thompson explained,

[Nia DaCosta and I] got on and had a familiarity really quickly, and she was very generous because I was sort of at a point where I wanted to be more than just a cog in something moving. If I was going attach myself to projects and I was passionate about them, I'm someone that sort of looks at the whole picture and thinks really macro. So it became clear to me that I wanted to start producing, and really be integral to the project.

Following its world premiere last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, Little Woods will be getting a limited theatrical release this week, and in advance of the screenings I recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Tessa Thompson and Nia DaCosta together to talk about the film. Through our conversation I learned that Thompson was actually one of the first people to sign on to be a part of the movie, and what started as a simple leading role opportunity eventually expanded and led to her debut as an executive producer.

Continuing, Tessa Thompson acknowledged that she is currently at a place in her career where she can help support projects that might otherwise not have the opportunity to be made – and that very much includes movies like Little Woods, which is a dark, original indie drama with a female lead that tackles many prescient issues and themes (I can guarantee there aren’t too many of those currently playing at your local cineplex). At the same time, though, she also noted how important it was to let Nia DaCosta make the movie she wanted to make and not invade the creative process too much:

Particularly when you get to a place where you can help finance a thing, then you want to be able to talk about what the thing is in real robust ways. So [Nia DaCosta] and the producers were really generous letting me come on as an EP, so we continued to work through that. It was really cool through the cut, and at a certain point I was like, 'It's yours.' I can't give notes. It's not my movie, and I see myself and I'm like, 'I don't know - just do another take where I don't have a double chin.' Like, ‘I can't talk about this movie in an intelligible way, so it's yours now.’ (laughs)

Obviously that’s dripping with humorous self-deprecation, but Nia DaCosta followed up by stressing the reality of Tessa Thompson’s impact as a collaborator on the movie – particularly when it came to her specific role. The filmmaker noted that she puts a lot of stock in the perspectives of her actors, and through the production relied on Thompson to make the character as authentic and consistent as possible. Said DaCosta, talking directly to her star,

You also asked lots of questions, and there's always a moment for me personally where you kind of hand the character over because it's like someone checking your work, you know what I mean? It's asking questions like 'What's this?' and tracking the character - who this person is, who this person was before, and who they might be afterwards.

Based on an original screenplay by Nia DaCosta, Little Woods tells the story of two sisters, Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and Deb (Lily James), living in North Dakota trying to make ends meet and take care of the people they love. Unfortunately, things start to snowball in a bad way when they learn not only that their mother’s house is facing foreclosure, but that Deb is pregnant. While Ollie is still on probation following a past arrest, she finds herself forced back into the business of illegally running pills across the Canadian border in order to make the money that she needs, and in doing so risks everything that she has and wants in life.

Distributed by Neon, Little Woods will be playing in limited theaters starting this Friday, April 19th – and you can be sure that we’ll be hearing a lot more about Tessa Thompson productions and new Nia DaCosta movies in the years to come.

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Jeremy Renner Says The Cast Was 'Just As Surprised' Over Avengers: Endgame’s Story

Jeremy Renner Says The Cast Was 'Just As Surprised' Over Avengers: Endgame’s Story

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

Normally it’s no issue for filmmakers to provide the actors performing in a movie the entire script, but not so with Avengers: Endgame. With the exception of Robert Downey Jr., none of the Endgame stars were given the full script for the latest explosive MCU movie. So when it came time to watch the movie in its entirety, according to Jeremy Renner, they were as surprised about the progression of events as the general audience. As he put it:

We were all just as surprised after seeing the movie. We’re watching it as fans.

Actors appearing in blockbusters are always told by the studios to stay quiet about spoilers, but Marvel wasn’t taking any chances with Avengers: Endgame. In addition giving the standard warnings about not spilling the beans on any big plot details, they also weren’t given full context for the scenes they were performing in. I also suspect Mark Ruffalo wasn’t the only one who was given some dummy scenes to act out.

It probably feels novel for an actor to watch a movie they were in for the first time and not know exactly how events were going to unfold. Judging by Jeremy Renner’s comment to TODAY, it sounds like he and his costars got a kick out of learning all of Avengers: Endgame’s specific beats at the same time as people who weren’t involved with the movie.

No doubt it was hard to for Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo to hide full context for everything that was shot. For instance, with Tony Stark’s funeral, there’s really no way to make that scene play out as if it were a different event. That said, perhaps the scene was filmed differently a few times with the identity of the deceased individual changed each time to ensure that the actors didn’t know with absolute certainty who was dying in Endgame’s climactic conflict.

The First Draft Of Avengers: Endgame Was Originally Very Different

In any case, while Avengers: Endgame isn’t the final entry of Phase 3, it did close out the Infinity Saga, which has been running since Iron Man kicked off the MCU in 2008. The movie marked Jeremy Renner’s fifth appearance as Hawkeye, and one could argue that he got one of the happiest endings in the movie since he was reunited with his wife and kids five years after they were dusted.

While there don’t appear to be any plans for Hawkeye to appear in another Marvel movie in the near future, his time in the MCU might not be done just yet. It was reported earlier this month that Disney+ has a Hawkeye series in development, which will see Clint Barton passing on the superheroic archery mantle to Kate Bishop, who also goes by Hawkeye in the comics.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Avengers: Endgame and keep checking back for more news about the movie. You can also keep track of what movies are coming out later this year in our 2019 release schedule.

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Bradley Whitford Is The MVP Of Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

Bradley Whitford Is The MVP Of Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

Warning: SPOILERS for Godzilla: King of the Monsters are in play. If you haven’t seen the film yet, bookmark this page until you’re caught up.

There were quite a few new Titans introduced to audiences in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. But in addition to those monsters, a lot of new human friends were introduced to us along the way through the film’s focus on Monarch and its organizational chaos.

Out of all of the folks making their MonsterVerse debut in director Michael Dougherty’s addition to the Godzilla canon, there’s one that I think is the MVP of the film, without question. After seeing the film twice, I cannot recommend more enthusiastically that Bradley Whitford’s Dr. Rick Stanton be named the official champion of the already impressive supporting cast of human characters.

Now this isn’t putting down any of the work done by any of the other fine actors, returning or debuting, in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as there’s one hell of a character roster with an equally impressive cast to back it up. But if we’re going for someone who both made a huge impression, as well as helped draw the mythos of the MonsterVerse in greater detail, Bradley Whitford’s Dr. Stanton is the guy who comes through like a hero. Here are some big reasons why:

Rick Is The Perfect Surrogate For The Audience

Wading through a world of Titans and men isn’t easy, especially if you’re a human in such a world. Even if you’re an experienced viewer in the Godzilla universe, there’s quite a bit to take in with this brand new interpretation of the mythos.

As Dr. Rick Stanton is positioned as both a scientific expert and a grade-A smart-ass, he’s in the perfect place to appeal to both newbie and expert who sit down to see Godzilla: King of the Monsters. One moment, he’s reacting a serious crisis with readings and vital information, and the next he’s cracking jokes about having Godzilla in for beers or how he’d rather avoid radioactive materials in the name of preserving any future offspring.

Many of the other characters in the film, such as Kyle Chandler’s Mark Russell or even Charles Dance’s villainous Colonel Alan Jonah, are stoic figures that push the events that need to happen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters so that Godzilla vs. Kong and the rest of the MonsterVerse goes off without a hitch. But with Dr. Stanton firmly in place between those temperaments, its easy to keep the audience invested with someone asking the same sorts of questions they’d be thinking up in their seats.

Dr. Stanton’s Sense Of Humor Helps Move The Film Along

Circling back to Rick’s sense of humor, it’s also extremely helpful to have someone who isn’t afraid to help move the story along with some quick wit. And as Bradley Whitford is given a lot of opportunities as Dr. Stanton to lighten the mood, it assists in not only moving along the heavier moments, but also the entirety of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Think of the movie as a plate of food, with the Titan action as the meat and the human story as the potatoes that compliment said meat. There obviously needs to be seasoning in order to help everything mesh together, and that ingredient comes from the personalities of characters like Dr. Rick Stanton. With Rick dropping quips in-between moments of legitimate backstory and exposition, it just makes everything move easier in a film that already has a pretty well paced clip.

It also helps that Bradley Whitford happens to get some of the most sarcastic roles in Hollywood to begin with, be it in heroic and kinder parts like Josh Lyman on The West Wing or in his various villainous turns in films like Get Out and Billy Madison. So not only are you given a good dose of humor to help keep the Titan-ic story of Godzilla: King of the Monsters fresh as ever, you have a comedic assassin delivering lines that kill from the trailer to the final cut.

His Backstory Helps Tie Kong: Skull Island Into The Universe

While it’s merely hinted at in the film, Dr. Rick Stanton has a huge connection to the events of Kong: Skull Island. The connection mentioned during Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the fact that Rick is a fan of the “Dr. Brooks’ Hollow Earth Theory,” which alludes to his knowledge of Dr. Houston Brooks’ work.

Houston shows up not only in Kong: Skull Island, played by Corey Hawkins, but he also appears in this film in the Mothra cocoon scene, as portrayed by Joe Morton. But as noted in his official Monarch biography, Dr. Stanton is actually a colleague of Dr. Brooks, as they both worked for LandSat, the company that was present for the secret mapping mission in Kong: Skull Island.

Said mission intrigued Rick earlier in his career, and as he got more familiar with Houston’s role in the venture. This in turn lead to an introduction to Dr. Serizawa, and then his work as Monarch’s big time Crypto-Sonographer.

He Could Also Be The Best Link To The Future Of The Franchise

At the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, we’re told about expeditions that Monarch is carrying out as part of researching “The Hollow Earth.” Now you have to know that whether it’s spelt out or not, Dr. Rick Stanton would sign up for those missions in a heartbeat, leaving him to be a potentially strong link into the events of Godzilla vs. Kong.

On top of that, if Dr. Stanton volunteers to go on one of these missions, his good friend Dr. Houston Brooks would undoubtedly be joining those expeditions as well, as his work is crucial to the Hollow Earth Theory. Which means that the friendship between these characters could see Bradley Whitford and Joe Morton’s characters stealing the screen together in Godzilla vs. Kong, or any other project their storyline would be present for.

Should this come to pass, and frankly there’s no reason it shouldn’t, having Bradley Whitford and Joe Morton playing off of each other would be a hell of an exciting prospect. Not to mention, if this isn’t something Godzilla vs. Kong explores, then you have a compelling side-story/short film that could be used to help flesh out the further MonsterVerse. And you know Dr. Stanton would have a hell of a riff on the debate to whether Godzilla is a male or female Titan.

If you haven’t given Godzilla: King of the Monsters a shot, we hope we haven’t spoiled too much of the film for you. But it has to be said that with his comedic timing and his ability to deliver gags, as well as pseudo-scientific information and readings, Bradley Whitford really is the MVP of the MonsterVerse’s latest chapter. He is a valuable asset in a cast full of heavy hitters, and no matter where this film franchise goes next, Dr. Rick Stanton should be along for the ride.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is in theaters now, with Godzilla vs. Kong set to make its debut on March 13, 2020. If you’ve looking for excitement in-between those two dates, let our 2019 release schedule be your guide to adventure and merriment.

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