James Gunn And Michael Rooker May Be Re-Teaming For Suicide Squad 2

James Gunn And Michael Rooker May Be Re-Teaming For Suicide Squad 2

James Gunn and Michael Rooker have already worked together once in the superhero realm through the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. While Rooker’s time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is over, now that Gunn is also lending his talents to the DC Extended Universe, it’s looking like these two might get to reunite in Suicide Squad 2, a.k.a. The Suicide Squad.

According to The Wrap, Michael Rooker is currently in talks to play King Shark in Suicide Squad 2. He’s been a part of the officially-designated Task Force X in recent years, particularly during the New 52 era, and it was reported last week that he’s one of the characters that will make up the team when it returns to the big screen.

Introduced in 1994’s Superboy #0, King Shark, a.k.a. Nanaue, is said to be the son of the Shark God, and he flip-flops between being a straight-up super villain and a tragic anti-hero. His abilities include superhuman physical attributes across the board, breathing underwater, enhanced senses, a regenerative healing factor and, of course, razor-sharp teeth.

Outside of the comics, King Shark’s most prominent appearance has been on The Flash, where he was originally a marine biologist named Shay Lamden who was transformed by the particle accelerator explosion on Earth-2. King Shark has also popped up in DC Super Hero Girls, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Batman: Assault on Arkham. He was originally supposed to appear in 2016’s Suicide Squad, but he was eventually replaced by Killer Croc.

Joining Suicide Squad 2 would allow Michael Rooker to keep up his streak of acting in all the movies James Gunn has directed. Along with his time as Yondu, Rooker is also well-known for playing Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead, and his recent projects include appearing two episodes of True Detective and starring in the upcoming Fantasy Island movie from Blumhouse.

Although it was initially described as a ‘total reboot,’ Suicide Squad 2 will still be tied to the previous Suicide Squad movie, as evidenced by the return of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. However, the better term for this movie is ‘relaunch,’ as it will mostly feature a brand-new cast of characters.

Assuming Michael Rooker finalizes a deal for Suicide Squad 2, he would join Idris Elba, David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior as one of the new faces. Elba was originally supposed to replace Will Smith as Deadshot, but he’ll now play a new character, while Dastmalchian and Melchior have been tapped to play Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher, respectively. John Cena is also being eyed to portray Peacemaker.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for word on if Michael Rooker does indeed join Suicide Squad 2, as well as any other major updates on the project. If you’re curious about what other DC movies are currently in development, look through our handy guide.

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New Dark Phoenix Clip Has The Mutants Debating What To Do With Jean

New Dark Phoenix Clip Has The Mutants Debating What To Do With Jean

It's no secret that comic book movies are everywhere. The superhero genre has been dominating the filmmaking world for years, with a variety of studios working on their own cinematic universes. But the X-Men franchise was there before any of it, dating back to the original film's release in 2000. The long-running property looks like it's coming to an end with Simon Kinberg's Dark Phoenix, the whopping 12th film in the series.

Dark Phoenix is the X-Men franchise's second go at the titular comic book plot, putting Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner in the spotlight as Jean Grey. Jean's terrifying cosmic power will divide the mutants after they take over her body and mind, and a new clip teased that coming conflict. Check it out.

Does anyone else have chills? Despite the X-Men's long tenure in theaters, it looks like new ground is being broken with Dark Phoenix. And Jean Grey's struggle with the Phoenix Force will also cause new alliances to be formed

This new Dark Phoenix clip shows the mutants in Central Park. It looks like Jean has traveled to New York City during her conflict with the Phoenix Force, and both the X-Men and Brotherhood are attempting to find her. Professor X and Magneto share some choice words with each other, debating what Jean had done, and the implications that come with the two groups doing battle with each other.

Obviously what the character are referencing is Jean's (accidental?) murder of Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique. Mystique's death was spoiled during the full Dark Phoenix trailer, and looks like that action will have a grave affect on the rest of the characters, as well as the blockbuster as a whole. And from this new clip, it looks like X-Men have already begun defecting to Magneto's cause.

Most notably, it looks like Nicholas Hoult's Beast is going to be joining the villain side of the argument when Dark Phoenix arrives in theaters. This plot twist certainly tracks, as Beast and Mystique shared a romantic connection, most notably in First Class. It looks like her death will hit the big blue guy hard, and he's on a mission for justice regarding Sophie Turner's character.

Related: Looks Like Dark Phoenix Might Have The Smallest Opening Of The X-Men Franchise

Dark Phoenix was reportedly always planned to be the final installment in the long-running X-Men franchise, so it should be interesting to see what narrative choices Simon Kinberg and his team settle on. If its truly poised to be the grand finale, Kinberg should be able to kill off as many characters as he wants, with no real consequences. So perhaps Mystique isn't the only mutant to meet the wrath of Jean's new abilities.

Luckily, answers are coming shorty. Dark Phoenix will arrive in theaters on June 7, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Jordan Peele Isn't Too Worried About Us Spoilers

Jordan Peele Isn't Too Worried About Us Spoilers

Although not quite as critical as something like The Sixth Sense, Jordan Peele’s Get Out is one of those movies that you really didn’t want spoiled for you. The writer/director’s follow-up Us seems very much cut from a similar cloth, with the early word indicating that there are reveals aplenty in this film. Plus, the marketing campaign is even employing the hashtag #KeepItBetweenUs. That said, Jordan Peele isn’t too worried about Us spoilers, as he explained:

People want to keep the secrets. Also, if you spoil something, your friend probably punches you in the shoulder or something. I think we've developed into a culture that respects the idea that spoilers are no fun.

Jordan Peele seems of the belief that spoilers will not be a major problem for Us, not because the film can’t be spoiled, but because audiences will do the right thing and keep the film’s secrets so that other people can enjoy it. Basically, he thinks that people know better and all you’d be doing by spoiling the film is making people angry and opening yourself up to some friendly retaliation.

In his comments to Digital Spy, Jordan Peele actually raises quite an interesting point about the culture around spoilers. With the rise of social media, the ability to spoil movies has increased exponentially. B concurrently (and perhaps consequently) a taboo has also risen about spoilers. People now generally agree that spoilers suck. Spoiling a movie for someone else is really poor form and a pretty crappy thing to do, so most people try not to do it.

Jordan Peele also mentioned that this taboo around spoilers makes it fun to have seen a movie and to know its secrets. When you do and refuse to spoil it for someone else, that lends the film an air of mystery that gets other people excited to see it as well, building the buzz and enhancing the experience.

Because of this culture around spoilers, Jordan Peele doesn’t see them as being a big issue for his sophomore film. With any luck, he’s right. If so and people adhere to common decency and wait for everyone to see Us before discussing it in spoiler-ific detail, especially in a public forum, then there is nothing to worry about and audiences can enjoy the film and have the purest way possible.

By the early reactions out of SXSW, the movie is quite the experience too. Unlike Get Out, Us is true horror movie that will have people watching through their fingers and will give people plenty to discuss when the film ends.

Us is currently enjoying a perfect 100% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes in advance of this weekend’s opening so the buzz is definitely high here that this is a good movie showing that Get Out was no fluke. The film is tracking at a $40-$45 million opening weekend.

Us opens in theaters on March 22. Stay frosty and beware of spoilers and check out our 2019 Release Schedule for all the other big movies that should be on your radar this year.

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Avengers: Endgame Writers Have An Easy Answer For The Spider-Man Confusion

Avengers: Endgame Writers Have An Easy Answer For The Spider-Man Confusion

SPOILER WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. If you have not yet seen the film, read on at your own risk!

Thanks to its time travel wackiness and an unannounced future slate of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, Avengers: Endgame is a film that has audiences asking a lot of engaging questions while coming out of screenings – and one of the most significant has been about Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and his high school classmates. Because the blockbuster jumps ahead in the timeline five years, some have wondered why it is that many of Peter’s friends appear to be basically the same age in the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home as they were when we last saw them in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War.

While this may seem confusing to some, Avengers: Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely has a pretty simple explanation for the situation: anyone who appears to be the same age after the events of the movie were turned to dust following Thanos’ snap, and are still the same age they were five years earlier for the same reason Peter Parker didn’t get older. Said the screenwriter,

That one seems easy to me. Isn't it clear that anybody who looks the same blipped, and they're back just like [Peter] is? I don't know what happens in [Spider-Man: Far From Home] at all, but I can only assume that most of the main characters got blipped, and maybe some ancillary characters are now older, and then you'll get some comedy from that? I don't know.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as part of the latest episode of our HeroBlend podcast, and it was early in the interview that the subject of Spider-Man and his pals not aging came up. I’ve personally had many conversations with friends about this particular aspect of Avengers: Endgame, and while explanations similar to McFeely’s have generally resolved the debate, it’s nice to hear it directly from one of the filmmakers involved with the film.

In Avengers: Endgame the only friend of Peter Parker we actually see is Ned Leeds (played by Jacob Batalon), who apparently got snapped away just like his buddy - but the first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home seemingly confirms that Spider-Man and The Guy In The Chair weren’t alone being affected by The Decimation. As seen in the screenshot above, apparently both Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) and Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) also disappeared following the events of Avengers: Infinity War, given they look basically the same as they did in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it seems that it’s also the same situation with Zendaya’s M.J.

This lingering Avengers: Endgame question was one of many that I got to ask Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely about during our interview, so if you want to hear more be sure to click play on the HeroBlend episode below and give it a listen:

Avengers: Endgame is now out in theaters everywhere, and Spider-Man: Far From Home will be hitting theaters this summer on July 2nd. For the latest updates about both Marvel Cinematic Universe titles, be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend.

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Mark Hamill Is Still Upset That Han, Luke, And Leia Never Reunited In The New Star Wars Trilogy

Mark Hamill Is Still Upset That Han, Luke, And Leia Never Reunited In The New Star Wars Trilogy

The past few years have been a very exciting for Star Wars fans. Once Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the galaxy far, far away began to expand at impressive rates. The House of Mouse has released one Star Wars movie every year, starting with The Force Awakens. The current trilogy has brought back the trio of original heroes alongside the new cast, but Mark Hamill has one issue in the way this all went down: Han, Luke, and Leia never reunited.

The sequel trilogy includes OG cast members, but it's largely focused on the new class of heroes in Rey, Finn, and Poe. Instead, Han, Luke, and Leia were each scheduled to get their own big movie, which prevented them from actually sharing scenes together. When speaking about Han's death in The Force Awakens, Mark Hamill made his opinions known, saying:

I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centered way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care! I have to stipulate that I care, but it didn’t really seem to affect the larger audience. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again.

I'm not crying, you're crying. While the Star Wars franchise is taking big risks and churning out a ton of content, Mark Hamill doesn't approve of every change. When it comes to keeping the trio of heroes separate, that's one choice he couldn't vibe with.

Mark Hamill's comments to Den Of Geek make a great deal of sense, especially when it came to the relationship between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Han was a major presence in The Force Awakens, while Luke was noticeably absent until the blockbuster's final moments. Leia was able to share scenes with both her partner and brother, but Han and Luke weren't so lucky. And as such, Mark Hamill didn't get to work with Harrison Ford again in the franchise that launched their careers into space.

In fact, Luke's friendship with Han was totally lacking from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The audience didn't get to watch Luke grieve over Han's death, while Han never expressed how much he missed his best friend. So you can't help but empathize with Mark Hamill's feelings. After all, he's both the main hero and biggest cheerleader of the epic space opera.

But Disney has been pushing boundaries and expanding the Star Wars franchise in brave ways. Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi was extremely subversive and went against all the expectations of the sequel. It should be fascinating to see how the Skywalker Saga and current trilogy are wrapped up with J.J. Abrams' mysterious Episode IX.

Episode IX will arrive in theaters on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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When Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Might Open

When Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Might Open

In an absolutely shocking move, Disney yesterday rehired James Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn was fired from his position last year after poor-taste decade-old social media posts resurfaced. Fans, filmmakers, and actors voiced their displeasure over the decision at the time. Now, Gunn is back in the director's chair, but this does raise some questions about when Vol. 3 will hit theaters.

By our calculations, it's possible that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won't arrive in theaters until 2023, due to James Gunn's new commitment to DC and The Suicide Squad.

After James Gunn was let go by Disney, it wasn't that long until Warner Bros. scooped him up to write and direct the Suicide Squad reboot. It was a big story at the time that one of Marvel's most prominent directors made the jump to DC. Even though Gunn is back with Marvel, his Suicide Squad movie is reportedly still on, and Marvel is willing to wait for Gunn to wrap that project to finally move forward with Vol. 3.

The Suicide Squad is currently expected to begin filming this fall with a release date set for August 2021. That means Gunn probably won't be able to start production for Vol. 3 until either late 2021 or early 2022. Marvel's normal production schedule usually takes about one year, so that puts Vol. 3 in theaters by 2023 -- six years after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Thankfully, there may already be some shortcuts Vol. 3 can take. James Gunn had already finished the script before he was fired. There are no doubt some rewrites and tweaks still left to be done, but at least there's a complete draft of the screenplay.

Of course, this is all assuming that The Suicide Squad keeps its release date and shooting schedule. Whether or not that gets pushed backward or forward really impacts what Vol. 3 will do and how much focus James Gunn can devote to it.

As of now, Marvel doesn't have any films slated to release in 2023. It has three films slated for 2022, but it's unclear which of its in-development projects will be attached to the dates. The other films that Marvel has in the pipeline are Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi, Black Panther 2, Doctor Strange 2, and the inevitable but still unannounced Captain Marvel 2. A movie like Guardians 3 will likely need that prime May real estate, so we will have to wait and see how Marvel's schedule shakes out.

There used to be a big question mark on Guardians 3, but now it's just a little bit smaller as fans can relax knowing the franchise is back in James Gunn's hands. We'll be paying close attention to how this all shakes out so stick with CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated.

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Upcoming Disney Animated Movies: List Of Titles And Release Dates

Upcoming Disney Animated Movies: List Of Titles And Release Dates

While Disney's live action films from Marvel and Lucasfilm might be the biggest players at the box office for the company, as Walt Disney said, it was all started by a mouse. Animation is still a big part of what Disney does, and Walt Disney Animation Studios continues to release massive hits one after another.It's like Marvel Studios, just a bit smaller. Whether it's Moana or the recent sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, animated Disney films are still incredibly popular. When put them together with the billion dollar success of films like Zootopia, the last few years have been incredible for Disney.

We can only imagine what they're going to do next. Well, in many cases we have to imagine what they're going to do next because we don't really know, details are still mostly under wraps.. Although, in other cases, we know exactly what they're planning.

Walt Disney Animation Studio, not to be confused with Pixar, has several films announced to be coming over the next few years. Most of them are still being kept secret, but we have a few hints about what might be coming, and then of course, there's the big movie that we know for sure is on the way. Here's all the details we have about what we know is coming, and what seems quite likely, in the future of Disney animation.

Frozen II

The only confirmed title from Walt Disney Animation Studios that we're waiting to see is a sequel to Disney's biggest animated hit, Frozen. In February of 2019 we finally got our first look at the project. The trailer is visually stunning, though it doesn't reveal a great deal about the plot of the movie itself. We see all of our heroes from the first film going on some sort of journey together. It also reveals a pair of brand new characters, though who they are, we still don't know.

Release Date: November 24, 2019

Unknown Lin-Manuel Miranda/Byron Howard Project

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the hardest working man in showbiz, has said that following his work on Moana, Disney Animation chief John Lassiter introduced him to Zootopia co-director Byron Howard so that the two could begin to collaborate on another animated film. As of this writing, Miranda says the two have yet to actually talk, so it's not even clear if there's even an idea they'll be working on or if they'll be starting from scratch. It's also possible that whatever the two work on will never actually see the light of day, but with talent like these two, we're betting that we'll see it eventually.

Release Date: Unknown

Zootopia Sequels

No sequels to Zootopia have ever been officially announced by Disney, but recently, Tom "Tiny" Lister, who had a small role in the original film, claimed that not one, but two sequels were being planned by the studio. It certainly wouldn't be shocking to learn this was true. Considering the the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph was rumored by the cast long before it was officially announced by Disney, it's certainly possible that's happened here as well. The original film made over $1 billion at the global box office and also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. That's a combination that practically demands a sequel.

Future Disney Animation Release Dates

November 25, 2020

November 24, 2021

November 23, 2022

Disney and the Thanksgiving weekend have been inseparable for a long time and with Disney's most recent update to its release schedule, it claimed that weekend for the next several years. While Frozen II decided to open a bit earlier, and now comes out the Friday before Thanksgiving, Disney now has the Wednesday before the holiday claimed for 2020 through 2022. No titles have been officially revealed, but the previously mentioned projects that are in some form of development could certainly be on that list.

Previously Released

Ralph Breaks The Internet

After years of rumor an official announcement via Facebook that Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 was on the way finally came. While that news wasn't exactly news, because John C. Reilly had already blabbed, what was news, and surprising news at that, was that Wreck-It Ralph 2 was actually going to be the next feature we saw from Disney following Moana. It took over a release date that was already set aside for another movie, putting it in what we'll call the Zootopia space in 2018. However, it was eventually pushed back into November

Release Date: November 21, 2018

Recently Cancelled Projects

Untitled Planes Sequel

Not every Disney project that gets announced actually makes it to the screen. Every once in a while the DisneyToon studio, which was promarily focused on television and direct-toDVD animation, was given a shot at a theatrical release. Such was the case with two previous Planes movies, which did pretty well all things considered. A third film in the series was announced and scheduled to be released in June of 2019, but in June of 2018 it was announced that DisneyToon studio was being completely closed down, and with it, the film was cancelled.

Gigantic

Originally planned to hit theaters in the Spring of 2018, Gigantic was going to be Disney's take on Jack and the Beanstalk. It kept getting pushed further down the release schedule, falling into the Thanksgiving weekend of 2020 slot eventually. However, in October of 2017, Disney announced that the project simply wasn't working, and had been cancelled. At that point Disney confirmed that another project that had been in the works would be taking that slot, but we still don't know what movie that is.

The future of Disney Animation may be largely secret, but you can be sure that with the success the studio has had in recent years, Disney has every intention of keeping that train moving. With the success of Ralph Breaks the Internet, and the presumed success of Frozen II, it seems likely that more theatrically released sequels to Walt Disney Animation Studios films are quite possible.

When it comes to original concepts, the sky is the limit in animation, so it's basically impossible to guess what could be coming next.

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