I thought that today I would talk about 2 of my favourite topics: Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and all of the (fairly) recent news stories from them...
Star Wars
Ever since the initial cast for Episode 7 was released in April, I have been progressively more and more pumped for JJ Abrams' take on the Star Wars franchise. JJ is a great director and has made 2 incredible Star Trek movies and this movie also has the writer who did the Empire Strikes Back, my favourite Star Wars movie. But it isn't just Episode 7 which is grabbing the headlines recently..
A few days ago it was confirmed that Rian Johnson would be directing Episode 8 and would "write a treatment for Episode 9", which I guess means he'll write the screenplay but won't be directing it. I guess this already poses a question: who do you think will direct Episode 9? As for this directing choice, I think its a good one. His last science fiction effort was Looper, which I enjoyed very much and others said it was one of the best movies of 2012. He also directed 3 episodes of Breaking Bad including my personal favourite episode "Ozymandias". So really I have absolutely no complaints and I'm glad we have a good sci fi director at the helm. The only real loser in this situation is JJ Abrams who won't be returning...
Other news concerns the creation of a wider Star Wars universe with 2 directors confirmed to direct 2 Star Wars spinoff movies. Godzilla director Gareth Edwards is to helm the first one which people are speculating is Boba Fett. I really enjoyed Godzilla and I think the directing from Edwards was the best part of the movie. Boba Fett is a cool popular character with a tonne of mythology surrounding him so that'd be a good choice for a spinoff. Josh Trank who did Chronicle will direct the other one which people are speculating may be a young Han Solo movie. Of course nothing has been confirmed and the studio may decide not to use Boba Fett or Han Solo for their spinoffs but those 2 are the ones I would like to see. As for Trank, I'll see how he does with the Fantastic Four reboot before I judge whether he can make a good Star Wars movie.
The final snippets of news include the addition of Gwendoline Christie and Oscar winner Lupita N'yongo to the cast, causing people who claimed racism and sexism to eat their words. Also Han Solo himself Harrison Ford injured his ankle on set causing him to have surgery on it a few days ago. I hope this doesn't disrupt things on set too much and I wish him a speedy recovery!
Marvel
Ah the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not a week goes by without some sort of formal announcement or speculation involving their shared superhero universe. There has been a tonne of announcement in the past month or so, so here we go:
After Edgar Wright left Ant Man due to "creative differences" many claimed this was the first sign of cracks beginning to form for the studio. However any wild speculation of cracks forming was soon removed when Peyton Reed was hired to direct it, with Adam McKay still on board as the writer. Kevin Feige also confirmed that filming would begin in August and the movie would still hit theatres in July 17th 2015. It looks like the studio is attempting a film with a considerable comedic tone to it, which is again something new for the MCU. Whether Ant Man flies or flops, we'll have Age of Ultron coming out in the same year so it honestly doesn't matter too much...
The studio have also found their Thanos with Josh Brolin. It's a good choice because his voice can potentially be commanding and menacing which is what the biggest villain in the MCU deserves.
Phase 3 has also kicked up a fuss recently with Mark Ruffalo talking about how the studio may be considering a solo Hulk movie. Well there really is no reason why we shouldn't get one considering Ruffalo completely kills it as the Hulk and they have a huge amount of inspiration to work with, which could be the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk storyline... But this is all speculation at the moment; expect Marvel's Phase 3 plans to be formally announced at Comic con.
One movie we know will be in Phase 3 is Doctor Strange which will be directed by Scott Derickson, the man behind Sinister. Again Marvel are trying new things by hiring a horror director for one of their future projects, meaning another movie with a different tone. Stephen Strange will help Marvel introduce the more magic and mystical side to the MCU which so far has been untouched. Whether he'll appear in the Avengers 3 or who the villain will be is unknown, but the most important thing for me is who'll will play him. Huge actors have been linked with the role, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy and Jared Leto. Who do you think will play him?
If you have any thoughts on anything Star Wars or Marvel related, please do!
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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