“‘Into the Spider-Verse’ Shows Off Spider-Man’s True Potential”

“Everyone’s favorite wall-crawler has returned to animation, but this time Peter Parker will be sidelined as a new Spider-Man shoots into the spotlight.  Wednesday morning, Sony Animation released the first full trailer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.  The film, from writer Phil Lord (The Lego Movie), will introduce audiences to Miles Morales on the big screen.

Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, and introduced in Marvel’s now-defunct Ultimate comics line in 2011, Miles gained global attention and has since been brought into the main Marvel Universe.  The Afro-Latino teenager’s webhead adventures have been well-received in terms of both representation and long-form storytelling, quickly growing him a following.  Many fans of the character were hoping that when Spider-Man was initiated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Marvel Studios’ deal with Sony, that it would be the Miles Morales version of the character.

Ultimately, Marvel went with Peter Parker (Tom Holland), a decision that has worked very well, while Miles’ existence was hinted at through the brief appearance by his uncle Aaron Davis (Donald Glover) in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming…”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-spider-verse-breaks-ground-new-trailer-1117837

“How James Cameron’s ‘Battle Angel Alita’ Became Robert Rodriguez’s Biggest Movie Yet”

“James Cameron is a filmmaker who dreams big. He gave us a new brand of cyborg terror with the iconic Terminator 2. He made history come to towering, tragic life with 11-time Oscar-winner Titanic. And he shattered box office records and took visual effects to a whole new world with Avatar. For nearly two decades, Cameron dreamed of giving this same level of big-budget, boundary-pushing spectacle to Yukito Kishiro‘s magnificent manga Battle Angel Alita. This winter, his dream comes true with Alita: Battle Angel, but with another director at the helm. So how did Robert Rodriguez come to direct Cameron’s long-time passion project?

Nerdist learned all about Alita: Battle Angel‘s winding road to production when we visited its set in Austin, Texas, in March of 2017. There, we spoke with storied producer Jon Landau, who took us on a tour of Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios, including the 100,000 feet of set built to bring Kishiro’s vibrant Iron City to the big screen. As we weaved through busted up bars, colorful streets, and a treasure trove of concept art, Landau gave us the timeline of Alita: Battle Angel.

The original comic ran from December 15, 1990 to April 1, 1995. In 1999, Cameron was “King of the World,” soaring high off the success of Titanic. Thinking big, he secured the rights to adapt Battle Angel Alita and met with Kishiro to discuss its adaptation….”

https://nerdist.com/alita-battle-angel-james-cameron-robert-rodriguez/

“Shonda Rhimes Announces Eight New Netflix Original Series”

“Acclaimed TV producer Shonda Rhimes has eight original Neflix productions in the works. Rhimes, the showrunner who created hit series like How to Get Away With Murder, Grey’s Anatomy, and Scandal, left her longtime home at ABC Studios in 2017 and moved her Shondaland production company to Netflix. In return, the TV mogul signed a lucrative nine-figure deal with the streaming giant.

Rhimes’ first original production on Netflix will be based on the life of Anna Sorokin, a 27-year-old socialite who scammed banks, businesses, and her wealthy friends into financing her lavish lifestyle. Sorokin, who went by the alias Anna Delvey, was eventually busted for six counts of grand larceny and theft of services in October of last year. The slate of Shondaland productions also includes a documentary on Debbie Allen’s reimagining of The Nutcracker and a series based on investor and activist Ellen Pao’s memoir adaption.

“I wanted the new Shondaland to be a place where we expand the types of stories we tell, where my fellow talented creatives could thrive and make their best work and where we as a team come to the office each day filled with excitement,” Rhimes said in a statement, reports the L.A. Times. “This is Shondaland 2.0.

According to The L.A. Times, here’s a rundown of each of the projects Rhimes will launch on Netflix…”

https://www.blackenterprise.com/shonda-rhimes-produce-8-netflix/

“‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ and ‘New Mutants’ Confirmed for 2019 Release”

“In the wake of Disney and Fox shareholders approving their looming acquisitions, superhero fans were perked by the looming possibility of the X-Men joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then came a rumor that stated Fox’s upcoming mutant movies were actually being cancelled, leading to more speculation that Marvel Studios was accelerating their own plans.

Well, that rumor is very much false, perpetuated on a message board and then amplified by unsubstantiated sites. ComicBook.com reported that we heard the film was back on, and now we’re getting more proof.

IMAX released their quarterly earnings report which also provides investors with a forecast of what they can expect in the coming year, and in that they released their upcoming slate for 2019. While it should come as no surprise that X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants are both included with their respected release dates, it’s only notable given all of the speculation and rumors that have swirled around those films in recent days…”

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/07/29/x-men-dark-phoenix-new-mutants-confirmed-2019/

“‘Aquaman’ Is Shaping Up to Be ‘Game of Thrones’ Underwater”

“Arguably the most anticipated reveal of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the trailer for James Wan’s Aquaman brought a wave of excitement to fans Saturday in Hall H. Warner Bros.’ latest entry in its universe of DC films, now officially referred to as Worlds of DC, finds the studio attempting to turn the tide after last year’s Justice League was met with critical and financial disappointment.

Aquaman sees Jason Momoa reprise the titular role, as he’s forced to contend with his royal legacy and his outsider status. While the character’s pop culture status has made him the butt of jokes over the decades, largely thanks to his rather useless role in the 1970s animated series Super Friends, Aquaman looks to pull from the character’s rich comic book history – most notably Geoff Johns’ run on the character in 2011, and make him a power player with popularity akin to Wonder Woman in the eyes of general audience members.

By injecting the same adrenaline rush that has served Wan well in both the realms of horror and action, Aquaman looks like a wholly unique moviegoing experience that may be the latter half of 2018’s biggest event film…”

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-aquaman-trailer-was-best-received-comic-con-1129148

“Marvel Rising: Initiation Puts Female Heroes In The Spotlight”

“Marvel Rising: Initiation is a new animated mini-series that premieres on Disney XD next month, ahead of the full-length animated feature Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, which arrives in the fall. The show focuses on an all-female team that includes Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl, and fans at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend were shown the first four episodes.

The team also includes Quake, Spider-Gwen (aka Ghost-Spider), Patriot, Tippy Toe (Squirrel Girl’s sidekick), and America Chavez. Each episode of Marvel Rising: Initiation is four minutes long, and there are six of them set to air on Disney XD on August 13. Although the show is clearly aimed at a young audience, the new footage that Marvel has tweeted is great fun, and should put the spotlight on some lesser-known Marvel heroes.

Marvel Director of Content Sana Amanat previously spoke about Marvel Rising: Initiation, and she revealed that it was important that the show was inspirational for its audience…”

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/comic-con-2018-animated-show-marvel-rising-initiat/1100-6460616/

“‘The Equalizer 2’ Director Antoine Fuqua on Denzel Washington, ‘Miami Vice,’ and More”

“If we’re lucky, Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington will make Equalizer movies until the end of days. In a sea of +100 million dollar franchises, Fuqua and Washington are making a series unlike any other in major theaters right now. No franchise star today is as hard-hitting, violent, and as well-spoken as Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), whose eloquent threats and promises of vengeance are as crowd-pleasing as his fighting skills.

But don’t call this Equalizer series a franchise or blockbuster to Fuqua, because he’s more interested in telling a good standalone story than making a sequel that’s really just a bit more of the same. Like Washington, Fuqua had opportunities to make prequels and sequels, for both Training Day and Olympus Has Fallen, but they never made sense to him. The world of Robert McCall, on the other hand, was rich enough for the filmmaker to continue to McCall’s journey.

Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with the always passionate Fuqua to discuss The Equalizer 2, working with Denzel Washington for the fourth time, Miami Vice, and even his fond memory of working with Prince…”

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/07/23/venom-villain-riz-ahmed-carlton-drake-details-riot/

“Idris Elba to Play Villain in ‘Fast and Furious’ Spinoff Starring Dwayne Johnson”

“Idris Elba is in final negotiations to play the main villain in “Hobbs and Shaw,” the “Fast and Furious” spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.

“Deadpool 2” director David Leitch is on board to helm, with Johnson and Statham reprising their roles as special agent Luke Hobbs and criminal mastermind Deckard Shaw, respectively. “Fast and Furious” architect Chris Morgan penned the script, with production set to commence this fall.

The film will see the often-at-odds pair teaming up. Sources say Elba’s character is the antagonist the duo will go up against.

Since his arrival in the franchise’s fifth installment, Universal has tried to find a way to spin off Johnson’s Hobbs character, given his popularity with fans. Statham joined the series in the seventh movie, and considering the chemistry between the two actors in 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious,” Universal took action on plans to develop a spinoff. It hits theaters on July 26, 2019…”

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/idris-elba-fast-and-furious-spinoff-dwayne-johnson-jason-statham-1202852226/

“Sandra Oh on Her Emmy Nomination for Killing Eve: ‘It’s Not Just Me at This Moment’”

“Sandra Oh was working when she got the news that she had received her sixth Emmy nomination and first for the show Killing Eve. She was with her friend and fellow actor Michelle Krusiec, talking through the Hansol Jung play, Wild Goose Dreams, which Oh had previously starred in. “My friend is auditioning for the play,” she said on the phone a few hours later. “We were talking about it because I was already familiar with the character that she was going in on.” She finally looked at her phone and saw the news. “I really love the fact that when all those calls were going off, my phone was on silent,” Oh said, “[because] Michelle and I were talking about this play about a North Korean refugee.”

Both of them realized what a historic moment this is: Sandra Oh has become the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for lead actress in a drama. (Archie Panjabi won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in 2010.) Her first five nominations came in a consecutive string from 2005 to 2009, for her work as a supporting actress on Grey’s Anatomy as the prickly and ambitious Dr. Cristina Yang. She left the show in 2014 to pursue new creative projects…”

http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/sandra-oh-emmy-nomination-killing-eve.html

“Batwoman TV Series In Works At the CW”

“Batwoman is already scheduled to visit the Arrowverse for the annual crossover event in December; she may now become a permanent member of it, expanding the universe and breaking some TV ground in the process.

In Batwoman, written by Dries based on the DC characters, armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

Batwoman already has been a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ representation in comics. After a long hiatus, she was reintroduced to the DC comic universe in 2006 when she was established as a Jewish lesbian, becoming the first-ever lesbian superhero title DC character.  Now Batwoman would become the first gay lead character — male or female — of a live-action superhero series…”

https://deadline.com/2018/07/batwoman-tv-series-i-the-cw-lesbian-superhero-lead-caroline-dries-greg-berlanti-1202427678/