Emperor Palpatine Might Not Be The Only Surprise Star Wars Character Returning For The Rise Of Skywalker

Emperor Palpatine Might Not Be The Only Surprise Star Wars Character Returning For The Rise Of Skywalker

Up until a little over a week ago, the biggest Star Wars alumnus who was set to return to a galaxy far far away through Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was Billy Dee Williams, playing Lando Calrissian for the third time on the big screen. Then the first Rise of Skywalker trailer capped off with Emperor Palpatine’s sinister laugh, and it was confirmed soon after that Ian McDiarmid is reprising the hooded Sith Lord.

You’d think that nothing could surpass the man also known as Darth Sidious somehow being thrown into the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker mix, but a new rumor is out claiming that there’s an even bigger character return on the horizon. Just to be safe, those of you who don’t want to be potentially spoiled heavily on Episode IX might want to turn back now. I’ll give you a moment…

Are the rest you settled in? Okay, supposedly Harrison Ford is back as Han Solo, who we last saw being killed by his own son, Ben Solo, a.k.a. Kylo Ren, in The Force Awakens.

Making Star Wars claims to have heard from multiple sources that Han Solo will have a role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, although it’s difficult to 100% piece together how he’ll be used. According to the outlet, Han will appear in a sequence with his Kylo Ren in what is described as a “surprise intervention of sorts.”

Remember in The Force Awakens when Kylo Ren was talking to the charred Darth Vader helmet? This sequence between Han Solo and Kylo Ren might take place when the latter is conversing with his grandfather’s helmet again. But here’s where things get extra weird. Luke Skywalker is said to be the “twist” of this encounter, and rather than being a traditional Force ghost, Han is part of a “vision” or “dream” type moment that Luke brings forth.

The report also notes that the sequence has a “tone of forgiveness and understanding to it,” with Han solo telling his son that “it isn’t too late.” Whether this is really Han speaking from the great beyond or just a simulation that the also-deceased Luke has conjured, it fits that he’d be wanting to draw his son back to the light since that’s what he died doing in The Force Awakens.

Needless to say that the above information is anything but official, so for now, take it with a grain of salt. However, assuming all of this is true, it also remains to be seen if Kylo Ren will cross back to the light side or if he’ll ignore Han and Luke, and continue being an agent of the dark side.

Before The Force Awakens came out, Harrison Ford hadn’t been shy taking about how he’d wanted Han Solo to die in Return of the Jedi, and over 30 years later, he got his wish and the beloved smuggler finally bit the dust. While Alden Ehrenreich did play a younger Han in Solo: A Star Wars Story, most have logically assumed that The Force Awakens would be the last time we’d ever see Ford in the role. But if this new rumor proves legitimate, then fingers crossed that Ford’s true last performance as Han is a worthy and emotional inclusion for the last chapter of the Skywalker Saga.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20, so keep checking in with CinemaBlend for more coverage about it. For now, you can learn what this year’s other big movies are arriving by looking through our 2019 release schedule.

Watch Brie Larson Surprise Fans At A Captain Marvel Screening

Watch Brie Larson Surprise Fans At A Captain Marvel Screening

Captain Marvel had a big opening in theaters this weekend, and lead actress Brie Larson did her part to garner some additional excitement around the film. Over the weekend, she headed to an AMC theater in Clifton, NJ, where she sold snacks and surprised audiences. You can take a look at the actress wandering into a theater below.

Forget surprising fans at a screening for a movie you just starred in. The real joy, here, is how much Brie Larson seemed to be enjoying sucking down that beverage with her face on it. Seriously though, the actress threw on a fun store bought version of Captain Marvel’s jumpsuit. (I would guess it was a mite more comfortable than the real thing.)

She said of carrying the giant drink around that she had “just heard” she was on the cup and needed to see it herself. What a weird experience that would probably be, finding your likeness on a cup for the first time. In the Facebook video, you can also see the myriad flashes of people taking shots of the actress in the theaters. There are plenty of hoots and hollers as well, which the actress takes in stride.

I’ve been to public screenings before where celebrities show up and the experience is quite unlike anything else. These sorts of things generally happen on opening weekend when people really, really want to see the movie anyway. Throw in a celebrity and the energy becomes palpable.

In addition to showing up in the theater, Brie Larson even handed out popcorn and other snacks to other moviegoers at the AMC theater, which was some free labor AMC likely didn’t expect.

That’s not all of the snack shots Brie Larson posed for either. The actress was also seen posing for photos with fans and even filling up buckets of popcorn.

Captain Marvel opened to $153 million domestically at the weekend box office, so it really didn’t need any pr from Brie Larson to be successful. However, the gesture seems to have really been appreciated by the Clifton crowd and the actress herself seemed to be having a blast. You can catch Carol Danvers having a blast, as well, in theaters now.

The John Wick Franchise Methodically Plans Out Its Use Of Blood

The John Wick Franchise Methodically Plans Out Its Use Of Blood

If things had played out differently with director David Leitch and Chad Stahelski’s John Wick franchise, we might have seen a franchise that splattered a whole lot more blood onto the screen. But as their intentions were to have a more realistic, but still brutal series of kills in their film, the directors instructed their visual effects team to bring things down a notch.

So while you do see blood in the John Wick series, it’s very methodically placed in its usage. Part of that is due to the reality of the wounds the series inflicts on its various baddies, as you’ll see in the following remarks from Kirk Brillon, the VFX supervisor from John Wick: Chapter 2:

A lot of times when you’re doing special effects for action movies, when someone gets shot, the blood explodes out toward you, toward the camera. But when you’re actually shot by a bullet, the blood’s coming out the back.

Apparently, the call for more realistic gore in the John Wick universe came from the fact that David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, both trained stuntmen who worked on The Matrix with Keanu Reeves, are versed in how things like gunshot wounds, snapped limbs and other sorts of grotesqueries look in the practical world. So rather than ramp things up Tarantino style, the call was made early on to keep it real, straight on through to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Comparatively, that decision was, and still is, a wise play to keep in the John Wick series of films. The action pretty much speaks for itself, with the blood being an accent of realism showing that those bone crunching stunts hurt the characters as much as you thought they would.

Ultimately, the policy on blood in the John Wick universe can be summed up in the following words spoken by Kirk Brillon, also spoken during this very interview he gave to Variety:

The blood’s gonna be there, but it’s gonna be subtle, and it’s gonna be behind them.

While there’s not an excess of blood shed during the course of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, there’s certainly a lot of cash and goodwill being thrown around by its audience. Weighing in with $109 million in its first week at the box office, this third film opens the door wide open for a fourth chapter, both in terms of where the plot winds up in the ending, and with Lionsgate excited to get to work on that very film’s scheduling.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is currently in theaters, making peace and preparing for war. But if you’ve already caught that film, or if you want to check something else out at the movies, take a look at our 2019 release schedule for futrher information.

Steven Spielberg Clarifies His Opinion On Netflix

Steven Spielberg Clarifies His Opinion On Netflix

Last year’s awards buzz for Alfonso Cuaron’s Netflix film Roma rocked the boat in Hollywood for a number of reasons. One, because it started a kerfuffle between Netflix and theater chains about their 90-day exclusivity window. Two: it began a conversation about whether films produced by streaming services should be eligible for Oscar nominations and also sparked the alleged “Spielberg vs. Netflix” conflict.

According to legendary E.T. director, the latter has been blown out of proportion in the media in recent months. Steven Spielberg penned an email to the New York Times to clarify his comments on streaming services. Take a look:

I want people to find their entertainment in any form or fashion that suits them. Big screen, small screen — what really matters to me is a great story and everyone should have access to great stories. However, I feel people need to have the opportunity to leave the safe and familiar of their lives and go to a place where they can sit in the company of others and have a shared experience — cry together, laugh together, be afraid together — so that when it’s over they might feel a little less like strangers. I want to see the survival of movie theaters. I want the theatrical experience to remain relevant in our culture.

Steven Spielberg also noted that his gripes weren’t with Netflix specifically about producing movies for home viewing, but the various theater chains who have turned the streaming giant away from showing their original films because of the 90-day exclusivity window theaters have been sticking to. He’s advocating for the continuation of the theater experience more than anything, though his comments have previously been characterized as an attack on Netflix and streaming as a medium.

When major chains AMC and Regal rejected the idea of showing Roma in their theaters because of the fact it would be available to stream before the three month period, the filmmaker actually called them up and asked them if they’d make an exception and they refused. Spielberg is only opting for streaming services, theater chains and traditional studios to work together to preserve moviegoing over couch-potatoing. Here’s some of his comments from his infamous speech in February that was part of the “conflict”:

I hope all of us really continue to believe that the greatest contributions we can make as filmmakers is to give audiences the motion picture theatrical experience. I’m a firm believer that movie theaters need to be around forever.

It was said that Spielberg was heading to a board meeting with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday night to change the rule about the current eligibility of streaming service films to be nominated for Oscars, the filmmaker did not attend and no amendments to the rules were made.

While Steven Spielberg has been vocal about his ongoing intentions to preserve the theater experience, his production company Amblin is working on three television series with streaming platforms: Amazon Prime’s Cortes and Moctezuma, Apple’s Amazing Stories and Hulu’s Animaniacs reboot. He is also a Netflix subscriber himself who has binged original content such as The Haunting of Hill House.

The ongoing conflict here seems to primarily be between streaming services and theater chains. Recently reports that Netflix may buy its own theater (The Egyptian on Hollywood Boulevard) could signal the start of an expansion in the way the platform does business and makes their films accessible.

Tron: Legacy Producer Is Still Hoping Tron 3 Will Happen Eventually

Tron: Legacy Producer Is Still Hoping Tron 3 Will Happen Eventually

It’s not as uncommon nowadays for a movie to get a sequel decades later. Take 2010’s Tron: Legacy. That movie arrived 28 years after the original Tron movie was released, and the plan was for another sequel to follow after Legacy. However, due to Legacy’s mixed critical reception and underwhelming box office performance, Tron 3 was put on the back burner and now essentially rests in development hell. Nevertheless, Legacy producer Justin Springer is hopeful that Tron 3 will one day actually be made. As he put it:

Look, I will never stop being interested in making a TRON movie. I love the opportunity to do it. It’s a title that never really goes away internally. There’s always people around the company who like it a whole lot. And so, we’ll see what happens. It would be great to get the opportunity to do it again. It’s interesting – what I will say is that I think it continues to be relevant both in its ideas and also just the visual iconography of it. I think people are still are interested in it and it still feels contemporary to me. So it’s just about finding the right time, right script, and the right people at the studio saying ‘yes.’ You know, just the usual.

While Justin Springer’s comments don’t provide any renewed hope that Disney will want to move forward with Tron 3, it’s still good to hear he’s interested in keeping the franchise going. While 1982’s Tron was certainly a visual triumph for its time, Tron: Legacy kicked up several levels with its impressive effects and production design, making it look like a proper Hollywood blockbuster. Alas, who knows if we’ll ever return to the digital realm, although Ehren Kruger, who co-produced Dumbo with Springer, stated during the Slashfilm interview that all Springer needs is for the fans to demand it, “just like last time.” That might not carry the same weight it did a decade ago, but enthusiasm from the fanbase certainly doesn’t hurt.

Tron: Legacy certainly set the stage for Tron 3, mainly with Olivia Wilde’s Quorra, the sole surviving ISO (isomorphic algorithm) from The Grid, being brought back to the real world with Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn, who was planning to take back his father’s company, ENCOM. We were also treated to a minor appearance from Cillian Murphy as Edward Dillinger Jr., whose father was the villain from the first Tron movie, so perhaps Jr. would have followed in those sinister footsteps.

For now though, there’s still no movement on Tron 3, and when asked last year why this threequel never happened, Garrett Hedlund attributed it to Disney getting cold feet following the disappointing performance of 2014’s Tomorrowland. In fact, the Tron franchise as a whole seems to be dormant. Two years after Tron: Legacy came out, the prequel TV series Tron: Uprising aired on Disney XD, but that only lasted a season. In 2017, it was reported that Disney was considering making a Tron reboot instead starring Jared Leto, but that project hasn’t had any traction either. Still, there is a Tron rollercoaster at Shanghai Disneyland and another one is being constructed for Disney World, so the franchise will at least still be somewhat in the public consciousness.

Rest assured, if there’s any news about another Tron movie, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know about it. For now, take a look at what movies are coming out later this year in our 2019 release schedule.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has Big Ideas For What Happens Right After His Movie Ends

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has Big Ideas For What Happens Right After His Movie Ends

Warning: SPOILERS for Godzilla: King of the Monsters are ahead!

The general public wasn’t aware that the Titans existed before the events of Godzilla, but the giant reptile’s clash with the MUTOs changed everything. Five years later, Godzilla’s collision with Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters resulted in even more destruction across the world, and now the public is fully in the loop on these beasts since Monarch shared the information it’d collected about them over the decades.

So how does humanity go forward from here? Obviously we’re not done with Titan fights by a long shot, as Godzilla vs. Kong is less than a year away. But in terms of the overall status quo, Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty told CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb that the population will need to heed the late Dr. Ishiro Serizawa’s (played by Ken Watanabe) advice and make peace with the Titans’ existence. As Dougherty put it:

I feel like humans have no choice but to live by Serizawa’s words, which is that we have to learn how to coexist with the Titans. Now that the genie’s out of the bottle, we have no choice but to accept the fact that mankind is no longer at the top of the food chain.

During Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there was a debate over whether it was better to learn to coexist with the Titans or if we were better off killing them. The U.S. government certainly tried its best to kill both Godzilla and King Ghidorah with its Oxygen Destroyer, but the weapon only seriously harmed Godzilla, with King Ghidorah barely being fazed.

Had Dr. Ishiro Serizawa not sacrificed his life to revive Godzilla so that the reptile could defeat his arch-nemesis once and for all, Earth would be destroyed. So as Thomas Middleditch’s character, Sam Coleman, mentioned early in the movie, there are some Titans that are here to help us, and some that are here to threatens us. It’s great to learn which is which, but humanity now needs to learn that the beasts have been here longer than us and are here to stay.

Judging by the Godzilla: King of the Monsters credits, it looks like a lot of folks are getting used to this. Along with Monarch publishing all its research, it was also revealed that some cruise ships have passed by Godzilla himself, prehistoric plants are popping up that some consider to be “superfood,” and Earth is starting to be healed thanks to the Titans no longer being influenced by King Ghidorah, who wasn’t even native to our world.

Still, that doesn’t mean that everything is all fine and dandy in the MonsterVerse now that King Ghidorah is gone. It was also noted in the Godzilla: King of the Monsters credits that Skull Island has started to become unstable, with many new Titans setting up shop there, which will undoubtedly not sit well with the island’s ruler, King Kong.

This sets the stage for Godzilla vs. Kong, which will see these two behemoths clash for the first time in an American production. While their battle will be the main draw, the fourth MonsterVerse entry will also show Monarch delving into the Titans’ origins and a conspiracy to wipe out these creatures being uncovered.

You can listen to Michael Dougherty’s full remarks about the post-Godzilla: King of the Monsters MonsterVerse in the video below.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and stay tuned for coverage on Godzilla vs. Kong, which hits theaters on March 13, 2020.

Shazam!’s Director Wants To Return For A Sequel

Shazam!’s Director Wants To Return For A Sequel

The next DCEU film may not have hit theaters just yet, but it looks like the filmmakers had such a blast working on the movie that they would say yes to making a sequel in a Shazam! Director David F. Sandberg and producer Peter Safran have confirmed their interest in continuing Billy Batson’s story past his upcoming superhero origin story, so stay tuned!

There’s still a couple of weeks before Shazam! hits theaters, but the movie has already received some early positive buzz from critics and will follow the DCEU hype after the recent massive success of Aquaman. So, whispers of sequels may not be completely beating the studio to the punch.

During an interview with ComicBook, Sandberg and Safran were asked if they were ready to take on a second Shazam! The producer jumped in first with an enthusiastic “Absolutely!” before turning to the Shazam! director, who said “Let’s do it!” How the movie is received when it makes its way to theaters does have quite the pull, so if you’re already excited for a sequel go see Shazam! On the big screen!

Early tracking estimates that the superhero flick will makes around $50 million during its opening weekend, as Stephen King remake, Pet Sematary treads closely behind with at around $40 to $45 million. In comparison, Aquaman nabbed $67 million during its first weekend alongside other big new openers Mary Poppins and Bumblebee and went on to become an over $1.1 billion hit. On the other hand, Aquaman wasn’t sandwiched between Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame.

Shazam! will also follow the releases of Disney’s live-action Dumbo and Jordan Peele’s second film after his buzzy Get Out debut. How will this change how much attention the next DCEU film gets in the midst of so many exciting releases? Only time will tell.

The movie starring Zachary Levi has been getting a warm reception so far, as early audiences have called it delightful, funny, heartwarming and a sweet call back to classics such as Big, The Goonies and Superman. Shazam! is unique from other superhero films because it is told from the perspective of kids and also looks to feature tons of DCEU jokes with jabs at Batman and Aquaman.

Shazam! follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), a pair of foster kids, as Billy obtains the ability to transform into an adult hero with superpowers (Zachary Levi). While the teenagers start off having a fun time playing around with his abilities, Billy must learn to become an actual superhero and take on a formidable foe named Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong).

The DCEU has had a mix of successes and disappointments, but from the looks of it, Shazam! has the makings of starting a hot streak for the franchise that could call for a sequel. Check out Shazam! on April 5 and maybe David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran will get their wish after all.

Jared Leto Shares Moving Image From Morbius

Jared Leto Shares Moving Image From Morbius

Jared Leto already showed off a first look at his main character in Morbius last month, but that was really more of a glimpse. This new motion photo gives a full figure look at his Dr. Michael Morbius in the second movie in Sony's Marvel Universe following Venom:

OK. If he's a vampire, maybe the people don't see him as he stands there right in the middle of the sidewalk. Still seems rude, though.

Morbius the Living Vampire started as a nemesis for Spider-Man in Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider Man in the 1970s. In the comics, Dr. Michael Morbius is a biochemist who tries to cure a fatal blood disease by injecting himself with a bat-based treatment serum. That little trick gave him a form of vampirism, including superhuman strength but also a love for human blood. Over time, Morbius evolved into an antihero with his own comic.

Morbius is now filming, with Adria Arjona reportedly playing Martine Bancroft, who is engaged to Dr. Michael Morbius in the comics. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Smith will play the film's villain, Loxias Crown, Morbius’ best friend who also suffers from the same blood disease. Jared Harris is meant to play Morbius’ mentor, with Tyrese Gibson as an FBI agent trying to hunt down Morbius. Jared Leto -- aka the Joker in DC's Suicide Squad -- is taking the lead here as the Marvel antihero himself.

After the huge $855 million success of Venom, Sony has big plans for its universe, which it's technically calling Sony's Marvel Universe -- not to be confused with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also not quite confused with the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie and its sequel/spinoffs. Spider-Man is part of too many universes, in my opinion. There's been talk of MCU peeps possibly eventually squaring off with Tom Hardy's Venom, and maybe Morbius will be part of that action someday, if it ever happens.

Tom Holland's Spider-Man is busy with his own problems in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which arrives in theaters this July, not quite three months after Avengers: Endgame hopefully explains how Peter Parker is getting his own film when he was snapped by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

Venom is getting its own sequel, which is now in the works. Morbius -- directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) -- is scheduled for release in theaters in the U.S. on July 31, 2020. That's already looking like a very busy month. (Release dates may change, though, so stay tuned.) As we wait for more news about Morbius, and eventually a trailer, catch up on everything you need to know about Marvel's Living Vampire. And be sure to keep our 2019 movie release date schedule handy to stay up-to-date on everything opening on the big screen this year.

See What Ricky Whittle Could Look Like As Green Lantern John Stewart

See What Ricky Whittle Could Look Like As Green Lantern John Stewart

In advance of the Season 2 premiere of American Gods, star Ricky Whittle revealed that he is a huge fan of Green Lantern and has actually had talks about playing the Emerald Knight in Green Lantern Corps. He has the support of Michael Green, the screenwriter behind 2011’s Green Lantern and 2017's Logan, as well as the former showrunner on American Gods, but can he get the Green Lantern fanbase behind him? This fan art imagining what Ricky Whittle could look like as John Stewart certainly won’t hurt his case.

In brightest day in blackest night, no evil shall escape Shadow Moon’s sight! Actor Ricky Whittle makes for a pretty convincing John Stewart and he definitely has the look to play the part. Looking at this fan art from BossLogic, you can see why Ricky Whittle’s name has been out there, and he has even had conversations with the powers that be (The Guardians of the Universe?) about donning the power ring on the big screen.

This is just one interpretation of what Ricky Whittle could look like as the character, but there is a lot to like about the potential casting beyond just this pretty picture. There’s a reason Ricky Whittle often plays badass characters. That’s what he looks like and you put him in a Green Lantern suit with a power ring on his finger, and that effect is just increased.

Also, it should be said that hopefully Warner Bros. takes a cue from this fan art and goes with a more practical costume for whoever plays Green Lantern next versus the all-CGI suit used in the 2011 film. If that were to happen and Ricky Whittle were to be cast, he has said that he would do tours to watch the film with fans in full costume. That’s how much he wants the role.

Ricky Whittle has a very intense and magnetic presence in this image, and that is true of his onscreen roles as well. In American Gods he plays Shadow Moon, an ex-con acting as a bodyguard to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday. That may be his most prominent role, but he also proved his action chops in the under-seen and under-appreciated series The 100 as Lincoln.

Both of those characters are silent badasses, preferring to speak softly and carry a big stick, peaceful men with lethality hidden just beneath the surface. That could really work for John Stewart who is sometimes portrayed as stoic, with a quiet intensity as opposed to the arrogant and brash Hal Jordan or the goofy and childish Guy Gardner.

Based on his previous roles, I think that Ricky Whittle would be a compelling choice for John Stewart in Green Lantern Corps, and the fact that he’s had conversations about the film means that someone involved sees something in him as well. So perhaps this fan art will prove to be an early look at things to come.

DC’s Green Lantern Corps is expected to feature both Hal Jordan and John Stewart, although we haven’t heard much about the film since last summer when Geoff Johns updated fans that he just wanted to write the best script he could for the film before development really ramped up.

We’ll keep you updated on Green Lantern Corps and everything going on in sector 2814. Be sure to check out our 2019 release schedule to see all the movies headed your way this year.

Brie Larson Wasn’t In The Room With The Avengers For The Captain Marvel Mid-Credits Scene

Brie Larson Wasn’t In The Room With The Avengers For The Captain Marvel Mid-Credits Scene

Thanks to modern digital effects, there's essentially nothing that can't be made real in the movies. However, it's possible that's all being taken a bit too far. It turns out that a scene as simple as the mid-credits sequence of Captain Marvel, which required no special effects whatever, was actually done with a green screen.

The scene shows Captain America, Black Widow, and War Machine in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War. They're clearly still figuring how just how much damage has been done, but they've picked up Nick Fury's pager from the post-credits scene of that film and are monitoring it to see what it's all about. After the pager's battery dies, the team turns around to see Carol Danvers.

It turns out that, the two sides of the interaction were filmed separately and combined in post-production, as when Brie Larson did her side of the filming, she was all alone. According to Larson...

There was nobody else there — I was by myself on a green screen. I walked in, and they were like, 'Just real quick, we're just going to whip pan over to you and you're gonna go, 'Where's Fury?'

Brie Larson even says she was so in the dark on what was happening with the scene, she had to clarify just how she was asking the question? Was Fury in the room? Was he close by? Was she asking for directions or an explanation? Things were being so closely guarded at the time that she had very little information about what was going on with the scene.

It seems like an odd step to have to go to, to film the scene on a green screen, but Brie Larson tells The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, that since she actually filmed Avengers: Endgame before she filmed Captain Marvel, and there wasn't even a script for Marvel at that point, there really wasn't much of a choice.

If the mid-credits scene had been written, it could have been filmed during the production of Endgame, but since nobody knew they needed the shot, the green screen was the way to go, it was easier then getting all the Avengers together to film one scene.

Over the past two months Marvel fans have been sure to catch up on Captain Marvel. It's made over $1 billion at the box office and is the last chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Avengers: Endgame opens this evening. We've seen Captain Marvel return to earth, but what happens once she gets there? The answers will finally be revealed tonight. If somehow you still haven't caught Captain Marvel, it's still in theaters and you can probably still catch it before Endgame opens.

Check out Brie Larson's complete comments on The Tonight Show in the video below.

Watch Keanu Reeves Show Off His Duke Caboom Toy Story 4 Poster

Watch Keanu Reeves Show Off His Duke Caboom Toy Story 4 Poster

You didn't forget Keanu Reeves was going to be in Toy Story 4, did you? Yes, right after fighting for his life in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum in May, Reeves is going to shrink down for his mighty role as new motorcycle daredevil character Duke Caboom in Pixar's 2019 Toy Story movie.

Disney has been gathering the new Toy Story 4 stars to show off their special character posters, so here's Keanu Reeves unveiling "the man, the myth, the legend -- Duke Caboom!"

YES! That's Ally Maki with him, and she voices Officer Giggle McDimples in Toy Story 4. She reposted Disney's Duke Caboom video with her own very relatable fangirl gushing over Keanu Reeves, adding that "he is so hilarious in this movie":

Only watched Speed 837 times as a kid in preparation for this moment. The man the myth the legend Keanu Reeves. He is so hilarious in this movie.

Keanu Reeves may not be known for comedy post-Bill & Ted, but just go find a copy of I Love You To Death and enjoy it because his comic timing is perfect. He really should be in more comedies, and I'm looking forward to what he does with Duke Caboom.

Duke Caboom was actually first introduced as an Easter egg in Incredibles 2, although fans didn't know that toy in the background would be showing up in Toy Story 4 -- and voiced by none other than Keanu Reeves.

Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) is the one who first told fans Keanu Reeves would be playing a role in Toy Story 4:

Keanu Reeves has got a great part. Actually, a little inside story, even [Reeves] said --- gentle, wonderful guy that he is --- 'This sounds too much like Buzz Lightyear.' And his character does have an edge to that. And the guy said, 'So we calmed him down a little bit,' and they reminded me his toy is only that big.

Keanu Reeves later explained he got a call out of the blue "from the lovely people at Pixar" and they pitched the character to him. They let him "kind of riff on it," he said, and it was a lot of fun.

Keanu Reeves later added to EW that he figured Duke should love what he does, since he's the greatest stuntman in Canada, so he wanted Duke to constantly be doing poses on his bike while he was talking. A motorcycle enthusiast himself, Reeves teased more of his character's story in the movie:

Duke becomes an important part of trying to save Woody and Bo’s mission. They take his skills as a motorcycle daredevil and ask him to confront his fear of failure in order to help the greater good.

Speaking of failure, Keanu Reeves said he wanted Duke to be an extrovert, but also have a bit of a sad backstory. (That appears to be going around in the Toy Story world.) Every kid has their toy, and apparently Duke let his kid down when he couldn't do what a commercial said he could do:

So he’s a wounded person! He’s needing to have some, I don’t know, catharsis. Some feeling. I wanted him to have a real sensitivity and a soft heart.… I also saw him as a character that has a really wide dramatic bandwidth in the sense of being so big. ‘Kaboom! Kapow! Let’s go!’ But who can also then share his wounds, like, ‘You have a kid? I had a kid. I let him down!’ And he can get quiet. So it was really a lot to play with on the playground.

Director Josh Cooley told EW Keanu Reeves added a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and ideas for the character:

Once Keanu came to the table, he was just asking all of these great questions about the character… and it made us realize that we weren’t digging deep enough for this character and there’s a real opportunity to have him support Woody’s story in a much bigger way.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from Toy Story 4, beyond the already intriguing and funny clips. It should be quite an emotional ride, based on previous teases from both Tim Allen and Tom Hanks (Woody). Toy Story 4 opens in theaters on June 21 as one of the many movies to keep track of through our 2019 movie release date schedule.

The Batman’s Filming May End Up Being Delayed

The Batman’s Filming May End Up Being Delayed

While the DC Extended Universe is embarking down a different path than what was initially planned, one of its most popular heroes isn’t going anywhere. The Batman is still chugging along, and while someone else will be taking over the Caped Crusader role from Ben Affleck, it remains one of the DCEU’s most highly anticipated projects. However, delivering exceptional products takes time, and in The Batman’s case, that could result in another filming delay.

Back in March, writer/director Matt Reeves, who’s been attached to The Batman since early 2017, said that it looked like the movie would start rolling cameras “around year’s end.” Now Variety’s Justin Kroll has heard that some script changes might result in that launch date being pushed back a bit. He wrote:

It’s taken a while for The Batman script to come together, as Matt Reeves was still busy with War for the Planet of the Apes when he first boarded the project, and he also re-wrote it from scratch to allow for more creative freedom. The script is closer than ever to completion, but polishing up the story is part of the game, and moving back production by just a couple months isn’t too big of a deal.

However, The Batman delaying production isn’t set in stone just yet. If these script changes don’t end up taking too much extra time, The Wrap reporter Umberto Gonzalez has heard that filming is set to begin on November 4 in London. So The Batman is still gearing up to finally begin principal photography, the question now is whether it will be unfold pre or post-Christmas 2019.

Of course, even if The Batman begins production within the next year, it’ll still be a long journey for the finished product to arrive. The movie isn’t being released until summer 2021, and while there are a few DCEU movies before then to keep fans entertained, it’ll have been four years since Ben Affleck’s Batman made his final appearance in Justice League. Still, it was a seven-year wait between Batman & Robin and Batman Begins, so this isn’t as bad.

Ben Affleck Confirms He's Done Playing Batman

In any case, it sounds like we’re still in for a long wait regarding who will inherit the Batman mantle from Ben Affleck. All we know for certain is that a younger actor is being sought to put on the cape and cowl, and that Matt Reeves reportedly wants someone famous. It’s also worth clarifying that even though this Batman will be younger, The Batman is not an origin story akin to Year One.

Beyond that, Matt Reeves revealed that The Batman will a noir-driven story that highlights the eponymous protagonist’s detective skills, which weren’t prominently featured in previous Batman movies. He also noted that many members of Batman’s rogues gallery would appear, with The Penguin reportedly among them.

The Batman will cast its shadow over theaters on June 25, 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates. In the meantime, you can look through our DC movies guide to find out what else is coming down the DCEU pipeline.

New John Wick 3 Trailer Has Halle Berry's Dogs Going For The Crotch

New John Wick 3 Trailer Has Halle Berry's Dogs Going For The Crotch

John Wick is a man with a price on his head and a lot of people looking to collect it. That's the basic set up of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. A brand new trailer dropped today which has given us a better look at what's in store for our favorite assassin, as well as a first look at several new characters, and a few old friends, who will be joining this adventure. Also, we get to see some dogs who are going to totally tear some shit up, which is always fun. Check it out.

At the end of John Wick: Chapter 2 Wick had broken the rules of the Continental and thus ran afoul of the entire organization of assassins that worked within it. Now, everybody is out to get him.

We see John Wick going to a woman named Sofia, played by Halle Berry, for help. She's clearly not happy to see him as the first thing she does is shoot him herself. In the end, she seems to agree to help him, but not out of the goodness of her heart. She's not happy about it. As with all aspects of the John Wick franchise, there's history here. However, she does appear to send her dogs after a couple of hired guns, and one of them, if he survives, is likely to wish he was dead, based on where it looks like the dog is about to bite.

We get to see old friends like Ian McShane's character, who seems to be willing to help John Wick here, even though were told at the end of the last film that all Continental services would be off limits to Wick. We also see the return of Lawrence Fishburn's character from the last movie.

In addition to Halle Berry's character, we also see a couple of new antagonists who will be gunning for John Wick. Asia Kate Dillon plays an assassin known as The Adjudicator and Mark Dacascos plays a John Wick fan called Zero who is now on the hunt to kill him.

Needless to say, if you've been a fan of the previous John Wick movies, and if you haven't been, what's wrong with you, then it looks like John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is going to have everything you could possibly want. And by "everything" I mean lots of beautifully choreographed action scenes involving guns, lots of guns.

In addition to the new trailer, an entire collection of new character posters were released showing off everybody of importance in the new film. Each one uses the tagline "Tick Tock Mr. Wick" implying that time is against our hero. However, Jason Mantzoukas is also playing a character called the Tick Tock Man. As he wasn't in the trailer, we know very little about him. Check out all the posters in the gallery below.

The Unexpected Challenge That Came With Creating The Portals For Avengers: Endgame

The Unexpected Challenge That Came With Creating The Portals For Avengers: Endgame

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

We’d already seen magical portals created in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Avengers: Endgame, but not on this massive a scale. After Hulk brought those who were dusted at the end of Avengers: Infinity War back to life, Doctor Strange and his fellow sorcerers created gigantic portals to transport those MCU heroes and their numerous allies to the battlefield where Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the others were already engaged with Thanos and his forces.

This portals sequence definitely ranked as one of the most epic moments in Avengers: Endgame, but just as you probably imagined, it was a huge effort to pull off. As Weta Digital visual effects supervisor Matt Aiken told me when I recently interviewed him, the massive size of the portals required he and his team to tackle creating them differently than how that task had been carried out in past movies. Aiken explained:

… Just in terms the technicalities in terms of achieving them, we’ve got portals on a much larger scale than they've ever been seen before. So our simulation team had to find a recipe that would recognizably be… we need to know that this is Doctor Strange’s portals that we're seeing here. They need to feel like the same because they've been seen on a more human scale in the past, but they all had to be optimized because we've got shots of many, many portals. So they would have been prohibitive to generate and render that if we just used the original technique out of the box.

Creating portals is one of those most useful spells a sorcerer can conjure in the MCU, but until Avengers: Endgame, we only saw Doctor Strange and others creating portals big enough to transport one or a couple people. For Endgame, the portals needed to be large enough for armies to walk through with ease. That makes for quite the visual spectacle, but for the VFX crew, it required them to rethink the process of bringing these portals ‘to life’ while still making them feel like what’s been shown before.

But it wasn’t just the size of the portals that posed a challenge in Avengers: Endgame. It was also showing the locations that these individuals were coming from, whether it be somewhere else on Earth or a planet on the other side of the galaxy. Matt Aiken continued:

And then we’ve got the challenge of creating all the worlds that we see inside the portals as well, because these are all these CG environments, there’s no filmed elements inside the portals, and that’s necessary because we need to film those environments with the same camera move that we're filming the ruined Avengers compound on the other side of the portal because everything has to lock together and parallax. And so recreating the fields outside the city in Wakanda, we’re creating New Asgard, we’ve got Kamar-Taj for the sorcerers and Contraxia for the Ravagers. We even got a few shots that where we’re just in deep space, and we've got Ravagers coming out on their sky cycles. And then of course there’s Titan itself, we’ve got that in a few shots as well. That was an opportunity for us to go back to a place that we spent quite a lot of time at last year.

The Marvel characters who were dusted wasted no time banding together once they were brought back to life five years later, and while I’m still curious how they were able to coordinate efforts so quickly, they arrived just in the knick of time from all corners of the universe. It sounds like this sequence wouldn’t have been possible had the Avengers: Endgame team relied on recreating the actual sets of these other MCU locations, but through CG manipulation, it was a much easier, but still ambitious endeavor.

Needless to say that had all those reinforcements not arrived through the magical portals, the heroes we’d been following along with since the beginning of Avengers: Endgame would have been pulverized by Thanos and his minions, who came from 2014 to invade Earth thanks to 2014 Nebula disguising herself as her 2023 self and opening up the Quantum Realm for them. However, even with these extra bodies, the battle didn’t automatically shift in the heroes’ favor.

It wasn’t until Tony Stark swiped the Infinity Stones from 2014 Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet, put them in his own nanotech Infinity Gauntlet and snapped his fingers that the bad guys were defeated. Sadly, such a move is too much for a normal human to handle, and the man we watched fight evil as Iron Man for over a decade died soon after. Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, met her demise earlier in Avengers: Endgame, and while he survived to the end of the movie (albeit much older), Steve Rogers’ story also wrapped up, as he passed on the Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon.

The MCU isn’t wrapping up anytime soon, but it’ll probably be a long time before we see a battle of this scale again. The portals sequence was a cool way to set up the final leg of Avengers: Endgame’s climax; it’s hard to imagine all those heroes arriving on the scene in a more powerful way. The music, as if often the case with movies, also helped the moment emotionally resonate more.

For those of of you who are looking to experience more proper sorcery in the MCU, you’ll get that in spades whenever Doctor Strange 2 arrives, and perhaps some other movies coming down the pipeline will find a way to incorporate magic. Regardless, at least we know that if there’s ever a need to transport crowds of back-up into a messy conflict, Doctor Strange and his cohorts are on the job.

There’s still plenty of time to re-watch Avengers: Endgame in theaters, and while a Blu-ray/DVD release date hasn’t been announced yet, the movie will premiere on Disney+ December 11. If you’re wondering what’s coming up next in the MCU, head over to our Marvel movies guide for that information. If you’d rather learn what non-Marvel content is on the way later this year, look through our 2019 release schedule.

Dark Phoenix’s Sophie Turner Compares Jean Grey With Sansa Stark

Dark Phoenix’s Sophie Turner Compares Jean Grey With Sansa Stark

With the Game of Thrones series finale still fresh on our minds, seeing Sophie Turner move on from Sansa Stark to Jean Grey in less than a month is destined to attract comparisons. Ahead of the next X-Men film’s summer release, Turner has noticed some similarities between her two most-talked-about roles. Check out what she said:

I'm always drawn to strong, independent women and Sansa and Jean are both that. They eventually use all of these terrible things that happened to them and they become incredibly strong women.

That’s right! Over the years on Game of Thrones, fans have quite literally watched Sophie Turner’s Sansa Stark grow up from being a naive “little bird” to a powerful presence in Winterfell who answers to no one and owns her tragic life experiences. Jean Grey emits a somewhat similar energy as a member of the X-Men, who becomes haunted by her new powers and must fight for herself in Dark Phoenix.

However, Sophie Turner explained that Sansa is more self-assured than Jean is in the upcoming flick, who will grapple with her identity and place in the world after being hit by a solar flare and gaining new energy she doesn’t quite know what to do with.

In the HBO interview, Sophie Turner also compared the two franchises’ ability to be grounded in real emotion and human connection, despite being ridden with fantastical elements such as fire-breathing dragons and blue beasts. She also imagined Jean Grey in the world of Game of Thrones with these words:

If the world’s were to collide, I think Jean would probably be a Targaryen. She’s the Phoenix. She rises from the ashes just like Daenerys does at the end of season one. It’s all about fire, baby!

The comparison certainly fits! Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys famously walks through the circle of fire in the beginning of the series and rises with the strength of the Mother of Dragons. Jean Grey will take a similar journey in Dark Phoenix while the team is on a space mission to save some astronauts.

In Dark Phoenix, Jean absorbs a new energy that has her bursting into flames and causing some damage to the X-Men team. When they try to control her, she seems to find herself at a divide between the X-Men and Jessica Chastain’s character.

Also much like Game of Thrones, Dark Phoenix will mark the end of a long-running franchise and may wrap up the stories of characters fans have been following for years. The X-Men movies have been going on for almost 20 years, along with Jean Grey’s storyline, and this movie will presumably close it out now that the Disney/Fox merger has been completed.

Dark Phoenix hits theaters on June 7, alongside The Secret Life of Pets 2, the latter tracking to win the weekend over the superhero flick.

Are you excited to see Sophie Turner reprise her X-Men role in Dark Phoenix? Let us know in the comments below.

Paul Rudd Talks Getting Starstruck Around Captain America

Paul Rudd Talks Getting Starstruck Around Captain America

Over the weekend the cast of Avengers: Endgame started a press tour mystified by all the secrecy the cast are sworn to until a movie is released. There is a certain bittersweetness to the cast assembling ahead of the release of Avengers: Endgame, because the blockbuster is said to be the culmination of a 22-film journey in the MCU that started with Iron Man.

Over at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ant-Man’s Paul Rudd was asked about something he could actually answer: a moment that has stood out to him during his time with the MCU thus far and it included quite a bit of love for Captain America. Here’s what he said:

The very first time I filmed with these guys on Civil War it was pretty spectacular because we’d already filmed Ant-Man, but that was a little in a bubble. All of a sudden, I was seeing everybody in their suits and it was very exciting.

After the Ant-Man’s origin was introduced in 2015, the size-shifting superhero was recruited for Team Cap in Captain America: Civil War in a scene that had the Avengers at odds with one another for some exciting match-ups. Looks like Paul Rudd’s first scene among the extended universe when he freaks out over meeting Cap and Scarlet Witch was a lot less acting than one might expect. Rudd continued the memory with these words:

In fact, one time, I was standing opposite Chris Evans and he had to run to use the bathroom or something. He asked the prop guy to hold his shield and walked off. I just said [to the prop guy], ‘Can I try it?’ And I took the shield and it was very exciting. It was not dissimilar to what my character was feeling in the scene.

Once Team Cap, always Team Cap! We can easily imagine the Ant-Man actor doing exactly what he described because his character sounded just as starstruck toward Chris Evans’ iconic role when he stumbled out of a van, shook his hand a bit too long, and felt his broad shoulders. Is there any other acceptable reaction? If you have the chance to hold on to Cap’s shield for a short moment, why not?

Paul Rudd joined original Avengers cast members Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth over at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night. Check out the longer interview below:

Besides his coming appearance with them in Avengers: Endgame, Ant-Man has only appeared with the Avengers in Civil War in that fun airport battle scene. He sat out during Infinity War (much to some FOMO on his side) and as revealed to Ant-Man and the Wasp, became stuck in the Quantum Realm during the time of the snap.

As the Endgame trailers have teased, Scott Lang somehow makes it out of the Quantum Realm and approaches the Avengers as they try to figure out how to defeat Thanos and reverse his act of genocide. Ant-Man looks to have a more significant role in this upcoming film, whether the Avengers decide to use his Quantum tech to save the world or if one viral theory involving Ant-Man crawling into Thanos’ butt ring true. Answers to these questions aren’t far off, Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.

Knights Of Ren Confirmed For Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Knights Of Ren Confirmed For Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens we were introduced to a collection of apparently villainous characters called the Knights of Ren. We witnessed them standing in the rain outside of Luke Skywalker's burning Jedi temple, and then, they were gone. We've never seen or heard a word about them since Rey's flashback in the first film of the new trilogy, but now a new report confirms that the Knights of Ren will return in for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Rumors had been swirling that the Knights would be back for the final film of the trilogy, and the characters were even spottted in a supposedly leaked poster image, but a new Vanity Fair article confirms the Knights will play a part, and even shows the characters off. The Knights of Ren are described as wearing mismatched armor with oversized arsenals of weapons. Whereas the rest of the First Order looks sleek and ordered, the Knights of Ren are put together in a much more haphazard fashion.

The article also confirms that the one good shot that we received of Kylo Ren in the Rise of Skywalker teaser trailer shows him taking down one of the Knights of Ren.

Of course, the fact that Kylo Ren is attacking the Knights of Ren in this shot creates more questions than answers. Is this a flashback? Is the reason we have't seen the Knights of Ren before because they're all dead? Does this mean Ben Solo is going to turn to the light side after all and attack those that he was previously aligned with? Does this mean the Knights of Ren have turned to the light and Kylo Ren is fighting them for that reason?

While it is now confirmed that the Knights of Ren will appear in the new film, no details are being given regarding how they're being used, so your guess is as good as mine. Where have they been all this time and why are they back now? We'll find out in December I guess. One rumor has indicated the Knights have been busy elsewhere over the course of the previous two films.

A great deal will have changed for Kylo Ren when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker starts. He will, one assumes, have been ruling over the First Order alone for the year that has passed since The Last Jedi. How this has changed him and his relationship with these characters, is certainly an interesting question.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker says that when Ben Solo left after destroying the temple he took some of the students with him. Whether or not these people are the Knights of Ren we don't specifically know, though it seems likely.

Since the Knights of Ren have never been anything more than a name and an image before, we have really no idea what to expect from them in the new film. Even the books and and other Star Wars material that has been released in the last few years has remained remarkably quiet on the Knights of Ren. They may not end up being anybody particularly special or they could end up becoming some of the most popular new characters of the new trilogy. We'll find out December 20.

Rian Johnson Reveals When He’ll Start Working On His Star Wars Trilogy

Rian Johnson Reveals When He’ll Start Working On His Star Wars Trilogy

The past few years have been very exciting for Star Wars fans. After Disney acquired the rights to the property from Lucasfilm, the generations of moviegoers have been brought a variety of new and exciting content from the galaxy far, far away. This includes both main installments and standalone films, and the beloved space opera isn't slowing down anytime soon.

All eyes are currently on how J.J Abrams will wrap up the Skywalker Saga forever with Episode IX, there are also two sets of movies being developed. One of which is a trilogy by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and now we've got an idea regarding when he'll get to work. Johnson recently presented his upcoming movie Knives Out at CinemaCon, and revealed he'd be going back to the galaxy after that film is released.

This update comes to us from Twitter, and will no doubt excite the generations of Star Wars fans who are eager for information about the franchise after Episode IX. J.J Abrams' still untitled movie will arrive this holiday season, but Disney hasn't shared its future plans with the public. It's currently unclear if any more standalone films are on the way, or when Rian Johnson's trilogy might first arrive in theaters.

The Star Wars franchise has been pumping out new releases every year, so any gaps in time before new content is going to feel excruciating to moviegoers. But Rian Johnson will craft three separate movies, which proves that Lucasfilm was happy with his work on The Last Jedi. So while the project may have subverted fan expectations and received some hate from moviegoers, Johnson is being given even more freedom to put his stamp on the galaxy far far away.

Of course, Rian Johnson isn't the only filmmaker curating new movies for the Star Wars franchise. Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are also developing their own Star Wars flicks, although it's unclear exactly how many we should expect. But considering the work the duo has done in Westeros, it's an exciting development. We're days away from Season 8's premiere, with the upcoming series finale presumably freeing up Weiss and Benioff's schedule to focus on The Force.

It should be fascinating to see what Rian Johnson does with his trilogy of movies, especially considering how many shocking moments were in The Last Jedi. Johnson made liberal changes to the canon with his blockbuster, which is why some fans took umbrage with the risks he took. He made the franchise hero into a jaded recluse, finally gave Leia force abilities, and purposefully cut down various fan theories. By killing Snoke and revealing Rey's parentage, he freed up Episode IX to go into new and exciting places, so it feels like anything could happen with his upcoming movies.

First Rian Johnson will focus on Knives Out, which will arrive in theaters on November 27th. Episode IX will follow shortly thereafter, debuting on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release to plan your next trip to the movies.

Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire Isn't Ruling Out Another Superhero Role In The Future

Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire Isn't Ruling Out Another Superhero Role In The Future

Alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, the first icon of the new millennium’s superhero age was Tobey Maguire, who played Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s three Spider-Man films. The actor hung up his webshooters after the financially successful but critically divisive Spider-Man 3 in 2007, and he hasn’t been in another superhero film since. That doesn’t mean he’s ruling out another superhero role in the future though; speaking about the possibility Tobey Maguire said:

I just don't really have an 'I would or wouldn't do' mind-set. I'll just do whatever … whatever it is that comes that I feel called to, that may or may not fit in any kind of box.

Tobey Maguire definitely isn’t closing the door on the idea that he could one day return to the realm of superhero movies. His years as Spider-Man and multiple films haven’t caused him to swear off working in the genre entirely, but he isn’t itching to get back in a pair of superhero tights either. Therefore what he told The Hollywood Reporter isn’t a definitive answer about whether we’ll see him in a superhero role in the future, but it leaves the door open.

Based on his comments, Tobey Maguire seems to take a very zen approach to the roles that he takes, never saying never. He doesn’t want to box himself in by saying he absolutely would do X or wouldn’t do Y, because every situation is different. If something comes along that he is drawn to, he’ll take it and not be governed by any sort of rules he’s made for himself.

That seems to apply to superhero movies as well. If a new superhero role comes along and Tobey Maguire is called to it, he may very well add another chapter to his comic book movie legacy. We’ll just have to wait and see if such an opportunity presents itself and how Tobey Maguire responds to it. There is certainly no shortage of superhero films on the horizon with potential roles for the OG Peter Parker.

I think a lot of fans would love to see Tobey Maguire return to the superhero world in some fashion, even if it's something as small as a cameo. Fans even created a petition for Tobey Maguire to cameo as a pizza delivery guy in Spider-Man: Far From Home. And new Spider-Man Tom Holland has advocated for Tobey Maguire to play Uncle Ben.

One film that is practically demanding a Tobey Maguire cameo is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. The directors of the first film didn’t want to confuse audiences by bringing in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to voice Spider-Men, but now that the first film was successful, as in Best Animated Feature successful, there may be more of an opportunity to remedy that in the sequel.

If Tobey Maguire does one day return to the world of superhero movies, he would be in good company. Actors like Chris Evans, Michael B. Jordan, Ben Affleck and Ryan Reynolds all played multiple different superheroes on the big screen. After years away, even former Batman Michael Keaton returned as the villainous Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Personally, I would love to see Tobey Maguire make the jump from hero to villain in a future superhero movie.

You can see the new Peter Parker Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Far From Home, in theaters on July 5. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies headed to theaters this year and let us know in the comments what comic book character you would like to see Tobey Maguire play in a future film.

The Russo Brothers Don't Think Iron Man Was Wrong About Ultron

The Russo Brothers Don't Think Iron Man Was Wrong About Ultron

Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame.

Avengers: Endgame has been in theaters for three weekends, still maintaining the top spot at the box office over new releases like Detective Pikachu. The Russo Brothers did the impossible with the blockbuster, surpassing even Infinity War in regards to scope and character-driven story. Endgame was intimately connected to the previous 21 movies in the MCU, and that includes Phase Two's finale Avengers: Age of Ultron.

When Iron Man and Nebula were rescued by Captain Marvel and towed back to Earth in Endgame, Tony had an altercation with Steve Rogers. Exhausted and starving, he maintained he was right all along regarding the measures needed to properly protect the planet. Now The Russo Brothers have come to Tony's defense in regards to his Age of Ultron actions, with Joe Russo saying:

He was not wrong that there was a great threat coming, and they needed to build a suit of armor around the world, and at what point do civil liberties trump—no pun intended—do civil liberties come before the government’s ability to protect its citizens? I think what’s interesting is that to some extent, they had to go through this. There was a sense of destiny to this. They had to go through it to win it. And in a way both he and Cap were right.

Captain America and Iron Man's relationship started becoming strained during Avengers: Age of Ultron, as they had idealogical differences to the morality of superheroics. Ultron's inception came as a result of Tony's singular focus on protecting the planet, although Earth could have used it when Thanos and his forcea came knocking in Infinity War.

Of course, Joe Russo's comments to Slate also point out that Captain America has his own valid points in the argument. Both heroes had the best of intentions, but were ultimately unable to come together and find viable compromises. That powder keg eventually exploded in Captain America: Civil War, and it broke up the Avengers in the process.

Related: How Spider-Man: Far From Home Can Wrap Up Marvel's Phase Three

Ultron may have ended up turning against his creators and the planet, but the thought behind his creation was a big picture idea. Tony and Bruce Banner wanted to provide a more comprehensive protection of the planet, with Iron Man knowing that the Battle of New York was no fluke. Unfortunately, Ultron had other plans-- although Vision was also born in the process.

But Thanos was only able to be defeated because the surviving heroes were able to work together. Despite Tony's initial reaction to arriving home, he was able to bury the hatchet with Steve Rogers, and they made the time heist happen together. The duo also faced off against Thanos during the epic final battle, and Cap even witnessed Iron Man's final breath.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Rami Malek Says He Wouldn't Have Gotten Bohemian Rhapsody Role Without Mr. Robot

Rami Malek Says He Wouldn't Have Gotten Bohemian Rhapsody Role Without Mr. Robot

It is good to be Rami Malek right now. The actor was the lead in Bohemian Rhapsody, one of 2018’s most successful films, for which he won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury. On top of that he’s dating his gorgeous co-star. Yet, he might never have gotten the role of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody if it weren’t for his breakout role in USA’s Mr. Robot. According to Rami Malek:

This seemed to propel me into a different space. I wouldn't have gotten the role of Freddie Murphy in Bohemian Rhapsody if it wasn't for this show. [I] probably wouldn't have had the type of success I'm seeing in my career right now, so I'm so fortunate to this show, especially for giving me this platform, giving me one of the greatest characters that I could ever play, anyone could ever play.

It’s impossible to know for sure what would have happened, but at least as far as Rami Malek is concerned, his current career success, epitomized by Bohemian Rhapsody, is attributable to his role as Elliot Alderson on Mr. Robot. As he told ET, Sam Esmail’s mind-bending show gave him visibility and a compelling character with whom he could show the world what he was capable of.

Prior to Mr. Robot, Rami Malek had plenty of credits to his name, but he himself wasn’t an established name by any stretch. His roles were mostly on TV shows and his biggest film credits were in the Night at the Museum movies, as well as taking roles in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2 and in smaller films like The Master and Short Term 12. Mr. Robot was Rami Malek’s first big starring role and it put him on the map in a way he wasn’t before.

Mr. Robot was a huge hit in its first season and was watercooler TV that had people talking. Rami Malek’s work on the show got people’s attention and it is possible that his presence in a buzzed about TV show put him on the right people’s radar. He believes that eventually snowballed into him landing the role of Freddie Mercury, a role that has changed his life. Sometimes all it takes is that breakthrough performance to get the ball rolling.

Rami Malek’s newfound success isn’t just limited to Bohemian Rhapsody and his award-winning performance as Freddie Mercury; the actor, now a name with a golden statue attached to it, is carrying that good fortune forward. Next year he joins a star-studded voice cast as Chee-Chee, opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s John Doolittle in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle.

The actor also joins one of cinema’s most storied franchises as the villain in the as yet unnamed Bond 25. As Bohemian Rhapsody propels his career into the theatrical realm, Rami Malek will return one last time to the role of Elliot Alderson, to which he credits so much of his success, when Mr. Robot airs its fourth and final season later this year on USA. And of course, there's always the off-chance Bohemian Rhapsody could get a sequel.

We’ll keep you updated on what Rami Malek is working on next and in the meantime, check out our 2019 release schedule to gear up for all of this summer’s biggest movies.

The Latest Hobbs And Shaw Footage Totally Kicked Our Asses

The Latest Hobbs And Shaw Footage Totally Kicked Our Asses

Back in February we got our first look at a film that seems like it could be one of the most fun blockbuster releases to come out in 2019. Spinning off from the Fast & Furious franchise with two of the most charismatic stars in the ensemble, David Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw looks like an over-the-top, insane, and ridiculous ride, packed with some brilliant action that should seriously thrill audiences worldwide this summer.

It seems, however, that what we’ve seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. Today at CinemaCon in Las Vegas during the Universal Studios presentation, we got to see the latest trailer for Hobbs & Shaw, and it succeeded in not just blowing our minds, but also presenting some crazy set pieces that sent legitimate chills down the spine.

Wasting no time diving straight into the ass kicking, the Hobbs & Shaw footage began with the two titular characters in the middle of a mission and standing in front of a pair of twin doors. After some quick debate over which door belongs to who, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) makes the call to open the one on the right – and it turns out to be not such a great choice, as he suddenly discovers a team of henchmen waiting for him on the other side. As Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) mocks the choice that was made, Shaw immediately jumps into action and starts taking down his enemies with his impressive skills.

Meanwhile, Hobbs opens his door, and though there is only one dude standing behind it, he is so big that he actually makes the former Diplomatic Security Service agent look tiny, and he wields a giant wrench. Still, the hero is able to make quick work of his enemy, felling him with a single hit. As it happens, the two opposite hallways in which the eponymous characters find themselves are separated by a glass window, and so Hobbs is able to watch his partner fight as he himself casually strolls to the exit on the other side. Eventually they both reach the end, and Hobbs picks up his single foe and pushes his face against a scanner, opening a door. Staring back daggers, Shaw tries to replicate the action with one of his unconscious “companions,” but it doesn’t quite work – leading the British fighting machine to smash the guys face into the scanner multiple times with sincere frustration.

From there the trailer offered a bit more of the plot, explaining that bulletproof villain Brixton (Idris Elba) has put a target on the back of Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), Deckard’s sister, who has stolen a virus from him that could kill half of the human population. As Shaw and Hobbs debate family business versus world saving business, we briefly see a shot of Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren), Deckard’s mom, during a behind glass prison visitation telling Deckard to look out for his sister.

It’s agreed between the two heroes that the only way to succeed is to work together, but a full partnership doesn’t really seem to be totally possible. After all, we then see them in a jet preparing to use their ejector seats, and as Shaw counts down Hobbs pulls his frenemy’s cord and fires him out of the cockpit – laughing as he does it.

As the action continues, Brixton expresses a high opinion of himself, calling himself Black Superman, which the lead duo gets to experience first-hand when the villain jumps on to the back of a flatbed truck with them and proceeds to kick both of their asses – leading Hobbs to later agree, “Damn, he really is Black Superman.”

Understanding that they are in serious trouble, a plan is made by Hobbs and the two Shaw siblings to get off the grid, which then takes them to the island of American Samoa, where Hobbs is reunited with his family, specifically his mother and brothers. They’re all willing to work together so that they can save the world, but they are at a bit of a disadvantage. While they have plenty of cars to get the job done, it turns out that the Hobbs household has gotten rid of all their guns.

Still, that doesn’t stop them from engaging in full on war, leading to an epic ground battle that is previewed in bits and pieces. The big showstopper is delivered at the end, however, when Hobbs, Shaw, and Hobbs’ brothers are driving cars and doing battle with a military helicopter. While driving, the giant Samoan is able to throw a giant hook on to the chopper, and at the same time more hooks and chains are connected between the family’s vehicles to combine their strength. The end result is pure cliffside madness, as the helicopter tries to fly away, pulling the cars, while the cars at the same time try to pull the helicopter down – with Luke holding on to a chain and pulling with all of his might.

Nothing previewed thus far at CinemaCon has been able to match the epic-ness that was on display in the Hobbs & Shaw footage, and while I was already way beyond simple anticipation for the blockbuster, that excitement has only gone way, way up. Everything we’ve seen from this movie thus far has suggested it could be the biggest and most bodacious story in the entire Fast & Furious canon, and it truly can’t get here soon enough.

At this time we don’t know if this specific footage will eventually be making its way online, or when the next official trailer for Hobbs & Shaw will hit, but take our word that you are going to want to pay attention. The movie is still a few months away, set for release on August 2nd, but you can be sure that we’ll be writing a lot more about it between now and then. Be on the lookout for more of our stories, as well as plenty more coverage out of CinemaCon 2019.