Ryan Reynolds And Deadpool Celebrated The Fox/Disney Merger In The Perfect Way

Ryan Reynolds And Deadpool Celebrated The Fox/Disney Merger In The Perfect Way

This morning, just after midnight, the merger between 21st Century Fox and the Walt Disney Company became official. That meant that numerous franchises and characters have now joined the House of Mouse, and it looks like Deadpool could not be happier. Ryan Reynolds posted an image to his Twitter account commemorating the new era which shows Deadpool heading off to join his new bosses. Check it out.

The image shows Deadpool sitting in a classic yellow school bus, which happens to have the Disney name on it. The Merc with a Mouth is wearing the classic Mickey Mouse ears, which you figure have to be standard issue for all cast members of the Walt Disney Company. He looks like a little kid on the way to his first day of school, and for him I suppose it is. He needs to learn exactly what the plan is for him under this new corporate structure.

The film rights to the Deadpool character are officially in the hands of Marvel once again as the result of this merger. This creates an opportunity for Deadpool and his fellow mutants to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it's unclear exactly how, or even if, such a thing would work.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously stated that he had no problem continuing to make Deadpool movies that continue to be mature titles. However, at this point the only project on the drawing board, an X-Force film that would include Deadpool as one member of a team, is maybe dead. Does this mean there's no place in the new Marvel for the old Deadpool after all?

It will probably be some time before we hear any major announcements regarding the future of Deadpool or any other of the major franchises that Disney just took over. There's a lot of work to be done and a lot of decisions to be made. Disney has to learn where the various in-development projects currently stand, decide which ones the studio wants to make a priority, which may not be identical to the way Fox felt, and which ones can sit on the back burner.

At the same time, it's also possible Disney already has a plan in place. The studio announced news Star Wars movies essentially concurrently with the announcement that it had purchased Lucasfilm. If Disney has decided it wants Deadpool to be an important part of the future, we could get a release date for X-Force or an official announcement that Deadpool 3 is coming literally any day.

If and when we do see Deadpool again, you can be pretty sure he'll be kicking down the fourth wall with numerous jokes about what it's like working for Disney now. The irony is just too much fun to ignore.

Balancing the R-rated version of Deadpool with the company whose name is synonymous with family friendly entertainment is clearly going to be a delicate matter. The character is incredibly popular and it seems unlikely Disney is going to want to say goodbye to the money that could be made. At the same time, don't expect to see Deadpool walking around Disneyland anytime soon.

Grey’s Anatomy Star Wants To Be The MCU’s Shang-Chi

Grey’s Anatomy Star Wants To Be The MCU’s Shang-Chi

When Spider-Man: Far From Home approaches theaters this summer, MCU’s Phase Three will officially close out and leave room for the studio’s future plans to be finally be revealed. Among them is a film for Shang-Chi, which will mark Marvel’s first central Chinese protagonist. The movie about the Master of Kung fu has a director and scriptwriter already picked out, but who will play the titular comic book character?

26-year-old Grey’s Anatomy actor Alex Landi is throwing his name in the ring! Landi is best known for joining the ABC drama in Season 15 as Dr. Nico Kim, but he is setting his sights on Shang-Chi. Here’s what he said:

The first Asian superhero for Marvel, that would be dope. That’s my dream role right there. Any role in that movie, I think, would be great.

The actor isn’t just talk, he also told Huff Post that he has a background in martial arts! Even if he doesn’t get cast in the titular role, Alex Landi will settle for any role in the film as well; he just wants to part of it. Shang-Chi will be opting for a primarily Asian and Asian American cast, so maybe he has a chance for his dreams to come true.

The Grey’s Anatomy regular has quickly risen in the ranks for fans of the series with his cute relationship with Dr. Levi Schmitt (played by Jake Borelli), who are the first gay male doctors on the show to share a romance in the show’s history. The couple are lovingly known as “Schmico” and their story will continue in season 16, following last week’s finale.

Alex Landi also recently earned a role on Netflix’s second season Insatiable, which faced controversy when it premiered last summer. Will he even have time to play Shang-Chi if offered the role? Grey’s Anatomy has not had problems with writing out other characters in the past for their other gigs if it happened, but it would certainly sadden Schmico fans.

Shang-Chi is set to be helmed by Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Dave Callaham, who created the Expendables franchise, wrote the story for 2014’s Godzilla, co-wrote Wonder Woman 1984 and has signed on to write the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse sequel. Shang-Chi was created in 1973 during the prime of martial arts’ popularity, as Bruce Lee ruled the scene.

Per his origin story, Shang-Chi lives out his childhood in a compound in China where he trains in the ways of martial arts before being sent out by his father on missions. However, he later learns his dad is a centuries-old villain known as “Fu Manchu” and “the Devil’s Doctor,” and the two become arch-enemies.

Considering Kevin Feige’s recent tease about the return of the Mandarin and the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi may also be dealing with them in the film as well. News of Phase Four can’t come soon enough!

What do you think about Alex Landi playing Shang-Chi? Would it be a good choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Why The Aladdin Remake Added A New Song For Jasmine To Sing

Why The Aladdin Remake Added A New Song For Jasmine To Sing

Aladdin has one of the most popular soundtracks in Disney history with song's like the Genie's showstopping "Friend Like Me" and the fantastic love song "A Whole New World." The new live action remake of Aladdin brings to life brand new versions of all your favorite songs, but it also adds an all-new tune to the mix.

With music by original Aladdin composer Alan Menken and lyrics by The Greatest Showman's Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the song is called "Speechless" and it's sung by Naomi Scott's Princess Jasmine. Alan Menken told Cinemablend's Eric Eisenberg that the new song fit well with a modern re-imagining of Aladdin, because of the song's modern themes of a woman who feels she is without a voice and wants to change that. According to Menken...

We thought, something new for Jasmine would be appropriate. Especially, in these times of Me Too, to really hear from her about wanting to be heard.

It's mostly just nice for Jasmine to get a song of her own because she never had one in the original animated film. Jasmine's only opportunity to sing back then was as part of the "Whole New World" duet. Most of the reason for that is that, unlike many of Disney's animated films, the princess isn't actually the main character of the story.

However, in the new Aladdin, Jasmine is a much stronger character, and her desire to be free of the constraints of the palace and be recognized for her own abilities is a major part of the story. The title of the song, "Speechless," references the state that that those around Jasmine, like Jafar and her father, seem to want her to remain in. She, instead, wants to be able to speak her mind.

Certainly, in a modern context having a female lead that is little more than a bystander isn't going to sit well with more than half of the audience, and so making Jasmine a more fully realized character was going to be important to the movie. Part of that was giving her a powerful song to sing.

While it's hard to argue that the live-action Aladdin doesn't suffer in comparison to its animated original, one place where the new movie is actually the best version of the Disney story is in the depiction of Jasmine, and her relationship with Aladdin as a whole.

The soundtrack to the new Aladdin is now available, so you can give the song a listen now even if you haven't had a chance to see the new Aladdin.

To see Alan Menken's full comments on the new song, as well as Naomi Scott's feelings singing a song written by the Disney Legend, check out the full video below.

A Stalin Reference Was Reportedly Removed From Hellboy In Russia

A Stalin Reference Was Reportedly Removed From Hellboy In Russia

Every now and then, you’ll come across an instance where a movie has been edited because it’s airing in a particular country, like how some of the entries on Steve Rogers’ to-do list in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Solider were different depending on where the film was released. In the case of the Hellboy reboot, its Russian release was apparently adjusted so that a reference to Joseph Stalin was replaced with a different notorious historical figure being mentioned.

If you’ve already seen Hellboy, you might recall a moment when the eponymous protagonist mentions how the one-eyed with Baba Yaga, one of the movie’s side villains, once tried to resurrect Joseph Stalin. Here are his exact words:

I recall you tried to raise Stalin's ghost from a necropolis.

However, per BBC News, Russian moviegoers heard this line instead:

I want to remind you, you tried to raise Hitler's spirit from a necropolis.

That’s right, rather than reference the man who led the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953, the Russian version of Hellboy decided to mention Adolph Hitler instead, another dictator from the mid-20th century. This isn’t the first time that a movie in Russia has had to deal with Stalin-related censorship, as last year the UK comedy The Death of Stalin was denied release in the country because it was deemed “disgusting” and “extremist.”

Going off social media responses, evidently many Russian viewers were not pleased with Stalin’s name being replaced with Hitler’s in Hellboy. It was also noted online that Baba Yaga mentioning Hitler doesn’t really make any sense since she’s a Russian folklore character.

For the English screenings of Hellboy in Russian, Stalin’s name was bleeped and the subtitles included Hitler’s name instead. This was one of only two ways that Hellboy was censored in Russia, the other being a Russian curse word that Grigori Rasputin (another Russian historical figure) utters being removed.

While the exact reasoning for why Stalin’s name was taken out of Hellboy, BBC’s article also noted that a recent poll showed that 70% of Russians believe Stalin played a positive role in Russian history. So this could just be an instance of not wanting to portray such a notable individual in a negative light.

In any case, the rest of Hellboy played the same in Russia as it did domestically. Hitting theaters last week, the reboot has taken a beating both critically and commercially, collecting a lot of negative reviews (it ranks at 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a C CinemaScore) and making only $15 million worldwide so far. There was also reportedly some major drama that went on during production.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news about Hellboy, and don’t forget to look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out later this year.

Avengers: Endgame Pre-Sales Break Ticket Purchasing Websites

Avengers: Endgame Pre-Sales Break Ticket Purchasing Websites

We are just weeks away from the long awaited release for Avengers: Endgame, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. 21 movies and a decade of filmmaking will come down to one final blockbuster, as The Russo Brothers wrap up Phase Three and the MCU as we know it. Marvel Studios has been methodically releasing information and footage of Endgame, revealing the grim world inhabited by the surviving characters.

Another trailer hit today, showing far more footage of the heroes together, before eventually starting their rematch with Josh Brolin's Thanos. The trailer had some heart wrenching moments, and accompanied the begin of Avengers: Endgame's pre-sales. There's just one problem: it looks like all the biggest ticket sellers' websites have broken from the attention, and it's seemingly impossible to nail down a seat of your own.

There are plenty of ticket buying apps and websites to use when planning your trip to the movies. AMC, Fandango, and Atom tickets all compete for the biggest numbers, hoping to get the hardcore fandom in theaters and buying lots of refreshments. As such, those are the first places that Marvel fans went to attempt to buy tickets for Avengers: Endgame. Attempt being the key word here.

Because upon using the various websites, it seems each ticket venue is suffering technical difficulties from the mass of moviegoers attempting to get pre-sale tickets. I personally went through each option to try and get Endgame tickets, and they're all offering various excuses and bad news for moviegoers attempting to secure their seats on opening night.

For instance, Fandango has its own section and set up for Avengers: Endgame. Upon finding a date or theater you're interested in, the website takes you to a holding room, informing users you're 'on line' to buy tickets. The wait indicate over an hour, which I can verify as true. I've been sitting in this waiting room for well over an hour, and I haven't gotten much closer to buying tickets. In fact, it currently states the line is "on hold", with no semblance for if/when they might become available.

Atom is having similar struggles, and as you request to purchase tickets, there is a risk at the site crashing at any point. If you do mange to pick a theater, date, and select the number of tickets you need without the site crapping out on you, don't get too excited. The site will fail to actually allow you to chose a seat, and your session will eventually time out.

Then there's the AMC website. AMC is a massive theater chain, which has the luxury of selling tickets directly to its customers. At least, in theory. I can't even get onto the company's website at the time of writing, let alone go get a ticket for Endgame specifically. As such, the hardcore fandom will have to spend their day refreshing AMC and its competitors in hopes of getting an early ticket for the upcoming blockbuster.

Moviegoers have been taking to social media to express their concerns, and it's clearly not an issue hitting just one part of the country. And considering just how highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame is, we shouldn't expect the rush to ticket sale websites to slow down. At least, until people can finally secure their ticket.

Avengers: Endgame will arrive in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Why Rhodey Is 'Circumspect' About Captain Marvel In Avengers: Endgame

Why Rhodey Is 'Circumspect' About Captain Marvel In Avengers: Endgame

If you watched that full Avengers: Endgame scene with the big Thanos plan, you probably noticed a few things: 1) Thor likes to pop bread rolls like candy, and 2) James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine was not immediately sold on "new girl" Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel.

Rhodey got to be the one to ask Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) the pressing question of where the hell she's been this whole time. Don Cheadle said his character is certainly wary of this stranger comin' in hot with bold plans:

Absolutely. Well, you never know who’s going to turn. He’s saying, "We’ve been putting in all this work, and we’ve lost people that are close to us and you don’t even know these people. Yeah, you’re going to come in and tell us how we’re supposed to do this now." There’s a fair bit of … I don’t know if suspicion is the word, but he’s definitely circumspect about who this new person is and why should they listen to her.

Fair enough. As Don Cheadle suggested to EW, it would be weird if they just immediately started following this stranger without testing her mettle. But we know Captain Marvel is up to that challenge, and she's already been shown in other trailer shots to be part of the team that heads out to get the Thanos job done.

Here's how that sneak peek scene played out, showing the initial tension in the room between Rhodey -- although he was probably speaking for all of them -- and Carol:

James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine: He's still got the stones so...

Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel: So let's get em, use them to bring everyone back.

Bruce Banner/The Hulk: Just like that?

Steve Rogers/Captain America: Yeah, just like that.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow: Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this, I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try.

Bruce: If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?

Carol: Because before you didn't have me.

Rhodey: Hey, new girl? Everybody in this room is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?

Carol: There are a lot of other planets in the universe, and unfortunately they didn't have you guys.

That's when Thor took a bread break and tested Carol, in his way, ultimately saying of her: "I like this one."

Captain Marvel has a healthy ego, but no ego is healthier than Thor's, so it should be interesting to see them together in more scenes. She fed their egos with her answer, basically saying this planet was already covered so they didn't need her help -- until now.

In other trailer shots, Rhodey is also shown heading off into space -- apparently for the first time -- with Captain Marvel and the surviving Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite appearing to have a big presence in the movie, Don Cheadle doesn't seem to know too much more than The Rest Of Us about how Avengers: Endgame will play out. At least, that's what he told EW:

Yeah, you just sort of get your part, and some explanation about what came before, and what goes after and kind of how things fit in. But it was still a pretty malleable process while we were shooting it, you know? We knew that things were going to be changing, even after they told us what it was going to be.

Don Cheadle said "they" -- presumably directors Joe and Anthony Russo -- would tell them this sequence would fold into that one, but they may change it and get rid of this whole other sequence. So the final three hour-plus runtime may include some surprises for the actors themselves, if certain scenes did or did not make the final cut.

We know the Russos have embraced misdirection in trailers, including scenes that will not be in the final cut of the movie, like that infamous running shot that never happened on screen in Avengers: Infinity War.

So expect just about anything when Avengers 4 opens April 26. I'm guessing you have tickets by now, since the movie has broken every kind of pre-sales record. Here's everything we know so far about Endgame, which is just one of many movies worth following through our 2019 movie release schedule.

Vanessa Hudgens Is Campaigning To Play Catwoman In The Batman

Vanessa Hudgens Is Campaigning To Play Catwoman In The Batman

The DC live-action universe has been in a fascinating place since its inception, and only continues to surprise the public as time goes on. What started with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman v Superman has grown into a more capsulated universe, with Aquaman and Shazam! proving the DCEU could deliver critically acclaimed blockbusters. All eyes are on what the future will bring, especially as more stories revolving around Gotham City and its denizens make their way to theaters.

Aside from Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn) and Todd Phillips' Joker, there's another major Gotham-set story that has been developing at the studio. Matt Reeves' The Batman has already had a long gestation period, and new rumors indicate that Robert Pattinson might replace Ben Affleck as the title character. And now it turns out that High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens has been campaigning to be the next live-action Catwoman.

Vanessa Hudgens has been making her intentions known over on her personal Instagram page. A number of the 30 year-old actress' fans have edited together images of her as Catwoman, and Hudgens was thrilled with the results. She shared a handful of those images on her Instagram story, with captions like:

Okay. Who do I need to talk to make this happen lol #dreamrole.

From there, she went on to repost various fan-made art with her as the DC femme fatale. What's more, she put her support behind Josh Gad's ongoing campaign to play Penguin. She certainly following in Gad's footsteps in that regard, as he's been teasing fans about the possibility of playing Penguin for years at this point. Unfortunately, Matt Reeves hasn't revealed his cast for The Batman just yet.

If Vanessa Hudgens gets her wish and ends up playing Catwoman, she'll have some very big shoes (or boots) to fill. On the big screen, she was most recently played by Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, who played her as a criminal desperate to have a normal life. And Hathaway was preceded by perhaps the most iconic Catwoman ever: Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns. There hasn't been anyone who was quite as sexy and ferocious as Pfeiffer's Selena Kyle, but it looks like Hudgens is ready to give it the old college try.

In fact, Vanessa Hudgens was a major fan of Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman since childhood. On her same Instagram story, she shared an image of herself as the character on Halloween. Check it out.

It's currently unclear if Vanessa Hudgens will ever get the chance to play Gotham's most deadly feline. But at least she's proven how much the character means to her-- a passion that could only help her performance is Matt Reeves ends up giving her the role. We'll just have to see if Catwoman ends up being a major part in The Batman, and who Reeves ends up casting to play her.

The Batman is currently set to arrive in theaters on June 25th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.