Why Booksmart Feels So Similar To Superbad

Why Booksmart Feels So Similar To Superbad

In the years since John Hughes arguably carved out the high school movie as its own unique genre, many have risen to the challenge of creating iconic movies to define specific eras. Superbad very much did that when it hit theaters back in 2007, and it did so by taking DNA from films like Dazed and Confused and melding it with a Judd Apatow-style comedy focusing on friendship.

Now, Olivia Wilde is doing the same with her directorial debut, Booksmart. In fact, as producer David Distenfeld explained to CinemaBlend and other outlets during a visit to the film’s set earlier this year, the comparisons to Superbad make a lot of sense because the movie focuses on a friendship set against the backdrop of a crazy evening. The producer said:

In terms of the Superbad comparison, it's that friendship. Yes, there was all that craziness going around Michael [Cera] and Jonah [Hill], but friendship is what the movie is about. As much as they go through that crazy night, the friendship of these two girls is really what sort of grounds it.

So, it sounds like we can generally expect Booksmart to go to some pretty wild places when it finally premieres. The movie is aiming to heighten reality in a very similar way that Superbad did, but it’s also going to do so while anchoring the narrative in the friendship of two lovable characters.

Viewing a project like Booksmart through that lens, producer David Distenfeld seems to think the comparison to Superbad is actually fairly apt.

Of course, Superbad is not the only film that features this type of structure or narrative style in the creation of a high school movie. Despite the similarities between Superbad and Booksmart, it’s also worth noting that films like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused have similarly employed the one-wild-night structure in the creation of legendary high school movies.

Superbad just happens to feel like one of the most apt comparisons because it specifically focuses on a pair of awkward teens making their way through a raunchy, hard-R night.

Booksmart centers on two young, intelligent girls on their last day of high school. Upon coming to the realization that they have squandered their four years focusing on academics and not paying attention to the social scene, they set out to have one wild night before graduation.

CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to Booksmart as new details about the film are made available to us. Keep it here for more updates related to Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, and head on over to our movie premiere guide to read up on all of the films that will hit the big screen before the end of the year.

The 9 Best Nicole Kidman Movies, Ranked

The 9 Best Nicole Kidman Movies, Ranked

Nicole Kidman is a great actress. One would be extremely hard-pressed to say otherwise. For the past three decades, Kidman has proven herself to be an exceptionally versatile and vulnerable performer, capable of astonishing range and dramatic fortitude, with projects like To Die For and Lion. There are no shortage of strong, powerful performances from Nicole Kidman, and we want to take a moment to highlight a mere few of her exceptional roles throughout her extensive career.

Whether it's comedy, drama, action, adventure, fantasy or musical, to name a few of the genres she has worked in throughout her busy career, Nicole Kidman has provided audiences everywhere with an extensive array of compelling performances, challenging herself in a variety of acclaimed and intriguing titles. While not all of them can be winners (perhaps the less said about 2005's Bewitched or 2007's The Invasion, the better...), Kidman has displayed an impressive and accomplished showcase of her talents, and we want to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our personal favorites.

Now before we ruffle any feathers, we should note some of the films that didn't make the cut. That's not because they weren't worthy of being considered, but because we only have a certain amount of time and space and we can't give every movie its fair due. For instance, after going back and forth, we decided to cut Birth, Margot at the Wedding, Lion, Australia, The Stepford Wives, Dogville, Practical Magic, To Die For, Days of Thunder and, perhaps most controversially, Moulin Rouge.

The reasons vary between personal preference, differing opinions and some critical blind spots in my viewing habits. Nobody is perfect, after all, and I can't say I've seen every movie on Nicole Kidman's resume — though I should definitely make a point on catching up on a few. In any case, keep all that in mind. Now, without further ado, here's how we would rank some of the best of Nicole Kidman's movies.

The Beguiled

Sofia Coppola's 2017 film, The Beguiled, is certainly one that lives up to that title. Filled with intrigue and spellbinding visuals, it's a captivating film. And part of that reason is because Nicole Kidman's subtle, dependable performance carries the film through its soft presentation.

Commanding as ever as the woman who runs a girl school in Virginia in the midst of the Civil War, Nicole Kidman's performance is certainly one that demands respect. In just one glance, she channels so much intensity and ferocity, and for an actress as great and commendable as Kidman, it's great that she is capable of providing so much in such a simple gesture. This movie doesn't get as much attention and notoriety as some of the other films on Nicole Kidman's resume, but it's certainly one that's worth checking out if you are a fan.

Stoker

Park Chan-Wook's English-language debut, Stoker, is certainly a hard film to describe. A psychological thriller written by Wentworth Miller and brought to the same sort of chilling conclusion as some of Chan-Wook's other noteworthy films, it is probably best to leave the details of the plot a mystery if you haven't had a chance to see the film for yourself. But if you're looking for a good reason to see Stoker, one would certainly be Nicole Kidman's performance.

The actress once again displays the ruthless energy that is found in her best work, displaying a commendable sense of conviction and devastation in even a single utterance of a well-written sentence. The result is a ferocious performance that also contains the tenderness found inside her best work.

The Others

Nicole Kidman has found herself inside the horror genre more times than one would assume, as displayed in this article. But to date, one of her most memorable genre exercises remains the tense, twisty tale of The Others. Allowing the actress to display her strengths in a genre that — at the time — was not at one of its peaks, the result is another compelling performance in a role that once again allows the actress to flourish.

To reveal too much more would probably be unkind, since the film relies quite heavily on its twists, but The Others has become in one of the actress' most popular films. And while the horror genre doesn't always garner the best reviews — often unjustly — this film remains one of the most celebrated and acclaimed films on her resume, which is certainly saying something, considering the number of high-grade movies she has starred in.

Paddington

Who can hate sweet, dear Paddington? The formal, well-spoken and immensely polite little British bear is one of the kindest, sweetest souls to make his way to the big screen in quite some time. And while the trailers for 2015's film adaptation, the appropriately-titled Paddington, were dire, the film turned out to be a ravenous surprise, filled with great bouts of wit, charm and flights of whimsy. It's hard not to fall instantly in love with Paddington.

With that said, Nicole Kidman really had her work cut out for her in this family-friendly romp. As the villain of the movie, she had to do something damn near impossible: be antagonistic to that lovely English cub. Nevertheless, it's a major credit to her acting talents that she not only pulled it off, but pulled it off so convincingly. As if audience members needed more reasons to root for Paddington, Nicole Kidman provided them plentifully here. And while it's easily among Nicole Kidman's most well-liked and well-reviewed movies, it's not entirely fair to call it a "Nicole Kidman movie." Hence, why it is a little lower in this ranking than it would've otherwise been.

Cold Mountain

Though it doesn't get remarked upon quite as often now as it did in the decade prior, Cold Mountain is a commendable, richly textured tale. And it's made even stronger by its three central performances from Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Oscar-winner Renee Zellweger. The film demands a lot out of its viewer through its two-and-a-half hour runtime. And it does like to take its time in slow, contemplative measures. Yet, through the compelling, mindful performances of our lead actors, the journey is worth the trail.

While Renee Zellwegger got the most attention and accolades for her performance, Nicole Kidman is also quite commendable in her role. As a woman hoping to keep things together during the troubles of the Civil War, she displays her talents for showcasing strength and vulnerability in equal measures. It's a strong performance, and one that doesn't often get as much consideration as it should in Nicole Kidman's strong-filled career.

Rabbit Hole

Emotionally authentic yet dramatically challenging, Rabbit Hole continues to be one of Nicole Kidman's finest performances to date. Given the fantastic material from playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, who adapted his play of the same name, and compelled by the sensitive, yet impactful, direction of the great John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole is a tragedy, filled with sorrow and pathos at every scene. But it never falls into misery, thanks largely to the incredible performances from Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest and a pre-fame Miles Teller. But Kidman, in particular, stands out.

As a mother who is grieving from the death of her young son, Nicole Kidman delivers a commanding, yet deeply vulnerable, performance, filled with emotional intensity and dramatic nuance. It's a tremendous showcase for her dramatic versatility, showcasing the wide range of troubled emotions that come to a person when something this tragic, traumatic and heartbreaking is unfortunately found in someone's lives. The result is a beautifully-realized, delicately somber tale filled with sadness and tenderness in each measures. Kidman was also rightfully nominated for an Oscar for this role.

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer

Before Yorgos Lanthimos won awards voters' affections with last year's wickedly entertaining The Favourite, the Greek filmmakers alienated more than a few viewers with his divisive dark psychological horror flick, The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The film, which follows a cardiac surgeon (Colin Farrell) who makes the sullen company of a strange teenager (Barry Keoghan) who begins to torment the medical expert's family before the surgeon's past sins, is definitely not one that can be enjoyed by a wide audience. It's a moody, bleak, ruthlessly oppressive film, and that is at its kindest moments. But if you're someone who likes their movies a little more bitter than most, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is one that's most certainly worth your while.

And one of the film's greatest strengths is Nicole Kidman. The actress plays Colin Farrell's romantic partner in the movie, and through her commanding, often chilling performance, she helps to capture the unsettling in the everyday mundanities of white collar suburban living. It is most certainly a supporting turn in the film, but Kidman's presence is still welcomed nonetheless, and she helps capture the darkened mood perfectly. Come to think of it, The Killing of a Sacred Deer would make a strange, yet sort of perfect double feature with the next film on this particular ranking.

Eyes Wide Shut

Stanley Kubrick's final picture, 1999's moody, mysterious Eyes Wide Shut, is a confounding conclusion to some, and a melodic, poetic final brush stroke for others. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm definitely in the latter category. Kubrick's swan song doesn't quite reach the same heights as a few of his other masterpieces, but this bizarre, yet alluring, cult film (in more ways than one) is, nonetheless, benefitted enormously by Nicole Kidman.

As carefully constructed as every movie from Stanley Kubrick's filmography, Eyes Wide Shut can often seem haphazard and indecisive as you watch it. But it's one that definitely sticks with you and one that matches the obsessive compulsion that is found in our bewitched main character, played by Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman's real-life husband at the time. Although the couple on-screen share a real, intimate relationship together, one that feels real for that very reason, they don't have quite the same radiant chemistry —intentionally so — that you would expect from your Hollywood A-listers. It is a credit to Kidman, though, that she often sells the humanity and the mystery that is so crucial to this story. And for what it's worth, there are only a few stars who have dropped the f-bomb as well as Kidman does here.

The Hours

In what might remain her most transformative performance to date, The Hours was the film that finally won Nicole Kidman her Oscar back in 2003, and it's not hard to see why. The actress disappears into the role, physically as well as emotionally, in her memorable, stunning portrayal of Virginia Woolf. And that's certainly not a role that an actress can play lightly, particularly with the emotional tribulations that her character goes through here.

Portraying the mental illness that is found in the literary figure, Nicole Kidman dives deep into the role, capturing the emotional highs-and-lows of this character through her acting prowess. The result is widely considered one of her strongest performances to date, and the role is well-accoladed for that particular reason. If you have a chance to check it out, you should do so.

So that's our lineup of the best Nicole Kidman movies, but what do you think? Let us know what's your favorite among the actress' filmography in the comments below.

Kevin Feige Says There Will Be No Time To Pee During Avengers: Endgame

Kevin Feige Says There Will Be No Time To Pee During Avengers: Endgame

After Avengers: Endgame was officially announced as a three hour and two minute epic, one particular question came up that hasn’t really been raised with any other Marvel Studios film: Will there be time to pee? Sure, three hours sounds intimidating, but with so many other films before it running close to that length in the MCU, is it really that big of a question? Well if it’s an issue close to your heart, producer/mastermind Kevin Feige has given an answer as to when is the best time to pee during Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately for those with small bladders, that answer is never.

What I’ve always said is a movie is as long as it should be. And we are not fans of overindulging movies. We are not fans of laborious lengths for no reason. We are fans of movies that you wish didn’t end. Movies that you want to see again as soon as it’s over. And movies that you just don’t ever find a good time to run out to the bathroom. That’s when a movie’s working. And if a movie doesn’t feel like that to us we continue to trim, we continue to shape, we continue to bring that time down. That happened to a certain extent on this movie. But we got to a point where it feels very exciting and goes by very quickly and in the end is the perfect length. And everybody that saw the movie felt the same way.

This particular subject was raised at this weekend’s press junket for the Infinity Saga’s swan song, and Feige explained that they tweaked the movie until they got to the point where there was no downtime in the film.

So, rather than being a sadistic response to a rather public issue, Kevin Feige is saying that Avengers: Endgame is such a well-woven story that every second of screen time is earned in the eyes of the creators. If that claim holds up, and everything we’ve seen come out of the film’s marketing indicates such a scenario may be likely, you’re definitely going to want to go to the bathroom before taking the trip to defeat Thanos and not whilst in the middle of it.

You could pretty much expect this piece of information Kevin Feige told io9 to spark up the debate of whether or not an intermission is required during Avengers: Endgame, and for sure this information changes the terms of that discussion. If the plot to this particular film is so hypothetically dense there’s little-to-no period of time the audience can be absent, then even those who feel that a film of this stature doesn’t require a breather might be persuaded to change their tune. This only makes the claim that the second half of the film is apparently mind-blowing all the more intriguing.

Of course, this is coming from Kevin Feige, and to say he’s biased towards Avengers: Endgame, or any of the MCU films, is an understatement. What may be an invaluable moment of Ant-Man joking about defeating Thanos through the worst re-enactment of Fantastic Voyage ever for some, might be another audience member’s perfect time to purge the soft drinks he or she consumed earlier.

Avengers: Endgame will be in theaters on April 26th, but if you’re seriously concerned about bladder-pacing issues, you might want to wait a little while for some public feedback to see whether or not this film will give you a problem. Which gives you a little more time to study our feature on what order you should experience the MCU prior to Avengers: Endgame.

Disney’s New Aladdin Has Cast Its Iago

Disney’s New Aladdin Has Cast Its Iago

Just after we were granted the first full length trailer for Disney’s live-action Aladdin, here’s another long overdue detail – it looks like Doom Patrol star Alan Tudyk will be playing the hilarious parrot on Jafar’s shoulder, Iago. The actor has voiced characters apt with offering comedic relief in many recent Disney movies, such as Heihei in Moana and K-2SO the droid in Rogue One.

Alan Tudyk was also King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, Knowsmore in Ralph Breaks the Internet, the Duke of Weselton in Frozen and Duke Weaselton in Zootopia. That must be some sort of Disney record?! Insert the line “I think I’m gonna have a heart attack and die from not surprise!” from the original Iago on this casting news from The Hollywood Reporter.

The latest addition to Aladdin’s cast is an exciting one. The actor has been used again and again by Disney for a reason, as he’s an expert character voice actor and will undoubtedly bring some new memorable moments to the live-action movie, just as he has to his other Disney supporting characters.

Tudyk will follow Gilbert Gottfried, who voiced the role in the 1992 animated film, which is still among the comedian’s most iconic roles to date. While there has been some brief sightings of Iago’s presence in a few sneak peaks for the live-action Aladdin, we have yet to hear the parrot talk, and Alan Tudyk being on board is evidence the character will.

Disney might have decided to muzzle up the character for a more realistic take on the world surrounding the animated Aladdin, but following the latest look of the upcoming release, it looks to be heavily recreating the beloved ‘90s flick. What would a remake like this be without the sassy back and forth between Iago and Jafar?

Jafar in this Aladdin will be played by Marwan Kenzari, alongside Will Smith’s Genie, Mena Massoud’s Aladdin, Naomi Scott’s Jasmine, Navid Negahban’s Sultan and Nasim Pedrad in a new role as Jasmine’s handmaid/friend. The movie will be a musical as the classic was and feature two new songs from La La Land and Greatest Showman songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Before the latest look at Aladdin, a previous teaser trailer went viral when a disturbing look at the blue genie went viral last month. Disney’s full length trailer shows a much more finished look at Will Smith’s Genie that may ease fans, along with showing a closer look at the movie’s song and dance numbers as well.

Alan Tudyk’s casting perhaps shows the film is using one of its tried and true animated voices to give the film a feel closer to the original, though we have yet to see the actor’s take on the character. Aladdin comes to theaters on May 24, following another Disney live-action take on Dumbo coming on March 29.

Fantastic Four Director Just Keeps Trashing His Movie

Fantastic Four Director Just Keeps Trashing His Movie

Sometimes a reboot manages to successfully bring a superhero back onto the big screen and portray them in a new light while still staying true to the source material. And then there’s Fantastic Four, which was a critical and commercial bomb to the point that it killed 20th Century Fox’s future plans for this iteration of Marvel’s First Family. Four years after Fantastic Four’s release, director Josh Trank has no issue with trashing his own movie, as evidenced by this latest tweet.

This past weekend saw the release of Jordan Peele’s Us, and like many moviegoers, Josh Trank decided to check it out. Unlike most moviegoers, though, Trank has a movie that was not well-received by the public, and evidently the passage of time has allowed him to poke fun at his time helming Fantastic Four, as he’s quite comfortable declaring on Twitter that Us is the complete opposite of his 2015 movie. That’s not saying much, although Us has indeed been met with critical acclaim and made over $174 million worldwide so far. If you have a choice of watching one of these two movies, it’s pretty clear which one you should pick.

This comment follows a couple of weeks after Josh Trank responded “hold my beer” to a tweet declaring that no superhero movie fails. It is true that for the most part nowadays, superhero movies are usually at least commercially successful, with a good portion of them also doing well among critics. Fantastic Four was not one of those movies, and while much of the blame was placed at Trank’s feet for its poor performance, the director wrote in a tweet deleted shortly thereafter that the final cut of the movie was not the one he’d planned on giving to audiences, indicating studio interference. In any case, Trank appears to have made peace with Fantastic Four and doesn't have a problem making fun of himself for it, though it doesn’t sound like we should expect more self-deprecating comments from him anytime soon.

Originally the plan was for Fantastic Four to kick off a new film series, with the sequel coming out in June 2017. However, following the movie’s disappointing performance, Fantastic Four 2 was later removed from the calendar and eventually cancelled. While Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley has been working on a Doctor Doom movie, with Fox now under the Disney banner, it’s unclear if that project will still move forward or if Marvel will put its own Fantastic Four movie into development that better fits within the Marvel Cinematic Universe mythology. As for Josh Trank, his next movie is Fonzo, which stars Tom Hardy as Al Capone as he wrestles with dementia following his stint in prison.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any major updates concerning the next chapter of the Fantastic Four film franchise, but in the meantime, you can look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what’s coming down the pipeline in Phase 4, as well as our 2019 release schedule to plan your trips to the theater later this year accordingly.

We Saw Early Terminator Footage, And Yes, Linda Hamilton Is Badass

We Saw Early Terminator Footage, And Yes, Linda Hamilton Is Badass

There’s been a lot of talk about the new Terminator sequel and what it will be about. We know Tim Miller is helming the project, there are new cast members and original cast members Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be involved. We've also seen some images from the new movie, but there’s a hell of a lot we don’t know about Terminator: Dark Fate and at CinemaCon 2019 the lips of cast members like Linda Hamilton, Schwarzenegger and Mackenzie Davis were clamped tightly about plot points. Luckily, the Paramount footage people were not.

We got to see some original footage from Terminator: Dark Fate and while it focused a lot on the new characters, it also tied into nostalgia in a big way.

But first, here’s what happened.

The footage starts on a bridge with an electric bubble that rips up the road and causes car crashes. Out of it drops Mackenzie Davis’ Grace, who falls from the bridge, utterly naked, and ends up landing several floors off the bridge and down onto the ground hard. A couple making out sees the fall and rushes over, only for the police to show up and assume the naked Mackenzie Davis is in trouble.

Quickly, we see the scene portrayed from her own visual viewpoint, seeing some of what her terminator-like abilities are. She sizes up the police and takes them out, prompting the young couple to thank her for saving them. She says, “Don’t thank me yet,” before stealing the young man’s clothes and the couples’ car--seemingly a nod to Terminator.

Later, there’s a scene we’ve touched on previously, in which and actress Natalia Reyes’s character Dani Ramos are running from Gabriel Luna’s new Terminator character, who is hellbent on attacking them. Just when things look dire and Mackenzie Davis tells the other young woman to run when they “start to kill her,” Linda Hamilton shows up on the scene in a vehicle, whips out a gun and shoots before she asks any questions.

Even if you’ve never seen a Terminator movie before this scene would likely be enough to hook you.

Obviously, we’ve already seen early images of Linda Hamilton back as Sarah Conner, not to mention Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return; however, seeing her in action was something different altogether. It moved director Tim Miller enough that he had some tears in his eyes on the stage and he shared with the audience that being brought in for Terminator: Dark Fate was a ‘labor of love.’

To say that working on this film was a labor of love for me is an enormous fucking understatement. I mean I think all of you can imagine just what a responsibility it is… If I could go back in time, you know time travel’s a big thing in this movie, I’d tell that incredibly handsome young nerd that one day he’d be continuing the story of these iconic characters in a new movie I would have passed out in my fucking popcorn. Even more incredibly, I get the chance to do it the right way.

So where does this nostalgia come in? Notably, at the very end of the lengthy preview, in which a cool as a cucumber Sarah Conner nonchalantly notes “I’ll be back.”

Paramount’s presentation today is big on tying back to James Cameron’s original Terminator movies. Tim Miller noted that when he spoke, but so did Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. The former attributed his success and his catchphrases to Terminator while the latter said it would only have taken a special project to pull her back into the Terminator fold 30 years later.

Well it has been nearly 30 years since I last stepped into the shoes of Sarah Conner, a character who definitely changed my life. And only a script, a story, a cast, a director like this could bring me back into this world.

Terminator: Dark Fate will be released into theaters on November 1. To find out what it’ll be competing with at the box office, take a look at our full movie release schedule.

What About X-Men? The Rights Issues That Complicate Marvel And Disney's MCU

What About X-Men? The Rights Issues That Complicate Marvel And Disney's MCU

Avengers: Endgame was the fantastic end to the first arc of an even more ambitious experiment in film history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A mega conglomerate of various characters previously scattered to the winds through various rights holders, the MCU is basically the Infinity Gauntlet of cinematic universes.

But if you go back a couple decades, it was a possibility that didn’t look like it’d ever get off the ground. It took a lot of time and business dealings through various movers and shakers, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually formed into the beast that it is today through some well-timed moves.

Of course, there are still some properties out there, in the wild, waiting to come home. And then there are others, with Fox's X-Men franchise being arguably the biggest, which have recently been brought back into the fold, but need to have their entrances planned. Either way, the history behind Marvel’s cinematic endeavors, and how they came to be, spell out the hurdles of both the company's past and future films, and how they complicate the completion of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe. So let's go over them!

How The Marvel Movies Came Into Existence

Before Marvel Studios existed, Marvel Entertainment Group was the big tent under which Marvel Films operated as a division. The properties of the storied Marvel Comics brand would be shopped to other studios for production, and this era led to some interesting results.

Under the Marvel Entertainment Group era, the original film versions for both The Punisher with Dolph Lundgren and Captain America with Reb Brown were made, as well as an entire film version of The Fantastic Four produced by Roger Corman. That last project was never officially released, seeing as it was merely made in order for production company Constantin Films to keep the rights, but neither The Punisher or Captain America were terribly big hits.

Eventually, Marvel Studios was born out of Marvel Films’ past history, and started with a big deal involving 20th Century Fox. For seven years, Fox and Marvel Studios would make films like the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises, as well as Daredevil and Elektra. But even with that deal in place, and producer Avi Arad as the big wheel behind it all, the universe of Marvel films was fractured due to a lot more licensing deals in the works with other studios.

How The Rights For Marvel’s Early Films Were Split

As previously mentioned, The Punisher and Captain America were both previously made into films, as was The Fantastic Four under the older Marvel Entertainment Group run of things. But in addition to those properties, there were two really big hits that happened at other studios, all thanks to Marvel’s practice of licensing to almost anyone who had the right deal.

The first was 1998’s Blade, which made New Line Cinema a big name in the late ‘90’s, as well as boosted Wesley Snipes’ star standing in Hollywood. The franchise would run for three films, and one TV show, with Blade: Trinity being the final film in that particular line.

The second, and perhaps most successful run of films outside of the Fox deal was Spider-Man, which was licensed to Sony alongside a whole bunch of spinoff possibilities. Starting with 2002’s Spider-Man and running through 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the five Spidey films ran before and during the MCU’s launch.

Some other notable set-ups in the wilderness years were the fact that New Line Cinema originally had the rights to Iron Man, as well as the fact that Lionsgate precursor Artisan Entertainment had a deal to make films with heroes such as Thor, Black Widow, Deadpool and The Punisher. Lionsgate would make an attempt at Marvel cinematic glory with Punisher: War Zone, but the film would only find its feet as a cult hit in the years after its release.

Last, but not least, Universal Studios held the rights to two characters, Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner, which would only see one of those characters leading their own movie pre-MCU (2003's Hulk). Still, this positioned the studio to become a future power player as Marvel Studios entered its next phase.

How The Marvel Cinematic Universe Came Together

There was an idea: that Marvel Studios would partner with a big Hollywood fixture to create a singular slate of superhero hits for the public to see. And this idea ultimately came down to two potential partners: Universal, which had Hulk and Namor, and Paramount, which was a more amenable partner when Universal didn’t work out.

As early as 2004, Marvel Studios had a slate of heroes it wanted to use which included the following heroes and properties: Ant-Man, The Avengers, Black Panther, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Power Pack and Shang-Chi. The initial plan was to deliver two films a year, aimed squarely at the PG-13 rating.

Eventually, acquisitions would be made, and Iron Man would join that group, as well as Universal coming aboard with a deal that allowed an MCU-set Hulk film to be made. Hulk’s rights would be at Marvel, with Universal retaining a stake in that character, as the studio has right of first refusal for distribution.

Through all of these shake-ups and shifts in power, one man rose to the top: Kevin Feige. Starting out in the early days of Marvel Studios, Feige went from junior executive to President of Production with Iron Man, installing him as the mastermind who would see the MCU become a beacon of comic movie making.

The studio that started operations out of a Mercedes Benz dealership became a powerhouse with 2008’s Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr, and eventually was bought in 2009 by the Walt Disney Company for a cool $4 billion. Slowly, other properties like Daredevil, The Punisher and Blade would be reacquired after their runs with other studios expired. That said, there are still some interesting logistics that would need to shake out, in order for the MCU to become whole again.

The Notable Properties Still Outside Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, by and large, a pretty collective whole, there’s still some gaps that are outstanding in the total portfolio. While some of these are patched thanks to recent deals and shared agreements, it’s still an interesting landscape to take a deeper look into.

In particular, there seem to be three studios that have stood in the way of Disney and Marvel completing their Infinity Gauntlet of intellectual property. One has already become a vanquished foe of sorts, with two still going strong. Here’s where we stand so far with the most notable properties outside of the MCU, and the studios that hold the cards. First off, let's look at that vanquished foe, Fox.

The Marvel Rights Held By Fox

Obviously, before its acquisition, 20th Century Fox held some pretty powerful cards in its Marvel Universe deck. While Daredevil and Elektra eventually went home to Marvel proper, Fox still held onto some pretty big names in the Marvel Universe. Most importantly, Fox still had the X-Men series, with The New Mutants and Deadpool spun off from that world.

But in addition to those popular titles, 20th Century Fox had the Fantastic Four series in its back pocket. With two relatively successful films in 2005 and 2007, and the not-so-successful reboot in 2015, Fox retained ownership of that particular property, making any potential crossover adaptations even harder to potentially execute.

However, since 20th Century Fox has been newly acquired by the Walt Disney Company, the only real questions with these characters is how to incorporate them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe fold, through both pre-existing films and/or reboot potential. Still, this turn of events being such a recent development does scupper any sort of crossover hopes for the time being, as even Kevin Feige has mentioned that in the case of the X-Men, it’ll be years before anything happens.

The Marvel Rights Held By Universal

While Universal only has two properties that it can lay claim to tying up, both seem to be in somewhat usable shape with Marvel Studios. In the case of The Hulk, the problem isn’t as pronounced, as Marvel and Universal share ownership of the character.

However, the big problem comes from Universal getting a right of first refusal for distribution rights to any future Hulk films. Which means that so long as that clause is in play, and the public demands a solo film with Bruce Banner and his green rage filled half, it probably won’t happen as Disney’s going to want to distribute without as much interference as possible

The only other character that Universal laid claim to was Namor the Sub-Mariner, and while he has recently reverted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are still some complications involved. Though, when last asked about the subject, Kevin Feige specified that it was really a matter of where or when Namor would pop up in the MCU.

The Marvel Rights Held By Sony

The greatest thorn in the side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, without question, Sony and its grasp on the rights to the Spider-Man films. With Disney and Sony sharing the usage of Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony still gets to “finance, distribute, own and have final creative control” over Spider-Man.

On top of that, there are other Marvel characters that Sony maintains ownership over, with an entire slate of films that it has branched its properties out into. Starting with last year’s big hits Venom and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, the Sony contingent looks strong as ever. Though there are further films that are in the works that will only complicate any future moves that Disney may have in the works to make Peter Parker a part of its family.

In particular, the Morbius and Spider Women films in production could potentially make Sony the biggest source of competition for Disney and Marvel Studios. Should the Silver Sable or Black Cat projects that were previously mentioned as in production get back on track in their own ways as well, that’s another source of revenue that only makes Sony’s hold on Spider-Man that much greater.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a pretty expansive haven of Marvel Comics’ intellectual property, and in its current state, it’s pretty comprehensive. But with the outstanding rights issues and decisions ahead that Marvel Studios still faces, there will still be limits as to which characters and storylines will be able to be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For now though, Avengers: Endgame signifies the height of the MCU’s character roster, and can be enjoyed by audiences all over in theaters now.