Marvel's Phase 4 Is Already Stacked With Incredible Actors

Marvel's Phase 4 Is Already Stacked With Incredible Actors

In its near 11-year existence, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into a vast big screen tapestry populated with great actors, from burgeoning stars to esteemed character actors to some of the most honored names in the industry. The number of Oscar winners and nominees that have been drawn to this comic book movie franchise numbers in the dozens. In short, the MCU has no problem attracting talent, and those actors paired with amazing characters have been a big part of the MCU’s success.

As Marvel moves to its next Phase post-Avengers: Endgame, the assumption is that we will be losing at least some, if not many, of the actors that have been the faces of this universe. We are still in the dark about who that will be, as we are about what the future holds in Phase 4 and beyond. But needless to say it is a sad prospect to lose the actors and characters that we’ve fallen in love with over the years.

Fortunately, Marvel has already begun casting for its future films, and past is proving to be prologue as Marvel is going after incredible actors to populate its universe in the years to come. Take a look below to see some of the top-tier talent that is either attached or in talks to join the MCU in Phase 4.

Jake Gyllenhaal

He’s been rumored to be in the running to don Batman’s cowl over the years, but regardless of whether that happens, Jake Gyllenhaal will soon be donning Mysterio’s fishbowl in this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. The acclaimed actor and Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain plays Mysterio, real name Quentin Beck, who appears to have some serious powers in the sequel film.

Yet, while the character is traditionally part of Spider-Man’s iconic rogues gallery, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio appears to be a good guy in the trailer for Far From Home, helping fight off the Elementals. Of course, as a master of illusion, trickery and misdirection, he may be the villain behind the curtain. Either way it should give Jake Gyllenhaal plenty to chew on. If anyone is up to the challenge of following Michael Keaton’s menacing Vulture, it’s the actor from Nightcrawler.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh just made a splash as Paige in Fighting with My Family and will continue her breakout 2019 with roles in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and in writer-director Ari Aster’s Hereditary follow-up Midsommar. This rising star will follow that up when she stars opposite Scarlett Johansson in the long-awaited Black Widow movie.

According to some reports, the spy action thriller will see Florence Pugh play a spy on the same level as Scarlett Johansson’s character and likely her moral opposite. We’re used to seeing Black Widow punching above her weight against aliens and such, so it will be cool to see her facing someone who equals her in skill and is essentially her mirror. Florence Pugh showed she is up for a physical role in Fighting with My Family and Marvel was savvy to bring her into the MCU while she’s on the rise.

O-T Fagbenle

He’s best known for his work on TV, but O-T Fagbenle may be jumping in to the blockbuster pond in a big way because he is in talks to join the cast of the MCU’s Black Widow solo film, according to THR. Like the plot, O-T Fagbenle’s potential role is still being kept under wraps, but he would be another great addition to a cast that is already looking stacked.

Most audiences probably know O-T Fagbenle for his role as June/Offred’s husband Luke on The Handmaid’s Tale. He shared a SAG ensemble nomination with the rest of the cast of the Hulu show in both 2018 and 2019. He also had a role in HBO’s Looking and starred in the crime drama series The Interceptor, the latter of which saw him play a customs officer who joined a top-secret narcotics unit. That's solid prep for starring in a spy movie.

David Harbour

David Harbour is becoming a regular in comic book movies in recent years. After his role in Suicide Squad, David Harbour will next be seen this weekend rocking a pair of horns in the Hellboy reboot. It seems David Harbour is trying to hit for the comic book movie cycle because the fan favorite, Golden Globe-nominated star of Stranger Things is joining Marvel’s Black Widow movie (although he’s not saying much).

It’s a mystery who David Harbour will play in the film that will follow Scarlett Johansson’s KGB spy-turned-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent-turned-Avenger. Although he is best known as a good guy thanks to Stranger Things, David Harbour could also play a pretty menacing baddie. In Cinemax’s beautifully brutal and underrated Banshee, he had a small role as a mysterious and frightening handler and torturer. Whatever he plays in Black Widow, the movie is elevated with his presence.

Rachel Weisz

The last name attached to Black Widow is Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz, who was nominated at this past Academy Awards for her role in last year’s The Favourite. Although she isn’t signed on yet, signs are looking good that this talented actress could join the MCU in what has been described as a “key role.” That is very intriguing and raises the exciting possibility of seeing Rachel Weisz and Scarlett Johansson playing off one another.

Whatever that role is, Rachel Weisz is undoubtedly up to the task. The actress has played in serious fare like Disobedience and The Constant Gardener, and popcorn movies, like The Mummy films and the comic book adaptation Constantine. The idea of the actress who played the crafty Lady Sarah in The Favourite in a spy film is quite the prospect and will hopefully be more than a one-off MCU appearance.

Angelina Jolie

She’s been in the video game-based Tomb Raider movies and in the comic book movie Wanted, and now action star and acclaimed actress Angelina Jolie is finally joining a superhero movie, Marvel’s The Eternals. The Oscar-winning actress hasn’t done a ton of onscreen acting in recent years, which could be a good sign for The Eternals that she was drawn to it. Angelina Jolie is a magnetic presence and huge asset to anything she is a part of.

The actress has proven her action chops many times. She can play serious and grounded roles and she also relishes the ‘out there’ characters like in Beowulf and Maleficent. I expect she may get to have fun doing the latter in The Eternals. We don’t know what role Jolie is in talks to play, but some suspect it could be the ultra-powerful Eternal Sersi (not to be confused with Cersei).

Kumail Nanjiani

Joining Angelina Jolie in The Eternals is Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani. The Oscar-nominated co-writer of The Big Sick is in negotiations to join Marvel’s next cosmic franchise in an undisclosed role that would without question be his most high-profile part yet. Kumail Nanjiani has proven a hilarious and entertaining presence in TV and movies, and I’m very curious to see what kind of role he plays in The Eternals.

The MCU’s cosmic films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok have leaned heavily into the comedy, but the early word on The Eternals is that a millennia-spanning romance will be a big part of it. So it will be interesting to see what tone it takes and what role Kumail Nanjiani, best known for his comedy work, will play in it. Maybe his character will even cross paths with his Stuber co-star Dave Bautista’s Drax one day.

These are just seven actors from three films that may be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 slate. Needless to say this is just the tip of the iceberg, as not only do these films need to fill out their casts, but we still have James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Doctor Strange 2, Black Panther 2 and Shang-Chi to look forward to. Given what we’ve seen so far, Marvel will continue populating its movies with incredible talent.

When we begin to learn more about what Phase 4 entails after Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, we will hopefully start to hear more casting announcements and we can begin fan casting for characters that we know are coming. This is a great start though and shows that Endgame is just the beginning.

Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all this year’s biggest movies and let us know in the comments what actors you would like to see join the MCU in Phase 4.

E.L. James' New Book The Mister Has A Connection To Fifty Shades Of Grey

E.L. James' New Book The Mister Has A Connection To Fifty Shades Of Grey

E.L. James’ brand new book The Mister has only been on shelves for a few days now, but fans of the Fifty Shades of Grey book, its sequels and its movie counterparts have already cleverly spotted a reference connecting her new romance to her past trilogy.

The new book follows a modern fairytale romance between Maxim Trevelyan and Alessia Demachi, and one of those two lead characters in the novel has ties to the Fifty Shades universe.

If you are an eagle-eyed reader or Fifty Shades of Grey movie fan, you may already have noticed Maxim Trevelyan’s last name is the same as Christian Grey’s mother’s maiden name, his adopted mother that is.

So far, E.L. James has acknowledged the connection, but it mostly seems like she won’t be elaborating anytime soon, as she hasn’t wholly established that connection yet. She told EW:

There is a story behind it but it’s not one I want to talk about right now. I might talk about it later. But – there’s a connection, I don’t know what it is yet.

Of Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey, we know the woman is a pediatrician and the matriarch of a wealthy and connected family in Washington state. Her story isn’t fleshed out as much as Christian Grey’s is, although she is the person who meets four-year-old Christian after his biological mother is dead and he is found, hungry and abandoned.

Of Maxim Trevelyan, we know Maxim is a new Earl who falls in love with his housekeeper who has been trafficked into the country from Albania. Maxim is also a bit of a sex fiend and has other hobbies outside of being the thirteenth earl of his name. Unlike the Trevelyan matriarch in Washington, Maxim is an English aristocrat, and the action in The Mister is basically all in London, Cornwall and the Balkans rather than the U.S.

Because we don't know a lot about Grace's family history, we don't know when her family came to the United States or what connection they might still have with England.

Thus, the real question remains: Do Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey and Maxim Trevelyan know one another? If yes, then would there be an opportunity for the characters from Fifty Shades to interact in this universe? The Mister is a contemporary tale, despite being about an Earl, so this is not as far-fetched as it might seem at first glance.

If The Mister does well—and it’s all over shelves at bookstores already and was no. 1 on the book charts—there could be more of an opportunity to expand the narrative, maybe even on the big screen and likely through a sequel. We’ll let you know if the studios have an appetite for Maxim and Alessia’s story. In the meantime, you can order your own copy now.

The Rock And Karen Gillan Are Rocking Awesome New Costumes In Jumanji 3 Image

The Rock And Karen Gillan Are Rocking Awesome New Costumes In Jumanji 3 Image

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a massive hit, so a sequel wasn't exactly a huge surprise. However, considering the major ways the film updated the premise of the original Jumanji from over 20 years earlier, it was far from clear how the third Jumanji film would differentiate itself. While we still don't have many of those answers, we do know one thing, our heroes will end up in new costumes in the upcoming film, and that's something. Check out Dwayne Johnson and Karen Gillan's new outfits in the image below.

While new costumes might not be massive breaking news, it would seem to tell us something about the new movie. A recent image of the cast from Karen Gillan had shown the main cast in the same clothes that they wore in the first film. It's unclear if this image was actually from the new movie or the previous one, but either way, it implied that we'd be getting the actors in the same outfits we got before. Although, it did promise things were not as they seemed, so perhaps this was part of the reason. When we actually saw the characters in the new film, they would look a little different.

Since they're playing video game avatars, it would make sense that the characters would end up in the same clothes, and it's possible they may start out that way, but at some point things will change, as the Rock's Instagram picture reveals.

Based on the outfits, it looks like Jumanji 3 may be taking our characters into a colder environment, as they're clearly dressed for keeping warm. Even Ruby Roundhouse as left her Lara Croft inspired shorts and crop top behind for fuzzy boots and long sleeves.

Shifting the setting of the new Jumanji from the tropical jungle to something colder is certainly one way to change things up. The "ice level" is a tried and true element of many great video games, so it would certainly be fitting to have the video game inspired Jumanji 3 use the idea as part of its premise.

The Rock's comment on his Instagram post also appears to confirm that Jumanji 3 will continue the story of the romance between the characters of Spencer and Martha. The teenagers inhabiting the two video game avatars began a relationship in Welcome to the Jungle and it seems the pair are no less awkward even though some time has passed since they got together.

Jumanji 3 is filming right now with a release date already set for this December. It will once again go up against the newest Star Wars movie at the box office, though that battle wasn't a major problem for Jumanji the last time around. With a fan base already looking forward to this sequel, it seems highly likely another big box office hit is on the way.

Queen's Brian May Says He 'Hasn't Earned A Penny' For Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen's Brian May Says He 'Hasn't Earned A Penny' For Bohemian Rhapsody

In addition to the plethora of statues to its name, Bohemian Rhapsody was a box office success in a way that people could not have predicted, a phenomenon that ended its box office run at just over $900 million worldwide, making it the most successful music biopic ever and the 6th biggest film of 2018. On a budget of $52 million, you might think that kind of return would make many involved with the Freddie Mercury biopic filthy rich.

Alas, that may not have been entirely the case. In fact, contrary to earlier reports that Bohemian Rhapsody had made Queen richer than the Queen, the band’s lead guitarist Brian May has revealed that no such windfall from the film ever materialized. He said:

It’s incredible, it’s like a billion dollar movie. I had to laugh actually the other day. Because there’s this thing in the paper saying that we were getting rich off this movie. If they only knew. We were accounting the other day, and we still haven’t earned a penny. How successful does a movie need to be before you make money?

That is a bit of a bummer to hear, considering we know that Brian May and Queen were closely involved in the development of Bohemian Rhapsody for over a decade. Brian May and Roger Taylor both received Executive Music Producer credits on a film that went on to make close to a billion dollars, so you might expect them to reap some financial rewards on the backend.

However, as of now Brian May told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show that he and Queen still haven’t ‘earned a penny’ from Bohemian Rhapsody. Without knowing the exact terms and nature of the band’s deal with the studio and the various parties involved, it’s impossible to say that Brian May and Queen are owed money for Bohemian Rhapsody.

Nevertheless, Brian May’s framing of the matter makes it seem like, given the success of the film, there was some expectation on Queen’s part there would be something extra coming their way. Brian May did allude to the fact that there are a lot of people who the film’s profits go to first, so maybe the money is still being divvied up and Queen’s checks are on the way.

Perhaps the stories about Queen’s getting rich off the film have less to do with liquidity and more to do with how the film increased the band’s wealth. Even if they haven’t made a cent off of Bohemian Rhapsody yet, the movie did a lot for Queen’s exposure and increased streams and sales of the band’s albums, also presumably driving interest for upcoming shows. Bohemian Rhapsody has more people listening to Queen’s music and that has to be good for the bottom line.

Although Queen allegedly isn’t directly profiting from the film yet, some people and entities are. Bohemian Rhapsody’s success did help 21st Century Fox’s financials in a big way. Also, reports have indicated Freddie Mercury’s longtime friend Mary Austin, portrayed by Lucy Boynton in the film, is expected to have earned $60+ million for the film and his sister Kashmira Bulsara reportedly earned $25 million. Even fired director Bryan Singer is expected to have walked away with $40 million for his efforts on the film.

Bohemian Rhapsody is now on home video. Check out our 2019 release schedule for all of this year’s biggest movies, including another music biopic, Rocketman, which star Taron Egerton is hoping makes even half of what Bohemian Rhapsody did.

Ben Schwartz Thinks Plastic Man Could Be DC's Deadpool

Ben Schwartz Thinks Plastic Man Could Be DC's Deadpool

For the past year, actor Ben Schwartz has been publicly campaigning to play Plastic Man in a feature film adaptation of the DC comics character. When he first started talking about it, there didn’t seem to be anything in the works, but in December, Warner Bros. hired writer Amanda Idoko to write the script for a Plastic Man movie. We haven’t heard much since then, but Ben Schwartz is still banging the drum for the character, saying how Plastic Man could be DC’s Deadpool:

But in my head, how much fun if he was a thief, got superpowers, and was like, ‘Screw it, I want to keep being crooked.’ But he’s also, if you look at the cartoons or the other iterations of him, he’s funny! He’s so funny. And I think what Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller did with Deadpool, you could have a funny superhero in DC. Shazam! just did it and I think it’s gonna be great. That’s it, I just love that character a lot. I think I’d get to be goofy if I ever got the chance to do it.

An actor doesn’t need to be a fan of a character to do a great job playing them, but it’s always cool when an actor has genuine enthusiasm for a part and talks openly about their hopes for a film to get made and to star in it. Ben Schwartz has some fun ideas too, and he makes a great point that the slap-sticky Plastic Man, a.k.a. Patrick “Eel” O’Brian, could fit a similar niche as Deadpool did for the Fox universe of superhero films and will soon do for Disney.

Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller found remarkable success with the hilarious Deadpool, so there is clearly an audience for that kind of superhero and Plastic Man is one of DC’s resident wisecrackers. Ben Schwartz obviously has a ton of love for the character and is eager to see him on screen and be the one playing him. The actor even knows what approach he would like such a film to take.

In the comics, Patrick O’Brian is a small-time criminal and thief who fell into a vat of chemicals during a heist (seriously, where is the regulation on open chemical vats in the DC universe?) and then gained powers of superhuman malleability and elasticity, similar to Stretch Armstrong or Mr. Fantastic. “Eel” then reformed to become a crime fighter and eventually became a member of the Justice League.

Ben Schwartz would like to skip that last part where Plastic Man reforms himself and instead just have some fun with him as a hilarious crook. It’s a cool idea and you definitely could make Plastic Man something of an anti-hero in the DC universe; a character who is inherently good, but does a lot of bad stuff, a la Deadpool.

The DC universe has been taking a turn towards lighter fare in recent films, highlighted most recently, as Ben Schwartz mentioned to Comicbook.com, by this weekend’s Shazam! So considering that DC seems to be doing a lot of experimenting lately and the fact that someone is working on a Plastic Man script as a comedic action-adventure, means that it’s not impossible that Ben Schwartz could get his wish.

As evidenced by the recent Joker trailer, DC has been experimenting lately and trying different things, and a Plastic Man movie starring Parks and Recreation’s Jean-Ralphio could definitely stand out in the marketplace, doing something different while tapping in to the same thing that made the Deadpool franchise successful.

We haven’t heard anything on the Plastic Man movie since we heard about the hiring of a writer but we’ll keep you updated on this project as it develops. In the meantime, you can look forward to Ben Schwartz playing a more famous character, this one from the video game world and possessing super speed, in Sonic the Hedgehog, where he voices the blue blur.

Sonic the Hedgehog races into theaters on November 8. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies coming to theaters this year.

Sigourney Weaver And Ridley Scott Are Totally Into That Alien High School Play

Sigourney Weaver And Ridley Scott Are Totally Into That Alien High School Play

We’ve probably all seen a high school production on The Sound of Music and Grease, but taking on the classic 1979 sci-fi film Alien, now that’s the kind of creativity in school dramas we want to see! North Bergen High School in New Jersey put together the first production of Alien: The Play last week, which went absolutely viral online. The actress famously known as the lead heroine, Ripley has taken notice and is showing her support with these words:

It looked incredible. You put so much heart and soul into that and the alien, I must say, looked very real to me.

Imagine getting props from Sigourney Weaver for your high school drama performance? Amazing! The actress’ comments come from a video message that was recently post the the Alien franchise’s official Instagram account @AlienAnthology. Check it out:

Weaver sent her compliments, not only personally but from Aliens director James Cameron and the original screenwriter Walter Hill. The actress went out of her way to especially speak out about the production’s iteration of the alien. Just take a look at this amazing images from Twitter of the terrifying creature below:

This is unbelievable! It’s no wonder Sigourney Weaver has taken notice. The original director of the 1979 classic also decided to show his support too! Ridley Scott penned a letter to the New Jersey drama club with these words, via Deadline:

My hat comes off to all of you for your creativity, imagination and determination to produce such an ambitious show.

Ridley Scott’s letter also includes some encouraging words about how limitations can often produce the best results because imagination is at work. The filmmaker encouraged the students to continue implementing this kind of creativity into their bright futures, along with announcing his production company Scott Free would advance some financial help to an encore performance of the show.

Alien: The Play originally had a two-night run on March 19 and 22, but thanks to all this attention online and from the Alien actors and filmmakers, maybe the students will opt to keep the show going. Ridley Scott closed out his letter with a recommendation to tackle one of his other famous films, Gladiator next.

Adapting Alien into a play is a seriously genius idea and is a great way to high school students buying tickets and supporting local productions and showing their appreciation to this impactful film, which has paved the way for so many Alien sequels and impacted other films in the genre after its release.

Sigourney Weaver has been teaming back up with James Cameron, who she worked with for 1986’s

Aliens for Avatar 2 & 3. Ridley Scott reportedly has plans for another Alien movie, but it looks to still be in development. Their support for the high school production will certainly led to inspiration for other drama departments to think outside the box for their next spring production.

Mark Hamill Shows What A Han And Luke Star Wars Reunion Could've Looked Like

Mark Hamill Shows What A Han And Luke Star Wars Reunion Could've Looked Like

Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker only re-entered The Skywalker Saga at the very end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so he never got to see Han Solo again. Hamill shared a photo with Harrison Ford, giving fans his imagined look at what their reunion could've looked like, and fans replied with some strong emotions:

Maybe Lucasfilm should just let Mark Hamill retcon Star Wars' Skywalker Saga. He has been open with his ... let's call it surprise on the direction of Luke Skywalker's story in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He also recently expressed sadness that the new trilogy will never be able to have Luke, Leia, and Han Solo reunite. Han Solo was killed by his own son in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and sadly we lost actress Carrie Fisher in real life after The Last Jedi was filmed.

It has already been revealed that Carrie Fisher's General Leia Organa will appear in Star Wars: Episode IX through used footage from J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens. And we know Mark Hamill is returning for Episode IX, despite Luke's apparent death at the end of The Last Jedi. So if Luke is returning, does that give hope that we could see spirit Han Solo again -- like the Force ghosts who gathered at the end of Return of the Jedi?

Han Solo wasn't a Jedi, but he's Han, so ... it would just be great to see him again, even if Harrison Ford only agreed to a cameo. But at this point Episode IX is finished filming, and Mark Hamill knows what they filmed. So if his photo is the imagined Han/Luke reunion, it sounds like even Force ghost dreams may not come true.

Han Solo and Luke Skywalker were last seen together in Episode VI, Return of the Jedi. But Han and Leia's son Kylo Ren was later trained by Luke Skywalker. That went wrong in spectacular fashion, as we learned in The Last Jedi.

Fans have voiced many frustrations with the first two films in the new trilogy, with one being the lack of the original trio -- Luke, Leia, and Han. The Force Awakens even had Leia hug new character Rey after Han died, instead of embracing Han's best friend Chewbacca. Episode IX is bringing back one old school frenemy in Lando, and it will be great to see him again, but it can't make up for the missed opportunity of getting the old gang back together again for the end of the Saga.

Star War: Episode IX has a lot of questions to answer, including how Luke returns and how we say goodbye to Leia on screen. Also, the title would be nice. Some answers, and maybe a trailer, could be coming soon via Star Wars Celebration 2019. The movie itself opens in theaters December 20 as one of the many movies heading to the big screen in 2019.