The X-Men Character Karen Gillan Most Wants To See In The MCU

The X-Men Character Karen Gillan Most Wants To See In The MCU

Now that Fox is part of Disney, the X-Men will eventually be joining the Marvel Studios family for future movies. Kevin Feige sounded excited about the X-Men coming home to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although there's no set timeline for when that will happen.

For now, the current X-Men film franchise is ending with Dark Phoenix this summer, not quite two months after the premiere of the MCU's Avengers: Endgame. One of those Endgame stars is Karen Gillan, who said before Avengers 4 opened that her Nebula would be someone fans would root for.

Karen Gillan was asked which X-Men character she would most like to see join the MCU, and her answer came immediately:

Mystique! So that we can talk about having blue prosthetics on all the time.

Hey, from her perspective, the priority is having someone who can empathize with that awful blue makeup experience! (Cast David Cross too, so he can blue himself like Tobias on Arrested Development.)

The X-Men character of Mystique (Raven Darkhölme) is known for her bright red hair and blue skin. Rebecca Romijn endured the Mystique process for X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand, with Jennifer Lawrence playing the younger version of Raven in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and this summer's Dark Phoenix.

Jennifer Lawrence has talked about tiring of the toxic fumes from the blue body paint she had to wear as Mystique. Karen Gillan told Variety Lawrence's experience actually made her feel better about her own less arduous process to become Nebula:

I truthfully would watch the behind-the-scenes videos of her getting her makeup done while I was getting my makeup done to make me feel like it wasn’t so bad. I was like 'Well, look at what she went through! This is only from the neck up.' It's just a feeling of like claustrophobia ... because I'm completely enclosed, it's a second skin that's glued to me, it's not painted. It's like a skin, and it's all over. So I can't really move my face very much. It's a weird sensation. It’s one that isn’t the nicest of sensations, but it does look really cool and it does help with the character. … I think it’s keeping me from overacting!

Considering Jennifer Lawrence's distaste for the Mystique process -- not to mention the trailer for X-Men: Dark Phoenix already including that major Mystique spoiler -- it seems safe to say Lawrence will not be back as Mystique if and when the character is brought to the MCU. But the character could easily be rebooted again for the new version of whatever Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and company have planned for Phase ... 5?

As we wait for X-Men + MCU updates, check out Endgame in theaters now (you probably already have), watch Dark Phoenix on June 7, and don't forget that Karen Gillan will be back for the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel, currently called Jumanji 3, on December 13. Keep up with all of the release dates with our 2019 calendar.

6 Incredibly Easy Ways To Avoid Avengers: Endgame Spoilers

6 Incredibly Easy Ways To Avoid Avengers: Endgame Spoilers

We're officially in the "endgame" for Avengers: Endgame's premiere, and spoilers are only going to ramp up in intensity throughout the web from this second on. This makes the Internet a dangerous place to navigate for those wishing to avoid learning anything before the movie's airing, and may encourage some to walk away from the medium entirely ahead of their showing.

That's all well and good, but this is the 21st century. Many of us utilize the internet daily for work and entertainment purposes, and shouldn't have to put our lives on hold out of fear of Avengers: Endgame spoilers. With that said, here are some really easy ways to avoid seeing spoilers while still circumnavigating the web, as written by a guy who learned these lessons the hard way and had Avengers: Infinity War spoiled via a Frasier meme.

Mute Key Phrases From Your Twitter Timeline

Twitter has a really handy feature that all social media should have, which automatically filters and hides any tweets that contain a list of words you've chosen to mute. Twitter users, visit settings and content preferences to find the mute function. Once there, put in the names of the Avengers, "Avengers: Endgame," "Avengers," "Endgame" and as many variations as possible until the home timeline is devoid of any mentions of the movie.

As a note, be sure to change the setting to "anyone," as the default will only hide stuff from people users don't follow. Also don't forget to set a timer for it to expire, or risk mass confusion weeks later when absolutely no one is discussing Endgame despite box office numbers surging to tremendous heights.

Avoid Comment Sections

Comment sections can be a great place to discuss stuff with like-minded people on the internet, but they're also a breeding ground for spoilers. Whether intentional or not, browsing the comments section for people's comments is just asking to get smacked in the face with a key reveal on how The Avengers stop Thanos, or confirmation that Ant Man ain't going anywhere near the villain's backside. Sure, we could've assumed that anyway, but why ruin the dream?

Let's also remember that trolls will be out in full force, and there is probably going to be some popularized tactic that the worst of the worst use to put one of the biggest spoilers out on as many platforms as possible. These folks may even be posting on stories unrelated to the movie, just to catch people off guard. Long story short, just stay away from the comments, and also be respectful of what you comment after viewing.

Don't Read Usernames

When Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out -- and spoilers -- there seemed to be a concerted effort to expose fans via one method. For those who didn't fall victim to it, a slew of users took to comment sections and places like Reddit with some variation of the username Handies, which didn't immediately make sense. Of course, people slowly realized that "Handies" was actually Han dies, and one of the most heart-breaking twists of the sequel trilogy was spoiled.

Make no mistake, something like that will happen again. It's too easy not to, and trolls know they can rope a ton of people in relatively easy by posting seemingly innocent comments with the actual spoilers hiding above in wait for unsuspecting eyes. Obviously, folks should be avoiding comment sections already, but for those that can't help themselves, at least try to avoid reading the names of people's comments.

Don't Go Looking For Content That Potentially Reveals Spoilers

This seems like a no-brainer, although anyone who's been on the Internet has seen those readers who are taken aback and appalled they read a spoiler despite the warnings on articles and in headlines revealing spoilers are ahead. In short, reading speculative articles about the movie and what will happen at this point is a bad idea. There are many people who already know what happens, and you might actually read that in searching.

Even reviews can be dicey. Ours, of course, is spoiler free, and so are a handful of others on reputable and well-known sites. Make no mistake, there are more spoiler heavy reviews out there, and they can drop some rather big details unexpectedly. It's simple really. Avoid content that may reveal a spoiler, and drastically lessen the chance that a spoiler will unexpectedly surface.

Warn Friends And Family Ahead Of Time

By now, many of us are aware of the habitual "Spoilees" in our lives. Whenever there's a big movie that's out, they just can't help themselves and have to talk about the movie regardless of whether or not everyone around them has seen it or not. We love them anyway, but damn if they wouldn't catch hands if the bond we share with them wasn't so strong.

Ideally, it's best to get to the theater before these people and eliminate any chance of falling victim to their spoilery ways. If that's not possible, just kindly remind them ahead of time not to talk to you about the movie before you've seen it. If they're not monsters, they'll respect that. If they do it anyway, at least the warning gives you a valid reason to slap them upside their head.

Beware YouTube Suggestions

YouTube is a great way to kill time during the day, but it's going to be very risky to venture in the coming weeks. YouTubers gotta eat too, and that sweet Avengers: Endgame analysis is going to pay some bills for a couple high profile people on the platform. These folks will probably be respectful of spoilers, and keep things clean, but that won't stop YouTube from suggesting and auto-playing a full spoilers video right after.

Don't blame the YouTuber, blame the algorithm. Or blame both, but also blame yourself because this is also a form of looking for content on Avengers: Endgame, and then being upset when the Internet grants that wish. Just disable autoplay, however, and that should solve the problem of unintentionally starting a video. As for the rest, just be wary of looking at the titles of related videos and suggested ones that pop up after you watch something.

Avengers: Endgame spoilers will almost certainly ramp up in intensity beginning Thursday evening, so be sure to grab a ticket and see it before the major beats are all over the web. Also, stick with CinemaBlend for the latest news regarding movies, television, and pop culture.

Avengers: Endgame Has Already Hit Pirating Websites

Avengers: Endgame Has Already Hit Pirating Websites

It's been a long year of waiting, but Avengers: Endgame is finally upon us. Hardcore Marvel fans have secured their tickets for tonight's opening showings, which will pick up the narrative after Thanos won and destroyed half of life in Infinity War. The stakes are at an all-time high, so moviegoers are desperately attempting to avoid spoilers before heading to theaters.

Despite Marvel Studios' best work with security and marketing, spoilers have still hit the internet, as early screenings of Endgame expose the film's secrets. And now it turns out that the leaks have gotten worse, and the movie is already on pirating sites ahead of its official release. Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige has expressed his disapproval of spoilers, so he must not be happy about these surprising turn of events.

News of Avengers: Endgame's leak onto pirating sites come to us from Torrent Freak, and there may have some silver lining to it all. Because the version of the movie currently making its way around pirating sites is of extremely poor quality. And it hardly sounds like the way to enjoy such a massive and CGI-heavy blockbuster. As the report reveals:

The image flickers constantly throughout. It’s semi-rotated and is littered throughout with watermarks for a gambling site that spin around the screen.

Well, this hardly sounds satisfying to the moviegoers who have spent a decade and 21 trips to the movies ahead of Avengers: Endgame's release. The marketing material for Avengers: Endgame is reportedly from the first 10 minutes of the blockbuster, so the public should know little to nothing about the contents of The Russo Brothers' highly anticipated release. Unless they go searching out spoilers.

There are some moviegoers that just can't wait until tonight's screenings, and want to know about what happens throughout the course of Avengers: Endgame. Spoilers arrived last week, and now the pirating copy is out there as well. You may just have to watch an uber-crappy version with online games on the edge of the frame. Still, the year of waiting is just too much for certain moviegoers to sustain.

Related: 10 Questions We Still Have About Avengers: Endgame

The Russo Brothers have been staunchly against spoilers, encouraging cinephiles to run to the theater opening weekend to ensure you get the full theatrical experience. Avengers: Endgame is the cumulation of a decade of filmmaking, and it seems like the brothers could go anywhere narratively. Infinity War showed what daring filmmaking they were capable for with such a massive cast, and the twist ending showed they were pulling no punches.

The early reception for Avengers: Endgame has been overwhelmingly positive, and the official reviews and Rotten Tomatoes score are sky high. It appears that The Russo Brothers threw everything and the kitchen sink into the new blockbuster, and that is miraculously worked. Luckily, we can judge for ourselves starting tonight.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters starting tonight. In the meantime, check out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and utilize our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

The Insane Number Of Costume Changes Taron Egerton Has In Rocketman

The Insane Number Of Costume Changes Taron Egerton Has In Rocketman

Elton John changes costumes more than most people change their bed sheets. The charismatic, stage-dominating pianist has established himself as a fashion role model over the course of his hall-of-fame career, entertaining audiences with his visual presentation as much as he did with his musical prowess.

For that reason, it goes without saying that Rocketman costume designer Julian Day (Rush, Bohemian Rhapsody) had his work cut out for himself when trying to dress Taron Egerton as Elton John. Needless to say, Day didn’t disappoint. While I’d need a second viewing to confirm, I was fairly confident that Sir Elton never wore the same outfit more than once in the movie, and had a different costume in every major scene.

At the Rocketman junket in London, we asked Egerton how many costume changes he thinks he has in the film, and he guessed:

It’s north of 50, I think. Yeah, it’s a lot. … There’s little things that might crop up repeatedly, but not a great deal. I think I retained my Troubadour boots for the scene afterwards at Mama Cass’s [house]. I think I just -- Julian and I figured, they’re fabulous boots!

They’re so fabulous, he even uses them to PLAY the piano when entertaining audiences at the famed Troubadour club in Los Angeles:

So, Taron Egerton guessed “north of 50,” and you’d assume he would know, seeing as how he had to wear all of those outfits to play Sir Elton John in this fantasy musical biopic. The movie begins with John heading to rehab, wearing the bold orange jumpsuit and devil horns. Where do you go from there?

But we also put the question to Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher, who also estimated:

I don’t know the answer to that. I reckon it’s got to be upwards of 40. I would imagine. I wonder. I’ll have to ask Julian. Julian Day, the costume designer, will absolutely know that number. … [Taron] came in every day and he had to wear something different. Look, he was in 60 days, minimum. So I would say 50 was probably a good guess.

You know what matters? That there are five slots in the Costume Design category at the Academy Awards, and one of them better go to Julian Day. Here’s Taron Egerton and Dexter Fletcher waxing poetic on the beautiful costumes in their new movie:

Rocketman is in theaters as we speak.

Why Thousands Of Captain Marvel Reviews Were Purged From Rotten Tomatoes Over The Weekend

Why Thousands Of Captain Marvel Reviews Were Purged From Rotten Tomatoes Over The Weekend

Carol Danvers finally made her MCU debut in theaters this weekend in Captain Marvel, and while it was a smooth and uninterrupted flight at the box office, there was plenty of turbulence on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Early in the day on Friday, the latest MCU movie had a dismal audience score of 33% on the site from over 58,000 reviews. That afternoon though, the number of audience reviews dropped drastically to 7,000, good for a 35% score.

So why did Rotten Tomatoes purge over 50,000 Captain Marvel reviews from its system? The reason is mostly due to a glitch related to some changes the site recently made, as Rotten Tomatoes explained in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter:

We have identified a bug in the post-release functionality for the movies that have released into theaters since our product update last week. The quantity of user ratings (which is displayed directly below the audience score and is intended to only include the quantity of users who have left a rating or written review after a movie’s release) had included both pre-release and post-release fan voting.

Basically, the 58,000+ user reviews that showed up on the morning of Captain Marvel’s release included both new reviews, presumably from audiences who went to Thursday night preview screenings, as well as reviews that were submitted prior to the movie’s release. Therefore, the reviews were purged so as to only show reviews that could have been submitted by people who had actually seen the movie, versus those who submitted reviews when they couldn’t possibly have seen it yet.

This comes after the recent product update Rotten Tomatoes implemented that made it so that audiences couldn’t review a movie before it was released. As updates often do, it came with a bug that allowed those older reviews to still initially show up for Captain Marvel. Rotten Tomatoes made other changes to pre-release movies on the site as well, changing the ‘want to see’ metric from a percentage to simply a running count.

Rotten Tomatoes also made it so that people can’t comment on a movie before it hits theaters. The company explained that decision, saying:

We are disabling the comment function prior to a movie’s release date. Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership. We have decided that turning off this feature, for now, is the best course of action. Don’t worry though, fans will still get to have their say: Once a movie is released, audiences can leave a user rating and comments as they always have.

Non-constructive input? On the internet!? In an effort to combat the non-constructive input, people can’t comment on a movie until they could have actually seen it. The only thing they can do now before a movie is released is to say whether they want to see it or not. After the movie is released though, people are free to give their rating and comment as they always have been to have their voices heard.

And calling it ‘bordering on trolling’ is quite a diplomatic way of addressing what has been going on on the review aggregator. Rotten Tomatoes says that the changes were not made for Captain Marvel specifically, but they have come in the wake of a concerted troll effort to tank the film’s scores.

The campaign against Captain Marvel came in response to some comments from the film’s star Brie Larson about inclusion and diversity in the film press, comments which certainly could have been phrased better and ones she later clarified.

Whether Rotten Tomatoes purging of thousands of audience scores, and the retooling of its model that changes what input audiences can give and when, will make a difference is debatable. Despite being purged down to 7,000 on Friday, Captain Marvel’s audience scores are now back up to a count of over 54,000 with a rating of 58%. That’s more than the number of audience scores for Avengers: Infinity War. Something tells me those scores may not all be legit and submitted in good faith. Especially considering the film has an "A" CinemaScore. Rotten Tomatoes is fighting a losing battle.

It doesn’t matter though because Captain Marvel still absolutely crushed at the box office in its opening weekend, breaking records and flying higher, further, faster to instant success. It’s almost as if all this trolling had absolutely no effect at all and convinced no one they shouldn’t see the movie. Although not everyone loved it and there are legitimate criticisms to be made.

See what we thought of Captain Marvel, and if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to find out what ticket you should buy when you do. To see all the big movies coming this year that can look forward to their own Rotten Tomatoes drama, take a look at our 2019 release schedule.

See What Sebastian Stan Could Look Like As DC’s Riddler

See What Sebastian Stan Could Look Like As DC’s Riddler

While he’s been known as Marvel’s Winter Soldier for almost a decade and has a new spin-off show with that same character debuting at some point next year, some folks are really hung up on the idea of actor Sebastian Stan playing The Riddler in Matt Reeves’ new Batman movie.

And whenever a particularly inspired piece of casting crops up on the internet, you can count on corresponding fan art to help everyone get a picture of what that variation of a famous character could look like. With that in mind, please enjoy the following fan rendering of what Stan could look like as Edward “The Riddler” Nygma:

Looking at this particular visual representation of The Riddler, it does maintain a dorky element of the character’s psyche. But there’s also a seedy, alpha male sort of style at work as well, seeing Sebastian Stan perfectly occupy a crossroads between someone threatening and someone you could kind of laugh at on the streets of The Batman’s Gotham City. Knowing the character’s history of outbursts when his superiority is challenged, it might be best if you just nod respectfully and walk along, before he really does something to your mind you can’t come back from.

Naturally, this wasn’t unprompted, as recently Sebastian Stan has gone on record as stating that he’d love to play the purveyor of perplexing and pernicious puzzles in the universe that feels like it’s on the cusp of confirming Robert Pattinson as the man playing the latest version of the Dark Knight himself. But now, with the right art suggesting what this possibility would look like, it’s easier to approve of such a move.

While Matt Reeves’ The Batman has been reported to have its first two villains already sewn up, with both The Penguin and Catwoman taking those initial slots, there’s always room for more villains to be set up and deployed for future films. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have a baddie as iconic as The Riddler in the franchise’s back pocket, especially when The Joker would be an option that’s too familiar to bring into the fold just yet.

So leave it to an eager fan on Instagram to make the best case for Sebastian Stan to be the latest Marvel star to defect over to the side of DC, in the name of creative re-casting. It’d certainly be an awesome draw to this new potential series of Batman films, especially with Stan’s fans from his days as Bucky Barnes being part of the contingent that made Avengers: Endgame such a huge box office hit.

As such, this isn’t exactly a confirmed casting, but it’d be a surprise if this item hasn’t already been circulated through Warner Bros’ internal email servers. So if Stan finds himself suiting up in the infamous green question mark suit we know and love, this could be the very moment that made it all happen.

Sebastian Stan can currently be seen in Avengers: Endgame, as well as the Shirley Jackson adaptation We Have Always Lived In The Castle. But if you’re looking for something else at the movies, take a look at our 2019 release schedule to see what else is in your realm of interest.

Ben Affleck Seems Down To Return For Jay And Silent Bob Reboot

Ben Affleck Seems Down To Return For Jay And Silent Bob Reboot

For the films set in his View Askewniverse, writer and director Kevin Smith often tapped a recurring group of actors to play the same or different roles in each film. And one of the staples of the View Askewniverse was Ben Affleck. So naturally, with many Kevin Smith regulars returning for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, people are wondering if Ben Affleck will join them, and he seems down to do so. Responding to a question about whether he would make an appearance he said:

Your guess is a good as mine. I haven’t been asked to make an appearance but you never know, there’s still time. We’ll see. I think if it was up to me, I would rather do Holden than Shannon, but I would defer to Kevin.

As it currently stands, Ben Affleck is not set to show up in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, but he certainly sounds open to the idea and he definitely didn’t shoot down the possibility as something he’s not interested in. If Kevin Smith would like Ben Affleck to join in the festivities with his former View Askewniverse mates, he can call him up before production is over.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is still filming so as Ben Affleck says, there is still time. And while he probably wouldn’t have a major role at this point, he certainly could show up for a cameo as small as his one in Clerks II or maybe even something a little larger like his part in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. If Kevin Smith does ask him to make an appearance, Ben Affleck has a preference to which character he’d play.

Like Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams and Brian O’Halloran, Ben Affleck has played multiple characters in the View Askewniverse. Save for his fallen angel Bartleby from Dogma, the two most obvious characters he could return as are Holden McNeil and Shannon Hamilton. If it were between these two, Affleck would much prefer to return as Holden than Shannon, as he told Collider.

Holden McNeil appeared in two View Askewniverse films. First he was the protagonist in Chasing Amy, where he was the co-creator of the Bluntman and Chronic comic book, the comic book based on Jay and Silent Bob that Hollywood was adapting in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Holden appeared in that film as well, where he introduced Jay and Silent Bob to the internet and the movie being made about them in an incredibly prophetic look at online movie culture. You can watch part of that scene below.

Given his appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Holden seems the most natural choice to return for the sequel, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, as opposed to the scumbag statutory rapist Shannon Hamilton from Mallrats. Holden is also the character Ben Affleck would prefer, although he clarifies that he would defer to Kevin Smith. So it doesn’t seem like Shannon would be a deal breaker.

Hopefully Kevin Smith does give Ben Affleck a call. It would be great to see him return to the View Askewniverse, and just have some fun in this silly comedy. He could reprise his role as Holden and again make a meta commentary about online culture, this time slipping in a hilarious reference to the Batfleck of it all.

Ben Affleck also played himself in a different scene in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, so maybe he could do that again in this lampooning of Hollywood, finally letting us know if Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season got a sequel to complete the trilogy.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is currently filming. We’ll keep you updated when it gets an official release date and in the meantime, check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see the movies headed your way this year.