Original Mr. Fantastic in ‘Fantastic Four’ films wants a piece of the MCU action

20th Century Fox

If the Disney and 20^th Century Fox deal pushes through, this could mean Fantastic Four can join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And one of its original actors wants to make the leap. Ioan Gruffudd, who played Mr. Fantastic or Reed Richards in the first two Fantastic Four films, wants to be part of the MCU. "I would love that," Gruffudd told Digital Spy. "I just don't know, in that universe, the Marvel world, would they let me play something else? I'm so renowned for Fantastic Four. But a couple of actors have [made the leap]." He’s referring to both Chris Evans and Michael B Jordan, who both played Human Torch or Johnny Storm, and are now known as Captain America and Killmonger, respectively.

"I'm sure for Marvel it was a tough decision to pick Chris to play that part [Captain America] because he'd already played one superhero, but what a brilliant decision it was, because he's wonderful," Gruffudd said. "And Michael B Jordan has played Johnny Storm and he's amazing in Black Panther as well, so there are precedents set. So, we'll see." If he could play someone else, Gruffudd said he’d want to be a villain. "Maybe [I could play] a baddie, this time? Now that I've established myself as somebody who can do that, that would be great," he said.

Black Widow’s movie now has a director

Alexander Koerner/Getty Images; Courtesy of Marvel

Moving on to more definite Marvel news. The standalone Black Widow film has finally gotten its director. The Scarlett Johansson-led film will be directed by Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (of Lore and Berlin Syndrome fame). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel has met with over 70 directors to find the ideal candidate. Hiring a woman to direct the film was said to be a priority and Johansson herself advocated for Shortland. Earlier this year, Marvel hired Jac Schaeffer to write the film’s script. It’s reportedly going to be set before the events of the first Avengers film. No word yet when this movie might come out but it’s definitely long overdue.

The standalone movie won’t be the first female-led Marvel movie to come out, though. That title goes to Captain Marvel, which is one of the two films (the other being Avengers 4) closing out Marvel’s Phase 3. The Phase 4 films are expected to start hitting theatres next year, which we presume is where this movie will be included in.

Source: The Verge

‘Captain Marvel’ is done filming

With Ant-Man and the Wasp in theatres, the next Marvel film gearing up for its release has finally finished filming. Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck celebrated the occasion with a post on Fleck’s Instagram. It shows the shooting schedule and highlights the date. It reads Friday, July 6^th, 2018 and has the text Day 75 of 75 underneath. The caption of the post has the words “We got next…”

Captain Marvel is set in the ‘90s, an era not yet explored by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes. She tries to save the planet as we’re caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Captain Marvel is set to hit theatres starting March 8, 2019, which is also International Women’s Day. Something we’re thinking Marvel has done intentionally.

Source: Comicbook.com

‘Captain Marvel’ brings back three major MCU characters

With Captain Marvel kicking off production, there’s some news coming out of that Marvel production that might excite fans of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Three major MCU characters are making a comeback in this film: Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson, Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser, and Djimon Hounsou’s Korath the Pursuer. With Captain Marvel set in the ‘90s, it doesn’t surprise us that Coulson is coming back. It also means we’re getting a glimpse at an earlier version of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was previously announced that Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is coming back for the movie. MCU head Kevin Feige has told Entertainment Weekly recently that Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is the first superhero Fury ever meets.

The official synopsis for the movie describes it as: “Based on the Marvel comic character first appearing in 1968, the story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.” Captain Marvel is coming to cinemas on March 8, 2019. It’s directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck with the screenplay penned by Boden and Fleck, Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Liz Flahive, and Carly Mensch. The cast also includes Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, and Jude Law. 

Source: The Independent