Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy.
Captain Marvel Trailer is Here!
Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel – Official Trailer
Higher. Further. Faster. Watch the trailer for Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, in theaters March 8, 2019.► Subscribe to Marvel: http://bit.ly/WeO3YJMore info…
We’ve been getting a lot of Captain Marvel goodies recently and on Tuesday Marvel Studios dropped what was originally called a “teaser”, but at nearly a full two minutes is actually more of a trailer.
While there isn’t a ton of info give by way of exposition we do know a few things: Captain Marvel is going to be driven by a time travel story even more than we first imagined, Jude Law is being lit and shot as a villain, Agent Coulson has finally returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he belongs, Nick Fury is going to play a very prominent, and Carol Danvers only got to speak two lines in a movie that bears her name and is supposed to star her …
The Eternals Traps Chloe Zhao to Direct
Just a few short months after DC announced they had tapped Ava DuVernay to direct their Jack Kirby extravaganza – News Gods – Variety is reporting that Marvel has tapped The Rider director Chloa Zhao to helm their cosmic Kirby project – Eternals.
The film is to be set millenia before the (messy), MCU timeline and tells the story of the Celestials genetic experimentation that led to the creation of The Deviants and The Eternals who were tapped to keep them in line. Comic book fans will recognize these broad details as being directly tied to the origin of The Mad Titan – and current Marvel Studios baddie – Thanos.
Zhao being tapped by Disney is a very interesting choice. She brings some much needed diversity to the limited pool of directors that have been allowed to be in-charge of major superhero movies (I include all studios producing genre content in this observation). At the same time, Disney has received criticism for bringing green directors onto both Marvel and Star Wars projects under the auspices of presenting opportunities to exciting up-and-coming director. In some cases this has really worked out for them and, in order cases, directors have been criticized for being brought onto multi-million dollar projects while they were still too green.
Matthew and Ryan Firpo are set to write the script, with Kevin Feige, of course, producing.
Marvel Taps Wonder Woman Scribe
Given that it’s taken Marvel Studios almost 20 movies to put a woman in the lead of any of their MCU projects, it has
been fascinating in recent days to watch the studio try to double down in an effort to make up for this faux pas. They have even gone so far as to tap Allan Heinberg – who wrote the script for the celebrated and beloved Wonder Woman feature film over at DC.
Heinberg does have a history with Marvel well before he transitioned into the world of screenwriting. He is famous for penning and co-creating the original Young Avengers series (along with artist Jim Cheung), that featured Cassie Lang’s growing out of her father’s shadow into a superheroic identity of her own (Stature), and Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye who has since grown up to lead the primary Hawkeye title at Marvel Comics and is the current leader of the West Coast Avengers.
Per Variety, the project comes directly from Heinberg. One hopes this means it is something he’s excited about. No details have been made public outside of the statement that it “will feature female Marvel superheroes.”
Heinberg is a creator I adore, who has worked on a collection of iconic projects, and it’s nice to see Marvel getting around to more female-driven content. In spite of that I am left with the question: could Marvel Studios not have found a female or femme screenwriter to helm such a project?
Veronica Mars gets Full Season Order
Veronica Mars is one of the handful of series whose dedicated, vocal fanbase has brought back to life in the streaming era. It was announced yesterday that the fourth season of the show (following three season and a movie), has not only found its home at Hulu (where is will live amongst other fan favourite series: Marvel’s Runaways and Community), but has been given a full season order of eight episode to debut in 2019.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place, Frozen), returns in the leading role who broke the announcement via her Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn8_0ijBesB/?hl=en&taken-by=kristenanniebell
Netflix to Revive Avatar: the Last Aribender
In other streaming news, Deadline reported that Netflix has picked up Avatar: the Last Airbender for a live action adaptation. Original series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (who also created Legend of Korra), will serve as Executive Producers and Showrunners.
The pair’s official press release read as follows:
We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. We can’t wait to realize Aang’s world as cinematically as we always imagined it to be, and with a culturally appropriate, non-whitewashed cast. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build upon everyone’s great work on the original animated series and go even deeper into the characters, story, action, and world-building. Netflix is wholly dedicated to manifesting our vision for this retelling, and we’re incredibly grateful to be partnering with them.
Netflix’s VP of Kids & Family Content, Melissa Cobb had this to say:
We are committed to honoring Bryan and Mike’s vision for this retelling and are thrilled to support them on creating a live-action event series, bringing Aang’s epic world of elemental magic to life for global audiences on Netflix.
The article specifies “based on” and I think there is more excitement to be found in that sentence than any of the factual details we know about this project. To me, this implies that we are not just getting the same 61-episode story told in live action. There’s room for change, growth, new characters, and maybe even knew stories against the canvass of familiar characters and places. The Last Airbender was a children’s project that garnered a more mature audience and this series may yet give the adult fanbase everything that we have ever hoped for.
Cary Joji Fukunaga to Direct Craig’s Last Bond Flick
Daniel Craig has one James Bond movie left in his original five-picture deal. While speculation has been rampant for years about who is next going to join the exclusive club of actors who’ve played 007. While there’s still going to be quite 
some time before any developments break on that front, the next James Bond movie has found it’s director in Beasts of No Nation’s Cary Joji Fukunaga. He is also known for his 2014 Emmy win for directing the first eight episode of HBO’s True Detective.
Like Veronica Mars, this announcement also came over social media, via a series of Tweets the official James Bond Twitter account:
James Bond on Twitter: “Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig announced today that #Bond25 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios on 4 March 2019 under the helm of director, Cary Joji Fukunaga with a worldwide release date of 14 February 2020. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Oyzt826sXd / Twitter”
Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig announced today that #Bond25 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios on 4 March 2019 under the helm of director, Cary Joji Fukunaga with a worldwide release date of 14 February 2020. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Oyzt826sXd
James Bond on Twitter: “”We are delighted to be working with Cary. His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure,” said Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. (2/2) / Twitter”
“We are delighted to be working with Cary. His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure,” said Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. (2/2)
The Broccoli’s enjoyed the creation of popular James Bond movies under the guidance of another award winning director, Sam Mendes. It remains to be seen whether Fukunaga can live up to acclaim of Skyfall, although given his propensity for creating compelling stories about hard, broken-men he seems like a great candidate from this point of view.
Fukunaga takes over from Danny Boyle and, apparently, isn’t planning to use Boyle’s script for the project either. Filming is slated to begin March 4, 2019 with a release date of Valentine’s Day 2020.
