MarvelBlog News for July 16th, 2023

Deadpool 3 just added to its cast, and the details will blow your mind.

Sadly, Deadpool 3’s principal photography just closed due to the Hollywood strikes. And Marvel will apparently make fewer and cheaper projects from now on.

I’ll explain what’s happening in MarvelBlog News.

A Marvel Reunion of Epic Proportions

The 20th Century Fox logo has been spotted on the set of ‘DEADPOOL 3’ ? pic.twitter.com/m39mR5iHsu

— Deadpool Updates (@DeadpoolUpdate) July 11, 2023

The Deadpool 3 production recently started filming, and we know this because production photos were plentiful.

Lots of folks couldn’t wait to snap pictures of the reunion of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

New set photos from ‘DEADPOOL 3’ showcasing a fight scene between #Deadpool & #Wolverine ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Ot8fmAvuC5

— Deadpool Updates (@DeadpoolUpdate) July 10, 2023

Way back when, Reynolds joined Fox’s version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he co-starred in Jackman’s Wolverine standalone project.

In 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Reynolds didn’t play Deadpool but rather Wade Wilson/Weapon XI.

That film did fine, earning $373 million against a $150 million budget, but nothing about its performance indicated a long-term relationship.

Hugh Jackman prepping for his fight scene with #Deadpool on the set of ‘DEADPOOL 3’ ? pic.twitter.com/vEPGeBTXyS

— Deadpool Updates (@DeadpoolUpdate) July 11, 2023

A lot has changed since then, though. For starters, Jackman famously retired as Wolverine in the de facto swan song of Fox’s X-Men franchise, Logan.

Yes, other X-Men films came afterward, but that’s the one people remember.

Meanwhile, the unlikely gambit of a Deadpool film paid unimaginable dividends in 2016, with the Ryan Reynolds flick grossing $782 million…on a $58 million budget.

Deadpool 2 cost nearly twice as much to produce at $110 million, but it also grossed $785 million.

A third Deadpool sequel felt inevitable, but there was a fly in the ointment. Disney acquired Fox’s assets in 2019, including Wolverine and Deadpool.

Ever since then, people have wondered whether family-friendly Disney would release a decidedly hard-R movie like Deadpool 3.

That answer proved to be yes, albeit with the brilliance of persuading Jackman to return to the role.

Deadpool 3 looks like a surefire blockbuster on paper. But the new Fox-Marvel under Disney isn’t taking any chances.

The casting for the project reinforces this point.

Let’s Talk Superstar Superhero Cameos

This past week, we learned that Jennifer Garner will return to a long-forgotten role she once played.

In 2003, Garner co-starred in Daredevil alongside her future husband, Ben Affleck.

Garner found romance on the set and always held bragging rights because people liked her performance better than Affleck’s.

Not coincidentally, we never received a Daredevil 2 in theaters. Instead, Fox created an Elektra spinoff…that was an absolute disaster.

That project cost more than it earned, making it one of the worst bombs of 2005. Nobody expected Garner to appear as Elektra again.

However, Garner is quite famous and extremely well-liked in the industry. And Deadpool 3 is clearly gonna try some stuff.

So, none of us should be that surprised by the announcement that Garner will again take on the role of the vinyl-clad assassin.

Similarly, rumors are percolating and basically confirmed that Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will return as Magneto and Professor X.

If you remember the Fox films, these announcements should confuse you, as several of the characters we’re discussing are currently dead.

That statement applies to Wolverine, too. If you’re wondering about that, I can explain it. Skip the next two sentences if you don’t want to know.

Yes, Deadpool 3 will involve time travel…enough that literally anyone from the Fox franchise could appear, save for the X-Men: First Class group. None of them will appear, but everyone else in the MCU is in play.

We’ve got pictures of some of the surprise characters appearing on social media, and you’ll have plenty of time to see them.

I say this because the SAG-AFTRA strike started this past week.

For that reason, Deadpool 3 has stopped filming indefinitely. And that’s our next story.

The Strike and Bob Iger

For the first time since 1960, the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s acting guild, have simultaneously chosen to strike.

Due to this decision, all the stuff I mentioned last week is now real. Comic-Con has suffered several cancellations and will be a ghost town this week.

You can read the current list of cancellations here, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Most people had figured out already that the event was in trouble, at least for 2023 and possibly for a while. Comic-Con has lost its luster since 2019.

The more pressing issue involves the strike’s impact on Marvel productions.

Everything is now shut down and will remain so for the body of the strike.

Sadly, that may be the tip of the iceberg as well. Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, appeared on CNBC this past week.

You can watch his Marvel comments here:

That’s the person who is ultimately in charge of Marvel, the one who spearheaded its purchase, saying he will produce less Marvel content.

YIKES!

Oddly, in this instance, Iger is giving the fans what they’ve claimed to want.

Critics have lamented that Marvel has spread itself too thin, telling too many stories and introducing too many new characters.

During the strike, Iger and Marvel leader Kevin Feige will take their time to decide on the proper budget and amount of Marvel content from now on.

Iger obviously believes that less is more. I’m a “more is more” guy since that’s a tautology. The CEO’s comments alarm me for this reason.

Marvel Miscellany

We will cover the strike more next week since that’s obviously the big story right now…and will be for a while.

However, there are still a few tidbits to discuss. My favorite of them involves Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani.

The MCU superfan just confirmed that she has a new Marvel project, but it’s not what you think. She isn’t starring in a new film.

Remember how Marvel recently killed off Kamala Khan in a seemingly throwaway Spider-Man story?

Apparently, Marvel had a plan in place to reboot the character…with Vellani writing the new comic!

The actress who portrays Ms. Marvel will write Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant, which ties into the big reveal from the Disney+ series. How great is that?!

Speaking of which, Ms. Marvel earned three Emmy nominations due to its quality!

On a different Marvel note, Anson Mount, the actor who portrays Black Bolt in the MCU, recently hinted that he may return to the role yet again.

Black Bolt’s surprise appearance in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surprised many since The Inhumans bombed as a television series.

Obviously, Marvel likes Mount a lot and wants him to return.

Finally, we also learned due to some excellent reporting by the always impressive Caroline Reid at Forbes that Secret Invasion ran over budget.

Specifically, Disney paid $211.6 million for the six-episode series, which breaks down to $35 million an episode. That’s…too much.

When you hear that number, you can understand why Iger is reevaluating Marvel expenditures.

 

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