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WandaVision welcomes a new line of Earth’s first defense in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

WandaVision welcomes a new line of Earth’s first defense in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
WandaVision welcomes a new line of Earth’s first defense in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

WandaVision, the first original television series produced by Marvel Studios, isn’t quite like anything Marvel has released before.

It’s absurdist and pays authentic tribute to some of the best American sitcoms produced in the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, including Bewitched and The Dick Van Dyke Show. WandaVision is still a Marvel Studios show, however, and that means it ties into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first two episodes, now streaming on Disney Plus, set up a key organization that ties WandaVision into the current Marvel Cinematic Universe’s moment, while also setting up the enticing “cosmic universe” era it’s about to enter.

[This is your mandatory spoiler warning. Stop reading here if you don’t want to know anything that happens in the first two episodes.]

A S.W.O.R.D. agent watching Wanda and Vision.
Image: Disney

The first episode finds Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) living a charming suburban life in a fictional town. Although the show takes place after Avengers: Endgame, there’s no reference to anything that happened — no explanation for how Vision is suddenly alive, why they’re living in an alternate, dreamlike world, or why they can’t remember anything that came before moving into their new house.

Throughout the first episode, there are a few hints that all is not what it appears for Wanda and Vision. Vision reiterates that Wanda came from Sokovia, and during a dinner scene, Wanda is transfixed by one specific question: “Why did you come here?” It’s not until the end of the episode, however, that WandaVision finds its most interesting reveal: the presence of S.W.O.R.D.

What is S.W.O.R.D.?

S.W.O.R.D., or Sentient World Observation and Response Department, is a cosmic version of S.H.I.E.L.D. Most MCU fans know S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s the organization that Howard Stark and Peggy Carter started and Nick Fury oversees, designed to employ superbeings as Earth’s mightiest defenders from supernatural threats — Loki’s attack on New York City or Ultron’s attack on Sokovia. S.H.I.E.L.D. was famously infiltrated by Hydra, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and that’s key as WandaVision includes a reference to Wolfgang von Strucker. In the MCU, von Strucker was a Hydra sleeper agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. who is seen holding custody of Wanda and her twin brother Pietro in a Winter Soldier post-credits scene and Age of Ultron’s opening battle. It’s these little moments that tie Wanda and Vision back to the MCU-at-large.

Fine, that’s S.H.I.E.L.D.; what about S.W.O.R.D? The organization first appeared in Astonishing X-Men #3, which was written by Joss Whedon back in 2004. (Fun fact: the first appearance of anything S.W.O.R.D. related in the MCU is a tiny Easter egg in Age of Ultron, which Whedon also directed.) The organization was originally created to defend the entire universe from extraterrestrial threats. Run by Abigail Brand, a woman who is basically a space-based, mutant version of Nick Fury, the whole idea was to act as an intelligence agency based outside of Earth.

A man in a beekeeper outfit with the S.W.O.R.D. logo on the back.
Image: Marvel

The most memorable nod to S.W.O.R.D. arrived in the form of a Spider-Man: Far From Home post-credits scene. Fury, seemingly on vacation, walks out onto the deck of a spaceship while a bunch of Skrull (those green aliens from Captain Marvel) are walking around. It’s clear that Marvel Studios is setting up S.W.O.R.D. to appear and possibly connect the fourth and fifth phases of the MCU, but what does it mean for WandaVision?

It all ties together

Interestingly enough, S.W.O.R.D’s name in WandaVision is changed slightly to Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division. This could just be a title change (the definition of S.H.I.E.L.D in the MCU is slightly different from the comics), but it could also point to Wanda being imprisoned in a fictional world where S.W.O.R.D. is watching her. Monica Rambeau, who originally appeared in Captain Marvel as Maria Rambeau’s (Carol Danvers’ best friend) daughter, is now an adult and an agent of S.W.O.R.D., based on official Topps playing cards released ahead of WandaVision’s launch.

Small, visual glitches that appear in the sky insinuate Wanda and Vision are trapped in an artificial world, and the final scene of the first episode confirms that S.W.O.R.D. agents are watching their every move. In the second episode, even more clues appear. A voice coming through a radio (it sounds like Ant-Man’s Agent Jimmy Woo) asks Wanda, “Who’s doing this to you?” Later on in the episode, Wanda suddenly becomes pregnant. She asks Vision if “this is really happening,” and after he first reflects that something seems off, time suddenly rewinds and he changes his answer to a simple, “Yes, this is really happening.”

Monica Rambeau talking Wanda.
Image: Marvel

The most important moment happens when Wanda and Vision are standing in the middle of the street after hearing a noise. A beekeeper emerges from a manhole, the S.W.O.R.D. logo on his back. Wanda, fear-stricken, utters a simple “no,” and everything goes back to normal — well, her version of normal. If the title change does mean Wanda is being watched as a possible sentient weapon (we still have no idea what happened to Vision’s actual body), it would play slightly into her arc in the House of M comics, where Wanda creates a fictional reality to cope with a devastating loss.

Here’s where some fun predictions come in. Marvel Studios needs to unite its new group of superheroes, many of which are tied into other planets. Remember when Captain Marvel told the makeshift council of Avengers in Endgame that when Thanos snapped his fingers, it devastated a bunch of other planets, too? The way they can do that is through S.W.O.R.D. We already know that WandaVision connects to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In the House of M comic series, Professor X reveals that he brought in Doctor Strange to try to break Wanda’s fictional reality. It doesn’t work, but it’s possible that Doctor Strange could work with S.W.O.R.D. in WandaVision to try something similar.

It also seems likely that Monica Rambeau will also appear in Captain Marvel 2. The character was in the first Captain Marvel, and, considering that Fury seemed like he was working with S.W.O.R.D. at the end of Far From Home, it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that Carol Danvers, Nick Fury, and Monica Rambeau all know and continue to work with each other.

Remember: WandaVision wasn’t originally supposed to air until the end of this year, closer to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Captain Marvel 2’s release date, and after The Eternals. Not to mention that with X-Men and the Fantastic Four under Feige’s belt — and a new Fantastic Four movie in the works — using S.W.O.R.D. to connect everything the way S.H.I.E.L.D. did for Iron Man, Captain America: First Avenger, Thor, and The Avengers, is a good way to do it.

It seems like WandaVision will spend its first season determining whether S.W.O.R.D. is an ally or an enemy. More importantly for the MCU, having fans dive into S.W.O.R.D. before The Eternals, Captain Marvel 2, and other cosmic movies is a good place to get people acquainted with the agency.

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WandaVision can be weird because Marvel has already won

WandaVision can be weird because Marvel has already won
WandaVision can be weird because Marvel has already won

WandaVision is the Marvel universe’s most comic book show yet, if not in content at least in concept. It’s a dense-looking storyline that will be released on an episodic basis, with characters and a setting that are virtually impenetrable to new viewers — so much so that Marvel Studios even went so far as to produce a clip show recapping the critical moments of the 23-odd films that precede it.

It may seem like WandaVision would be barreling toward the same issue that has hounded traditional comics for years — a high barrier to entry with complex storylines, character dynamics, and lore that span decades and serve to confuse and drive away new readers — but WandaVision arguably doesn’t have that same problem.

Pick up a random issue of Spider-Man or Iron Man, and you’ll likely be confused by the contents, unless you’ve found a particularly accessible entry ramp like a creative reboot (for example, Jonathan Hickman’s recent run of the X-Men books) or a self-contained crossover. Comic sales are doing just fine, but the industry itself is a drop in the bucket compared to the massive pop culture impact of the Marvel blockbusters. Even the bestselling books of all time can’t come close in popularity.

Image: Marvel Studios

The fact that WandaVision isn’t particularly accessible to new viewers isn’t a mark against it: it’s a spinoff of what’s arguably the single most popular film franchise ever made and a direct follow-up to Avengers: Endgame, the biggest movie in history. Comic book movies and shows are no longer tiny underdogs trying to lure in new viewers who aren’t the traditional comic audience — they are popular culture now.

WandaVision doesn’t have to cater to a new audience; it’s free to get as weird as it wants for the unprecedentedly large audience it already has, an audience that Disney is hoping will sign up for monthly Disney Plus subscriptions to watch it. (The same goes for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki and Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel and all of the other Marvel shows heading to the service.) After all, why sell customers a $15 movie ticket to a giant blockbuster only once when you can get them to subscribe to your streaming service for $8 per month forever?

In fact, Disney Plus’ very existence incentivizes Disney to make WandaVision more obtuse to new viewers. After all, all of the Marvel movies that you’d need to understand WandaVision are already on the streaming service. If someone opens up WandaVision on Friday and decides to shelve it while they work their way through the rest of the MCU on Disney Plus, then Disney wins just as much as it would have had they watched WandaVision itself. Even Marvel Legends — the recap show — requires a Disney Plus subscription to view, and it ends each episode with a list of movies (also streaming on Disney Plus) people should watch to better understand WandaVision.

The Mandalorian

Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

It’s a strategy that we’ve already seen Disney use to great effect with Star Wars. The Mandalorian’s second season tied in heavily to past Star Wars shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels. For fans who were up to speed on the older shows, The Mandalorian was delivering payoffs that were years in the making. For fans who weren’t, they suddenly had a great reason to keep those subscriptions going after the season finale to catch up.

WandaVision is by all accounts one of the strangest Marvel entries yet. It’s not the show the studio was hoping to use to kick off its TV efforts. (That title goes to the delayed — and more mainstream — The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will follow in March.) It doesn’t need to cater to new fans because of the sheer momentum of the Marvel machine, even though the first few episodes also demonstrate that it’s weird enough — and detached enough — from the main films that people can still come to it as its own thing.

But Marvel’s entertainment juggernaut is so big and consistent that it doesn’t really matter which show kicks off Disney Plus. The company has already won over viewers. All WandaVision needs to do is give them a reason to subscribe.

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Review: WandaVision Is Unlike Anything in the MCU

Review: WandaVision Is Unlike Anything in the MCU
Review: WandaVision Is Unlike Anything in the MCU


WandaVision — Marvel’s first (mini)series on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — is a weird delight. It features Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) doing the dishes and Vision (Paul Bettany) belting out his dulcet tones at a dinner party. Two of Marvel’s most powerful superheroes, who’ve been busy saving the world over and over, have suddenly been relegated to homebody stuff. In that sense, it’s very much like our collective experiences over the past year, as we’ve found ourselves stuck at home. The initial episodes — I’ve seen three — are largely in black-and-white, filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio. And oh, did I mention that it’s set in the fifties? WandaVision is Marvel’s first new offering since Martin Scorsese compared Marvel movies to theme parks and complained they didn’t constitute “cinema”, and the new Marvel series seems like a direct response to those remarks.

Of course, part of that is merely accidental. WandaVision is the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four — that’s an insider term that refers to the post-Avengers: Endgame era — but it wasn’t planned like that. Scarlett Johansson-led Black Widow was set to kick things off last April, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, to follow up on TV as the MCU began its Disney+ journey. WandaVision was going to be third in line, but then the pandemic swept over us and delayed everything. In a way, it’s worked out well for Marvel. Black Widow and Falcon and Winter Soldier look a lot like Marvel’s existing offerings, in line with Scorsese’s criticisms. WandaVision is unlike anything in the MCU, and its boldness augurs well for Marvel’s Disney+ start, something Marvel chief Kevin Feige also acknowledged.

WandaVision’s monochromatic Academy-ratio look is inspired by dozens of classic American sitcoms it pays homage to. That includes the likes of I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Family Ties, and Full House. And just like some of those shows, WandaVision transitions to colour as it progresses, adopting new tropes and styles along the way. It starts off as a Hollywood Golden Age sitcom with a laugh track — episode 1 was shot with a live studio audience — and silly jokes at a staccato rhythm, and then moves through the decades as it employs physical comedy, animated sequences, and pops of vibrant colours. WandaVision even has period-appropriate title sequences new to each episode, and they come with opening theme songs crafted by the Frozen duo of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

But WandaVision isn’t just that. The sitcom appearance is a façade for a larger mystery lurking beneath the surface — it technically takes place after the events of Endgame, and will lead into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which stars Olsen — one that gets the briefest of mentions early on. In that essence, it feels closest to Westworld (whose creative team included lover of mystery boxes J.J. Abrams) and seems set to spawn endless theorising after each episode. And just like with the HBO series, I’m sure enthusiasts and Redditors will figure out WandaVision’s true nature within the first few episodes.

The first Marvel Disney+ series opens with a “just married” sign on the back of an old-timey car. The couple in question is Wanda and Vision, who have just arrived in the idyllic suburban town of Westview. They both acknowledge they are an unusual couple even apart from the whole superpower business — they have no wedding rings, no wedding pictures, and even no memory of a wedding — but Wanda wants them to “fit in”, and that’s what they do. She does her best to be a housewife, prepping meals and organising local events with other women. Vision spends his days typing out forms in a 9-to-5 office job. He once wonders what the company really does, but no one seems to know, in what feels like a jab at bureaucracy and being a cog in the machine.

There are early signs that something is amiss, with both Wanda and Vision struggling to remember the importance of an upcoming day. The two also have trouble recollecting anything from their pre-Westview days, as they discover when a dinner guest asks them the simplest questions. Exasperated, said guest screams, “What is your story?”, in what reads like a question being asked by the series’ audience. After all, Vision died — twice, at the hands of Wanda and the big bad Thanos — in Avengers: Infinity War, but he seems to be alive and well on WandaVision. What is their story? The Marvel series — crafted by creator Jac Schaeffer, an in-house Marvel talent who has worked on Captain Marvel (uncredited) and Black Widow (story) — is in no hurry to provide answers though, with the early episodes functioning as sitcom episodes for the most part.

In the first episode, Wanda and Vision have to manage an impromptu dinner party, which goes hilariously off the rails. In the second, the two sign on to do a magic show for a local fundraiser — it comes across as Chaplin-esque in parts — which also goes hilariously off the rails. And in the third, they must deal with a life-changing event that is progressing much faster than it usually does. In between and all around this, WandaVision sprinkles in jokes on Wanda and Vision’s dual personalities, which play on the fact that the audience knows more than the show’s other characters do.

Speaking of other characters, WandaVision has three from the larger MCU: Monica Rambeau (Teynoah Parris) from Captain Marvel now an adult, Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) from Thor and Thor: The Dark World, and FBI agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) from Ant-Man and the Wasp. The only new entrant is Agnes (Kathryn Hahn), a nosy neighbour.

Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau in WandaVision
Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios

WandaVision has its rare dramatic moments too. They explore Wanda’s familial worries and maternal desires, the death of her brother (who was killed in Avengers: Age of Ultron) and the mental anguish it has caused. These are all moments she’s never been allowed before, because Marvel movies don’t have room to process those feelings, and even more so because Wanda is a supporting character and has never had a standalone film.

Just as the trailers hinted, the sitcom world seems like a construct manifested by Wanda in pursuit of a normal life she’s never had. Or maybe as a refuge from a danger of sorts. There are hints early on in WandaVision that this supposedly virtual state might not be of Wanda’s own making, with fake commercials further serving as proof of the same. Feige has admitted that the bigger truths about the show will come out of these ads.

It’s a credit to Matt Shakman, the director best known for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (40+ episodes) and Game of Thrones (“Eastwatch” and “The Spoils of War”), who shows himself able to handle both the light and the heavy, and bring a soft touch to darker notes. Of course, the true test of his abilities lies in the remaining six episodes, which Disney has not made available to critics prior to the show’s release. WandaVision is different than everything we’ve gotten previously. There’s nothing cookie cutter about its approach, something Marvel has been rightfully accused of in the past. But how will it fare as it approaches its endgame? After all, its creators have already spoken about it being like a big action MCU movie in the third act. Will it remain very unlike Marvel throughout or will it eventually dissolve into a generic MCU actioner?

WandaVision premieres January 15 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. Two episodes will air in week one, with one weekly thereafter until March 5.



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As WandaVision arrives, Marvel Studios is about to enter a never-ending cycle

As WandaVision arrives, Marvel Studios is about to enter a never-ending cycle
As WandaVision arrives, Marvel Studios is about to enter a never-ending cycle

If Marvel Studios has its way, people will get a new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe nearly every week.

Everything starts with WandaVision. Marvel’s new nine-episode show, which follows Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany’s Vision living out an absurd suburban life in an alternate universe, kicks off on January 15th. Two episodes will premiere, with new episodes releasing every week for the rest of the season. Just two weeks after WandaVision ends, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will arrive. It’s then three weeks until Black Widow hits theaters (unless it’s delayed again) and Loki lands on Disney Plus. By the time Loki ends, it’ll be time for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

You get the picture.

Before Disney Plus launched, Marvel Studios solely worked on films. Television shows fell under Marvel Entertainment’s separate TV division. This includes the Netflix suite of series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage), shows on Hulu (The Runaways), and ABC titles like Agent Carter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s what kept the Marvel Cinematic Universe separate from everything else, even if those events were referenced. When Disney Plus came along, everything got shuffled. Disney needed new Marvel shows to bring in subscribers and keep them (like The Mandalorian did). Jeph Loeb, former head of Marvel TV, was effectively ousted as everything came under Marvel Studios chief and MCU architect Kevin Feige.

Under Feige, the MCU is now expanding. The various shows and films will interweave with one another. WandaVision will feature characters from Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain Marvel and will connect somehow to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While former Disney executives told The Verge that viewers won’t need to watch every movie or show to keep up, the strategy is designed like comics — references made to events that happened elsewhere that fans may want to watch to understand the full context.

Depending on people’s opinions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having a new Marvel thing each week is either a blessing or a curse. The question is when does it tip into oversaturation? Some people may feel like we’ve hit that point. While studios and networks are making more movies and TV shows than ever before (including outside the superhero genre), few things dominate the box office and conversation like Disney properties, most notably Marvel and Star Wars. Ushering in a never-ending wave of Marvel TV series, on top of three or four films a year, could be what tips the world over into total franchise fatigue.

Except it likely won’t. Franchise fatigue is a popular phrase that gets thrown around, but it’s ultimately flawed. Superhero movies remain some of the biggest box office successes that drive people to theaters at a time when US audiences are, on average, attending fewer movies a year. In China, Marvel movies remain some of the best performing films made by US studios, and the Chinese box office is the second largest box office demographic. This isn’t to imply that Marvel movies are the be all, end all of film (far from it), but mainstream audiences aren’t tired of them. Prior to Infinity War and Endgame, entries like Black Panther and Captain Marvel drove some of the MCU’s largest successes — and those were new characters within the MCU, not Captain America. The audience demand hasn’t disappeared.

Marvel Studios and Disney’s more pressing concern isn’t franchise fatigue — it’s trust. Think about Star Wars. With the exception of Solo, each Star Wars film released over the last five years has performed exceptionally well, but critical opinion of the films has soured. People argued The Force Awakens is just a remake of A New Hope, The Rise of Skywalker is consistently dunked on, The Last Jedi sits at the center of its own ongoing debate, and Solo feels like two movies mashed into one messy affair.

Productions were plagued by directors and writers being fired, with Disney rushing to get out a Star Wars film a year, leaving little room for proper rewrites. Disney arguably lost the trust from fans over its ability to make consistently good Star Wars movies — or, as analyst and venture capitalist, Matthew Ball, says, it’s “accrued disappointment.” Disney tried to rush everything. It didn’t seem like there was a 10-year plan for Star Wars. Marvel Studios’ greatest asset is that Feige was able to archetype what the universe should look like. It’s not exactly quality over quantity — they keep making more MCU movies every year — but quantity without losing the overarching story thread.

Ironically, Star Wars also points to how having more Marvel can still work. Like Rogue One before it, The Mandalorian succeeds because it’s familiar but stands on its own. It’s obviously Star Wars, and there are enough references to key Star Wars figures and moments that diehard fans can dig into the nitty-gritty. It’s also new and unique enough, however, to not feel like a rushed entry in a universe that generates a ton of money for Disney. The Mandalorian’s creators, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, were given time to figure it out.

By all accounts, WandaVision is in the same boat. The characters are familiar, but the show is so different from anything within the MCU that it hopefully feels entirely refreshing. Keeping people’s trust and avoiding accrued disappointment is playing to streaming’s opportunity. Experimentation should be encouraged. If it works, the opportunity for success and ongoing profitability has no ceilings.

If it doesn’t, it’s more forgivable on a streaming service, where people are paying monthly for new content on top of their favorite films and TV shows. It’s not the same as paying $10 or more for a movie ticket or tens of millions of dollars in losses for Disney. Reserve safe bets for big, splashy tentpole movies that more than return on the original investment and marketing campaign; experiment on Disney Plus where people are looking for something to satiate their appetite.

Streaming’s main pitfall is thinking because there’s a monthly demand from subscribers that speed is a priority. Consistency is, but consistency also means quality and originality — especially with properties like Marvel and Star Wars. The stakes are higher; there’s a precedent for great, a precedent for awful, and a hungry fan base that will only accept sub-par movies or TV for so long.

The good news is that Marvel Studios just needs to keep doing what it’s already doing. Feige — an architect who designs Marvel storylines a decade in advance, figuring out how to make a giant universe feel tangible and new — is now in charge of ensuring that same level of attention gets applied to the Disney Plus world. We’re about to enter a period where there will constantly be a new piece of Marvel Studios content. It sounds exhausting — but it doesn’t have to be.

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Inside WandaVision, Marvel’s Love Letter to Classic Sitcoms

Inside WandaVision, Marvel’s Love Letter to Classic Sitcoms
Inside WandaVision, Marvel’s Love Letter to Classic Sitcoms


With WandaVision — premiering January 15 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — the Marvel Cinematic Universe embraces a format it’s never tackled before: a sitcom. Though it’s technically set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, many of WandaVision’s onscreen events are depicted in the style and look of American sitcoms from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and beyond. Think I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Family Ties, or Full House (which had WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen’s sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley). Why is it like this? That would naturally be a spoiler, but the WandaVision cast and creators want you to know that it all comes from a place of love.

Everything You Need to Know About WandaVision

“I watched too much TV as a kid, and TV meant a lot to me and I found comfort in television families,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said Sunday over Zoom in a virtual event for WandaVision. “The one thing we talked about early on is: these are not parodies. This is not direct satire. We love these [family sitcoms] and they meant a lot to us, dated and silly as they may seem now. There’s a comfort factor there. And so that was the primary factor behind, and the comic inspiration, of course, [in] what led us to putting these ideas together.”

Olsen noted she drew off the work of Mary Tyler Moore (of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show) and Elizabeth Montgomery (of Bewitched fame) to craft her performance, and “accidentally threw in some Lucy in the ‘70s [episode] just because there was so much physical comedy.”

True to sitcoms from that era, the first WandaVision episode was filmed in front of a live audience. Olsen said: “It was so nerve wracking. There was a lot of adrenaline, there were a lot of quick changes, and it totally confused my brain, the idea of not playing to an audience, but feeding off an audience and having a camera. I was really grateful when we added the fourth wall.”

“Doing it in front of this live studio audience, which is this quasi-theatre-TV thing, it really adds to it,” WandaVision director Matt Shakman — he helmed all nine episodes of the Marvel miniseries — said. He screened “a ton of old television episodes” prior to filming for the cast and crew. After viewing, they would discuss how comedy was changing across the decades. They also hired coaches to teach actors how people sounded and moved in that era to “make it as authentic as possible”.

From WandaVision to Tandav, Here’s What to Stream in January 2021

Shakman and Feige even had lunch with Dick Van Dyke himself to further help in that regard. Shakman said: “You watch The Dick Van Dyke Show today, and it’s just as good as it was back then. So what’s the magic behind that? And I remember, Kevin and I had this amazing lunch with Dick Van Dyke that remains one of the great afternoons of my life. And we asked him you know what was the sort of governing principle behind The Dick Van Dyke Show. Why did it work so well? And he said, if it couldn’t happen in real life, it can’t happen on the show, right. So if you’re doing something that’s grounded, it’s real, and it’s resonated with everyone’s experience at home, you can do crazy things.”

Kathryn Hahn as Agnes in WandaVision
Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios

Marvel in the fifties

Of course, WandaVision isn’t just a sitcom. The two trailers we’ve gotten have strongly hinted that the Marvel series’ suburban American setting is a construct of sorts, one that has either been created by Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch (Olsen) or one that she’s trapped within. There’s ample evidence to support this. For one, [spoilers for a two-and-a-half-year movie] Vision (Paul Bettany) is dead. He was killed by Wanda and Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Then we have the returning now Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), previously assistant to astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and now an expert herself, Shakman revealed.

For that tonal shift — from comedic to dramatic — the WandaVision creators looked to a classic series that explored mysterious beings and strange happenings in suburban American settings: The Twilight Zone. Shakman said they drew inspiration from Rod Serling’s late ‘50s creation in terms of shooting and the look of it.

Skip this box if you wish to avoid potential spoilers for WandaVision.

Every episode of WandaVision features a fake commercial that makes references to the larger MCU. Many of them involve Hydra, the evil organisation that served as the primary villain in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Naturally, the WandaVision creators wouldn’t reveal what they are about, but Feige did say this: “In regards to how other truths of the show are beginning to leak out, commercials were an early idea for that. If this is the very first MCU thing you’re watching, it’s just a strange version of a ‘50s or ‘60s commercial that you’ll have to keep watching the series to understand. If you have been watching all the movies, you might be able to start connecting what those things mean to the past.”

WandaVision creator and head writer Jac Schaeffer added: “Twilight Zone is an enormous influence on me personally, I really think that’s actually kind of how I learned to tell stories. And it was so incredibly deft at that turn. You think you’re in one sort of thing and then suddenly it’s flipped on its head. And so we were all incredibly enamoured of that.

“And then I think there are a lot of current shows right now, like prestige series that are doing this very exciting thing where you watch a couple episodes and you think the show is one thing, and then by episode four or five, it flips the script. So that’s really, I think, where the more contemporary references come in, in terms of kind of boundary pushing in genre.”

More of Wanda and Vision — and beyond

At the same time, WandaVision gives Marvel fans a lot more time with its leads, whose appearances had been limited to Avengers movies for the most part. Wanda was first seen in a post-credits scene attached to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and then made her full debut alongside Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Both returned in Captain America: Civil War, an Avengers film all but in name, and were part of the mega get-together Avengers: Infinity War. Put together, they have had several minutes of MCU screen time. In WandaVision, they will get several hours.

“Wanda and Vision, as a couple, their love story has been so very tragic but also really kind of warm and intimate,” Schaeffer said. “We’ve seen them in these really beautiful kind of stolen moments in the MCU. It’s actually been a small amount of screen time but very powerful and very soulful.

“But what we have with WandaVision is really, I think, a treat for all is we’re sort of opening up the stage and the space for them. And they’re in this like domestic sphere, and we get to see them doing dishes, in the kitchen, and being cute. Just all this sort of like homebody stuff that you would never get to see a superhero participate in. We really go from these enormous dramatic moments and kind of fraught moments in the MCU and then in WandaVision, it’s a lot of cute-cute until it’s not.”

wandavision monica rambeau wandavision

Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau in WandaVision
Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios

Thanks to the extended runtime, WandaVision will also have room to explore other characters. Top of the list is Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), a grown-up version of the 11-year-girl from Captain Marvel who chose the title character’s (Brie Larson) signature red-and-blue costume colours. Parris’ Monica will also be part of Captain Marvel 2 alongside Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Larson) and Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). Parris’ comments hint that WandaVision might even have flashbacks to her past.

Parris said: “In WandaVision, we pick up with who [Monica] is now as a grown woman, and through the course of the show, we find out what she’s been up to, what’s happened for her. Between that gap in the years, and how she’s grown and evolved or… not. […] We actually get to learn what those things are that Monica has seen and gone through, and how they have shaped her life. I don’t want to give too much away because we will actually touch a lot on that through the course of the show.”

Made for Disney+

After an eight-month delay caused by the pandemic, WandaVision will kick off the belated Phase Four of the MCU. (Black Widow was originally slated to do so, but it’s now delayed to May 7.) It’s unlike anything Marvel has done, which holds both promise and cause for concern.

Feige said: “I hope it says, ‘Get ready for the new and the different.’ […] With the Disney+ opportunities, it has allowed us to creatively expand what we do. Yes, the original plan was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was going to debut first last year, followed very soon behind with WandaVision. Creatively, we didn’t reshuffle. Part of having a long lead plan is having the ability and the ideas of how to shuffle, should the need arise. I’m not saying we were prepped for a global pandemic. We were not.

“But the unexpected has often served Marvel Studios well, and it has served us well in this case. Because [WandaVision] being our first one, I love how bold it is, I love how different is, and I love it is something you can only see on a Disney+. We have things that you will only be able to see initially in theatres, we have things that are made for that. And this is very much made to be seen, week after week on television, which is very different for us.”

WandaVision premieres January 15 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.



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The 42 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021

The 42 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021
The 42 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021


2020 was terrible for cinemas, for obvious reasons. They were closed for most of the year, and in turn, many of the biggest movies we were looking forward to also got rescheduled. Many of these films found release dates in 2021. In fact, 20 films on the list below were originally slated for 2020. But with vaccines just starting to roll out, the effects of COVID-19 will be felt through 2021 as well. What that means is that release dates aren’t certain anymore, especially for the films that are slated for cinemas in the early months of 2021. And while Hollywood is being optimistic and has slotted movies for the full year, Bollywood’s calendar is all but empty at this point.

2021 has a lot in store for us, if vaccinations go well (fingers crossed). We have a new Matrix, Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible, Fast & Furious, Bond movie, Venom, Minions, Top Gun, and Ghostbusters. In the superhero department, we have four Marvel movies, two Sony Marvel movies, and one DC movie. New franchises (Dune, Uncharted, and Chaos Walking) will start in 2020 and others will be rebooted (Resident Evil) or resurrected (G.I. Joe). And there are some interesting movies involving the likes of Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and LeBron James (he acts now?).

All release dates below are for theatres and the US, unless specifically stated otherwise. HBO Max releases will only be available in cinemas in India.

January

The White Tiger

Release date: January 22, 2021 (Netflix)

Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao have supporting roles in Ramin Bahrani’s adaptation of the 2008 Booker Prize-winning Aravind Adiga novel, which follows a village boy (debutant Adarsh Gourav) who works as a chauffeur to a rich landlord (Rao). This is the second Adiga adaptation on Netflix after Selection Day.

February

Cinderella

Release date: February 5, 2021

“Señorita” singer Camila Cabello lends her voice and acting talents to Sony Pictures’ take on the classic, with a story from James Corden and Kay Cannon (Girlboss) as director. Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, John Mulaney, Romesh Ranganathan, and Pierce Brosnan also star.

Cherry

Release date: February 26, 2021 (Apple TV+)

The first movie from Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo since Endgame, Cherry stars Marvel actor Tom Holland as an army medic suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who starts robbing banks to buy the opioids he’s addicted to. Based on Nico Walker’s semi-autobiographical book of the same name.

Tom & Jerry

Release date: February 26, 2021 (HBO Max)

A hybrid live-action/ animated adventure in New York set against the backdrop of an Indian wedding, it follows an event planner (Chloë Grace Moretz) who teams up with the titular cat to stop the titular mouse, unaware of the history between the two.

Watch the First Trailer for Tom & Jerry

March

Chaos Walking

Release date: March 5, 2021

Doug Liman’s new sci-fi franchise-hopeful stars Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, and takes place in a world without any women and where men’s thoughts are vocalised for all to hear. After a woman (Ridley) crashes onto the planet, a boy (Holland) must help protect her and figure out what happened in the past.

Watch the First Trailer for Chaos Walking

Raya and the Last Dragon

Release date: March 5, 2021 (Disney+)

Disney Animation Studios’ first original film in five years — since Moana — follows the titular warrior princess (Kelly Marie Tran) who sets out to search for the last dragon to help save humanity. Raya encounters Sisu (Awkwafina) on her journey, who is unknowingly a water dragon and can transform into a human.

The King’s Man

Release date: March 12, 2021

Frequently delayed, Matthew Vaugh’s period prequel to his Kingsman series follows Ralph Fiennes as Duke of Oxford and his protégé as they try to stop World War I. Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Daniel Brühl, Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance are part of the cast.

Watch the New Trailer for The King’s Man

Morbius

Release date: March 19, 2021

Jared Leto plays a scientist suffering from a rare blood disease who attempts to cure himself and instead becomes afflicted with a form of vampirism, gaining superhuman abilities in the process. Part of Sony’s own Marvel universe, which includes Venom. Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson are part of the cast.

April

Bell Bottom

Release date: April 2, 2021

Akshay Kumar is allegedly playing a spy in this ‘80 based-on-true-events tale alongside Vaani Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, and Lara Dutta. Bell Bottom became one of the first Bollywood movies to resume production during the pandemic, though it actually filmed in the UK entirely.

No Time to Die

Release date: April 2, 2021

Daniel Craig returns as James Bond for the fifth and final time in what is supposedly the most expensive Bond movie of all time, with an estimated $250-million budget. Set five years after Spectre, a semi-retired Bond must find a missing scientist with the new villain Safin (Rami Malek) vowing revenge and putting the lives of millions at risk.

Watch the New Trailer for No Time to Die

A Quiet Place Part II

Release date: April 23, 2021

John Krasinski returns as director (and stars in flashbacks) on this sequel to the 2018 hit, which forces the family — Emily Blunt and her two on-screen kids — to venture out into the world, where the creatures that hunt by sound aren’t the only threats. A spin-off from Jeff Nichols is in the works as of November.

Last Night in Soho

Release date: April 23, 2021

Edgar Wright’s next film is set in ‘60s London and follows a modern-day fashion design enthusiast who encounters her singer idol in the past. Yes, it involves time travel. Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones), and Terence Stamp star.

May

Black Widow

Release date: May 7, 2021

Thanks to COVID-19, Black Widow won’t be Marvel’s first Phase Four entry — WandaVision (in January) and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (in March) come before on Disney+ — but it’s still the first film for what that’s worth. Set shortly after Captain America: Civil War, it follows Scarlett Johansson’s titular character as she is forced to confront her past. Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz also star.

Black Widow Will ‘Hand the Baton’ to Florence Pugh for MCU’s Future

Watch the Final Trailer for Black Widow

Godzilla vs. Kong

Release date: May 21, 2021 (HBO Max)

This is what Hollywood has been building to since that 2014 Godzilla reboot from Gareth Edwards and the 2017 King Kong reboot from Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Almost everything you need to know about the film is in the title. Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichirm, and Zhang Ziyi will play the humans.

Free Guy

Release date: May 21, 2021

Ryan Reynolds plays a video game non-player character who becomes aware that he’s in a video game and then tries to become the hero and save the game. Wait, isn’t this the plot of Wreck-It Ralph? Anyhoo, Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Joe Keery (Stranger Things), and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi star alongside.

Watch the New Trailer for Free Guy

F9

Release date: May 28, 2021

This crazy over-the-top franchise continues to roll with Fast Five director Justin Lin returning at the helm, which will (hopefully) reinvigorate it after the debacle of The Fate of The Furious. Lin is bringing back most of the old gang too — Jordana Brewster, Charlize Theron, and even Sung Kang (somehow) — to stop Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) younger brother, Jakob (John Cena) who’s allied with previous villain Cipher (Theron). Oh my god, how is it always about family?

Cruella

Release date: May 28, 2021

Emma Stone turns into the titular fur-loving villain in Disney’s (yet another) live-action reimagining of an animated original — Cruella was part of One Hundred and One Dalmatians — which seemingly offers an origin story take on the character. Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, and Mark Strong co-star.

June

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Release date: June 11, 2021

With the female-led reboot failing to impress critics and audiences, Sony Pictures goes back to the drawing board and returns with a direct sequel set 30 years after Ghostbusters II. It follows two children (Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard) and their mother (Carrie Coon) who discover their link to the original gang. Most of them are returning, including Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver. Paul Rudd is new to the cast.

Luca

Release date: June 18, 2021

Following Soul, Pixar’s next movie is this coming-of-age story set in a seaside town on the Italian Riviera, about a young boy who enjoys an unforgettable summer with his newfound best friend as they share gelato, pasta, and scooter rides. But a secret threatens to spoil the fun: he is a sea monster from another world just below the water’s surface.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Release date: June 25, 2021

Tom Hardy’s titular anti-hero Venom goes up against psychotic serial killer (Woody Harrelson) and his own alien symbiote Carnage in this sequel to the 2018 disaster that nonetheless racked up over $850 million worldwide at the box office. Michelle Williams and Reid Scott return, and Naomie Harris joins as Carnage’s love interest Shriek. Andy Serkis directs.

July

Top Gun: Maverick

Release date: July 2, 2021

For more than thirty years — as much time since the first film — Tom Cruise’s Navy aviator has avoided promotion to remain in the air as a test pilot. The man with no future is forced to reckon with the ghosts of his past after he encounters his late best friend’s son (Miles Teller) in training for a special mission.

Watch the First Trailer for Top Gun: Maverick

Minions: The Rise of Gru

Release date: July 2, 2021

Having grossed a billion dollars, it was obvious that the 2015 Despicable Me spin-off Minions would get a sequel of its own. It picks up where the original left off, as the yellow creatures help a young Gru — their eventual leader — steal from a supervillain group and then protect him from the fallout.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Release date: July 9, 2021

The MCU’s first Asian superhero in the lead (Simu Liu) is forced to confront the titular terrorist organisation that was introduced all the way back in 2008’s Iron Man. The real Mandarin (Tony Leung) is their leader, and Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu) is among the villains too. Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng, and Fala Chen also have roles.

Uncharted

Release date: July 16, 2021

Thirteen years after it entered development, the adaptation of Naughty Dog’s action-adventure video game finally arrives. Tom Holland is in the lead as the fortune hunter, with Mark Wahlberg playing his mentor and father figure. Antonio Banderas, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Tati Gabrielle are also in the cast.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Release date: July 16, 2021 (HBO Max)

LeBron James takes over from Michael Jordan in the sequel to the 1996 animated comedy original, which finds him helping the Looney Tunes gang — that’s Bugs Bunny, Lola Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Tweety, Pepé Le Pew, and Porky Pig among others — win a basketball game against some AI-led competition manufactured by an algorithm (Don Cheadle). Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) is a writer and producer.

The Tomorrow War

Release date: July 23, 2021

In the near future, humans figure out how to draft soldiers from the past — Chris Pratt among them — to fight a losing war against alien forces. Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, and Betty Gilpin also star. The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay is at the helm.

Jungle Cruise

Release date: July 30, 2021

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt lead this adaptation of a Disney theme park attraction — not the first time, hello Pirates of the Caribbean — that follows a riverboat captain (Johnson) who helps protect a scientist (Blunt) looking for the magical Tree of Life from wild animals and Nazis.

August

The Suicide Squad

Release date: August 6, 2021 (HBO Max)

Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn is hitting the soft reboot button on DC’s Suicide Squad with a ‘70s-inspired war film that sends Task Force X — Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), and Peacemaker (John Cena) are among nearly 20 members — to destroy a Nazi-era prison on a South American island. Most of them will likely die in the process, Gunn has revealed.

Here’s Your First Look at The Suicide Squad

September

Resident Evil

Release date: September 9, 2021

Five years is all it took for a reboot of the Resident Evil film series. It will be an origin story set towards the end of the 20th century in Raccoon City. Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) is directing. Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner), Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Robbie Amell (Upload), Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy), Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap), and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) are part of the cast.

Death on the Nile

Release date: September 17, 2021

The story of Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) continues on holiday in Egypt, where a love triangle spills into murder. Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie, Tom Bateman, Russell Brand, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Ali Fazal also star.

October

Dune

Release date: October 1, 2021 (HBO Max)

Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem lead the star-studded cast of Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi classic, often termed unfilmable.

Watch the First Trailer for Dune

The Last Duel

Release date: October 15, 2021

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck co-wrote this adaptation of Eric Jager’s 2004 book of the same name, which tells the true story of two 14th-century French best friends (played here by Americans, Adam Driver and Damon) who fought to the death as part of a trial by combat, after one of them accused the other of raping his wife (Jodie Comer). Affleck plays King Charles VI. Ridley Scott directs.

Maidaan

Release date: October 15, 2021

Ajay Devgn plays coach Syed Abdul Rahim in this sports biopic, who is considered the architect of modern Indian football and sparked the national team’s golden era between 1952–1962. Badhaai Ho director Amit Sharma is behind the camera.

Snake Eyes

Release date: October 22, 2021

Hasbro and Paramount Pictures resurrect the dead G.I. Joe film series — they want it to cross over with Transformers franchise — for this spin-off led by Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding as the titular hooded black-clad superhero. Also starring are Andrew Koji as nemesis Storm Shadow, Iko Uwais as the teacher Hard Master, Peter Mensah as Blind Master, Úrsula Corberó as Cobra villainess Baroness, and Samara Weaving as G.I. Joe member Scarlett.

November

Eternals

Release date: November 5, 2021

For over seven thousand years, the titular immortal aliens secretly lived on Earth, disguised as normal humans. Well, everyone except Kumail Nanjiani, whose character has become the biggest Bollywood star. But following a tragedy after Avengers: Endgame, they must come out of hiding and reunite to protect mankind from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.

Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Don Lee, Kit Harington, and Barry Keoghan also star. Ridloff and Henry play the MCU’s first deaf and gay superheroes, respectively.

Mission: Impossible 7

Release date: November 19, 2021

Tom Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie are dealing with high expectations here thanks to their work on Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), and Esai Morales (Titans) are joining the action, alongside returning stars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby.

Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie Sign on for Back-to-Back Mission: Impossible Sequels Out 2021, 2022

Encanto

Release date: November 24, 2021

Disney Animation’s first film about Latinos involves Lin-Manuel Miranda as songwriter, and Zootopia co-directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush. It follows a Colombian girl who’s the only non-magical member in her family.

December

West Side Story

Release date: December 10, 2021

Steven Spielberg is behind this remake of the multi-Oscar-winning 1961 film adaptation, though it’s said to stick more to the original Broadway musical script. It’s about two young adults (Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler), associated with rival street gangs, falling for each other in 1950s New York. Rita Moreno returns from the original in a supporting capacity.

Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise/Twentieth Century Studios

Spider-Man 3

Release date: December 17, 2021

The fourth and final MCU movie in 2021 is going to be completely bonkers, it seems. The sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home will reportedly involve all three eras of Spider-Man (that’s Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland) alongside their love interests and villains (including Kirsten Dunst, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, and Alfred Molina) and MCU connections (Benedict Cumberbatch).

What is this, a live-action version of the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse?

The Matrix 4

Release date: December 22, 2021 (HBO Max)

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss lead the way in this as-yet untitled fourth entry of the seminal sci-fi franchise, which has one half of the Wachowskis (Lana) at the helm. We don’t know anything about the plot, but we do know that it’ll involve Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jada Pinkett Smith, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, and Priyanka Chopra among others.

Laal Singh Chaddha

Release date: December 24, 2021

Aamir Khan stars in Tom Hanks’ role in this remake of Forrest Gump transported to Bollywood, which will inevitably — and cheerfully — run through the events of India’s history. Kareena Kapoor plays the love interest, played by Robin Wright in the original.

Babylon

Release date: December 25, 2021

La La Land and First Man writer-director Damien Chazelle’s next film is set in late 1920s Hollywood as the industry transitions from silent films to “talkies”, as they were then called. Brad Pitt plays a fading star based on John Gilbert, and Margot Robbie is sex symbol and “It” girl Clara Bow. It’s expected to be Chazelle’s most expensive movie to date with a $80–100 million estimated budget.



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Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Doom Eternal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Dragon Quest XI S and Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise | The State

Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Doom Eternal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Dragon Quest XI S and Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise | The State
Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Doom Eternal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Dragon Quest XI S and Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise | The State

This week te we talk about the best titles no matter which console video game you have or what genre you prefer because we review games for all tastes and with which you can spend hours of fun in your home and that are a good option for this Christmas. On this occasion we present you: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Doom Eternal, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition and Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise.

Read also: Review: Immortals: Fenyx Rising, Pikmin 3 Deluxe Edition, Zelda Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity, and Just Dance 2021

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

It is a continuation of the game we saw two years ago, where, as the title mentions, the protagonist is Thousands Morales, a stand–alone that maintains the best of what we have already seen and refines some sections of an excellent superhero title.

We return to the open world with a story full of emotion that also, if you acquire it in the PS4 You can update it at no cost at PS5.

The playability remains practically the same, full of much variety so you’ll never get bored, yes, it’s too much short, we wish it lasted longer.

From there on out, it’s a great title that shines on its own, whether you’re a Spider-Man fan or not, but otherwise it will leave you wanting to delve into the superhero universe. Available in PS4.

Doom Eternal

It’s about the version for wear of one of the best games of this year, which continues the story of what is considered one of the shooters in first person most acclaimed of all time, and this title is worthy. We return to the history of Doom Slayer, shortly after the events of the previous one, right in the middle of an infernal invasion of the planet land.

It offers a large amount of action in the battles as well as puzzles and scenarios where we can move freely, with an infinity of weapons and enemies that we have to “to crush“In addition, a touch of tactics is put on it because each one has different point weak and therefore form different of beat it.

Unlike the versions that we already know, motion controls are implemented thanks to the Switch that also includes the BATTLEMODE, an experience multiplayer in line of 2 against 1.

The music surrounds you along with the sound effects that make you skin chicken, and of course, there is never a lack of scares to be one of the first of the gender of horror of survival although they are the least because the game is focused on action. Available now also in Nintendo Switch.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure

It is a platform game in three dimensions that unlike what we know of the franchise, reminds us of what we have seen in some Titles of Mario, although that does not mean that it ceases to be charming and full of life.

The stages are full of creativity, it has a great variety of things to do with remarkable art design and music that matches the setting one hundred percent.

The downside is that it feels like you’ve been running out of development time, just to get it ready for the launch of the new console. Sony.

And something that does not convince us so much is that it is necessary to to play in cooperative to complete it. If you like the character, is a title that you must have, but if not, maybe we can wait for a direct continuation of Little Big Planet.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition

Classic RPG lovers, this is the title you’ve been waiting for. It is packed with characters endearingVery well detailed art direction, as well as complex but easy to use controls as it maintains the turn-based battle system.

The history is enveloping, and you won’t want to separate a single moment from control. And it is literal because finishing the main story will take you more than 50 hours, if we add the missions high schools, then it will increase to more than one hundred.

If you’ve never played a Dragon Quest, this is the time to do it, because it has everything to be the best RPG of the generation. Unlike the version released a few months ago, this time we have a way to enjoy it in 2D, as well as unreleased side quests, among many other improvements that streamline the game and with fine graphics.

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise

It is important to say that it is not a game conventional if not that in truth it is a title that always keeps you in movementso if you wait alone turn levers and push buttons, this is not the place.

But if of what contraryDo you want an option for take advantage the recommended time to be at home is one of the top options currently on the market.

Maybe and you will not get the body of movie or television stars because that needs to be supplemented with a strict diet, but you sweat, and much you do.

Although we would like him to Catalogue of music be more extensive, but from there on out if what you want is to do physical activity in a fun way taking advantage of the sensor movement and your console controls this is the right place, available only in Nintendo Switch.

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Marvel confirms Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is bisexual

Marvel confirms Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is bisexual
Marvel confirms Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is bisexual

Marvel has confirmed that Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is a polyamorous bisexual.

A revelation about the character the 41-year-old actor has played in four films and their sexuality has been made in the upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy #9 comic book.  

Fans of the graphic novels know that the fate of Star-Lord – AKA Peter Quill – was left uncertain after a heroic death in the second installment.

Space cowboy: Marvel has confirmed that Chris Pratt’s Guardians Of The Galaxy character Star-Lord is a polyamorous bisexual

However in the latest edition – titled I Shall Make You A Star-Lord – he did not actually die but actually ended up in a parallel universe where he ends up in a polyamrous relationship with a man and a woman.

The single-issue story from writer Al Ewing, artist Juann Cabal, colorist Federico Blee, and letterer Cory Petit shows him through his nomadic journey through the Twelve Houses of Morinus with two companions named Aradia and Mors.

The space cowboy is initially offered an opportunity to experience ‘togetherness’ with the pair but opposed the idea with the hope of returning home to his love Gamora.

However 12 years later it seems as if Star-Lord was officially part of the polyamorous love-triangle as he is shown enjoying an intimate ceremonial bath with Aradia and Mors.

Proposition: A revelation about the character the 41-year-old actor has played in four films and their sexuality has been made in the upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy #9 comic book has he is on a journey with a couple named Aradia and Mors

Proposition: A revelation about the character the 41-year-old actor has played in four films and their sexuality has been made in the upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy #9 comic book has he is on a journey with a couple named Aradia and Mors

Threesome: However 12 years later it seems as if Star-Lord was officially part of the polyamorous love-triangle as he is shown enjoying an intimate ceremonial bath with Aradia and Mors

Threesome: However 12 years later it seems as if Star-Lord was officially part of the polyamorous love-triangle as he is shown enjoying an intimate ceremonial bath with Aradia and Mors

He declares ‘you’re my home’ before cuddling up with the both of them in the water. 

According to ScreenRant, the relationship lasts for over 100 years.   

It remains uncertain whether the character’s sexuality will be incorporated in Pratt’s portrayal in any of the upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Last year Pratt was forced to defend his church when Elliot Page claimed it had ‘an anti-LGBTQ agenda.’

Quite the predicament: It remains uncertain whether the character's sexuality will be incorporated in Pratt's portrayal in any of the upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Quite the predicament: It remains uncertain whether the character’s sexuality will be incorporated in Pratt’s portrayal in any of the upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

In February 2019, he took to his Instagram Stories to defend his place of worship as he wrote that ‘nothing could be further from the truth’ and that his church ‘opens their doors to absolutely everyone’ on top of an image of a sheep standing on top of a rock. 

‘It has recently been suggested that i belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,’ he wrote. ‘I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.’ 

He added that his church ‘helped me tremendously’ during his divorce to Anna Faris ‘despite with the Bible says’ about the ending of marriages. 

'I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone': In February 2019, Pratt was forced to defend his church on Instagram Stories when Elliot Page claimed it had 'an anti-LGBTQ agenda'

‘I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone’: In February 2019, Pratt was forced to defend his church on Instagram Stories when Elliot Page claimed it had ‘an anti-LGBTQ agenda’

‘It is what I have seen them do for other on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender,’ he added.

The Parks And Recreation star admitted that his faith is ‘important to me’ but reminded his fans that ‘no church defines me or my life, and I am not a spokesman for any church or any group of people.’

‘This is what guides me in life. He is a God of Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Hate has no place in my or this world,’ he wrote.

The controversy began with an appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert just says prior in which he admitted to relying on the churches guidance through difficult times.

'There's this great quote, that I actually heard in church': The controversy began with an appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert just says prior in which he admitted to relying on the churches guidance through difficult times

‘There’s this great quote, that I actually heard in church’: The controversy began with an appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert just says prior in which he admitted to relying on the churches guidance through difficult times

'Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?': Eliot (seen in September 2017) wasn't pleased and took to Twitter to question why Colbert failed to dive deeper into the commentary

‘Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?’: Eliot (seen in September 2017) wasn’t pleased and took to Twitter to question why Colbert failed to dive deeper into the commentary

‘There’s this great quote, that I actually heard in church, and it felt really appropriate, which was, ‘If the spotlight that’s shining on you is brighter than the light that comes from within you, it’ll kill you.’ And you see it all the time,’ he explained. ‘People in our position, people that are actors — you see it a lot. It’s a real bright spotlight. 

Eliot wasn’t pleased and took to Twitter to question why Colbert failed to dive deeper into the commentary.

‘Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?’ the 33-year-old Juno star quipped.

‘If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed,’ she added the next day. ‘Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all.’

Signature role: Pratt (seen in August 2019) has already played Star-Lord/Quill in the two movies based on the comics as well as two installments of the Avengers franchise

Signature role: Pratt (seen in August 2019) has already played Star-Lord/Quill in the two movies based on the comics as well as two installments of the Avengers franchise

Earlier this month, Elliot – formerly Ellen – revealed he identifies as transgender and nonbinary. 

Pratt has already played Star-Lord/Quill in the two movies based on the comics as well as two installments of the Avengers franchise.

He is also set to appear in Thor: Love And Thunder which is set for release in May 2022 and an upcoming third Guardians Of The Galaxy film.

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Entertainment USA Headline USA

Disney unveils 10 new Star Wars spinoffs and 10 Marvel shows

Disney unveils 10 new Star Wars spinoffs and 10 Marvel shows
Disney unveils 10 new Star Wars spinoffs and 10 Marvel shows

Disney has unveiled plans for ten new Star Wars spinoffs and another ten Marvel shows in a massive expansion of its streaming content as it aims to lure millions of new viewers to its subscription service Disney+. 

The barrage of new announcements – with 100 new titles unveiled in all – also includes 15 live-action series and 15 new Pixar shows as Disney ramps up its efforts to outperform Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime in the streaming world. 

With Covid-19 shutting cinemas and making people desperate for entertainment at home, the TV and movie industry is banking on streaming, with Warner Bros announcing last week that all of its 2021 films would debut on HBO Max.  

The latest Star Wars offerings include two more series based on The Mandalorian, a hit series featuring the character popularly known as Baby Yoda, as well as a return for divisive prequel star Hayden Christensen in a series about Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

The Kardashian-Jenner family has also signed a deal with Disney-owned Hulu, while films including Pinocchio and Disenchanted will premiere on the streaming service – which will see a one-dollar price rise to $7.99 per month. 

Disney also has a string of theatrical plans including a Buzz Lightyear prequel, a Black Panther sequel in which the late Chadwick Boseman’s character will not be recast, and a new Indiana Jones film in which Harrison Ford, 78, will reprise the role. 

Fan favourite: The character popularly known as Baby Yoda in a scene from The Mandalorian, which is getting two new spinoff shows in Disney’s barrage of streaming announcements 

Comeback: Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker-turned-Darth Vader in 2005's Revenge of the Sith - a role he will reprise in a new Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff

Comeback: Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker-turned-Darth Vader in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith – a role he will reprise in a new Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff 

Returning: Longstanding Star Wars characters R2D2 and C3PO, pictured in the original Star Wars movie in 1977, are part of the Disney announcements

Returning: Longstanding Star Wars characters R2D2 and C3PO, pictured in the original Star Wars movie in 1977, are part of the Disney announcements 

Production on the Kenobi series will start in March, featuring Christensen’s return as Anakin Skywalker-turned-Darth Vader in what Disney described ‘the rematch of the century’ with the Jedi master he battled in 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. 

Actor and singer Donald Glover will reprise his role as dashing smuggler Lando Calrissian, a favourite of the original Star Wars films, for for the TV series Lando.  

Animated Star Wars offerings coming to Disney+ in the next few years include A Droid Story’ featuring the beloved C-3PO and R2D2, and The Bad Batch about experimental clones.

A Star Wars mystery thriller called The Acolyte, directed by Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland’, is also part of Disney’s new package. 

The two Mandalorian spinoffs will be entitled Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic. 

Also in the Star Wars universe, a previously announced spinoff of the 2016 movie Rogue One, titled Andor, has just begun production in London. 

Stellan Skarsgard and Fiona Shaw join the cast of the ‘tense, nailbiting spy thriller’ created by Bourne Identity screenwriter Tony Gilroy. 

Rogue One was one of two spinoffs, along with Solo, which came alongside the Star Wars sequel trilogy – The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker – which Disney produced after buying out the franchise.  

Harrison Ford, 78, is set to reprise the role of Indiana Jones in a 2022 film - 41 years after he starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark (pictured)

Harrison Ford, 78, is set to reprise the role of Indiana Jones in a 2022 film – 41 years after he starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark (pictured) 

First look: Marvel Entertainment released the exclusive first look at upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier starring Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie

First look: Marvel Entertainment released the exclusive first look at upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier starring Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie

A Black Panther sequel will go ahead - but the role of Chadwick Boseman (pictured), who died in August 2020, will not be recast

A Black Panther sequel will go ahead – but the role of Chadwick Boseman (pictured), who died in August 2020, will not be recast 

Star Wars will also return to cinemas with a 2023 movie called Rogue Squadron, set in a ‘future era of the galaxy’ to the nine movies in the main franchise. 

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will direct Rogue Squadron, making her the first female director of a Star Wars movie. 

The film will ‘introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill ride,’ Lucasfilm said.    

Rogue Squadron is one of several films which are continuing with theatrical plans despite Disney’s latest streaming drive. 

These include a Black Panther sequel, in which the role of the late Chadwick Boseman will not be recast, and a Buzz Lightyear prequel due in 2022 starring Chris Evans as the voice of the popular Toy Story character.  

Boseman died in August after a four-year battle with colon cancer, having never publicly discussed his condition, throwing the follow-up to one of the record-breaking Marvel films’ most acclaimed movies into doubt. 

But a planned sequel to the 2018 smash hit will still go ahead using ‘all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.’ 

Among other Marvel film announcements, Christian Bale joins Thor: Love and Thunder as the sequel’s villain, with filming due to start next month. 

As part of the barrage of announcements, Marvel released the exclusive first look at upcoming Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, starring Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie. 

Samuel L Jackson reprises his role in the franchise for Secret Invasion on Disney+ , hyped as ‘arguably the biggest crossover comic event in the last 20 years.’ 

Other upcoming movies which have been steered into the streaming service include Pinocchio with Tom Hanks and an Enchanted sequel with Amy Adams.     

A Buzz Lightyear prequel revealing the backstory of the man behind the Toy Story character is also on Disney's agenda

A Buzz Lightyear prequel revealing the backstory of the man behind the Toy Story character is also on Disney’s agenda 

The Kardashian-Jenner family signed a deal with Disney-owned Hulu, making it their new home after their departure from E!

The Kardashian-Jenner family signed a deal with Disney-owned Hulu, making it their new home after their departure from E! 

Renewed: The Handmaid's Tale, starring Elisabeth Moss (pictured), is back for a fifth season

Renewed: The Handmaid’s Tale, starring Elisabeth Moss (pictured), is back for a fifth season 

The Disney-owned Hulu will also be home to more original films and will become the new home of the Kardashians, recently departed from E!. 

The streaming service also renewed The Handmaid’s Tale for a fifth season. 

Regardless of where Disney content premieres, it will end up on Disney+, according to media and entertainment division chief Kareem Daniel. 

Hollywood had been eagerly awaiting Disney’s response following WarnerMedia’s announcement last week that it will release all 17 of its 2021 films simultaneously on its streaming platform, HBO Max, and in theatres. 

Stocks for WarnerMedia’s parent company AT&T were up about six per cent since the announcement. 

AT&T boss John Stankey said on Tuesday that the pandemic had unleased a new media reality unlikely to fade after COVID-19. ‘That horse left the barn,’ he said.

Disney boss Bob Chapek laid out the company’s own super-sized ambitions in a virtual presentation for investors on Thursday.     

Chapek said Disney+ subscribers worldwide have reached nearly 87million, up from 74million last month, but it is aiming for up to 260million subscribers by 2024. 

Including Hulu and the ESPN+ sports streaming services, Disney currently has about 137million subscribers. Netflix has nearly 200million. 

Disney will increase the monthly price of the streaming service by one dollar to $8 (£6) a month in March.

”We knew this one-of-a-kind service featuring content only Disney can create would resonate with consumers and stand out in the marketplace,’ Chapek said.  

Disney’s’s films accounted for more than $13billion in ticket sales worldwide last year and 38 per cent of moviegoing in the US and Canada. Seven Disney films topped $1billion worldwide.

‘Of the 100 new titles announced today, 80 per cent of them will go to Disney+,’ said Chapek. ‘But we had $13 billion of box office last year and that’s obviously not something to sneeze at. For us it’s about balance.’

Categories
Technology US

Here are all the new Marvel, Star Wars, and other projects Disney announced at its investor day

Here are all the new Marvel, Star Wars, and other projects Disney announced at its investor day
Here are all the new Marvel, Star Wars, and other projects Disney announced at its investor day

Disney just made a deluge of announcements at its 2020 Investor Day, including updates on new Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Animation studios projects, as well as updates on Disney Plus and Disney’s other streaming services.

Here’s everything you need to know from the event:

Disney Plus Series

  • WandaVision, the first Marvel Studios show coming out on Disney Plus, got a new trailer ahead of its upcoming January 15th release date.
  • The Falcon and the Winter Solider also finally got a full trailer, along with a March release date.
  • A first look at Loki, Disney’s highly anticipated short series based on Tom Hiddleston’s god of mischief character. The show also got a May 2021 release date.

Image: Disney

  • Hawkeye is premiering on Disney Plus in “late Fall 2021.” The studio also confirmed that Hailee Steinfeld will be appearing in the series.
  • What If?, an animated series from Marvel Studios that features the voice acting cast of many Marvel Cinematic Universe stars, also got a new trailer that offered a first look at the upcoming series.
  • Feige also announced three new series coming to Disney Plus: Ironheart, set to star Dominique Thorne engineering protégé Riri Williams; Armor Wars, which examines one of “Tony Stark’s biggest fears” and stars Don Cheadle, who is reprising his role as Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes; and Secret Invasion, the previously rumored Nick Fury-led series that will see Samuel L. Jackson reprise his role as the SHIELD director alongside Ben Mendelsohn’s Skull shapeshifter Talos. No release dates for the new projects were announced.
  • Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige also gave some casting updates on the already announced Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel. Notably, Tatiana Maslany will play the lead role in She-Hulk, with Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner also set to appear, while Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan will appear in Captain Marvel 2. Feige noted that the shows will continue to interweave with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  • Marvel Studios is working on a new Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney Plus, due out in 2022, that will be directed by James Gunn. The special will film alongside the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, also directed by Gunn and set for release in 2023. There’s also I Am Groot, a series of short films starring Groot.

Movies

  • Feige confirmed that Black Panther 2 will not recast the late Chadwick Boseman’s King T’Challa. The film, set to be directed by Ryan Coogler, is still set for July 2022.
  • A third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is officially in development. Peyton Reed will return to direct, as will Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Quantumania will also introduce Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, one of Marvel’s biggest villains.
  • Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness will tie in to both the upcoming Wandavision and Sony and Marvel’s third Spider-Man movie. The studio also confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will be appearing in the still unnamed Spider-Man sequel.
  • Finally, Marvel Studios is developing a new Fantastic Four movie.

Disney not only announced that roughly 10 Star Wars series are coming to Disney Plus, but it also gave some early details about a few of those series and other Star Wars projects. Additionally, the final Indiana Jones is now in pre-production and will be released in July 2022.

Star Wars Disney Plus series

Star Wars Movies

Image: Disney

  • Wonder Woman 1984’s Patty Jenkins will be directing the next Star Wars movie, Rogue Squadron, due out in December 2023.
  • Disney also discussed the untitled Taika Waititi Star Wars movie, first announced in May, that had already been in development

You can read more about the new projects in a blog on Disney’s Star Wars website.

Image: Disney

Disney Animation

Disney Animation has a lot of projects in the works, including:

  • Raya and the Last Dragon premieres on March 5th, 2021 on Disney Plus via Premier Access and in theaters
  • Baymax!, a series based on Big Hero 6, is arriving in early 2022
  • Zootopia Plus, a new series based on Zootopia, is hitting the streaming service in spring 2022
  • Tiana, based on The Princess and The Frog, is premiering on Disney Plus in 2023
  • A longform musical comedy series for Moana, hitting Disney Plus in 2023
  • Encanto, a new movie set in Colombia with music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is in development
  • Iwaju, an original longform series made in partnership with Kugali Media, is premiering on Disney Plus in 2022

Image: Disney

Pixar Disney Plus Series

Pixar also announced some new projects for Disney Plus, including:

  • The newest SparkShorts episode, Burrow, arrives on Disney Plus on December 25th
  • Pixar Popcorn, shorts featuring iconic Pixar characters, start streaming in January
  • Dug Days, a new series featuring the beloved dog Dug from Up, premieres in fall 2021
  • A Cars series, following Lightning McQueen and Mater, is coming to Disney Plus in fall 2022
  • Win or Lose, Pixar’s first original longform animated series, is about a middle school softball team. It’s coming to Disney Plus in the fall of 2023

Pixar Movies

And Pixar shared new information about movies in the pipeline, including:

  • Luca, a movie set in Italy about a boy named Luca, will hit theaters in June 2021.
  • Lightyear, an origin story for Buzz Lightyear (who will be voiced by Chris Evans), is hitting theaters in summer 2022
  • Turning Red, about a 13-year old girl going through puberty that transforms into a giant red panda (yes, really!) when she gets excited, is in development

Image: Disney

Noah Hawley, showrunner of Fargo and Legion, will be making a new series based on the Alien movies for FX and Hulu. There’s no release date announced yet.

Will Smith and Chris Hemsworth will star in series for National Geographic

Will Smith and Chris Hemsworth will each star in their own shows for National Geographic. Welcome to Earth follows Smith as he “embarks on an awe-inspiring journey to unlock the secrets of this planet’s most extraordinary, unexplained phenomena.” Limitless, starring Chris Hemsworth, explores the limits of the human body.

Ice Age is getting a spin-off series starring Simon Pegg

Disney is making a new Disney Plus spinoff movie starring the weasel character from the movie series, Buck. The movie, titled Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, will star Simon Pegg as the voice of Buck. It’s premiering in early 2022.

disney+

Image: Disney

Disney Plus is getting its first price hike in March 2021. The per-month price will rise to $7.99 per month, a $1 increase.

Disney to offer Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and ad-free Hulu in one bundle for $18.99 per month starting sometime in January. If customers bought those services on their own, the total cost would be $5.98 more per month.

Disney Plus now has more than 86 million subscribers as of December 2nd. The company reached the figure a little over a year after the service launched.

Disney unveiled Star, its international replacement for Hulu. The service is launching in certain European countries, Canada, and New Zealand on February 23rd. It’s coming to Japan and South Korea “later in 2021.”

Disney Plus will be getting a whole lot of new content over the next few years. The company is bringing “roughly” 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney live-action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series, and 15 all-new Disney live-action, Disney Animation and Pixar features directly to Disney Plus.