By now, word's out that seismic events have struck the fictional narrative that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as a result of what happened during the final act of Avengers: Infinity War. The question is, though, where do we go from here?
There has been a fundamental shift in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It began with the release of Thor: Ragnarok in November 2017, and gained a great deal of momentum in February 2018, when Black Panther arrived in cinemas. As of May 2018, it has reached something of a crescendo with the release of Avengers: Infinity War.
Star Wars is uniquely designed to support an infinite number of spinoff stories. With a vast galaxy of worlds, a long history of political intrigue, and a grand scope for adventure, the franchise is a never-ending ideas factory - with inspiration lurking around every corner, and at the end of every jump to light-speed. With Episode IX soon entering production, we're coming to the end of the current trilogy of the core Skywalker saga and, with no hint of an Episode X, it's to the developing spinoffs and Anthology films to which we'll soon be turning.
Let’s be frank. Star Wars has been dominating popular culture for over forty years now, but in that time, its movies have never been directed by women. To date, every single Star Wars film has been helmed by a white man – and in 2018, we need to call that what it is: a discriminatory pattern.
Have you ever wondered how the artists of Marvel Studios were able to make a giant fight between two impossible beings look fairly realistic? Now that Thor: Ragnarok is headed for release on DVD and Blu-ray (pre-order here), we're finding out all about the challenging process behind one of the most iconic scenes of the entire franchise – the gladiator contest featuring the God of Thunder and the Incredible Hulk.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a change in approach from movie studios – with the most effective among them seeking to harness all that potential marketing power, and use it to raise the profile of movie releases in a very inexpensive way. Filmmakers are a big part of this process, but what we have seen since the Star Wars franchise was re-launched in 2015 is what happens when filmmakers and studios engage on social media on behalf of a project that is already high profile. Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson wants to assure us that, while it may have seemed daunting, he still loves that part of the process, though.
In an intriguing turn of events, Cedar Park Entertainment – headed up by David Ayer and Chris Long – has obtained the rights to Stephen King’s The Bone Church, with a plan to turn it into a television series. The reason this is intriguing is that – far from being a giant, complex tome – The Bone Church is a poem that's less than 20 stanzas in length.
Quite often, the post-release analysis for a highly anticipated movie can yield little of interest – beyond offering a glimpse of, ‘here’s what you could have had.’ But, every once in a while, these types of revelations can provide a fascinating snapshot of important decision processes undertaken during pre-production – and Black Panther is now one such example.
As Ash Vs Evil Dead heads into its third season, star Bruce Campbell has been heard in reflective mood, speaking to various outlets on the promotional circuit. In recent conversation with Consequence Of Sound, however, he revealed a very specific snippet of information about the production of Evil Dead II – and how it actually only happened because of Stephen King.