Marvel

Emilia Clarke talks about her work in Marvel, Star Wars and Terminator: “it should never have happened”

by

In one recent interviewEmilia Clarke reviewed her post-‘Game of Thrones’ career with unusual frankness. About ‘Secret Invasion’ he said: “I don’t think anyone liked the series.” On ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’: “The viewers were not happy either.” On ‘Terminator: Genisys’: “It should never have happened.” He adds: “But they were jobs I said yes to. I joined franchises that were already big and established. That’s why I don’t take it personally.” It is difficult to find a better summary of how the big franchise business works in Hollywood. Some collections. Let’s see if Clarke’s feeling that they were failures is accompanied by data. ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ cost between 275 and 300 million dollars and raised 393 million worldwide. According to is calculatedDisney lost about $77 million on the film, making it Star Wars’ first commercial failure. ‘Secret Invasion’ had a production cost of 211.6 million dollars, a figure known thanks to the transparency demands of the UK tax incentive program, where it was filmed. More than ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer’ cost that same year. Viewership figures on Disney+ in its first five days were the second lowest of any MCU production, only above ‘Ms. Marvel’. Critical reception was equally poor. Regarding ‘Terminator: Genesis’, 155 million budget, collection insufficient to justify sequels that had already been announced, and weak reviews. It’s not the first. In 2021, with the MCU still dominating the box office, Anthony Hopkins summarized his experience in the ‘Thor’ trilogy, between 2011 and 2017: “They put armor on me and gave me a beard. Sit on the throne, shout a little. If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s acting in front of nothing.” Chris Hemsworth came to similar conclusions: recognized that in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder‘ “I got stuck improvising and clowning around, and became a parody of myself.” This time, critics and the public accompanied him in doubts. Hemsworth has described the dynamic that he calls “the curse of the superhero,” which is simply that “you get pigeonholed.” But at the same time he rejects the attitude of actors like Clarke, who criticize Marvel when their projects don’t work: “They are successful movies: put me in one. Mine doesn’t work? Well, I attack them all.” What Clarke is really saying. The heart of Clarke’s complaint is that major franchises operate as hiring machines that offer global visibility and financial rewards that few independent productions match. In return, the actor’s creative control over the result is minimal. Clarke said in the same interview that in ‘Game of Thrones’ she received the scripts and did “everything in my power to understand and empathize with the decisions.” This was not the case in later franchises. Not just Marvel. The pattern is not exclusive to a single franchise. When actress Jamie Lee Curtis rejected in 2022 participate in Marvel projects, he did so with the same type of argument as Hopkins: “they will stick stitches in my body and force me to perform in some warehouse.” What does seem to be clear and Clarke demonstrates is that when there is a commercial failure, actors seem to feel freer to point out the obvious shortcomings of a system in which they are just more meat for the content grinder. In Xataka | I have detected the exact moment in which things at Marvel began to fail and that culminated in ‘Captain America’

Marvel just gave 48 minutes of unfiltered violence to its most extreme character and you can watch it today on Disney+

by

Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher (or The Punisher if you’re an old-school comic reader), hasn’t had his own series for seven years. Since Netflix canceled ‘The Punisher’ in 2019, the character has survived on the margins of the MCU until ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ rescued him in 2025. Now Marvel has opted for a different format with him in ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’. It is not a series or a movie, but 48 minutes of a borderline antihero, co-directed by Jon Bernthal himself and with a level of violence that Disney+ never allowed before. ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ comes with the “Marvel Television Special Presentation” label, a format that the studio premiered in October 2022 with ‘The curse of the werewolf‘. The format is a kind of laboratory: projects of between 45 and 60 minutes that function as self-contained stories without the pressure of sustaining a series for several weeks. Both ‘The Curse of the Werewolf’ and the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special worked as cult pieces, and with Punisher, Marvel has taken the experiment to the extreme, because its adult rating is the first on the platform for a Marvel Studios project. Here we will see how an unexpected force drags Frank Castle back into battle. The Punisher believes he has eliminated the Gnucci crime family, the last link to his family’s murderers, and the surviving matriarch, Ma Gnucci, comes to him not to negotiate but to settle scores. The first half of the episode focuses on visions that haunt Castle; the second is a real-time action sequence inside an apartment building reminiscent of ‘The Raid’. The idea for the series arose during the filming of the first season of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’. Bernthal asked the director for permission to develop something centered on Frank Castle. The two had previously collaborated, and that gave Disney confidence to have Bernthal co-write the script and serve as executive producer. Shot on real locations in Queens and Brooklyn, the photography is by Robert Elswit (Oscar winner for ‘Wells of Ambition’), a firm that visually elevates this bet far above a typical television film. In Xataka | 12 premieres this week on Netflix, including the return of one of the platform’s most successful franchises

Disney scraps Marvel creative team and loses many of the artists who gave visual shape to the MCU

by

The character and setting designers who built the visual identity of the Marvel Universefrom the first Iron Man suit to the looks of recent villains like Killmonger, have in some cases been in the studio for more than ten years. On April 14, many of them received their dismissal letters: these tasks will be outsourced. What has happened? This April 14, in the middle of CinemaCon (a paradoxical moment, with the industry in full swing to announce films for the next two years), The Walt Disney Company executed the first big snip of the Josh D’Amaro era, your new CEO: about a thousand layoffs throughout the company. Marvel has been one of the company’s worst-hit factions: around 8% of the combined workforce of Marvel Entertainment in New York and Marvel Studios in Burbank. have suffered cuts in almost every department: film and TV production, comics, franchises, finance, legal and visual development. What the CEO says. D’Amaro, in an internal communication to those affectedacknowledges that the decision is “harsh” but clarifies that it does not reflect “his contributions or the overall strength of the company.” That is, he suggests that it is a restructuring designed before he stepped foot in the CEO’s office, inherited from the roadmap that Bob Iger left ready before leaving. It makes sense: a layoff of a thousand people is not decided overnight. Goodbye Marvel. The most symbolic blow has been suffered by the Visual Development department of Marvel Studios. Virtually all equipment has been dismantled: Only a small group of permanent employees remain to coordinate the hiring of external artists per project. This team was responsible for aspects as essential to the MCU as the costume and character design of the franchise’s films, since one of the most significant features of the MCU is the visual coherence they have maintained in thirty productions. Radical change. Now all that work is outsourced. From now on, Marvel Studios will retain a minimal team that will be responsible for hiring external artists based on each project. It is a common practice in the video game industry and in the production of visual effects (in the latter field, in fact, it had been done this way at Marvel, not without its corresponding controversies), but it represents a substantial change in model for a department that had always been integrated into the foundations of the studio. Is Marvel going bad? Not quite. It is a logical step after the latest movements that the company has made. After recognizing that under the command of Bob Chapek quantity had prevailed over qualitywhich had given rise to a certain exhaustion, after Iger’s return as CEO in 2022 there was a turnaround in the opposite direction. In 2025 there was only one MCU premiere, in 2026 we will only have ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ in theaters and ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ and ‘VisionQuest’ on Disney+. This reduction in scale is what has made it evident that the staff was oversized. Layoffs in film and television production are the direct consequence of the reduction of the calendar. The numbers, in proportion. Between 2023 and 2025, the Iger era has already eliminated around 8,000 positions at Disney and generated a savings of 7.5 billion dollars. The current 1,000 layoffs represent less than 1% of the company’s 231,000 global employees, a number that in absolute terms may not seem very large. But the truth is that in the specific case of the Marvel Visual Development team it amounts to a certain erasure of the department at a critical moment: when we have to start preparing the continuation of ‘Doomsday’: ‘Secret Wars’, scheduled for release in December 2027. Other changes. Many of the layoffs affect the marketing department, unified under the sole command of the newly appointed head of that area of ​​the business, Asad Ayaz. As has been knownthe cuts reach marketing, advertising, production and corporate functions teams at ESPN, the studios and the product and technology area, in addition to the aforementioned cuts at Marvel. The decision fits the profile of D’Amaro, who has spent almost three decades at Disney, but his career is unrelated to the audiovisual content business. He was the architect of the largest theme park expansion in the company’s history, and the Experiences division he led generated, in the first quarter of 2026, about 75% of Disney’s total operating profit. In Xataka | ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, everything we know about Marvel’s next big event

The Russo do not succeed since they left Marvel

by

It’s the movie More face in Netflix’s storywith 320 million dollars of budget, and also one of which worse criticism is receiving. It is accused of being anodine, slow and not very bright in the visual, which is a surprise coming from the Russo brothers, signatories of the acclaimed ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ of Marvel. Or is it not so weird? Why are the Russo not able to find a safe space outside Disney’s umbrella? Devastating criticism. At the time of writing these lines, ‘Electric State’ has 19% of critics in Rotten Tomatoes (11% if we only consider critics that the web grants more credibility). Its public note is somewhat higher, 69%, motivated halfway by two expected phenomena: the established anti-critical reaction and pro-marvel activism (a comparable phenomenon happened with ‘Rebel Moon‘by Zack Snyder). Everything indicates that it will be far from a very brilliant score, rhyming with criticism impressions as “320 million waste“,”Complete supplication” and “destruction of the previous work“ But … is it so bad? Leaving aside its absolute waste of the superb book by Simon Stålenhag, banalizing the careful atmosphere that its author raised and turning a contemplative retrofuturist drama into an action comedy to use, one of the main problems of ‘electrical state’ is that its 320 million dollars do not wear at all. Despite its distribution of stars, despite its competent special effects, there is no show, there is no slightest sense of wonder, there is only one script illustrated competently, but without great displays. It amazes that it is such a expensive movie. Russo: guilty. And that can be attributed, of course, the Netflix equalizing roller, which makes all films the same as they force their directors, among other things, To use the same cameras. Also to Netflix’s obsession for imitating Disney in an area that is given especially to the mouse house: make films filling Excel leaves. Here the cast seems the solution of a mathematical equation, rather than an acting squad: the first great star of the Netflix generation, plus the funny officer – but harmless – of the cinema mainstream Current, plus a campus of dubbing voices and prestigious secondary actors/fame/recent awards. The result is as bright as hollow. Bad luck out of Marvel. The bad luck that the Russo have had outside Marvel is well documented. The brother’s producer started with good fortune after ‘Endgame’ producing a success for Netflix, ‘Tyler Rake’ -the only one they have had outside Disney along with the also medium imopact of ‘The invisible agent’-. But after that, ‘Citadel‘In Prime Video was the most expensive series in history and a disaster of audiences, which undoubtedly reverberates with disturbing echoes in’ electric state ‘. The return of the Russo to Marvel, a little with the tail between the legs, To make the next Avengers filmscertifies the irregular of his adventure out of Disney. Why so much stumbling. Behind this rosary of disappointments is, among other things, the absolute lack of creative ambition of the Russo, who had been demonstrating since Marvel’s time: his films are ambitious and effective products conceived in a millimeter way in offices, not author works. From that point of view, movies like ‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of madness‘,’ Iron Man 3 ‘O’Galaxy Guardians‘They will have their most and less in terms of quality, but there are personalities defined behind them, imposing a series of decisions and criteria. Until again, we still have to find that in the Russo films. Header | Netflix In Xataka | Netflix and prime video dominate streaming wars with iron. His secret weapon: romantic literature

I have detected the exact moment in which things in Marvel began to fail and that has culminated in ‘Captain America’

by

Until the weekend, when the public’s opinion begins to fly over the Internet (which in the end is the one who pays and the one that interests Disney, since the consensus of criticism and public they generated ‘Infinity War‘ and ‘Endey me‘It is unlikely to be repeated again), we will not know if’Captain America: Brave New World‘It is a failure or a triumph. What we can analyze is at what point in the history of MCU Things began to twist. The majority opinion. We can all be more or less agree that there is an MCU stage with a more or less positive balance (which goes from acceptable to the glorious, according to the fan’s enthusiasm) that begins in ‘Iron Man’ and extends until ‘ Endgame ‘. And from there, things began to twist, with stages 4 and 5 mainly disastrous that led to the first Marvel box office failures, to a possible “Superheroic fatigue“And at the time of current uncertainty. But there are nuances. Matiz one: Not the whole field is oregano. 23 films, which is said soon, make up the MCU from ‘Iron Man’ to ‘Endgame’ (well, to ‘Spider-Man: Far from home‘). It is statistically impossible for all to be round, and we cannot even agree on our appreciations. For example, for the signer ‘Iron Man 3’ it is one of the peaks of the MCU, many would say the opposite, and I think it was a mistake that Marvel did not continue to cultivate that way. And there are a multitude of bland films, which are celebrated just because they are in the context of very grossing productions and well considered: ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Thor: The dark world’ or ‘Avengers: the era of ultron’ are some of them . Matiz two: Not everything is horrible from phase 4. And on the contrary, there are innumerable films (and series) to celebrate from ‘Endgame’: ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of madness‘It is hilarious, and the generally hated’Quantumanía‘ either ‘The Marvels‘They are failed films but with a very claimable personality. And of course, there are multiple remarkable moments in ‘Wandavision‘,’Knight Luna‘ either ‘Agatha, who if not?‘ The authentic problem. The drama of phases 4 and 5 is that they do not have that very pleasant style of the first three stages of going in one direction and with a purpose. Perhaps it became like this, perhaps not, but the feeling that ‘Endgame’ is designed from the first appearance of the Avengers is there, and that does not exist in phases 4 and 5. Of course, there are threads that connect everything, like The theme of the multiversos, but there are many films (‘Shang-Chi‘,’Thor: Love and Thunder‘,’Wakanda Forever‘), which seem to air shots, as looking for new charismatic heroes that replace the Avengers. And as in ‘Brave New World’, the feeling that is a useless effort floats. The movie hinge. And Marvel’s first failure, ‘Eternals‘It is the key point. Marvel had loose films previously, and possibly any did not give up at the box office as they expected, but ‘Eternals’ is the first one that forced them to go back. They wanted the group to become a new avengers, but a team capable of supporting the weight of several films: they raised sub -brains that would last in other films, and new characters seen fleetingly, such as Starfox, of which we did not return namely. Marvel reculled in his plan, and the worst thing is that he saw that he could reculate and the public accepted it, which multiplied the test movies, the ideas that were isolated in a film and the failed experiments. A world that played the mirage of being compact and coherent became one where neglect and carelessness predominates. Header | Disney In Xataka | The first trailer of ‘The fantastic 4: first steps’ reveals the key ingredient for Marvel’s future: its villain

This Chinese fantasy film is destroying records in his country and has already advanced Marvel in more than one milestone

by

‘Ne zha 2’ is sweeping. Maybe you have not been able to talk about this animated Chinese production (the first installment was titled ‘Nezha: the rebirth of a god’ and You can see it in Netflix), but it reached Chinese cinemas taking advantage of The celebration of the Chinese New Year, the most profitable and coveted day for the premieresand in 5 days he kneaded 435 million dollars. To get an idea of ​​how much that can be, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ added something less, 427 million, in its first five days in US cinemas. If you continue on this path (And you are following: In its first week, it has reached 671 million), it has another even more spectacular milestone to exceed: become the first feature film that exceeds 1,000 million dollars of collection in a single country. Again, Disney shadows him with ‘Star Wars: the awakening of force’, which raised 936 million in the United States. It is the one that shows the greatest brand so far. Finally, ‘Ne zha 2’ has another record to overcome, and everything indicates that he will: be the first Chinese film to exceed one billion collection. ‘The battle of Lake Changjin‘He stayed at the doors, with 913 million at the box office. Finally, last milestone: ‘Ne zha 2 is about to advance to the first’ Nezha ‘, which became the first animated film that exceeded 700 million collection in a single territory. Many brands and many milestones, as can be seen, for a film that continues the argument of the first part and that remains starring Nezha, a protective deity that appears in the Buddhist, confucian and Taoist folklore. The argument of these animated films are based on a classic Chinese novel of the 16th century, which in turn has inspired other films in the country such as ‘New Gods: Nezha Reborn’. In Xataka | ‘Vaiana’ is already the greatest success in streaming history, and there is a clear responsible: the way of watching children’s films

Christopher Nolan signs a Marvel star for ‘The Odyssey’

by

The Odyssey (The Odyssey) will be the new movie Christopher Nolan. The Oscar-winning director will tackle an epic project that is very different from his previous titles with the firm intention of offering a new unparalleled show. The British takes on one of the most important fables in the history of humanity. And for this they have just signed a new star who comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As reported deadlineChristopher Nolan adds to Jon Bernthal to The Odyssey. The actor is known worldwide for his sensational The Punisher. The character debuted in the series Daredevil from Netflix, but it was so popular that it had its own project shortly after with two more than adequate seasons. Now, he’s about to return in the new series Daredevil: Born Again. Outside of Marvel, Jon Bernthal He has a successful filmography. Highlights his supporting role in the multi-award-winning series The Bearwhich in 2024 earned him the Emmy for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Also appeared in The Walking Dead giving life to Shane Walsh. Not to mention movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, Fury either Hitman. Without a doubt, Christopher Nolan has acquired one of the most consistent and talented actors on the current scene. Cast and release date The Odyssey With the signing of Jon Bernthal, Christopher Nolan continues to expand a cast of absolute luxury for The Odyssey. In the movie they will be Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron. All of them will give life to the journey of Odysseuswritten by Homer in the 8th century BC The story tells of the journey back home to the king of Ithaca. A journey across the seas that lasted ten long years after the Trojan War. On his way, the hero must face numerous obstacles that the gods put in front of him, overcoming them thanks to his incredible bravery and cunning. Furthermore, at home, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus They must face her constant suitors, since the king is believed to be dead. The Odyssey will be released in theaters on July 17, 2026 and will be the most expensive film of his career Christopher Nolan. The film will begin filming next month. It is known that they will use revolutionary IMAX technology with which the director aspires to go a new step further. The project will be produced by Universal Pictures, as well as Oppenheimer.

‘Doctor Strange 3’ is officially underway at Marvel

by

Good news for Doctor Strange 3. The fans of Marvel Cinematic Universe They just got a great reason to celebrate. And, after a few months of rumors, it is confirmed that Doctor Strange He will have a new solo adventure. A point that makes it clear that the Sorcerer Supreme will have a prominent participation in the future of the saga. Much more, that the magical world of the character is just beginning to be explored and that the upcoming film probably shows all its possibilities. Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed the above during an extensive interview with Variety. In the text, the star revealed that there are ongoing conversations between him and Marvel Studios about the immediate future of the character. Something that includes your participation— or not — in Avengers: Doomsday and secret war yes. For now and in light of the information, something seems certain. Stephen Strange will be part of a good part of the franchise’s immediate plans. What it means an indication of where the stories to come from The House of Ideas may be headed. According to the actor’s words, Strange is a figure of enormous importance when it comes to Marvel adventures. A twist that involves resuming the character’s story, after his last solo appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness2022. In Sam Raimi’s film, the Sorcerer confronted Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), but also discovered a worrying fact. In alternate realities, Strange is considered a threat. A point that could be explored in the future. A new world to explore for Marvel But in addition to starring, Benedict Cumberbatch revealed that Marvel Studios asked his opinion about who could direct and write the script for the third feature film in the subfranchise. From what is evident, the interpreter’s knowledge of the character, It will be crucial to shape the ongoing project. Much more, when everything seems to indicate that once again, he will have to face a cosmic threat that he must deal with through his special abilities. As you may remember, Strange’s latest film introduced to Clea(Charlize Theron), character’s wife in comics and current Sorcerer Supreme in the publishing world. For Benedict Cumberbatch, playing one of the most fascinating figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quite a challenge. So you have multiple ideas of where you could go. In his words, Strange has hidden dimensions that still need to be explored. “He is a complex, contradictory and problematic human “He has these extraordinary abilities, so there are powerful things to play with.”commented the actor. What can we expect from ‘Doctor Strange 3’? For now, there are no concrete details regarding what story or under what aspect the next Doctor Strange movie could take place. The production is reportedly moving forward in terms of development. However, there are no answers about which characters will be part of the plot or If it will be connected to the upcoming films of the saga. For now, the only clear thing is that the film would be released from 2027after Avengers: Doomsday and perhaps also Secret Wars. Which indicates that Strange could also help kick off the franchise’s next film saga after the Multiverse Saga. That, after being a key character in the upcoming Multiversal War.

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.