News Analysis India

Tag: Marvel Studios

  • Being a part of MCU makes you start to feel like a superhero: Farhan Akhtar on his Marvel debut

    By IANS

    MUMBAI:  Filmmaker-actor Farhan Akhtar, who has made his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut with the fourth episode of Marvel Studios’ ‘Ms. Marvel’, recently shared his feelings about being cast in a Marvel intellectual property.

    Farhan, who plays the role of Waleed, the leader of the ancient order known as the Red Daggers, said in a statement, “You automatically start feeling like a superhero when someone tells you that you are going to be part of the MCU. I stood like a superhero, just missing my cape.”

    The actor also answered some Marvel trivia questions. Sharing the name of the first MCU film/series he watched, he said, “As far as my memory serves me, ‘Iron Man’ was the first MCU film I watched.”

    When asked who he would like to team with in the future, Farhan said, “That would be Iron Man. I know, unfortunately, he is no longer with us but if they could find a way, I’d like it to be him.”

    While the actor is a big Iron Man fan, he mentions that he finds Doctor Strange’s powers really cool and would love to have those. When asked to name three female Avengers in 10 seconds, Farhan promptly answered Ms. Marvel followed by Captain Marvel and Black Widow.

    ‘Ms. Marvel’ is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

  • Taron Egerton says he is in talks with Marvel Studios for Wolverine role

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: “Rocketman” star Taron Egerton has revealed that he has met Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and other executives to discuss the possibility of starring in the role of Wolverine, a fan-favourite character previously essayed by Hugh Jackman.

    In an interview with The New York Times, Egerton said if given an opportunity he would be more than happy to pick up the baton from Jackman and play the character central to the “X-Men” and “Avengers” franchises.

    “I don’t think it would be wrong to say that. I’d be excited but I’d be apprehensive as well because Hugh is so associated with the role that I’d wonder if it’d be very difficult for someone else to do it. But hopefully, if it does come around, they’ll give me a shot,” the actor said.

    Jackman played James “Logan” Howlett/ Wolverine in seven “X-Men” movies between 2000 and 2017.

    Egerton will next be seen in the Apple TV+ drama “Black Bird”.

  • Exciting to be part of culturally inclusive ‘Ms Marvel’: Farhan Akhtar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: It’s not the length of the role but the excitement to be a part of Marvel Studios’ first steps in the South Asian subcontinent that motivated actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar to join “Ms Marvel”, a show he believes is landmark in the way it represents “our cultures and our people”.

    Akhtar, known for directing acclaimed films “Dil Chahta Hai”, “Lakshay” and “Don” series as well as for his on screen performances in movies “Luck by Chance”, “Rock On!!” and “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, has made his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut with the Disney+ Hotstar show.

    When he was first offered “Ms Marvel”, the actor said he was bowled over by the cultural inclusivity and diversity of the show, which centres around Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, a Pakistani-American teenager growing up in Jersey City.

    “When I found out that the show was the very first step that Marvel is taking into the subcontinent, creating a subcontinent superhero that is going to represent our cultures and our people, I was very excited,” Akhtar told PTI in a virtual interview.

    “I truly wanted to be a part of it because it is a landmark show. And I feel that it’s important because it’s diverse. There’s an incredible amount of cultural inclusivity that’s happening via the show,” he added.

    Fronted by newcomer Iman Vellani, “Ms Marvel” is a coming-of-age story of a Muslim teenager who discovers that she has superpowers and a family history going all the way back to India-Pakistan Partition in 1947.

    “Bad Boys for Life” helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Oscar winner in the documentary short category, and Meera Menon, who has worked on shows like “The Walking Dead”, have directed the episodes of the series.

    Akhtar features in the fourth episode of the show, titled “Seeing Red”, directed by Obaid-Chinoy. He essays the role of Waleed, a senior member of an organisation called Red Dagger. Waleed acts as a mentor to Kamala when she lands in Karachi to meet her maternal grandmother and uncover the mystery behind her superpowers.

    The actor said he was not concerned about the length of his role on the show as the focus was to be in a culturally diverse story. “I really didn’t stop to think about whether it should be longer or not. I was really happy,” he said.

    According to Akhtar, Marvel Studios has strived to deliver family entertainers with its films and now TV shows. “What Marvel has done over the years, even before the show, they’ve always strived to give very good clean family entertainment. And this series is in the same vein. I don’t think there’s any point to be made as such, but it’s a new experience for the audience. It’s a new experience for the viewer that is absolutely signed into the universe and is committed to watching what they do,” he added.

    Akhtar teased viewers about exciting things to look forward to in the upcoming episodes of the show. “As you may have noticed already that she has travelled back to the subcontinent. She’s travelled back home, there’s a lot more fun waiting for her and a lot more exciting things for the audience to watch,” he said.

    As far as his involvement in the future Marvel projects or returning to this role is concerned , the 48-year-old actor said he is open to any offer from the studio. “I feel like I’m already a part of the MCU by playing Waleed… Of course, I would love for more stuff to happen because I had an incredible time working on the show. I leave that to their best judgment. But from my end, whenever they want me to be back and do anything that they need me to for this character, I’ll be there,” Akhtar said.

    There was considerable buzz around Akhtar and Pakistani superstar Fawad Khan’s casting in the show that has been hailed for its depiction of a culturally rich story of India and Pakistan, through its numerous Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan references, it’s positive focus on Islam and family values. “There are many generations that are touched upon through the story, as you may have noticed already. Family plays a very important role in the show,” Akhtar said.

    While the Bollywood actor-director has a significant role in the fourth episode of the series, Fawad Khan makes a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in a family portrait that Kamala’s grandmother shows her.

    “Ms Marvel” also features Nimra Bucha, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, and Travina Springer. The show is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

  • Extended cut of Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home to release in theatres on September 2

    By ANI

    CALIFORNIA: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is all geared up to get a re-release at the theatres with some extended footage that was not there in the original version of the film.

    “You wanted more Spidey and you got it! #SpiderManNoWayHome: The More Fun Stuff Version swings into movie theaters in the US and Canada on September 2! More countries to be announced soon!” read an official ‘Spider-Man: No way home’ tweet.

    Three is the magic number. See #SpiderManNoWayHome in theaters September 2! https://t.co/QkBuDufNKI
    — Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) June 11, 2022
    The tweet from the official account also has a special fun video attached to it, of No Way Home actors Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, fighting over who is the original Spider-Man. Asking who all are going to watch the new ‘More fun stuff version’ at the end.

    The new extended cut version of Spider-Man: No Way Home, is now titled ‘Spider-Man: No way Home: The more fun stuff version’ and is scheduled to hit the big screen on September 2, 2022, only in the United States and Canada. The release date of other countries is still awaited.

    Spider-Man is one of the most loved characters from Marvel and now fans are all excited to see the new fun version of the film.

    Tom Holland-starrer, ‘Spider-Man: No way Home’ is the third installment of the series which was earlier released worldwide on December 17, the film got a positive response from the netizens and collected approximately USD 1.8 billion worldwide and became the sixth highest grosses movie of all time. The film collected approximately 260 crores at the Indian Box Office post covid.

    Directed by John Watts, Marvel Studios Spider-Man: No Way Home also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, Benedict Wong, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Marsa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, and Alfred Molina.

  • Farhan Akhtar pens note for ‘Ms Marvel’ team, praises show for ‘conscious inclusiveness’

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar on Tuesday said he is proud to be associated with “Ms Marvel”, the upcoming Disney+ series which he described as a “celebration of diversity”.

    Ahead of the series premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on Wednesday, Akhtar penned a note of appreciation for the makers of “Ms Marvel” congratulating them for mounting a show that promises to bring a “pride of self-identity” to several young children in the Indian subcontinent.

    “Ms Marvel”, part of the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is fronted by newcomer Iman Vellani who plays Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, a Pakistani-American teenager growing up in Jersey City.

    “Tomorrow, 8th June, will see the release of the first episode of Ms Marvel on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. This post is in appreciation of the creators, the directors and all those in front and behind the camera, who collaborated to make Ms Marvel what it is. It is in appreciation of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for her guidance through my days of working on it,” the multi-hyphenate personality wrote.

    “Bad Boys for Life” helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Oscar winner in the documentary short category, and Meera Menon, who has worked on shows like “The Walking Dead”, have directed the episodes of the series.

    “Ms Marvel” marks the Hollywood debut for Akhtar, known for starring in films like “Rock On”, “The Sky is Pink” and for directing features like “Don” and “Dil Chahta Hai”. He is said to be guest-starring on the show.

    Commending Marvel Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company, for its continued push for inclusion, the actor-filmmaker said the series is a “celebration of diversity”.

    “It is in appreciation of Marvel. I’m proud to be part of their conscious inclusiveness. This show is a celebration of diversity and it certainly will bring joy and pride of self-identity to millions of young girls and boys of the sub-continent,” he added.

    Akhtar, 48, also gave a shout-out to Vellani and said the audience will be impressed by the debutante’s performance.

    “And last but not least, it is in appreciation of the wonderfully talented Iman Vellani. Be prepared to be thoroughly entertained and effortlessly charmed by her. Thank you and good luck, Team Ms Marvel,” he added.

    “Ms Marvel” also features Pakistani stars Fawad Khan, Nimra Bucha, Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, and Travina Springer.

    The show will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

  • ‘I Am Groot’ animated series to release on Disney Plus in August

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Animated series “I Am Groot”, based on the titular character from “Guardians of the Galaxy” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is set to start streaming on Disney Plus from August 10.

    Disney Plus on Sunday released the first poster of the show, which consists of original shorts from Marvel Studios, on Twitter.

    “I Am Groot, Marvel Studios’ Original shorts, is streaming August 10 on #DisneyPlus,” the streamer captioned the still of the upcoming animated series.

    I Am Groot, Marvel Studios’ Original shorts, coming August 10 to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/EODOFPLbt1
    — Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) June 5, 2022
    Vin Diesel will return to voice Groot, a tree-like humanoid in the MCU, and “Guardians” director James Gunn serves as one of the show’s executive producers.

    According to Collider, the brief official synopsis reads that the series will follow “Baby Groot’s glory days growing up, and getting into trouble among the stars.”

    Ryan Little serves as head writer on “I Am Groot” with Kirsten Lepore attached as director.

    The audience last saw Groot as an adolescent in “Avengers: Endgame”, which was released in 2019.

  • Russo Bros ‘big fans’ of Dhanush, tease actor’s return if ‘The Gray Man’ gets sequel

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES:  Joe Russo says he and his directing partner-brother Anthony Russo are big fans of Dhanush, who plays “one of the top assassins of the world” in their upcoming Netflix film “The Gray Man”, a role they specifically wrote for the Indian actor.

    The one half of the director duo, best known for Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”, said if “The Gray Man” receives audience’s love, there is a possibility that the actor will feature in the films of the potential franchise.

    “Anthony and I are big Dhanush’s fans. We wrote this role specifically for him. He’s a sort of classic bada** character, who shows up to combat the hero and complicate the film. He’s a fun character. He’s unique.”

    “Dhanush has a great presence on camera and the character is almost mystical in a way. The intention is if audiences like this film, we expand out the storytelling from here, and this is a fascinating character to move forward in that world,” Joe Russo said on Tuesday night in a Twitter space session hours after the streamer dropped the trailer of “The Gray Man”.

    While the details of the role played by Dhanush are yet to be disclosed by the makers, as per the new poster shared by Netflix on Monday, the National Award winner’s character is described as a “lethal force”.

    Joe Russo said Dhanush plays “one of the top assassins of the world” who is sent after the titular ‘Gray Man’, played by Ryan Gosling in the movie. “He’s got two incredible fights in the film,” he added.

    According to the streamer, The Gray Man is CIA operative Court Gentry (Gosling), aka, Sierra Six, who is plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy, played by Billy Bob Thornton. 

    Gentry was once a highly-skilled, Agency-sanctioned merchant of death. But now the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out.

    Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back. He’ll need it,” reads the film’s official synopsis. Based on the novel “The Gray Man” by Mark Greaney, the screenplay is by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

    Joe Russo also said while the film was a complete story as a standalone, there were a lot of elements that speak to possibilities about where characters can go further. “With our partners, Chris Markus and Stephen Mcfeely, we are starting to conceive a large part of what we do as universes and ‘The Gray Man’ is definitely an example of that.”

    The film also stars Regé-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, Alfre Woodard, Julia Butters, Eme Ikwuakor, and Scott Haze. It will premiere on Netflix on July 22.

  • ‘Daredevil’ series in the works at Disney Plus 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: A new series based on Marvel superhero Daredevil is being developed by streaming platform Disney Plus.

    According to Variety, Matt Corman and Chris Ord are attached to write and executive produce the show.

    The “Daredevil” series was expected to return in a new form after it was cancelled by Netflix in 2018 following a three-season run.

    Rumours about the show started doing the rounds after actor Charlie Cox reprised his role of Matt Murdock aka Daredevil in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and Vincent D’Onofrio appeared as Wilson Fisk in the Disney+ series “Hawkeye.” Marvel Studios has not announced the project officially as of now.

  • Farhan Akhtar to appear in Marvel Studios series ‘Ms Marvel’

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar will be making an appearance in “Ms Marvel”, the first Muslim superhero series from Marvel Studios.

    According to Deadline, the details of his character have been kept under wraps, even though it is said to be a guest appearance.

    The Disney+ show will be the first Hollywood project for Akhtar, who is known for starring in hits like “Rock On!”, “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” and “Dil Dhadakne Do”.

    Akhtar has also directed critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful films such as “Dil Chahta Hai”, “Lakshya”, “Don” and “Don 2”.

    “Ms Marvel”, which comes from the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is fronted by newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City.

    “Kamala is an avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe with an oversized imagination – particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson in the MCU).

    “Yet Kamala feels she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home, until she gets superpowers like her idols,” the official plotline read.

    “Bad Boys for Life” helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Oscar winner in the documentary short category, and Meera Menon, who has worked on shows like “The Walking Dead”, have directed the episodes of the series.

    Bisha K Ali, a scribe and stand-up comic known for her personal-political comedy, serves as head writer on the project.

    The cast also includes Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha.

    “Ms Marvel” will premiere on June 8 on streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, where it will be available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam languages.

  • ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ banned in Saudi Arabia.

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Marvel Studios’ much-anticipated movie “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has been banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries due to the presence of a gay character.

    The “Doctor Strange” sequel, which will release in the US on May 6, was originally scheduled for hit theatres in the Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries on May 5.

    According to Variety, the Saudi Arabian censors didn’t issue the distribution certificate to the Benedict Cumberbatch-led superhero movie.

    The Sam Raimi-directed sequel stars Cumberbatch as the titular character and also features new hero America Chavez, played by actor Xochitl Gomez. Her character in the film is reportedly gay.

    Prior to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, Marvel’s “The Eternals” was banned in Saudi Arabia, over its same-gender couple romance and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first gay superhero.

    “Doctor Strange” sequel follows the Sorcerer Supreme as he tries to contain the aftermath of the multiverse-fracturing spell he cast in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” which caused villains from across the multiverse to spill over into the central Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline.