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At Comic-Con, Marvel hits the reset button with Robert Downey Jr., Fantastic Four

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At Comic-Con, Marvel hits the reset button with Robert Downey Jr., Fantastic Four

It was a big weekend for Marvel Studios.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige returned to San Diego Comic-Con’s hallowed Hall H on Saturday to hype the studio’s upcoming projects armed with exclusive footage, surprises and more. (Just a couple days earlier, the same hall in the Anaheim Convention Center was the site of revelry celebrating “Deadpool & Wolverine.”)

The presentation highlighted upcoming releases including “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts,” “Fantastic Four” and a couple of “Avengers” films.

Marvel’s biggest surprise was the reveal that Robert Downey Jr. will be making his return to the MCU as Doctor Doom in the next “Avengers” film. After helping kick off the franchise in 2008’s “Iron Man,” Downey portrayed the billionaire playboy Tony Stark, one of the leaders of the Avengers, in more than nine films over the course of his 11-year tenure. He last appeared in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” in which Stark died to save the universe.

But “Avengers 5” marks not only the return of Downey — it also sees Anthony and Joe Russo back in the Marvel fold. The Russo Brothers have previously helmed four MCU films: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). It’s almost as if Marvel Studios is hitting a bit of a reset after a rocky few years.

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Here are the biggest takeaways from Marvel’s presentation.

Marvel is forging its future by mining its past

By bringing Downey and the Russos back into the fold, Marvel Studios is signaling that it sees its path forward in the halcyon days of its past. The Russos helmed two of the MCU’s biggest box office hits — “Avengers: Endgame” has grossed more than $2.7 billion worldwide in its lifetime — and Downey was the face of the franchise for more than a decade.

It’s no secret that Marvel has struggled to find its footing since “Endgame.” Both Phases Four and Five have been lackluster, with some onlookers dubbing it Marvel’s “flop era” after a few underwhelming releases. To break out of the slump, the MCU is changing course.

The audience response to “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which opened to $205 million at the domestic box office and more than $438 million worldwide, signals that this could be a winning strategy, at least in the short term. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) before it, wielded nostalgia as a superpower and was packed to the brim with cameos and callbacks to superhero comic book movies past.

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The logo for “Avengers: Doomsday” was revealed during Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel at SDCC 2024.

(Marvel Studios)

Kang, dynasty no more

“Avengers 5,” previously known as “Avengers: Kang Dynasty,” has officially been renamed to “Avengers: Doomsday.” It is expected to hit theaters in 2026.

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There had been questions about how the film would move forward after Marvel fired Jonathan Majors last year following his conviction on assault and harassment charges. Would the role be recast or the entire film (and MCU trajectory) be overhauled?

The new title indicates that the MCU is shifting its focus to a new big bad: Doctor Doom. In the comics, Victor von Doom is an evil genius best known for his clashes with the Fantastic Four, but he’s also faced off against the Avengers and the X-Men in his quests to take over the world.

The MCU is leaving Kang in its rearview mirror, at least for now.

Focus on the First Family

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were on hand in Hall H to tease their upcoming movie, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” slated for a 2025 release. The film, which officially begins production this week, will be set in 1960s New York, though its exact place in the Marvel multiverse remains unknown.

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It was also confirmed that Marvel comics’ first ever superhero team will be seen in “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” meaning the MCU is going all in on the Fantastic Four now that they’ve regained the film rights to the characters. Considering the official Avengers roster for the upcoming films remains a mystery, building excitement around the team that will launch the MCU’s Phase Six makes sense.

a man in a brown jacket, a woman in a red skirt and a man in glasses holding a microphone standing in front of SDCC logos

Joseph Quinn, left, Vanessa Kirby and Pedro Pascal — stars of the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” — onstage during the Marvel Studios’ Hall H presentation at SDCC 2024.

(Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Disney)

Silence speaks volumes?

One of the glaring omissions in Feige’s presentation was “Blade,” which was part of a big Marvel Studios surprise in a past Hall H presentation. The film, which will star Mahershala Ali as the eponymous daywalker, at one point was attached to a 2025 release date but has experienced some creative shake-ups since. Yann Demange, the second director attached to the project, departed the film last month.

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Also absent in the presentation were Marvel’s upcoming television shows such as “Agatha All Along,” “Daredevil: Born Again” and “Iron Heart.” Perhaps Feige is saving some news for Disney’s own convention, D23 Expo, which will be held in August.

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Lucas Museum to give free annual passes to South L.A. neighbors, host community preview day

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Lucas Museum to give free annual passes to South L.A. neighbors, host community preview day

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is moving at light speed toward its Sept. 22 opening, announced Thursday that it will give free annual passes to its South L.A. neighbors living in the 90037 ZIP Code. The 300,000-square-foot, $1-billion museum located in Exposition Park will also host a special community preview day on Sept. 13, more than a week before the general public gets to step inside.

The 90037 ZIP Code has a population of more than 65,000 and is bordered roughly by the 110 Freeway to the west, Slauson Avenue to the south, Central Avenue to the east and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north. Residents can register for passes at lucasmuseum.org/lm37 and will be alerted in August when the program launches. Pass holders can reserve tickets for themselves and one guest.

Tickets for non-pass holders go on sale July 21. They cost $25 for adults and $21 for seniors. Kids 17 and under are free.

“Storytelling has the power to bring people together and create a sense of community,” said Lucas Museum Chief Executive Tracey Bates in a news release about the program. “Through LM37, we are inviting our South Los Angeles neighbors to make the museum part of their lives and take their own path of discovery through the art, programs and experiences that will help shape this new cultural hub for Los Angeles.”

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The community preview day is designed to give local business owners, community partners, civic leaders and registered LM37 pass holders a sneak peak of the 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as the expansive gardens with 11 acres of park space.

The opening programming, curated by co-founder George Lucas, features 20 inaugural exhibitions across more than 30 galleries, including one titled “Star Wars in Motion,” containing vehicle designs, high-speed racers, flying vessels, props, costumes and illustrations from the first six films in the beloved franchise.

More than 1,200 objects will be on display from Lucas’ personal collection of narrative art. Highlights include work by Norman Rockwell and Dorothea Lange, as well as a variety of manga, children’s book illustrations and comics.

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Movie review: Supergirl is a blast

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Movie review: Supergirl is a blast

Last year’s “Superman” ended with Iggy Pop singing “Because I’m a punk rocker, yes I am” — an ironic coda for a superlatively square hero. But it rings straightforwardly true for Superman’s cousin.

Milly Alcock’s Kara Zor-El, or Supergirl, sports not a spandex suit but a Blondie T-shirt. When we meet her in Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl,” she’s been on an interstellar bender for days. She’s more Courtney Love than Clark Kent.

Nonchalant and sarcastic, Kara is also a little Han Solo-ish, you might say, given that she moves capriciously through the galaxy in her junky spaceship while getting in fights in extraterrestrial bars. She’s a welcome, jagged riff on more buttoned-up superheroes, and Alcock is terrific in the role. If only “Supergirl” was as good as she is.

While the latest DC release, and second under James Gunn’s stewardship, has its moments, “Supergirl” struggles to match Kara’s punk-rock energy with an equally spirited supporting cast and story.

Skepticism seems to have gathered for “Supergirl” ahead of its release. Many fans have argued it wasn’t the right next step for DC Universe. But I’m not so sure. Alcock’s breezy cameo in “Superman” was one of that movie’s highlights. Handing the follow-up to her, and her faithful floating dog Krypto, strikes me as an extremely natural next step. When in doubt, follow the dog.

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And much of “Supergirl” is winning. It resides almost entirely in space, touching down only momentarily on Earth. In its consistently creative production design, clever needle drops and underdog story arc, “Supergirl” resides a little closer to Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies than other DC entries. Its outer space is filled with cosmic detritus, mean characters and cute critters. Seth Rogen as the voice of a tiny alien co-piloting a space bus is an inspired concoction, as is a shabbier sci-fi realm with rest stops along the intergalactic highway.

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Justin Baldoni and wife break silence after ‘It Ends With Us’ legal battle with Blake Lively

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Justin Baldoni and wife break silence after ‘It Ends With Us’ legal battle with Blake Lively

Justin Baldoni has broken his silence after reaching a settlement in a lengthy and highly publicized legal dispute with Blake Lively.

Baldoni and his wife, Emily Baldoni, presented a united front in an Instagram video the couple shared Wednesday that began, “So we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years, and it’s not because we haven’t had anything to say, because Lord knows we have.”

The “It Ends With Us” actor and director said that although they’d wanted to address the debacle that involved dueling lawsuits with Lively, nearly two years of tit-for-tat fodder and culminated in a confidential settlement, “something was telling us not to.”

The couple said they prayed about when to make a public statement. “This feels like the moment,” Emily said.

“What does feel important,” she continued, “is that we can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many things that have happened to us.”

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“Gratitude has saved us,” Justin added.

“I also feel that it’s important as we say that — in that gratitude — it doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years, and we’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things,” Emily said. “How could something like this even happen? Let alone disguised as a fight for women. So much to unpack. And the truth is, reality is, is that there’s been a lot of trauma for us to move through as a family, which also makes it hard to speak.”

“We don’t even know this is the right thing to say, but we just know we need to share something,” Justin said. “What I will say is that there have been so many painful things that have been spoken into existence — “

“Untruthful,” Emily broke in.

“We didn’t want to add to the noise, so we just wanted to let the justice system run its course,” he said.

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“And the truth and the facts have spoken for themselves,” Emily said.

The couple’s statement comes a year and a half after Lively filed a bombshell lawsuit against Baldoni alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and several other charges on the heels of a messy “It Ends With Us” summer release and press tour that fueled rumors of on-set turmoil.

Less than a month after the allegations against Baldoni rallied Hollywood against him, he countersued Lively, her publicist Leslie Sloane and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, for $400 million in damages, claiming they’d smeared his name in the press and wrestled away his control of the film. His suit was later dismissed.

In May, two weeks ahead of the trial, Lively and Baldoni reached an agreement to resolve their legal dispute, bringing an abrupt end to the contentious battle.

“The parties in the Blake Lively and Wayfarer Studios litigation have reached an agreement to resolve the matters,” lawyers for both sides said in a joint statement.

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“The end product — the movie ‘It Ends With Us’ — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind. We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard. We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”

In June, a federal judge ordered Baldoni and his production company to pay Lively’s attorney fees related to his unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against her, but rejected her bid for additional damages.

“So, how are we doing?” the filmmaker said in the Instagram video. “We are healing, and if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear. It lives different every day, and we have had to rethink for ourselves what is real. What matters, and it’s this. It’s our family. It’s our friends. It’s our community. It’s our faith.”

Times staff writer Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.

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