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.
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.
Forget the “video game movie” curse;The Mortuary Assistantis a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul.
What Makes It Work
The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them.
Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen.
The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the bodies, skin, and organs. The Mortuary Assistant (especially in the opening scene) looks so real that I skipped supper after watching it. And that’s saying something. Your girl likes to eat.
Co-written by the game’s creator, Brian Clarke, the movie dives deeper into the demonic mythology. Whether you’ve seen every ending or don’t know a scalpel from a trocar, the story is perfectly self-contained. If you’ve never played the game, or played it a hundred times, the film works equally well, which is hard to do when it comes to game adaptations.
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Nailed It
This film does a lot of things right, but the isolation of the night shift is suffocating. Between the darkness of the hallways and the “residents” that refuse to stay still, the film delivers a relentlessly immersive experience. And thankfully, although this movie is filled with dark rooms and shadows, it’s easy to see every little thing. Don’t you hate it when a movie is so dark that you can’t see what’s happening? It’s one of my pet peeves.
The oh-so-awesome Jeremiah Kipp directs the film and has made something absolutely nightmare-inducing. Kipp recently joined us for an interview, took us inside the film, discussed its details and the game’s lore, and so much more. I urge you to check out our interview. He’s awesome!
The Verdict
This isn’t just a cash-grab; it’s a high-effort adaptation that respects the source material while elevating the horror genre. With incredible special effects and a powerhouse cast, it’s the kind of movie that will make you rethink working late ever again. Dropping on Friday the 13th, this is a must-watch for horror fans. It’s grisly, intelligent, and genuinely terrifying.
A former executive at Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, is suing the company, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated after he raised concerns about alleged financial misconduct and improper accounting practices.
Nicholas Rumanes alleges he was “fraudulently induced” in 2022 to leave a lucrative position as head of strategic development at a real estate investment trust to create a new role as executive vice president of development and business practice at Beverly Hills-based Live Nation.
In his new position, Rumanes said, he raised “serious and legitimate alarm” over the the company’s business practices.
As a result, he says, he was “unlawfully terminated,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“Rumanes was, simply put, promised one job and forced to accept another. And then he was cut loose for insisting on doing that lesser job with integrity and honesty,” according to the lawsuit.
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He is seeking $35 million in damages.
Representatives for Live Nation were not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit comes a week after a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had operated a monopoly over major concert venues, controlling 86% of the concert market.
Rumanes’ lawsuit describes a “culture of deception” at Live Nation, saying its “basic business model was to misstate and exaggerate financial figures in efforts to solicit and secure business.”
Such practices “spanned a wide spectrum of projects in what appeared to be a company-wide pattern of financial misrepresentation and misleading disclosures,” the lawsuit states.
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Rumanes says he received materials and documents that showed that the company inflated projected revenues across multiple venue development projects.
Additionally, Rumanes contends that the company violated a federal law that requires independent financial auditing and transparency and instead ran Live Nation “through a centralized, opaque structure” that enables it to “bypass oversight and internal checks and balances.”
In 2010, as a condition of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, the newly formed company agreed to a consent decree with the government that prohibited the firm from threatening venues to use Ticketmaster. In 2019 the Justice Department found that the company had repeatedly breached the agreement, and it extended the decree.
Rumanes contends that he brought his concerns to the attention of the company’s management, but his warnings were “repeatedly ignored.”
At the centre of Madhuvidhu directed by Vishnu Aravind is a house where only men reside, three generations of them living in harmony. Unlike the Anjooran household in Godfather, this is not a house where entry is banned to women, but just that women don’t choose to come here. For Amrithraj alias Ammu (Sharafudheen), the protagonist, 28 marriage proposals have already fallen through although he was not lacking in interest.
When a not-so-cordial first meeting with Sneha (Kalyani Panicker) inevitably turns into mutual attraction, things appear about to change. But some unexpected hiccups are waiting for them, their different religions being one of them. Writers Jai Vishnu and Bipin Mohan do not seem to have any major ambitions with Madhuvidhu, but they seem rather content to aim for the middle space of a feel-good entertainer. Only that they end up hitting further lower.
