NICHOLASGRAFF.com

EXCERPT:

One of the stars of Shazam! Fury of the Gods has begun hyping up the action scenes for the upcoming sequel. Shazam! was one of the few recent hits for Warner Bros. with their DC content, especially after disappointing reactions to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the theatrical cut of Justice League. And with Black Adam right around the corner, a lot is riding on the Shazam! franchise’s ability to maintain its quality as it moves forward.

The first Shazam! was released in 2019, with Zachary Levi starring as the titular hero in his heroic form, and Asher Angel as his adolescent persona Billy Batson. The film did well with critics and audiences, with many enjoying the lighter tone and lack of seriousness, especially after the dark and monotone Zack Snyder films in the DCEU. Much praise went to director David. F. Sandberg, as well as the performances from Levi and young actor Jack Dylan Grazer, who played Shazam’s friend, Freddy, in the movie.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/shazam-2-action-scenes-unbelievable-jack-dylan-grazer/

EXCERPT:

According to Vin Diesel, Groot will be returning to his homeworld of Planet X in Phase 4 of the MCU. The beloved member of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has long been an enigma to audiences, especially those who have not read the comics. Now fans might finally be able to piece together his origin story.

Groot first premiered in the comics in 1960, and is one of the many characters to have been created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Larry Lieber. Though his first appearance had him as an enemy invader bent on human experimentation, in 2006 they reintroduced him as the heroic, noble being more akin to what is in the MCU. It was not long before he was seen as a staple of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, making it a no-brainer that he would be featured in the 2014 MCU film about the team.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/groot-planet-x-home-return-mcu-phase-4/

EXCERPT:

A new video posted by Sam Raimi shows off the concept for a battle with Vulture from Spider-Man 4. With all the hype surrounding Spidey films of late, fans might be interested to see what might have been if Raimi’s sequel had not been scrapped. Fortunately, fans did eventually get to see a Spidey-Vulture showdown in Spider-Man: Homecoming, though it is unlikely Raimi’s ideas for the conflict were used.

Raimi’s first Spider-Man film was released in 2002 to commercial and critical acclaim. He followed it with Spider-Man 2, pitting the titular hero against Doctor Octopus, a fan-favorite arch-nemesis from the comics. Spider-Man 2 was another success for Raimi, and he went on to Spider-Man 3, which proved a more difficult film. Not only did he have to live up to the hype from his first two successful films, but continued studio interference with the story and choice of the villains resulted in a film that was not up to Raimi’s previous standards. Following that, Raimi and the studio reconsidered his planned Spider-Man 4, and it was decided to go in a new direction for future Spider-Man films.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/spiderman-4-vulture-fight-concept-video-sam-raimi/

EXCERPT:

Screen Rant can now exclusively confirm that Loki is an origin story for Ravonna Renslayer, predating her comic character identity. While the series may have only released one episode so far, Renslayer has already had an important role to play in how she decided to handle the deviant God Of Mischief for the TVA. Now it looks like the series is setting up a future arc for her character as well.

In the comics, Ravonna Renslayer factors heavily into numerous Kang the Conqueror story arcs. Originally from a kingdom in the 40th century that ran astray of Kang, the villain quickly fell in love with Ravonna. Though at first she hated him for trying to take over her home, eventually she returned his feelings after Kang proved himself to have some decency and helped free her people from another villain. Being the only woman Kang loves, there are many tales of self-sacrifice and desperate attempts to save one-another as Renslayer and Kang survive assassination attempts, battles with heroes from the Avengers to the Fantastic Four, and even deal with their own murderous passion. On one occasion, in her fury, Renslayer even managed to kill Kang and take over his kingdom, resurrecting him only to murder him again out of her continued anger.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/loki-show-renslayer-gugu-mbatha-raw-origin-story/

EXCERPT:

One of the stars of The Matrix 4 spoke on the training regime for the film recently. While there is not much information currently out there for the latest addition to the Wachowski franchise, any information from its stars is welcome. Even after the adverse reaction to the last sequels, fans are still anticipating the franchise’s newest entry.

The original The Matrix came out in 1999, starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Lawrence Fishburne, with the Wachowski siblings writing and directing. It was a cultural phenomenon, beloved by critics and audiences, with its style, action, and story having a massive influence on movies and television in the early 2000s. Its sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, were not received as favorably by audiences, and it looked like the franchise had ended. Which made sense considering it was billed as a trilogy, with Reeves and Moss’ characters, Neo and Trinity, the heroes of the story, dying at the end of The Matrix Revolutions. And yet, a fourth movie approaches.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/matrix-4-jessica-yu-li-henwick-training-fight-scenes/

EXCERPT:

Emilia Clarke recently shared her thoughts on seeing Qi’ra return to the original trilogy era of Star Wars. Though three years have passed since audiences first saw Qi’ra onscreen, her journey will continue in the ongoing Star Wars comics published by Marvel. While not a live-action adaptation that would have brought Clarke back for the role, it seems most fans are happy just to see the character still active in the Star Wars mythos.

Qi’ra was introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the love interest for Han Solo, played in the film by Alden Ehrenreich. It is established that she and Han grew up together on Corellia, and were tragically separated when trying to flee their homeworld. When they eventually meet up again he learns that Qi’ra is not only more than capable of taking care of herself now, but she has also chosen to ally herself with a number of dangerous criminals. By the film’s end, Qi’ra chooses to become a lieutenant to Darth Maul in the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, abandoning any chance of a life with Han.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/star-wars-qira-return-emilia-clarke-response/

EXCERPT:

Carlos Valdes revealed that he has been thinking about Cisco’s exit from The Flash since the show’s fourth season. Valdez joins Tom Cavanaugh as the second series regular to leave the CW’s longest-running Arrowverse show this year. Though the series has been dropping hints about Cisco’s departure, it is sure to be a bittersweet moment for fans and the cast.

Valdes has been playing Cisco Ramon since the pilot of The Flash in 2014. Seen initially as just a nerdy lab assistant/ scientist at Star Labs under the tutelage of Dr. Harrison Welles, it was not long before Cisco’s humor, wit, and bravery made him a fan favorite. Over the years, he has become a hero in his own right as Vibe (and later “Mecha-Vibe”) and becoming the head scientist at Star Labs once Barry and company took over. He has always been a core member of Team Flash, and his absence is sure to be felt in future episodes.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/flash-carlos-valdes-cisco-exit-season-4-plans/

EXCERPT:

Marvel/Disney continues to tease the new title for the sequel to Captain Marvel, as The Marvels gets a sleek new logo update. The update is the latest in a storm of Marvel news, as the studio presents all of their plans now that audiences are getting ready to go back into theaters. Ideally, the sleek new logo for The Marvels will help keep audiences invested until the film premieres.

After the tepid response to Captain Marvel from a few fans and critics, Marvel decided to change course with the sequel and add other fan-favorite heroes to the series. Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, will be joining after her series debuts on Disney+, and Monica Rambeau, a.k.a. Spectrum, will also be part of the team after her adventures in WandaVision (which also served as the origin story for her powers). From this powered team, most likely led by Carol Danvers, who fans can assume inspired the other two toward their heroic destinies, comes the title of The Marvels.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/captain-marvel-2-new-logo-image-marvels-movie/

EXCERPT:

Zack Snyder took some time out of his busy schedule to direct his own version of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week. With the recent release of both Zack Snyder’s Justice League and his Army of the Dead movie for Netflix, Snyder has been fairly busy in the past year. And that does not even take into account the time he has spent talking to the media.

The most pressing question for Snyder of late has been his treatment by Warner Bros. while making the Snyder Cut of Justice League. In the past few months, he has spoken about a turbulent relationship with the studio, who were not all that happy with the end result of his DCEU projects and seemed even less happy to be giving him money to redo Justice League. Fortunately for Snyder, his latest film was released by Netflix and he seems to be enjoying the freedom of building his own world and not carrying to burden of a comic-book franchise anymore.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/zack-snyder-late-show-stephen-colbert-direct-wb/

EXCERPT:

It looks like the upcoming What If…? series from Marvel will connect to Spider-Man: Far From Home. The new animated series has been highly anticipated by fans since its announcement, with many online theories about what kind of stories the show might tell. With a premise promising endless possibilities, the only actual limit is the 10 episode length of the first season.

Spider-Man: Far From Home premiered in July of 2019, the final film in Phase 3 of the MCU. The film followed Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/ Spider-Man adventures as he and his classmates recovered from the events of Avengers: End Game and take a class trip to Europe. After being recruited by Nick Fury, Spider-Man becomes entangled in the plot of a new villain named Mysterio, who wants control of the technology Peter had inherited from Tony Stark. With most of the stars and director Jon Watts returning from Spider-Man: Homecoming, the film was well-received by critics and audiences, who knew it had the arduous tasks of closing out Marvel’s Infinity Saga and setting the stage for Phase 4 of the MCU.

(full article)
https://screenrant.com/marvel-what-if-show-spiderman-far-home-connection/