Is Marvel barreling towards disaster?
Is Marvel barreling towards disaster?
And Disney drops stacks for Hulu
What to know
Variety drops bombshell Marvel report, rumor says The Marvels now tracking as low as $45 million… Is Marvel in shambles? Seems like things are on shaky ground what with a run of failures and a studio stretched thin. The big revelations from the Variety story are that Marvel is wondering what to do about Jonathan Majors, potentially pivoting to Dr. Doom as a main villain or recasting his role. And that the studio started rethinking Kang after Ant-Man 3, before Majors’ legal troubles. Marvel is also pondering bringing back the original Avengers. Please don’t do this! It would severely undercut Endgame — and probably also cost a fortune. Lastly, it seems Marvel has saved Blade from the brink. Mahershala Ali was ready to leave the project over script issues. One version of the script relegated Blade to being 4th lead. Thankfully, Feige saved the project by hiring Logan writer Michael Green to come on and rewrite it from scratch. So yeah, drama at Marvel. And if The Marvels tracking rumors are true it would be a five-alarm fire. Disney is running out of time to turn things around on the Brie Larson movie, which comes out November 10. Should such a low opening weekend come to pass, there’s going to be a lot of hand wringing and mouth running over the future of superhero movies. But maybe it’s deserved? 💥
Disney is buying out Comcast’s stake in Hulu for $8.6 billion… After spending billions upon billions in recent years on Fox and Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney throwing one more big purchase on the pile: the rest of Hulu. This isn’t a huge shock, but it does tell us that the Mouse is still interested in fighting the streaming wars against Netflix. With Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN combined (though it’s possible Disney sells ESPN), they are poised to be a firm competitor going forward. Personally, I’d love to see Disney continue to invest in smart original programming on Hulu (through FX, please) — because as TV shifts away from the peak/prestige era to the IP era, we’re going to need it. 📺
Huey Lewis jukebox musical with an original story headed to Broadway… What’s with Broadway offering multiple shows featuring the same songs? They did it with &Juliet and Once Upon a One More Time, and now this. You can hear “Power of Love” over at Back to the Future, or you can buy a ticket to The Heart of Rock and Roll. At least this new musical is an original story and not a bio-show about Lewis’ life. Though that might be interesting too! 🎭
HBO bosses reportedly told staffers to create fake social accounts to troll TV critics… Not only is this insidious and mean-spirited, it’s also dumb because it likely didn’t motivate a single TV critic to give more positive reviews in the future. Sad to hear this was directed by Casey Bloys, who seemed like a smart network executive prior. 🤔
Rumor says a SAG deal is imminent… Indeed it seems industry reporters are speculating that a contract could come by the end of the week. Stay tuned folks. I’m sure Disney would like to have Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson out there promoting The Marvels. 🪧
Netflix says its ad tier user base has tripled since May… For the sake of the future of television and the industry, that’s a good sign. Perhaps Netflix can put some of the money it’s now making back into the quality of its shows. 🍿
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade will start a half hour earlier this year… Set your alarm clocks for 8:30 AM east coast. The performing Broadway musicals have also been announced. 🦃
Mean Girls Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert reprise roles in Walmart Black Friday ad… This is what they were shooting those weeks ago. Fetch! 👚
Joe Biden grew more worried about AI after seeing Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning… And he’s activated the fine agents of Paw Patrol to stop it. 🤖
The Rolling Stones become the first act with top 10 albums in each decade since the 1960s… Perhaps they’ll finally be able to find some satisfaction now. 👅
Burlesque stage musical getting Manchester run next year… They’ll really turn anything with music into a musical. 🎭
Five Nights at Freddy’s is also Peacock’s biggest title ever… No surprises there. 🐻
What’s new
All the Light We Cannot See — Nov 2 | Netflix drama miniseries | Ⓜ️ 46
Quiz Lady — Nov 2 | Comedy film on Hulu | Ⓜ️ 62
Lawmen: Bass Reeves — Nov 5 | Paramount+ Western series | Ⓜ️
Returning: Behind the Attraction s2, Invincible s2, Planet Earth III
What to watch
Trailer: David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived — Nov 15 on HBO
Directed by Dan Hartley, documentary featuring David Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe, and more.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!