Yesterday Disney dropped an entire mountain of new programming, which honestly fills me with a lot of mixed and uncomfortable emotions. Like,surely one of the ten Star Wars shows announced could have been axed to pay to furlough some of the 11,000+ park employees that have been laid off?
Let’s break it down. (And please give me your best guesses for how many of these projects actually make it to screens).
Star Wars had a slew of shows & films confirmed:
While the Obi-Wan series and Andor had been announced, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will be helming Rangers of the New Republic, set during the same period as The Mandolorian, and will also oversee an Ahsoka Tano show starring Rosario Dawson.
Lando Calrissian gets a show helmed by Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair), but whether it’s starring Donald Glover or Billy Dee Williams, or even liveaction, is unknown as of yet. Leslye Headland’s (Russian Doll) The Acolyte will be set during The High Republic, the newest era of Jedi.
Patty Jenkins is getting the keys to an X-Wing in Rogue Squadron, Taika Waititi is now attached to a film, and The Bad Batch of clone troopers are getting their own animated series.
??????? https://t.co/Fg57tft67i
— TOMI (@tomi_adeyemi) December 11, 2020
Lucas Films has also announced a new Indiana Jones project, and that actor Warwick Davis is returning to the character Willow, with Crazy Rich Asians director Jon Chu attached. [Polygon, StarWars.com]
If all this isn’t enough…check out this great interview with actor Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett/Jengo Fett). [NYTs]
“Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion.” Andor, an Original Series set in the Star Wars universe, is streaming in 2022 on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/q2IT2qzEeR
— Star Wars (@starwars) December 10, 2020
Marvel’s Phase 4 has a shitton going on as well.
Xochitl Gomez (Babysitter’s Club, Gentefied) will be playing America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Rachel McAdams is returning as Christine Palmer.
Christian Bale is playing Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love & Thunder, and is rumored to be joined by Jaimie Alexander reprising her role as Lady Sif. She might also be popping up in the Loki series. [Deadline]
In the post-Tony Stark MCU his tech will live on in two shows: Don Cheadle stars in Armor Wars, and Dominique Thorne (If Beale Street Could Talk) will be portraying Riri Williams in Ironheart.
As for the Spider-Man side of things, Alfred Molina is returning as Doc Oc alongside Jamie Foxx’s Electro, and there are rumors that Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Kirsten Dunst are attached as well. (Please, please just kill Peter Parker. Peters Parker. Whatever you need).
The newly crowned Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania WILL feature Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne. And Kathryn Newton (Detective Pikachu, Freaky) will be stepping into Cassie Lang’s (hopefully oversized) shoes in this third Ant-Man installment, the third actress to play her. [TheDirect] (With Hailee Steinfeld you’ve got a lot of Young Avengers, just saying…)
That’s not even everything!! Disney is a monocultural giant that will eventually consume us all!! [Screenrant]
New animation from Disney also looks also looks wild, with series starring Moana, Tiana, and Baymax (seperately) in the pipeline, along with Zootopia+ (?). In conjunction with Kugali Media, Disney is putting out Iwájú, a scifi show set in Lagos, Nigeria. More at [io9]
Movies
I’ll just put the whole headline here: “Percentage Of Women In Key Jobs On Top-Grossing Films Has ‘Barely Budged’ Over Past 20 Years, Study Finds” [Deadline]
Aisha Tyler and Charlize Theron want to play lesbian wives in a Die Hard remake. https://t.co/AXYjy8tgHL pic.twitter.com/VCwewcSkfs
— Autostraddle (@autostraddle) December 9, 2020
CBR read my tweet and agreed that Ava DuVernay should Elliot Page and Laverne Cox as Mister Miracle and Big Barda ASAP. [CBR]
Cat Vasko, who made the Black List in 2014 and has bounced onto a few project in limbo since, is now attached to a “female-centric Plastic Man film.” [THR]
DreamWorks Animation is planning a Dog-Man movie, with longtime animation veteran Peter Hastings as the director. [THR]
Shows
I'm proud of all involved. https://t.co/v6GDI78Fqv
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 7, 2020
He’s not the only one that can save the world. #SupermanAndLois premieres Tuesday, February 23! Stream next day free only on The CW. pic.twitter.com/YgQXDtSu5K
— Superman and Lois (@cwsupermanlois) December 11, 2020
Lawsuits
(Content Warning: discriptions of physically and emotionally abusive relationships in the below articles)
it may be surprising to you to learn that i was in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. it was hard for me to process too, during and after i never thought something like this would happen to me.
— FKA twigs (@FKAtwigs) December 11, 2020
Musician and actress FKA Twigs has sued actor Shia LaBeouf, alleging he was physically and “relentlessly” abusive during their relationship. She’s candid with the New York Times about wanting to go public with her allegations, saying she’d, “like to be able to raise awareness on the tactics that abusers use to control you and take away your agency.” [NYTs]
Reporter Tatiana Siegel takes a long hard look at Johnny Depp’s recent spiral downward and current legal troubles after losing a high profile libel suit against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.” [THR]
