Britt Hayes

Hey Wonder Woman, you’ve got company — good company. Joss Whedon is coming to save the DC movie universe from Zack Snyder’s severe aesthetic, which is like a high school boy’s trapper keeper covered in nu metal band stickers circa 2000. The former Marvel favorite and Avengers director is returning to the superhero genre to write, direct and produce a standalone Batgirl movie for Warner Bros., a much-needed blast of optimism for their dreary DC franchise.

We usually have to wait until the newest Pixar film hits theaters to enjoy the latest Pixar short, but fans of the beloved animated studio won’t have to wait until this fall to see Dante’s Lunch… A Short Tail. Pixar has released their new short online a full eight months ahead of its theatrical debut, giving fans another sneak peek at the colorful world of Coco via the life of his endearing dog, Dante.

After the Avengers defeat the bad guys and the credits roll, who cleans up the mess? Who clears the debris, sweeps up the scraps, and collects all those bits and pieces of alien / mystical / foreign objects — you know, the stuff pedestrians probably shouldn’t get their hands on? Whether you’re a casual or more committed fan of the Marvel universe (or superheroes in general), you’ve likely pondered this very question. Spider-Man: Homecoming will finally give us an answer.

A couple of significant things happened in Sony’s corner of the Marvel universe last week: The studio set a 2018 release date for a standalone Venom movie and hired a new screenwriter for its long-developing female-centric Spider-Man spinoff — two developments which seem to indicate that Sony is once again preparing to try their hand at building a Spidey cinematic universe. According to a new report, that’s exactly what’s happening, but things may be decidedly darker this time around.

If it’s been a while since the last trailer was released for an upcoming film, and the studio debuts a new poster, then chances are pretty good that a new trailer is just around the corner — at least that’s our hope after seeing this new Spider-Man: Homecoming poster, which Sony revealed this afternoon. Or maybe we have a case of TGIF-induced optimism.

Following recent news of Sony’s plans for a film adaptation based on Bloodshot (with the screenwriter of Arrival), comes word that another property from Valiant Entertainment has been set for a big screen adaptation: Ruben Fleischer, the director of Zombieland, has signed on to helm a film based on comic-book series Archer & Armstrong, which centers on a mismatched pair of heroes who develop an unlikely friendship.

Well, that certainly took a pleasantly unexpected turn. Just days after the writers of Deadpool assured fans that we’d know who’s playing Cable in the sequel “very soon” comes a very interesting update. Michael Shannon is the latest frontrunner for the role of the comic-book character making his highly-anticipated debut in Deadpool 2. Although there are still a few other names on the studio’s shortlist, everyone’s favorite weirdo is the current favorite — because obviously.

Ant-Man and the Wasp isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until next July, but with Marvel gearing up to start production this July, you’d think that everyone who’s returning from the first film would know about it by now. That’s not the case for both Michael Peña and Judy Greer, neither of whom seem to know if they’re coming back for the Ant-Man sequel. Your guess is as good as theirs.

At this point, you could probably use the MCU to delineate the passage of time. For instance, in just one more Marvel movie, it’ll be summertime, and we only have two more Marvel movies until Black Panther arrives. As we anxiously await T’Challa’s first solo film, new photos and video from the South Korea set have landed online, teasing a big chase sequence in which the hero rides atop a sports car. That series of words is definitely exciting.

Casting for Deadpool 2 is well underway, and with Atlanta star Zazie Beetz recently signing on to play Domino, one of two major roles has now been filled. And while Cable isn’t the only other new character joining the Merc With the Mouth for his upcoming sequel, he is arguably the most important piece of the casting puzzle given the larger role he’ll be playing in this corner of the mutant universe. According to the film’s writers, we’ll learn who’s playing Cable (as well as a few other “obscure” mutant characters) in Deadpool 2 “very soon.”