Review: Spider-Man: No Way Home (UK Cert 12A)

 

After the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which ended with Mysterio outing Peter Parker as the web-slinging superhero, Peter's life has changed drastically. Desperate, he turns to Doctor Strange for help and a spell which will make people forget that Peter is Spider-Man. But when the enchantment goes awry, dangerous foes from other worlds appear, all looking for Spider-Man... but not this one... 

Before I begin this review proper, please be assured: there are no spoilers here. Yes, it's gonna make discussing the film as a whole a bit more difficult, but- frankly- anyone reading this who hasn't seen the film deserves to have the same experience in the cinema that I did. There are moments in the film which will have so much more impact if you don't know they are coming. I daresay, once all three of us have seen it, we might release a more spoiler-filled podcast but, for the moment, if it wasn't something revealed in the trailers or official pre-release publicity, you ain't gonna find me talking about it here. Also please respect the "no spoilers" policy that people may have - don't be that person. Thank you!

Director Jon Watts and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers deserve a great big pat on the back. This had the potential to be a bloated, self-referential mess. It's far from it. Yes, there's the occasional bit of fan-service, but nothing that would alienate a more casual viewer. Yes, it's a long film (nearly 2hrs 30m) but it never feels long. The script is well-paced and nothing feels superfluous. It manages to balance heart-racing action with heartwrenching emotion, with a healthy does of humour to counterbalance it all. 

Performance-wise, this is the strongest that Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon have been. Holland still has that puppyish enthusiasm that has been the hallmark of his portrayal as Spidey, but here it's also tempered with a much more mature streak of dealing with rage and pain, and what it truly means to be a hero. There are moments where he'll break your heart, and moments where he'll make you feel exhilarated. Zendaya imbues MJ with more than just a level of snark, making the stakes for her relationship with Peter feel real. Finally, Batalon's Ned also becomes more than just a comic relief character, again showing a level of maturity and growth in the character. 

In support, Cumberbatch is great as the mentor-figure to Peter. Still haughty, still self-important, and still arrogant enough to think he can change the world, Strange decides to go against advice from Wong (a lovely cameo by Benedict Wong) and casts the spell anyway. Quick to abdicate himself of responsibility, he sends Peter on a mission to catch any interlopers from other dimensions. Cumberbatch has to deliver a great deal of expository dialogue (especially to do with the idea of "the multiverse") but it never feels like an infodump. 

In other supporting roles, Marisa Tomei and Jon Favreau continue to shine as Aunt May and Happy Hogan (who turns out to actually be called Harold), with Tomei's May providing a moral imperative for Peter in light of the multiversal villain situation. It's great to see J.K. Simmons reprise his role as blowhard newsie J. Jonah Jameson, who pops up almost like a warped Greek chorus, to give the right-wing opinion on Spider-Man's actions. 

Time to discuss the villains of the piece. In all honesty, and I've said this before, Alfred Molina's performance as Dr. Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2 is not only one of the main reasons why that film is so good, I'm gonna go further and say it's one of the strongest comic-book villain turns one film (don't @ me). So to anchor the multiversal villains with his turn is a canny move. And, considering he's reprising a role seventeen years later, Molina slips effortlessly back into the part. 

Jamie Foxx's performance as Max Dillon/Electro is miles better than the one he gave in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Willem Dafoe adds a steely menace as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Of the villains, Dafoe probably gets the meatiest role (in terms of character arc and development) and his unpredictable nature put me on the edge of my seat more than once. The action set-pieces are strong and unmuddied, even towards the end in the final big battle. There's an admirable lack of kinetic shakycam- which I greatly appreciate.

There's a lot, lot, lot more I want to say about the film. But I won't. Not yet. In conclusion, for me, this is the strongest of the three Sony/MCU Spider-Man films and a major contender for my film of the year. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Comicbook Movie Round-Up: April 2019 (Part 3)

In the third and final part of this round-up (aren't you glad I didn't do this in one post?), we take a look at what Sony has brewing in relation to its Marvel-adjacent movies and find out what's going on with the X-Men...

SONY

MORBIUS

As part of Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC)- which started with Venom- there's going to be a film featuring Morbius The Living Vampire 

For those who need to know, Morbius The Living Vampire was introduced in the Spider-Man comics in 1971. Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Dr. Michael Morbius attempted to cure himself of a rare blood disease- with disastrous consequences. Well, if you will inject yourself with vampire-bat DNA...  Instead of a cure, he found a thirst for blood- as well as super strength, and fangs. Originally an antagonist, Morbius soon became a hero of sorts. 

Jared Leto is taking on the main role (probably another reason why he won't be reprising the Joker anytime soon), whilst erstwhile Time Lord Matt Smith and Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows' Jared Harris have also joined the cast, rumoured to be the villain Loxias Crown (who suffers the same disease as Morbius) and Morbius' mentor respectively. Adria Arjona (Pacific Rim: Uprising, Good Omens) and Tyrese Gibson (Transformers, Fast & Furious 5) are also due to star, with Arjona as Martine Bancroft- Morbius' love interest- and Gibson as an FBI agent who is after the living vampire. 

Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Life) will direct, from a script by Burk Sharpless & Matt Samaza. The film is expected in July 2020.  

VENOM 2

Venom made a lot of money for Sony (with over $850m at the box office)- despite having about as much charm and wit as a sewage outlet- so it's pretty much a no-brainer that a sequel is in the works. Writer Kelly Marcel will return to write the screenplay. Given the brief scene with Woody Harrelson toward the end of the film, it's a pretty sure bet that any sequel will feature Cletus Kassady (a.k.a. Carnage). 

OTHER SUMC FILMS

There are rumours that a number of other films are being developed in this universe. 

Silk - a Korean-American heroine, Cindy Moon was also bitten by the radioactive spider that nipped Peter Parker, thus she also develops super-powers (organic webbing, Spidey-Sense etc). Asian-American actress Tiffany Espensen plays a character called Cindy in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which led fans to speculate that Silk may show up at some point. 

Kraven The Hunter - Sergei Kravinoff is a big-game hunter who has one major quarry whose head he wants to hang on his wall. No prizes for guessing that it's Spider-Man's. 

Mysterio - an illusionist who uses magic to pull of his criminal heists. There have been a number of people to use the 'Mysterio' name, but one of the best-known ones is Quentin Beck (who will be played by Jake Gyllenhaal in Spider-Man: Far From Home). 

Black Cat & Silver Sable - a previously announced film called Silver & Black which would focus on these two characters (Felicia Hardy and Silver Sablinova) has been dropped. But don't despair: apparently these two villainesses- anti-heroines?- will be getting their own standalone movies, with Black Cat (arguably the better known of the two characters) most likely to come first. Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything) played a character called Felicia in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but the chances of her reprising the roe don't seem great. 

Jackpot - another nickname used by different people. Firstly, Sara Ehret who developed superhuman strength when exposed to the Lot 777 virus. When Sara wanted to return to a normal life, she sells her identity to Alana Jobson who uses the Mutant Growth Hormone to give herself invulnerability, super-strength and super-stamina

Nightwatch - originally featured in the comics in 1993, Nightwatch is the alter ego of African-American scientist Dr. Kevin Trench. Trench sees a costumed hero die whilst battling terrorists armed with cloaking devices. However, when he unmasks the dead man, Trench learns it was an older version of himself. Spike Lee has previously been attached to a Nightwatch movie for Sony, so whether he'll still take that on is unknown. 

So it looks as if Sony will be keeping itself busy if all of these films come to fruition!

Lastly, let's take a look at what Fox have going on, with the X-Men franchise...

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX

As the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox has now gone ahead, the X-Men are cleared to join the MCU. That won't be happening for a while, so X-Men: Dark Phoenix might be your last chance to see the X-Men on the big screen for a bit. Especially with what's going on with The New Mutants... (more on that below)

After not one, but two delays, pushing it back from November 2018 to February 2019 and then further, X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be hitting cinemas in June 2019. 

Set in the 1990s, X-Men: Dark Phoenix focuses on Jean Grey (Game Of Thrones' Sophie Turner) who starts to tap into the power of the Phoenix- but to what end? Well, if you've read the comic-books or you've seen the utter car-crash that is X-Men: The Last Stand, you know to what end: it involves people dying and wholesale destruction. 

James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan, Evan Peters, and Kodi Smit-McPhee are all back from previous X-Men movies- and are being joined by Jessica Chastain as the shapeshifter 'Smith' (having repeatedly shot down rumours that she's actually playing Shi'ar empress Lilandra Neramani)

Guess we've not got too much longer til we find out!

THE NEW MUTANTS

When one of the main cast of your well-publicised particularly troubled production bluntly comes out with 'Who knows when the f*** that's gonna come out?', the signs aren't good. Bit of an understatement, I know...

Starring Maisie Williams (she of the 'f*** knows' statement), Charlie Heaton, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Henry Zaga, the trailer for this horror-tinged hero-fest- featuring, as the title suggests, a new class of mutants- hit in October 2017 with a planned release date of April 2018. Due to a less-than-positive reaction to that initial trailer, the film's release was pushed back by nearly a year to February 2019.

More time to 'get it right'. More time for reshoots. More time to add a new character in. More time to ramp up the horror. More time to... well, we're not really sure. But then X:Men: Dark Phoenix got moved, and so did The New Mutants- to August 2019. That is still the case, apparently. However, there's been no sign of any reshoots but things are in the hands of the director, Josh Boone. But he's been quiet about it...

Co-producer Lauren Shuler Donner has even stated that, whilst she'd like to see The New Mutants make it to the big screen, she wasn't able to confirm that it would happen. It could end up on a streaming service (either Hulu or potentially Disney+, as The New Mutants was still included in Disney's release schedule that was announced at CinemaCon) but a decision would be made once the Fox/Disney merger went through. 

So, frankly, who knows?

ONE LAST THING...

This might be of cheer to fans of Deadpool. Fears that- following the Fox/Disney merger- the Merc With The Mouth wouldn't be a good fit for the House of Mouse should be allayed, when it was announced that there are plans to continue with the more adult style movies like Deadpool. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirming that they will 'continue in that business... there's certainly popularity with those type of films'. Iger also went on to say that any R-Rated fare would be 'carefully' branded so as not to confuse the consumer. 

Reynolds took to Twitter once the merger was completed with a true-to-form tweet:

Never change, Ryan.

Comic-Book Movie Round-up: December 2014

So, there's been quite a bit of comic book movie news recently, with massive announcements from both Warner Bros and Marvel Studios over their respective slates for the next five years. There's also been some great casting news announced. 

THE DC CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

2015 will still be dominated by Marvel Studios with both Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Ant-Man (and the first of the new Fantastic Four films) but, from 2016, Warner Bros and DC Entertainment throw their hat into the ring with the start of their cinematic universe, opening with the utter doozy of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and then moving on to Suicide Squad.

Casting was announced this week for Suicide Squad, which is to be written and directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch, Fury).

Will Smith will play Deadshot, whilst recent Oscar-winner Jared Leto will play The Joker and The Wolf Of Wall Street's Margot Robbie will play Harley Quinn. Tom Hardy will play Rick Flagg whilst A Good Day To Die Hard's Jai Courtney is Captain Boomerang. Finally, model Cara Delevingne  will play Enchantress. There's also a rumour that Jesse Eisenberg may make an appearance, reprising his role as Lex Luthor from Batman V Superman. 

Fans may notice that there's one piece of casting that has yet to be announced, and that's of the Suicide Squad's head honcho, Amanda Waller. Whilst no casting has been announced, it's been reported that Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis are all under consideration.

In 2017, there'll be a standalone Wonder Woman movie, presumably with Gal Gadot reprising her role. Michelle MacLaren (who has done sterling TV work on episodes of Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad) will direct and the screenplay will be written by Jason Fuchs. 

Also in late 2017, there'll be the first part of a Justice League movie to be directed by Zack Snyder (Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman). Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Amy Adams are already signed on to reprise their roles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lois Lane. The second part will hit screens in 2019.

In 2018, The Flash will make his big-screen debut played by Ezra Miller (We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower), as will Aquaman with Game Of Thrones' Jason Momoa in the lead role. No doubt Miller and Momoa will also appear in the Justice League movies. 

In 2019, along with the second part of the Justice League movie, Shazam will hit the screens. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has already announced he will be playing Black Adam but no other casting has been confirmed as yet.

Finally in 2020, a Cyborg movie (starring Ray Fisher as Victor Stone, who will also appear in other movies) and a reboot of Green Lantern completes DC's ambitious slate. Considering that the 2011 Green Lantern movie is generally considered to be a bit of a turkey (losing millions at the box office), it's no surprise they've decided to leave the reboot until last. 

Plans have also been announced for standalone Batman and Superman movies but these have not formed part of this plan as yet.

THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

I did a quick blog when the Marvel slate for 2016-2019 was announced but there have been a few new bits of information since (most notably a major piece of casting)

Captain America 3 was slated for May 2016 (US date), and was originally opening on the same day as Batman V Superman. Were Marvel afraid? Nope. Their date remained unchanged and now it's clear why: the third Captain America film will adapt the highly esteemed Civil War storyline.

Essentially, Civil War pits Cap against Tony Stark over a government bill aimed at forcing superheroes to register themselves and reveal their identities. Cap is against it, Stark is for. Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans will reprise their roles, and this will also be the debut for Chadwick Boseman who was announced as playing Black Panther. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will also return from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Also in 2016, Marvel takes a dip into the more supernatural side of things with Doctor Strange. It was confirmed this week that Benedict Cumberbatch would take the role of the Sorceror Supreme after weeks of speculation. Scott Derrickson (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sinister) will direct with a script being rewritten by Jon Spaihts.

2017 is going to be a bumper year for Marvel with no less than 3 movies expected for release (at the moment). First of these is Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, which should see the original cast reteam under returning director James Gunn. Next up is Thor: Ragnarok, which will see Asgard under threat from the end of all things. At the moment, Chris Hemsworth will be returning and (it is expected) Tom Hiddleston. Less certain would be Natalie Portman or Anthony Hopkins' involvement, but as no story details have emerged so far, it's difficult to say. Marvel finish the year off with the standalone film for Black Panther.

In 2018, cinemas will get the first part of Avengers: Infinity War which is a very exciting prospect. Josh Brolin is expected to reprise his role as Thanos, as the plot focuses on Thanos' use of the Infinity Stones to terrorise the universe. Summer 2018 will see Marvel's first female-led superhero movie with Captain Marvel, which has been confirmed as being Carol Danvers. There's been a longstanding rumour that Katee Sackhoff is linked with the role but this is just idle gossip at the moment (although I think she'd be kickass). 2018 tounds off with Inhumans.

2019 sees the release of the second part of Avengers: Infinity War. Nothing else has been announced after that. 

20TH CENTURY FOX

Whilst Marvel and DC are the big hitters, Fox have a decent slate of superhero movies due out with reboots of one property and a few sequels to others.

2015 sees the release of the rebooted Fantastic Four, with Miles Teller (Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic), Kate Mara (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch) and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm/The Thing) in the lead roles. British actor Toby Kebbell will take the role of Dr. Doom, and Chronicle director Josh Trank will oversee the project.

In early 2016, the Deadpool spin-off will be released, with Ryan Reynolds appearing to be close to reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (he's been dropping a few less-than-subtle hints on social media this week). Tim Miller will make his directorial debut.

Also in 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse will hit the screens with Bryan Singer back in the director's chair. The action moves to the 1980s and rumour has it that it will tie up the First Class trilogy. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) has been cast as Apocalypse. 

Early 2017 currenly sees the sequel to The Wolverine. The only information available so far is that James Mangold, who directed The Wolverine, is attached to direct and that Hugh Jackman will star. No clue on plot or other casting as yet.

Summer 2017 will also see The Fantastic Four 2. The four main cast are expected to return, but that's all we know so far. Josh Trank's involvement is uncertain due to his commitments for a standalone Star Wars film.

There's an untitled X-Men movie rumoured for 2018, and Channing Tatum has seemingly been confirmed as playing Gambit (in an interview with producer Laura Shulde Donner), but whether Gambit will appear in this one or maybe even appear in X-Men: Apocalypse is uncertain. 

SONY AND SPIDEY

Currently, Sony have four comic book projects slated- Sinister Six, Venom, a female-led Spider-Man spin-off and The Amazing Spider-Man 3. However, given the fact that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't exactly set the box office alight, it looks as if plans may be altered slightly. 

Currently, Drew Goddard's Sinister Six movie is still slated for late 2016 although there's been zip in the way of either casting or even which of the Spidey supervillains will make up the Sinister Six. 

As for the female led Spider-Man movie, the best bet would be Black Cat (as the character was hinted at in The Amazing Spider-Man 2) but there are absolutely no details about this project, apart from the concept and a vague release date of 2017. Similarly, the Venom project hasn't progressed either- again, a vague release date of 2017 is the only thing to say, but rumours are that the project has been canned and the character may appear in the Sinister Six instead.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is provisionally down for release in 2018, having been moved back from 2016 (thus removing a previously-earmarked Amazing Spider-Man 4). However, there are rumours of yet another reboot in the works or even Sony entering talks with Marvel to allow Spider-Man to join The Avengers (which would be awesome but a logistical nightmare, one would imagine). 

Other studios have provisionally or fully set their rosters and publicised at least some of their films. Sony is the only one with a major comic-book franchise that hasn't. Make of that what you will. 



So, as you can see, there's a lot to go see in the next few years. Here's a handy calendar of what to expect when (please note, this may be schedule to change- let's face it, we are talking some longterm planning here!)


2015

April 24 (UK)/May 1 (US): Avengers: Age Of Ultron

July 17: Ant-Man

August 6 (UK)/August 7 (US): The Fantastic Four


2016

February 12: Deadpool

March 25: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

April 29 (UK)/May 6 (US): Captain America: Civil War

May 19 (UK)/May 27 (US): X-Men: Apocalypse

August 5: Suicide Squad

November 6: Doctor Strange

November 11: Sinister Six


2017

March 2 (UK)/March 3 (US): The Wolverine sequel

April 28 (UK)/May 5 (US): Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

June 23: Wonder Woman

July 14: The Fantastic Four 2

July 28: Thor: Ragnarok

October 27 (UK)/November 2 (US): Black Panther

November 23: Justice League Part One


2018

March 23 - The Flash

April 27 (UK)/May 4 (US): Avengers: Infinity War Part One

July 6 - Captain Marvel

July 13 - untitled X-Men movie

July 27 - Aquaman

October 26 (UK)/November 2 (US): Inhumans


2019

April 5 - Shazam

April 26 (UK)/May 3 (US): Avengers: Infinity War Part Two

June 14 - Justice League Part Two


2020

April 3 - Cyborg

June 19 - Green Lantern


Busy time ahead!

Comic Book Movie Round-Up: March 2014

There has been a whole load of comic-book movie related news over the past few weeks, so here's a round-up of what's been going on.

* * * 

MARVEL VS DC

It was recently announced that DC's Batman Vs Superman movie had been postponed from 2015 to May 6 2016. This sets up a battle of the comic-book movies as it will now open on the same day as a Marvel film, expected to be Captain America 3 (although an official announcement has yet to be made). Marvel are 'certainly keeping the date', according to Kevin Feige, and aren't afraid of a clash. 

When asked by Access Hollywood to predict the winner of this clash of the titans, Sebastian Stan (who has a nine picture deal with Marvel) stated 'All you have to do to know the answer to that question is look at the track record of Marvel versus DC'. Meow!

We discussed the casting for Batman Vs Superman in Programme 36 where, it's safe to say, there were some strong opinions over the casting of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jeremy Irons as Alfred. They will join Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman, with Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne reprising their roles from Man Of Steel. Irons has just revealed in an interview with Absolute Radio that "The script isn't entirely finished' although pre-production has begin in Michigan.

It's certainly an exciting piece of news and may cause a few headaches for comic book fans. See one? See them both? If you see them both, which order do you see them in? Either way, both studios will make a whole load of money off these movies.

* * *

FOX'S OPENING GAMBITS

20th Century Fox have announced opening dates for two upcoming films.

In addition to the Bryan-Singer-directed X-Men: Apocalypse which is lined up for release on May 27 2016, there will be a sequel to The Wolverine which set to hit screens on March 3 2017. This will see Hugh Jackman reprise his role as Logan/Wolverine for the eighth time and will be directed by James Mangold (who also directed The Wolverine) and will be written by David James Kelly (according to Deadline).

They've also given a date for the second instalment of the Fantastic Four reboot - even though filming hasn't even started on the first! This film is due on July 14 2017, whilst the first film is scheduled for release on June 19 2015. If you want to know what we think about the (potential) casting for this film, have a listen to Programme 36 where we discuss our thoughts.

* * *

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

This week saw the release of several pieces of concept art for Marvel's upcoming releases, including some for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Due in cinemas on May 1 2015 and directed by Joss Whedon, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson will all reprise their roles from The Avengers/Avengers Assemble.

Scarlet Witch concept art

Quicksilver concept art

Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson join the cast as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively. Due to a very unique and slightly complicated situation involving a quirk of publishing, they can appear in multiple (and rival) film franchises. They are the children of Magneto and can therefore appear in Fox's X-Men franchise (and will - Evan Peters is playing Quicksilver in X-Men: Days Of Future Past), but they are also linked to the Avengers franchise and can therefore appear in Marvel films as well. 

James Spader will play villain Ultron (despite Stan Lee admitting in an interview with Playboy 'I don't have any idea who the hell Ultron is'- Lee had finished working on The Avengers before Ultron was created) and Thomas Kreschmann will play the villainous Baron Von Strucker. Kretschmann also has a multi-film deal so expect to see the Baron popping up in other movies. 

* * *

MARVEL PHASE 3 NEWS

The recent documentary- Marvel Studios: Assembling A Universe- showed test footage from Ant-Man. Directed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World), the film will kick off Marvel Studios' Phase 3 of movies. 

Test footage from Ant-Man

Paul Rudd has been cast as Scott Lang, with Michael Douglas playing Hank Pym. Patrick Wilson has confirmed his casting- stating he is playing an 'important' role in the film- but hasn't given any more details. Michael Pena has confirmed he is in discussions for a role but nothing is confirmed yet, whilst Gravity composer Steven Price will provide the score. Ant-Man is currently slated for July 17 2015.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, directors Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose, Sinister), Mark Andrews (Brave), and Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies) are in the frame to direct Marvel's Doctor Strange project. However, Kevin Feige has dismissed rumours that Andrews and Levine were approached- stating 'we're meeting a lot of people now'- and has also quashed rumours that Johnny Depp is in line to take the title role.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo will return to direct Captain America 3, having just helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

Marvel Studios are developing ideas for a stand-alone Black Widow movie, to build on the exploration of her character shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Scarlett Johansson seems up for it, telling reporters at the premiere for Captain America: The Winter Soldier "If you want to see a Black Widow spin-off movie, then I want to see it. We'll see. We will put the request in to Marvel tomorrow."

Ant-Man, Captain America 3 and Doctor Strange are in line for Phase 3, with rumours of Thor 3 and a Black Panther movie also included, which would lead up to The Avengers 3 to finish the phase.

* * *

SONY'S AMAZING PLANS FOR SPIDER-MAN

With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 imminent, Sony are looking to expand their comic-book universe with spin-off movies based on some of Spidey's best known villains.

Variety quotes Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal as saying "We are expanding the Spider-Man universe into the Sinister Six and Venom, so that we have Spider-Man movies every year."

Venom will be written by Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci and Ed Solomon and may also be directed by Kurtzman. Venom has previously been seen on-screen in 2007's Spider-Man 3, played by Topher Grace.

The Sinister Six movie will be written by Drew Goddard, who may also direct. There are various iterations of the Sinister Six throughout the comic books so it will be interesting to see who they draw in. Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Vulture, Mysterio, Kraven The Hunter, the Hobgoblin, the Green Goblin, Venom and the Lizard have all- at one time or another- been members of the group, so Goddard's got plenty to play with. Considering the multiple villains in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, perhaps a few Marvel-style multi-picture deals have been signed?

There are currently no dates for the Venom or Sinister Six movies, but it might be a safe bet that we'll be looking at one in 2015 and the other in 2017.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is due for release on May 27 2016 in the UK and June 10 2016 in the US and will be Marc Webb's last time in the director's chair for a Spider-Man movie. The film will be written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner. It is unclear at the moment whether Shailene Woodley (who was due to play Mary Jane Watson and recorded scenes for The Amazing Spider-Man 2) will return due to her workload in the Divergent sequels.

There are also plans afoot for The Amazing Spider-Man 4, slated for May 4 2018. In an interview with Crave Online last year, Webb teased that: 'what we've discovered is there are so many ancillary characters, that have enormous, cinematic potential that there may be other ways to exploit those characters, in a way that is exciting and fun and worthwhile. It might not just be a Spider-Man movie."

Could we be looking at a Spider-Man vs... scenario? It will be interesting to see.