Leaning into the humor instead of giving audiences another heavy drama, the new Disney/Marvel series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, also reflects some improvements on its CGI, which wasn’t quite as convincing in the first trailer. In the pages of the comics, Tatiana Maslany’s title character is known by day as Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner’s cousin, who gets a dose of Banner’s blood after an accident. This gives her slightly different, less overcharged reactions, but the big difference is she’s fully green–not turning back to her normal self like Banner usually did.
And Tim Roth is back as Emil Blonsky from that CGI-challenged Hulk movie everyone forgot about, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
Check out the San Diego Comic-Con trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law:
We couldn’t have been more excited when we heard–way back in 2020– Disney+ tapped Emmy-winning Orphan Black lead actress Tatiana Maslany into the Marvel Universe as She-Hulk. Finally we have the first trailer. Now called She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the series appears to lean into the humor instead of giving audiences another heavy dramatic effort. Instead of green paint and make-up, the show opts for CGI, which isn’t quite convincing in this first trailer. Look closely and it’s not so much the green tint as the CGI hair. But they have plenty of time to finish this better in post-production in time for the actual summer premiere.
Check out the first trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law:
The first two episodes of Marvel’s Hawkeye series are less than two weeks away. After the mental anguish of this year’s first round of Marvel streaming series–depression and loss as the themes of WandaVision, self-doubt and imposter syndrome as the themes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and regret and hopelessness as the themes of Loki–Marvel fans have earned themselves a fun Marvel series, and Hawkeye looks like it will fit the bill.
In yesterday’s quick Disney Plus Day event, the streaming service previewed what should be another fun series, as critically acclaimed Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany looks like she finds it easy being green as the title superheroine of She-Hulk. It’s a little harder to see what angle will be taken with Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight. A deadly war of the gods with Egypt as a backdrop feels and looks like Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse. And Iman Vellani stars in Ms. Marvel, which looks a lot like Marvel’s version of DC Comics’ Stargirl. New announcements include series Echo starring Alaqua Cox, Ironheartstarring Dominique Thorne, Agatha: House of Harknessstarring Kathryn Hahn, and Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn.
Take a look at another great Hawkeye trailer, and our first glimpses (barely) at She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel below.
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is likely the most popular villain in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s also one of the best, staying true not only to the comics, but the spirit of the Norse mythology they pulled him from. So a Lokiseries, coming soon to pay streaming provider Disney+, is almost guaranteed to be the big winner of 2021, right? That seems to be confirmed in the latest trailer for the six-episode event series. Is there a superhero series or movie this year you’re more anxious to watch than Loki?
As demonstrated by Luke Wilson’s appearance as co-star of Stargirl, you get the feeling the Wilson brothers are going to be the secret weapon for another sure-fire superhero series (even if it is about a super-villain). This time it’s Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, who is going to introduce Loki–and the audience–to a new universe tangent to the Marvel world we know about. Mobius M. Mobius is a character with some true comics street cred, originating from the mind of writer/artist Walt Simonson. And Mobius has a past in the comics pages connecting him with Fantastic Four and She-Hulk–will Wilson’s character be the new glue to connect the integration of the FF from Fox to Disney, and pull Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk into the MCU in her own series, due to arrive next year?
And does this furry friend know Goose from Captain Marvel? Other actors in the series include Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Richard E. Grant, who played Marvel character Dr. Rice, the mad scientist in Logan, from the other Marvel studio–Is this another opportunity to pull in the Fox Marvel stories?
Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe took center stage with some big reveals at a Disney investor event this week. The biggest news is a preview of Loki, which takes fan-favorite actor Tom Hiddleston’s beloved villain into more strange places, continuing the comic villainy that keeps fans coming back for more. Along with Loki, Disney rolled out previews of the new Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the What if…?animated series, the casting of the lead for Ms. Marvel, and details on new series from Secret Wars to Ant-Man 3 and She-Hulk. Plus new target release dates? Check those out and the trailers below.
It’s that time of year again, time to take a look forward at what movies should be on your radar for 2021! But wait! Next year’s list sure looks a lot like the the films we previewed last December. The covid pandemic has delayed hundreds of film projects, but some made it through. When you walk back through last year’s list and compare it to movies released after theater lockdowns, you get some insight into how Hollywood thinks. Big movies and movies predicted to be successes were universally held back, while less popular films were released to low box office returns from theaters that remained open, and yet other films went directly to home streaming or related media platforms.
Last year we pulled 85 of the hundreds of films then slated for the 2020 movie calendar. The first two dozen made it to theaters (films like Underwater, Dolittle, and Birds of Prey) before the national shift began on March 11 with news of the NBA reacting to the pandemic by suspending pro basketball–the first national awareness of the scope of the problem. Suddenly we saw Vudu and other home platforms coming to the rescue for our entertainment fix, adding a new Theater at Home option, which captured movies like Anya Taylor-Joy’s Emma, Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, and the animated Scoob! Disney began an interesting tiered release of Mulan, which for half the year showed a studio doing its best to maximize returns on what would have been a key release in any other year. After another delay The New Mutants made it briefly to theaters followed by home release after three years of getting kicked aside as the last vestiges of the Disney-Fox merger were shaken out. Other films, like Vast of Night, Extraction, The Old Guard, Rebecca,Radioactive, and Fantasy Island safely premiered on Netflix and Amazon Prime, with Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction standing out as the clear popular winner–the entire world needed some new entertainment and after what would only be the first of several months of shelter-at-home, it tentatively filled the void.
So our predictions for the year’s big genre films were flat wrong, every single one except Mulan was delayed to 2021, including Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Black Widow, No Time to Die, a new Fast & Furious, Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, and superhero flicks Venom 2, Eternals, and Morbius. Wonder Woman 1984 is expected to have a theatrical release by year end. Altogether 35 of last year’s 85 movies previewed on our annual list are back again below, plus we found more than 35 new genre films we think will appeal to borg readers.
So what’s left and what’s new?
Grab your calendar and start making your plans–here are the movies you’ll want to see in 2021. Then compare the below list to our 2020 list, and look back to the 2019 list, 2018 list, 2017 list, 2016 list, 2015 list, or 2014 list. Last year we noticed studios moving genre content from the big screen to the small screen via streaming services, and the pandemic only stepped up that migration. Note: Warner Bros. has reported it will issue its 2021 releases simultaneously on HBO Max. Netflix has mostly dramas slated for 2021, but a few genre films are in pre-production, so expect a few surprises throughout the year. Amazon Studios has fewer, most partnerships with Blumhouse Productions.
As we learned well this year, many of these films will have revised release dates, and even get pushed to 2022.
January
Mortal Kombat. Based on the video game. New! Tentative release date: January 15, 2021. HBO Max.
Wrath of Man. Next Jason Statham action flick. New! Tentative release date: January 15, 2021.
The French Dispatch. Wes Anderson and his familiar actors in new quirky film about journalists. New! January 28, 2021.
The Dig. A film about a woman finding archaeological treasures on her land, starring Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, and Carey Mulligan. January 29, 2021. Netflix.
Two of television’s best genre actors are soon going to be donning superhero garb for the two major comic book movie franchises. First, earlier this month Disney+ announced Emmy-winning Orphan Black lead actress Tatiana Maslany will be expanding the realm of the Marvel Universe as She-Hulk in her own series. Then today Black Adam star Dwayne Johnson announced Leverage co-star Aldis Hodge will be joining him to fill bring into the fold one of the last members of the classic Justice League of America to have a major series or movie role. Hodge will play Hawkman in the Black Adam movie. Both will be live-action shows.
The sestras are returning. BBC America’s sci-fi drama Orphan Black ran five seasons, wrapping in 2017, but the key cast members and creators will be back Sunday, this time online for a table read of two episodes of the series. Tatiana Maslany, who earned an Emmy for her role as several clones, is leading the effort, along with actors Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jordan Gavaris, Kristian Bruun, Kevin Hanchard, Dylan Bruce, Evelyne Brochu, and more. Based on the episodes selected, expect some great scenes with fan-favorite couples Donnie and Alison and Delphine and Cosima. And it’s all to raise money for charity.
The next detective-mystery crime series from HBO is going to be a bit different for fans of the 1950s-60s television series and even the original novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Moodier, darker, and grimier, HBO’s Perry Mason is coming to the cable network with an eight-episode season in only 60 days from now. The first trailer has arrived with the look of The Untouchables and LA Confidential, and the lead lawyer looking more like Columbo than Raymond Burr’s neat and pressed professional.
It’s that time of year again, time to take a look forward at what movies should be on your radar for 2020. Are you going to see them all? Heck no. These are the genre films we think borg readers will want to know about to make their own checklists for the coming year–and they are only the films we know about so far. We pulled 85 of the hundreds of films that have been finalized or are in varying stages of final production, slated for next year’s movie calendar.
What looks to top the list for most fanboys and fangirls? Ghostbusters: Afterlife! Scarlett Johannson solo in Black Widow! A new James Bond movie, No Time to Die. Vin Diesel in Bloodshot and a new Fast & Furious. The original Tom Clancy novel series is finally continuing with an adaptation of Without Remorse. Comic book adaptations are in less supply in 2020, but look for Venom 2, Wonder Woman 1984, Eternals, The New Mutants, Morbius, Birds of Prey, The Old Guard, and did we mention Black Widow? Compare the below list to our 2019 list and even the 2018 list, 2017 list, 2016 list, 2015 list, or 2014 list, and your takeaway may be seeing the studios moving genre content from the big screen to the small screen via streaming services.
Do you like sequels? There are far less coming to theaters in 2020 than in 2019, but many more remakes of movies, books, and TV shows are on the way. In fact, with all the blockbusters in 2019, 2020 looks pretty tame as the cinema marquee is concerned. Some films don’t have locked in release dates yet: Amazon Studios and Netflix haven’t revealed dates for the following 2020 releases (those we know you’ll find on the calendar below):
7500, a film about a highjacked airplane, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Amazon Studios)
The Dig,a film about a woman finding archaeological treasures on her land, starring Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, and Carey Mulligan (Netflix)
Horse Girl, Alison Brie stars and directs this story about an awkward girl who fuses her dreams with reality (Netflix)
Jingle Jangle, an animated Christmas story with the voices of Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, and Hugh Bonneville (Netflix)
Louis Wain, biopic of the 19th century artist starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, and Andrea Riseborough (Amazon Studios)
The Old Guard, adaptation of comic book story, starring Charlize Theron and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Netflix)
Radioactive, a film about Marie Curie, starring Rosamund Pike and Anya Taylor-Joy (Amazon)
Rebecca, adaptation and remake of the Daphne Du Maurier classic novel, starring Lily James, Keely Hawes, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Armie Hammer (Netflix)
Welcome to Sudden Death, sequel to Jean-Claude van Damme 1995 movie starring Michael Jai White (Netflix)
The Willoughbys, animated adaptation of the Lois Lowry book, with voices of Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and Jane Krakowski (Netflix)
Wonderland, murder conspiracy mystery starring Mark Wahlberg, Allan Arkin, and Colleen Camp (Netflix)
Some of these films will have revised release dates, or get pushed to 2021.
So grab your calendar and start making your plans–here are the movies you’ll want to see in 2020 (and some you might not!):
January
The Informer – Thriller, starring Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Ana de Armas, Common, and Clive Owen – January 10.
Underwater– Thriller, stars Kristin Stewart in underwater horror story – January 10.
Dolittle– Family/Comedy, stars Robert Downey, Jr. in remake of the classic, with voices of Tom Holland, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, Emma Thompson, Antonio Banderas, Ralph Fiennes, and Michael Sheen – January 17.
The next detective-mystery crime series from HBO is going to be a bit different for fans of the 1950s-60s television series and even the original novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Moodier, darker, and grimier, HBO’s Perry Mason is coming to the cable network with an eight-episode season in only 60 days from now. The first trailer has arrived with the look of The Untouchables and LA Confidential, and the lead lawyer looking more like Columbo than Raymond Burr’s neat and pressed professional.
