Here's the latest in comic book/sci-fi/fantasy happenings:
'Cloak & Dagger' knifed
Yep, after two seasons on Freeform, the show starring Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph, adapted from Marvel Comics, has been canceled. Bad news? Well, for the show's cast, creators and fans, sure. But if you zoom back and look at the big picture, something more positive emerges.
Recently, Kevin Feige — he who has made the Marvel Cinematic Universe the greatest success in cinematic history — is taking over the world. Well, the Marvel world, anyway. Recently Disney's cap-wearing megaproducer was promoted to Marvel Chief Creative Officer, in charge of not only Marvel Films, but Marvel TV, Marvel Animation and Marvel Comics.
Almost immediately afterward, Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb announced he was leaving his position. It's not like he was leaving much: With "Cloak & Dagger" gone, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." ending and "Ghost Rider" canceled before it ever got started, Marvel Television was down to "Runaways" and vague plans for some future shows.
I fully expect those to go away, too, or be revamped to Feige's vision — because I suspect what we're seeing is a purge in order to clear the board for Feige to introduce MCU versions of the same characters. After all, he's already got more live-action Marvel shows announced for Disney+ than Marvel TV had in the works.
'GoT' duo ditch 'Star Wars'
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the "Game of Thrones" showrunners, had long been lined up to do the next "Star Wars" trilogy, beginning in 2022. In fact, many accused them of truncating the last season of "Thrones" to get to "Star Wars" that much faster. But recently they announced a lucrative deal with Netflix, and say they are now too busy to usher in the new, post-Skywalker era of "Star Wars."
Really? Hmm. That sounds an awful lot like "I'm resigning to spend more time with my family."
Especially since Disney has announced another "Star Wars" movie in the works, being developed by — wait for it — Kevin Feige.
"Too busy" for "Star Wars." Yeah, right.
Batman gets his cat
Variety announced recently that Zoë Kravitz ("Big Little Lies") will play Catwoman in the upcoming movie "The Batman," starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight. This isn't really breaking ground diversity-wise, since a woman of color has already essayed the role (Halle Berry in 2004's "Catwoman"). So maybe the usual lunkheads won't crawl out of their mothers' basements to review-bomb the show on Rotten Tomatoes, as they have other efforts with female or nonwhite leads, such as "Batwoman," "Black Panther" and "Captain Marvel." "The Batman" will be directed by Matt Reeves ("Planet of the Apes") and has been scheduled for June 25, 2021.
