Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor There’s a buzzed-about new film taking on the Marvel Universe, and I’m not talking about “Deadpool & Wolverine.” As that blockbuster-to-be hits theaters worldwide, a new short film made its debut Monday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter, before spreading to other platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. “Is Now a Good Time?” is written and directed by Jim Cummings, who also plays the lead role of Kyle – an employee of Disney Marvel, who arrives at the home of a dying young boy (Daniel Sanchez) to screen the new “Captain America 4” for him.
Anyone familiar with Cummings’ work and brand of uncomfortable humor from films like “Thunder Road” and “The Beta Test” won’t be surprised that things soon go very, very badly.Now that the film has been out for a few days, we wanted to get into some spoiler territory with Cummings, so please watch before proceeding!Much of the satirical humor comes from jabs taken at the entities of Marvel and Disney including their lack of gay representation in the MCU and long running times.
In fact, when the boy is left alone for three hours and 45 minutes to screen the movie, he passes away. A mortified Kyle tries to do his best with his corporate speak, telling the boy’s mother (Leticia Castillo), “He’s with Iron Man now.” An emotional Kyle then returns home to his gay Taiwanese boyfriend (Daniel Liu), bemoaning that he can’t keep doing this job.Of course, there is a reference to Martin Scorsese’s disdain for the Marvel movies, and Cummings even gave the filmmaker a shout-out in the Tribeca Film Festival program, where the short first premiered. (He’s not sure if Scorsese has seen it but his daughter Francesca Scorsese was on the festival’s Shorts.
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