Marvel chief confirms Abomination vs Wong fight in ‘Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings’

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBlackRock and Warner Music Group have invested $750 million, in partnership with Influence Media, to acquire music-rights catalogs from female and diverse artists, a source confirms to Variety.Rather than joining the fray pursuing catalogs of iconic, older white-male artists like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie, the female-led Influence, which was founded by Lylette Pizarro (formerly a partner at RPM GRP) and Lynn Hazan (formerly CFO and GM of Epic Records) is focusing on newer, active catalogs, and plans to work with the artists, which will retain a stake in their work.While companies like Hipgnosis Songs also have invested in what are called “shallow” (i.e. more recent) catalogs from contemporary hitmakers like Jeff Bhasker, this partnership has already invested $300 million in 20 catalogs, including Puerto Rican powerhouse songwriter-producer Tainy, known for his work with Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Rosalía, Shawn Mendes and Cardi B’s “I Like It.” The news was first reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Zack Sharf With news coming in that Russia was invading Ukraine, late-night hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel designated airtime to slamming Donald Trump and Fox News personalities for their defenses of Vladimir Putin. Meyers told viewers on “Late Night” that “the entire world is aghast and horrified” as Russia mobilizes against the Ukraine — well, everyone except Trump. Meyers then played a clip of Trump defending Putin and calling him a “genius” while being interviewed on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.”“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said this is genius,” Trump is heard saying in the clip.

Promising actor Joseph Owen Wanders - who appeared in Coronation Street in 2018 - has died at the age of 27 after he "fell ill" in Costa Rica.An inquest heard how the late actor sadly passed away last month after he suffered a seizure while on holiday in the Caribbean.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorGoogle will no longer require U.S. staffers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as a condition of employment, and it scaled back some COVID-safety restrictions as it expects more workers to return to the internet giant’s office in the coming weeks.Google is dropping the requirement that vaxxed U.S.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJust a couple of hours before Francis Ford Coppola arrived for a 50th anniversary celebration of “The Godfather” on the Paramount lot, the Academy announced that it had nixed the live presentation of Oscars for eight categories at this year’s Academy Awards.The legendary director hadn’t heard the news until he was on the red carpet. “All those [categories] are important,” he told me.

Ethan Shanfeld Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will return in person this fall, welcoming local and international guests from Sept. 8 to 18.“We’re thrilled to share this news about TIFF 2022 and to introduce fresh voices to our programming team,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of the festival.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentHulu has acquired U.S. rights to “Fireheart,” Anton’s ambitious animated family feature directed by Laurent Zeitoun (“Leap!”) and Theodore Ty (“Kung Fu Panda”) with a voice cast headlined by Olivia Cooke, William Shatner, Laurie Holden and Kenneth Branagh.The deal was negotiated with Hulu by CAA Media Finance and Anton’s Cécile Gaget on behalf of the producers. “Fireheart” will debut on Hulu’s streaming platform in the U.S.

Eurovision Song Contest bosses have told how the contest will accept acts from both Russia and Ukraine in May, despite Vladimir Putin ordering an invasion.Putin's ongoing assault on the country has been widely condemned by western leaders, with Boris Johnson describing it as a "catastrophe" for Europe.

Kevin Feige told ET on the red carpet ahead of 's premiere. So, while the first film in the studio's fourth Phase is outwardly a swan song for its titular superheroine — an ending for Scarlett Johansson's superspy and Avenger — the movie is equally about setting up what comes next.Or as producer Brian Chapek put it, «This movie needed to do two things: The most important thing was celebrate Natasha's legacy.

Marvel‘s “Black Widow” finally releases this week and will likely be the final MCU outing for actress Scarlett Johansson. The actress has been playing the former Russian spy Natasha Romanoff since joining the massive superhero sandbox in 2010’s “Iron Man 2” after Emily Blunt had to exit the role over a scheduling issue with the long-forgotten Jack Black comedy “Gulliver’s Travels.” READ MORE: Marvel Phase 4: The Films & Shows That Will Lead The MCU Into The Future When she did sign on to appear in the “Iron Man” sequel, she had to sign a massive deal, not unlike other early MCU peers like Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Samuel L.

X-Men character across nine films, seemingly hanging up his claws with 2017’s Logan.Two images that were shared to Jackman’s Instagram Story yesterday (July 6) have now raised suspicions among fans that he might be returning to the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.The first was an image of Boss Logic artwork of a Wolverine claw, while the second saw Jackman posing next to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and boss of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.Disney and Marvel currently own the rights to the X-Men franchise following Disney’s merger with Fox in 2019, so a new project could be in the works in the future.However, every film in Phase 4 of the MCU has already been announced, so a new X-Men project would be unlikely to arrive

Marvel boss Kevin Feige and Justice League's Zack Snyder have led tributes to Superman director Richard Donner following his death. The legendary director, who helmed the original 1978 superhero movie alongside a string of classics including The Goonies and Scrooged, passed away yesterday (July 5) aged 91.

Hugh Jackman ignited the hopes of many Marvel fans after a seemingly casual post to his Instagram Stories.Superhero buffs started thinking the Australian actor was getting ready to reprise his role as Wolverine as he shared a photo posing with Marvel boss Kevin Feige.He also shared a shot of the character's signature claws from an artist-made poster design.

“Wolverine” fans are getting seriously excited thanks to Hugh Jackman’s latest social media post.

If you’ve been following Marvel Studios news over the past few years, especially during the dissolution of Marvel TV and the rise of Marvel Studios making TV series for Disney+, you know there is a distinct difference between Marvel, Marvel TV, and Marvel Studios. It’s a distinction that causes great confusion in fandom, especially on TV, but it’s an important one that is guiding the vision of Kevin Feige and the filmmakers at Marvel Studios.

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige said he regretted whitewashing 2016’s Doctor Strange.The actress portrayed The Ancient One, who is depicted in the original Marvel comic books as a Tibetan man, after Feige and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson decided to avoid perpetuating racial stereotypes about wise Asian men.However, the move backfired, spotlighted most prominently by an awkward exchange between comedian Margaret Cho and Swinton in 2016. Now, Swinton has reacted to the comments made by Feige in May in which he said that he wished he hadn’t whitewashed The Ancient One.Swinton told Variety on Wednesday (June 30) that she is “very, very grateful” for Feige’s denunciation of the casting.The Marvel boss has said he thought he’d made a

Kevin Feige certainly had cause to celebrate at the fanpremiere event in Los Angeles on Tuesday — and not just because it was one of Marvel's first in-person red carpets in over a year. The Marvel Studios president caught up with ET's Ash Crossan at the event, and expressed how thrilled he was to spot fans decked out in cosplay uniforms referencing the TVA — the quirky-yet-ominous Time Variance Authority, currently doing their best to manage the multiverse on, Marvel's latest Disney+ series.«That makes me so excited,» Feige raved. «Nobody outside of very, very particular comic nerds like myself had heard of the TVA [before ].

Kevin Feige certainly had cause to celebrate at the fanpremiere event in Los Angeles on Tuesday — and not just because it was one of Marvel's first in-person red carpets in over a year. The Marvel Studios president caught up with ET's Ash Crossan at the event, and expressed how thrilled he was to spot fans decked out in cosplay uniforms referencing the TVA — the quirky-yet-ominous Time Variance Authority, currently doing their best to manage the multiverse on, Marvel's latest Disney+ series.«That makes me so excited,» Feige raved. «Nobody outside of very, very particular comic nerds like myself had heard of the TVA [before ].

Manori Ravindran International EditorTilda Swinton has said she’s “very grateful” for a renewed discourse around her casting as The Ancient One in “Doctor Strange” — a hot topic for representation in Hollywood that re-emerged last month when Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige expressed regret at casting her in a role that was portrayed by an elderly Tibetan man in the graphic novels, but written for a woman in the movie.In May, Feige told Men’s Health magazine that the controversy over the 2016 film was a “wake-up call to say, ‘Well, wait a minute, is there any other way to figure it out? Is there any other way to both not fall into the cliché and cast an Asian actor?’ And the answer to that, of course, is yes.” In a wide-ranging

Though the original “Black Panther” only hit theaters and went on to earn more than $1.34 billion at the global box office in 2018, the three-year gap has felt like an eternity as the world has gone through so much in that time. And in terms of Marvel and “Black Panther,” that includes the sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman last year.

Black Panther 2 has officially started filming, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has confirmed.“It’s clearly very emotional without Chad,” Feige told Variety before a Black Widow Global Fan Event in Los Angeles yesterday (June 29).“But everyone is also very excited to bring the world of Wakanda back to the public and back to the fans.