’POOLED RESOURCES

The merc and the mutton chops dominate Marvel’s fallow year…

When you hear the title BALLERINA (7 June), you might not expect an action blowout. But that’s what you’re gonna get with Ana de Armas’ John Wick spin-off… Gru (Steve Carell) is back in DESPICABLE ME 4 (5 July). Script by The White Lotus’ Mike White, so expect sex, trauma and social anxiety. Or not…

One day your old pal Wade’s gonna ask you to get back in the saddle again,’ said Deadpool to Wolverine in 2018, backed by classic Cher lung-buster If I Could Turn Back Time. ‘And when he does, say yes.’ Happily, Weapon X did as he was told. Seven years after stubbing out the stogie in Logan, we’ll soon be watching Hugh Jackman revisit his Wolverine for Deadpool’s MCU debut.

‘You categorise it as a Deadpool movie,’ quipped Jackman to CNN. ‘We like to call it Wolverine 10.’ Either way, the meeting of these comic-book foes is a welcome one, especially since Logan’s botched clash with a sewn-up Weapon XI in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

While plot details remain zipped-up on the stand-off between the mouthy merc and the clawed X-vet, director Shawn Levy promises a ‘raw, audacious’ and – ultimately - more satisfying encounter this time, properly balanced between Ryan Reynolds and Jackman. ‘Both of them, they love each other’s jam,’ said Levy, making it clear that any ego battles will be left to the stars goofing out on the couch.

Alongside newcomers Matthew Macfadyen and Emma Corrin in undisclosed roles, other comebacks will include Jennifer Garner, returning to the role of Daredevil sai-spinner Elektra after 20 years. The film has been some time coming for Jackman, a point he makes with a promising buddy-movie reference point inspired by his thoughts watching 2016’s Deadpool. ‘All I kept seeing in my head was 48 Hrs., with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. So it’s been brewing for a long time. It just took me longer to get here.’

Patience is a virtue? Hopefully, that message may yet work for Marvel’s embattled wider universe. While 2024 previously had Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts on the roster, both films have now shifted to 2025. Whether you attribute this to delays resulting from the SAG-AFTRA strike or trouble at Marvel towers, the result is the MCU’s most diminished 12-months-plus presence – 2020 aside – in more than a decade.

As detailed in a Variety article, Marvel appear to be in a pickle. A glut of TV shows combined with so-called ‘superhero fatigue’, patchy reviews, dubious VFX, a frustrated workforce and allegations of domestic violence made against star Jonathan Majors have created a deluge of bad press. The Marvel universe has become so busy, long-teased-at characters (Scorpion, anyone?) and plot threads (Eternals’

Celestial) remain undeveloped. With deeply disappointing box-office returns for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels now mixed in, Marvel is on the back foot, exposed to even fiercer-than-usual scrutiny.

Perhaps a spare year, however, will provide the rest room needed for a change or a course correction. Deadpool 3 brings something new to the table, promising the studio’s first R-rated release. On TV, Echo (and, perhaps, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries) will hopefully keep fans satisfied. Fantastic Four should also rocket into production soon, auguring cosmic prospects for the studio (and Pedro Pascal’s name being linked to Mr. Fantastic hasn’t done anything to harm excitement there).

Beleaguered or not, Marvel doesn’t lack options. Kevin Feige recently mentioned a new Scarlett Johansson project, whatever that may be. Numerous teenage-ish characters have been floating around the franchise, their stories waiting to be unfurled. Kamala Khan shared her dream of another bigger universe as The Marvels closed, suggesting a Young Avengers in the making.

Meanwhile, a familiar blue fella teased at exciting (yes, we know, X-citing) new worlds for Marvel as he dropped a nugget of wisdom in the film’s midcredits scene: ‘Confusion is the first step to knowledge.’ It might be a long time before we walk through the door marked ‘X’ but chaos may yet give way to coherence. One thing’s for sure: Marvel needs to make that next step count.

James McAvoy leads SPEAK NO EVIL (9 August), a remake of 2022 Danish/Dutch horror. Original was brutal and this is directed by Eden Lake’s James Watkins. Ouch… UNTITLED JORDAN PEELE FILM (27 December): No cast or plot details. But might the release date suggest it’s set during the holidays?