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      Book Review: ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios,’ by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards

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      “The Reign of Marvel Studios” captures how movies based on comic-book properties came to dominate pop culture. At least until now.MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin EdwardsHollywood doesn’t believe in immortals. From Mary Pickford to the MGM musical, Golden Age cowboys to teenage wizards, the city worships its gods only until their box-office power dims. So it feels audacious — if not foolhardy — to open “MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios” and find its authors, Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards, declaring that it’s difficult to imagine a future where the Disney-owned superhero industrial complex “didn’t run forever.” Even Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, has yet to engineer a perpetual motion machine.Yet the three veteran pop culture journalists behind this detailed accounting of the company’s ascendancy have the numbers to support it. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, a constellation of solo superhero tales mixed with all-star team-ups, including four installments of “The Avengers,” is Hollywood’s most successful movie franchise of all time — 32 films that have grossed a combined $29.5 billion. By comparison, the book points out that the “Star Wars” series, Marvel’s nearest rival, has notched only 12 films and $10.3 billion.Turning the pages — which are devoid of the usual, and unnecessary, glossy photo spreads — one realizes that superheroes are an X-ray lens into the last decade and a half of Hollywood disruption. Every upheaval gets a mention: corporate mergers; profit-losing streaming services; Chinese censorship; digitally scanned actors; social media cancellations; #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite; the resurgence of a production-to-distribution vertical pipeline that hadn’t been legal since the 1948 Paramount Decree. Pity there’s no room to examine each in depth.First, the origin story. In the ’90s, the former overseer of Marvel Enterprises, Ike Perlmutter (let’s give him the comic book nickname “The Pennypincher”), empowered his entertainment division to license its biggest stars for cheap, scattering Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men across other studios in service of selling more toys. (“MCU” familiarizes us with the marketing term “toyetic.”)The saga of who and what changed the company’s direction involves chancy gambles, pivotal lunches at Mar-a-Lago, rivalrous committees and the waning of Perlmutter’s influence, amid the waxing of Kevin Feige, the book’s hero, a five-time U.S.C. Film School reject who started his production career teaching Meg Ryan to log in to AOL for the romantic comedy “You’ve Got Mail.” To establish their independence, the writers mention at the top that Disney, now Marvel’s parent company, asked people not to give them an interview. Many already had, or chose to anyway, although most shy away from on-the-record quotes about the really salacious stuff. No one will say that the rumored $400-million-plus Robert Downey Jr. earned across nine films factored into the decision to kill off Tony Stark, but the innuendo is thicker than Iron Man’s armored exoskeleton.Signs that the Marvel era is nearing the end of its cultural dominance are everywhere, including in this book. Despite the authors’ rah-rah intro (there are no bad Marvel films, they claim, only “a mix of entertaining diversions and inarguable masterpieces”), they wisely sense that the library’s cinema history section will eventually file Feige next to John Ford as filmmakers who defined the spirit of a moment.“MCU” concedes that three of Marvel’s worst-reviewed films were all made in the last three years, just as one of the studio’s cornerstone creatives, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn, decamped to run DC Studios, the home of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.Meanwhile, the churn of faster, cheaper superhero content for Disney+ has led the studio’s weary visual-effects workers (whose exhaustion is well documented here) to vote to unionize. Fandom has become a Sisyphean labor as never-ending spinoff series force a once-rapt audience to pick and choose which story lines they’ll bother to follow.To those seismic grumbles, I’ll add another: Today’s teenagers were toddlers when Marvel first seized the zeitgeist. What generation wants to dig the same stuff as their parents?Marvel’s inescapable obsolescence is the best argument for “MCU”; the genre should be studied with the same rigor as film noir. The book’s admiration for Marvel movies works in its favor, freeing the writers to skip straight to the gossip, like the relative who pulls you aside at Thanksgiving to whisper about your cousin’s divorce. If you didn’t understand the plot of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” before, they’re not wasting space explaining it here.Instead, the book will satisfy your appetite for Marvel’s endless contract negotiations with Sony over the character rights for Spider-Man, which is easy when one encounter climaxes with the former Sony Pictures chairwoman Amy Pascal hurling a sandwich — and an expletive — at Feige. Battles over screenplay credits are even juicier. That’s where you’ll find the most inventive insults.Elsewhere, one has to read several paragraphs past a doctor willing to estimate that “50 to 75 percent” of Marvel’s stars are Hulked-out on performance-enhancing drugs to learn that he has not, in fact, treated any of the studio’s actors. While the hustle to wrap things up before the tome turns into “Captain America: Civil War and Peace” means racing through the most recent projects in a blur, earlier chapters are able to dish the dirt, like whose script notes triggered the collapse of Edgar Wright’s “Ant-Man” and why Feige refused to continue collaborating with the original Bruce Banner, Edward Norton.After all, the authors know a saga is only as exciting as its villain.MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios | By Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards | 528 pp. | Liveright | $35 More

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      Stan Lee, a Comic Book Presence On and Off Screen

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      Mr. Lee was nearly synonymous with Marvel Comics and appeared in many of their films, but his guest appearances cross over into audio, animation and more.The trials and tribulations of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men and other Marvel Comics superheroes are familiar around the world thanks to comic books and films. Somewhat less known are the successes and struggles of the writer, the publisher and the showman Stan Lee, who was pivotal — along with the artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko — in bringing so many of Marvel’s characters to life.The documentary “Stan Lee” by the director David Gelb that debuts on June 10 at the Tribeca Festival in New York City seeks to change that. The film uses previously unreleased audio recordings and film footage and new and archival interviews to tell Mr. Lee’s story. The film, which will be available on Disney+ June 16, is a new way of seeing Mr. Lee, who was a constant presence in the lives of fans thanks to his writing, his voice work, his television appearances and his Marvel movie cameos. Here are some notable ones.Mr. Lee’s roles and affiliations with Marvel Comics included writer, publisher and spokesman.MarvelCameo AppearancesWhen “Iron Man” was released in 2008, it was the beginning of what is now known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also started a streak of appearances by Mr. Lee in the films. In “Iron Man,” he is at a party and is spotted by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who confuses him for Hugh Hefner.Not all his appearances were tongue-in-cheek. One of the most sincere can be found in the opening of 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” which came after Mr. Lee’s death in 2018. As the “Marvel Studios” logo comes into focus, flashes of comic book images and dialogue give way to clips of Mr. Lee as swelling music plays. When the logo fades, only the words “Thank You Stan” remain. Later in the film he appeared in a more traditional cameo, shot before his death, when Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) meets him on a train reading a “Mallrats” script.Voices CarryMr. Lee’s voice and his catchphrase “Excelsior!” were comforting to fans in many places. In addition to narrating several Spider-Man video games, players could use “EEL NATS” (his name spelled backward) to unlock levels.In 1975, he narrated a “Fantastic Four” radio series. The Human Torch was voiced by Bill Murray, who told Jimmy Kimmel last year that he only remembered saying the character’s battle cry, “Flame On!”In the final episode of “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” (1994-98), Spider-Man, during an adventure through the multiverse, visits our world. He meets Mr. Lee and swings him on spider-webs through the city. When the mysterious Madame Web arrives to take the hero home, Mr. Lee asks, “Who is that exotic lady?” Her voice was a clue: she was played by Joan Lee, his wife, who died in 2017.In 1998, Mr. Lee appeared in cartoon form on “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” in an episode in which the wall crawler met his creator.Distinguished CompetitionMr. Lee and Marvel are irrevocably linked, but he was no stranger to working with superhero industry rivals DC Comics. From 2001 to 2002, DC released a “Just Imagine” series of stories written by Mr. Lee in which he reinterpreted Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes. The company revisited them last year with all new stories in honor of his 100th birthday.A cartoon version of Mr. Lee also appeared in DC’s 2018 animated film “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.” In one scene, he dances, strikes action poses and declares, “Hey everybody, look at me, doing my subtle cameo,” while music plays and “Stan Lee” logos appear on the screen. He returns later and says, “I don’t care if it’s a DC movie — I love cameos!” It was a sign of how self-effacing he could be: poking fun of himself in a rival’s movie.Letters From the EditorMr. Lee wrote a multitude of stories, but readers heard from him directly in the form of editorials on the back pages of many Marvel Comics. “Stan’s Soapbox” columns, written between 1967 and 1980, allowed him to ruminate on everything from the creative process to social issues. The author Brad Meltzer wrote in Mr. Lee’s obituary for Entertainment Weekly, “He gave an entire generation creeds to live by. Principles to emulate.” One of Mr. Lee’s editorials, from 1968, started with this: “Let’s lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.” A collection of his editorials is available from the Hero Initiative, a charity which helps comic book creators in need.Birthday SuitThe Marvel Fumetti Book, published in 1983, is a comic book anthology using black and white photographs by Eliot R. Brown to tell its stories. Readers were treated to behind-the-scenes looks at Marvel’s editorial staff, who were sometimes shown acting out plot details. In one story, Mr. Lee playfully admonishes the team for recent developments, including “Alcoholic Iron Men!” and the mohawk haircut for the X-Men’s Storm. “I’m not sure I like what I see!” he says. “Knock it off already!”He is also pictured in the comic’s centerfold laying on a couch with a Hulk costume superimposed over him. But the original, unused photo was bolder: It was a nude picture of him with a strategically placed comic book.In one of his final projects, Mr. Lee appeared as an usher in the Webtoon comic Backchannel about a hactivist group. Non Marvel ComicsIn 2020, TidalWave Productions released “Tribute: Stan Lee,” a 30-page biographical comic. It chronicles Mr. Lee’s career before and after Marvel, the publisher’s initial forays into animation and television and some of the creative gestalt that gave birth to the Fantastic Four and other superheroes. The comic also notes the conflict between him and Mr. Kirby, the artist who created many of the characters with Mr. Lee, who felt he was not given enough credit or compensation for his hand in bringing those heroes to life.One of Mr. Lee’s final projects was the serialized Webtoon comic Backchannel, co-written by Tom Akel and drawn by Andie Tong, about a hactivist group. A collected edition will be released Aug. 15. Watch out for a cameo appearance by Mr. Lee in Chapter Nine. He is shown working at a movie theater, which is based on one of his first jobs as an usher. More

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      Marvel Attracts Criticism With Israeli “Captain America” Superhero

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      The studio has angered many Palestinians and their supporters by casting the actress Shira Haas to play Sabra, a mutant Mossad agent, in a “Captain America” movie.JERUSALEM — It was the latest addition to a fantasy world populated by an ever-growing cast of superheroes and villains: Marvel Studios announced this past week that it had cast the Israeli actress Shira Haas to play Sabra, a mutant Israeli police officer-turned-Mossad agent, in the next installment of the “Captain America” franchise.While Jewish Israelis rejoiced at the casting of an actress from Israel as a superhero in a major Hollywood production (“Israeli Pride,” declared the Hebrew news site Maariv), the backlash among Palestinians and their supporters was swift, and #CaptainApartheid soon appeared on social media.Many critics expressed outrage about Sabra’s character and her identity as an Israeli intelligence agent, accusing Marvel of buying into Zionist propaganda; of ignoring, or supporting, Israel’s occupation of territory captured in 1967; and of dehumanizing Palestinians.“By glorifying the Israeli army & police, Marvel is promoting Israel’s violence against Palestinians & enabling the continued oppression of millions of Palestinians living under Israel’s authoritarian military rule,” wrote the Institute for Middle East Understanding, a U.S.-based pro-Palestinian organization, on Twitter.Compounding the anger was the name of the superhero, Sabra, which has different connotations for Israelis and Palestinians. To Israeli Jews, a Sabra can simply be a person born in Israel. But Sabra is also the name of a refugee camp in Lebanon where a Christian militia massacred hundreds of Palestinians while Israeli troops stood by 40 years ago.“The bottom line is that to Palestinians, Marvel having an Israeli superhero whitewashes the occupation,” said Sani Meo, publisher of This Week in Palestine, a magazine about Palestinian issues.Palestinians and their supporters around the world have been posting profusely about “Captain Apartheid,” he said. “Some of it is humorous,” he added, “though the topic is not humorous.”A 1940 sketch by Joe Simon of Captain America with a copy of a Marvel comic from the 1960s at the Library of Congress in Washington.Zach Gibson for The New York TimesMarvel Studios declined to answer detailed questions about the issue or about the company’s intentions in bringing Sabra to the big screen.“While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics,” the studio said in a statement, “they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”Explore the Marvel Cinematic UniverseThe popular franchise of superhero films and TV series continues to expand.‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’: Tatiana Maslany described the giant, green character making her television debut on Disney+ as “weirdly, the closest thing to my own experience I’ve done ever.”‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: The trailer for the long-awaited sequel was unveiled at Comic-Con International in San Diego. The film will be released on Nov. 11.‘Thor: Love and Thunder’: The fourth “Thor” movie in 11 years, directed by Taika Waititi, embraces wholesale self-parody and is sillier than any of its predecessors.‘Ms. Marvel’: This Disney+ series introduces a new character: Kamala Khan, a Muslim high schooler in Jersey City who is mysteriously granted superpowers.Whatever its motivations, Marvel has found itself mired in the intractable, century-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Israel has been vilified by international human rights groups and by boycott and divestment activists for its policies toward the Palestinians. Some of those organizations equate Israeli policy with apartheid. But the country is also gaining broader acceptance by some Arab governments, such as the United Arab Emirates, that have grown tired of waiting for any resolution of the long conflict.Simmering in the background, fierce disputes still frequently erupt in Israel and in the occupied territories over history, territory and national identity.Last year, those tensions embroiled another Israeli actress, Gal Gadot, who appears as Wonder Woman in a different superhero franchise, when she decried the continuing cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Critics assailed her for comments in which she defended Israel’s right to exist, even as she expressed support for “our neighbors.”Much of the furor over Marvel’s decision to include Sabra in the new movie, called “Captain America: A New World Order,” centers on the name of the character itself.To Israeli Jews, sabra is the Hebrew name of a cactus bush and its fruit, prickly on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside, which the nation’s founders adopted as the nickname for native-born Israelis.But to Palestinians, the sabra bush, traditionally used to mark the boundaries of village lands, is a symbol of loss and steadfastness (“sabr” is also the Arabic word for “patience”). During the war that accompanied Israel’s creation in 1948, Zionist and Israeli forces destroyed hundreds of Palestinian villages, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees after fleeing or being expelled from their homes. But the hardy sabra bushes remained an indelible part of the landscape even after most traces of the villages were erased.Residents of the Sabra camp in Lebanon mourning those who were slain in the 1982 massacre.Jamal/Associated PressCritics have also accused Marvel of being insensitive to the link between the Israeli superhero’s name and that of the refugee camp in Lebanon. Sabra and Shatila are the names of two Palestinian camps in Lebanon where, from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18 in 1982, a Lebanese Christian militia massacred hundreds of residents. Israeli troops had allowed the militia to enter the camps, and Israeli commanders issued no orders to stop the carnage.“Social media activists are slamming Marvel over their new Israeli Mossad superhero ‘Sabra,’ whose name is sensitive considering the Sabra and Shatila massacre,” the official Palestinian news agency WAFA wrote on Twitter.The character of Sabra first surfaced in an issue of “The Incredible Hulk” comic book in 1980, wearing a blue cape and white bodysuit featuring a Star of David. That debut was some two years before the massacre in Lebanon.Yossi Klein Halevi, an American Israeli author and senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jerusalem-based research and educational center, said he believed that the filmmakers had not intended to reference the refugee camp when they decided to use the character.Over the course of a long conflict, like the one between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he said, “a kind of cultural paranoia sets in.”“Sometimes, a Marvel movie is just a Marvel movie,” he added.Still, critics point at how, in a 1981 Hulk issue titled “Power and Peril in the Promised Land,” the character of Sabra initially showed little emotion over the death of a Palestinian boy in an explosion, until the Hulk enlightened her about basic human values.Nothing is yet known about the story line of the next “Captain America” movie, which is scheduled for release in 2024, or the scope of Sabra’s debut role.Ms. Haas, left, on the set of the Netflix series “Unorthodox” in Berlin. One Israeli director praised her as “a brilliant actress who is relatable for her beautiful human flaws and not inhuman perfections.”Anika Molnar/Netflix/EPA, via Shutterstock’But Joseph Cedar, a New York-born Israeli director of movies including “Norman” and “Footnote,” praised Marvel’s casting of Ms. Haas, 27.A diminutive actress who has gained international recognition for her roles in the Netflix series “Unorthodox” and “Shtisel,” Ms. Haas survived cancer as a child.“I like the idea that the embodiment of an Israeli superhero is not a tall supermodel, but rather a brilliant actress who is relatable for her beautiful human flaws and not inhuman perfections,” Mr. Cedar said.Einat Wilf, a former Israeli lawmaker and author of “We Should All Be Zionists,” said that Israel was “enjoying a certain cultural moment,” with many of its local television productions finding success on international streaming platforms. “Marvel wants to make money,” she noted, adding that it appeared the studio saw the box office appeal of an Israeli superhero.Ms. Wilf said that she was withholding judgment about Sabra until the release of the movie, noting that superheroes had become more complex characters in recent years, with “a good side, an evil side, a trauma history.”“I am not so sure that an Israeli superhero will necessarily mean a positive portrayal of Israel,” she added.Hiba Yazbek More

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      Marvel Studios Unveils ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

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      The studio announced news of the film’s release on Saturday at the pop-culture convention Comic-Con International in San Diego.Marvel Studios has unveiled a trailer for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — the long-awaited sequel to its hit film “Black Panther” — which it said would open in cinemas in the United States on Nov. 11.The teaser, screened on Saturday at the pop-culture convention Comic-Con International in San Diego, features several cast members from the first film, as well as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who played one of the protagonists, King T’Challa. Boseman, whose image appears on a mural in the teaser, died from colon cancer at age 43 in 2020.The film follows Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), General Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the elite women warrior group Dora Milaje (including Ayo, played by Florence Kasumba) as they “fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death,” the studio said on Saturday in a news release.“As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda,” the studio added.The trailer — a visually dazzling glimpse of the future world of Wakanda — is set to a cover of the Bob Marley song “No Woman, No Cry.” Ludwig Goransson, the film’s composer, described it as “an aural first glimpse of Wakanda Forever.”The “sound world” for the film, he said in the statement, was created during trips to Mexico and Nigeria, where he and others worked with traditional musicians to learn about the “cultural, social and historical contexts of their music.”Then, they built a catalog of instrumental and vocal recordings together with those artists, and “began to build a musical vocabulary for the characters, story lines and cultures of Talocan and Wakanda,” Goransson said, adding that the idea was to create “an immersive and enveloping sound world for the film.”The film’s release was announced by the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, who also noted the upcoming release of several other films and shows, including “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” starring Tatiana Maslany; “Secret Invasion,” featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn; and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”Speaking at the Comic-Con event on Saturday, Nyong’o said that it felt “monumental” to return to Wakanda. “The universe of Wakanda is expanding,” she said. “You guys have a lot to look forward to.”Gurira, who plays Okoye, the general of Wakanda’s elite female bodyguards and the head of armed forces and intelligence, said that when she was growing up in Zimbabwe she always looked up to the way America “made superheros onstage and on the big screen.”To the crowd, she added: “You’re taking in that culture, and you’re celebrating it. That, to me, is everything.” More

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      ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Review: A God’s Comic Twilight

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      The director Taika Waititi injects antic silliness, once again, into this Marvel franchise starring Chris Hemsworth, who swings a mighty hammer and flexes mightier muscles.Every so often in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the 92nd Marvel movie to hit theaters this year (OK, the third), the studio machinery hits pause, and the picture opens a portal to another dimension: Its star, Chris Hemsworth, embraces wholesale self-parody, a pair of giant screaming goats gallop along a rainbow highway and Russell Crowe flounces around in a flirty skirt and Shirley Temple curls. As the movie briefly slips into a parallel realm of play and pleasure, you can feel the director Taika Waititi having a good time — and it’s infectious.This is the fourth “Thor” movie in 11 years and the second that Waititi has directed, following “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017). That movie was all over the place, but it was funny (enough) and had a lightness that proved liberating for the series and Hemsworth. “Love and Thunder” is sillier than any of its predecessors, and thinner. A lot happens in overstuffed Marvel Studios fashion. But because the series has jettisoned many of its earlier components — its Shakespearean pretensions, meddlesome relatives and, crucially, Thor’s godly grandeur — the new movie more or less plays like a rescue mission with jokes, tears and smackdowns.It starts with a pasty, near-unrecognizable Christian Bale, who, having been relieved of his DC Dark Knight duties, has signed up with Marvel as a villain with the spoiler name of Gorr the God Butcher. Waititi quickly sketches in Gorr’s background, giving it a tragic cast. Believing himself betrayed by the god he once worshiped, Gorr is committed to destroying other deities. It’s potentially rich storytelling terrain, particularly given Thor’s stature and Marvel’s role as a contemporary mythmaker. But while Bale takes the role by the throat, as is his habit, investing the character with frictional intensity, Gorr proves disappointingly dull.For the most part, Gorr simply gives Thor another chance to play the hero, which Hemsworth does with a stellar deadpan and appreciable suppleness. He’s always been fun to watch in the role and not just because, as the slavering camerawork likes to remind you, he looks awfully fine with or without clothes. Hemsworth knows how to move, which is surprising given his muscled bulk, and is at ease with his beauty. He’s also learned how to deploy — and puncture — Thor’s inborn pomposity, although by the time the final credits rolled in “Ragnarok” that haughtiness had turned into shtick. Thor is still a god, but also he’s now a great big goof.To that end, Thor enters midfight on a battlefield washed in grayish red light, preening and posing and showboating alongside characters from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” With Guardians (Chris Pratt, the raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, etc.) on backup, Thor vanquishes the enemy with his customary hyperbole — he strikes the ground, reaches for the heavens, flips his hair — and a new hammer the size of a backhoe shovel. He also destroys a temple that looks right out of an airport gift shop. This synergistic foreplay isn’t pretty, and neither is the rest of the movie, but it announces Waititi’s sensibilities, his irreverence and taste for kitsch.From the start, the “Thor” series has pushed and pulled at its title character, by turns enshrining and undercutting his supernatural identity, raising him up only to bring him crashing back down to Earth. The movies have, almost to a fault, emphasized Thor’s frailties: He has daddy issues, a sibling rivalry and romantic woes. Gods, they’re just like us! Thor’s love life humanized him for good and bad, though his romance with an astrophysicist — Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster — worked best as ballast for the he-man action. Jane wasn’t interesting, despite Portman’s febrile smiles, but, after sitting out the last movie, she’s back.Why the encore? Well, mostly because Waititi, who wrote the script with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, doesn’t seem to know what else he can do with Thor. By the end of “Ragnarok,” the character had been repeatedly cut down to size. He’d squabbled with his brother and wittiest foil (Tom Hiddleston as Loki). His long hair was chopped off and his kingdom annihilated, and gone too were the heavyweights who had helped fill the story’s holes with their magnetism and personality. Anthony Hopkins (Thor’s dad) exited, as did Cate Blanchett (sis). Thor fought, loved and lost, and then he packed on the pounds and went to hang with the Avengers.“Love and Thunder” revs up the “Thor” franchise again with the usual quips and beats, programmatically timed blowouts, brand-extending details, a kidnapping and a welcome if underused Tessa Thompson. Her Valkyrie, alas, receives less screen time than Jane, who’s given a crisis as well as special powers, a blond blowout and muscles that inflate and deflate like party balloons. Jane’s new talents don’t do much for the story and read as a dutiful nod to women’s empowerment (thanks). Portman does what she can, yet she’s so tightly wound that she never syncs up with the loosey-goosey rhythms the way Thompson and Hemsworth do.Waititi’s playfulness buoys “Love and Thunder,” but the insistence on Thor’s likability, his decency and dude-ness, has become a creative dead end. The movie has its attractions, notably Hemsworth, Thompson and Crowe, whose Zeus vamps through a sequence with a butt-naked Thor and fainting minions. It’s a delightful and cheerfully vulgar interlude, and critically, it reminds you of the sheer otherworldliness of these beings who — with their vanities, cruelties, deeds, mysteries and powers — turn reality into myth and stories into dreams. Like movie stars, gods aren’t like us, which of course is one reason we invented them.Thor: Love and ThunderRated PG-13 for superhero violence. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes. In theaters. More

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      What to Know Before Seeing ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

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      Why do Wanda Maximoff and our title hero seem to be zombies, and what is the Darkhold? Here’s a rundown and a viewing guide to help.It was already challenging enough to keep up with the 27 films and half-dozen Disney+ TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But now, in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” out Friday, you also have to keep track of multiple versions of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), also known as the Scarlet Witch. And who knows who else — it is the multiverse, after all, so there are multiple versions of, well, everyone.The trailers for “Multiverse of Madness” have made it out to be a crossover event that’s maybe not “Avengers: Endgame”-level, but certainly close. Eagle-eyed fans will have spotted connections to “WandaVision,” “Loki” and even zombie versions of a few characters, apparently from Episode 5 of the lesser-known Disney+ animated series “What If … ?,” as well as the M.C.U. debut of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, the founder of the X-Men.It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with more than three days’ worth of M.C.U. content, and there is, of course, the bare minimum option of watching the first “Doctor Strange” film and calling it a day. But those who didn’t watch “WandaVision” may be left going “Westview what?” after the new movie.Here’s a guide to the five films and series you might want to brush up on before heading to the theater.‘Doctor Strange’ (2016)Tilda Swinton and Cumberbatch in the first film.Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesDr. Strange’s solo film debut provides a primer on how Cumberbatch’s cocky neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange, came to be a master of the mystic arts, the Sorcerer Supreme and the guardian of the Time Stone. It also introduces his tempestuous relationship with Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), who returns in a big way in the fourth episode of “What If… ?” and also appears in a “Multiverse of Madness” trailer in a wedding gown (apparently marrying a man who is definitely not Dr. Strange, as the latter looks on from a pew). Also making a trailer appearance is Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Strange’s onetime friend turned foe, as this film explains.‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)Benedict Wong, left, Cumberbatch, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. teamed up in “Avengers: Infinity War.”Marvel/DisneyIn Dr. Strange’s “Avengers” debut, he is kidnapped by Ebony Maw, who is after the Time Stone. Tony Stark and Peter Parker eventually rescue him, and it becomes evident how much more powerful he has become since “Doctor Strange,” as he holds his own against Thanos, the Eternal-Deviant warlord, despite possessing only a single Infinity Stone compared with Thanos’s four. Strange also breaks the rules and looks forward in time to see all the possible scenarios in which the Avengers win.The film plays an important role in establishing Wanda’s back story, as its events are the source of her grief in “WandaVision,” and continue to haunt her in “Multiverse of Madness.” In the earlier movie, Wanda was forced to kill Vision, with whom she was romantically involved, to prevent Thanos from stealing the Mind Stone from Vision’s head, only to watch Thanos reverse time, pluck it out and kill Vision again.‘WandaVision’ (2021)Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in the series.Marvel Studios/Disney+This retro-aesthetic Disney+ show is hardly peripheral; the nine-episode series, which pays homage to 1950s sitcoms like “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” supplies crucial plot details that set up the events of “Multiverse of Madness.” Wanda is essentially a co-lead of the new film, and this series illustrates how her grief over Vision’s death leads her to torment the small New Jersey town of Westview.When we last saw Wanda, in the finale’s post-credits scene, she’d just lost the versions of Vision and her twin sons she’d magically created, which led her to embrace her identity as the Scarlet Witch and begin exploring the Darkhold, a book of spells that could allow her to reunite with her now-nonexistent family.In “Multiverse of Madness,” a distraught Wanda is still struggling to process the original Vision’s death in “Avengers: Infinity War,” as well as her attempt to escape it in the fantasy she created in “WandaVision.” In one of the trailers, she is greeted by her sons in their Westview home, though Wanda’s voice-over identifies the apparently joyful reunion only as a recurring dream.‘What If … ?’ (2021)Strange variants in the animated “What If …?”Marvel Studios/Disney+This nine-episode animated anthology series, which tells the stories of alternate versions of M.C.U. heroes in multiple realities, debuted with little fanfare in August, but Episode 4 provides some important context for “Multiverse of Madness.” Titled “What If … Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?,” it introduces a variant of Dr. Strange, Strange Supreme, created after Strange lost his girlfriend, Christine, in a car crash and became consumed by dark magic. After she vanishes in his arms, the evil Dr. Strange rips apart reality and is left alone to nurse his broken heart.While it initially seemed, from his trailer appearance, as though the Strange Supreme variant would be a main antagonist of “Multiverse of Madness,” Cumberbatch said in a recent interview that the character was not, in fact, Strange Supreme but an even more menacing version: Sinister Strange.Still there are other “What If … ?” variants who seem to appear in “Multiverse of Madness,” including a live-action version of Captain Carter (voiced by Hayley Atwell in “What If … ?”), a Peggy Carter variant who received the super-soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers and appeared in a trailer fighting a variant of the Scarlet Witch. Also returning: the terrifying Zombie Wanda and Zombie Dr. Strange from Episode 5 (“What If … Zombies?!”), which probably explains why “Multiverse of Madness” is being billed as the M.C.U.’s first horror film. Episodes 8 and 9 also show Ultron discovering multiple realities and seeking to conquer them.‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)Tom Holland as Peter Parker, opposite Cumberbatch in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”Matt Kennedy/Sony PicturesThe director of “Multiverse of Madness,” Sam Raimi, has said that the new film is a direct continuation of the last Marvel Studios blockbuster, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” released in December. When we last saw Dr. Strange, he’d just caused everyone to forget the existence of Peter Parker to stop the multiverse from exploding. This was necessary because of a botched spell Dr. Strange had cast that was designed to make everyone forget Peter was Spider-Man, which only ended up pulling Spider-Men and villains from alternate M.C.U. universes into the same one. At the end of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the spell appears to have worked, but it remains to be seen if or how the consequences of Dr. Strange’s actions will play into “Multiverse of Madness.”Bonus: ‘Loki’ (2021)Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the series. Marvel/Disney+Will we see the hopelessly bureaucratic Time Variance Authority, an organization that polices time travel to prevent branching timelines, show up to bust some time travelers in “Multiverse of Madness”? The stand-alone “Loki” series, which takes place in an alternate M.C.U. timeline, also explains the idea of variants from different timelines (among them: Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki and Alligator Loki). More

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      Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal on 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

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      The producers of “No Way Home” address questions about another trilogy, possibly putting MJ in a Spidey suit and convincing reluctant actors to reprise their roles.Godzilla gave it his best, along with Shang-Chi, James Bond, Venom and the “Fast and Furious” crew. But jump-starting the box office after pandemic shutdowns — re-commandeering the culture — has taken much longer than Hollywood envisioned.It finally happened Thursday, when “Spider-Man: No Way Home” swung exclusively into theaters.“No Way Home” collected $50 million from Thursday “preview” screenings that started at 3 p.m., according to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which financed and produced the movie in partnership with Disney-owned Marvel Studios. It was the third-highest preview result on the Hollywood history books, behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($60 million) and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($57 million).For the weekend in North America, “No Way Home,” which received sensational reviews, could surpass $150 million in ticket sales. No movie has managed more than $90 million in opening-weekend sales since “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019, according to Comscore.“No Way Home,” directed by Jon Watts, marks the end of a trilogy starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Zendaya as MJ, his plucky romantic counterpart. But the $200 million sequel also represents the culmination of nearly 20 years of Spider-Man movies — eight in total — because it draws in characters unseen since “Spider-Man 3” in 2007 and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” in 2014.Two people have been involved with the franchise in one capacity or another since its start: Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige. As the top movie executive at Sony from 1999 to 2015, Pascal was responsible for the first five live-action Spider-Man movies; she has produced the last three. Feige worked on the early Spider-Man movies in various capacities, initially in relative obscurity, and has been a producer of the last three in his role as president of Marvel Studios.The two spoke to me via video from their homes in Los Angeles. These are edited excerpts from the conversation, including — beware — some “No Way Home” spoilers.Let’s start with an easy one. Kevin, please lay out your future Marvel Cinematic Universe road map for Spider-Man. I want details.FEIGE What?What’s the next M.C.U. crossover movie? “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” coming in May? Maybe that “Fantastic Four” reboot? Don’t say “I don’t know” because I know you know.FEIGE He’s going to show up sometime. The when and the where, of course, is the fun part — and the part that we don’t talk about.What about the next stand-alone Spider-Man movie? Amy, you said last month that you and Kevin — Sony and Disney — are going to collaborate on three more, which seemed to catch the studios by surprise.Explore the Marvel Cinematic UniverseThe popular franchise of superhero films and television series continues to expand. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: The web slinger is back with the latest installment of the “Spider-Man” series.‘Hawkeye’: Jeremy Renner returns to the role of Clint Barton, the wisecracking marksman of the Avengers, in the Disney+ mini-series.‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’: The superhero originated in comics filled with racist stereotypes. The movie knocked them down.‘Eternals’: The two-and-a-half-hour epic introduces nearly a dozen new characters, hopping back and forth through time.PASCAL We’re producers, so we always believe everything will work out. I love working with Kevin. We have a great partnership, along with Tom Rothman, who runs Sony and has been instrumental, a great leader with great ideas. I hope it lasts forever.That sounds like a classic Hollywood walk back.FEIGE Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after “Far From Home” [the previous Spider-Man movie, in 2019]. That will not be occurring this time.PASCAL At the end of the movie we just made, you see Spider-Man make a momentous decision, one that you’ve never seen him make before. It’s a sacrifice. And that gives us a lot to work with for the next film.This movie, “No Way Home,” pulls in major characters — and stars — from the franchise going back 20 years. How are you ever going to top it?PASCAL Not every Spider-Man movie is going to be a multitude of characters. That approach was right for this one.You can’t think about topping yourself in terms of spectacle. Otherwise movies just get larger and larger for no reason, and it’s not a good result. But we do want to always try and top ourselves in terms of quality and emotion. Kevin and I never want to lose sight of one thing: Peter Parker. That he’s a normal kid. That he is orphaned over and over again. That he’s a teenager, so everything in his life is at a heightened pitch and everything matters more than anything. That he’s fueled by goodness and guilt. That he’s striving for a greater cause, and he’s vilified by the press.What was the biggest “No Way Home” producing challenge?FEIGE Getting everybody to agree with you about the cool, big idea. “Hey, we have an idea. Will you come sign up and be in this movie.” “Cool! Can I read the script?” “No.” That was the hardest part. And that’s where Amy, who calls anyone anywhere at any time, is a master producer at making things happen.Zendaya and Tom Holland in a scene from the newest installment.Sony PicturesI read somewhere, Amy, that you FaceTimed with Tom Holland while he was in the bathtub. Do you have any screen grabs so I can verify that information?PASCAL That is true. And, no, I’m not sharing.Who was the last “No Way Home” star to sign on?FEIGE Not who you think. It’s not worth talking about, but not who you think.What was your pitch to the actors who were skeptical?PASCAL That these weren’t going to be cash-grab cameos. The parts were real. That I was there with them the first time and would be again, that I have too much respect for them and all the work we did together over the years.Why weren’t Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone, the female leads from previous Spider-Man movies, brought back for this one?FEIGE When people see the movie, they will understand. It’s about the story. It was a big goal for all of us — Amy and Jon and our writers, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers — that Peter Parker’s senior year in high school didn’t get lost amid the insanity that ensues thanks to his encounter with Doctor Strange. That easily could have happened. And that’s the reason there’s not another 20 people in the movie.Speaking of women, are we ever going to see a woman with superpowers alongside Spider-Man? Isn’t there a story line in the comics where MJ gets to take the Iron Spider armor for a spin?PASCAL Never say never. [She offers a coy smile.]FEIGE We have a lot of story lines, Brooks! A lot of story lines. It comes down to these great, great actors. My guess is your question is less about what MJ did in the comics and more about “Zendaya is really great. Can we see more of her?”Tobey and Kirsten. Emma and Andrew. Tom and Zendaya. Why do all your lead actors end up falling for each other in real life? It can’t just be the spandex.PASCAL I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture. Don’t go there — just don’t. Try not to. I gave the same advice to Andrew and Emma. It can just complicate things, you know? And they all ignored me.Can you give Tom some advice from me? Don’t lie to reporters! In interviews over the past year, he said Tobey and Andrew were not coming back.PASCAL Well, he can’t reveal things that are in the movie. You wouldn’t expect him to do that. Forgive him.One last question for you: What is the truth about how the Pascal-Feige producing collaboration started? My understanding is that you, Amy, then running Sony, made the 2014 “Amazing Spider-Man” sequel, which was rather wobbly. And that you called Kevin and said, “Help.”PASCAL That is the truth. I called Kevin and said, “Help.” And then he came over to my office for lunch and said, “I know how to help you.” And then I threw a sandwich at him.FEIGE She said, “I really want you to help on this next movie. We have these great ideas for the next one. It’s amazing stuff.” And I said, “I’m not good at that — giving advice and leaving. The only way I know how to help is if we just make the movie for you.”Cut to the flying B.L.T. or whatever it was.FEIGE It was a pretty low-key sandwich. I don’t remember what kind. But, yes, she did not like that suggestion.PASCAL And then Kevin called me and came over to the house and said, “I have an idea. What if Tony Stark makes Peter’s suit?” And as soon as he said that, I understood the possibilities of what we could do together. To have Iron Man and Spidey in the same world, one rooted more in technological innovation — the new suit — and less in medical experimentation, which is where we were confined before, felt so much more modern.It has taken a lot of work. But just look at the results. Pretty fantastic, right? More

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      ‘Les Éternels’: les super-franchises redescendent sur Terre

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      Après “Nomadland”, Oscar du Meilleur Film, la réalisatrice Chloé Zhao s’essaie au blockbuster avec le dernier-né des Marvel, un casting séduisant à l’appui.Tout au long des “Éternels”, le dernier-né — mais certainement pas le dernier! — des Studios Marvel, on devine combien la réalisatrice Chloé Zhao a dû lutter pour réduire à taille humaine ce show d’envergure industrielle. Ses efforts transparaissent dans la sincérité des interprétations et les moments d’authenticité qui ponctuent le film d’émotion. Mais c’est un combat titanesque. Tandis que Zhao s’applique à huiler la machine de larmes et d’émotions, ses efforts semblent refléter la bataille menée par ses attachants super-héros contre une force qui cherche à contrôler leur destin.Créés par Jack Kirby, un visionnaire des comics américains, “Les Éternels” font leur apparition sur papier en 1976 (“Quand les Dieux descendent sur Terre!”) et ont refait surface plusieurs fois depuis. Puisque Marvel a (pour le moment) mis fin au cycle des films Avengers, il était acquis qu’il allait dépoussiérer un autre groupe de potentielles super-franchises. Pour ce faire, le studio a choisi Zhao (“Nomadland”) pour lancer la machine, avec un casting trié sur le volet dans le monde du divertissement. Angelina Jolie est là, avec des cheveux tristounets et un maquillage ultra-glamour, tout comme Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Don Lee, Kumail Nanjiani, un indispensable Brian Tyree Henry et deux tombeurs de la série HBO “Game of Thrones”.Figurant parmi les créations moins connues de Kirby, les Éternels sont des divinités humanoïdes principalement empruntées à la mythologie grecque, mais dotés d’une orthographe excentrique : Thena, Ikaris, Sersi, et ainsi de suite. Leur histoire est bien élaborée et ils ont pour mission de protéger l’humanité. (À en juger par le piteux état dans lequel nous et la planète sommes, ils n’ont pas fait du très bon boulot.) Comme l’explique un des personnages, ils interviennent dans les conflits entre les humains en cas de nécessité. Un rôle qui évoque celui des Casques bleus des Nations Unies. Mais comme l’humanité est perpétuellement attaquée par les Déviants, de hargneux ennemis, les Éternels doivent perpétuellement redescendre dans l’arène — une habitude interventionniste qui fait référence de manière assez evidente à celle des États-Unis.Écrit par Zhao avec d’autres scénaristes, “Les Éternels” s’inscrit dans le style de la maison Marvel, tant visuellement que dans sa narration. C’est très chargé, presque trop, et on navigue entre film de guerre, film romantique, comédie et drame familial. Il se classerait plutôt bien dans la catégorie retrouvailles-entre-copains : une bande de vieux amis se retrouve — avec réticence ou enthousiasme — pour reformer leur groupe de musique ou, en l’occurrence, botter des derrières cosmiques. Malheureusement, le film consacre un part démesurée de ses deux heures et demie à revisiter les plus gros tubes du groupe, tandis que les Éternels passent leur temps en explications. Les flashbacks coupent Zhao dans ses élans et les bavardages viennent brouiller un peu davantage une histoire déjà alambiquée.En tant que potentiel premier épisode d’une nouvelle série, le film fait office de longue présentation au public où l’on passe en revue (qui sont-ils, que font-ils ?) les pouvoirs, les susceptibilités, les histoires et les relations entre ces dix Éternels. Ça fait du monde à l’affiche — mais dans cette constellation hollywoodienne, certaines étoiles brillent plus fort que d’autres. La tête d’affiche Sersi (Gemma Chan) est, un peu à contrecœur, une héroïne bienveillante qui vit à Londres et sort avec Jon Snow — alias Dane Whitman, joué par Kit Harington — jusqu’à ce que les Déviants, et les ennuis, surgissent dans cette ville vieillissante et sale. L’incursion ennemie déclenche la réunion et l’entrée en scène amusante du frère de Jon Snow, Robb Stark, alias Richard Madden, qui joue Ikaris. Lui et Sersi ont un passé ; ce n’est pas compliqué.L’immense super-pouvoir du film, ce sont ses acteurs qui lui insufflent de la chaleur, voire un peu de passion, et une pulsion de vie que les nombreuses et bruyantes scènes d’action n’étouffent jamais complètement. Henry, Lee et Barry Keoghan (le terrifiant gamin de “Mise à mort du cerf sacré”) contribuent beaucoup à maintenir notre sympathie en éveil. Phastos, le personnage d’Henry, est le plus vivant des deux, en partie parce que son super-héros a une véracité identifiable, mais surtout parce que l’acteur a un sens naturel de l’empathie et une vraie délicatesse d’expressivité. Lee offre un peu de comique bienvenu et fait office de faire-valoir étonnamment efficace pour Jolie (y aura-t-il un spin-off de M. et Mme Éternel?), tandis que Keoghan ajoute son grain de menace piquante.Les trois précédents long-métrages de Zhao sont des drames d’échelle modeste centrés sur des personnages privés de leurs droits — le genre de film que le courant commercial dominant laisse de côté. La réalisatrice aime faire appel à d’anciennes formules et à de nouvelles idées, et s’intéresse aux questions d’identité et aux valeurs fondatrices américaines comme l’autonomie. Dans “The Rider”, le personnage principal est un Amérindien qui est cowboy; “Nomadland” suit une femme, la soixantaine, qui prend la route après à la Grande Récession. Si l’intimité de son œuvre antérieure, sa portée et son calme relatifs font d’elle un choix apparemment inhabituel pour Marvel, ses films se tiennent à distance de l’ouvertement politique, comme beaucoup de films indépendants américains. Zhao cadre bien avec une entreprise internationale qui cherche à n’offenser absolument personne.Par-dessus tout, la réalisatrice possède l’une des compétences les plus essentielles au job : elle sait gérer les acteurs. Car par-delà tous les effets spéciaux et les combats sans fin, les films de Marvel sont aussi centrés sur leurs personnages que les films de James Bond, et ils ont besoin d’interprètes charismatiques et de personnalités séduisantes pour faire tenir ensemble toutes leurs pièces détachées. (Ce n’est pas un hasard si beaucoup de réalisateurs Marvel sont des anciens du festival du film de Sundance.) “Les Éternels” bénéficie aussi du toucher de Zhao pour les paysages naturels et de son amour des grands espaces. Cela n’arrive pas assez souvent mais parfois, dans certains moments d’accalmie, les Éternels et leurs mondes se rejoignent et les grandes questions existentielles qui sous-tendent l’histoire — qu’est-ce qu’on fait là, qui suis-je ? — arrivent même à transcender la marque. More