News Of The Week: 'Loki' Finale Sets Up The MCU Phase 4; Season 2 Is A Go

Hollywood was on temporary pause but productions are gearing back up, release dates continue to be tweaked in preparation for theaters reopening, and things are slowly starting to return to normal – or at least, our temporary new normal. Movie news is once again starting to flow, with us bringing you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like.

Let’s hop to it.

Fourth ‘Star Trek’ Movie Coming From ‘WandaVision’ Director Matt Shakman

Hot on the heels of the show he directed hauling in an impressive 23 Emmy nominations (more on that shortly), WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman has his next gig lined up: piloting the story of the Enterprise. Deadline broke the news that Shakman closed a deal to direct a fourth Star Trek movie for Paramount. J.J. Abrams, who directed the first three Star Trek reboot movies, will be on board as producer under his Bad Robot banner. Interestingly (and sadly, considering this is 2021), this will be the first Star Trek movie to be penned by female writers, with the studio already having a script in hand from Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Two previous attempts at a Star Trek project were penned by Noah Hawley and Mark L. Smith for Quentin Tarantino, but those never came to fruition. After Shakman’s success with WandaVision, he was reportedly offered a number of projects as a sought-after new director; he chose Star Trek. Paramount is also reportedly moving lightning fast on this project with production aiming to begin next spring, meaning casting is likely to begin within the next few months.

Loki Is Getting A Season 2 & Setting Up The MCU Phase 4

(Warning: Spoilers for the Loki season 1 finale below.)

The season 1 finale of Loki may be the single most important piece of storytelling thus far in the MCU’s Phase 4. Considering WandaVision was framed as a limited series and it’s not officially confirmed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will get a second season, it came as a surprise that the mid-credits scene of the Loki finale revealed that there will indeed be a Loki season 2. Far from its story remaining contained to the small screen, however, the show further set up the multiverse concept around which the entirety of Marvel’s Phase 4 is turning. Loki kickstarted the multiverse that was first teased in WandaVision, will be continued through Spider-Man: No Way Home, and is set to be broken wide-open in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. With the surprise introduction of Kang the Conquerer–or at least a version of him–appearing in the finale, the rumors that Jonathan Majors would be playing the iconic Marvel villain were officially confirmed ahead of his big-screen debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Heck, at this point, it appears as though it might even tie into Marvel’s upcoming animated What If…? series (the trailer of which you can find below).

Now, THR has reported (though unconfirmed) that Tom Hiddleston is also set to appear in the Doctor Strange sequel as Loki, joining Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. It makes sense: now that the events of Loki have launched the chaotic multiverse, the Sorcerer Supreme will need all the help he can get from the Marvel universe’s most powerful magic users to set things right, even if one of those magic users is the God of Mischief who last tried to conquer New York. In any case, those who thought Loki’s days were done after his seemingly decisive death in Avengers; Infinity War forgot the first rule of Loki: Lokis never say die.

Henry Cavill To Star In Romance Adaptation ‘The Rosie Project’

Henry Cavill is set to tackle a new project, one that is vastly different than his role as the grizzled monster hunter Geralt in Netflix’s The Witcher or the idealistic Superman in the DCEU or even his hard-punching secret agent in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Giant Freakin’ Robot broke the news that Cavill is set to star in the rom-com The Rosie Project, an adaptation of Graeme Simsion’s 2013 novel of the same name. Cavill will play Don Tillman, a genetics professor with autism spectrum disorder who has never been on a second date. He sets up an experiment, determined to fall in love, and he knows exactly what he’s looking for. However, when he meets the bartender Rosie, who is carefree, impulsive, and wild–in other words, everything he’s not–his world is upended. Thus far, there is no female lead set for opposite Cavill. Jennifer Lawrence was attached to star back in 2015, but negotiations fell through, which has reportedly been an ongoing issue with the project. Now that Cavill has signed on, however, they’ll want to get a hustle on in casting his costar. This adds to an increasingly busy schedule for Cavill. Along with the aforementioned projects, Cavill also recently signed on to Matthew Vaughn’s ensemble spy drama Argylle, as well as signing on for the reboot of campy ’80s classic Highlander.

James Gunn Explains The Differences Between Working With Marvel & DC

James Gunn is one of the rare directors who has had the experience of working on both a Marvel and a DC movie. As such, it’s given him a unique perspective that no one else has, not even Joss Whedon, who didn’t take over directing duties on Justice League until it was already well underway. He spoke to the differences on working with each in an interview with The New York Times, and he provided a few interesting insights. For example, with Kevin Feige being so intimately involved in the MCU, on-set notes aren’t as necessary:

“Yes, but not as many as people probably think. There’s no doubt Kevin Feige is way more involved with editing than people are at Warner Bros. He gives more notes. You don’t have to take them and I don’t always take them. Then again, I had more problems. If you saw the first cut of Guardians 1, it had more problems, because that was my first time making something so gigantic and there’s some learning to what works and what doesn’t, carving away the excess stuff. The truth is, as Marvel goes on and Kevin Feige starts to amass ownership of half of all film in general, he’s more spread out.“

He goes on to explain what he hopes DC holds onto:

“The Marvel Universe has always been a little more cohesive, and DC has always had more great single runs. They had The Dark Knight Returns. They had Watchmen. They had The Killing Joke. They had Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing. The fact that they did Joker, which is a totally different type of movie, that to me is cool. I’m very excited about Matt [Reeves]’s [The Batman] movie. They’re getting some really good filmmakers involved. They’re always going to be hit or miss — I just don’t want them to get boring.“

Gunn’s DC film, The Suicide Squad, is in theaters on Friday, August 6. His third Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is in theaters on May 5, 2023.

Damien Chazelle’s 1920s-Set ‘Babylon’ Has An Absolutely Ridiculous Cast

Since his success with La La Land, director Damien Chazelle has been somewhat quiet, but he’s set to come roaring back in a big way with Babylon. The original movie, which Chazelle penned, is set in 1920s Hollywood during its transition from silent film to talkies and is being described as “The Great Gatsby on steroids,” chronicling the rise and fall of multiple characters. And good Lord, those characters–the cast of Babylon is about as stacked as they come. THR reported that Jean Smart (Watchmen, Mare of Easttown) is the most recent to sign on and she’ll be playing a Hollywood film critic who can make or break careers. She joins a cast that already includes Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Katherine Waterson, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Phoebe Tonkin, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Lukas Haas, Rory Scovel, Samara Weaving, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne, Damon Gupton, and Flea. As shooting began in Los Angeles last week, it’s unclear if more names will continue to be added, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Paramount is aiming to open Babylon as a limited release on December 25, 2022 and then roll out the wide release a week later on January 6, 2023.

The Emmy 2021 Nominations Are Here

Last but not least, the nominations for the 2021 Emmys were announced this week, and wow, did Disney+ have a strong showing, with The Mandalorian garnering two dozen nominations (so did The Crown), WandaVision earning another 23, and even Don Cheadle picking up an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The next most-nominated shows were The Handmaid’s Tale and Saturday Night Live (both with 21), Ted Lasso (20), The Queen’s Gambit and Lovecraft Country (18), Mare of Easttown (16), and Hacks (15). The Emmy Awards will air Sunday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. For the full list of nominees, head to the official Emmys site.