Michael B. Jordan

Following yesterday’s reveal of new images from Black Panther, Marvel has unveiled a series of character portraits that offer a closer look at the main characters featured in T’Challa’s solo superhero film. The photos not only show off the heroes and villains of Wakanda, they also highlight the details of their gorgeous costumes, which reflect director Ryan Coogler’s vibrant and exciting new corner of the MCU.

Black Panther is so close, and yet so far. We got a banger of a trailer, complete with emover-sporting Michael and an unlikely yet perfect soundtrack cut from Run the Jewels. At San Diego Comic-Con later this month, Marvel will show out in full force, and there’s no doubt they’ll tantalize audiences in Hall H with some preview footage from the film. And to accompany that, Entertainment Weekly has run a new cover spread on Ryan Coogler’s upcoming film with new photos of the royal court ruling the Black Panther’s home nation of Wakanda. All this — for a movie that isn’t out until mid-February.

Is the sequel to the ‘Rocky’ spinoff actually happening? Sly keep teasing it with a series of interesting Instagram photos.

Well, folks, here it is: possibly the most anticipated Marvel trailer in recent memory. Black Panther is the titular superhero’s first solo outing since he was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, and is also the first Marvel movie with a predominantly black cast. Welcome to Wakanda, the African nation T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) presides over, which has been in turmoil since the untimely death of T’Challa’s father, the former king. The country is also the subject of some contention due to its proximity to a very important (yet fictional) metal.

Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler are teaming up for the fourth(!!!) time for Wrong Answer, a drama based on an absolutely nutso New York Times article about a standardized test cheating scandal that involved a number of Atlanta high school employees in 2014.

As we gradually approach a Fahrenheit 451-type juncture in the real world, HBO Films has kindly taken the edge off by announcing their plans to mount a new adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel. It was surprising but enticing news when it broke a couple of months ago, boasting a flashy pair of headliners in Michael B. Jordan (portraying Guy Montag, an professional book-burner who comes to question the ethics of his work) and Michael Shannon (as Beatty, Guy’s boss and mentor who doesn’t take too kindly to his protege’s radical new thoughts). And today, in an all-too-timely casting notice, a third star has upped the profile of this big-ticket TV movie even further.

Dystopian cinema is all the rage right now. Not only is the release of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale only a few days away, we were also recently treated to a series of synchronized screenings of 1984, the film adaptation of George Orwell’s seminal novel. While some may view this as a collective piece of cinematic snark, plenty of others are using these projects as an opportunity to open the door for increased education and awareness about media literacy, politics, and art. And while HBO may only really be interested in art and politics, it is putting one foot firmly in the dystopian game, announcing an upcoming production of Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451.

If nothing else, the announcement that Warner Bros. is working on expanding the universe of The Matrix really makes me want to revisit the original films. Like most people, I was enamored with the first and disappointed by the sequels; the now-outdated CGI character modeling and frequent technobabble written by the Wachowski Sisters caught me a bit by surprise, and I was unnecessarily tough on the movies as a result. Now, though, I wonder if I might see the sequels with different eyes. When was the last time a blockbuster movie franchises so clearly marched to the beat of its own drum? Maybe this time around I will fully embrace the weird.

In Cinemautopsy, we look back at a recent, high-profile failure and ask a simple question: What the hell happened? In this installment... the comic that launched Marvel Comics. A cast of beloved up-and-comers. One of the hottest young directors in Hollywood. A bold attempt to reinvent the superhero genre. What could possibly go wrong?

In addition to his actual resume, Christopher McQuarrie is well-known for providing a little uncredited rewrite assistance on various films, including the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. While he’s busy prepping Mission: Impossible 6 with Tom Cruise, McQuarrie was asked when we might see him write a Star Wars movie — a notion too good to ignore on its own, but when you see his idea for a spinoff, you’ll think it’s even better.