Robert Downey Jr. Says Avengers: Endgame’s Last 8 Minutes Are The MCU’s Best

Robert Downey Jr. Says Avengers: Endgame’s Last 8 Minutes Are The MCU’s Best

It's almost hard to believe, but we're mere days away from the release of Avengers: Endgame. It's been a long year of waiting and theorizing for the fandom, as Marvel Studios made room for the release of Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and The Wasp. But moviegoers will finally get some answers shortly, and see how the MCU has reacted to Thanos' snap of death that wiped out half of all life.

The stakes couldn't be higher for The Russo Brothers, who must live up to the precedent they set with Avengers: Infinity War. The surviving heroes must find a way to unite and avenge the galaxy, bringing the fight to Thanos in his presumed retirement. While the pressure is on, Robert Downey Jr thinks that Endgame's final minutes are the very best the MCU has to offer. As he recently put it:

The last 8 minutes of that movie are maybe the best 8 minutes of the entire history of the whole run of them in a way because everyone's involved. So I was delighted.

Well, that's a bold statement. Marvel Studios has released 21 movies ahead of Avengers: Endgame, so there's been some major moments brought to the silver screen. Infinity War is certainly no exception, but it appears that The Russo Brothers outdid themselves with their next (and possibly last) MCU installment.

Robert Downey Jr's comments to The Upcoming are sure to capture the attention of the rabid MCU fanbase. Avengers: Endgame is the most hotly anticipated movie of the year, and The Russo Brothers are going to need to pull out all the stops in order to please the countless fans who broke the internet to get pre-sale tickets. But Endgame's ending is apparently so epic that it puts the rest of the shared universe to shame.

Just what RDJ is referencing is a mystery, as is basically all of Avengers: Endgame. While there are some spoilers floating around the internet, Endgame's marketing campaign has been methodical, and we've only seem a limited amount of footage. This includes the film's ending, which should have a big group of characters involved.

Related: 10 Questions We Still Have About Avengers: Endgame

If I were to guess, I assume the last 8 minutes of Avengers: Endgame includes all the characters-- including the ones who faded to dust in Infinity War. Most fans assumed they'd be revived sometime during the movie, allowing the MCU to continue in Phase Four. Perhaps this is what Robert Downey Jr is referencing. Luckily, we only have a few days left before answers will finally arrive.

The Russo Brothers have already shown their ability to balance a large cast of characters. Captain America: Civil War proved this, as the directors brought a story that had both action and heart. Things got even bigger with Infinity War, as the Russos serviced a giant cast of beloved characters. They'll have a smaller group to utilize in Endgame, but clearly something big is happening in the film's final moments.

Answers will finally arrive once Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, be sure to fill out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Brie Larson Had To Work On Her 'Cool' Face For Captain Marvel

Brie Larson Had To Work On Her 'Cool' Face For Captain Marvel

It took a lot for Room actress Brie Larson to become Captain Marvel. We’ve seen the posts of the months of workouts the actress accomplished to get into shape. However, it takes more than heavy lifting and donning an expensive suit in order to truly become the types of heroes we’ve come to expect in the MCU. Recently, Brie Larson revealed she actually had to train to learn what she dubs Carol Danvers’ “cool face.”

During a recent visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actress revealed that she actually worked with the stunt coordinators on Captain Marvel’s stances. There are moments we see the character in trailers and in posters looking extremely fierce, moments that did not come naturally to Brie Larson, who revealed her “cool face” was just one of “tons of things” she had to learn in order to play the character. She said:

I trained for nine months and got super strong. But then also you have to learn weird things, like how to make a ‘cool’ face. Yeah, they usually are laughing at you while you are trying to find it because it’s hard. At least, I mean it was for me. I would just bust up laughing. So, when I look at all of those posters with like my flaming hair and stuff it cracks me up because I know where I started.

In particular, Brie Larson mentions a scene that fans of the movie have already seen in the trailers. She said the scene is hard to miss because her hair is on fire and she looks somewhat otherworldly, but that it took a long time before she got to that point with the coordinators on set.

In fact, she even showed Kimmel what her original face looked like while she was practicing. Long story short, it’s easy to see why her “cool face” ended up being something Brie Larson really had to work at to play the iconic character.

I mean, that’s cute, but it’s not exactly as worldly and wary as the look she ultimately gives, a look that’s been splashed all over the marketing for Captain Marvel.

Millions of dollars are bandied about to make movies like Captain Marvel a reality. So while in some ways it’s ridiculous to think about someone being at their job and being told they need to work on their “cool face,” in other ways, we totally wouldn’t buy Brie Larson looking wide-eyed and amused at the camera.

Studios really need to get these details right in order to sell a character to the audience and I suppose I’m as thankful that Brie Larson practiced this as much as she did myriad lunges and squats.

We won’t have too much longer to wait and see if Captain Marvel is all that and a bag of potato chips. (Feel free to insert another nineties phrase if you have a better one.) The new MCU movie officially hits theaters on March 8, 2019. You can see the full list of all of the other fine movies hitting theaters in 2019 with CinemaBlend's release schedule or check out what reviews are saying about the flick.

No, Elisabeth Moss Isn't The Invisible Man In The Reboot

No, Elisabeth Moss Isn't The Invisible Man In The Reboot

Following the disappointing 2017 The Mummy reboot, Universal’s vision to start up an interconnected universe in which their movie monsters could interact in was scraped - including an Invisible Man re-imagining starring Johnny Depp. That being said, not all future plans for the creepy film icons are totally dead, though, as a new Invisible Man project helmed by Upgrade’s Leigh Whannell is in the works with Elisabeth Moss tapped to star. Of course, this has led to a lot of questions regarding the role that the Handmaid’s Tale actress would play, and she recently addressed those queries in an interview:

I haven’t gotten into what I’m allowed to say yet. I’m pretty sure I can say that I’m not ‘The Invisible Man.’ That would be weird. It’s a little bit of a different take on it. Part of the reason why I wanted to do it is I actually felt like it was a really feminist story of female empowerment and a victim kind of overcoming something. I don’t even know what I’m allowed to say about it! I’m not The Invisible Man, but there is an Invisible Man — if that makes any sense.

Interesting! As Elisabeth Moss touched on in her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it would be strange if a movie about the legendary “Invisible Man” was switched to a woman. Then again, Hollywood has been prone to gender-swapping their franchises with female leads so jumping to that conclusion especially when the movie doesn’t yet have a male lead was a fair assumption. But apparently it's not to be.

The Mad Men actress is clearly trying not to give anything away about her upcoming film, but from what we can gather her character is a victim of sorts (maybe of the Invisible Man's?), and this movie will see her take on an empowering character arc where she’ll overcome adversity. Elisabeth Moss is known for taking on roles with feminist themes, so her decision to sign on to this high-profile movie is made more clear through her recent quote.

The original Universal project led by Johnny Depp was a completely different script with planned ties to other “Dark Universe” films such as The Mummy. Ed Solomon, who also worked on Men In Black and Now You See Me, was signed on to write the previous project before the writer/director behind Insidious: Chapter 3 and Upgrade took over. The new movie, produced by Jason Blum, is set to start filming later this year.

Blumhouse is also reportedly considering plans to revitalize franchises for Scream and Hellraiser, along with a more chilling take on Fantasy Island. Elisabeth Moss played a small role in Jordan Peele’s hit horror flick Us and currently stars in indie drama Her Smell about a punk rocker who struggles with addiction as she tries to revitalize her music career - which is in select theaters now. Hopefully we'll get to hear more about her role in The Invisible Man and more details about the project in general in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to stay tuned for all of the latest updates here on CinemaBlend.

How John Wick 3 Set Up A Possible Spinoff

How John Wick 3 Set Up A Possible Spinoff

Very minor John Wick 3 spoilers ahead. Don't shoot the messenger.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum just had a -- wait for it -- killer opening weekend at the box office. That's important for world-building reasons. It not only makes another sequel more likely, it bodes well for The Continental TV series that's still in development at Starz and the spinoff movie that was discussed two years ago.

Do you remember that spinoff movie?

Back in 2017, it was announced that the John Wick franchise might be getting a spinoff movie called Ballerina. The script was being written by Shay Hatten, who is also credited as one of the writers of Parabellum. The story was said to follow a young woman raised as an assassin who must hunt down the other assassins that murdered her family. It was described, at the time, as being akin to La Femme Nikita, but with a "more pulpy, hyper-stylized bent a la Quentin Tarantino or Matthew Vaughn."

That was then. Fast-forward to 2019 and John Wick 3 just introduced Anjelica Huston as The Director, who also runs an academy that turns ballerinas into assassins. Putting two and two together, THR asked director Chad Stahelski if it was safe to say her introduction set up the Ballerina spinoff. Here's Stahelski's reply:

I think if you read Shay’s script and you look into the characters in that, you’d find your answer.

Not having seen Shay Hatten's script, it still seems pretty safe to say the answer is "yes." A lot can happen in two years to change a story, but the franchise-best box office success of John Wick 3 -- not to mention approval from both critics and fans -- suggests this spinoff has a great chance of moving forward. There are plenty of questions on how it would play out, including whether Anjelica Huston would be a main star and if Keanu Reeves would cameo at all. But we can add it to the list of spinoff/sequels from here.

(For the record, that long-gestating TV spinoff set at the L.A. Continental hotel is meant to have at least a Keanu Reeves cameo, and possibly a voice-over from Winston actor Ian McShane.)

John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski also talked to THR about the third chapter sharing more background on Jonathan's own origin story. In a section of his answer, he also touched on things that might be relevant to the Ballerina spinoff:

... As far as backstory goes, everything you need to know about John is in Parabellum. We hid it very well and hopefully, you’ll watch this movie three or four times. You may not care, and if you do care, when you watch The Director’s scenes and you see the girls, and you put two and two together with the tattoos and the crucifixes, the kind of martial arts he does, who he talks to, what languages he speaks, you can piece together a fairly comprehensive background on where John came from and what his upbringing was like. I give the audience a lot of credit; hopefully, they can piece it together and they like piecing it together. It’s like a book; that’s why we numbered the movies as chapters...

Speaking of chapters, John Wick: Chapter 3 ended on a note that has fans curious about John Wick: Chapter 4. If you want spoilers, check out our breakdown of the Parabellum ending and start imagining what might be next in Keanu Reeves' movie, plus the movie and TV spinoffs. Let's just hope this doesn't turn into -- wait for it again -- overkill.

Horror Legend John Carpenter Is Ready To Step Back Into The Director’s Chair

Horror Legend John Carpenter Is Ready To Step Back Into The Director’s Chair

Though it’s been almost a decade since John Carpenter has directed a feature film, with 2010's The Woods holding that distinction, the prospect of returning to the chair has always been on his mind. And while he’s certainly produced and guided some projects here and there, he hasn’t landed into a directing gig that’s given him the chance just yet.

However, when talking to the press during his attendance at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, one of the horror genre’s masters said some things that sound like that could change at any moment. Specifically, John Carpenter had the following remarks to make:

I don’t have one scheduled but I’m working on things. I made a lot of movies and I got burned out and I had to stop for a while. I have to have a life. Circumstance would have to be correct for me to do it again. I’d love to make a little horror film… that would be great. Or a big adventure film. It would be a project that I like that’s budgeted correctly. Nowadays they make these young directors do movies for $2 million when the movie is written for $10 million. So you have to squeeze it all in there and I don’t want to do that anymore.

So while John Carpenter isn’t signed up for any specific project just yet, it looks like he has some irons in the fire that could poke out a monster or two, if need be. Though should he return to the directing game, it sounds like it’s all or nothing for the man who brought us such visionary hits as Halloween, The Thing and They Live.

Without a question, John Carpenter isn’t interested in revisiting his old stuff, so a remake job is out of the question. And looking at his comments about budgeting above, he’s going to need a figure that properly reflects how he sees the movie on the page coming to life. Meaning, as he mentioned above in his discussion with Collider, if it’s a $10 million movie, he’s going to need that full $10 million to make it.

In his downtime from feature directing, Carpenter hasn’t been a slouch. With a strong video game habit and a thriving musical career, the famed horror legend has been putting his art into the universe through other methods. And the world of film has been one of them, albeit in the way of a music video he filmed for his theme to Christine, which he dropped back in 2017. You can watch, and listen, to that particularly awesome track unfold below:

Considering his input on last year’s Halloween sequel led that film to a $254 million take internationally, on a $10 million production budget for director David Gordon Green, it’s fair to say that the John Carpenter touch is far from gone. His sabbatical has done him well, and under the right conditions, you could have a Carpenter-directed film yourself in the near future. So get to it, Hollywood!

Halloween (2018) is currently available on most streaming platforms for rent, with most of the original canon, including Carpenter’s classic original film, being available on Shudder.

Morbius, An Updated Cast List

Morbius, An Updated Cast List

Along with lending Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and telling animated tales about the Web-Slinger, Sony Pictures has also kicked off its own shared film universe centered around Spidey’s extensive cast of characters. Venom kicked things off last October and the next movie up is Morbius, which will follow, you guessed it, Morbius the Living Vampire. As was the case with Venom, it’s weird at first imagining Morbius jumping to the silver screen and not clashing with Spider-Man, but writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have crafted a tale for the tragic vampire to shine on his own, one which director Daniel Espinosa is helming.

It’s early into Morbius’ production, but with cameras now rolling, more details are slowly coming out about the comic book movie, including who will comprise the main cast. Here are all the Morbius performers who’ve been announced to the public so far.

Jared Leto

Seven months after Sony announced that Morbius was on the way, Jared Leto was cast in the eponymous role. Although no specific details about Leto’s version of Morbius the Living Vampire have been revealed yet, his origin story is expected to unfold similarly to his comic book counterpart’s. In the Marvel Comics universe, Michael Morbius was a renowned biochemist who used a treatment of vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy to cure his rare blood condition. He succeeded, but the cost was being turned into a pseudo-vampire who now had to ingest fresh blood on a daily basis to stay alive. If one unofficial plot description is to be believed, Leto’s Morbius will use his new abilities to prey on criminals he deems are unworthy to live, thus putting him in the anti-hero mold like Venom. This will be Leto’s second time appearing in a comic book movie, with his first go-around being as The Joker in Suicide Squad. His other acting credits include Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, Dallas Buyers Club and Blade Runner 2049.

Adria Arjona

Moviegoers probably know Adria Arjona as Jules Reyes in last year’s Pacific Rim Uprising, while TV viewers might remember her as Dorothy in the NBC miniseries Emerald City. The actress’ other upcoming projects include Netflix’s Triple Frontier and Amazon’s Good Omens, but Morbius is arguably the biggest of the bunch. Arjona will be playing Martine Bancroft, who in the comics was Michael Morbius’ fiancée. Michael’s love for Martine is what drove him to take such drastic measures to cure his blood disorder, and like the man she intended to marry, she would also become a vampire years later. It’s hard to say how much Arjona’s version of Martine will have in common with the original character, including if she’s even engaged with Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius at the start of the movie, but expect her to be integral to the story.

Matt Smith

Most of you probably know Matt Smith best for playing the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who from 2010 to 2013, but he’s collected a number of other notable projects for his resume, including Terminator Genisys, The Crown, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX. Morbius marks Smith’s first foray into the comic book genre, though given how much time he’s spent in the sci-fi and fantasy realms, this shouldn’t feel too different. It remains to be seen if Smith will be playing an ally or enemy to Morbius, though if he falls into the latter category, perhaps he’ll be playing Loxias Crown, an adaptation of the super villain Crown (who both Spider-Man and Morbius have fought in the comics) who’s rumored to be Morbius’ main antagonist.

Jared Harris

From movies like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to TV shows like Fringe and Mad Men, Jared Harris has assembled a diverse amount of credits over his acting career, and Morbius is the latest project that’s been added to the list. Like with Matt Smith, we have no clues yet as to who Harris is playing, although given his various villainous turns over the years, he could easily fill that main antagonist role as well. However, another possibility is that Harris will play Emil Nikos, a fellow biochemist who was best friends with Michael Morbius in the comics. Sadly, when Michael turned into a vampire, Emil was his first victim, so if events unfold similarly in the Morbius movie, then Harris might not have that much screen time, unless he’s revived as a vampire later.

Tyrese Gibson

Like Jared Leto, Tyrese Gibson has built an acting career alongside his singing career, with his most prominent onscreen performances being as Roman Pierce in the Fast and the Furious movies and Robert Epps in the Transformers franchise. Now he’s in talks to join Morbius, although as we’ve come to expect, no details have been provided about who he’ll play. According to THR, Gibson would play “an FBI agent trying to hunt down the living vampire.” So along with whatever supernatural trouble Morbius will be dealing with, he’ll also have this government operative on his tail, although perhaps circumstances will result in the two having to join forces.

Morbius will sink its teeth into theaters on July 10, 2020. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on the project, and be sure to browse through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are hitting the silver screen later this year.

Captain Marvel Has Some Tasty Pulp Fiction References

Captain Marvel Has Some Tasty Pulp Fiction References

Samuel L. Jackson has enjoyed a long career in acting, appearing in no less than a hundred movies a year (give or take). He's tallied up quite a number of iconic characters from all corners of pop culture -- such as Mace Windu and Nick Fury. You can see Jackson reprise the latter this weekend in Captain Marvel, and the movie finds the time to plant some easter eggs for one of Jackson's most famous films: Pulp Fiction. One fan believes he spotted two references to the iconic film. Check it out:

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Jules, a contract killer who can talk about French McDonalds just as easily as he blows people's heads off. Pulp Fiction is considered one of the best films ever made, and Jules is one of Jackson's most well-known characters, with lines that can be (and have been) quoted endlessly.

So, it's no surprise that Captain Marvel, which takes place in the same decade as Pulp Fiction, decided to throw in a couple of easter eggs to the Tarantino film. These easter eggs were spotted by a fan on Twitter and it's hard to deny that they are callbacks to Pulp Fiction.

One reference is a shot of young Nick Fury and Agent Coulson driving in their car, which almost perfectly mirrors a similar scene in Pulp Fiction. The framing here is almost the exact same, but if you wanted to play devil's advocate, there are only so many ways to film two people sitting in a car.

The second easter egg is a little out of left field. During Captain Marvel, the Skrull leader Talos appears and for some reason he's drinking a soda. Talos is a funny guy, but it's pretty random in the movie...until you realize it's probably a Pulp Fiction reference. Jackson's character Jules takes a sip from a soda cup that looks near identical to the one Talos uses. Jules was drinking the soda as a power move right before he was about to murder some guys, while Talos was presumably just thirsty.

This isn't the first time the MCU has snuck in a Pulp Fiction reference either. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fury's tombstone has a quote about the righteous man, which is part of a biblical passage that Pulp Fiction's Jules memorably references. Even Star Wars couldn't help referencing Pulp Fiction on Mace Windu's lightsaber.

You might be able to spot more Pulp Fiction and '90s references in Captain Marvel, which is out in theaters right now. Learn as much as you can before your showing with our what we know so far guide. For everything else that Marvel has coming down the pipeline, check out of Marvel movie release guide.