There’s no sign of a new Avengers movie during Marvel Studios’ Phase 4, and while rumours persist about everything from a Secret Invasion adaptation to Young Avengers, it appears as if Earth’s Mightiest Heroes won’t assemble again for the foreseeable future. 

That’s bound to change at some point, of course, especially as Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all-time when it hit theaters in 2019. 

While most fans would like to see Joe and Anthony Russo return to take the helm of Avengers 5, there’s already a lot of speculation about who else could take charge of the franchise moving forward in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, once he’s done with The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it won’t be filmmaker James Gunn. 

During a recent Q&A with fans on Instagram, Gunn was asked about directing an Avengers movie and said, “I haven’t been asked, but I wouldn’t do it if I was.”

That’s pretty definitive, and the franchise clearly doesn’t interest him for whatever reason. That’s a shame (he could make a badass team-up movie featuring the Avengers and Guardians), and we don’t know what his comic book movie future is likely to be after Vol. 3 is released, especially as Gunn has described that as the conclusion to his trilogy. 

Who do you think could direct the next Avengers movie? 

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has received major criticism and backlash for its lack of diversity and representation in its various categories over the years, and this came to a head 5 years ago when only two people of color were nominated for major awards.

Some big changes were promised in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, and we’re finally going to see some of those changes implemented moving forward.

The film Academy has announced that it’s setting up a task force “to develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31, 2020,” and will double the number of women and people of color among its membership.

“While the Academy has made strides, we know there is much more work to be done in order to ensure equitable opportunities across the board,” Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. “The need to address this issue is urgent. To that end, we will amend — and continue to examine — our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated.”

Another major announcement will hopefully lead to more diversity while also giving comic book and genre movies a better chance at recognition. Starting with the 94th Oscars ceremony, the Academy will return to a guaranteed 10 best picture nominees. This was implemented for the 82nd and 83rd awards, before the Academy shifted to a highly unpopular system that could yield anywhere from five to 10 nominees.

You’ll find full details of the Academy Aperture 2025 initiative HERE.

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Mandy Rose’s accomplishments make for an interesting read; she was crowned the 2014 World Beauty Fitness & Fashion Bikini Champion, and has competed in a number of fitness competitions before ultimately taking part in WWE’s Tough Enough reality series. It didn’t take long for them to sign Mandy to a contract, and she’s currently making her mark on FOX’s Friday Night SmackDown.

After splitting with former tag team partner Sonya Deville (who we recently spoke to about her Batwoman aspirations), Mandy aligned herself with Mr Money in the Bank Otis, and is currently involved in one of the show’s most well-received and enjoyable storylines. 

Outside of WWE, Mandy has launched her own fitness app, a clothing line, and is currently working on a skincare range as well. In this exclusive interview with the WWE Superstar, we discuss all of that, and even delve into whether she would be interested in taking on a superhero role down the line (as we’re sure you’ll agree, she would be a perfect choice for a character like Power Girl). 

Needless to say, we want to extend a huge thank you to Mandy for taking the time to talk to us, and you can find more WWE news from the CBM team by heading over to TheRingReport.com!
 

I spoke to Sonya Deville yesterday about her wanting to play Batwoman, and was wondering whether you have any dream superhero roles?

Yeah, of course. I’ve always had dreams to be in movies down the road and whatever comes my way, or whatever I think could be a good part and fits my character, I would love to be involved with. 

Do you have acting aspirations and would a big Marvel role or something similar be of interest if the opportunity were to present itself?

I’ve always had those kind of aspirations, but right now I’m very busy with so many different things outside of WWE. I’m building a brand, and I want to build a global brand with different products, so there’s always room for more, and you never know what the future brings. Movies and television are things I’d definitely look into in the future, for sure. 

In many ways, pro wrestlers are like superheroes in the sense that they’re larger than life, have cool costumes, and are stronger than everyone else, but if you could pick a superhero to face in the ring, who would it be and why?

Hmm, that’s a tough one. I’d probably go with…you’ve stumped me, I’m thinking! [Laughs] Wonder Woman would be cool, definitely.

Moving on to WWE, with Braun Strowman defending his Universal Championship in a Handicap match at Backlash on Sunday, are you thinking that could be a good time for Otis to think about cashing in?  

You know what, I don’t know when is a good time, and any time is a good time for that, but we’ll see. We may want to hold the briefcase a little longer, and maybe there’s a better time down the road, but you never know. 
 

Even though you’re paired with Otis, you’re no longer part of a tag team, so what are your hopes for a career as a singles star?

I’ve always seen myself as a singles Superstar. Of course, you can get into a tag team and be both, but I can hold my own, I’ve had that “X” factor from the very beginning and, you know, to be honest, now that Sonya is out of the picture, I see that SmackDown Women’s Championship in my reach and I’m going straight for that. 

Do you regret never getting a chance to have a run with the Women’s Tag Team Championships?

I think we’d always hoped to have a run, of course. You always do, but maybe it just wasn’t in our cards and wasn’t meant to be. As you can see, Sonya and I aren’t in a tag team for a reason. She clearly couldn’t take the idea of being in my shadow. We were best friends, so I don’t know what she’s mad at, but the fact that maybe some people saw more of a star in me, that’s not my problem. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. You just never know. Championships really aren’t everything. A title around your waist doesn’t make you…of course, it’s nice to have, and it’s something we all want to have, but it really doesn’t have much to do with the success of your career. 

I also asked Sonya if she would ever consider reuniting Fire & Desire, and she called you a Barbie doll who’s been holding her back – how would you respond to that?

She has this idea where she thinks I’m just a Barbie doll, and she clearly forgets all the times I helped her in fitness and bodybuilding and helped to get her body in shape. I’d say, ‘Honey, if I was just a Barbie doll with all my accomplishments and goals that I’ve achieved, I wouldn’t be here today.’ They never would have hired me if I was just a Barbie doll. She goes along with all the haters out there who think that about me, and they can think that all they want, but I don’t really care when it comes down to it. I know who I am, I know what I’ve achieved, and this is only the beginning for me, anyway. It’s unfortunate that she’s so jealous and bitter about her own life so much that she needs to hate on others that have success and that have made strides in their career. It’s a shame, but if anything, she’s been the one holding me back because her whole idea of being annoyed about this whole situation is the company maybe saw more in me at the beginning, and that’s what she’s mad about. It ain’t my problems! [Laughs]
 

Like Trish Stratus before you, do you feel like you’ve had to work twice as hard to prove yourself because of your looks?

That was always a thing in the beginning when I first started. Trish had the same tribulations to get through as well. We’re both from the fitness world and were models, and people have this idea that ‘You’re just a model,’ but have you ever seen a model and an athlete at the same time? That’s possible. It’s just ignorance, to be honest. People just assume that you can’t do both, but I’ve proven myself up until this point and I’ve proven myself that you can have both and you don’t just have to be a pretty face. Why can’t you have both? 

There’s talk of fans potentially being able to return to WWE shows soon, so I was wondering what is the first match you’d like to have with a hot crowd like that in attendance?

Definitely myself versus Sonya Deville because I’m not finished with her. She thinks she got the best of me, but this is definitely not over and that’s exactly the first match I want in front of a crowd. With or without a crowd, to be honest! 

With everyone stuck indoors right now, it feels like the perfect time for your “Fit With Mandy” app, so what would you tell our readers they could expect from that if they check it out?

My Fit With Mandy app is a twelve-week Apple program designed for all skill levels, all different ages, males, females, with little to no experience. It requires no equipment and you can do the program anywhere. Basically, it’s a great program because with people still being quarantined and not being able to get to a gym or have access to equipment, you can do this program anywhere and it really does help. It’s high intensity interval training, it gets your heart rate up, you can get a good sweat from it, and it’s a program I do myself. I’ve seen progress and results, and I hope people out there will enjoy it and there’s a lot of benefits from it. It’s available on the app store. 
 

Your Damandyz Donuts Pride collection is very cool, but what exactly was the inspiration behind that?

Obviously, the show must go on ever since Sonya and I split, but we’re creating the content separately that we need to for our fans and continue interacting with them. Now, there’s our Pride collection which we both support heavily. The proceeds are going to The Trevor Project as well as Black Lives Matter right now, and we’re trying to do whatever we can to help share support, and every little bit goes a long way. We’re both big supporters and Sonya Deville is obviously in that community, I’m definitely a big supporter and always have been, so it’s very nice to be able to show our support and do whatever we can to help. 

I know you have a new skincare line in the works too, so when are you hoping to launch that and what sort of products will be available?

Hopefully, within the next few months. It’s called Amarose and it’s basically going to be a few different products; there will be a moisturizer, a lifting serum, a cleanser, and a toner, and we’ve been working on this brand for quite a while now. Obviously, it takes some time to get things right, and I wanted to make sure the product was exactly what I would use and enjoy, of course, so I kind of took six months out to make sure I really enjoyed them. They’re all amazing products I hope everyone else can enjoy. Since I’ve been on the road and travel so much, I take so much pride in taking care of my skin and health, so this is just another thing that I want to be able to share with my fans out there who will be able to experience it and then create a global brand off it. 

I saw a recent interview in which you talked about pitching the Otis storyline to Vince McMahon, but have there been any other ideas you’ve come up with we unfortunately haven’t seen?

No, I think so far my run has been pretty blessed, I’m not gonna lie. I think right now, Otis and I make a great couple, and it’s been a great storyline with a long build which is usually the best, and I’m just so happy with that. 

You’ve obviously been competing on SmackDown, but aside from that, what have you been doing to stay happy and healthy during quarantine?

I’ve been enjoying the moments more. We never knew this was something that would happen, but you kind of appreciate things more because you’re forced to and forced to stay home and enjoy those special times. I’ve been enjoying time with my mom, some friends, and still working out as usual because I’m always on TV, and I love to stay healthy. Training, hanging out at the beach, the pool, and I’m grateful to be in sunny Florida, so I can’t really complain!

Finally, if you could book yourself into a dream WrestleMania match with a star from the past, present, or NXT, who would it be and why?

I would say myself versus Trish Stratus. She’s always been a huge inspiration for me, and like I said earlier, we’ve had very similar paths in this business, and she’s always been so sweet to me every time I see her, and she is just an amazing woman who has created so many amazing moments in her career, and coming from a fitness background, she was able to really prove to people that she had what it takes, so that’s a similar story for me. So, I would definitely say that would be a hot match up for sure!
 

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Universal Pictures’ “Dark Universe” fell apart after flops like Dracula Untold and The Mummy, and a cast photo shared by the studio has now become a point of ridicule. However, while that shared world concept is now dead, the studio remains committed to bringing these classic movie monsters back to the big screen for a new audience. 

During a recent interview with Collider, screenwriter David Koepp explained that he’s recently revisited his screenplay for The Bride of Frankenstein and made some big changes which brings it to “a place where I kind of always wanted it to be,” while crediting Universal for letting him “try again.”

“So I have a version now and they have a version that we all really like,” he explains. “I think they’re talking to directors now.” As for what went wrong with the Dark Universe, Koepp didn’t get into specifics, but praised the studio for going back to the drawing board when things didn’t work out. 

“Not all ideas work out. To their credit, what I really admired about Universal is they threw their hands up and went, ‘Hold on. This isn’t working out. Let’s stop and think for a year or two.’ I thought that was really smart. And big corporations don’t often do that. There aren’t a lot of New Coke moments where they go, ‘This is not as we hoped. We’re going to stop and go off on this other direction.’”

It remains to be seen when we’ll get to see The Bride of Frankenstein, but it’s clearly a project back on Universal’s radar (which is no great surprise after the success of The Invisible Man earlier this year). 

The original plan was for Angelina Jolie to star in this, but chances are things have now changed in that regard. 

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Avengers: Endgame star Chris Evans recently caught up with The Hollywood Reporter and talked in detail about what he believes is the secret behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success. 

The Russo Brothers’ Marvel Studios ensemble became the highest-grossing movie in history when it was released last year, and there’s not another franchise on the planet that has consistently delivered hit after hit. Remember, Evans has starred in more MCU adventures than any other actor, so he knows what he’s talking about, and believes Kevin Feige deserves all the credit. 

“The buck stops with Kevin Feige, doesn’t it? I mean, it must. It’d be one thing if there were a few good Marvel movies and then a few stinkers. It’d be one thing if every other shop in town was making the hits as effortlessly as Marvel was, but it’s just not happening that way.”

“I guess when you start to collect the data and figure out what’s the common denominator, I really think it must be Kevin Feige,” the actor continued. “He doesn’t let things be bad.”

Evans would go on to say that letting Feige convince him to play Captain America was the best decision he ever made, and noted that he “owes it to Kevin for being persistent and helping me avoid making a giant mistake.”

Needless to say, it’s now impossible to imagine what the MCU would look like without Evans playing Steve Rogers, so we have a lot to thank Kevin Feige for! 

What do you guys think?

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Following their decision to move Christopher Nolan’s Tenet to July 31 and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 to October 2, Warner Bros. has unsurprisingly rearranged nearly its entire 2020 slate, moving several films back into 2021 and 2022.

The Matrix 4 will no longer open next year and has instead been pushed to April 1, 2022. Production on the Lana Wachowski-directed sci-fi actioner has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and has been awaiting the go-ahead to resume filming in Germany. While dates are subject to change, work is tentatively scheduled to restart on July 6, at the earliest.

Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong has also vacated its November 20 release date and has been moved to May 21, 2021, taking over the Memorial Day weekend date from Matrix 4. As far as we know, filming has been completed and it is currently in the midst of its intricate post-production process.

Robert Zemeckis’ fantasy comedy The Witches, which was originally scheduled for release on October 9, has been removed from the schedule entirely. It’s too early to say, but an HBO Max launch could be in the cards for this latest adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl novel of the same name. 

Tim Story’s live-action/animated hybrid comedy Tom & Jerry, which will star Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña, has been moved from December 23 to March 5, 2021.

Finally, New Line scheduled an untitled horror movie for June 4, 2021 and Warner Bros. removed an untitled event movie, previously slated for October 16, from its theatrical release schedule.

On the bright side, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune remains untouched for now, but it may be the next to move if studios continue to lose confidence in the ability to successfully open a film this calendar year. 

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