Something superhero movie fans have criticized the MCU for over the years is “playing it safe” by always aiming their releases at the PG-13 crowd when the likes of Fox’s X-Men franchise and even DC have made R-rated comic book films such as Deadpool, Logan and Watchmen. It’s possible, though, that Marvel Studios might be ready to branch out into more mature fare with one of their upcoming projects, and it could be the Black Widow movie.

The age of the B-list superhero is upon us. This weekend, DC Entertainment's "Aquaman" hit the coveted $1 billion mark in global box-office receipts after less than a month — with Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Black Panther" already topping that watermark in 2018. Taken together, those 2 films underscore how the next wave of superhero movies are being steadily reshaped by lesser-known heroes who are resonating with audiences, in the process becoming vanguards of the genre's future.

Remember all those times men said that women-led superhero movies didn’t have an audience? Well, get ready to laugh in their big dumb faces: Captain Marvel, the first female-led film of the MCU, is on track to earn an estimated $140-$180 million its opening weekend. Within the first 24 hours of advance ticket sales, Captain Marvel was already one of Fandango’s top three MCU pre-sellers, trailing Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

The female-led 2016 reboot will be ignored.

While we’re still waiting on some casting news for Marvel Studios’ next film Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Cate Shortland, we have a crew update to share. 

We recommend our top five picks to watch after you’ve seen Netflix’s newest action thriller. It seems that everyone is getting in on the revenge thriller trend nowadays with hyper-violent action films coming out left and right. Netflix decided to dabble in this theme and came out with their own adaption of the webcomic series Polar: Came From The Cold. If you want to read our review of this Netflix Original, click here.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy so much was because I got to explore a world in which I had no expectations. Take that crazy city Knowhere, which is inside a giant Celestial head, I didn't even know it existed, let alone know what it "should" look like. Here's the VFX reel showing how the city was built.

Last year, his #BlackPantherChallenge raised enough money to send 73,000 children of color to see "Black Panther." This year, his #CaptainMarvelChallenge hopes to do the same for girls with Marvel Studios' first female-led film, "Captain Marvel." But Frederick Joseph said he isn't sure the campaign to help young girls will receive as much support as the one for black boys did.

Chris Pratt braved the rainy Los Angeles skies Saturday to attend the “Lego Movie 2” premiere, where he assured fans that they will get a third “Guardians of the Galaxy” film. When Variety‘s Marc Malkin asked if a third film could be made without James Gunn, Pratt said, “I promise there’ll be a third movie, I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like, but I know everyone on board is just eager to give the fans what they want and wrap up a trilogy in a meaningful way.”

"I could tell you so much," Pratt said. "I am a vault of information that would break the internet. But all I really should say is it’s coming out this year and everyone in the world is going to see it...and everything it promises in the previous movie, it delivers on and so much more." In another interview, Pratt said he's not worried about any repercussions from Star-Lord's questionable behavior in Avengers: Infinity War.

Of all the many, many questions surrounding Fox’s move under the bajillion-dollar Disney umbrella, one of the more intriguing concerns what exactly will happen to the Deadpool franchise. Ryan Reynolds‘ Merc with the Mouth broke the mold when it debuted with an R-rating and nabbed $363 million domestically on a $58 million budget. (Its sequel, Deadpool 2, brought in $318 million, while a PG-13 cut garnered little interest.)

It’s midday and Samuel L. Jackson has had a long morning battling the shape-shifting Skrulls on the set of Captain Marvel. “I’m tired,” the 70-year-old says slumping into a folding chair on a soundstage in Culver City. Motion capture dots line his face. They’ll be used to give his character Nick Fury a makeover. When it opens next month, Captain Marvel might be introducing Brie Larson as Marvel’s strongest superhero. But it’s also going to reintroduce comic book fans to a younger version of Jackson’s Fury — a character Jackson’s playing for the ninth time.

A new, post-Star Wars, R-rated science fiction movie was in theatrical release, and it is to my great regret that, as then-12 year old kid, I didn’t see it in those days. Don’t get me wrong; I really really wanted to see it. I eagerly read every article about Ridley Scott’s scary new space monster opus in Starlog magazine (Starlog was the internet before the internet), and I’d read (and re-read) the large paperback “photo-novel” at our local mall’s bookstore, even though I couldn’t quite afford the large softback’s cover price (photo-novels were home video in the pre-home video age…

Iron Man 3 includes a subtle Easter egg that hints at JARVIS' transformation into Vision.

Following James Gunn's firing by Disney last year after old, offensive tweets resurfaced, the rumor mill has been incessant regarding speculation about who could replace him for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It's a franchise Gunn built from the ground up and, as Marvel Studios' first cosmic foray, it garnered major plaudits for its visual aesthetic and retro soundtrack.

Considering the success of the Fyre Festival documentaries, it was only a matter of time before the infamous event got the Hollywood studio treatment. The Lonely Island – consisting of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone – and Seth Rogen are developing a film about a music festival gone “horribly wrong”. However, the idea for the film came about way before Fyre Festival broke out in chaos in 2017.

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman is the much-anticipated mobster flick that's coming to Netflix this fall, but if you're expecting it to be anything like Goodfellas, don't. It stars mafia movie stalwarts and Scorsese collaborators Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci, but will be a very different kind of movie.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has reversed its controversial decision to hand out four Oscars during the telecast’s commercial breaks. Following a Thursday night meeting with top cinematographers, Academy leadership including president John Bailey and CEO Dawn Hudson have pledged to air every awards category on the live show a week from Sunday. “The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short...

No one would comment, but word is that the two networks might have their roles reversed, with Netflix taking first window and AMC second. The Breaking Bad series aired originally on AMC, with seasons subsequently made available for streaming on Netflix. For Netflix and AMC to share the Breaking Bad follow-up is fitting as the two outlets share the credit for the success of the original series. Gilligan acknowledged the streamer’s contribution in his acceptance speech for the series’ first best drama series Emmy win in 2013.

The shock of The Avengers: Infinity War's defeat is enough to shake the MCU's heroes, but at least Tony Stark knows this timeline is the one that eventually leads to victory over Thanos, as promised by Doctor Strange. But we have a theory that Doctor Strange's prophecy isn't what Iron Man or Marvel fans think. Especially since there's really only one future that would make sense for Doctor Strange to see... and he definitely wouldn't describe it to anybody.