The Simpsons Yoinks Marvel’s Release Date, Trailers for Wicked, Wolverine, Star Wars Visions, Plus Villeneuve’s 007 Casting Criteria

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It appears as though Marvel Studios much speculated film that was slated to release between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars in July 2027, won’t be happening after all; or at least not that July, as Disney has replaced the untitled project with a sequel to The Simpsons Movie dated for July 23, 2027. The move comes as a surprise to many Marvel fans who anticipated a possible Doctor Strange or Shang-Chi sequel to take place between the Avengers tentpoles but is in keeping with what Bob Iger and Kevin Feige have promised about a slowdown in production. Elsewhere, with Marvel Zombies premiering on Disney Plus last week, Marvel TV head Brad Winderbaum teased a possible season 2, but emphasized that would be contingent on viewership and new Disney Plus subscriptions. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen took the opportunity to share that although she recorded lines for the series, she doesn’t remember anything about the show or plot. 

It was a huge week for trailers from a bevy of our favorite franchises, so lets run them down with another good old fashioned Trailer Park:

• Insomniac and Sony released the first gameplay trailer for Marvel’s Wolverine on the PS5, which will release in fall of 2026.

• Lucasfilm unveiled a new trailer for Star Wars; Visions Volume 3 which also announced the cast that includes Anna Sawai, Freddie Highmore, George Takei, Harvey Guillén, Jodie Turner-Smith, Judith Light, Simu Liu, Stephanie Hsu, and Steve Buscemi.

• The final trailer for Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good released last Wednesday morning to much acclaim.

• And finally, a new trailer for 20th Century’s Avatar: Fire and Ash teased more of the villainous faction and stakes.

Director Denis Villeneuve shed new light on his upcoming version of 007 for Amazon/MGM; sharing that the casting process will begin next year after he’s completed production on Dune: Part Three for Warner Bros and that he is looking to cast a “relatively unknown” “fresh face” actor in their 20s or 30s. Additional criteria the filmmaker included is that the performer must hail from the British Isles and be male, as well as his desire to capture what Fleming called “a blunt instrument” — the lethal but “extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened.” If Villeneuve and team stay true to these parameters, it potentially rules out many fan-casted favorites and seems to be in more alignment with the Broccoli family’s traditions with the character than expected with new creatives in control.

Mark Ronson is slated to reunite with Greta Gerwig to score her Chronicles of Narnia adaptation at Netflix. Ronson previously served as executive music producer for Gerwig’s Barbie.

Amazon MGM Studios‘ adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling novel Fourth Wing is closing in on a new showrunner. Wednesday Season 2 executive producer Meredith Averill is in final negotiations to board the project as writer and executive producer.

Sony revealed that Spider-Man: Beyond the SpiderVerse will arrive a week earlier than expected, and land on June 18, 2027. Notably, that new date will cover the Juneteenth holiday as well as Father’s Day. It previously was dated for June 25, 2027.

Comedian Bill Burr is in talks to join the cast of Aaron Sorkin and Sony Pictures’ sequel to The Social Network, after Jeremy Strong, Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White were officially cast. The film also has been retitled The Social Reckoning and will officially hit theaters on Oct. 9, 2026.

A newly created AI “actress” named Tilly Norwood, designed by the studio Xicoia under Particle6, has reportedly drawn interest from Hollywood talent agencies. The announcement sparked major backlash from real actors, with critiques about replacing human talent, the ethics of compositing real faces, and calls to boycott agencies that represent AI personas.