Midwest Movie Maker

Marvel Studios Blade  is about to take a bite out of Cleveland. Featuring Academy Award winner Mahershala Al i in the title role, the film will be the fourth Marvel project and third Marvel Studios movie to shoot in Cleveland. Ali previously played Cottonmouth Stokes in Marvel's Luke Cage  Netflix series. Previous films include Sony's  Spider-Man 3 , Marvel Studios' The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier . Marvel almost shot exteriors for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness in Cleveland , but changed plans when the coronavirus pandemic struck. While Marvel has made no official announcement about the film’s Cleveland connection, the Greater Cleveland Film Commission announced via an Aug. 18 newsletter that the film Perfect Imprints was accepting applications for local crew, providing an @mcustudios.com email contact. Perfect Imprints is Blade ’s alleged working title, first reported in April. The GCFC couldn’t comment on whether Perfect Imprints...

Kurt Yue in, counterclockwise from top left, 'The Gifted,' 'Venom,' and 'Black Widow' When Evan Peters first appeared as Frank “Quicksilver” Bohner on  WandaVision , fans were buzzing about how the actor had now appeared in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper and Fox’s now defunct Marvel X-Universe .  Peters wasn’t the first. Several actors have stepped through the multiverse from one Marvel world to the other. Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, Olivia Munn and, soon, Oscar Isaac, to name a few. And a few actors have featured in Sony Spider-Verse films as well as MCU blockbusters. Michelle Lee in Venom and Black Widow , for example.  But how many actors have appeared in all three Marvel universes? Probably a handful, says actor Kurt Yue . He should know. With speaking roles in Fox’s The Gifted , Sony’s Venom and Marvel’s Black Widow , Yue is a bonafide … uhm, Marvel Multiverser? … whatever the equivalent of something like an EGOT would be in the world of Mar...

The Russo Bros direct Chris Evans on the 'Winter Soldier' set Imagine Medina standing in for the rolling hills of Wakanda or the steps of the Sanctum Sanctorum leading down to E. 9th. With a little more infrastructure, it may have happened. Cleveland natives and Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo said as much recently during a Q&A after a screening of the film at the Cleveland Cinematheque, adding that they would have loved to bring Infinity War to Cleveland. One of the reasons the brothers couldn’t is because it lacks a modern sound stage suitably for a film its size. The Russos shot much of Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier in Cleveland. If the right sound stage was available, they would have kept the film in Northeast Ohio longer. Pinewood Atlanta Studios The directors said the availability of state-of-the-art sound stages was one of the main reasons why nearly 40 feature films are shooting in Georgia. Georgia's Pinewo...

#TeamCap ready for battle The beauty of Captain America: Civil War is brilliantly captured in the arc of its main villain, Sokovian military specialist Helmut Zemo. Zemo, as portrayed by Daniel Bruhl , appears at first glance to be your run-of-the-mill super villain, intent on world domination. Instead Zemo turns out to be everything but your run-of-the-mill super villain. (I’ll do my best not to spoil anything - but please be forewarned). Zemo, turns out, is human . His motivation is relatable. You feel for the guy, in a way you would never feel for the Red Skull, Crossbones or any super-powered evil-doer of the last decade (Raimi's Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 the only exception) . Zemo isn’t a villain you love to hate. He’s a villain with whom you empathize. By and large, that same sentiment goes for every character in the film. And pretty quick you realize that Civil War is less a bombastic superhero thrill ride (though it delivers on that promise in spades), and muc...

The clapper snaps on a scene from 'Captain America: The Winter Solider' The Marvel Cinematic Universe is coming back to Cleveland on April 1. The city is one of a select group to host the world premiere of Captain America: The Winter Solider . Other cities include London , Paris , Beijing and Los Angeles . What makes this different than The Avengers in terms of premieres? Directors Joe and Anthony Russo . The Russos have made a splash with Cap 2 even before the movie’s premiere, with rumors circulating that the team is already tapped to shoot Cap 3 .   And the brothers are Cleveland born and bred. Their first feature, Welcome to Collinwood , was shot in Cleveland (Collinwood, specifically) in 2001, and starred William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, Luis Guzman and George Clooney. Clooney served as executive producer, as well. Those Midwest ties are why The Winter Solider returns to Cleveland . Joe Russo tells Plain Dealer reporter Clint O’Connor , “It has bee...

The Avengers at the corner of E. 9th and Euclid (sort of). Something occurred to me when I watched the recent trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier . More Marvel cinematic heroes and villains have battled in one Cleveland intersection than anywhere else in the world. The intersection is E. 9 th Street and Euclid , in the heart of Cleveland ’s financial district and along its theater and health corridor. Spider-Man and Sandman battled on the asphalt under the traffic light there. The Avengers destroyed the Chitauri in the skies among its border buildings. And Captain America will soon pursue the Winter Soldier straight through the intersection in an effort to save the Marvel Universe once again. More Marvel Cinematic heroes and villains have fought in this intersection than anywhere else.  That’s pretty amazing when you think about it. Quite possibly, there is no where else in the world where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made a bigger impact in s...