Fans have already gotten a glimpse of Baby Groot and Rocket Raccoon in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" trailer but now they can catch the BFFs in a new animated short from Marvel and Funko.
In the video "Marvel Funko Presents: Bait N Switch" posted Wednesday on YouTube, Rocket breaks into the Collector's museum in order to find his buddy and help him escape.
The animated characters are recreated in their Funko toy design with giant heads and tiny bodies.
This is the second video Funko has made featuring Marvel characters. In "Spellbound," Spider-Man and Iron Man team up to battle Loki.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" arrives in theaters May 5.
Fans have already gotten a glimpse of Baby Groot and Rocket Raccoon in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" trailer but now they can catch the BFFs in a new animated short from Marvel and Funko.
In the video "Marvel Funko Presents: Bait N Switch" posted Wednesday on YouTube, Rocket breaks into the Collector's museum in order to find his buddy and help him escape.
The animated characters are recreated in their Funko toy design with giant heads and tiny bodies.
This is the second video Funko has made featuring Marvel characters. In "Spellbound," Spider-Man and Iron Man team up to battle Loki.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" arrives in theaters May 5.
Last night’s winter finale of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended the Ghost Rider arc in epic fashion (Robbie! Noooo!!!) while dramatically kicking off the LMD arc.
The episode also saw the return of Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley) â€" the Inhuman with the power of running pretty darn fast before snapping back into place (just like a yo-yo) â€" who was last seen in the Season 4 premiere, "The Ghost." If you're a fan of the character (or if you're a fan of anything and everything Marvel), then this news will send you over the moon, because at the conclusion of “The Law of Inferno Dynamics,†Marvel announced that it was making a spinoff miniseries titled “Slingshot†(full title: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot). But there is a tiny catch: It'll be a digital one.
The cool reveal was made at the end of the new promo for the LMD arc set to kick off on Jan. 10. The promo is an open invitation to “witness Agent Yo-Yo’s secret mission in an all-new, six-part digital miniseries.†Marvel’s new series will premiere on Dec. 13 and viewers will be able to stream the new episodes on the ABC app as well as ABC.com. It's no Agent Carter (yes, I'm still crying over it. What can I say?), but I'll be looking forward to seeing Yo-Yo's adventures.
In an interview with Natalia Cordova-Buckley, the actress revealed that the miniseries will take place between the events of Seasons 3 and 4Â (maybe we'll get to see those "dates" between Yo-Yo and Mac and her helping Daisy), saying:
“In ‘Slingshot,’ we’re going to see a lot of her anger and her pain come out in regard to certain injustices that have been done to her and her family, but at the same time, she never loses her humanity. She doesn’t let the anger blind her.â€
Here's an official description for the Marvel miniseries:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot takes place shortly before the beginning of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4. The digital series features Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, an Inhuman with the ability to move at super-speed. As a person with powers, she must sign the Sokovia Accords. However, the restrictions of the Accords are in direct conflict with a personal mission she's desperate to fulfill, one that will test her abilities and will include tense encounters with S.H.I.E.L.D. team members.
Video of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4x09 Promo [HD] Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen
Fans have already gotten a glimpse of Baby Groot and Rocket Raccoon in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" trailer but now they can catch the BFFs in a new animated short from Marvel and Funko.
In the video "Marvel Funko Presents: Bait N Switch" posted Wednesday on YouTube, Rocket breaks into the Collector's museum in order to find his buddy and help him escape.
The animated characters are recreated in their Funko toy design with giant heads and tiny bodies.
This is the second video Funko has made featuring Marvel characters. In "Spellbound," Spider-Man and Iron Man team up to battle Loki.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" arrives in theaters May 5.
There was an unusual amount of pressure on Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch’s introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The second film after the star-studded Captain America: Civil War to usher in Marvel’s so-called “Phase Three,†Strange placed a lot of expectations on Cumberbatch’s crimson-cloaked shoulders and, as if by magic, he’s exceeding every one of them. Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme has now surpassed every other single Marvel character introduction at the box office. Not bad for someone whose yet to be drafted into the Avengers. If Marvel is planning on slowing down, it won’t be any time soon.
Deadline reports that in only its third week of release, Cumberbatch’s Strange has conjured up $616 million worldwide. That’s certainly more than previous origin stories like The Incredible Hulk ($263M), Captain America: The First Avenger ($371M), Thor ($449M), Ant-Man ($520M) and Iron Man ($585M). (To be fair to Tony Starkâ€"the original, arrogant, goateed geniusâ€"Iron Man was released before the Marvel brand packed such a punch.) At this rate, Doctor Strange could potentially even catch Marvel’s ensemble origin Guardians of the Galaxy ($773,328,629 after 25 weeks) and Fox’s Deadpool ($782,612,155 after 18 weeks).
How did Doctor Strangeâ€"a surreal, spiritual film plagued by early controversy and featuring a superhero that, frankly, was not even that popular with readersâ€"soar to such enviable economic heights? Well, the fact that the scene’s final showdown was set in Hong Kong couldn’t have hurt. There is no Chinese Sanctum in the comics and the splashy battle for Hong Kong was only the latest way a major 2016 studio release pandered to Chinese audiences.
Thus far, Strange has earned $102M of its $411M foreign gross from China, but Cumberbatch has more than Chinese dollars to thank. The reviews for director Scott Derrickson’s first foray into the world of comics were more glowing than even Marvel’s usual thanks, in large part, to some fresh visual flair and an alluring, unconventional performance from Tilda Swinton. Even those suffering from superhero fatigue couldn’t resist her serene, art house charms.
And the bigger-than-expected reception for both Cumberbatch’s Strange and Paul Rudd’sAnt-Man means Marvel’s future is looking much more secure than it was even a year ago when Avengers: Age of Ultronfailed to dazzle critics. Though no official announcement has been made, conventional comic book wisdom dictates that Stephen Strange, Scott Lang, Chadwick Boseman’s T'Challa, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers have been/will be introduced in order to replace the Avengers line-up we’ve come to know and love. The Avengers team is forever changing in the comics and factors like Robert Downey Jr.’senormous sticker price and other Avenger actors’ increasingly busy schedules means that the films will likely follow suit.
That means Rudd, Cumberbatch, and the rest have to be at least as popular as Scarlett Johansson and the Chrises Evans and Hemsworth in order for the franchise to survive a changing of the guard. If dollars equal popularity then, well, recent box office wins mean that Marvel has nothing to be worried about.
Every winter, the networks take anywhere from two weeks to a month for a hiatus.
The idea is to not compete with holiday programming, but it also allows the writing teams to take time off and return with new ideas. The midseason hiatus also allows companies to focus on scheduling episodes during “sweeps,†the months in which Nielsen spends more time collecting and reporting ratings. If networks schedule bigger episodes during those months, they can report higher numbers to advertisers.
Networks want to make as much money as possible, so it doesn’t make sense to have the hiatus in the sweeps months of November or February. The networks would lose out on potential advertising deals and face other financial risks. Having the biggest episodes air at the end of November and the first week of December, however, allows the networks to work within Nielsen’s reporting schedule while also getting ahead of the Christmas rush. What’s the point of pitting The Flash against Rudolph, for example?
In recent years, however, networks have started rethinking this strategy as viewership numbers tank. One, ABC, is revisiting its midseason strategy. Last year, ABC kept eight of dramas off the air for 11 weeks â€" with four of those weeks coming during the midseason hiatus. Fox, NBC and CBS brought the majority of their series back around the first week of January, but many of ABC’s shows didn’t return for another week or later. ABC saw huge losses in return viewership, with one of its biggest series, How to Get Away with Murder, dropping 20 percent overall.
The question for ABC â€" and other networks â€" is how to give creative teams their winter break, retain good ratings and not compete with holiday programming?
ABC and Marvel seemed to have found a solution to the viewership problem: a digital series that will air for a limited time.
On Wednesday, Marvel and ABC announced that it will be launching an online-only series, Slingshot, with Agents of Shield star Natalia Cordova-Buckley in the lead as Elena “Yo Yo†Rodriguez. Each episode will be three to six minutes long, and although it’s not a full television show, it seems like it may accomplish its goal: keep audiences engaged while Agents of Shield is off the air.
For a three-minute film using equipment and sets already available to the studio and actors, the costs would remain relatively low, but the show could generate a decent amount of advertising revenue. In a 2015 study from Turner Broadcasting and Horizon Media, researchers discovered that “premium online video from broadcast and cable networks outperforms video content from other publishers,†according to AdWeek. That means advertisers are more likely to give money to networks like ABC, NBC and CBS over other platforms because their content is better. ABC and Marvel teaming up for a web series doesn’t just make sense in terms of appeasing fans hungry for new content, but it also may generate income in the long run.
The other reason â€" one that’s more important to audiences than networks â€" is that it gives back to fans who tune in every week. Gary Newman, co-chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group, told AdWeek that unless shows are airing on a premium network like HBO or Showtime, it doesn’t make sense to have 10 to 13 episodes in one season and go without a hiatus. Newman added that networks had to start doing more to keep audiences entertained and engaged.
“The alternative is the old-fashioned preemptions and repeats, and let's remember how frustrating that was to the audience," Newman said. "There's no perfect answer, so we're going to still continue to do that.â€
Reruns have always been a complaint, but in a pre-streaming world, there wasn’t much that could be done. Now, when services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video are accessible anywhere for a relatively cheap price, a three or six-week hiatus drives audiences to streaming platforms to watch new shows. Magna Global analyst Brian Hughes told Ad Age in March that fans weren’t necessarily upset with the lack ofnew content on network TV, but they’ve grown accustomed to having more to choose from because of streaming platforms.
“I'm inclined to think any impact the midseason breaks have on audience has more to do with how fans want to watch than being frustrated with a delay,†Hughes said.
Retaining viewership remains the most important goal in planning the midseason hiatus. Keeping audiences engaged leads to higher ratings, more conversation in the press and a generally more enthusiastic fan base. It’s, again, what makes Marvel and ABC’s plan to bridge the midseason hiatus with a new web-only series not only a good decision but also a necessary one.
Agents of Shield is also the perfect show because of its target audience. More than How to Get Away with Murder or Scandal, Agents of Shield appeals to a much younger demographic that is more likely to go online to catch up with a series or start a new one. According to Statista, more than 65 percent of Netflix users are between the age of 16 to 24, the same audience that ABC targets with Agents of Shield.
Whether the series will work the way the network wants is yet to be seen. But it’s the first step in addressing a problem bothering networks for years, and has only worsened in the streaming age.
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