Happy New Year, and welcome to 2020’s first edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s pop culture news roundup. The year is young, but a lot has happened already. Read on to get yourself caught up.
The MCU Is Getting a Trans Character ‘Very Soon’
Fans have been wondering for some time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe might get a transgender character. Well, head honcho Kevin Feige finally has an answer, and that answer is … “very soon.” Responding to a fan question at a New York Film Academy Q&A on Wednesday about whether the MCU would feature a trans character, Feige said, “Yes, absolutely. Yes … And very soon. In a movie that we’re shooting right now.” As Deadline points out, that could mean as soon as this year’s Black Widow or 2022’s Black Panther sequel. Regardless, it’s happening.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Has Made More Than $800 Million
It’s been a couple of weeks, but Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still going strong at the box office, bringing in $16.9 million on New Year’s Day, which puts its domestic take at more than $400 million. Internationally, it’s made an additional $407.9 million, bringing the total to $815.4 million. Variety reports that it should top $1 billion eventually, but whether it’ll surpass The Last Jedi’s $1.3 billion total or The Force Awakens’ $2.1 billion worldwide take remains to be seen.
HBO’s Former Head Is Going to Apple TV+
Richard Plepler, the former head of HBO, is on his way to Apple TV+. Working with his production company, Eden Productions, Plepler signed a five-year deal with Apple this week that will include films, documentaries, and original series. Plepler left his role as HBO’s CEO back in February after some 27 years with the company. “It was instantaneously clear to me that I had a wonderful and very privileged run at HBO, and I wasn’t going to be able to duplicate that again,” Plepler told The New York Times. “And I didn’t want to try to duplicate that again. It felt very clear to me that I just wanted to do my own thing.”
Here’s the First Trailer for A Quiet Place Part II
Hey, remember how white-knuckle crazy A Quiet Place was? Well, here comes more! The sequel to John Krasinski’s horror flick is coming March 20, and a new trailer for it dropped on New Year’s Day. Check it out below.
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