Superhero Bits: Fantastic Four Films In Early 2024, Brendan Fraser On Almost Playing Superman & More

(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)

In this edition of Superhero Bits:

• The "Fantastic Four" Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot begins filming in early 2024.

• Brendan Fraser on the time he almost played Superman.

• Evangeline Lilly wants a Wasp solo movie in the MCU. 

• "Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" on Disney+.

• All that and more!

Marvel Comics has published the "Stormbreakers 2023 Sketchbook," and you can pick up a copy for free right now at participating comic book shops! What is this free book, exactly? It features interviews, personality profiles, never-before-seen artwork, and more from the "next generation of elite artists." The book will be available for free at participating comic shops while supplies last. The special issue spotlights artists Elena Casagrande, Nic Klein, Jan Bazaldua, Chris Allen, Martin Coccolo, Lucas Werneck, Federico Vicentini, and C.F. Villa. Head to your local comic shop now to pick one up.

The developer's of "Marvel's Midnight Suns" held a livestream today, going over some of what's to come in the game, in addition to providing further insights, commentary, and what have you. The most entertaining part is that the developers were joined by none other than Deadpool during the stream, as the character recently joined the game in the first DLC. So, for hardcore players of the game, this is undoubtedly going to be worth one's time.

While very little is known about the project as of yet, EA Motive has confirmed that work is officially underway on the new "Iron Man" video game. The game was first announced as part of a new partnership between Marvel and EA last year, with nothing but a piece of concept art (above) to hold us over. However, during a recent Reddit AMA about the "Dead Space" remake, the team revealed that their latest project has, indeed, entered production:

"We have an amazing team at Motive that has started working on 'Iron Man' and you can rest assured that it's in great hands!"

No word yet on a release date for the "Iron Man" video game, but late 2024 at the very earliest seems like a good expectation, if not well into 2025.

The folks at McFarlane Toys have opened up pre-orders for their Gold Label Dick Grayson figure, which captures him as Robin from the DC Rebirth era. The 7-inch figure comes with several sets of alternate hands, as well as a batarang, collectible art card, and base. The figure is available exclusively through the company's online store and retails for $22.99.

Evangeline Lilly has been a part of the MCU for quite some time now, dating back to the original "Ant-Man" in 2015. But is it time for Hope to take the spotlight in a Wasp solo movie? On the red carpet for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumnia," Lilly addressed that very question in an interview with Variety. "Well, I'm going to make a pitch that, I think it might be time for a Hope spin-off. For a Wasp standalone film. Do we agree? Anybody? Going once? Going twice?" So it seems like Lilly is game for it, but what about Kevin Feige? Frankly, Phase 5 (and Phase 6) of the MCU look jam-packed, so it's tough to imagine when there would be time for such a thing.

Back in the early 2000s, J.J. Abrams has been planning to make a "Superman" movie, which was titled "Superman: Flyby" at the time. And who might have been our Man of Steel in that never-realized project? Brendan Fraser, who is nominated for an Oscar for "The Whale" this year, was indeed one of the actors in contention. Speaking with Howard Stern recently, the actor opened up about that missed opportunity and, frankly, he doesn't seem to have any misgivings about the whole thing, as he didn't necessarily want to be known as Superman for the rest of his life. "Say you do get the job to be the Man of Steel, it's gonna be chipped on your gravestone. Are you okay with that? I mean, you will forever more be known as the Man of Steel," Fraser noted. You can check out the full clip for yourself above.

While we still have to wait to find out who will be playing Marvel's first family in the MCU, director Matt Shakman has revealed when the "Fantastic Four" reboot will begin filming. "Early next year, that's when we're planning to go," Shakman revealed in an interview with Collider. What's more, it sounds like that's going to be filling up the filmmaker's plate for the next couple of years, aside from his work on Apple's "Godzilla" TV show, which he's finishing up currently:

"I'm still finishing up the Godzilla project you were mentioning. We're in post on that, and have a few more months on that. 'Fantastic Four' is pretty much my life until Valentine's Day of 2025."

Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer are penning the screenplay for the film, though no plot details of any kind have been revealed at this time. "Fantastic Four" is tentatively set to hit theaters on February 14, 2025.

Lastly, Marvel has released a trailer for "Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." The behind-the-scenes documentary is now streaming on Disney+ and, as the title implies, it offers an in-depth look at what went into crafting the final film in the MCU's Phase 4. These have become standard practice for MCU films in the Disney+ era and essentially function like a very well put together documentary one might find on a Blu-ray release. In addition to the trailer, we've got a poster for the special as well, which you can check out below.

Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: #WakandaForever, now streaming only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/VgPDfp9anE

— Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (@theblackpanther) February 8, 2023