Now That Amazon Has Full Creative Control Over James Bond, What Should It Do First? Hollywood Weighs In...

Happy Friday morning, everyone!

Before we begin, HBO confirmed my Max Minghella scoop from Wednesday night, in case you missed the news about him joining Season 4 of Industry.

Meanwhile, on yesterday’s episode of The Hot Mic, I reported that Jason Momoa will return as Duncan Idaho — sort of — in Dune Messiah. The character died in Dune: Part One, but returns as a clone in the books. The Hot Mic audience wasn’t terribly impressed with this mini-scoop, but I think the sequel will benefit from Momoa’s presence, even if his energy is a little different in the next movie.

Also, there has been a lot of superhero news over the past 24 hours, as James Watkins has officially been tapped to direct Clayface for DC Studios, per THR. He wouldn’t have been my first pick, but I suppose he’s a decent enough choice, and I was a big fan of his thriller Eden Lake. I haven’t personally heard the James McAvoy rumors, but if Watkins’ involvement helps make that happen, I’m all for it, as McAvoy is a terrific actor who can be both sympathetic and utterly terrifying.

Meanwhile, over at Marvel, the studio put out a glorified press release via Deadline, which reported that Marvel is pausing development on three projects that it never announced — Nova, Strange Academy, and Terror, Inc.

My sources stress that Ed Bernero’s Nova series is likely to happen, but not until next year (and possibly with up-and-comer Brandon Sklenar). For what it’s worth, they had never even heard of Terror, Inc.

As for Strange Academy, I had heard that Marvel had opened up a writer’s room for that series, which was designed to counter HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, as it, too, would’ve focused on a school for young wizards and warlocks, etc.

However, Marvel will likely circle back to that series when they have a better idea of what Doctor Strange 3 will be, and when it will arrive. They’ll also likely wait for star Benedict Wong to finish up Netflix’s 3 Body Problem.

Right now, Marvel’s TV division is focused on wrapping up the back half of Daredevil: Born Again (the first half arrives March 4), finishing post-production on Wonder Man, and starting up the Vision series.

Marvel is believed to still be developing Blonde Phantom with Scarlett Johansson as well as a big live-action Wakanda show, and I know Marvel would love to bring back WandaVision’s Jac Schaeffer, who just signed on to direct the Holes series for Disney+. She could ultimately return to direct a Young Avengers/Champions project.

The other project to keep on your radar is an X Academy series that will focus on young mutants. It could either serve as a lead-in to the X-Men movie, or a spinoff once the new X-Men characters are established.

It’s all part of Marvel’s new strategy to develop more shows than it makes, which will allow for greater flexibility, rather than announcing a massive slate and being forced to stick to it.

How was that for a free intro? I’ll be back later tonight with yet another TV scoop… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

In tonight’s newsletter, you’ll find out how Hollywood feels about Amazon’s imminent James Bond Cinematic Universe — not just those quoted in the press release.

Plus, there are items about Dwayne Johnson teaming up with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Mahershala Ali reuniting with the one-time director of Blade, Mark Wahlberg’s new co-star, and all the new young agents at CAA.

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