The Week in Spandex – The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Kick-Ass 2 and The Hoff: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

…File this one under ‘never gonna happen’, but Andrew Garfield has responded to a question from Vulture about whether he’d be up for joining Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in The Avengers 2: “I saw [The Avengers], and I was blown away. And I’m going to see it again this weekend. I have no problem adding to the amount of money it’s making! [Laughs.] Joss Whedon is a genius, and it’s an incredible cast. I was very, very jealous, and I wanted to jump on the screen and play with them. It killed me that I wasn’t in it, but I understand why, and I’m not insulted. But hey, if Samuel L. Jackson wants to give me a shout, I’m there for the next one…”

…On the subject of The Avengers, the superhero team-up may be starting to lose its grip on the box-office (with Men in Black III set to overtake it this weekend in the States and Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator having siezed control here in the UK), but the film has now overtaken The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Transformers: Dark of the Moon to sit at number four in the all-time global chart, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’s haul of $1.328 billion just over $100m away and closing…

…On Wednesday, filming began on Marvel Studios’ first post-Avengers offering, Iron Man 3, which has reportedly received a $60m budget increase off the back of their latest success, giving incoming director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) $200m to play around with. If the ever-increasing cast is anything to go by, the majority of that must be going on salaries, with Ashley Hamilton (Sunset Beach) and William Sadler (Die Hard 2) the latest names to join the already confirmed Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany, Guy Pearce, James Badge Dale, Rebecca Hall, Andy Lau and Ben Kingsley. Meanwhile, it’s also been reported that director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) may have found his villain for Thor 2, with Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) said to have be the preferred candidate to join the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston for the next Asgard adventure…

…Outside of die-hard comic book movie fans, it’s a little known fact that before Samuel L. Jackson slapped the eye-patch on as Nick Fury, the super spy made it to the screen in the shape of David Hasselhoff, who managed to drag himself away from the babes on Baywatch long enough to headline the 1998 TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (written by David S. Goyer, no less). Out promoting his latest film Piranha 3DD, Hasselhoff reminisced about the role to Movieline: “I didn’t see The Avengers yet. I love Sam Jackson, but you know… my Nick Fury was the organic Nick Fury that was written and discussed with Stan Lee before anyone got in there to change it. Nick Fury was written to be tongue-in-cheek, and he had a cigar in his mouth, he was a tough guy — he was cool… Stan Lee said, ‘You’re the ultimate Nick Fury.’ Avi Arad, when they bought it, said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to be the Nick Fury forever,’ and they lied. [Pause] But that happens to me all the time. That’s when you realize life isn’t fair… I had a blast playing Nick Fury, and if it ever came back and Nick Fury has a brother — Dick Fury? — I’d be there.” Dick Fury. Something tells me we’re more likely to see him in The Avengers XXX…

…Having finished shooting Les Misérables, Hugh Jackman is now gearing up for another outing as the adamantium-clawed Logan in The Wolverine and the star has confirmed via his official Twitter account that filming on the X-Men spin-off will begin in August. James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) will direct from a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Mark Bomback (Total Recall), and with filming slated to begin in just over two months time, we can expect to hear some casting announcements in the very near future…

…Barry Sonnenfeld is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having helmed all three installments in the Men in Black franchise, and during a promotional interview with ComicBookMovie about Men in Black III, the director hinted that he may soon turn his attention to a superhero property: “You know, I’m talking to Warner Bros. about doing a franchise based on a comic that hasn’t been around since the 60s. But it’s too early to talk about it.” Hmm, a comic that hasn’t been around since the 60s – any ideas..?

…After the Dark Knight rise this summer, he’ll be returning (albeit in animated form) later in the year as Warner Premiere releases the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic comic book story arc Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from director Jay Oliva (Green Lantern: Emerald Knights), scriptwriter Bob Goodman (The Zeta Project) and executive producer Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series). Earlier this week, the first images from The Dark Knight Returns were released, along with the announcement that Peter Weller (RoboCop) will lead the voice cast as Batman / Bruce Wayne, with other supporting talent including Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as Carrie Kelley / Robin, Wade Williams (Prison Break) as Harvey Dent / Two-Face and Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap) as Dr. Wolper. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 is currently set for release in North America on October 23rd, with Part 2 following some time next year…

…Before we get to The Dark Knight Returns, Warner Premiere has another installment in their DC Comics Premiere Movies (formerly DC Universe Animated Original Movies) line set for release, with George Newbern (Justice League) reprising his role as the Man of Steel for Superman vs. The Elite, which is an adaptation of the acclaimed comic book story ‘What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way’. The straight-to-video feature is due to hit shelves in North America on June 12th, and you can check out three new clips and a selection of images over at World’s Finest Online…

…These days it seems everyone is keen to jump on the superhero bandwagon, and the latest name to express an interest in bringing a comic book character to life is Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe. When asked by Collider if he could see himself portraying a superhero on screen, Potter Radcliffe responded: “Yeah, absolutely. I dunno who’s left, I mean a lot of comic books have . . . they’ve all been done. I don’t think anyone’s done The Flash yet, and that’s one I’d probably have a go at. Other then that, I’m not sure which comic book heroes are left.” So basically, he’d be up for playing anyone that’s left…

…Man of Steel director Zack Snyder was in attendance at the Hero Complex Film Festival last weekend, where he briefly (and I mean briefly) updated the status of the Henry Cavill-headlined Superman reboot: “It’s going really good, actually. I’m just cutting right now… I’m really excited about it. It’s fun to work on. It’s gigantic and crazy…”

…Since making his feature film debut with Chronicle, director Josh Trank has quickly become hot property in Hollywood, having been handed the keys to Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot as well as Sony’s proposed Spider-Man spin-off Venom (not to mention an adaptation of the comic book series The Red Star for Warner Bros.). However, Deadline has announced that Trank has now signed on to direct an adaptation of the video game Shadow of the Colossus, and while the report states that he’s still working on both Fantastic Four and Venom, it looks like we might have some waiting to do before either of these become a reality…

…And finally, one superhero project that is definitely starting to pick up the pace is Kick-Ass 2, and comic book creator Mark Millar had quite a bit to say about the sequel earlier this week. As well as discussing the appointment of Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) as Matthew Vaughn’s successor in the director’s chair, Millar confirmed that Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are all expected to return as Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and The Red Mist respectively, with the project said to be “in really nice shape to start shooting in eight or nine weeks’ time.”

Gary Collinson

Holy Franchise, Batman! – Now available for pre-order.