In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers 4, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Runaways, The Punisher, Daredevil, Avengers: Secret Wars, Multiple Man, Deadpool 2, Legion, Justice League, Wonder Woman 2, Flashpoint, Justice League 2, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Titans, Gotham, Batman Ninja, Hellboy and more…
Marvel kicked off promotion for next year’s massively-anticipated Avengers: Infinity War this week by releasing a teaser poster and first trailer for the superhero epic, as well as a series of Vanity Fair magazine covers featuring the cast, and a brand new synopsis which reads: “An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe…”
…As you’d expect, the Infinity War trailer was a massive success, smashing the record for the most views in its first 24 hours with a whopping 230 million views, topping the previous record holder It which amassed 197 million views earlier this month. Oh, and it also left Kevin Smith “bawling with joy” (although most superhero things do). And, if you’re interested in reading what our writing team made of the Infinity War trailer, you can find our thoughts here in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction…
…With speculation starting to build as to which characters will and won’t make it out of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 alive, co-director Anthony Russo has all but confirmed that the movies will see the fall of some of our fan favourite heroes: “We know who we’re allowed to kill, and that’s about it,” said Russo when asked if he was aware of Marvel’s plans post-Avengers 4. ““I don’t even think Marvel had any ideas about where they would go after [Avengers 3 and 4]. It’s not an end for all of these characters; it’s an end for some of these characters. So some of these characters will go on. So it’s more complicated, that’s why it’s not a clean ending.” One character we do know who will survive however – at least until Avengers 4 – is the Scarlet Witch, with Elizabeth Olsen sharing a set photo this week showing off an injury she sustained during filming…
…Kevin Feige has once again described the two upcoming Avengers movies as a “finale” to the MCU story, as well as a new beginning for the next slate of Marvel movies: “[Avengers 4 will] bring things you’ve never seen in superhero films: a finale. There will be two distinct periods. Everything before Avengers 4 and everything after. I know it will not be in ways people are expecting.” We do know that Phase Four will include Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and an increased emphasis on the cosmic side of the MCU, and both Feige and James Gunn have been speaking about Gunn’s (unofficial) role as Marvel’s “cosmic consultant”; read their comments here…
…Despite superhero competition from Justice League, Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok reached another box office milestone this week as it passed $800 million worldwide, becoming the seventh MCU movie to do so, and the third this year after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on $863.6 million and Spider-Man: Homecoming on $880.2 million. Meanwhile, we also got some new concept art showcasing alternate designs for Thor’s Contest of Champions armor, as well as Surtur’s minions…
…In other MCU news, Marvel has released a couple of international posters for its first superhero movie of 2018 Black Panther [see here and here], Ben Mendelsohn refused to be drawn on his Captain Marvel casting amid rumours that he’s playing the Kree military officer Yon-Rogg [read his comments here], and Evangeline Lilly suggested that Ant-Man and the Wasp could open up new possibilities for the MCU: “Those characters are experts in the quantum realm. In Ant-Man and the Wasp, they are trying everything in their power to safely enter the quantum realm and return back from it because they have evidence from the first film that Scott Lang was able to do that. If he can do it, why can’t we? If we do succeed in Ant-Man and the Wasp, then that does open a whole entire new multi-verse to enter into and play around in. I’m not the story creator, so I can’t tell you what they’re going to do with that. But I definitely see the potential there…”
…Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made its return last night with its season five premiere; we’ll have a review up soon, but in the meantime you can check out a series of character portraits here, as well as a promo for the third episode ‘A Life Spent’ here. Meanwhile, it’s also been announced that Disney’s Descendants star Dove Cameron has signed on to play an as-yet-unrevealed character, while Clark Gregg has spoken about the chances of Agent Coulson meeting up with The Avengers once again: “It is an ever-present theme. It’s really touching to me how much the fans stay obsessed with the idea of when the Avengers are going to learn Coulson’s alive. It’s something that…I don’t know, I find that so touching! I think the Avengers have moved on, they’re busy. But also I think it’s a great credit to the show and the characters and the actors who brought these characters to life and to our production team, to Mark Kolpack’s visual effects and to the great writing of our writers, Jed Whedon, Mo Tancharoen and Jeff Bell, because I think there’s a growing number of people who kind of feel like this feels like a part of that bigger world and they want to see the various worlds – whether it’s the incredible Netflix world of New York, they just want at some point feel that this is one big story, which I still believe it is. And you know, when the time is right, who knows..?”
…With Marvel’s Runaways now underway on Hulu, be sure to check out Liam Hoofe’s reviews of episode one, episode two, episode three and episode four…
…Liam has also finished up his reviews of the first season of Marvel and Netflix’s The Punisher; check out his reviews for episode eleven, episode twelve and episode thirteen, as well as a new Mondo poster featuring Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle…
…Marvel has announced a new addition to the cast of Daredevil, with Wilson Bethel (Hart of Dixie) signing on to play “an FBI agent who will play a critical role in the conflict between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk.” Although unconfirmed, speculation is suggesting this could actually be Stanley Carter, a.k.a. Sin-Eater, who in the comics was a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and NYPD detective who became a dangerous vigilante obsessed with killing those who “sin” by abusing authority…
…Hayley Atwell makes her return to the Marvel universe this Sunday as she reprises the role of Agent Peggy Carter for a guest appearance in the animated series Avengers: Secret Wars; watch a sneak peek clip from the episode here…
…With a new Marvel TV show in development for Disney’s upcoming streaming service, Flickering Myth’s George Chrysostomou has written a feature looking at five potential characters for the series; read it here…
…Shifting over to Fox now and during a promotional interview for his new film The Disaster Artist, James Franco confirmed that he is attached to a Multiple Man movie, and it will follow Deadpool and Logan by going down the R-rated route: “Our bottom line MO is, how can we push this into new ground? A little bit, but still make it entertaining? [But] what I love about what Simon Kinberg and Fox and the X-Men people have done with Deadpool and Logan — it took a while to get there, maybe 10 years — but they are going to go hard R. And we’re going to take this superhero thing and really just push it into a new genre. So we’re working with Simon Kinberg on an X-Men property…”
…If you’ve been keenly waiting on a LEGO remake of the first teaser for Deadpool 2, then you’re in luck! Check out the LEGO Deadpool 2 trailer here…
…Click below to continue on for Legion, Justice League, Wonder Woman 2, Flashpoint, Justice League 2, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Titans, Gotham, Batman Ninja, Hellboy and more…
