In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Spider-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Ultron Revolution, Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fantastic Four, Batman, Green Lantern, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Hellboy III, Heroes Reborn and more…
Well, the speculation is finally over. Marvel and Sony have cast their new Spider-Man! The two studios announced this week that young British actor Tom Holland (The Impossible) has secured the role of Peter Parker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s incarnation of the wall-crawler, while up-and-coming director Jon Watts (Cop Car) will also helm the as-yet-untitled Spider-Man reboot set for release in July 2017. Sony chairman Tom Rothman broke the news himself, stating that: “It’s a big day here at Sony. Kevin, Amy and their teams have done an incredible job. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident that Spider-Man will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special…”
…As part of the Spidey casting news, it was confirmed that Holland’s Peter Parker will make his debut in Captain America: Civil War (albeit in a small role, apparently), and that the actor screentested alongside both Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) and Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America) before being approved by Kevin Feige…
…And speaking of Feige, the Marvel Studios chief offered some insight into Marvel’s involvement with the Spider-Man solo movie: “We’re producing it for Sony. It’s exciting, and we’re treating it like we treat all of our films. To try to make the best version now of Spider-Man and a version of Spider-Man that inhabits this universe that we’ve created. We’re in lockstep with [Sony Motion Picture Group chairman] Tom Rothman and [producer] Amy Pascal at every turn… Without getting into the contracts, it’s definitely a Sony picture, produced by Marvel Studios. We’ve been working with each other for a number of months now. It’s been just as healthy as any of our internal discussions. We just look at it as having additional team members. We wouldn’t want to do it if we couldn’t do it in the way we’ve done all the other movies, and I think that’s what Sony wants from us…”
…With the Spider-Man announcement, some fans did voice disappointment over the fact that we’re set to get another white incarnation of the character, but it certainly isn’t an issue for co-creator Stan Lee, who shared his opinion on the current debate over the changing of characters’ race and sexuality: “I wouldn’t mind, if Peter Parker had originally been black, a Latino, an Indian or anything else, that he stay that way. But we originally made him white. I don’t see any reason to change that. I think the world has a place for gay superheroes, certainly. ut again, I don’t see any reason to change the sexual proclivities of a character once they’ve already been established. I have no problem with creating new, homosexual superheroes. It has nothing to do with being anti-gay, or anti-black, or anti-Latino, or anything like that. Latino characters should stay Latino. The Black Panther should certainly not be Swiss. I just see no reason to change that which has already been established when it’s so easy to add new characters. I say create new characters the way you want to…”
…The Incredible Hulk star William Hurt has been talking about reprising the role of General Thunderbolt Ross for next year’s Captain America: Civil War, as well as touching upon the rumours that we’ll be seeing his alter-ego the Red Hulk: “I loved playing Ross the first time because I was able to try and create an ego as big as the monster he was chasing. And one that was as warped too. [Ross in Civil War] is different because it’s a different style. It’s a more modernized style. And what they’ve done is they’ve taken a character who was the Ross from the older film and made a new version. This is a much newer Ross. A much different Ross. And I liked that a lot. I haven’t had a lot of time to understand it, but I’m doing the best I can. And they haven’t fired me yet… I don’t know [about the Red Hulk], I wouldn’t mind feeling like I had that much power but I created Thaddeus originally as an ego the same size as the monster’s, with the same degree of messed upness. Yeah, I’d love to have a shot at it…”
…With Ant-Man tracking a $55 million opening weekend (which would put it on par with The Incredible Hulk, Marvel’s lowest opener – and lowest-grossing film – to date), the studio has ramped up the publicity this week with seven new character posters [see here], an international trailer and viral video [see here], a batch of images featuring Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym [see here], and a tonne of TV spots [see here, here and here]…
…Will Ant-Man manage to step out of the shadow of Edgar Wright? Well, it might, but it seems Marvel chief Kevin Feige won’t be able to avoid questions about the director’s departure during the press tour, with Feige stating this week that: “With Edgar, [the decision] was mutual. People said, ‘You guys have been working together for 10 years; why did you only figure it out a couple of months before you started filming?’ But that’s really not true. We’d been working on it for about nine months, maybe a year at most. And it became apparent to him and to us that the best thing to do was to move on. But because Edgar has a fan base and Marvel has a fan base, there’s good and bad that comes with that high profile. And one of the bads is that internal decisions and shuffles get headlines…”
…With James Gunn hard at work on Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Benicio Del Toro has revealed that he’s unsure whether he’ll be back as The Collector in the 2017 sequel, stating that: “I would like to keep working on that character, though…It was kind of like a cameo. I would like to keep developing the character based on what’s written in the comic books. I’d like to see some different sides. I had a blast working with James Gunn and the cast. One of the most interesting things that I learned about him is the reasons that he’s collecting. He sees himself as putting together Noah’s Ark. He sees himself as having that responsibility. He’s collecting things, because eventually there’s going to be an apocalypse in the universe and he wants to get things to safety. That’s a really interesting aspect of the character…”
…This week brought “confirmation” from MCU Exchange that Selma director Ava DuVernay has signed on to helm 2018’s Black Panther movie, only for Kevin Feige to deny the report, although he did admit that “We’ve met with her for sure. We’ve met with a number of people for a number of movies. She has been one of them…”
…In another unconfirmed MCU report, it is being reported (somewhat suspectly) that casting auditons are now underway for Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1, and that one part directors Anthony and Joe Russo are looking to fill is that of Adam Warlock’s evil side, the Magus. An alleged casting note claims that “Adam Warlock’s bad side, the Magus, separates from his body and assembles the Infinity Gauntlet [creating] doppelgangers of Earth’s heroes as part of his plan to recreate a universe of evil.” Now, while I’d be surprised if Adam Warlock at the very least doesn’t appear in Infinity War, I’m pretty sure we won’t be getting any evil Avenger doppelgangers in the film, so personally I’m chalking this one down as pure speculation…
…Director Coulson will be getting some superpowered back-up when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC for its third season on September 29th in the form of the Secret Warriors, with Coulson set to “search the world for more powered people and assemble an extraordinary new team to deal with threats unlike the world has ever seen. However, the Agents of SHIELD will soon find out they’re not the only ones tracking down these new Inhumans.” Take a look at a teaser poster here, and be sure to watch our exclusive video interview with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Nick Blood (Lance Hunter) and Iain De Caestecker (Leo Fitz) here…
…Marvel Studios is skipping Comic-Con, but that doesn’t mean the House of Ideas won’t be represented, with Marvel announcing details of both its television panel – featuring Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter – and its animated panel, which will showcase the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series along with Avengers: Ultron Revolution and Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6…
…And speaking of Marvel animation, you can check out a clip from this Sunday’s episode of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., entitled ‘Planet Monster: Part Two’, right here…
…Click below to continue on X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fantastic Four, Batman, Green Lantern, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Hellboy III, Heroes Reborn and more…
