In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Marvel’s Most Wanted, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, Gambit, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel 2, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Arrow, Vixen, Gotham, Supergirl, Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem, Heroes Reborn, The Crow and more…
After skipping the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios showcased (part of) it’s Phase Three line-up at Disney’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, California this past weekend, where it screened the very first footage from next year’s Captain America: Civil War. As yet, there’s been no leak of the footage, but you can read a detailed description of it here, as well as watching a D23 interview with Chris Evans (Captain America) and Anthony Mackie (Falcon) here. This week has also brought us a set photo from the Berlin featuring Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) [see here], while Tom Holland has joined up with the rest of the cast in Berlin to shoot scenes as Spider-Man. Allegedly, this will include a fight scene with a specific Avenger, and if you want to know who rumours are pointing to, you can find out here…
…In addition to the Captain America: Civil War footage, Marvel’s D23 presentation included some concept art of Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange, although again Marvel has done a great job in keeping under wraps with regards to online leaks. Still, we do know that it offered confirmation that we will see Stephen Strange’s classic origin story, as well as Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s roles as The Ancient One (as an “old asian dude”, adding some credence to the reports that Swinton could be playing the part as a male) and Baron Mordo…
…After declaring her interest in Captain Marvel last week, Ronda Rousey has upped her campaign to play Carol Danvers in Marvel’s first female-led offering, with the MMA star sharing a selection of fan art via social media…
…With Avengers: Age of Ultron gearing up for its home-entertainment release in October, Best Buy has unveiled its exclusive steelbooks for the Blu-ray, which feature Ulton (James Spader) and The Vision (Paul Bettany); check them out here…
…Netflix has released a new teaser image for the second season of Daredevil featuring Matt Murdock’s iconic red suit [see here], while some new set photos have surfaced featuring a battered and bruised Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and a couple of dognappers [see here]…
…Before we get to the second season of Daredevil there’s the small matter of Netflix’s second Marvel series Jessica Jones, and this week has brought titles for all thirteen episodes of the show, while Jeph Loeb has been speaking about the series and the relationship between Krysten Ritter’s Jessica and David Tennant’s Purple Man: “When we first sat down and started talking about Daredevil, what we said was, for all intents and purposes, it was a crime drama first and a superhero show second. One of the things we’ve talked a lot about is that Jessica is in many ways a psychological thriller first and then a superhero show second. In the same kind of way Vincent D’Onofrio owned his half of Daredevil,’ you’ll see David Tennant own his half of Jessica Jones. What you get out of Jessica is a sort of hold-your-breath tension as to what’s going to happen. When you see the dynamic between Krysten Ritter and David Tennant… that question of ‘What’s going to happen next?’ and ‘What could happen next?’ and how that’s driven by character is something that is so important to not just the scripts but also the way the show is shot, and the way that everyone reacts, and the way those two react with each other…”
…We’ve had our first piece of casting for Luke Cage (well, outside of Mike Colter as Luke Cage himself), with Marvel announcing this week that Alfre Woodard (Desperate Housewives) is set to play the villain Minetta, who is described as “a powerful woman in local politics who will have an impact on Luke Cage’s life” and may or may not be a version of the Marvel villain Black Mariah…
…It looks like ABC could be adding to its Marvel output, with the network placing a pilot order this week for Marvel’s Most Wanted, a spinoff from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. featuring the characters of Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood). The project was first announced as in development earlier this year, although it was thought that the network had opted against it back in May when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter were both announced for renewal…
…Disney XD has continued its countdown to the animated Guardians of the Galaxy series by releasing a new prequel short, this time exploring the origins of the gun-toting Rocket Raccoon; watch it here…
…Moving on to 20th Century Fox’s Marvel properties now and last weekend saw Marvel’s Fantastic Four limping to a $100 million worldwide gross, with the much-maligned reboot currently sitting on just $106 million globally by close of play on Thursday, making it a bona fide box office bomb. However, if you’re interested in the Fantastic Four we didn’t get to see (not that many people have seen the version we did get to see anyway, but you know what I mean…) then this week has brought details on a deleted action scene featuring Jamie Bell’s The Thing [see here], along with a breakdown of an early draft of the script which features Mole Man, Doctor Doom (the Latverian dictator version), HERBIE, the Fantasticar and even Galactus [see here]…
…Fantastic Four has certainly been a nightmare for Fox, and Deadpool star Ed Skrein thinks that the Merc with a Mouth’s upcoming solo movie could also prove a nightmare for the studio, albeit for the legal team rather than the finance department: “We had Harry Styles, David Beckham, we had Prince Charles, we had so many [jokes]. The funniest part was trying to keep a straight face. Ryan [Reynolds] is such a comedic genius, and then people like T.J. Miller, who has a phenomenal sense of humor, they would make every take so different. We were so free in that aspect. I think it’s going to be a nightmare for the Fox lawyers and a nightmare in the edit, but wonderful for the viewer.” Oh, and we also got a new promo image, which you can see to the left…
…It looks like we might be able to add another mutant to the massive cast of characters for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse, with a rumour emerging that The Blob will make an appearance in the film, played by a 540lbs “French Canadian dude” rather than by Kevin Durand, who portrayed Fred Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine…
…On the subject of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we may potentially see Liev Schreiber back for another outing in the third Wolverine movie, with Hugh Jackman revealing that his recent plea to fans about what they’d like to see for his final X-Men outing resulted in a lot of demand for return of Sabretooth: “There were a lot of calls for Victor Creed to come back. “I must admit I was quite heartened by a number of people saying please don’t make it the last, but I’m really excited about this last one, and if you’re a comic book fan, then the words ‘berserker rage’ came up a lot, so if you know Wolverine, you’ll understand…”
…Shawn Ashmore has revealed that he’s keen to reprise the role of Bobby Drake for an Iceman solo movie should the opportunity arise, although he’s of the opinion that the franchise works better with team movies: “An Iceman solo movie? If Fox would make it then I would do it. I love that character, I love the Marvel universe, especially the last couple of films. I was so excited about X-Men: Days of Future Past when I heard about that – reading the script, realising the script – it was so exciting for me, so if that was ever an opportunity? Absolutely. The other thing about the X-Men is I think is that they work best as a team. What I always loved about the X-Men is that it wasn’t about solo characters. I think that the characters really come to life when you put them in the context of the school with Xavier, with the team – that’s what I always loved about the X-Men. So I’m not sure if that would ever happen. It would be exciting if it did, but there is something to be said about the team.” You can read the rest of Ashmore’s comments here, where he reveals he’s also keen to play Ghost Rider…
…Earlier this month it was revealed that Rebecca Ferguson was on the shortlist for the female lead alongside Channing Tatum in next October’s Gambit movie. However, if you were hoping to see the Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation star bagging the role then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed to hear that she’s pulled out of contention, having signed on instead to appear in The Girl On the Train. Other names said to be on the shortlist include Lea Seydoux (Spectre) and Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road)…
…Click below to continue on for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel 2, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Arrow, Vixen, Gotham, Supergirl, Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem, Heroes Reborn, The Crow and more…
