In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Legion of Super-Heroes, Vixen, Batman: Bad Blood, Batman: The Killing Joke, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Damage Control, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Deadpool, Cable, Gambit, Fantastic Four, Hellfire, Superior, Heroes Reborn and more…
We’ll kick off this rather packed edition of The Week in Spandex with the DC Extended Universe, and with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice just over a couple of months away from release director Zack Snyder has shared the first clip from the film, which features a rather tense standoff between The Dark Knight (Ben Affleck) and the Man of Steel (Henry Cavill) [watch it here], while a tracklisting and sample from Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL’s soudtrack also arrived online [see here]. Meanwhile, notorious rumour-spreaders Latino-Review claimed to have the inside scoop on a third villain (which you could probably take a good guess at too, based on the trailers), and we also got a new look at the design (and colour scheme?) for Jason Momoa’s Aquaman thanks to a Halloween costume [see here], as well as a batch of promotional images for Kotobukiya’s rather impressive Batman v Superman ARTFX+ collectible statues [see here]…
…In addition to potentially revealing the ending of Batman v Superman, Zack Snyder has been discussing his take on the Dark Knight, stating that: “[He’s] a guy who had been through that experience already for many years and was kind of burnt out and asking himself what the point of it all was and going through an existential crisis. You can see the idea of the innocent being victimized by whatever they are, aliens, he doesn’t know — that’s the thing that really boils his blood, as you can imagine it would. Suddenly the innocent children of the world are all of us.” The Dark Knight himself Ben Affleck added that: “Batman is covered up by a suit and sometimes a car and sometimes a lot of vehicles and weapons, whereas Bruce Wayne is much more naked — it’s just you and a suit of clothes. You can’t really play Batman because Batman is different things to different people. We project our own things onto the mythology of what Batman is, and he has to be able to be projected upon. With Bruce Wayne, you have to bring something distinct and new and different…”
…Snyder also took a moment to discuss the DC Extended Universe as a whole, stating that: “It is constantly evolving, but we’re starting to get a handle on where we’re going with the world. That’s fun because it allows us now to be driving toward a goal that we don’t have to make up as much. The rules can be the rules, and the movie can exist in a closed universe… it allows us to tie things together. If there’s a movie over here doing this, and we’re over here doing this, now we’re all on the same page. It allows for a coherent universe, which is important. I think that makes the experience a little more satisfying because we know where we’re going, so the misdirects can be stronger and the reveals can be bigger…”
…And speaking of the DC Extended Universe, The CW will give us a peek at what’s in store this coming Thursday when it airs DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League, which will feature footage from Batman v Superman, a first look at Wonder Woman, and a brand new trailer for Suicide Squad! You can see a couple of promos for the special here…
…As we gear up for the new Suicide Squad trailer, director David Ayer has described Jared Leto as “the king of Planet Joker, and also debuted a new image from the film featuring Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara)…
…This week also brought a couple of bits of DC Extended Universe casting news, with Amber Heard (Magic Mike XXL) in talks to join Jason Momoa in Aquaman in the role of Mera, and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) signing on to play Diana’s (Gal Gadot) mother Hippolyta in Wonder Woman…
…Chris Pine also spoke briefly about Wonder Woman, confirming that at least part of the movie will take place during the First World War: “It’s a period we don’t see often; it’s usually World War II. Our costume design is incredible. We have scenes with, like, 500 extras all in period dress. I’d never been on a film with extras casting as beautifully done as it is here. It highlights a really important point. When background casting is done well, it can make or break a scene. I’ve got people in deep background that have entire lives. It’s awesome, it’s actual make-believe land…”
…Turning to the small screen side of the DC universe and Gotham season two got underway in the UK this past week, and you can listen to the Gotham TV Podcast for the premiere episode ‘Damned If You Do’ here…
…Supergirl returns to CBS this coming Monday with ‘Childish Things’, and you can take a look at a promo for the episode here and clips of Kara and Martin Manhunter in flight and J’onn J’onzz discovering Bizarro here, along with a couple of images from the following week’s eleventh episode ‘Strange Visitor From Another Planet’ featuring Melissa Benoist and her real life husband Blake Jenner here, and a synopsis for the twelfth episode ‘Bizarro’ here. Meanwhile, it’s also been announced that Jeff Branson (I Spit on Your Grave) is set to play Master Jailer, with former Kara Zor-El Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) also securing a recurring role as the DC villain Indigo…
…With rumours of a crossover between CBS’ Supergirl and The CW’s The Flash persisting, executive producer Greg Berlanti has said that the deadline is looming if the networks want it to happen this season: ““I would love it, a lot of things would have to go right and people would have to say ‘Yes.’ It would have to figured out very soon. It would all have to be figured out in the next month or so. As it remains right now we’ve talked internally about how cool it would be, but we haven’t had official conversations. [The CW chief Mark Pedowitz] is supportive…”
…That leads us nicely into The Flash, and with the second season set to resume this coming Tuesday The CW has debuted a promo and batch of images for the midseason premiere ‘Potential Energy’ [see here and here], in addition to a synopsis for the following week’s ‘The Reverse-Flash Returns’ [see here] and some promo images from the upcoming episode ‘Welcome to Earth-2’, which features the which features Killer Frost and Deathstorm – the Earth-2 versions of Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell) [see here]. We’ve also had some casting news, with Battlestar Galactica’s Aaron Douglas nabbing the role of the Golden Age villain The Turtle, while it’s been announced that Kevin Smith is set to direct an episode of the second season…
…Arrow is also back this coming Wednesday, and this week has seen the release of an ‘Oliver Queen for Mayor’ campaign poster [see here], along a promo, extended trailer and batch of images for the season four midseason finale ‘Blood Debts’ [see here and here] and a synopsis for the following week’s eleventh episode ‘A.W.O.L.’ [see here]…
…Click below to continue on for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Legion of Super-Heroes, Vixen, Batman: Bad Blood, Batman: The Killing Joke, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Damage Control, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Deadpool, Cable, Gambit, Fantastic Four, Hellfire, Superior, Heroes Reborn and more…
