Our weekly round up of all the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Shazam, Justice League, Wonder Woman, The Flash / Green Lantern, Man of Steel 2, Batman, Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, Constantine, Batman: Assault on Arkham, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Big Hero 6, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Powers, and more…
It’s been a tough couple of years for DC fans, having to sit back as Marvel Studios, 20th Century Fox and Sony brought Marvel to the forefront of the superhero movie genre, but it seems Warner Bros. is finally set to pull the trigger on its plans for its various DC properties. According to a report from Nikki Finke, Warner Bros. will take the opportunity to officially unveil its post-Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice plans at the San Diego Comic-Con International next month, with the studio reportedly set to announce Shazam (July 2016), Sandman (Christmas 2016), Justice League (May 2017), Wonder Woman (July 2017), The Flash / Green Lantern team-up (Christmas 2017) and Man of Steel 2 (May 2018)…
…As part of the same report, it’s also been said that that The Flash and Green lantern could be introduced via cameos in Batman v Superman, with Aquaman subsequently introduced in the Justice League movie. However, a conflicting report has dragged up the old rumour suggesting that Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) will play the King of Atlantis in Batman v Superman, with Zack Snyder having apparently finalised his designs so that Momoa can shoot his scenes soon for a small role setting him up for a return in Justice League. Meanwhile, an alleged casting grid for Justice League has apparently revealed that the Martian Manhunter will feature in the film, while the team of DC superheroes will find themselves going up against Darkseid and Maxwell Lord…
…Although cameras have been rolling on Batman v Superman for several weeks now, we’ve seen very little of the cast for the superhero team-up, although this week has brought a few set photos of LexCorp, which give us a good look at the logo for Luthor’s company; check the images out here and here…
…Attending the Phoenix Comic Con this past weekend, Batman TV stars Adam West and Julie Newmar shared their thoughts on the evolution of the Caped Crusader in the decades following the classic television show. “We come from light and funny times in the sixties when there was a lot of hope and we were living in a marvelous world. There was Kennedy. There was great art and everything. And then we have now. And then we had the dark ages. And then we had the dark Batman. And then they had the darker Batman,” said Newmar, with West adding: “We have of course observed the changes, and it’s become dark and gothic and highly explosive in special effects. And Batman kills more people on the way to the rescue than the villains do. But it’s okay, because they do their thing with a lot of talent and money and attention. We did ours. It was just different. We were the Bright Knight, the fun ones…”
…Batman is heading back to TV this year – well, kind of – as FOX explores the early years of Bruce Wayne and company with Gotham, and leading man Ben McKenzie has spoken about his role as Detective Jim Gordon, stating that: “I had heard this was coming down the pipe, and Bruno [Heller] sent me the script early and said he wrote this part with me in mind — which is incredibly flattering… [Gordon] is a truly honest man. The last honest man in a city full of crooked people. It’s very tricky nowadays to play a true, honest-to-goodness hero. Everybody is so cynical of people’s intentions. What’s interesting about him is he comes into this city that he hasn’t lived in for two decades, since he was a kid, and has fresh eyes to a world he doesn’t actually know. He <em>thinks</em> he knows it, and his journey will be to figure out how to make it better both for Gotham and himself without completely [losing] the moral standing that he has. He’s not an anti-hero, he’s a true hero — but he will have to compromise…”
…As we prepare for an influx of new DC shows, Warner Bros. has announced details of the home entertainment release of Arrow: The Complete Second Season for September 16th [take a look at the special features here], while Stephen Amell has once again expressed his interest in his Oliver Queen and Grant Gustin’s Flash linking up with Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ben Affleck’s Batman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Ray Fisher’s Cyborg as part of the Justice League movie: “I think the people that watched the Flash pilot that have seen it and saw the scene where Grant and I interact — and he’s not even in his costume — a lot of people were like, ‘that feels like the Justice League.’ And I thought it felt like the Justice League, too. I don’t know if we’ll eventually cross over into the movies but that being said, we don’t need to. The important part is that Arrow and The Flash are able to stand on their own and be appreciated for what they are and the medium that they are in… If they wanted me to be in the Justice League movie and it worked out, that would certainly be something that I would be interested in. That being said, my most important and crucial priority is making [Arrow] Season Three better than Season Two…”
…Speaking of The Flash, a couple of new video featurettes have arrived online which sees Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells) discussing the S.T.A.R. Labs team responsible for reviving Barry Allen after the accident that turns him into the fastest man alive, including Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker); you can check out the featurettes here and here…
…Over at NBC, we’ve also had a new trailer for another upcoming DC show in Constantine, which offers up some new footage from the Matt Ryan-headlined series, as well as an Easter egg in the form of Doctor Fate’s helmet…
…Before we move on from DC, Warner Bros. has also dropped a new image from the upcoming animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, which showcases Suicide Squad members Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Black Spider and King Shark. The film is set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on August 12th, with Kevin Conroy once again lending his voice to The Dark Knight…
Click below to continue on to the next page for Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Big Hero 6, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2and Powers…
