In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers 4, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Animated Spider-Man, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage, X-Men: The New Mutants, Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Logan, Deadpool, Gifted, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Booster Gold, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Powerless, Titans, Young Justice, The Tick and more…
The first MCU release of 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, began its roll out around the world this past Thursday, with the James Gunn-directed sequel said to be tracking a $100 million international opening before it makes its way Stateside on Friday. Here’s an excerpt from Luke Owen’s review for Flickering Myth: “It is nearly impossible to hate Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Seriously. If you don’t like this movie or at the very least don’t have fun with it, I don’t know what to tell you. The opening credits alone should have you smiling with joy, and that smile won’t leave your face until you’ve left the cinema (although the sadder moments may make you less smiley). The visuals are stunning and rival Doctor Strange in terms of inventiveness, and the colours pop like nothing comparable (but could be rivaled by Thor: Ragnarok later this year). Does Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 live up to the hype? Absolutely. It will be a firm favourite for many MCU diehards, and there will even be those who think it surpasses the original.” You can read his ★★★★ review in full here…
…Those yet to see the film may be interesting in taking a look at the latest promotional material, which includes a clip, image and 80s-sitcom style TV spot [see here], a new poster and TV spots [see here] and a featurette focussing on the Ravagers [see here]. Meanwhile, director James Gunn has been chatting about the inclusion of gay characters in Guardians and the wider MCU and the possibility of an entirely new roster by the time Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 rolls around, Chris Sullivan discussed his role as Taserface, Vin Diesel said we’re yet to see the “fully-fledged working-man Groot”, and Karen Gillan revealed that the original plan was for Nebula to die in the first movie…
…Be sure to check out out latest Guardians-related features ‘Guardians of the Galaxy and its Exploitation Influences‘ and ‘Hooked on a Feeling: Remembering Guardians of the Galaxy‘. And heading into spoiler territory now, we’ve posted details of the film’s five post-credit scenes, along with a couple of cameos to keep an eye out for, while Kevin Feige has spoken about Stan Lee’s latest cameo, and how it may confirm a long-standing fan theory about the Marvel legend and his appearances in the MCU…
…With James Gunn stating that he’s hoping to keep Sylvester Stallone involved with the MCU, Sly has spoken about what drew him to the movie in the first place. Meanwhile, it seems the action icon may also have another comic book movie role in the pipeline, with a rumour this week claiming that he’s wanted for the lead in 20th Century Fox’s planned adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book Starlight…
…The Guardians will next be seen in Avengers: Infinity War, and Kevin Feige has revealed that the characters will have “evolved” by the time of the team-up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which isn’t too surprising given that there’ll be a near-four year gap within the MCU timeline between Guardians Vol. 2 and Infinity War. Feige also bigged up the superhero epic, stating that “we’re doing things you’ve never seen before in a comic book film”, while Chris Pratt as said that he initially found the prospect of starring alongside Robert Downey Jr. to be very daunting…
…Early in the week, Kevin Feige revealed that the reason the title for Avengers 4 is yet to be announced is because it contains a spoiler for Avengers: Infinity War – after which, Zoe Saldana seemingly let slip during the UK premiere of Guardians that the Infinity War follow-up is called Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet (although James Gunn subsequently claimed that Saldana had “misspoke”)…
…Next up from the MCU is Spider-Man: Homecoming, and this week has brought us a new image of the web-slinger struggling to save the Staten Island Ferry, along with a breakdown of the tech upgrades for his new Spidey suit. We also got some promotional images for NECA’s upcoming Spider-Man action figure [see here], along with Hot Toy’ Iron Man collectible, offering a detailed look at the Mark XLVII armor from Homecoming [see here]…
…Iron Man fans with pockets as deep as Tony Stark may also be interested in Sideshow’s life-size Iron Man Mark III figure, which will set you back a cool $7950.00. Take a look at the promotional images here…
…Fans of Miles Morales will be able to catch his big screen debut a week earlier than expected, with Sony moving the as-yet-untitled Animated Spider-Man movie forward to December 14th 2018. Meanwhile, Liev Schreiber, who is set to voice the film’s mystery villain, also provided a few words on the project: “We haven’t started at all. In fact, I don’t think I begin for another month or so. I think real hardcore Spidey fans will be able to follow this with great ease. It will feel very familiar, in a good way, in a kind of throwback way…”
…The first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok led many fans to wonder whether Marvel had taken a leaf out of the Guardians of the Galaxy book with regards to the tone of the God of Thunder’s third solo outing, but Kevin Feige has downplayed the similarities: “Well, I think I would say it’s, and as people see more of Ragnarok, it’s a [Taika Waititi] tone more than a Guardians tone. He’s really adding a very unique point of view to it, but certainly the success of Guardians just boosted our confidence to continue to go in new, fun, weird directions…”
…With Ant-Man and the Wasp set to begin production this summer, David Dastmalchian has confirmed that he’ll be back as Scott Lang’s buddy Kurt, while director Peyton Reed has shared a few thoughts on getting the opportunity to team up the two superheroes and how it will be as much the Wasp’s movie as Ant-Man’s: ” For me as a comic nerd, I always thought of Ant-Man and Wasp as a team and that’s a lot of what the second movie is really about is how they work together, what their personal and professional relationships are like. To show her finally fully formed in this movie is really exciting. We really get to introduce this character into that universe. I mean we’ve introduced the character, but we haven’t seen her with her full power set and everything, so to me she’s not a supporting character in this movie. It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s…”
…Brie Larson has been speaking more about her upcoming role as Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel and why she decided to sign on for the film, while Kevin Feige revealed why Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were the right people to direct the studio’s first female-led superhero outing: “We met with lots and lots of people as we always do, and had multiple meetings, and Anna and Ryan just had an amazing way of talking about Carol Danvers and talking about her journey. We want filmmakers that can help us focus on and elevate the character journey so it doesn’t get lost amongst the spectacle. And there’s going to be a lot of spectacle in the Captain Marvel film. We’re pretty good at that at Marvel Studios, and have an amazing team that can help with that. But when we’re filling a director chair or chairs, we want people who are focused on the emotional journey, the humor, the surprising twists and turns of a singular character journey, which is what Captain Marvel is. They had the best handle on it. And when you look at the work that Ryan and Anna have done in the past, they are all amazing and very diverse character studies and journeys, and that impressed us…”
…In one last interview with Kevin Feige, he’s also revealed that the ‘Cosmic Universe’ is going to come to the forefront of the MCU once Phase Three finishes up: “I think it’s a little early to know what it’s going to look like, I think things are going to look very different at that point, but I think the early discussions we’ve had with James Gunn about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and beyond with what we’ll call the ‘Cosmic Universe’ and the Guardian characters is very exciting. Which is why he signed up and we announced that even before Guardians Vol. 2 came out. As you know from the comics, there are so many places to go and so many more characters, and there are a few characters hinted at in the tag scenes of Vol. 2. All of which could be potential to see and explore more in the new age following our big Avengers films…”
…On the small screen, you can read Danny Hale’s review of the nineteenth episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season four ‘All the Madame’s Men’ here, while we also have a promo and clip for Tuesday’s twentieth episode ‘Farewell, Cruel World!” [see here and here], as well as a synopsis for the twenty-first episode ‘The Return’ [see here]…
…Mike Colter has revealed that he’ll be reprising the role of Luke Cage for the second season of the Marvel / Netflix series between June of this year and March 2018, suggesting we’ll get to see it late in 2018. And, as it gears to go up into production, a rumoured casting breakdown has arrived online for two new series regulars for season two, with speculation suggesting they could be the characters of John McIver, a.k.a. Bushmaster, and Luke Cage’s sister; read the breakdowns here…
…Any Marvel fans hoping that Christian Bale might fancy a role in the MCU are likely to be disappointed by The Dark Knight Trilogy star’s comments when asked about that very possibility this week: “No, I’m not interested in doing that. I’ve never seen — I’m trying to think if that’s correct, I think I’m actually correct, I can’t remember a single superhero film that I’ve ever watched. Apart from the ones I made and like, the Christopher Reeve Superman films. I love those. Other than that, no I’ve never seen anything…”
…Click below to continue on for X-Men: The New Mutants, Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Logan, Deadpool, Gifted, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Booster Gold, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Powerless, Titans, Young Justice, The Tick and more…
