Our weekly round-up of the latest news and talking points from the world of screen superheroes, including Spider-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Dark Knight Rises, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Arrow, Constantine, Krypton, Titans and more…
Just days after Stan Lee was quoted as stating that having Spider-Man, X-Men and The Fantastic Four as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was something that Marvel Studios “is very concerned about”, a flood of leaked emails from the Guardians of Peace hack into Sony arrived online, throwing up tonnes of details about the studio’s plans – or rather, lack of plans – for the wall-crawler. The biggest piece of news was the revelation that Marvel Studios tried unsuccessfully (for the time being, at least) to partner up with Sony to have Spider-Man make an appearance in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which would have served as Spidey’s introduction to the MCU (complete with a replacement actor for Andrew Garfield) as well as launching a new series of Spider-Man movies at Sony…
…The news about Marvel’s attempt to partner up with Sony is really only the tip of the Spidey details revealed via the leaked emails, with the studio also planning an animated comedy Spider-Man movie from The LEGO Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller, as well as pushing for Venom (or Carnage) to be the villain in The Sinister Six rather than getting his own standalone movie, wanting Captain America and other MCU characters to be available for future Spider-Man films, Andrew Garfield effectively having been fired as the wall-crawler, and the possibility of a new reboot that would skip the character’s origin and include Venom, Carnage and Hobgoblin as the villains. Read more on the leaked emails here and here…
…With Sony’s Spider-Man franchise seemingly in complete disarray, The Amazing Spider-Man composer James Horner has put the boot in further, revealing why he opted against a return for this year’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and he certainly wasn’t pulling any punches: ““[Director Marc Webb] was very inexperienced and he and I had a very good relationship and the producers had their own opinion. And they didn’t want his input. And then Sony had their own, they just wanted action. To me, the whole thing about doing the first movie was I liked the director and there was a chance to write something for the two lead characters and then she dies in the next movie. But the next movie ended up being so terrible, I didn’t want to do it. It was just dreadful…”
…In addition to the news about the Spider-Man franchise, the Sony leak has also revealed that Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo are to direct Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2 for Marvel Studios, with the duo telling Amy Pascal that their commitment to the two-part feature will not prevent them from directing The Gray Man for Sony. The duo also reportedly offered to replace Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach as producers on future Spider-Man movies, but there’s no word on Sony’s response to that…
…In other Infinity War news, Josh Brolin spoke briefly about the attraction of his role as the Mad Titan the two-part superhero epic, stating that: “I love the idea of Thanos. Ultimately, it’s Thanos against everyone. Why wouldn’t you do that..?”
…Before we get to Infinity War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will reassemble for next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the official website launched this week, giving us a new wallpaper, along with a potential sneak peek at composer Brian Tyler’s (Thor: The Dark World) score for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. Meanwhile, a preview of the Age of Ultron behind-the-scenes featurette from the Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray arrived online, while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunner Jed Whedon confirmed that the ABC show will tie-in with the Avengers sequel during the latter stages of its second season, stating that: “You should expect something [Age of Ultron-related]. The Avengers is the big tent that all the franchises play under. Obviously, we’re included in that. I don’t think any movie has the potential to impact us in the way that Captain America 2 did, but there will be connections…”
…If you haven’t seen the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., stop reading and skip to the next paragraph as THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE… So, the midseason finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. aired on Tuesday, and not only did it bring an end to the mystery surrounding the real identity of Chloe Bennet’s Skye – with the character revealed as Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake, the daughter of Calvin Zabo, better known as the supervillain Mister Hyde (played by Kyle MacLachlan) – but the episode also took the first step in introducing the Inhumans to the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can read our review of the episode ‘What They Become’ here, and check out some comments from showrunner Maurissa Tancharoen about Skye’s identity and the introduction of the Inhumans here. And, in other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. news, it has been reported that Blair Underwood (L.A. Law) is set for a recurring role in the show later this season, where he’ll portray Melinda May’s (Ming-Na Wen) ex-husband Dr. Andrew Garner…
…With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. now on hiatus, we’ll be heading back in time to the 1940s in January with the Hayley Atwell-headlined Agent Carter series. Ahead of its two-hour premiere on January 6th, a new poster has arrived online along with the titles and descriptions for the first two episodes and a clip from the premiere ‘Now is Not the End’, while Marvel legend Stan Lee has confirmed his customary cameo for the show, stating that: “I do have a cameo in a new show, a TV show coming out called Agent Carter. Watch for the fourth one. I think my cameo is in the fourth episode. They ought to be ashamed of themselves that they didn’t give me three others before that but what the hell. It’s kind of a good cameo…”
…In other MCU small screen news, Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) has spoken briefly about her excitement over securing the role of Jessica Jones in the upcoming Netflix series: “I wasn’t [a comic book fan], but I am now reading the Jessica Jones comics and devouring them. And [I’m] hooked. I don’t think I’ve been so hooked on something since Serial. So now I feel that way about the Jessica Jones series. I can’t wait. I mean, as soon as we’re done today, that’s what I am going to be doing. I’m really excited about Jessica Jones. It’s so f**king cool. It’s so cool. I can’t wait to watch it. It’s a dream come true [to work with Melissa Rosenberg]. I’m a big champion for female directors and female showrunners, just f**king rad, strong women. I’m happy to be in company with them, I’m happy to be in the trenches with them…”
…Following his casting announcement last Friday, The Imitation Game star Benedict Cumberbatch has briefly spoken about his upcoming role in Doctor Strange during the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday night, stating that: “[I’m] excited, really excited. There’s a lot of work to be done and I’m just at the beginning of it all so I’m not going to talk much about it, but it’s a thrilling gig to get and I just can’t wait. Very excited.” Meanwhile, according to rumours, Marvel has approached Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight Rises), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla) and Bill Nighy (Pride) with regards to the role of The Ancient One, Stephen Strange’s mentor, and the original Sorcerer Supreme…
…Having come under fire from some Marvel fans due to his perceived negative comments about working on Thor: The Dark World, Idris Elba has now clarified his position, blaming sloppy journalism and misquoting: “I don’t know where people got that, man. I was quite specifically talking about the comparison between playing Heimdall on one day, and playing Mandela on the next. That’s sloppy journalism, or just really bad misquoting. I have a great relationship with the Marvel team, and the character of Heimdall. People are really running with this thing like, ‘Oh my God, he doesn’t want to be with Marvel anymore.’ People thinking that comparing those roles means I don’t want to be with Marvel, well, that’s crazy…”
…Another actor who seems like he may want to be with Marvel is Al Pacino, with the screen legend revealing this week that he’s met with Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, stating “I would imagine that either there’s something he feels is right for me and if I feel — ” before being cut off by a phone call and joking that it was Marvel telling him to keep his mouth shut. Could he be in the frame for The Ancient One..?
…Click below to continue onto the next page for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Dark Knight Rises, Suicide Squad, The Flash, Arrow, Constantine, Krypton, Titans and more…
