Our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes…
Warner Bros. gave Batman fans an early Christmas present this past Monday with the online release of the second theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises and – with anticipation for Christopher Nolan’s Gotham swansong reaching fever pitch – it quickly went on to shatter the iTunes record previously held by Marvel’s The Avengers as it amassed a whopping 12.5m views in just 24 hours. The trailer delivered on pretty much every level, giving us a tantalising glimpse at what appears to be some epic action sequences, along with a look at the majority of the cast in action, including Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred), Marion Cotillard (Miranda Tate) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake), along with a Batman Returns-style introduction to Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle. In fact, there’s only really Morgan Freeman who seems to be absent…
As with the best trailers, it also raised a hell of a lot more questions than answers, giving fans plenty to ponder over as we await the film’s release next July. Among the talking points were a number of supposed Robin references (an ‘R’ in the Gotham Rogues fan sign and a case of mistaken identity between NFL star Hines Ward and a certain Boy Wonder), Selina Kyle’s apparent ‘acquisition’ of Martha Wayne’s necklace from Batman Begins, and Bane telling a beaten, greying Bruce Wayne that: “When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die”. Of course, that also leads in to the growing controversy over Bane’s voice – a.k.a. ‘The Bane Problem’ – which, according to THR, Warner Bros. are “very aware of” and would like Nolan to make significant changes, although the director only plans to make minor adjustments to the sound mix. So if you’re not a fan of the voice, it seems like you’ll just have to get used to it I’m afraid. For a great breakdown of the trailer, be sure to check out IGN’s latest Rewind Theater.
In a move that’s sure to please the scores of 3D fans still out there, Disney have announced that Marvel’s The Avengers will receive the post-conversion 3D treatment prior to its release next May, with director Joss Whedon promising that the film won’t be “obnoxiously 3D”, telling Joblo that: “”There’s no, ‘Oh look, we’re going to spend 20 minutes going through this tunnel because it’s in 3D!’ And no one is pointing at the screen the entire time. But it’s an action movie. Things tend to hurtle toward the screen anyway.” Whedon took part in an interview with the Australian magazine FilmInk [see here and here], during which he had a few comments about the likes of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), while the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator was also the guest on the podcast Making It with Riki Lindhome, during which he discussed the epic Marvel team-up in some depth.
Sticking with The Avengers for the moment, a couple of images featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans) have been released online, along with a new international trailer that includes some new footage (albeit in German). If that’s not enough to satisfy your Avengers appetite, then you might want to check out the thoughts of Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki), along with Marvel’s head honcho, Kevin Feige – all of which come courtesy of FilmInk. Meanwhile, looking further ahead, the studio has also announced that one of their two as yet-unidentified 2014 projects has been brought forward to April 4th, with speculation as to its identity ranging from sequels such as Captain America 2 or The Avengers 2 to a solo offering for the likes of Ant-Man, Black Panther, Blade, Doctor Strange, The Inhumans, Iron Fist, Nick Fury / S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Punisher.
Update – according to Deadline, Marvel Studios have also found their replacement for Patty Jenkins on Thor 2, with director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire) reported to have signed on for the sequel. The film will see the return of cast members Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgård and is slated for release on November 15th, 2013.
Although Sucker Punch may have left some fans questioning director Zack Snyder’s suitability for Warner Bros. upcoming Superman reboot, we can rest assured that the special effects on Man of Steel are in safe hands. Charged with making us believe Henry Cavill can fly is four-time Academy Award-winner Joe Letteri, whose recent credits include Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and Avatar, and the acclaimed visual effects supervisor had a few words about Man of Steel in an interview with The Playlist: “Zack’s going for pretty much everything in-camera as much as he can… I mean, the reason to think about Superman in CGI, you don’t need him full CGI as a character, because he’s basically a full person. But you just don’t want the flying scenes to look like he’s on a wire. So [the question is] how do you use CG to make that happen, and that’s still kind of being played with right now.” Meanwhile, MovieNewz.com are suggesting that Warner Bros. will follow the marketing strategy of The Dark Knight Rises by debuting the first trailer from Man of Steel in June, 2012, a whole year ahead of the film’s release in the summer of 2013. Seems plausible…
As Sony prepare for the launch of the second theatrical trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man with a new poll and a selection of publicity stills on the official Facebook page, director David Fincher has taken time out from promotional duties on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to discuss his vision for a Spider-Man reboot. Fincher, who was a potential candidate to succeed Sam Raimi prior to the arrival of Marc Webb and stars such as Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, told io9 that: “I was never interested in the genesis story. I couldn’t get past a guy getting bit by a red and blue spider. It was just a problem… It was not something that I felt I could do straight-faced. I wanted to start with Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin, and I wanted to kill Gwen Stacy. The title sequence of the movie that I was going to do was going to be a ten minute — basically a music video, an opera, which was going to be the one shot that took you through the entire Peter Parker [back-story]. Bit by a radio active spider, the death of Uncle Ben, the loss of Mary Jane, and it was going to begin with Peter meeting Gwen Stacy. It was a very different thing, it wasn’t the teenager story. It was much more of the guy who’s settled into being a freak.” So, based on what we’ve seen so far from The Amazing Spider-Man, have Sony made the right choice in Marc Webb, or would you rather have seen Fincher’s Spidey swinging into cinemas next May?
Wrapping up the best of the rest…
…With the clock ticking down until the return of Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze this coming February, IGN have got their hands on three new images from the Brian Taylor / Mark Neveldine-directed sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance…
…In news that could offer a glimmer of hope to fans wanting to see more of Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, MovieHole discovered that Warner Bros. have renewed their registration on GreenLantern2.com, meaning that a sequel to this year’s under-appreciated Green Lantern could still be on the cards. Hey, at least they ain’t planning a reboot (yet), but I’d be surprised if we see Green Lantern 2 any time in the near future…
…Meanwhile Warner’s next offering in their line of direct-to-video DC Universe features, Justice League: Doom, will receive its world premiere in New York on February 13th, 2012, ahead of its DVD and Blu-ray release on February 28th. Head over to Superman Super Site for more details on the film, including some new promotional images of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter…
…Following successful outings for Iron Man, X-Men and Wolverine, Marvel’s fourth anime series Blade is set to premiere in North America on the G4 network on Friday, January 13th. Written by Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale), the series will run for twelve half-hour episodes and sees Harold Perrineau (Romeo + Juliet, The Matrix sequels, Lost) supplying the voice of the Daywalker. Check out the official announcement from Marvel here…
…And finally, one guy who won’t be having a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year is movie pirate Gilberto Sanchez, who has been sentenced to a year in a federal prison for uploading a bootleg workprint copy of the Hugh Jackman solo spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the internet prior to the film’s theatrical release back in 2009. Now I’m by no means an advocate of movie piracy but you have to feel for him – I mean, to lose a year of your life over a movie as shit as X-Men Origins: Wolverine… ouch.
Well, that’s it for this week; all that remains to be said is have a very Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to one and all!
Gary Collinson
Holy Franchise, Batman! – Coming 2012.
