…We’re still waiting on confirmation that Hugh Jackman will reprise the role of Logan for the Bryan Singer-helmed X-Men: Apocalypse, but we now know that Jackman will be donning the claws next year for the third Wolverine solo movie, with director James Mangold revealing that shooting on the 2017 release will get underway early next year…
…Of course, we all know that Fox can’t seem to make an X-Men movie without Wolverine, and with Deadpool and Gambit on the horizon for 2016, could we be seeing Jackman back on the big screen next year regardless of his involvement with Apocalypse? Well, Jackman himself has admitted he’s open to a cameo in the Ryan Reynolds-headlined Deadpool: “Ryan I’m really good friends with, I’m really happy for him because he is a brilliant actor and he will nail that. Am I dodging your question well? [Wolverine and Deadpool] are definitely enemies in the comics, and they always spark off well together, so yeah I’d be open to that idea…”
…And it seems that the Spider-Man deal between Sony and Marvel has given Jackman some hope that Wolverine may one day join the web-slinger in making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, with the star stating that: “You know, I think as an optimist I would love it. That’s the best thing about comic books; you can just pitch these characters into each other. I’m surprised by what’s happened with Spider-Man joining. You’re in a very complex world where big, big sums of money are being spent for different franchises and so getting them together is difficult. Two years ago I’d have said you’d be a real optimist to think it’d ever happen, but weirdly now I just think it maybe could. I think there is the possibility that it will happen…”
…Moving on to the DC Cinematic Universe now as Warner Bros. gears up to kick off its new series of DC offerings with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, CEO Kevin Tsujihara has been speaking about the studio’s upcoming DC slate, avoiding “superhero fatigue”, and the differences between DC movies and Marvel movies: “The key thing is that the movies and the television shows and the games, everything looks very different …you have to be able to take advantage of the diversity of these characters. The worlds of DC are very different, they’re steeped in realism, and they’re a little bit edgier than Marvel’s movies…”
…With the stars of Warner’s Suicide Squad assembling in Toronto for production on the DC supervillain ensemble, Jared Leto has been teasing his transformation into The Joker – a character director David Ayer described as “majestic” – by posting several images of him cutting his hair, which is now blond and seemingly awaiting green dye [see here and here], while Viola Davis briefly spoke about her excitement over her upcoming role as Amanda Waller: “As a comic book and Wonder Woman fan, I love the whole DC Comics universe. I traded comic books as a kid so all of that appeals to me. When you dream about being an actor as a kid, that’s what you dream about. That’s like play acting: being the superhero, getting the gun; it plays into that fantasy… Amanda Waller is a fabulous character…”
…Michelle Rodriguez caused a bit of a stir this week when she was asked about rumours linking her to the role of Green Lantern in the DC Cinematic Universe, replying that: “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. I think it’s so stupid because of this whole minorities in Hollywood thing. It’s so stupid. Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes. Make up your own. What’s up with that?” Rogriguez subsequently came in for some criticism for her comments, prompting the actress to post a clarification, which you can read here…
…Gotham is currently on a hiatus until April 13th, but FOX has teased us with a promo for the remaining four episodes of the Batman prequel series which you can watch here, and be sure to check out our catch up reviews of ‘The Blind Fortune Teller’ here and ‘Red Hood’ here. It has also been announced that Chris Chalk (12 Years a Slave) has nabbed the role of Lucius Fox and will make his debut in episode 21, with a view to returning in the second season, while Jada Pinkett Smith has said she’s unlikely to return as Fish Mooney in season two, having only signed on for a year [see here]…
…Arrow and The Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg officially announced start of production on another DC pilot this week in CBS’ Supergirl, and sure enough it was only a matter of time before we got our first official image of Melissa Benoist in full costume as Kara Zor-El [see here], while Benoist also marked the start of filming by posting a behind-the-scenespicture of herself with former Supergirl and current co-star Helen Slater [see here]. Meanwhile Jeremy Jordan (The Last Five Years) has signed on to play Winslow Schott (a.k.a. Toyman) and Faran Tahir (Iron Man) has been cast as The Commander, “an alien military expert leading the forces alligned against Supergirl…”
…The CW’s two superhero shows are also on midseason break at the moment, but in the meantime you can check out a batch of images from The Flash season 1 episode 15 ‘Out of Time’ here and Arrow season 3 episode 16 ‘The Offer’ here. The two shows return on March 17th and March 18th respectively…
…Another DC pilot will shortly be going into production at Fox with the upcoming Vertigo adaptation Lucifer, and it’s been announced this week that Lina Esco (Cane) will play the role of Maze (thought to be Mazikeen), best friend to the titular Lord of Hell, portrayed by Tom Ellis (Once Upon a Time)…
…And finally, our superhero-themed op-eds on Flickering Myth this week include Anthony Stokes’ A Response to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Directors Who Might Be Jealous of Comic Book Movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron: Will It Out-Gross The Avengers?, and Race and Superhero Movies: Are Minorities Stealing White Superhero Roles?, and Anghus Houvouras’ Why Does Spider-Man Have to be Black?.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
