In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, The Punisher, X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine 3, Suicide Squad, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Lucifer, Constantine, Gotham, Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, Dial H For Hero, Powers and more…
A week after its international release, Avengers: Age of Ultron hit North American cinemas last Thursday, with the superhero blockbuster pulling in a domestic opening weekend of $191.3 million, the second biggest of all time after its 2012 predecessor. The Joss Whedon-directed sequel comfortably retained top spot at the box office here in the UK, and is fast closing on Fast & Furious 7 to become the biggest earner of the year so far on these shores; internationally, it was pushing $700 million by close of play on Thursday night, and will likely find itself nearing a billion this weekend. Furthermore, it’s also helped the Marvel Cinematic Universe to overtake Harry Potter as the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, with its eleven instalments having pulled in a whopping $7.85 billion between them…
…Sticking with Avengers and this week has brought us some concept art for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch featuring alternate designs for the Maximoff twins, along with a VFX featurette on Industrial Light & Magic’s work on The Incredible Hulk, while Joss Whedon has revealed that he clashed with Marvel executives over several scenes in the movie, including the hallucinations, Hawkeye’s character development and Thor’s cave subplot, and that he also wanted to include both Spider-Man and Captain Marvel in the film…
…One character Whedon could have had in Age of Ultron was Loki, but the director has revealed that he chose to leave Tom Hiddleston’s cameo on the cutting room floor: “[Loki’s] so important to the mythos, and they’re like, ‘We can’t get Tom. We can’t make a deal. You can have Idris!’ I was like, ‘Oh, I love Idris! This is great!’ And then I talked to Tom, saying, ‘Just so you know, I feel bad not telling you, and I would never pressure you, but I really feel like it would be great if you could do this…’ And they’re like, ‘But we already have Idris!’ And again, I had no problem there. Everybody’s in! [The scene] even had a little reference to the fact that he’s taken the throne, which was Tom doing his Anthony Hopkins impression when Thor says, ‘Oh, what would father say?’ Then Tom does his Hopkins impression, and Thor’s like, ‘That is uncanny!’ It’s sort of like his subconscious is telling him that Loki was imitating his father. But he would never make that connection…”
…Marvel has officially confirmed that screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are set to reunite with Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Anthony and Joe Russo on the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, while it’s also been announced that both films will be shot entirely in IMAX using the new IMAX/ARRI Digital camera…
…Before Infinity War, the Russos will direct the majority of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War, which officially kicked off production this week, having added several more names to its massive cast in Marvel returnees Paul Bettany (The Vision), Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter), William Hurt (Thunderbolt Ross) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and new addition Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) in an as-yet-unrevealed role…
…Coinciding with the start of production, some alleged concept art popped up featuring Cap and Iron Man going head to head [see here], Iron Man’s Bleeding Edge armor [see here] and Cap’s (barely) updated suit [see here], and we also got an official synopsis that reads, “Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain…”
…Next up from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is July’s franchise-launcher Ant-Man, and a new poster has arrived online this week featuring Paul Rudd as the title character alongside co-stars Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Evangeline Lilly (Janet Van Dyne), Corey Stoll (Darren Cross), Michael Pena (Luis) and Bobby Cannavale (Paxton)…
…With a Spider-Man casting announcement expected soon, it looks like Marvel and Sony are narrowing down the list of directors for the web-slingers rebooted July 2017 solo movie. Reports this week have suggested that Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies), Ted Melfi (St. Vincent), Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (Vacation) are all on the shortlist for what is said to be the first of a three or four part series, with each movie covering a year of high school life for Peter Parker in a “coming of age tale” that mixes superheroics with John Hughes humour and emotion…
…On the small screen and it has been confirmed that ABC has renewed Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a third season, as well as ordering a second run of episodes for the Hayley Atwell-headlined Agent Carter [you can check out the first promo artwork for both new seasons here]. However, it looks as though plans for a spin-off based around the characters of Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) have been scrapped, while the network’s other planned Marvel project from producer John Ridley may also be on hold due to his commitments to a second season of American Crime. Meanwhile, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s season two finale airs this coming Tuesday, and you can check out a promo and a couple of posters for the two-part episode ‘S.O.S.’ here, as well as Danny Hale’s review of this past week’s episode ‘Scars’ here…
…Over at Neflix and Charlie Cox has been speaking about his role as Daredevil, stating that he’d like to see a crossover with Spider-Man, as well as teasing the possibility of the likes of Elektra, Bullseye and The Punisher popping up in season two, while Marvel has announced that Rosario Dawson has signed a deal that will see her returning as Claire Temple in the second season, as well as potentially appearing in any of Marvel’s other Netflix shows…
…And speaking of Marvel’s other Netflix shows, this week has brought us a new synopsis for the next offering, the Krysten Ritter-headlined A.K.A. Jessica Jones: “Ever since her short-lived stint as a Super Hero ended in tragedy, Jessica Jones has been rebuilding her personal life and career as a hot-tempered, sardonic, badass private detective in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. Plagued by self-loathing, and a wicked case of PTSD, Jessica battles demons from within and without, using her extraordinary abilities as an unlikely champion for those in need… especially if they’re willing to cut her a check…”
…Following rumours that Frank Castle could be set to make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Tom Hardy has thrown his hat into the ring for the role, stating in an interview this week that: “I want to play Punisher… I want The Punisher, or Splinter Cell, I want something… I don’t know what I want… [but] I’m not big enough to be The Punisher, I’m 5’9″ [laughs]…”
…Click below to continue on for X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine 3, Suicide Squad, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Lucifer, Constantine, Gotham, Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, Dial H For Hero, Powers and more…
