…The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has been speaking about Warner’s plans to launch a DC Cinematic Universe at SXSW this week, and it seems he’s not much of a fan of the way the studio is going about things: “I think [DC] announcing you’re going to do a Justice League movie after a Superman movie, that was neat and had some awesome things in it, but it wasn’t like amazing or groundbreaking… [The plan] just seems derivative, so it puts them in a backseat position to Marvel. It’s not organic so there’s going to be so much scrutiny on Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice when it comes out, it’s got an uphill battle. If they hadn’t told anybody if the Justice League were going to appearing in that, and they were forming that, it would have been surprising and exciting and weird. People are forgetting how important the surprise is. But, you know, Aquaman looks awesome and I’m sure it will be great…”
…Regardless of Kirkman’s opinion, WB is pushing full steam ahead with its superhero universe, and with production on Suicide Squad due to get underway next month some further rumours have popped up this week, offering some alleged details on Batman’s involvement, and claiming that Hugo Strange will have a role in the film as The Joker’s psychiatrist…
…We’re still some time away before we get to see Dwayne Johnson taking on the role of Black Adam in 2019’s Shazam, but The Rock is already thinking further ahead, discussing the possibility of his character “turning face” and joining the Justice League: “I think so, and I think you always want to leave that creatively open, that he could join the Justice League. I think that’s the fun part of creating this character right now and everybody involved, from the studio, from New Line, to Warner Bros., as well, to the writer, our producing partners. You definitely want to engage in his heroic side, but that has to be earned and with the mythology of Black Adam starting off as a slave, because when you start off as a slave, just inherently, there’s things in your DNA that piss you off. And that’s the bottom line, so I think we have to respect and pay homage to the true mythology and then the heroic side will come down the line. But I think it’s important and we all feel it’s important and I believe the fans feel it’s important to make sure the homage is paid at the beginning because then you have a stronger foundation to stand on, and so he will become an anti-hero, but at first… daddy’s got to go to work…”
…Moving on to DC’s various TV universes and Cameron Monaghan has been discussing his role in Gotham as ‘Jerome’, the potential future Clown Prince of Crime, and whether we’ll see him returning to the show at a later date: “When I was on set, we discussed the possibly of me coming back in the second or third season. Nothing is set in stone yet. I think the producers have a firm plan for what they want to do, but I was not privy to it while I was filming. I would love to come back and do some more… Relating [The Joker] to Jerome, I’m so curious to see where they take him. Batman is so integral to the Joker’s origin, and we don’t have that right now. However, Jerome is a person who existed in some capacity before that. There’s no reason he couldn’t have been that person before all of this happened. It will also be interesting to see if they want to go the route of the vat of chemicals. In Christopher Nolan’s films, he was a man who chose to simply put on make-up. Perhaps that’s even scarier, since he made the decision to be this creature…”
…Over at The CW and both Arrow and The Flash were on hand at PaleyFest last weekend, during which two sizzle reels were shown for both shows, and you can check them out right here…
…This week’s episode of Arrow looks to be pretty packed, with Oliver Queen’s Emerald Archer going face-to-face with Ray Palmer, Diggle tying the knot, and the Suicide Squad making their return. You can check out a trailer and promo here, along with a batch of stills here, and be sure to check out our review of this past Wednesday’s episode ‘The Offer’ here…
…During The Flash’s PaleyFest panel, executive producer Greg Berlanti confirmed that we can expect to see Wally West featuring in the show by stating that: “That’s our hope. We’ve already been picked up for a second season so I think if we were going to do something like that, we would do it next season.” Be sure to read our review of Tuesday’s shocking episode of The Flash ‘Out of Time’ here, and take a look at a trailer and promo for the next episode ‘Rogue Time’ here, along with a new promotional image featuring Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold and Dominic Purcell’s Heatwave here…
…And speaking of Dominic Purcell, it has been announced that he’s set to reprise the role of Heatwave for The CW’s mysterious Arrow/Flash spin-off series, where he’ll reunite with Miller in addition to Victor Garber (Martin Stein/Firestorm) and Arrow’s Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom) and Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/Black Canary). Details on the project are scarce at present, but Greg Berlanti took some time at PaleyFest to tease the spin-off: “For us, first and foremost, with all of [our shows], it’s about ‘how is it its own thing?’ Because we don’t just want to do it to do it. Some people do that and then they’re three episodes in, thinking, ‘Why did we do this?’ So for me, I compare the shows to old Westerns; we have a lot of lone gunmen and sheriffs in town, and this one is very much an ode to things like The Magnificent Seven or those great heist pics like Ocean’s Eleven where you get all of those colors at the same time, and a true ensemble, and that was the fun of it…”
…As production continues on Supergirl, it has been revealed that Kara won’t be the only DC superhero on the show, with Owain Yeoman (The Mentalist) set to appear as the Sean Connery-lookalike Vartox. Meanwhile, some rumours have emerged suggesting the show will be making use of the Daily Planet set from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, as well as indicating that Dean Cain and Helen Slater will be portraying Kara’s adoptive parents Fred and Sylvia Danvers…
…With pretty much every actor on the planet looking to get in on the superhero game these days, The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons was asked if there are any comic book characters he’d like to portray on screen. His response? None other than Edward Nygma: “I would love to play a superhero in a movie, I would like to be a villain. And… I would really like to play The Riddler. I don’t feel they’re using the Riddler very much, are they?” I guess the DC Cinematic Universe will need a Riddler at some point…
…Casting on NBC’s Heroes revival Heroes Reborn has picked up the pace this week, with six new additions signing on for as-yet-unrevealed roles in Robbie Kay (Once Upon a Time), Danika Yarosh (Shameless), Judith Shekoni (Twilight), Ryan Guzman (The Boy Next Door), Gatlin Green (Finding Cody) and Henry Zebrowski (The Wolf of Wall Street)…
…The fourth episode of Sony Television’s Powers landed on PlayStation Network this week, and if you’ve not had a chance to watch it you can click here for a selection of images from ‘Devil In a Garbage Bag’, the synopsis of which reads: “Walker (Sharlto Copley), Pilgrim (Susan Heyward), and the rest of the Powers Division must prevent Wolfe (Eddie Izzard) from escaping the high security prison that holds him, The Shaft. As Wolfe goes on a murderous rampage from within these walls, the Powers team are forced to try a new top-secret technology to keep him detained—Code name: The Drainer…”
…And finally, after countless setbacks, it looks like Relativity Media’s remake of The Crow is finally starting to move forward, with Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) signing on to replace Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) in the lead role as Eric Draven, and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) set to star alongside him as his fiancée Shelly Webster. The Crow is being directed by Corin Hardy, while comic book creator James O’Barr has suggested that the new film will be less a remake of the 1994 movie and more a straight-up adaptation of his original graphic novel.
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.
