Our weekly round up of the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Batman vs. Superman, Man of Steel, Arrow, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agent Carter, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Fantastic Four, Kick-Ass 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and more…
The internet exploded in a fit of rage this week as Warner Bros. revealed that former Daredevil turned Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Affleck is set to don the cape and cowl as the next Dark Knight alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman in the studio’s Man of Steel sequel Batman vs. Superman… and of course, the news didn’t go down too well with fans. In fact, that’s probably a bit of an understatement. It was like the summer of 1988 again – only this time with social media providing the platform for an unprecedented outpouring of anger against; a petition for the studio to remove Affleck as the Caped Crusader has already attracted over 28,000 signatures, while you can’t turn your head for memes, or message boards devoted to condemning his casting. Based upon the comments here on Flickering Myth, there seems to be little support for Batfleck, although Martin Deer has written an impassioned defense which you can check out here. Personally, I have to admit he wouldn’t have been my first choice, but then again neither would Heath Ledger for The Joker, nor Michael Keaton for Batman back in the 80s. However, regardless of any opinions on his casting, we’ll not find out how good of a job he does until Batman vs. Superman hits screens on July 17th, 2015…
…The Hollywood Reporter has the inside scoop on Affleck’s casting as Batman, revealing that Man of Steel director Zack Snyder reached out to the actor after the release of this year’s Superman reboot, while Josh Brolin (Men in Black 3) and Ryan Gosling (Only God Forgives) were also reportedly approached. Apparently Gosling turned down the chance to succeed Christian Bale due to concerns over sequels, while Affleck is said to have signed a multi-picture deal (which will presumably include solo movies and the long-rumoured Justice League) to bring an end to a month of intense speculation which has seen virtually every actor in Hollywood linked to the Bat, including Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games), Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain), Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Richard Armitage (The Hobbit), Max Martini (Pacific Rim), Matthew Goode (Watchmen), Josh Duhamel (Transformers), Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Gerard Butler (300), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Brad Pitt (World War Z), Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings), Jim Caviezel (Person of Interest), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) and Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2)…
… With the new Batman confirmed, it took less than a day for the internet rumour-mongers to shift their focus, with what could possibly be the worst piece of “reporting” (and by reporting, I mean completely fabricated link / hit-baiting) ever to grace the internet arriving online courtesy of a notoriously unreliable site desperately looking to capitalise on the buzz around Batman vs. Superman. On Thursday, said site (which really doesn’t deserve to be named) had absolutely no idea who was playing Batman, but by Friday they were “exclusively” announcing that Affleck has a THIRTEEN film deal, Bryan Cranston has a SIX to TEN film deal as Lex Luthor, Matt Damon is being lined up as Aquaman and Mark Strong is coming back as Sinestro. Let’s face it, everyone likes a good rumour, and every website likes to bring in some traffic, but any sites (and newspapers!) running with this garbage – especially those spinning it as fact without any reference to the reliability of the source – really ought to hang their heads in shame. If you’re going to “report” crap like this, then at least call it for what it is: utter bollocks designed – and reposted – solely to boost hits. A couple of weeks back, we (and other sites, I’m sure) received an email from someone claiming to be a friend of a friend of a friend of David S. Goyer, telling us that a 16-year-old (ish) Robin would join Batman in the film. Now we could have easily posted this “story” – EXCLUSIVE: ROBIN TO APPEAR IN BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN? (note the Cover Your Arse question mark) and brought in a tonne of traffic. With WB going for an older Batman and trying to build a DC Cinematic Universe, it’s quite plausible that Robin or Nightwing could appear, but the “source” was completely untrusted and so it quickly made its way into our trash folder. With this latest Cranston / Damon / Strong concoction, I have to question whether there’s even a “source” to begin with. It’s one thing to bring in traffic, but it’s another thing to flat out deceive readers (of course, if Robin does appear, you heard it here first!). Based on Warner’s track record over the past fifteen years, Ben Affleck would be claiming his pension by the time he finished up a thirteen film deal as Batman. And why on Earth who he commit to such a huge deal which would essentially swallow up the remainder of his career?? Now, I’m not saying that Cranston won’t end up as Lex Luthor (he might), but please don’t let yourself be fooled by this shameful “report” that’s floating around. Okay, now that’s off my chest, on with the rest of this week’s article…
…Taking a step back now and during a Q&A at the Chicago Comic-Con last weekend, Superman Returns star Brandon Routh was asked for his opinion on Man of Steel: “With a new born baby I have not been out of the house much to see movies, but I have heard a lot about the film. It seems to me that they were given a note that more action was wanted. It tried to make up for what Superman Returns lacked, but at the same time what Superman Returns had perhaps Man of Steel lacked. You can’t get 100% success. To reach too far toward one crowd, you miss another audience or age group. It is difficult to be a movie executive.” Routh also offered up a few thoughts on his portrayal, commenting on the pressure of succeeding Christopher Reeve as the Man of Tomorrow: “I think everyone out there who was a fan of those movies was saying ‘yeah I see this new guy, but he is no Christopher Reeve’. I grew up watching those movies and Chris was my Superman, so I knew full well the challenge I had in front of me. I wanted to make sure I did justice to his legacy. That’s why I tried to bring as much of his spirit and energy to the role as I could while still doing things to make it my own. If I would have gone in and did a totally different Superman, some people would have like that, mainly people who did not know Christopher Reeve as Superman. Many more people know him in the role, so it was important that I try and bridge the gap…”
…Man of Steel may still be rolling out in certain markets [watch highlights of the Japan premiere featuring Snyder and Henry Cavill here], but Warner Bros. is already gearing up for the film’s Blu-ray and DVD release, which is set for November 12th in North America and December 2nd here in the UK. This week, the bonus features were announced, with the Blu-ray set to include the feature-length documentary Journey of Discovery: Creating Man of Steel, along with featurettes entitled ‘Strong Characters, Legendary Roles’, ‘All-Out Action’, ‘Krypon Decoded’ and ‘Planet Krypton’. For more details on the special features, click here…
….From the DC Cinematic Universe to the DC Television Universe now and there’s been talk this week that Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul is set to appear in the second season of Arrow, stemming from a report that episode five of the second season was going by the title ‘The Demon’s Head’. As it happens, we’ve since learned that the episode is actually called ‘The League of Assassins’, and E! News that Homeland star Navid Negahban has been cast as ‘Al-Owal’, a character who has “major ties to a group of baddies DC Comics fans know very well”, and who was affiliated with John Barrowman’s Malcolm Merlyn, another member of the League…
…Moving on to 2015’s other hotly-anticipated superhero sequel and it’s been revealed that Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla) is in advanced talks with Marvel Studios about joining the cast of The Avengers: Age of Ultron as Scarlet Witch, while Joss Whedon has also offered up a few words on his choice of villain for the second assembling of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes: “As a character I love Ultron because he’s so pissed off. I knew right away what I wanted to do with him. He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee in his bonnet. He’s not a happy guy, which means he’s an interesting guy. He’s got pain. And the way that manifests is not going to be standard robot stuff. So we’ll take away some of those powers because at some point everybody becomes magic, and I already have someone who’s a witch. [I need] to ground him while still evoking that guy…”
…And speaking of Ultron, The World’s End director Edgar Wright has revealed that Hank Pym’s creation was never part of his plans for the long-gestating Ant-Man: “It was never in my script, because even just to sort of set up what Ant-Man does is enough for one movie. It’s why I think Iron Man is extremely successful because it keeps it really simple. You have one sort of — the villain comes from the hero’s technology. It’s simple. So I think why that film really works and why, sometimes, superhero films fail — or they have mixed results — because they have to set up a hero and a villain at the same time. And that’s really tough. And sometimes it’s unbalanced. You know, when I was younger I used to love Tim Burton’s Batman. I was like 15 and even then I was aware, ‘This is really the Joker’s film.’ It’s like, the Joker just takes over and Batman, you really don’t learn too much about him. Comics have years to explain this stuff and in a movie you have to focus on one thing. So it’s about kind of streamlining, I think. Some of the most successful origin films actually have a narrower focus. You cannot put 50 years of the Marvel universe into a movie. It’s impossible…”
…Sticking with the miniature hero and Wright also discussed Ant-Man’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe during a chat with The Playlist: “It’s just doing its own thing in the accepted history but it’s still part of the other movies and always was… in the time I’ve been working on it other things have happened in the other movies that could be affected in this. It is pretty standalone in the way we’re linking it to the others. I like to make it standalone because I think the premise of it needs time. I want to put the crazy premise of it into a real world, which is why I think Iron Man really works because it’s a relatively simple universe; it’s relatable. I definitely want to go into finding a streamlined format where you use the origin format to introduce the main character and further adventures can bring other people into it. I’m a big believer in keeping it relatively simple and Marvel agrees on that front…”
…It looks like director James Gunn (Super) has completed the line-up of Guardians of the Galaxy, with Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) revealed as in negotiations with Marvel Studios about lending his voice to Rocket Raccoon in next year’s big space epic. Should Cooper officially sign on for the cast, he’ll join Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) as Star-Lord, Dave Bautista (The Man with the Iron Fists) as Drax the Destroyer and Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora, with Vin Diesel (Riddick) said to be Marvel’s pick for the voice of Groot. Meanwhile, a batch of set photos from the “alien crash site” set in Surrey has given us our first look at The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker as Yondu, while Marvel chief Kevin Feige has also offered up the first real plot details from the cosmic superhero offering: “[The Guardians of the Galaxy] are an unlikely band. It’s pure circumstance that brings them all together throughout the course of the movie. Rocket has been genetically and mechanically altered, he’s an experiment from one part of the galaxy. Groot is a species that happens to look like trees look, and is quite communicative if you can understand the different inflections in the way he says, ‘I am Groot.’ Peter Quill left Earth in the mid ’80s, but when we meet back up with him he’s very much a citizen of the universe. Drax has one goal and one goal only, which is to kill Ronan [Lee Pace] because of a past tragedy. When we meet Gamora, she’s a bad guy working with Ronan and Nebula [Karen Gillan] and Korath [Djimon Hounsou], and by extension for Thanos. Gamora doesn’t necessarily like doing that anymore, and tries to find a new path for herself. But she has a reputation as the deadliest woman in the galaxy that people aren’t greeting her with open arms…”
…In other Phase Two news, we’ve got a new batch of stills from this year’s Thor: The Dark World featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and Odin (Anthony Hopkins), along with the Thor: The Dark World preview from the Blu-ray release of Iron Man 3, while Samuel L. Jackson has spoken to USA Today about returning as Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Marvel has also released a new clip from the upcoming One-Shot Agent Carter, which sees Hayley Atwell reprising the role of Peggy Carter…
…And turning to Phase Three, Kevin Feige spoke to Empire during Disney’s recent D23 Expo, stating that the studio is yet to fully finalise its plans for its third round of superhero movies: “Next spring is when we really sit down and start to decide what we announce for 2016 and 2017… There are three or four slots. We’ve got six or seven things going. We’ve got to choose which four will go. It’s a Battle Royale!” Feige then went on to tease the possibility of The Incredible Hulk getting another movie, stating that “I think we have something special with our Mark Ruffalo Banner, and we’d love to see where we could take his stories,” before ruling out the possibility of Namor the Sub-Mariner making his debut in the MCU, confirming that the movie rights to the Atlantean are still held by Universal Pictures…
…Before we finish up with the MCU, Marvel’s first live-action TV venture Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to get underway in the States a month from now (it’s been announced that Channel 4 has secured the rights to air the show here in the UK, although a premiere date is yet to be revealed), so ABC’s marketing push looks to be stepping up a gear. This week we’ve seen another Level 7 Access featurette centred on Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson, along with a new promo featuring the first footage from beyond the pilot episode, and a selection of new cast portraits featuring Coulson, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and Skye (Chloe Bennet), while producer Jed Whedon has spoken about the format of the show: “It’s a little bit like The X-Files model. You can come each week and see [that episode] and not have seen everything, but if you have, it’s a richer experience. And as we move forward, those things will start to weave together more and more. But we do want to always have every episode have its own beginning, middle and end, and feel like its own [thing]. We definitely don’t want anybody ever to watch an episode and have to have watched all the others. That’s definitely a goal of ours. But we think there’s a way to do that, [similarly to] the way that they’ve done it with [Marvel films] where it’s just a better experience if you have been keeping track. And also we’re pretty sure that we will be asking enough interesting questions that people will want to hear the answers. At least that’s our goal…”
…Moving on to 20th Century Fox’s Marvel Universe now and The Wolverine has now pushed its global haul to $337 million by close of play on Thursday, with Hugh Jackman’s latest solo outing edging ever closer towards the $353 million take of 2011’s X-Men: First Class, while Flickering Myth’s Trevor Hogg has put together a comprehensive ‘Making of The Wolverine’ feature, which includes comments from visual effects supervisors Phil Brennan, Martin Hill, Tim Crosbie, Glenn Melenhorst, James Rogers, Bryan Godwin, Viktor Muller; effects technical director Prema Paetsch and previs director Clint Reagan as well as some new images breaking down the film’s VFX. Meanwhile, with principal photography coming to an end on X-Men: Days of Future Past this past week, Fox has also released the first official still from next year’s mutant sequel featuring Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), James McAvoy (Professor X) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast), and creative consultant Mark Millar has spoken about the studio’s plans to tie together its various (and by various, I mean X-Men and The Fantastic Four) Marvel properties: “Without question I think you have to see some of these guys showing up in each other’s movies,” states Millar, teasing that a crossover is on the cards as Fox’s X-Men universe continues to grow. “I think the most exciting thing in superhero movies, until The Avengers came along, was when Nick Fury showed up in Iron Man. Even though it was a guy with an eye patch it was really cool – and I expect we will see more of that…”
…Last week saw the arrival of 2013’s fourth big superhero movie in Universal’s Kick-Ass 2, with the Jeff Wadlow-directed sequel posting a rather low $13.6 million opening weekend in the States, finishing up behind Lee Daniels’ The Butler, We’re the Millers and Elysium and leaving the studio somewhat dejected, with Universal’s president of distribution Nikki Rocco stating that: “We were disappointed we didn’t match the opening of the first movie. The good thing is that it represented very minimal risk for the studio and the first film did very well in ancillary markets, so we’ll see where this goes domestically and internationally.” The film did manage to top the box office chart here in the UK and will push itself into the black this weekend, but with just $24 million in the bank by close of play Thursday it looks unlikely that Kick-Ass 2 will go on to match the $96 million take of Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 original…
…And finally, things have fallen pretty quiet on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 front lately as director Marc Webb works his way through post-production on Sony’s superhero sequel, although this week did bring a batch of new images and production stills featuring Paul Giamatti’s Aleksei Sytsevich, Jamie Foxx’s Maxwell Dillon and Marvel legend Stan Lee, not to mention a shot of producer Avi Arad which gives us our biggest and least subtle hint yet that Andrew Garfield’s wall-crawler could find himself going up against the Sinister Six when the sequel swings into cinemas on May 2nd next year.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
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