In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Punisher, Captain America: Civil War, Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, Spider-Man, Big Hero 6: The Series, Logan, Deadpool/Wolverine, X-Men: The New Mutants, Legion, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, The Batman, Superman, The Flash, Shazam, Gotham, Supergirl, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Powerless, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman Forever, Extreme Universe and more…
Hello and welcome to the first Week in Spandex of 2017! This year is shaping up to be another huge year for superhero movies, and we’ll kick things off this week with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its upcoming solo reboot for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, with Marvel releasing a brief promo video for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which showcases the new upgrades on Peter’s (Tom Holland) suit for his upcoming solo debut, courtesy of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.); take a look at the video here…
…While we’re on the subject of the wall-crawler, Andrew Garfield has been discussing the rumours that he “self-sabotaged” his time as Spider-Man, no showing a Sony event in Brazil where The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was set to be announced: “No, I don’t think so. What I’ll proudly say is that I didn’t compromise who I was, I was only ever myself. And that might have been difficult for some people. I’d been reading the mythologists Joseph Campbell and James Hillman. And when I took on Spider-Man, I thought, ‘Holy shit! This is exquisite and terrifying and incredible. I have been given the responsibility of reaching my hand out from the big screen and putting it on [young boys’] shoulders. That is a gift for me and a big burden to carry. And I’m so up for it.’ I thought, if I can infuse all this ancient knowledge and wisdom into [Spider-Man], it could be profoundly affecting for young people in the audience. That was always my intention and what I tried to do. I was 25 and I was naive – not because of that, but because I was naive to the whole process of making one of those big-budget films…”
…While his involvement was strongly suggested in the post-credit scene of Doctor Strange, Marvel has officially announced that Benedict Cumberbatch will be reprising the role of the Sorcerer Supreme alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor (and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk) in November’s Thor: Ragnarok. Meanwhile, we also got an official behind-the-scenes image for Ragnarok featuring Hemsworth and director Taika Waititi, along with a synopsis which reads: “In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk…”
…Marvel has also released an updated logo for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 [see here], while Funko unveiled its upcoming Pop! Vinyl figures for the cosmic superhero sequel, featuring Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Nebula, Mantis and Taserface [see here]…
…Guardians director James Gunn revealed on Twitter this week that he’s pitched an idea for a Moon Knight movie to Marvel, although he ruled himself out of directing, stating that he’s got too much on. “Oh my God I love Moon Knight and I have a great idea for a movie, I just wish I had the time (but, no, he doesn’t belong in Guardians),” Gunn said in response to a question about the possibility of Marc Spector appearing alongside the Guardians. “I told [Marvel]. But, like I said, I just don’t have the time…”
…It’s been announced this week that Marvel’s Doctor Strange will hit Blu-ray and DVD in the States on February 28th. You can check out a Best Buy exclusive Steelbook Blu-ray here, along with details of the special features here – which includes an exclusive sneak peek at Marvel’s Phase Three line-up of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, and the mockumentary short Team Thor: Part 2, featuring the return of Thor’s roommate Darryl Jacobson. Meanwhile, some early Doctor Strange concept art has arrived online, which gives us a look at how Ryan Gosling could have appeared as the Sorcerer Supreme…
…With Black Panther gearing up to go into production, it’s been announced this week that Sterling K. Brown (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story) has joined the cast of the Ryan Coogler-directed film, and will play N’Jobu, a figure from T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) past…
…Jeremy Renner must be getting sick of being asked about a possible Hawkeye movie / Netflix series, but he’s had the question once again this week, responding that: “I always thought it would make sense early on to do a Hawkeye/Widow movie because they’re quite similar – they don’t have powers, have high skill sets, and have history together, but I don’t think there are any discussions about that happening. I’d love to do it though…”
…Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns for the second half of its fourth season – dubbed ‘LMD’ – this coming Tuesday, and we’ve got a brand new poster featuring Ming-Na Men’s Agent May (or her Life Model Decoy) [see here] along with a promo and clip from the midseason premiere ‘Broken Promises’ [see here and here]. Meanwhile, visual effect supervisor Mark Kolpack and Ghost Rider actor Gabriel Luna tweeted out an image this week which revealed several upcoming episode titles in ‘Wake Up’, ‘Hot Potato Soup’, ‘BOOM’, and ‘The Man Behind the Shield’…
…Before Lionsgate rebooted The Punisher with Punisher: War Zone, the studio was in development on a sequel to the 2004 Thomas Jane movie, and Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has been chatting about his script for the aborted follow-up: “I remember there was a woman involved who was sort of the handler of the cop who gets killed, and there’s a relationship that develops between her and the Punisher. I had all these things that they basically didn’t ask for, but in the process of writing…I mean, that’s just how I write! I’ll get inside the characters and I’ll start writing, and I’ll be, like, ‘Oh, f—, that is awesome!’ And the story will come alive for me, and I’ll start jamming. But in the end, I think they only kept one thing from my draft, and that was how Jigsaw becomes Jigsaw. Because the original had it that he crawls through a window of a church or something, and I’m the one who had the mob brought in, along with the recycling thing, where he falls into the recycling machine and gets all f—ed up. But I think that’s the only thing they actually kept from my draft!” You can read the rest of Sutter’s comments on the script’s rejection here…
…Before we move on from the MCU, you may want to check out Anghus Houvouras’ latest op-ed here on Flickering Myth, entitled ‘How Civil War Ruined Ant-Man, Or Moments Matter More in Marvel Movies That Motivation‘…
…The two-part series finale of Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6 airs on Disney XD today, and we’ve got a clip from ‘Graduation Day’ [watch it here]. Meanwhile, Disney is already turning its attention towards the wall-crawler’s next animated series, releasing a brief teaser for Marvel’s Spider-Man [watch it here]…
…Marvel’s Spider-Man isn’t the only superhero-themed (and Marvel-themed) animated show set to hit Disney XD this year, as we also have Big Hero 6: The Series to look forward to, and we’ve got a brief teaser promo for that show here…
…We’ve got less than two months to go before the release of 2017’s first live-action superhero movie, and this week has seen Hugh Jackman sharing a new image of Wolverine from 20th Century Fox’s Logan [see here], as well as bringing news that Marco Beltrami (The Wolverine) will be composing the score, while director James Mangold has been chatting about the film, describing it as “a grown-up drama”: “Logan is an attempt to bring an end to Hugh’s amazing line of performances as Wolverine. And the ambition of doing that is to try and make an ‘adult film’ about Wolverine. To make a movie for grown-ups. We’re not trying to make a movie that [satisfies] everyone. We’re trying to make a movie that stands out and is different because it’s kind of a grown-up drama that also features intense action…”
…Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds has also been bigging up Logan, even going so far as to suggest it could garner some Academy Award attention: “Logan looks like a movie that might break that glass ceiling. I know first-hand that it’s amazing. I’ve seen some of it. It’s mind-blowing. It relies a lot on character.” Flickering Myth’s Luke Owen isn’t too convinced though – read his op-ed on why Logan will never get an Oscar nomination here…
…Click below to continue on for Deadpool/Wolverine, X-Men: The New Mutants, Legion, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, The Batman, Superman, The Flash, Shazam, Gotham, Supergirl, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Powerless, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman Forever, Extreme Universe and more…
