Our weekly round up of all the latest news stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Iron Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, The Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine, Deadpool, Kick-Ass 2, Man of Steel, Heaven Sent, The Dark Knight Rises, Beware the Batman, Arrow and more…
As filming wraps in Wilmington, North Carolina on the first instalment of ‘Phase Two’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new – and potentially spoilery – rumour has emerged from Iron Man 3 suggesting that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) won’t be the only ones suiting up to battle The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) in the Shane Black-directed sequel. According to Brazilian site Omelete (via ComicBookMovie), Marvel executive Simon Philips has apparently confirmed that Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) will don her own armor as Rescue, which seems to support comments made by Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige and Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau during the San Diego Comic-Con, with the latter stating “we almost did it a few times; we talked about it a lot. I think we all share your enthusiasm for that, and we all want to see Gwyneth kick a little ass…”
…According to ComicBook.com, RDJ’s Tony Stark could also make an appearance in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s thought that Iron Man 3 will contain both a mid-credits and post-credits scene, with speculation suggesting that one of them will link to the upcoming outer space ensemble; if true, it would certainly add some star power to the line-up of the ‘big space epic’ for the general movie-going public, but with Robert Downey Jr.’s current contract with Marvel Studios set to expire with next year’s solo sequel, his inclusion in Guardians of the Galaxy would appear to be dependent on the actor agreeing a new deal to continue in his role as the Armored Avenger…
…Switching to Marvel’s animated output for a moment and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes comes to an end this Sunday as Disney XD prepares for the arrival of Avengers Assemble early next year, and the creators of the show have put together a video thanking fans for their support over the two seasons, which you can check out over at Marvel.com…
…Following on from the recent news that Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) is being lined up to join Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) and Shailene Woodley (Mary Jane Watson) in the cast of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Marvel legend Stan Lee took a moment to pitch his next cameo to director Marc Webb over at Collider. Meanwhile, the promote the home-entertainment release of The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony Pictures has released the screen test between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, as well as a Blu-ray featurette detailing the search for the next Peter Parker; The Amazing Spider-Man is now available on DVD and Blu-ray in North America, with a UK release set for November 26th…
…With Bryan Singer now confirmed as stepping back into the director’s chair as Matthew Vaughn’s replacement on the upcoming X-Men: First Class sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Geek Files has reported that cameras will start to roll on the latest chapter of the X-Men saga in April 2013. So far, only James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) are confirmed as reprising their roles from First Class, so expect to hear plenty of casting news in the coming months…
…Sticking with Fox’s Marvel output for a moment, and creative consultant Mark Millar has spoken about the studio’s plans to craft its own cohesive Marvel Universe, stating that he sees the upcoming Hugh Jackman-headlined X-Men spin-off The Wolverine as the “starting point” of a “three to four year plan” and that early discussions have taken place about ten possible movies that could be made, including the likes of X-Force, Cable and the long-rumoured Deadpool solo movie from director Tim Miller…
…In addition to his Fox duties, Millar also has several of his own Millarworld properties in various stages of movie development, not least the upcoming Kick-Ass 2, and the comic book writer has taken to the forums of his official site to provide a set report from the Jeff Wadlow-directed sequel, while some new set photos have emerged showing Chloe Grace Moretz taking on a couple of thugs in full Hit Girl costume, which you can view over at The Daily Mail…
…Ahead of its release next June, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have announced that the hotly-anticipated Superman reboot Man of Steel will receive a 3D post-conversion, with director Zack Snyder stating that the film has been designed to capitalise on the 3D format, although thankfully “great measures [have been taken] to ensure the film and the story come first.” Meanwhile, in other Man of Steel news, Michael Shannon has confirmed to VH1 that his character General Zod won’t utter the iconic line “kneel before Zod”…
…Last week it was reported that Guillermo del Toro was interested in bringing a version of the Justice League Dark to the screen with a supernatural superhero ensemble entitled Heaven Sent, and the filmmaker has opened up about the potential project in an interview with MTV Geek: “When somebody asked me about Justice League… I’m not involved in Justice League. I am discussing… I’ve been discussing with the fans and I’ve been very, very open about how much Swamp Thing was key when I was a kid. Comics in Mexico came on the first two days of the week. Around Tuesday and Wednesday I would go to the newsstand on my bicycle and I would get Swamp Thing every time it was available and I loved Jack Kirby’s Demon. I love Constantine and all that. You know, I’ve been pursuing doing something with them for many, many years. Hopefully it’ll come to pass. But we are still just discussing…”
…Ahead of its home-entertainment release next month, Warner Bros. has released a new DVD and Blu-ray trailer for the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga, The Dark Knight Rises, which you can watch here. The blockbuster sequel hits shelves on December 3rd in the UK, with a North American release the following day…
…The Dark Knight’s live-action future looks a little uncertain at this point, but Batman fans still have plenty to look forward to next year in animated form, with Warner Home Entertainment announcing that Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on January 29th, 2013, with a voice cast that includes Peter Weller (RoboCop) as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as Carrie Kelley / Robin, Michael Emerson (Lost) as The Joker and Mark Valley (Human Target) as Clark Kent / Superman. The Dark Knight is also set to return to TV screens in early 2013 with the CG-animated series Beware the Batman from producer Glen Murakami (Batman Beyond); the new show will see Anthony Ruivivar (Third Watch) lending his voice to the Caped Crusader, and you can check out some new artwork from the upcoming series here…
…And finally, GreenArrowTV has got its hands on a gallery of new images from episode 7 of The CW’s Arrow, which introduces the character of Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. The Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), while Entertainment Weekly posted a sneak peek clip from November’s upcoming episodes. Meanwhile, it’s been revealed that Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) Rogues Gallery is set to expand with a couple more familiar faces from the pages of DC Comics, with IGN revealing that Ben Browder (Farscape, Stargate SG-1) has been cast as Ted Gaynor and TV Line reporting that a version of Count Vertigo is also will feature as “Oliver’s deadliest adversary to date.”
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
