Our weekly round up of all the latest news stories from the world of screen superheroes, including The Avengers 2, S.H.I.E.L.D., Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, Doctor Strange, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, Justice League, Man of Steel, Lobo, Arrow, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Kick-Ass 2…
Joss Whedon has certainly been a busy chap this past week. Attending the Toronto International Film Festival to promote his latest movie Much Ado About Nothing, Whedon has taken the opportunity to discuss all things Marvel in his new role as ‘creative consultant’ of Phase Two of the Cinematic Universe. In addition to providing a brief update on The Avengers 2 [see here], Whedon also refused to rule out the possibility of fan favourite Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) returning to the MCU [see here], as well as revealing that his upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. TV pilot will feature “new characters” and run “adjacent” to the feature film series. Furthermore, Whedon has also offered confirmation that director James Gunn (Super) has signed on to direct 2014’s ‘big space epic’ Guardians of the Galaxy, stating that “Gunn has barely started [on Guardians] but already has a very twisted take on it [which] comes from a real love for the material…”
…Gunn’s appointment on Guardians of the Galaxy has raised hopes that he could reunite with Slither and Super actor Nathan Fillion (Firefly), who has long been speculated as a potential addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although Fillion himself remained non-committal about his potential casting as the Guardians’ leader Star-Lord when speaking to MTV Splash Page at the Toronto International Film Festival: “I’m very busy right now with a job that I’m grateful for. I’ve made a commitment [to Castle] and I have to see it through…”
…Shooting on Thor: The Dark World has been taking place in Bourne Woods, Surrey this past week, and as you’d expect, a tonne of set pictures have emerged depicting what looks to be an epic battle sequence. Head over to AICN for a gallery of images featuring Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) leading a group of Asgardian warriors into battle against a horde of otherworldly beings, while ComicBookMovie has a few more shots of the creatures and their high-tech weaponry, as well as a set-video showing the battle in full swing. Meanwhile, if rumours are to be believed, the Alan Taylor-directed sequel could see the death of a major character from the first movie; we won’t spoil it here, but if you’d like to know who it might be, check out Bleeding Cool…
…Last week there was talk that Thor: The Dark World could see the introduction of Doctor Strange and while his inclusion is yet to be confirmed (or denied), recent rumours have suggested that Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings) has emerged as a potential candidate to don the cloak and moustache as the Master of the Mystic Arts. The speculation was picked up on by Marvel executive Victoria Alonso, who offered up the following response: “We would love to work with Viggo Mortensen. I’ve been trying that for years. But I don’t know if Viggo is even acting anymore. I thought he wasn’t acting anymore. It would be great to work with him in the future, but we don’t have him signed, no…”
…In other bits and pieces from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s been reported that filming will resume on Iron Man 3 in South Florida next month, while Disney has also screened a trailer for the Shane Black-directed sequel at an Avengers Blu-ray / DVD launch in London, which is said to include the destruction of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) Malibu mansion, Iron Man’s ‘Extremis’ armor, and our first look at Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin. Elsewhere, Chris Evans has announced a March 2013 start date for filming on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Mark Ruffalo has once again dismissed the chances another solo adventure for The Incredible Hulk, and Marvel has teased the possibility of releasing the Ant-Man test footage from director Edgar Wright that was shown at Comic-Con back in July…
…Moving on from Marvel and this won’t really come as much of a surprise, but Christopher Nolan’s representatives have officially denied the recent speculation that the home-entertainment release of The Dark Knight Rises will include an extended Director’s Cut of the movie. However, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has offered Batman fans a glimmer of hope that the ‘Dark Knight’ saga could continue in some form post-Nolan, with the actor refusing to rule himself out of contention for Warner Bros. planned Justice League movie, should he receive an offer to don the cape and cowl if and when the superhero team-up comes together: “I always pick projects that I want to be involved in for the same reasons. Is the script really good? Is the filmmaker a really inspired artist that I feel connected to? That’s what I always pay attention to.” A fairly diplomatic answer in all honesty, so I’d not hold my breath if I were you…
…While plans for Justice League remain up in the air at the moment, Warner Bros. is set to take the first step in launching its DC Cinematic Universe next year with the release of the Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot Man of Steel, and Amy Adams has taken a moment to discuss her take on the character of Lois Lane as well as her thoughts about working alongside Henry Cavill in an interview over at Collider. Meanwhile, some alleged details of concept art said to have been shown at a Warner Bros. trade show has popped up online via the SuperHeroHype forums, which includes descriptions of General Zod (Michael Shannon) in full battle gear, along with details of the Kryptonian villain’s ‘Black Zone’ prison structure, while CosmicBookNews has also posted some potential spoilers for a showdown between Superman and Zod’s right hand woman, Faora (Antje Traue)…
…As for the next DC adaptation on Warner Bros.’ slate after Man of Steel, it’s looking increasingly likely that Lobo could make it to the screen courtesy of director Brad Peyton and his Journey 2: The Mysterious Island leading man Dwayne Johnson. Earlier this week, a potential logline for the Lobo movie arrived online, which – if genuine – may disappoint any fans who were hoping for a space-set adventure: “Lobo, a powerful alien bounty hunter, lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc…”
…Ahead of its television premiere next month, The CW has released a couple of new promos for Arrow [see here and here], while star Stephen Amell and executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg also shared a few words about the series during an appearance at PaleyFest 2012 last weekend [see here]. Furthermore, it’s also been announced that Jeffrey Nordling (24, Body of Proof) has joined the cast as Frank Bertinelli, “the father of Helena Bertinelli (a.k.a. The Huntress) [and] a Starling City crime boss who will cross paths with the Queen family.” Nordling will make his first appearance in episode 7 of the series, so it’s likely that The Huntress (Jessica De Gouw) will also debut alongside her father…
…While Arrow is set to feature a number of familiar faces from the DC Universe, don’t expect to see a guest appearance from Diana Prince; despite The CW beginning development on a pilot for a Wonder Woman series entitled Amazon, Andrew Kreisberg has warned fans not to expect a crossover between the two shows, stating that Arrow “takes place in a much more realistic world. There’s no superpowers, superheroes and aliens. With Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira, there are superpowers. I don’t foresee crossovers but one of the great things about superheroes is that they’re constantly being reimagined. There’s the Adam West and Christopher Nolan versions of Batman and one doesn’t obviate the other. The Lynda Carter version was great and now the CW is hopefully developing another wonderful version that will be a nice compliment to Arrow…”
…Moving on to DC’s animated offerings, Warner Home Video has released a couple of new clips from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 ahead of its release later this month, while David Selby has also taken part in a Q&A to discuss his role as Commissioner Gordon in the upcoming adaptation. Elsewhere, a few new clips from second season of Green Lantern: The Animated Series have also hit the net ahead of the season premiere on September 29th; check them out here…
…And finally, with filming underway on the Jeff Wadlow-directed Kick-Ass 2, we’ve now got our first look at Ukrainian bodybuilder Olga Kurkulina as the villainous Mother Russia courtesy of a selection of spy pictures and video from the Toronto set, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson has spoken about reprising his role as the titular superhero in an interview with MTV Splash Page, during which he also discussed being included as a potential candidate for Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man – a role which of course was eventually secured by Andrew Garfield.
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