Our weekly round-up of the latest news and talking points from the world of screen superheroes, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Big Hero 6, The Fantastic Four, X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Suicide Squad, LEGO Batman, The Flash, Arrow, Gotham, Constantine, Bananaman and more….
Ahead of its home-entertainment release this coming Monday, Marvel has given us a taste of the special features set to accompany Guardians of the Galaxy on Blu-ray and DVD, releasing a ‘Dance-Off’ outtake which sees Ronan (Lee Pace) showing off his moves to Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) [see here], two deleted scenes with Gamora and Nebula (Karen Gillen) [see here] and Rhomann Dey (John C. Reilly) and Denarian Saal (Peter Serafinowicz) [see here], and a featurette of Groot (Vin Diesel) saying “I am Groot!” in fifteen different languages [see here]. Meanwhile, we’re counting down to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy here at Flickering Myth with a series of ‘making of’ articles from Trevor Hogg – check out Visual Effects & Concept Art from Guardians of the Galaxy, Shared Universe: Stephane Ceretti talks about Guardians of the Galaxy, Engineering Danger: Sony Pictures Imageworks & Guardians of the Galaxy, and
…In other Guardians of the Galaxy related news, director James Gunn has revealed his second choice for Star-Lord, had Chris Pratt not secured the role – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton: “Glenn came along a little bit later, but there was a good chance that, if I didn’t cast Chris, that I would’ve cast Glenn Howerton in the role…”
…The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies star Evangeline Lilly has been speaking about her upcoming role in Marvel’s Ant-Man, revealing that she initially held off on signing on to the project following Edgar Wright’s departure, but was swayed by replacement director Peyton Reed: “I was [bummed out] when Edgar and Marvel decided to part ways. I was nervous, and I kind of held off from signing my contract because I actually wanted to wait and see what would happen. I met Peyton [Reed] and we spoke, and I was convinced that I was going to do the project. He has such impeccable taste, he’s so collaborative, so much fun, and so deep into the comic book world. [He] always has been [in that world], all his life, and really knows the genre. I just have no doubt the film is going to be incredible. I think it’s going to be one of Marvel’s best…”
…Chadwick Boseman is set to make his MCU debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, before headling his own Black Panther movie the following year, and this week has seen the Get On Up star speaking about the role, and how his casting came about: “I wasn’t, like, a [comic book] fanatic. I definitely read comic books, but this particular character was not someone that I knew very well until the last 10 years or so. I’d heard of him, but I hadn’t really been like I’m a huge Black Panther fan. I think once you get into the film business, though, you start thinking about things that would be really cool to do, and then I fell in love with [the character]. For me, that’s going to be the case for most people who watch it, for most people who see this character emerge inside the Marvel world. And it’s the right time for it, at the end of the day. It’s the right time for the character to emerge and to have his own life, so I’m really, really excited for it. And I just feel it can be done the right way right now… The real official conversations happened really quickly. I think there were rumors out there, but those were rumors. Maybe that’s a form of conversation, but it wasn’t an actual conversation, if that makes any sense… It wasn’t really an audition process. It was more of a discussion about what they wanted to do and how I saw it and what I wanted to do. It was more of a feeling out process and they’re really smart. I can’t talk too much about it—the only thing I can say is that they are smarter than you think they are.”
…If you’re struggling to keep track of all the Phase Three releases, then Marvel has officially released its Phase Three timeline, which features release dates for all of the films from Captain America: Civil War through to Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2. Check it out here…
…With production on Daredevil well underway now, Marvel is turning its attention to fellow Netflix series Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, with a shortlist popping up online this week suggesting that Lance Gross (Crisis), Mike Colter (The Following) and Cleo Anthony (Divergent) are in contention for Power Man, and Alexandra Daddario (True Detective), Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad), Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies), Jessica De Gouw (Arrow) and Marin Ireland (Homeland) are being eyed for Jessica Jones…
…Chris Pratt has revealed that he’d be open to possibly reprising the role of Star-Lord on the small screen, should Marvel come calling for an appearance in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: “I wouldn’t rule it out. Marvel would have to decide, but if i made sense for the brand and for the story, yeah sure…”
…Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking a rest on ABC this week and will return on Tuesday, December 2nd with the ninth episode of season two, ‘…Ye Who Enter Here’; check out a promo and batch of images, and take a look at Anghus Houvouras’ review for episode seven ‘The Writing on the Wall’ here…
…Disney’s animated superhero adventure Big Hero 6 may be slipping down the box office chart amid competition from Interstellar, Dumb and Dumber To and The Hunger Games – Mockingjay – Part 1, but the Marvel Comics adaptation has now crossed the $150 million mark at the global box office, which is a healthy position considering it has only opened in a handful of markets outside of the States. You can read our review of Big Hero 6 here, as well as checking out a newly-released ‘First Flight’ clip here…
…With 20th Century Fox still in full-on radio silence mode over The Fantastic Four, an alleged plot description arrived online this week, although screenwriter Jeremy Slate has described it as “100% bullshit”. Still, if you’re interested, you can read it here…
…With casting underway on X-Men: Apocalypse, a shortlist of names has surfaced for the roles of the younger Jean Grey and Cyclops, with Bryan Singer said to be looking at Chloe Moretz (The Equalizer), Elle Fanning (Maleficent) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) for Jean, and Ben Hardy (EastEnders), Charlie Rowe (Neverland) and Timothee Chalamet (Interstellar) up for Scott Summers. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence has briefly spoken about where we’ll find Mystique in the 2016 sequel, stating that: “She’s very complex. She’s a hero to her own race in a way which makes her a villain to the opposite race. I don’t really know where she’s gonna go. I’ve had a few conversations about where we’ll find her. She obviously needs to be in hiding somewhere…”
…In other X-news, some concept art from X-Men: Days of Future Past arrived online this week, showing alternative costume designs for Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Magneto (Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and an unused future Beast (Kelsey Grammer); check them out here…
…Click below to continue on for Suicide Squad, LEGO Batman, The Flash, Arrow, Gotham, Constantine, Bananaman and more….
