…20th Century Fox has debuted some new promotional material for the Fantastic Four this week with an official image of Kate Mara (Susan Storm) and Miles Teller (Reed Richards) from the superhero reboot, while Marvel’s First Family also graced the cover of Total Film…
…Back in February Daniel Cudmore (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Apocalypse) revealed that he wouldn’t be reprising the role of Colossus in Fox’s X-Men spinoff Deadpool, and now it’s been revealed that Andre Tricoteux (Once Upon a Time, Seventh Son) has taken over the role of Piotr Rasputin and was the guy spotted in the mo-cap suit during April’s flood of set photos…
…If you’re interested in how Marvel Studios, Sony and Fox’s various Marvel movies stack up against one another in terms of box office, you can check out a handy infographic here which shows the twenty highest-grossing movies based on Marvel Comics…
…Moving on to the DC Cinematic Universe now and some new set photos from Suicide Squad have arrived online showing Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara), while director David Ayer has moved to reassure fans concerned over the amount of set photos we’ve seen that the film’s “surprises are intact.” Oh, and El Mayimbe claimed to have the inside scoop on Batman’s involvement in the film, although before we saw set photos of the Dark Knight he was also claiming that the film would include mentions of Batman only, so read into that what you will…
…Warner Bros. president of creative development and worldwide production Greg Silverman has been speaking about the studio’s shared DC universe, stating that: “We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other,” said Silverman. “You’ll see the difference when you see Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and all the things that we are working on.” Silverman went on to comment about the dark tone of the Batman v Superman teaser trailer, as well as the director merry-go-round on Wonder Woman, and the studio’s tactic of hiring competing writers for its projects; read his full comments here…
…Looking a littler further ahead in the DC movie universe and having been linked to the project for a number of weeks, it’s now official that James Wan (The Conjuring, Fast & Furious 7) is set to direct 2018’s Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa as the King of Atlantis. Breaking the news, Warner Bros.’ Greg Silverman said: “The Aquaman film will be a major tentpole picture for us and James’s span of work has proven him able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative talent and unique voice to the material…”
…Speaking of Aquaman, this week has also brought us some concept art of the character from Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller’s abandoned Justice League Mortal. Along with the Aquaman image is some concept art of Wonder Woman delivering a Dragon Punch to a sports car [see here], as well as some storyboards of the Amazon Princess battling Superman [see here], and a concept sculpt for Martian Manhunter [see here]…
…Back in the mid-90s, Kevin Smith had his first and only foray into the superhero genre when he penned the script for the aborted Superman Lives, and speaking at the Produced By conference in L.A. this week, the filmmaker expressed his interest in bringing The Question to the screen: “I always thought if you were in an alley and fucking Batman showed up you’d be like, ‘Oh, fuck, Batman.’ But if a dude shows up with no features and starts punching you, you would probably kill yourself in fear…”
…Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander has revealed this week that she’s set to add DC Comics to her C.V., announcing on Twitter that she’ll be helming an episode of Arrow season four this August…
…Warner Bros. has announced that Gotham: The Complete First Season will arrive on Blu-ray on September 8th; you can check out the cover art here, along with a list of the special features…
…Bruce Timm is returning to the DC animated universe this month with Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, and a first trailer has arrived online for the Machinima web series, which you can watch here. The first episode is set to arrive on June 8th, followed by episode two on June 10th and episode three on June 12th, while the feature-length Justice League: Gods and Monsters will hit shelves on July 22nd…
…In other animated DC news, a first trailer has arrived for the all-ages direct-to-video feature Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem [see here], while it’s been confirmed that the upcoming Blu-ray release of LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes – Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! will come complete with a LEGO Trickster minifigure [see here]. Meanwhile, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Supergirl star Dean Cain has also announced that he’ll be returning to the DC universe to voice Jonathan Kent in Warner, DC and Mattel’s DC Super Hero Girls…
…With Licensing Expo 2015 taking place this week, Warner Bros. has announced that it will be showcasing a number of its DC properties in Las Vegas, including Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Lucifer, Batman Unlimited, DC Super Friends and DC Super Hero Girls…
…Mark Millar has been speaking about the various Millarworld projects which could be set to grace the big screen over the coming years, which includes the superhero titles Starlight and Kindergarten Heroes [read his comments here], while he also address the long-rumoured Kick-Ass spinoff for Hit-Girl, stating: “I love the idea of there being Hit Girl movies, it has to be the right story though. We have a crazy idea for it, and every now and then I think, is this too crazy? Because it’s kind of insane. Would the world accept this? It makes Kick-Ass look like Finding Nemo. Matthew and I have chatted about it in the pub, and it’s fine in the pub, but when we’re being interviewed two years later, is it going to be terrifying? So I don’t know, it seems a fun thing, though. It’s funny, because Hit Girl was slightly pre-dated by about a year, before those kick-ass action heroine characters like The Hunger Games and Hanna and those kinds of things came along. And now I feel is a great time for her, so it could be really interesting…”
…NBC’s Heroes revival Heroes Reborn has picked up another two returning actors this week in Sendhil Ramamurthy (Dr. Mohinder Suresh) and Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders), with the pair set to join fellow Heroes veterans Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet), Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura), Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman) and Jimmy Jean-Louis (The Haitian) in the cast of the show. Meanwhile, Ramamurthy has also nabbed a role in Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, a superhero drama from Sky 1 which is set to star James Nesbitt (The Hobbit)…
…And finally, it’s been announced that Universal has snapped up the rights to Image Comics’ The Wicked + The Divine and is planning a small screen adaptation, which will be produced by Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick. The Eisner Award-nominated series tells the story of a group of individuals known as The Pantheon, who each possess superpowers after being chosen to merge with the spirit of a deity.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
