…Turning to the DC Extended Universe now and with Ben Affleck’s Batman stunt double Richard Cetrone claiming on social media that he “knows for a fact” that a Zack Snyder cut exists, Amazon sparked speculation of an extended cut of Justice League this week when it posted a listing for the home-entertainment release with a run time of 135 minutes, as opposed to the 120 minute theatrical cut. Warner Bros. is yet to make a comment on this, but it’s certainly possible that the studio could be prepping an extended cut as they did with both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad…
…With Warner Bros. gearing up to kick off production on Shazam, actor Zachary Levi has been chatting about his role as young Billy Batson’s adult superhero counterpart in the next instalment of the DC Extended Universe: “I get to do my version of Big, basically. It’s like Superman meets Big, and that’s just so fun. I get to be a superhero that’s excited about being a superhero, and I think that’s refreshing. It’s not glum, and like, ‘Oh, I have to save the world again.’ So I think it’s all really gravy.” Levi was also asked which DC hero he’d most like to see Shazam teaming up with, responding: “Wonder Woman, because she’s awesome. I think getting a cameo from anybody would be super cool, but I just think Gal Gadot is so effervescent. She has such a charm. And she seems like a really cool broad. Like, she was in the Israeli army. She’s a mom. And I’m like, ‘You seem like you’re grounded and cool, and you’re Wonder Woman, and you rock.’ And I think it would be really funny to have the 14-year-old Billy Batson inside of Shazam that’s really awkward around this beautiful Amazonian. I just think that would be really awesome…”
…And speaking of Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot has revealed why she didn’t feel the need to respond to filmmaker James Cameron’s criticisms of the Amazon Princess’ solo movie last year: “Because I didn’t want to give him the stage. First of all, I’m a big fan of his work. His movies are great. He was very innovative in many things that he did, and I’ve got nothing but great things to say about the creative and professional side of his work. When it happened, the timing of when it happened, he was promoting another movie of his. It was like he was looking for publicity and I just didn’t want to give him the stage…”
…If rumours are to be believed, Suicide Squad 2 will be the next DC movie to go into production after Shazam, and it has been reported this week that Michael De Luca (The Social Network, Fifty Shades of Grey) has boarded the sequel as a producer alongside Charles Roven. Meanwhile, director David Ayer has reflected on the critical backlash to the first movie, stating that: “It was shit. Yeah, it was shit reviews. I got my throat cut. It was a super polarizing movie. Incredibly polarizing. It’s like going to the boxing ring and getting knocked out is how it felt. And I had to go into the ring again. And directing is a confidence game, because you’re selling everyone on something that only exists in your head. The actors have to feel that confidence to trust that you know what you’re doing, and so does your crew. As a director, you set the tone. Really, it’s coming off that movie, I understood the pitfalls, I understood the dangers, I knew where the alligators hide, you know? And so I made damn sure I didn’t repeat any mistakes [with my new movie Bright]…”
…Despite the DC Extended Universe going through a “recalibration”, David S. Goyer has confirmed that development continues on the Green Lantern Corps movie, while Justice League actor Joe Morton (Silas Stone) has said that he believes the Cyborg solo film will still move ahead, and will likely be an origin movie exploring Victor Stone’s transformation and his relationship with Silas…
…In other DC-related news, The Dark Knight Trilogy star Gary Oldman has tipped Joaquin Phoenix as a potential successor for the role of Batman after Ben Affleck, while Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan has thrown her hat into the ring to play Batgirl in Joss Whedon’s planned movie…
…Turning to the small screen and The CW’s DC superhero shows Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow are set to make this return this week, along with the premiere of the latest series, Black Lightning. To mark the occasion, the network unveiled a new promo entitled ‘Suit Up’, showing the Arrowverse heroes preparing for their next round of adventures; watch the promo here…
…Supergirl season three resumes on Monday, and we’ve got a batch of images and a trailer for the midseason premiere ‘Legion of Superheroes’ [see here and here], along with promo images for the following week’s ‘Fort Rozz’ [see here] and a synopsis for the twelfth episode ‘For Good’ [read it here]…
…Season four of The Flash resumes with ‘The Trial of the Flash’, and we have an extended trailer for the episode [watch it here], along with a synopsis for the eleventh episode ‘The Elongated Knight Rises’ [see here] and a synopsis for the twelfth episode ‘Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash’ [see here]…
…Black Lightning premieres on Tuesday, and we have two clips from the premiere episode ‘The Resurrection’ which you can watch here, along with a synopsis for the third episode ‘LaWanda: The Book of Burial’ [read it here]…
…And with Arrow returning on Thursday, we have a trailer for the midseason premiere ‘Divided’ [watch it here], as well as synopses for the eleventh episode ‘We Fall’ [see here] and twelfth episode ‘All For Nothing’ [see here]…
…In one other piece of Arrowverse news, The CW’s president Mark Pedowitz has teased a potential replacement for Firestorm in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, stating that: “You might see Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale) show up on Legends…”
…With a March 21st premiere date set, Syfy released the first full trailer for its Superman prequel series Krypton [watch it here], while creator David S. Goyer and DC’s Geoff Johns have been chatting about the show at the Television Critics Association press tour, teasing appearances from the likes of the Green Lantern Corps and Omega Men. “The deal with the show is it’s kind of this gateway into the DC science fiction universe. Because also the Phantom Zone figures into this show, it means we can delve into other times and planets eventually. Even the inclusion of Adam Strange, that should tip you off that it’s not just going to be on Krypton,” said Goyer, with Johns adding that: “Any of these characters could eventually show up…”
…HBO has its own DC series in development, with Damon Lindelof working on a small screen adaptation of Watchmen, and the cable network’s president Casey Bloys has briefly spoken about the upcoming series and praised the pilot’s script: “I’ve read the script, it’s amazing. I’m thrilled, I imagine we’ll shoot that this year…”
…The Teen Titans are coming to the big screen this summer with Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, and this week saw the release of the first teaser trailer and poster for the animated DC comedy feature. The movie is set for release on July 27th, and sees Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Scott Menville as Robin, Khary Payton as Cyborg, Tara Strong as Raven, and Hynden Walch as Starfire reprising their voice roles from the Teen Titans Go! series alongside Will Arnett and Kristen Bell in as-yet-unrevealed roles…
…Warner Bros. also gave us our first look at the next DC Universe Animated Original Movies release with a selection of images from Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay [check them out here]. Set to feature in the cast of the straight-to-video feature are Christian Slater (Deadshot), Billy Brown (Bronze Tiger), Liam McIntyre (Captain Boomerang), Kristin Bauer van Straten (Killer Frost), Gideon Emery (Copperhead), Tara Strong (Harley Quinn), Vanessa Williams (Amanda Waller), C. Thomas Howell (Zoom), Dania Ramirez (Scandal Savage), James Urbaniak (Professor Pyg), Julie Nathanson (Silver Banshee), Jim Pirri (Vandal Savage and Vertigo), Greg Grunberg (Maxum Steel), Dave Fennoy (Blockbuster and Tobias Whale), Cissy Jones (Knockout), Natalie Lander (Darma), Trevor Devall (Punch), Dave Boat (Harvey Dent/Two-Face) and Matthew Mercer (Savage Gunman)…
…Coinciding with its release this week, a new clip arrived online from the animated crossover feature Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which sees the Caped Crusader coming to the rescue of the Mystery Inc. gang; watch it here…
…And finally, it seems that Sony may have found its lead for the first of its planned Valiant superhero movies, with a report this week stating that Vin Diesel is in talks to take on the role of Raymond Garrison in Bloodshot. The film is planned as the first of five Valiant movies, leading to a Harbinger crossover entitled Harbinger Wars, and has Dave Wilson (visual effects supervisor on Avengers: Age of Ultron) attached to direct a script from Eric Heisserer (Arrival).
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.
