…Shifting to the DC Cinematic Universe and despite whispers of a trailer at WonderCon this weekend, it seems it is now official that we’ll get our first glimpse of next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on May 14th, with numerous sources reporting that the trailer will be attached to Warner Bros.’ post-apocalyptic actioner Mad Max: Fury Road…
…With production on Suicide Squad set to kick off this month, this week has brought news of a few of casting additions to the DC supervillain ensemble, with Scott Eastwood (Fury) and Ray Olubowale (Resident Evil: Afterlife) signing on to play – reportedly, but as-yet-unconfirmed – the characters of Steve Trevor and King Shark. Meanwhile, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) has nabbed the role of Killer Croc, and newcomer Karen Fukuhara rumoured to be portraying Plastique…
…Jason Momoa has shared a few words on his upcoming role as Aquaman and his expanding presence in the DC Cinematic Universe his cameo in Batman v Superman, stating that: “Justice League is quite a ways off. We don’t have scripts and stuff like that. I’ll bring my professionalism there. I’ll bring my sense of humor. Hopefully people will like that. If they don’t I’ll modify it.” Momoa also touched upon the look of his character, adding: “Michael Wilkinson, the head costume designer, he created all of that. I basically just showed up and he made it happen. And It’s all Zack, through his genius mind…”
…On the promotional trail for Fast & Furious 7, Dwayne Johnson has shared a few more comments on his upcoming DC movie Shazam, and specifically, why he chose to play Black Adam rather than the titular hero: “I felt ultimately – and this is with all due respect to Shazam and Billy Batson, it’s a mythology I love, it’s been with me for almost ten years now – what made me choose Black Adam… I just felt Black Adam was inherently more interesting to me because I felt there were more layers to Black Adam, starting out as a slave and then ultimately becoming the anti-hero who we enjoy today… In 2007 or 2008 I publicly took a swing, I asked the fans, who would you rather see me play and I really left it up to them because at that time we were developing with Warner Bros. and New Line, and Black Adam won out…”
…While it seems to be moving through development at a snail’s pace – and was absent from Warner’s list of DC movies through 2020 – Guillermo del Toro is yet to give up hope on his Justice League Dark adaptation, providing a brief update this week: “We turned in our [script] revision, and it all depends on the calendar, you know. If I can do it, I would love to do it. And I think the screenplay and the characters are very solid. [If I don’t direct it] somebody will do it. You cannot say ‘Yeah, I’ll do it after I do this,’ or ‘I have the first season of The Strain‘. It needs to fall into the plan of the DC Universe…”
…On the small screen and Mark Hamill made his return to the DC universe this past week as he reprised the role of The Trickster for episode seventeen of The Flash, the aptly-titled ‘Tricksters’. You can read our review of the episode here, and check out a trailer, promo and batch of images for Tuesday’s eighteenth episode ‘All Star Team Up’ here…
…Things are really starting to heat up in Arrow following the eighteenth episode ‘Public Enemy’ [read our review here], and you can check out a trailer, promo and images from the next episode ‘Broken Arrow’ here, along with a trailer looking ahead to the final five episodes – including Olicity action – here…
…The first DC newcomers have been announced for The CW’s upcoming Arrow/Flash spin-off, with Ciara Renee (Law & Order: SVU) set to play Kendra Saunders, a.k.a. Hawkgirl, and Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) nabbing the role of Rip Hunter. The duo join the previously announced Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom), Victor Garber (Martin Stein/Firestorm), Wentworth Miller (Leonard Snart/Captain Cold) and Dominic Purcell (Mick Rory/Heat Wave) in the cast of the mystery show, while Caity Lotz (Sara Lance/Black Canary) is also set to feature in an as-yet-unrevealed role…
…With Gotham set to return to the small screen on April 13th, Fox has released a promo entitled ‘Even Good Men Have Secrets’, which offers up footage from the final four episodes of the first season. Check it out here…
…It looks like Adam West and Burt Ward will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Batman TV series by returning to voice the Dynamic Duo in a 2016 animated movie, with the pair officially announcing the news at the Mad Monster Party in North Carolina last weekend. And that may not be all, as it has also been rumoured – but not confirmed – that Julie Newmar will reprise the role of the villainous Catwoman…
…It looks like Batman: The Animated Series co-creators Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett are set to deliver a very different take on the Justice League this year with the animated feature Justice League: Gods and Monsters, with a selection of screenshots arriving online which give us our first look at the project, including a Superman who is the son of General Zod, a Wonder Woman with ties to the New Gods, and Batman with Kirk Langstrom under the cowl. Check out the screenshots here…
…Sky 1 has picked up a new superhero series from Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment entitled Lucky Man, which will see James Nesbitt as DI Harry Clayton, a down on his luck detective who is granted superpowers by a bracelet. The 10-episode hourlong drama is based on an original idea from Stan, who said: “Luck has always been a fascinating subject to me, and I am excited to finally share that fascination with audiences around the world. With all the creative projects I have worked on, I sure am a lucky man myself and I am excited to be working with Sky 1 and Carnival Films on this latest project…”
…And finally, be sure to check out our superhero-related op-ed pieces on Flickering Myth this week with Anthony Stokes’ Gal Gadot: Why She’s Not a Good Fit For Wonder Woman and Anghus Houvouras’ Deja VU: Five Recycled Elements in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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.
