Our weekly round-up of all the latest superhero news and talking points, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil, Big Hero 6, The Fantastic Four, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Shazam, The Flash, Arrow, Gotham, Constantine, Static Shock, Batman 66, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes, Batman Triumphant, Superman Lives, Spawn and more….
Well, it’s certainly been a huge week for Marvel fans! Having announced that we’d get our first look at Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron during the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC, Marvel were forced to act when the trailer leaked early, (via Hydra, no less!) prompting the studio to release an official version which went on to pull in an astonishing 35 million views in 24 hours, shattering the previous record of 20 million set by 2013’s Iron Man 3 [be sure to read the thoughts of our writing team in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction, along with those of Luke Owen and Scott Davis in the Flickering Myth Podcast]. As well as the trailer, Marvel also dropped a new teaser poster, an official logo and some Ultron concept art, while James Spader spoke about his role as the fearsome AI villain: “There’s a humerous aspect to him, which is something that drew me in from the very first conversation I had with Joss. In many ways he’s a child, this character, because he’s a brand new being who’s just come to be. And yet, through artificial intelligence, he has an incredible capacity for knowledge. So he’s a very powerful, smart child. Ultron is psychopathic. He’s really batshit crazy…”
…If all that isn’t enough Age of Ultron excitement for you, Marvel has announced that ABC will be airing two new teasers for the sequel in the coming weeks, with the first showing during Tuesday’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the second coming on on November 4th during Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!…
…Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy reached another box office milestone this week, becoming the studio’s third-biggest release as it overtook Captain America: The Winter Soldier with $739 million in worldwide takings to date, giving the film a good shot at becoming the highest-grossing comic book movie of the year – a title currently held by X-Men: Days of Future Past on $746 million. And how did director James Gunn celebrate this success? By starting work on the screenplay for the sequel, of course…
…Looking ahead to Marvel’s Phase Three and a new image from the set of Ant-Man has arrived online this week, giving us a look at Michael Douglas’ Dr. Henry ‘Hank’ Pym alongside his daughter Hope Van Dyne, played by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies star Evangeline Lilly; check the pair out here…
…After being linked to the director’s chair on Ant-Man prior to Peyton Reed’s appointment, Adam McKay (Anchorman) subsequently signed on to rewrite Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish’s screenplay for the film. However, it seems that Marvel hasn’t given up hope on him helming a future movie, with McKay stating that: “I just did a big rewrite on Ant-Man with Paul Rudd and had such a great time working with them that we’re kicking around ideas. Yeah [I would be in line to direct], maybe I would take on one of the characters…we haven’t locked in anything, but discussions are definitely going on…”
…Having been replaced as Bruce Banner after 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Edward Norton has spoken about his departure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe this week, stating that: “My feeling was that I experimented and experienced what I wanted to. I really, really enjoyed it. And yet, I looked at the balance of time in life that one spends not only making those sorts of films but then especially putting them out, and the obligations that rightly come with that. There were just a lot of things—I wanted more diversity. I sort of chose to continue on my path of having a diversity of experiences. Maybe on some unconscious level, I didn’t want to have an association with one thing in any way degrade my effectiveness as an actor, in characters. I think you can sort of do anything once, but if you do it too many times, it can become a suit that’s hard to take off, in other peoples’ eyes. And if I had continued on with it, I wouldn’t have made Moonrise Kingdom, or Grand Budapest, or Birdman, because those all overlapped with [Avengers]. And those were more the priority for me, but I continue to be a fan and I’m really, really happy I got to do it once.” Hmmm… kind of a different story than Marvel’s explanation, with Kevin Feige previously stating that Norton didn’t return for The Avengers as they wanted an actor “who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members” and “who thrives working as part of an ensemble…”
…Adrianne Palicki’s Bobbi Morse made her debut in Tuesday’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘A Hen in the Wolf House’ [read Anghus Houvouras’ review here], and with this coming week seeing her suiting up for the first time as Mockingbird, Marvel has dropped an official still and concept art of Bobbi in her “tactical suit” [see here], while we’ve also got a promo and batch of images for sixth episode ‘A Fractured House’, which includes a few more shots of Palicki in costume [see here]…
…Marvel and ABC’s upcoming Agent Carter has added another name to its expanding cast, with Kick-Ass star Lyndsy Fonseca signing on to play Angie Martinelli, an apsiring actress who befriends Peggy Carter. The show will see Marvel veterans Hayley Atwell (Peggy) and Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark) returning alongside new additions Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as Roger Dooley, Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) as Agent Daniel Sousa, Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) as Agent Jack Thompson and James D’Arcy (Let’s Be Cops) as Jarvis…
…In other Marvel TV news, Charlie Cox has spoken about his role as the Man Without Fear in the upcoming Netflix series Daredevil: ““It’s great fun, but it also comes with a great deal of responsibility, I wasn’t really aware of how vast the comic book world was until I became part of the Marvel universe. I went to Comic Con last week, and it’s really important to a lot of people. It really is. I’m having a great time. “I’ve read comics after comics after comics — I’ve never read so many comics in my life, and we’re finding moments from the comics to reference in the show, we’re trying to make a show that’s new and much, much darker than anything I’ve ever seen Marvel do before. The concept that he can’t stop, he’s going out and he’s taking the law into his own hands, and he doesn’t know if he can stop. He might be addicted to it…”
…Disney has continued the marketing blitz for the upcoming Big Hero 6 – which opens in the States on November 7th, the same day as Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar – by releasing a Halloween TV spot and two new clips, while it’s also been announced that Fall Out Boy will headline the soundtrack to the animated Marvel Comics adaptation with their new song ‘Immortals’, with Henry Jackman (Wreck-It Ralph, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) providing the score…
…Over at Fox and we’ve been waiting for some kind of promotional material – any kind of promotional material – from the studio’s upcoming reboot of The Fantastic Four, but it seems we may have a bit of a wait yet. Asked when we might see the release of the first footage from the Josh Trank-directed film, writer-producer Simon Kinberg responded that: “We’re putting it together now, and one of the important things, because this Fantastic Four is a reboot, and is such a different tonality and vibe from those other films, we want to make sure that the first thing we put out really expresses the voice of the movie, and isn’t compromised by not having visual effects ready, or anything like that. I don’t actually know when [a trailer is] coming out, but I’ve seen all the footage from the movie. I was there for pretty much the whole shoot. It is a very different film from the others, and one that I think is very different from other superhero movies. It’s a very emotional, character-driven, more grounded film than I think people are anticipating…”
…Coinciding with its home entertainment release, X-Men: Days of Future Past got the Honest Trailers treatment this week, while some concept art featuring Evan Peters’ Quicksilver also arrived online. And on the subject of the speedster, it’s also been confirmed that Peters will be back for X-Men: Apocalypse, and may even have a solo movie in the works somewhere down the line. Apocalypse is set for release in May 2016, with Peters joining a cast that so far includes the returning James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)…
…Click below to continue on for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, Shazam, The Flash, Arrow, Gotham, Constantine, Static Shock, Batman 66, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes, Batman Triumphant, Superman Lives, Spawn and more…
