…Early in the week, Robert Downey Jr. teased his interest in Iron Man 4 by saying that “I’m sure we’ll ride that thing” when asked about the chances of a fourth solo movie, before joking that he’d do it if Mel Gibson was directing (“That movie would be bananas”), and elaborating on his current situation and continued involvement with Marvel Studios: “That’s all being talked about on a bunch of different levels right now. To me, it comes down to what’s the half-life of people enjoying a character? It’s different on TV, where you expect the longevity over seasons while movies get a two or three year break. Marvel keeps stepping up its game, and I appreciate the way Kevin Feige and all the creatives there think. They are as in the creative wheelhouse as any great studio has been at any point. So it becomes a matter of, at what point do I cease to be an asset to what they’re doing, and at what point do I feel I am spending so much time either shooting or promoting these films that I’m not actually able to get off the beachhead and do the kind of other stuff that is good for all of us. Each one of those movies is spread over two years and some people fit other things in. But I’m not 42, I’m turning 50 and now I’ll have two small kids instead of one grown one, and eight Team Downey projects with people who are imagining I’m not just spending Warner Bros’ money out of vanity, but that I’m taking it seriously. It all has become this thing that has to be figured out. It has come to a head, right now, where the points of departure will be…”
…After their “Jon Hamm is Doctor Strange” and “Jack Huston is Doctor Strange” scoops failed to pan out, This Is Infamous plucked another name out of the hat this week by suggesting that Ethan Hawke has been offered the role of the Sorcerer Supreme in a role which would reunite him with Sinister director Scott Derrickson. Some comments Hawke made back in July surfaced online, suggesting that he’d be more than willing to join the cast of Doctor Strange, however Deadline then reported that the rumours were “speculation run wild”, although the site did also report that negotiations between Marvel and Joaquin Phoenix have broken down, and Phoenix is now no longer in contention for the role…
…Ratings for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hit an all-time low this past Tuesday, with the second episode of season two ‘Heavy is the Head’ falling below 5 million viewers for the first time [read our review here]. For those sticking with the series, we’ve got a promo for the third episode ‘Making Friends and Influencing People’ which you can see here, along with some promotional images for episode four ‘Face My Enemy’ here. Meanwhile, it has also been announced that Tim DeKay (White Collar) has secured a guest role as Agent Grant Ward’s older brother, while Whedon regular Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse) has teased his casting as Robbie Baldwin, a.k.a. Speedball…
…In other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. related news, Adrianne Palicki has been discussing her upcoming role as Bobbi Morse, stating that she has had talks with Marvel about the character of Mockingbird making the jump to the big screen to link up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes: “Absolutely. That was one of the things that was discussed when I was coming on for the part, and you know, we’ll see what happens. It’s such a nice world that we live in that crossover can happen so often now which in the past it never really did so, to see these worlds come together on the small screen and the big screen is really cool…”
…It was expected, but now it’s official. Captain America: The First Avenger star Dominic Cooper will reunite with Hayley Atwell on the Agent Carter TV series, with Marvel confirming his return as Howard Stark for the new show. The Marvel veterans are set to be joined in the cast by MCU newcomers Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as Roger Dooley, head of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), along with 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….
…Ahead of a cast signing at the New York Comic-Con, Marvel has released the official logo for its first Netflix series Daredevil, which you can see here. And if you happen to be at the New York Comic-Con next Saturday, stars Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson) and Vincent D’Onofrio (The Kingpin) will be taking part in a signing event, where fans will be given an exclusive concept art poster illustrated by Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada…
…In a preview of what we can expect from Avengers 3 when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes go up against Thanos, a clip from this weekend’s episode of Avengers Assemble has arrived online, which sees the superhero team going up against the Mad Titan, who doesn’t even break a sweat as he takes them out; check it out here…
…With just over a month to go until its North American release, Disney has debuted yet more TV spots for its animated Marvel Comics adaptation Big Hero 6, which you can check out here and here…
…Moving on to 20th Century Fox and The Fantastic Four star Miles Teller has been speaking about the upcoming reboot from director Josh Trank, stating that it is “different in every way” from the previous Fantastic Four and its sequel Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer: “It’s different in every way [from the other films]. All those actors were a lot older, their characters were in different places. The tone of this film is completely different: We don’t have Michael Chiklis in a big Styrofoam thing, and I think that [a more grounded approach] is what people are into — X-Men: First Class is doing that. You’re dealing with these characters but you’re making them real people in how they exist day-to-day. People wanted it to be taken more seriously than the kind of Dick Tracy, kitschy, overly comic-book world…”
…Teller wasn’t the only cast member to discuss the film this week, with Michael B. Jordan responding to criticism of his casting as the Human Torch by stating that: “I don’t think about it. Can’t make everybody happy… To be a part of Marvel’s family, it’s a huge deal for me. I get to get out about it… I’ve known about this character and playing this role for almost two and a half years now. So when I get all these new questions about how I’m feeling about it, I’m like, ‘You know, I’m feeling pretty good about it. It’s something that we kind of willed to happen, which was really important to me and Josh (Trank). We’re lucky we had a studio behind us that really supported our ambition and our want for change. Now we have something really epic.” To read what he had to say about the “modern” and “fresh” costumes donned by the FF in the new film, click here…
…Looking ahead to the second of Fox’s 2016 superhero movies (after Deadpool) and writer-producer Simon Kinberg has spoken about X-Men: Apocalypse, calling it the third part of a trilogy for the X-Men: First Class cast: ” [X-Men: Apocalypse] is definitely the close of a trilogy for those First Class characters, which isn’t to say we won’t see them in future movies, hopefully we will, but it’s a completion of an arc for them. I think that the friendship between Erik and Charles, which has always been so integral to the franchise, is something we’re continuing to explore and hopefully deepen with Apocalypse. And the relationship between Beast and Mystique is a really interesting one that we didn’t have a lot of time to explore in X-Men: Days of Future Past, so we’ll have an opportunity to do more of that in Apocalypse. Part of what’s really interesting about Mystique’s character is that she is, in some ways, the child of both Erik and Charles. She grew up with Charles and then she sort of became a woman with Erik, so her being the cross-pollination, if you will, of those two philosophies and those two men is something we can explore in the movie too.” Read the rest of his comments here…
…Ahead of its home-entertainment release, Fox has given us a look at a deleted scene from this year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past which sees Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) warning Xavier (James McAvoy) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) that Magneto (Michael Fassbender) plans to start a war between mutants and humans [watch it here]. X-Men: Days of Future Past hits DVD and Blu-ray in the States on October 14th and in the UK on November 10th…
…And finally, you may want to check out this week’s superhero-themed op-eds on Flickering Myth with Thomas Roach’s Is Four Years Too Long to Wait for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Does Marvel Studios Need X-Men, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man Back? and Will Avengers 3 Be Split Into Two Movies?, Anthony Stokes’ Why Gotham Is Kind of Pointless, and Simon Columb’s Why X-Men Is the Most Exciting Comic Book Movie Franchise.
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.
