In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Constantine, Batman vs. Robin, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Agent Carter, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Black Cat, Powers and more…
We’ll kick things off this week with Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which gave us a new shot (well, new angle) of Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight thanks to an image of Batman alongside the previously released promo shots of Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel and Gal Gadot’s Amazon Princess, as well as some promotional artwork of the World’s Finest squaring off, which was printed on crew shirts during the production along with the caption “…remind them that giants walk the Earth” from Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns…
..In other Batman v Superman news, Henry Cavill has spoken briefly about the film, stating that: “It’s Zack Snyder, so it’s going to be a visual spectacle. And it’s cinematic history. We’re doing Batman, we’re doing Superman, and it’s all happening at the same time. So fingers crossed it turns out to be as exciting as I think it is.” Meanwhile, Scoot McNairy spoke cryptically about his as-yet-unrevealed character as well as praising Snyder’s vision [read his comments here], while choreographer Guillermo Grispo has spoken about the film’s fight scenes, promising they’ll be better than those we witnessed in The Dark Knight Trilogy [see here] and new rumours have surfaced regarding Michael Shannon possibly appearing in the film, and how General Zod could factor into the plot [see here]…
…With Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) turning down the opportunity to replace Tom Hardy in Suicide Squad, new – and so far unconfirmed – reports have emerged suggesting that Joel Edgerton (Exodus: Gods and Kings) and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) are being eyed for the role of Rick Flag, while Gary Sinise (CSI: New York) is reportedly in talks to play General Wade Eiling and Joe Manganiello (True Blood) has been linked to the part of Deathstroke. Elsewhere, some alleged plot details have popped up online, as well as a rumor claiming that Affleck’s Batman will feature in a cameo appearance to kick-start his own solo movie…
…It’s been reported, but not confirmed, that Jesse Eisenberg will return as Lex Luthor in Suicide Squad, and the actor was asked this week if he had any interest in reprising the role. He stopped short of confirming his involvement in the supervillain team-up, but he did admit that he’s open to another outing as the criminal genius: “I would love to [return]. t’s a great group and director, and the most ideal character to play…”
…Looking to DC’s next ensemble after Suicide Squad and if (somewhat dubious) rumours are to be believed, Zack Snyder’s upcoming Justice League movie is “too complicated for the average moviegoer”, and that only fans of the comic book will understand the lore. Personally, I don’t think the “report” holds much water…
…Back in December during the Sony hack, it was apparently revealed that Jeff Nichols (Mud) is to direct the upcoming Aquaman movie starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), but according to rumours this week that’s not yet a done deal, although Nichols is said up for the directing gig alongside Noam Munro (300: Rise of an Empire), while Karl Urban (Dredd) is reportedly wanted for an as-yet-unspecified role, which may be the villain…
…As the Amazon Princess prepares to make her big screen debut in Batman v Superman ahead of a solo movie in 2017 courtesy of director Michelle MacLaren and star Gal Gadot, we’ve had a small glimpse at what might have been had Warner Bros. given Joss Whedon the green light in 2005 thanks to a poster for Wonder Woman that would have been unveiled at Comic-Con. Check it out here…
…Gotham followed in the footsteps of The Flash and Arrow this week, with FOX announcing that it has given an early renewal to the Batman prequel series. But of course, we’ve still got the best part of a season to go, starting with Monday’s ‘Welcome Back, Jim Gordon’. You can check out a promo and images from the episode here and here, as well as a batch of images from the following episode ‘The Fearsome Dr. Crane’ here…
…In other Gotham-related news, it has been revealed by Bruno Heller that the original Red Hood is set to make an appearance, which will “pick up the costume strand” when it comes to the show’s villains, while Batman Returns star Danny DeVito has shared his thoughts on Robin Lord Taylor’s portrayal of Oswald Cobblepot: “I’ve watched the show. I think he’s a very good young Penguin. He’s a terrific actor…”
…Moving on to The CW and we’ve got reviews for this past week’s episodes of The Flash [see here] and Arrow [see here], as well as trailers, promos and images for the next episodes of both shows [see here and here] and some new concept art featuring the villain Reverse-Flash [see here]. Meanwhile, another crossover of sorts has been announced, with Emily Bett Rickards and Brandon Routh set to head to Central City for the eighteenth episode of The Flash, with Andrew Kreisberg stating: “In episode four of Flash when Felicity came by, it wasn’t just a gag to have Felicity come by. It really was integrated into the story. When you reach what’s going on in The Flash at that point in the season, Barry is really at a crossroads. Having Felicity come by exactly when he needs her really plays into the whole storyline. It’s fine because as Marc [Guggenheim] said, Ray Palmer is all about technology and STAR Labs is all about technology. We get to see Ray so happy to be in STAR Labs… With Cisco [Carlos Valdes] and Ray, they’re new best friends. The STAR Labs team is going to help Ray further his ATOM project…”
…It’s also been announced that The Flash will introduce the concept of time travel in episode fifteen of the show: “There’s an unexpected, accidental time travel coming up,” states Andrew Kreisberg. “And it is played both for hilarity and darkness. It happens in an episode we’re really excited [about] — the first Weather Wizard episode with Liam McIntyre.” Click here to read comments from stars Grant Gustin (Barry Allen) and Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells) as they share their excitement over the possibilities time travel will open up for the show, but beware of spoilers if you’re not up to date…
…Gustin has also spoken about the news that The Flash has been renewed for a second season, while he also addressed the possibility of crossing over with CBS’ upcoming DC Entertainment show Supergirl, stating that he’s open to appearing if the call should come: “Supergirl, yeah. It also is exhausting to think about. But, if they’re like, ‘Hey we’re doing Supergirl now and we want the Flash to be on a Supergirl episode,’ I’m going to get excited about that and then after that worry about how we’re going to make it work. But yeah, of course! I’m down. I’m down for any type of cool crossover as long as we can make it work…”
…And as for Supergirl, the search for Kara Zor-El is over, with CBS announcing that Melissa Benoist (Glee, Whiplash) has secured the title role in the series, which is being produced by Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash). Meanwhile, some audition tapes found their way online this week (although they’ve since been taken down), which seemed to indicate a potential appearance from Kara’s cousin Kal-El, with Jimmy Olsen recounting tales of Superman’s heroic deeds…
…Over at NBC and as Constantine moves towards its season finale (and perhaps its series finale, if the network opts against a second season), we’ve got a promo and images from the eleventh episode of the show, ‘A Whole World Out There’, which you can see here…
…We got a trailer for Batman Vs. Robin last week, and now we’ve got the cover art and special features for the direct-to-video animated movie, which you can check out here. The Son of Batman sequel is set to land on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on April 14th…
…And with the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie set for release this coming week, Warner Bros. has dropped a new clip from Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, which features Flash and Green Lantern. Check it out here…
…Click below to continue on for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Agent Carter, A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Black Cat, Powers and more…
