…The CW is set to debut its latest Arrowverse series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow this Thursday, and the network’s marketing department has been working overtime to remind us. Take a look at character promos for Captain Cold and Heat Wave, The Atom and Rip Hunter, a clip from the pilot which sees the White Canary getting into a bar fight [see here], a promo (which also teases the Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad footage from DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League) [see here], and a synopsis for the following week’s second episode, the creatively titled ‘Pilot, Part 2’ [see here]…
…In other Legends of Tomorrow news, it’s been revealed that the team will be taking a trip to the Old West where they’ll encounter Jonah Hex, while The CW’s president Mark Pedowitz has been sharing his excitement over the new series: “It is fun, it’s big, it’s lighter than Arrow and The Flash. It has great actors with great auspices. I’ve seen four hours. I get popcorn every time I watch it. It’s a fun big show. It’s a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy meets Doctor Who. And it takes your mind off the troubles of the world…”
…It looks like The Legion of Super-Heroes could be heading to the small screen in some capacity, with DC’s Geoff Johns stating this week that: “You’ll see a hint of the Legion on one of our shows. I love the Legion. They’re underused and hopefully we’ll get them out there soon…”
…The CW has also announced this week that it has renewed the CW Seed animated series Vixen for a second season of six-to-seven mini episodes [take a look at a season two poster here], while network president Mark Pedowitz has revealed that he’s hoping Megalyn Echikunwoke’s upcoming live-action appearance in Arrow could serve as a back door pilot: “Hopefully the character can spin itself out [into a full series] or if not, join DC’s Legends of Tomorrow…”
…In other DC animated news, this week has brought us two new clips from next month’s Batman: Bad Blood [watch it here], while DC animation legend Bruce Timm has been speaking about the upcoming adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, revealing that they’ll be adding more story to the classic comic book tale: “The one big difference about it, as opposed to those other projects (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), is The Killing Joke… the source material is really not long enough to make an entire feature film out of. So we actually had to add a lot more story to it. Which is tricky. But I think we came up with a really good solution on how that worked…”
…Moving on to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this week brought us a look at the new Spider-Man hoodie (which as it turns out may not be linked to the Phase Three-launching Captain America: Civil War after all), while Civil War co-director Anthony Russo has shot down the rumours that we’ll see Red Hulk in the movie, stating this week that: “There’s always a chance in Marvel you could see anything. “But let’s say: There is no Red Hulk in Civil War…”
…The Russos also spoke about the tone of Captain America: Civil War, revealing that there will be more comedy than we saw in Captain America: The Winter Soldier: “There’s a good portion of [Civil War] that’s actually funnier than Winter Soldier, because there are characters in that film, that come from worlds where the tone is more comedic. Not all the characters in that movie have the same history as the Avengers. They’re coming at the problem of the film, not embedded with that baggage. They’re not tied to the central arc of the movie with the same motivation as the other characters, so they can be lighter. I think there are a lot lighter moments because there are much darker moments as well. We did have to work very hard at that…”
…Despite Civil War being some four months away, the Russo brothers are already hard at work on the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, with Joe Russo revealing that they’ve got 67 characters on a board in their office: “Infinity War is meant to be the culmination of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe up to that point. It’s very ambitious in its scope, it wants to take everythign that you’ve seen before and coalesce into some kinda of climactic ending. It’s complicated , ambitious storytelling…We’re not talking about lead characters, just people that make an appearance.” Check out Luke Owen’s article on who those 67 characters may be here, and be sure to give the FM Podcast a watch here as Luke and Oli Davis discuss the possible roster for the superhero epic…
…Russo is also casting his eye towards Phase Four, with the director suggesting that we’ll see some major changes to the Avengers line-up post Infinity War: “Nothing can last forever. It’s cyclical. Some New Avengers in Phase Four are going to become prominent and then maybe some Avengers might not be around anymore. So, we’ll see how all this plays out but you have to treat every character with respect. I think it’s interesting that if you’ve seen four or five movies with the lead character having an arc, I want to see some story telling from some of the secondary characters. We’re focusing on that right now with Infinity War while we’re breaking into those movies, is which characters can we pull to the forefront who potentially haven’t had their own ‘A’ story arc to this point. I think you’ll see that the supporting Avengers are going to become primary Avengers…”
…Russo has also expressed his interest in a solo movie featuring Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow: “Hell yeah! We love that character. We find that the character is one of if not the richest character in the Marvel universe. A very complex character, haunted by demons and her understanding of the world is fascinating. I think there is a lot that can be done with that character…”
…Shifting back to Phase Three now and Benicio Del Toro has suggested that The Collector will be absent from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (perhaps owing to his commitments as a new villain in Star Wars: Episode VIII), while director James Gunn has revealed that he’s the script for the sequel, as well as noting that the legendary musician David Bowie – who sadly passed away this week – could potentially have cameod in the film: “Just a very short while ago Kevin Feige and I were talking about a cameo role in Guardians Vol. 2, and he brought up Bowie’s name. I told him nothing in the world would make me happier, but I heard from common friends he wasn’t doing well. We heard back that he was okay and it could potentially happen…”
…Mark Ruffalo has revealed that he’s been lobbying Cate Blanchett to sign on for a role in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, stating that: “I’m so thrilled. I saw her at the Governors’ banquet here and heard that maybe she was circling, they were talking to her about the part, so I ran up to her and I was like, ‘Please, please, please make this work!’ She’s just one of the best, and to have her play a baddie is going to be really exciting…”
…Click below to continue on for Black Panther, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Damage Control, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Deadpool, Cable, Gambit, Fantastic Four, Hellfire, Superior, Heroes Reborn and more…
