…Moving on to the X-Verse now and X-Men: Apocalypse has pushed its box office haul to $526 million this week; it may have underperformed, but it does still have Japan to come in August, and a new Japanese trailer arrived online this week, complete with ‘post-credits’ scene featuring Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool [watch it here]. Meanwhile, we also got a look at some unused concept art for Oscar Isaac’s villain, which sees Apocalypse with and without his space helmet [see here], and the old ‘Fox is interested in a deal with Marvel’ rumour reared its head again this week, but to be honest, I wouldn’t put much stock in the report being little more than speculation and wishful thinking…
…That being said, Marvel and Fox have worked out a deal for the TV side of things, with the X-Men series Legion first out of the gate on FX this year. This week brought us a behind-the-scenes image featuring Dan Stevens’ David Haller, while producer Simon Kinberg offered up some praise for showrunner Noah Hawley’s take on the property: “Noah is a genius — he wrote and created and directed the pilot to Legion — and it is a very different sensibility than anything we’ve done with the X-Men movies. Almost, I would say, as radically different as Deadpool was from the mainline X-Men movies. Legion is, again, in a different direction: really character-based, really granular in terms of getting inside the details of the characters. It stands as part of the X-Men universe, but it stands apart from it as well…”
…Drive and The Neon Demon composer Cliff Martinez has signed on to provide the score for the as-yet-untitled Wolverine 3, which will mark Hugh Jackman’s final outing as the adamantium-clawed Logan when it hits cinemas in March 2017…
…Over at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new batch of set photos arrived online from Spider-Man: Homecoming this week, giving us a look at Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in full Spidey outfit [check them out here]. Meanwhile, director Jon Watts continued to fill out the supporting cast for the reboot, with Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey), Garcelle Beauvais (Hollywood Today Live) and Tiffany Espensen (Kirby Buckets) all signing on to the film in as-yet-unrevealed – and likely minor and pretty inconsequential – roles…
…Next up from the MCU is November’s Doctor Strange, and this week saw Benedict Wong talking about his role as Dr. Stephen Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) sidekick Wong – a.k.a., Benedict’s Wong: “I’m certainly not going to be the tea-making manservant. We’re heading in a different direction. He’s more of a drill sergeant. There isn’t any martial arts for Wong in Doctor Strange actually, he’s more of a drill sergeant to Kamar-Taj. He’s one of the masters of sorcery…”
…Concept artist Andy Park has released more of his design work for this year’s Phase Three-launching Captain America: Civil War, featuring artwork for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man;, as well as Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch sporting her headband,while the cover artwork and bonus features for the Blu-ray release has also arrived online; check them out here…
…Pitch Perfect star Anna Kendrick has expressed her interest in joining the MCU in the role of fan favourite character The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: “My brother sent me a Squirrel Girl comic because he thinks I should [play her]. I don’t know what Squirrel Girl does other than be half squirrel, but I could be half squirrel…”
…Marvel Television has released details of its Comic-Con plans for later this month, which includes a Luke Cage panel including cast members Mike Colter, Alfre Woodard, Mahershala Ali, Theo Rossi, Simone Missick and Frank Whaley, while there’s also an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel and Marvel Animation Presents panel for those in attendance to look forward to…
…A couple of weeks ago some promotional artwork for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to suggest that Ghost Rider could be set to appear in the fourth season of the ABC series, and now a new casting report has further fueled the speculation. In addition to a Life Model Decoy, Marvel is said to be looking to cast “a pair of Latino brothers, one of whom is always the most dangerous person in the room, the other paralyzed in a wheelchair”, which has led to talk that we could see Robbie Reyes, the Spirit of Vengeance from the Marvel NOW! series All-New Ghost Rider. And in other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. news, ABC has announced that season four will get underway on Tuesday, September 20th at the new timeslot of 10pm, which network president Channing Dungey says will allow them “to go a little bit edgier, go a little darker and take some risks…”
…As production continues on Iron Fist, Game of Thrones star Finn Jones has been talking about next year’s Netflix series, stating that: “I love the character. What really drew me was the character and the story. I really enjoy how he’s a superhero with a real heart but has spiritual elements as well. I think it’s going to be an exciting character to play because there’s this contraction of on one hand he’s from a very wealthy family, he’s a billionaire, on the other hand he’s been in this world of K’un-Lun for a long time where he’s learned kung fu and buddhist philosophy. There’s a contradiction in those elements that’s going to be really fun to play…”
…In other Netflix news, the DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook artwork for Daredevil: The Complete First Season landed online yesterday, along with a UK release date of October 3rd, while Jon Bernthal has confirmed that production on the Daredevil spinoff The Punisher will get underway in 2017…
…On the Marvel animation front, Spidey goes up against Carnage in this Sunday’s episode of Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, entitled ‘The Symbiote Saga – Part One’, and you can watch a clip from the episode here…
…And finally, head over to our YouTube channel – or watch the video at the bottom of this page – for the latest episode of FMTV’s Scooperhero News as Luke and Oli round up all the big talking points from the world of movie superheroes.
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.
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
