…With less than two weeks to go until its UK release, 20th Century Fox has really ramped up the marketing campaign for X-Men: Apocalypse, with this week bringing us a tonne of marketing material for the Bryan Singer-directed sequel. In addition to character promos for Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen – Storm, Psylocke, Angel and Magneto – and a featurette for Oscar Isaac’s villain, we’ve also seen some new TV spots, a clip featuring Mystique, Angel and Nightcrawler, an IMAX poster, a huge batch of images, and a still of Jean Grey and Cyclops which has once again prompted rumours that Taylor Swift could be set to cameo as Dazzler. Meanwhile, gamers may also want to check out the Retro X Arcade, which features a trio of mutant-themed video games…
…Bryan Singer has been discussing the fan backlash against the first look image of Apocalypse from last year, where the character was compared to the Power Rangers villain Ivan Ooze: “There was an image released on Entertainment Weekly, where the effect hadn’t been put in yet, so everyone was — the effect has a pink light on it, and everyone got lit up pink, so people thought Apocalypse was going to be pink,” he continues. “I was like, ‘No, no, they’re all pink. Take a look. Everyone in the picture is pink. It’s a pink picture.’ They maybe just should have taken the pink out of the picture — I should have taken the pink out of the picture. I’m going to take some blame for that. My fault, not Entertainment Weekly’s. That’s the picture I gave them.” You can read the rest of Singer’s comments about Apocalypse’s size and voice here, and be sure to check out an unused comics-accurate concept design of the character from Ironhead Studios here…
…Casting has continued on Hugh Jackman’s final X-Men outing this week, with Eriq La Salle (Coming to America) and Elise Neal (Scream 2) both signing on for as-yet-unrevealed roles in Wolverine 3. The duo join the returning Jackman and Patrick Stewart (Professor X) alongside fellow new additions Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Stephen Merchant (Hello Ladies), Eriq La Salle (ER) and Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I)…
…With Deadpool set to hit Blu-ray in the States next week, Fox has released a trailer for the home-entertainment release parodying erectile dysfunction commercials [watch it here], while we’ve also got a sneak peek at one of the bonus features with a video focusing on Leslie Uggams’s Blind Al [see here]. And of course you can pre-order Deadpool via Amazon US or Amazon UK…
…A few weeks ago a casting rumour emerged for Fox’s X-Men spinoff New Mutants claiming that X-Men: Apocalypse’s Alexandra Shipp would appear in the film along with Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and The Witch actress Anya Taylor-Joy. That was quickly debunked by Fox, but it seems we may not have long to wait before we do get some casting news as director Josh Boone has been posting images to his social media which suggest a possible line-up of Warlock, Sunspot, Cannonball, Mirage, Wolfsbane and Magik (with the latter two being the characters that Williams and Taylor-Joy were linked to)…
…Fox is looking beyond Marvel and the X-Men franchise for its latest superhero project, although it has brought Ant-Man writer Adam McKay on board to direct, with the Oscar-winner set to helm an adaptation of Mark Waid’s Boom! Studios series Irredeemable. The comic book series tells the story of the Plutonian, the world’s greatest superhero who turned evil and began slaughtering the people of Earth, leading a superhero group known as the Paradigm to team up with the Plutonian’s arch-nemesis to take him down. It’s being said that the project, which will be written by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow), could be used as a launching off point for a new superhero cinematic universe…
…Moving on to the DC Extended Universe and this week has brought more rumours of a “crisis” within Warner Bros., with Birth.Movies.Death claiming that the studio is having “lots of fights” with Zack Snyder over the direction of Justice League: “Sources at WB tell me that this is just one part of what’s going on behind the scenes at the DC movieverse,” the site claims. “Zack Snyder and Geoff Johns were taken aback at critical and audience reaction to Batman v Superman, I’m told, and WB execs have found themselves at odds with Snyder over his vision for Justice League and the DC movieverse going forward. Of course Justice League was scheduled to start shooting mere days after BvS was released, which meant WB couldn’t take any definitive action – like removing Snyder or delaying the movie to make changes – without poisoning the box office for BvS. The result? Lots of fights between Snyder and the WB execs, and lots of pressure from Burbank on Snyder, who is shooting in London.” Check out Ricky Church’s op-ed on the rumours, entitled ‘The State of the DCEU: Cooler Heads Should Prevail‘ along with Anghus Houvouras’ ‘9 Ways to Save the DC Extended Universe‘…
…Potentially adding some weight to that report, it has been announced this week that Ben Affleck has been enlisted as an executive producer on Justice League, and “with director Zack Snyder and screenwriter Chris Terrio behind the scenes to make the film the best it can be.” Affleck is of course reprising his role as The Dark Knight in the movie, and his additional involvement in Justice League follows the news that he’s co-written a Batman solo movie, which he’s also expected to direct. Meanwhile, Affleck will also be reuniting with Jeremy Irons on Justice League, with the British actor revealing that he’ll be reprising the role of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC ensemble…
…Director James Wan took to social media this week to respond to recent rumours that he could be getting cold feet about helming the Aquaman movie, posting an image of himself beside a banner of the King of Atlantis…
…In more from the DCEU rumour mill, Birth.Movies.Death has reported this week that “many, if not most, members of Batman’s rogues gallery will be making appearances in the film” and that Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns want to “tell the ultimate Batman story, and to do so they’re going to bring in all the big guns. They’re going to have a big, sprawling Bat universe already in place.” Given the sheer size of Batman’s Rogues Gallery, that’s going to be a bumper cast if true, but it does make sense given that The Dark Knight is already fully established in the DCEU and will have previously encountered the majority of his foes. Be sure to let us know which villains you’re hoping to see in movie, and check out James Garcia’s op-ed ‘Why Clayface is the perfect villain for Ben Affleck’s Batman film‘…
…Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has been sharing a few thoughts about his role as Killer Croc in Suicide Squad, stating that: “At the time you meet him in this film, he’s a fully-fledged criminal. He’s really one of the baddest criminals known to be roaming in Gotham, hence his lockup in Arkham. He’s tangled with the Batman and here he is amongst these other foes. He’s very much a formidable force at the time that you meet him… The head and shoulders are prosthetic that were glued onto my face and then the body down was painted. It took about five hours to do, but it was something that was a challenge that I was up for because I wanted to set a new standard for what can be done with prosthetics. We could have easily CGI’d this, but David [Ayer] was insistent on their being an actor to bring out the soul of the character. It gave me an opportunity to show what I could do with prosthetics.”
…With Civil War out and X-Men: Apocalypse incoming, the dust is settling on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but we do have the extended Blu-ray release to look forward to this summer, and this week has brought news on the special features set to accompany the film; check out a list here…
…Kevin Smith heads to Central City this week as the filmmaker directs the twenty-first episode of The Flash season two, ‘The Runaway Dinosaur’, and you can take a look at a trailer and promo here, along with a poster and images here (and it seems Smith must have impressed, as he’ll be returning to direct an episode in season three). Be sure to check out Jessie Robertson’s review of the last episode ‘Rupture’ here, and take a look at a synopsis for episode twenty-two ‘Invincible’ and a synopsis for the season two finale ‘The Race of His Life’…
…You can read Jessie Robertson’s review of this past week’s episode of Arrow ‘Genesis’ here, while we’ve also got a trailer, promo and images for Wednesday’s upcoming twenty-first episode ‘Monument Point, along with a synopsis for episode twenty-two ‘Lost in the Flood’ and a synopsis for the season four finale ‘Schism’ here…
…Be sure to check out a trailer, promo and images for the penultimate episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season one, entitled ‘Destiny’, which is set to air this coming Thursday, and if you want to know more about the finale ‘Legendary’, you can find the official synopsis here…
…With CBS yet to make a decision on a second season of Supergirl, it’s been reported this week that the Melissa Benoist-headlined show could be set to join Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow by making the switch to The CW, assuming the producers can cut the $3 million an episode budget for the show. CBS will be announcing its renewals in two weeks, so we shouldn’t have too much longer to wait before we learn about the show’s fate. In the meantime, be sure to take a look at Tony Black’s op-ed ‘Supergirl: Why Isn’t She Already on The CW?‘…
…As Gotham marches towards its season two finale, Fox has released the official synopsis for ‘Transference’ which reveals the return of a season one villain, while we also have a promo for this Monday’s upcoming twentieth episode ‘Unleashed’…
…On the DC animated front, Warner Bros. has announced that the hotly-anticipated Batman: The Killing Joke movie will hit Blu-ray and DVD on August 2nd, just a couple of weeks after its premiere at the San Diego Comic-Con. EW reports that the special features will include two episodes from The New Batman Adventures and Batman: The Animated Series, “while the deluxe edition and combo pack versions will include two featurettes: Madness Set to Music, a documentary which chronicles the creation of the film’s storyboards and original score, and Many Shades of the Joker: The Tale of the Killing Joke, a making-of short that explores the distinct style of the graphic novel. Fans who purchase the combo pack Blu-ray edition will also receive a limited edition figurine of the Joker.” You can check out the Blu-ray cover art for Batman: The Killing Joke here…
…As the Marvel and DC war rages on message boards everywhere, Luke Owen has posted an op-ed here on Flickering Myth which asks ‘Is brand loyalty killing comic book movie discussion?’ Be sure to check it out here and let us know your thoughts on the subject…
…And finally, be sure to head on over to our YouTube channel (or watch the video at the bottom of this page) for the latest episode of FMTV’s Scooperhero News, where Luke and Oli round up all the big talking points from the world of movie superheroes. And for an extended version and discussion on all the big superhero talking points of the week, have a listen to the latest episode of The Flickering Myth Podcast.
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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