…Turning to the DC Cinematic Universe now and after it was revealed in the Comic-Con trailer that Michael Shannon will be making an appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Man of Steel star offered up a few intriguing words on his return as General Zod this week as he recalled an incident where he found himself stuck in a portaloo during the shoot: ““I was in my costume, and I couldn’t use my fingers because in the sequel I have flippers instead of hands. So I had these wax flippers on my fingers, and I couldn’t open the door, and I could hear Zack [Snyder, the director] being like, ‘Where’s Shannon..?‘”
…Batman v Superman costume designer Michael Wilkinson has been speaking in depth about designing the look for Ben Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman [read his comments here], while Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara briefly addressed the release date merry-go-round for the DC superhero ensemble, which has seen it shifted from its original July 2015 date to May 2016, before settling on March 25th 2016: “It was a tough decision at the time because it was going to create a hole in 2015. But it was absolutely the right decision for the franchise, for DC and the movie. Having seen the movie multiple times, and again last night, I’m extremely confident it was the right decision to make the movie better. And it’s so important for the studio to get the foundation right on DC…”
…Having been mentioned as a potential director for a DC Cinematic Universe movie a few months back, this week has brought a new rumour suggesting that Mad Max: Fury Road helmer George Miller is in contention to direct Man of Steel 2. Miller, as you may recall, was previously attached to the abandoned 2007 movie Justice League Mortal, so it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if he did find himself taking a second stab at a DC project…
…David Ayer gave us another look at Margot Robbie in her full Suicide Squad costume as Harley Quinn, tweeting an image earlier this week showing Robbie/Harley giving the director a “SKWAD” tattoo…
…On the small screen, this week has brought us the first two promos for season two of The Flash [see here and here], while Keiynan Lonsdale (Divergent) discussed his casting as Wally West, and his excitement about joining The CW’s DC television universe. Meanwhile, in other news from The CW, Paul Blackthorne (Quentin Lance) posted a BTS image from Arrow season four which confirms that Starling City is now going by the traditional name of Star City [see here], and we also got a behind-the-scenes featurette for Vixen ahead of the animated series’ premiere next week [see here]…
…Gotham has expanded its gallery of Rogues for season two, with Michelle Veintimilla (Those Who Kill) set to play Bridgit Pike, a female version of Firefly. Here’s the official character description: “Enslaved by her brothers, a notorious gang of arsonists, Bridgit Pike is forced into the family business. When she catches the eye of Selina Kyle, the young Cat Woman and the soon-to-be-Firefly team up to put Bridgit’s firestarting skills to good use. But after a deadly encounter with the Pike Brothers, the meek Cinderella is transformed into a vengeful supervillain, hell bent on destroying those who have wronged her…”
…This week also gave us our first look at Fantastic Four star Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey Captain Nathaniel Barnes in the new season of Gotham, while Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon) suggesting that the second season will address any mistakes made with the early episodes of season one: “I think we made a mistake relatively early on in trying to introduce a villain and take care of that villain in one episode: catch them, send them to Arkham, do whatever. That was just a mistake. We should’ve never done it… The audience really wants to understand who these people are and live with them, sit with them and enjoy them. Whether they’re evil or good, they are entertaining. So that’s what we’re doing in season 2. [It’s] really kick ass. I think it’s exactly what the fans want to see…”
… As well as releasing a new trailer [watch it here], Supergirl has added another name to its cast this week with Pan star Levi Miller signing on to play Carter Grant, the son of Calista’s Flockhart’s Cat Grant, while some new set photos arrived online giving us yet another look at Melissa Benoist’s Kara Zor-El in full Kryptonian costume…
…On the DC animated front, the all ages movie Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem arrived on DVD and Blu-ray this week, and if you’re yet to see it we have a couple of clips, the first of which sees Red Robin battling Clayface [see here], and the second featuring the Joker trying to direct a viral video with Silver Banshee, Clayface, Solomon Grundy and the Scarecrow [see here]…
…With just over a month to go until NBC’s Heroes revival Heroes Reborn (September 24th, if you’re not aware) gets underway, the network has released a new promo for the event series, which you can watch here…
…If you were saddened to hear that production on Relativity Media’s remake of The Crow has been suspended, you may feel a little better following comments from comic book creator James O’Barr, who has suggested that there’s plenty of interest from other studios: “It’s still very much a live property. The company, Pressman Films, that owns The Crow film and TV rights, licensed it to a studio named Relativity. And Relativity made like a hundred bad movies and lost money so now they’re in financial trouble. So the producers are just going to take it to another studio if Relativity can’t get backing again. It’s going to happen. I talked to Pressman Films a couple of weeks ago and they said within two or three weeks, we should have it placed at a new studio. Because the day Relativity announced that they were having financial problems, there were like a dozen other studios that called about getting The Crow property. It definitely will happen…”
…Be sure to check out Anghus Houvouras’ latest superhero-themed op-ed, which asks ‘Why Does Every Superhero Movie Feature the Military Industrial Complex?“…
..And finally, we end on a sad note this week with the news that Yvonne Craig has passed away aged 78. The actress is best known for role as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl in the 1960s Batman TV series, where she appeared in twenty-eight episodes.
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.
