…The countdown to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is almost over, and with less than two weeks to go until its arrival, this week has brought us a selection of TV spots [see here and here] and a new image of the Man of Steel [see here]. We’ve also had possible confirmation on the long-running saga over Jena Malone’s mystery role in the film (well, the Ultimate Edition, seeing as she’s cut from the theatrical release) [see here], along with a look at the Play Arts Kai Wonder Woman action figure [see here], while Oliver Davis has selected the ‘Top 5 Batman Moments in Batman v Superman So Far’ in the latest episode of FMTV Jump Cut [watch it here] and Anghus Houvouras has posted an op-ed asking ‘Should Superman Kill?’ [read it here]…
…We’ll be hearing plenty from the cast over the next fortnight as they embark on the press tour, but this week has brought some comments from Henry Cavill on Superman’s humanity [see here], while Ben Affleck has shared a few thoughts on Batman’s opinion of Superman and Wonder Woman [see here], as well as discussing how The Dark Knight has been affected by the death of his crime-fighting protege Robin [see here]…
…The big news from Ben Affleck this week was confirmation that a solo Batman movie is in development at Warner Bros., with Affleck stating that: “It’s in development, and right now I’m really focused on finishing Live By Night. That’s where my focus is, and I tend to be a one movie at a time guy. So, when I’m finished with this movie, I’ll then focus on my next movie and figure out what that will be.” Of course, with Affleck set to start shooting Justice League next month, we may still have a wait on our hands before we get to see a solo movie for The Dark Knight…
…Speaking of The Dark Knight, Sideshow Collectibles has unveiled its collectible figure for Heath Ledger’s Joker from the 2008 movie, while Zack Snyder has revealed that there were brief discussions about whether Christian Bale or other cast members from Christopher Nolan’s trilogy could appear in Batman v Superman: “This is a total and opposite reality from the Chris Nolan movie. It’s another universe, so we couldn’t hire Christian Bale if we wanted to, because he doesn’t exist in our world. Maybe we could hire him to play another part. We did talk about that briefly. I just wanted to hire Christian to play another part to make that obvious. Christian could play, like, Alfred with age makeup. No! Of course not. But you know what I mean. Even people at the studio would say, ‘Who are you getting from the other movies?’ And I was like, ‘Hey, come on guys, let’s all understand, it’s a different world.’ In the Batman universe that Chris Nolan created, Superman would have a hard time existing. That that’s why we did a reboot on the universe, so we could allow these characters to exist together. We needed to do that to have Batman exist in this world.”
…Remember when Badass Digest reported that Jim Gordon had died prior to the events of Batman v Superman? Well, turns out that “scoop” was a load of rubbish, as Warner Bros. has announced this week that Oscar winner J.K. Simmons has signed on to play the Gotham police commissioner in Justice League. If he does half a good as job as he did with J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, then this will be some pretty great casting indeed. Meanwhile, in other Justice League news, screenwriter Chris Terrio has discussed his work on the film and how its tone differs from Batman v Superman, as well as revealing that he may not write Justice League Part Two. You can read his comments in full here…
…Some new set photos from the Wonder Woman solo movie have arrived online, showing Gal Gadot in between takes on set at London’s King’s Cross Station; check them out here…
…Here’s a rather novel piece of marketing: if you fancy getting yourself a new tattoo and happen to be attending South By Southwest, then you’re in luck as Warner Bros. has announced that Harley’s Tattoo Parlor will be on hand as part of its Suicide Squad promotion; teasing the event, the cast took to social media this week to debut a series of tattoo-themedcharacter posters, along with a brand new one-sheet [check them out here]. Meanwhile, Margot Robbie also spoke about the costume for her character Harley Quinn, revealing that they did give consideration to the classic court jester look from Batman: The Animated Series: “We tried on every variation of the costume. I cannot emphasis enough how many outfits, and how many variations of the Harley Quinn costume we tried. We tried the court jester costume, we tried the corset and skirt, we tried leather pants, we tried literally every type of costume possible for her. I really love where we ended up. And who knows, maybe in the sequels we’ll go with the court jester one. I think there’s a world of possibilities.” Robbie also went on to share her excitement about the movie, and you can read the rest of her comments here…
…Before James Wan signed on to direct Aquaman, Jeff Nichols was in talks with Warner Bros. about helming the Jason Momoa-headlined solo movie, and the Midnight Special director has revealed why he decided to pass on the project: “With the DC universe, so many parts of it had been activated and so many decisions had already been made that it felt more and more – and Warner Bros. agreed – that it was me trying to jump on a moving train. That’s not so much what I’m good at. I’m more of a ground up kinda guy. It’s all a connected universe. And it should be. And I was an advocate of that. The decisions that Zack Snyder is going to make in Batman v. Superman, those all connect to things that are going to happen in Justice League and all that. And I was a huge comic book nerd, so I know all these characters and they all need to be beautifully webbed together. I was just far enough on the outside that I could develop things in a vacuum all day long but it wasn’t going to line up with everything they had planned…”
…Amid talk that it will be renewed for a second season, Supergirl returns this Monday with its sixteenth episode ‘Falling’, and we have a batch of images, a clip which sees Kara exposed to red kryptonite and a promo and five sneak peek previews, along with a synopsis for the following week’s episode ‘Manhunter’ and some images of J’onn J’onnz, and a poster for the upcoming crossover with The Flash, entitled ‘Worlds Finest’…
…That leads us nicely onto The Flash, and as we await its return on March 22nd The CW has released a batch of images for the sixteenth episode ‘Trajectory’ featuring the introduction of the female speedster, along with a synopsis for the following episode ‘Flash Back’ featuring the return of the Pied Piper and Eddie Thawne. Meanwhile, Kevin Smith is currently in production on his upcoming episode of The Flash, and took to social media to share a photo of him on set…
…Arrow is also on a break, and to tide us over The CW has dropped a new poster featuring Emily Bett Rickards’ Overwatch, as well as a synopsis for the seventeenth episode ‘Beacon of Hope’ which will feature a guest appearance from The Walking Dead’s Emily Kinney as the Bug-Eyed Bandit…
…Following Thursday’s Joe Dante-directed ‘Night of the Hawk’, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is taking a short break and will resume on March 31st as Matt Nable’s Ra’s al Ghul returns to the Arrowverse in ‘Left Behind’. Check out a trailer and promo for the episode here as well as a sizzle reel for the remaining episodes of the season here…
…We’ll be seeing plenty more of the Arrowverse next season, with The CW announcing that is has granted early renewals to The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow…
…Over at Fox and we have a promo for Monday’s upcoming fourteenth episode ‘This Ball of Mud and Madness’ [watch it here] along with a batch of promo images for the following week’s ‘Mad Grey Dawn’ [see here], and be sure to listen to the Gotham TV Podcast review of ‘Tonight’s the Night’ here…
…With production underway on the pilot episode of NBC’s Powerless, the first set photos from the DC comedy arrived online this week, revealing that the French superhero and Justice League member Crimson Fox is set to make an appearance. The office comedy series sees Vanessa Hudgens (Grease Live) leading a cast that also includes Alan Tudyk (Firefly), Danny Pudi (Community) and Christina Kirk (A to Z)…
…It looks like we could have another superhero comedy series to look forward to, with Amazon giving the green light to a live-action reboot of The Tick. Creator Ben Edlund is back on board, although it won’t be Patrick Warburton donning the suit again as the actor has scheduling commitments which will restrict him to an executive producer role…
…He’s been lobbying hard for the past couple of years, but it seems that Ron Perlman may now have resigned himself to the fact that Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy trilogy will likely remain unfinished, with the actor stating this week that: “[Hellboy III] probably will never happen, though you never say never never…”
…And finally, be sure to check out The Defenders TV Podcast reviews of Agent Carter’s ‘Life of the Party’ [listen here] and 20th Century Fox’s superhero smash hit Deadpool [listen here], and don’t forget to take a look at Flickering Myth TV’s weekly show Scooperhero News, where Oli and Luke run down all the week’s big superhero news stories in video form. Take a look over on our YouTube channel here.
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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