In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, New Mutants, Gambit, Fantastic Four, Legion, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Guardians and more…
With Captain America: Civil War hitting Blu-ray next month (order it via Amazon UK or Amazon US!), Marvel has been offering up a peek at the special features for the Phase Three blockbuster, including deleted scenes featuring Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo [watch it here] and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky making use of Cap’s shield [watch it here], along with a couple of featurettes on The Winter Soldier and Vision and the Scarlet Witch [watch them here], as well as the film’s blooper reel [see here]. Some unused concept art of Cap battling Giant-Man also surfaced online [see here], while the Russos’ discussed the significance of Steve Rogers laying down his shield at the end of the movie [read their comments here], as well as unused ideas for the film, including the inclusion of Red Hulk and the Madbomb as a plot device – which would have seen Captain America going up against “zombified” civilians [see here]…
…The Russo brothers are of course now gearing up for Avengers: Infinity War and its now untitled sequel, stating that they will mark both the end and a new beginning for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as discussing how the ending of Civil War sets the stage: “Part of what excited us about how we could end Civil War, and the fact that there is this divide between Cap and Tony and their relationship that will be very, very difficult for them to ever repair, the fact that the Avengers are divided in two and half of them are now wanted by the law and the other fact are not too comfortable with their fate moving forward, and the fact that Thanos and the Infinity War are coming — the greatest threat the universe has ever seen is going to come at the moment where the Avengers are arguably at their lowest, at their worst, at their least strong and most divided since they’ve been formed — that for us was a very exciting place for us to be as storytellers because of the vulnerable nature of our heroes in that kind of a situation. For us, as we move forward intoInfinity War, the condition of the Avengers is very much an important part of how that story starts and what dangers they face moving forward…”
…Joe Russo also addressed the persistent rumours that Fox and Marvel could be looking to work out a deal to bring the X-Men into the MCU, stating that: “As far as we know, right now there isn’t talk regarding the X-Men. I don’t know if behind-the-scenes there were conversations or if there are conversations happening but we certainly haven’t heard of any. Sony and Marvel had a relationship through Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal and through us and Amy. That’s really how Spider-Man came about. It requires a certain alchemy and a very special situation for studios to share properties. There was not talk on Civil War about the X-Men…”
…It’s been revealed this week that Community co-creator Dan Harmon has contributed to the script for reshoots on Doctor Strange, while both director Scott Derrickson and star Benedict Cumberbatch have been chatting about the film and why they decided to explore the Sorcerer Surpreme’s origin. ““I think that the movie needed to tell that origin in order to become invested in the character, but also, some familiarity was required given the incredible weirdness the movie gets into,” said Derrickson, with Cumberbatch adding, “It’s a story about him discovering he doesn’t know anything: he’s just at the beginning of understanding what our reality’s about… I get to watch him go through this arc: I know there’s Stephen before and there’s Stephen after he goes on this soul searching journey.” Also, be sure to check out my review of LEGO’s Marvel Super Heroes Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum set, which you can read here…
…James Gunn shared a new piece of concept art from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this week, which features the original team of Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Rocket and (Baby) Groot battling an “interdimensional being”, while the director also recapped all of the information about the sequel that we know so far, and warned fans to steer clear of his Facebook page – and the marketing material – if they want to go into the film with as little knowledge as possible: “I think we’ve given out the people that are in Guardians 2 that we’re going to give out so far. We know Baby Groot is in the movie — that he’s not an adult. We know that the movie takes place two months after the first movie ends. We know that Ego is the father of Peter Quill, that he’s an ancient being; he’s played by Kurt Russell. We know that Mantis is in the movie. We know that Yondu and Nebula have more important roles in the film. We know that Sylvester Stallone is playing someone in the film; we don’t know who. Those are the kind of the things that we know, that are out there right now, and then – as time goes on – we’ll let you know a little bit more, if you want to pay attention. And if you don’t, don’t read my feed, please, and don’t watch the trailers, etc, because we don’t want you to know too much if you don’t want to know that, so it’s up to you…”
…Gunn also shared a lengthy post in response to critics of the rumour that Zendaya has been cast as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Homecoming; you can read his post here, and be sure to check out Henry Bevan’s op-ed on the subject, ‘Stop Hiding Behind Canon: Mary Jane, Zendaya and Why Colourblind Casting Is Needed‘. Meanwhile, Homecoming also added another name to its enormous cast, with Jona Xiao (Halt and Catch Fire) signing on for an as-yet-unrevealed role…
…As filming continues on Thor: Ragnarok, a couple of set photos have arrived online this week, the first of which features Anthony Hopkins’ Odin sporting a very different look (and confirming some previous plot rumours), while the second suggests a rather major cameo – we’ll not spoil it for you, but click here if you want to spoil yourself. Meanwhile, in other Ragnarok news, it has been confirmed that The LEGO Movie composer Mark Mothersbaugh is set to compose the score for the Taika Waititi-helmed threequel…
…In a brief bit of casting news from Ant-Man and the Wasp, it has been confirmed this week that Michael Pena will be reprising his role as Luis alongside Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne…
…It looks like Marvel has narrowed its search for a director on the Brie Larson-headlined Captain Marvel movie, with Niki Caro (Whale Rider), Lesli Linka Glatter (Ray Donovan) and Lorene Scafaria (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) said to be topping the studio’s shortlist. Apparently all three will be supplied with a treatment from Marvel, in order to prepare a detailed pitch as to how they’d tackle the project…
….Luke Cage hits Netflix in just over a month’s time, and Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb has been chatting about the new series this week, and how it’s grounded in reality: “You can’t set out to do Luke Cage and not deal with the reality of what’s going on in this country, and what’s going on in general. It’s not what the show’s about, but if we can get our message out, which is, ‘This is all one planet, and we’re going to have figure it out’ — you just can’t put up walls and try to figure it out that way. We made a show which has great fun, great action, all the things that you want out of Luke Cage. Marvel always works best when it lives in the real world, but then has the Marvel touch around it. There are people with superpowers, there is that little magic icing of humor, the people are aware of how unusual this is. It’s one of the things that’s very different about Marvel — if someone is suddenly bulletproof or able to lift up a car or tear off a car door, there are people there going, ‘How did that happen?” as opposed to, ‘Oh, I guess it’s just yet another person with superpowers.’ By making it real and grounded and feel like it is of our world, then if we happen to be able to get a message in along the way, great — but if you just want to watch the show and enjoy the show, enjoy the show…”
…Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. also returns in September for its fourth season, and Chloe Bennet has been discussing what’s in store for Daisy now that she’s left the team and has taken up the mantle of the vigilante Quake: “I love that it all stems from this hurt that she’s going through. It’s not necessarily her being this great superhero all of a sudden. She really becomes Quake because of the past she’s had and the loss she’s dealing with. It’s not perfect. That’s why Marvel resonates with so many people, the level of imperfection that these so-called superheroes have. She becomes Quake because she goes rogue, because every time she gets close to someone they die. Her mom tried to kill her and her dad had to kill her mom and her first boyfriend was like a Nazi – she’s had a rough go these past couple of years. Having her boyfriend Lincoln sacrifice himself for her when she was going to do it for him and die in that heroic, tragic way while talking to her, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her way of protecting the people that she cares about is really by distancing herself from them and not letting anyone else get close to her. In her mind, that’s her way of showing love to the people she cares about.” You can read the rest of Bennet’s comments here…
…Disney XD has released a clip from this Sunday’s episode of Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, entitled ‘‘Return to the Spider-Verse: Part One’, which sees Spider-Man, Kid Arachnid and Blood Spider battling against vampires; check it out here…
…Click below to continue on for New Mutants, Gambit, Fantastic Four, Legion, Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Guardians and more…
