Our weekly round-up of all the latest superhero news and talking points, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, Batman: Assault on Arkham, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Young Justice, Teen Titans Go!, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America 3, Black Panther, Daredevil, Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Venom Carnage, Kick-Ass 3 and more….
Well, the big showdown between Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America 3 is no more, with Warner Bros. blinking and shifting the release of BvS away from Marvel’s May 6th 2016 date to March 25th 2016 (a wise move, considering it will now face very little in the way of competition). The news was followed by the announcement that Warner Bros. has finally pulled the trigger on a DC Cinematic Universe by setting a further NINE release dates for DC movies between August 2016 and June 2020; as yet, none of these movies have been announced, although some of the titles will be revealed this month according to WB president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, who also had the following to say about the decision to shift Batman v Superman:
“The reality now is there really isn’t a bad week to open a movie. If you look at the summer box office this year, you can see that there were so many movies, one after the other. You can start with Spider-Man, two weeks later Godzilla, and then Maleficent, and then Edge of Tomorrow, and then Jump Street and Transformers. And the one thing they all had in common, not one of them did over $250 million. We’ll be the first one up [in 2016], which is very important, and we’ll have six weeks before Captain America comes in. In terms of going back and reviewing the situation, it looked to us—and maybe our reconnaissance wasn’t great—that [Marvel] were not going to have a movie [ready] on that date. Just that they held onto it and they might not be able to deliver. But they took another position…”
…Before we get to any of those there is of course the small matter of Batman v Superman, and with filming still underway in Detroit this week has given us a couple of spy photos and set video of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne in a devastated Metropolis (rumoured to be from a flashback sequence to the climax of Man of Steel), along with our first look at the Wayne Enterprises logo, and a portrait reportedly depicting Thomas Wayne, which has sparked rumours that Zack Snyder’s Watchmen star Jeffrey Dean Morgan could be set to feature as Bruce’s father. Meanwhile, Snyder has called in to a Detroit radio station to defend the much-maligned Aquaman, although he refused to confirm that the King of Atlantis will make an appearance in Batman v Superman: “I don’t want to give anything away about the movie or anything like that, but Aquaman has some cool abilities. People are like, ‘Oh, what? Does he talk to animals? Cause that seems like what he does. Or fish?’ The cool thing with Aquaman is his Triton, so you have to realise that could actually cut the flesh of Superman if they came in contact. He’s super strong because of course he can exist at these super deep depths so when he comes up here he’s crazy strong… But anyway, not to say he’s in my movie or anything like that. But he has the potential to be bad ass. That’s all I’m saying…”
…On the small screen, FOX has continued its marketing campaign for the show by releasing a new trailer, along with a TV spot and featurette., while we’ve also had our first look at the exterior of Arkham Asylum. Gotham is scheduled to get underway in the States on September 22nd, with Channel 5 also announcing this week that it has picked up the rights to broadcast the show here in the UK…
…Over at The CW, we’ve seen a new banner and TV spot for The Flash, along with some first look images of Wenworth Miller (Prison Break) on set as Captain Cold, and it has also been announced that another member of The Rogues is set to join the show, with Tony Woodward – a.k.a. Girder – set to appear alongside the previously revealed Captain Cold and Weather Wizard. DC regular Clancy Brown (Highlander) has also signed on for a “pivotal” role in the series as General Wade Eliling, the head of a black ops army team pursuing Plastique, while The Flash’s sister show Arrow has also picked up a new DC character, with David Cubitt (Medium) securing the role of A.R.G.U.S. operative Mark Shaw, a.k.a. Manhunter. And, in crossover news between the two DC shows, it has been revealed that both Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity Smoak and Robert Knepper’s William Tockman (a.k.a. The Clock King) will be making the journey from Starling City to Central City for guest roles in The Flash – check out some images of Felicity alongside Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) here…
…Ahead of its home-entertainment release this coming Tuesday (August 12th), Warner Bros. has released a new clip from Batman: Assault on Arkham featuring Amanda Waller (voiced by CCH Pounder) and Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad [watch it here], while we also posted a trio of exclusive interviews for the animated feature, with david j. moore chatting with director Jay Oliva, voice director Andrea Romano, and legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy…
…In a couple of other pieces of DC animation news, we’ve got a batch of images from next year’s Justice League: War sequel Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, and it has been announced that Young Justice is returning to Cartoon Network… although sadly the team won’t be popping up in a third season, but rather a special crossover episode of Teen Titans Go!; here’s the official episode description: “After being scolded by the superhero team from Young Justice for their silliness and hijinks, the Titans decide to get more serious about superheroing…”
…Moving on to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now and despite its label as a “risk”, Guardians of the Galaxy has continued Marvel Studios’ blockbuster run of success, with the film enjoying a whopping $160 million global opening this past weekend, including an August record of $94 million in the States and £6.36 million here in the UK – outpacing the first instalments of Iron Man (£5.6m – 4 day opening), Thor (£5.46m – 6 day opening), Captain America (£3.3m – 3 day opening) and X-Men (£4.8m – 4 day opening) with its four day opening. By Thursday, the film had pulled in $226.9 million and despite competition from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles it should find itself pushing the $350 million mark by close of play in its second weekend…
…Sticking with Guardians and director James Gunn took the opportunity to thank fans for the success of the film with a heartfelt message, and he also spoke about the surprise cameo in the post-credits sequence, which you can read here to avoid any spoilers for those yet to see the film. Meanwhile, Chris Pratt has given us an MTV Cribs style tour of the Milano spaceship [watch it here], while we’ve got a look at some early Nova / Nova Corps concept art from the film [see here], as well as details of Hot Toys’ Rocket Raccoon and Groot, which just so happens to come with a dancing Groot (kind of), and a hefty price tag [see here]…
Click below to continue onto the next page for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America 3, Black Panther, Daredevil, Deadpool, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Venom Carnage and Kick-Ass 3…
