In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Justice League, Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman: The Animated Series, Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spawn, Youngblood, Monkey Master…
We’ll start things off with the DC Extended Universe this week, with Time-Warner chief Jeff Bewkes speaking about the DC Films slate during an investor conference call, admitting that there is “a little room for improvement” on the creative side of things, which is something they are addressing: “[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad] were very successful in the strategic aims and the financial aims that we have for them. The reboot of Batman with Ben Affleck was a big success. We can do a little better on the creative … What you shouldn’t take away is to be worried about them. We’re right on course or better…”
…Warner Bros. will have been celebrating this past weekend, as Suicide Squad continued its impressive box office run, surpassing both Captain America: The Winter Solider ($714 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($708 million) at the global box office and pushing its worldwide haul to $740.8 million by close of play on Thursday night. Not bad considering it was banned in China (and if it hadn’t been, it could very well have topped Batman v Superman’s $873 million)…
…Zack Snyder celebrated Batman Day this past weekend by sharing a first look image of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon in Justice League, while Henry Cavill donned the Superman suit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, sharing an image of himself with two young fans alongside standees of the Man of Steel’s superhero buddies Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg…
…Costume design company Ironhead Studio shared an image of two maquettes it created for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, featuring The Flash’s prototype suit (which was glimpsed ever-so-briefly during the Knightmare dream sequence), along with an unused design for Cyborg [check them out here], while we also got a look at Walmart’s exclusive Batcave playset [see the promotional images here]…
…Turning to the small screen and the third season of Gotham got underway this past Monday with ‘Better to Reign in Hell…’, which pulled in a 1.3/4 rating and 3.9 million viewers, up some 300,000 from the season two finale (but down considerably on the season two premiere of 4.57 million viewers and the whopping season one premiere of 8.21 million). Be sure to check out our review of the episode here, and take a look at the latest character promos for Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Butch Gilzean and Edward Nygma, as well as a promo for Monday’s second episode ‘Burn the Witch’…
…’Burn the Witch’ will see the introduction of Maggie Geha as the new Poison Ivy, and Fox released a featurette exploring the character’s transformation, while executive producer Ken Woodruff spoke about the two reasons why they decided to recast the role (and no, it’s not those two reasons): “We made the change for two reasons. The character Ivy in the comics, one of her greatest powers is the power of seduction. Everyone was much more comfortable with that with an older actress as opposed to a teenager. We want to explore that classic, canonical power of Ivy. And we didn’t just make her older with that attack. When she’s changed and transformed, there’s a real character change as well. She’ll still have some of the same traits, but she’ll be much darker, more manipulative than the Ivy we’ve seen so far. There’s a more evil quality to her as well. It’s more than just physical…”
…Season three of The Flash kicks off a week on Tuesday, and The CW has debuted an extended trailer entitled ‘Run Devil Run’ [watch it here] and a new poster of Grant Gustin’s Scarlet Speedster [see here], as well as debuting the synopsis for the second episode, titled ‘Paradox’ [read it here]…
…There’s also just over a week to go until the return of Arrow, and this week has brought us a season five poster featuring Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow [see here], along with a synopsis for the second episode ‘New Recruits’ [see here]…
…The CW is counting down to the launch of Supergirl season two on October 10th with the release of a promo featuring Melissa Benoist’s Kara alongside her cousin Kal-El (Tyler Hoechlin) [watch it here], while the network also debuted the official synopsis for the season two premiere ‘The Adventures of Supergirl’ [read it here]…
…DC’s Legends of Tomorrow starts its second season on October 13th, and The CW has released the official synopsis for the season two premiere ‘Out of Time’ [read it here], as well as a poster which sees new recruits Vixen and Citizen Steel alongside Rip Hunter, The Atom, White Canary, Firestorm and Heatwave [see here]…
…Earlier this month it was announced that the animated feature film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders would receive a one-night-only theatrical release in the States on October 10th, and now it’s been confirmed that UK fans will get to see Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin) and Julie Newmar (Catwoman) reprising their roles on the big screen when the movie hits UK cinemas on October 17th; check out a poster for the release here…
…The Dark Knight will also be back on the big screen in February 2017, with Will Arnett reprising his role from The LEGO Movie for The LEGO Batman Movie, and this week brought us a brand new poster for the animated spinoff, which you can see here…
…In other animated Batman-related news, Warner Bros. and Mattel have announced that they are bringing the classic Batman: The Animated Series to the new-look View-Master, with an interactive adventure featuring the voice talents of Kevin Conroy (Batman), Mark Hamill (The Joker), Tara Strong (Batgirl) and Loren Lester (Robin). The View-Master Batman: The Animated Series Virtual Reality Pack will go on sale in November, and you can find out more information here…
…Click below to continue on for Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spawn, Youngblood, Monkey Master and more…
