…Moving on to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now and Latino-Review is claiming to have the inside scoop on the plot for Avengers: Infinity War, and it’s pretty much what every man and his dog was expecting: rather than an adaptation of the Infinity War comic, it will take its inspiration from the plot of The Infinity Gauntlet, with Thanos looking to impress the personification of Death by collecting as many souls as possibly, using the Infinity Stones to help him achieve his goal of wiping out half of the universe…
…We’ve still got a long way to go through Phase Three before we get to Infinity War, and next up from Marvel is of course Doctor Strange, which is now just one month and one day away from its UK release! Be sure to check out a batch of new TV spots for the film [see here and here], Empire’s two magazine covers featuring Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Karl Mordo), Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One) and Benedict Wong (Wong) [see here], and Hot Toys’ rather nice Doctor Strange Cosbaby bobble-head [see here]…
…Spider-Man: Homecoming wrapped filming in Atlanta this week, but not before some new set photos emerged showing the wall-crawler hanging from a helicopter, complete with a mystery red-head in his arms; check out the set photos here…
…Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has been chatting about the God of Thunder’s Aussie roommate Darryl Jacobson, and whether we might see more of him following his appearance in the Comic-Con mockumentary: “Thor briefly rented a room in a flat in Australia after the Ultron debacle. Just to get some downtime – to get away from The Avengers, to get away from America. So he had a little downtime in Australian. And he met this guy Darryl and they shared a flat together. So that’s Darryl. I think you probably could see him again. There may be other little pieces of that thing that everyone saw that may just be a small part of a bigger thing…”
…Marvel may have its slate pretty full with Phase Three, but Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed this week that discussions are now underway with regards to the next decade of Marvel movies: “We had a meeting with Marvel a week-and-a-half ago to plot [those films] out, where we’ve got movies in either development or production — some nearing completion — through the end of this decade. We are beginning to talk about what do we do the next decade, and so on…”
…Captain America: The First Avenger star Hugo Weaving has been reflecting on his role as the Red Skull, as well as revealing that he’s still unsure about whether he’d be interested in a return to the MCU: “It was fun to play; I enjoyed the outrageousness of the German accent that I employed and I enjoyed the extraordinary mask and costume, even though it was unbelievably hot inside it. I enjoy mask work; I enjoy trying to animate masks and reveal certain things that the mask itself might not reveal. V for Vendetta was another example of that, but there was less animation within that mask versus the Red Skull. With Marvel, it’s pretty basic stuff: accept the deal and enjoy the ride. It’s not a major stretch for an actor, but on the other hand the difficulty with the Marvel universe is maintaining a link to a human dimension within such an extraordinary, technological CGI universe. In terms of me going back and doing another one, I don’t know. I’m not sure what they’re up to with the Red Skull…”
…James Gunn was asked about the “rivalry” between Marvel and DC this week, with the Guardians of the Galaxy director responding that it’s not something he concerns himself with, and he’s only focussed on making the Guardians sequel the very best it can be: “I just don’t find any room in my headspace for thinking my movies are superior or inferior to someone else’s. I really just think about how can I make, for instance right now, how can I make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the greatest spectacle film of all time? That’s all I care about so that’s what I concentrate on. I don’t really think about Marvel versus DC. And also any time a Marvel movie comes out that isn’t as good as I wished it was or anytime a DC movie comes out that isn’t as I wished it was, I’m disappointed because I love these characters. I grew up reading Marvel and DC comics. I want them all to be good…”
…Ghost Rider made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut this past Tuesday in the season four premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Spirit of Vengeance didn’t do much for the show’s ratings, with ‘The Ghost’ being watched by 3.44 million viewers; that’s down from the previous season premieres of 12.12 million (season one), 5.98 million (season two) and 4.9 million (season three), although it was up from the season three finale of 3.03 million viewers, and did give ABC a bump in its new 10pm timeslot. Be sure to check out a featurette exploring the visual effects behind Ghost Rider [watch it here], along with a promo and clip for Tuesday’s second episode ‘Meet the New Boss’ [see here and here]…
… Marvel’s latest Netflix series Luke Cage arrives this coming Friday, and this week has brought us a batch of new images featuring Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali), Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard) [see here], character posters featuring Cottonmouth, Mariah Dillard and Shades Alvarez (Theo Rossi) [see here], and a featurette entitled ‘Who Is Luke Cage?’ [see here]…
…We still don’t know when Netflix plans to launch the second season of Jessica Jones, but showrunner Melissa Rosenberg has been chatting about what we can expect to see when the Alias adaptation does return: “[Jessica] was kind of messed up even before Kilgrave came along and so in Season Two we can explore what’s possible for her moving forward. I learned from working on Dexter that you can advance the character, but you never want to cure the character…that trauma is a huge part of who she is now.” Rosenberg also confirmed that Luke Cage won’t appear in season two, although she did tease the possibility of a relationship between Jessica and Trish: “I feel like for me that’s what is unique about the relationship, that they are such intimate friends, and I think they don’t have to become lovers—that being said, one never knows…”
…Todd McFarlane has spoken a few times this year about his planned Spawn reboot, and with the script apparently nearing completion, he’s now revealed that he plans to show the title character as little as possible on screen, instead using him as a “boogeyman” lurking in the background: “You’re never going to see a dude in a rubber suit. This is going to be my Jaws shark. In the background, there’s this thing moving around, this boogeyman. That boogeyman just happens to be something that you and I, intellectually, know is Spawn. Will he look like he did in the first movie? No. Will he have a supervillain he fights? No. He’s going to be the spectre, the ghost…”
…Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld has released a screenplay he penned for a movie adaptation of his creator owned comic book series Youngblood. “A short while back I penned this Youngblood screenplay, it was a story that I wanted to tell, it was a tale I’d been sitting on for years. This is my vision of what a Youngblood movie would look and how it would feel like. I know that fans who have loved Youngblood through the ages are certain to be thrilled by some if not many of the beats throughout this script. This has not been exposed at the studio level and that is certainly not the purpose here. This is for YOU! It costs me nothing to give this to you as a free pdf, something created and written for the most extreme Youngblood die-hards…”
…It’s been announced this week that Stan Lee is creating a new superhero for the Chinese and Indian markets, with Lee developing the original feature film project Monkey Master. “I have always been fascinated by the Chinese and Indian cultures which are so philosophical and rich in tradition and morality,” said Lee. “Monkey Master will be unique in how it interweaves Chinese and Indian myth to create a hero that will entertain fans across the world with his martial arts skills and unstoppable super-powers.” Plans are to fast track the project into production next year, and while it will be primarily aimed at the lucrative Chinese market, it will likely be shot in English, with a western director…
…And finally, we’ve posted a few superhero-related op-eds on Flickering Myth this week; be sure to check out Anghus Houvouras’ ‘Why Batman?‘, Luke Owen’s ‘The Evolution of the Batman Suit on Screen from 1943 to 2017‘, and Neil Calloway’s ‘When Will Shared Universes End?‘.
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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