In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Inhumans, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Defenders, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Big Hero 6: The Series, Deadpool 2, Logan, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Justice League, The Batman, Suicide Squad, The Batman, The LEGO Batman Movie, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Avengelyne and more…
Having arrived in many international markets last week (conjuring an international opening weekend of $86 million), Marvel’s Doctor Strange debuted in North American this past Thursday night, pulling in $9.4 million and putting it ahead of Ant-Man ($6.4 million) and Thor: The Dark World ($7.1 million), and close to Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($10.2 million). The Benedict Cumberbatch-headlined superhero origin grossed $33 million in total on Friday, and is heading towards a weekend haul of between $82 million and $88 million (which is up from the $65 million project by box office analysts). Going into the weekend, Doctor Strange had earned $132.9 million internationally, so will likely find itself with between $250 million and $300 million by close of play on Sunday…
…Be sure to read our reviews of Doctor Strange here and here, and listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast review here; meanwhile, if you need to see a little more from the marketing campaign before purchasing your tickets, Marvel has released an extended chase sequence which sees Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo pursued by Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) and his goons, along with a new Multiverse promo which offers a first glimpse of a surprise villain. Meanwhile, any Marvel Heroes 2016 players out there may also want to get themselves the latest update, which features content inspired by the movie…
…During one of his many Doctor Strange press interviews, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige was asked about Avengers: Infinity War, and more specifically, which team-ups he’s looking forward to seeing: “There are so many, but I would say, both because of the characters and the actors who’ve created them, Doctor Strange and Tony Stark,” replied Feige, before telling fans to think outside of the box as to which other characters might share scenes, “particularly in Infinity War and the movie after that, there are… unexpected team-ups…”
…Feige was also asked how Marvel could possibly top Avengers: Infinity War with its Phase Four slate, replying that: “I think it’s possible to have more intimate movies after that, or to have more interesting, unexpected combinations of characters after that, absolutely,” Feige said. “It never is intentionally about ‘being even bigger.’ Arguably, one of the biggest scenes we’ve ever had in a movie was the airport battle in Civil War, and there weren’t world-ending stakes in that scene, there wasn’t an asteroid smashing into a city in that scene, but there was a conflict between the characters that made you feel something. To us, it’s less about continuing to go bigger with spectacle — although in some cases, we will — and more about continuing to go deeper with those character interactions…”
…In another interview, Feige spoke about Marvel’s diversity drive, particularly with regards to Spider-Man: Homecoming, and how they have striven to bring together a cast which represents a realistic high school environment: “I think that in the movies we’ve already made, and certainly in the movies that are coming up, it will be as inclusive a group of characters as one could want. For us, it’s important that we don’t feel like a completely white, European cast. The comics have felt like that sometimes, in the early day, but frankly, even the comics in the ’60s … I mean, Black Panther was created in the ’60s. You look at Captain America’s team [back then]… and yes, there are things to cringe at, but they were being progressive at the time. [With Spider-Man: Homecoming], our filmmaker came in and had pictures of real high schools, and they are as diverse as you could imagine,” he continued. “That was something that was important to us, to set it apart from other Spidey films that have been made — to carve that niche — and to have it represent the world today. It’s definitely important to us that these movies reflect the world…”
…And Feige also gave hope to fans of Inhumans wondering if we’ll ever see Black Bolt and company on the big screen, suggesting the project could be revived for Phase Four: “I think Inhumans will happen for sure. I don’t know when. I think it’s happening on television. And I think as we get into Phase Four as I’ve always said, it could happen as a movie. I think it would be super cool…”
…Ant-Man director Peyton Reed has shared his thoughts on seeing Giant-Man making his debut in Captain America: Civil War, as well as sharing his excitement about what’s in store in his sequel: “When I first found out — gosh, I don’t know, two years ago, a year-and-a-half ago — that Civil War was going to get the Giant-Man premiere, I was like ‘No!'” said Reed. “But, now, I’ve since recovered, and we have a lot more in store for Scott Lang in this movie. We get to see the Wasp debut — we’re all about the Wasp and Ant-Man. I’m just personally excited to get to introduce yet another character into the Marvel Universe. After Ant-Man, now we get to see Wasp, so really designing her look, the way she moves, the power set, and figuring out, sort of, who Hope van Dyne is as a hero — because we know her in a certain context in the first movie, but now she’s going to have her coming out party — that’s exciting!” You can read the rest of his comments about the current status of Ant-Man and the Wasp here…
…Marvel kicked off production on its Netflix miniseries The Defenders this week, announcing that Simone Missick (Misty Knight), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker), Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple) and Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing) will be joining the previously announced cast members Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Finn Jones (Iron Fist), along with Sigourney Weaver as the villain. With filming underway, the first set photos have obviously surfaced, featuring a standoff between Misty Knight and Jessica Jones [see here], while Funko has unveiled its upcoming Pop! Vinyl figures for Jessica and Luke Cage [see here]…
…Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on a hiatus now until November 29th, but we do have a promo for the as-yet-untitled seventh episode of season four [watch it here], and be sure to read Danny Hale’s review of this Tuesday’s episode ‘Good Samaritan’ here…
…Disney XD’s Big Hero 6: The Series has announced its voice cast, with Ryan Potter (Hiro), Scott Adsit (Baymax), Maya Rudolph (Aunt Cass), Jamie Chung (Go Go), Genesis Rodriguez (Honey Lemon), Alan Tudyk (Alistair Krei), David Shaughnessy (Fred’s butler), and Stan Lee (Fred’s father) all reprising their roles from the movie. T.J. Miller (Fred) and Damon Wayans, Jr. won’t be returning however, and will instead be replaced by Brooks Whelan and Khary Payton…
…Turning to the X-verse now and two more names have been added to the shortlist to replace director Tim Miller on Deadpool 2, with Drew Goddard (Daredevil, The Cabin in the Woods) and Magnus Martens (Luke Cage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) said to be in contention alongside the previously rumoured David Leitch (John Wick). Meanwhile, Fox will also need to find a new composer, as Junkie XL has said that he won’t be returning for the sequel as “Deadpool without Tim at the helm just does not sit right with me”. You can read his full statement here…
…Director James Mangold has continued his social media push for the Wolverine sequel Logan by releasing a new image of Hugh Jackman’s title character, along with a couple of storyboards; check them out here…
…Click below to continue on for Wonder Woman, The Flash, Justice League, The Batman, Suicide Squad, The Batman, The LEGO Batman Movie, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Avengelyne and more…
