…Turning to the DC Extended Universe now and Time-Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has given us an indication as to when we might expect Ben Affleck’s Batman movie, with the executive stating this week that: “Ben announced a Batman movie [that] he’s going to direct, star, write for – I think it’s a year and a half out.” Of course, Bewkes doesn’t specify whether it’s a year and a half out from release, or from starting production, although the latter seems the most likely, which would probably place it in Warner’s currently-free DC Films date of November 1st 2019…
…While it’s been reported that Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke will be the main villain in the Batman solo movie, it looks like he may either/also appear in Justice League, as Zack Snyder shared an image of himself working on some storyboards, which when zoomed in, revealed that they featured a scene with Slade Wilson [see for yourself here]. Whichever movie he turns out to be in, Manganiello is now deep into his research, as per his posts on social media this week…
…Suicide Squad pushed its box office haul to $732 million worldwide this week, but most notably it also surpassed 2008’s Iron Man at the domestic box office, where it has grossed $318.9 million compared to the MCU-launcher’s $318.4 million. Meanwhile, stills photographer Clay Enos shared a behind-the-scenes peek at the first official cast photo from the supervillain team-up [see here], while Quantum Mechanix also released its chibi-style Harley Quinn Q-Fig based on Margot Robbie’s appearance in the movie [see here]…
…Despite its box office success, Suicide Squad was mauled by critics and a section of the DC fanbase, and star Jai Courtney has been speaking about the criticism this week: “How do you please everyone? And I don’t think Suicide Squad ever intended to. So no one’s setting out to upset the fan base, certainly not a fan base that can be as loyal as this kind of crowd can. But I don’t know how you can push the envelope or try and protect something [without taking risks]…..I know what I like in a movie, and it’s not the same thing as my twelve-year-old niece….It’s a challenge, and David [Ayer] did an incredible job, and I sure as hell hope we get to make another one with him…”
…Courtney also addressed the “rivalry” between Marvel and DC, stating that: “DC’s still the bad guy too, you know. Marvel has this incredible formula that seems to work. I think some elements of those movies, not that I see a lot of them, but I think some are done really, really well, and they’re very entertaining. They’ve had the time to sort of let that shit marinate to the point where everything’s established now. We don’t have to figure out who anyone is. It’s like cool, get them all together and lets have a fucking orgy and make a billion dollars, and that’s great. I think it’s awesome. Listen, if I was playing Thor for the ninth time, you know, I’d be stoked as well. As I’m sure Chris Hemsworth is….”
…Courtney has been rumoured to be reprising the role of Captain Boomerang in 2018’s The Flash, and this week saw director Rick Famuyiwa taking the opportunity to tease another rumoured character in Ray Fisher’s Cyborg, with Famuyiwa sharing an image of the screenplay for the Scarlet Speedster’s solo movie, complete with a Funko Pop! Vinyl figure for Cyborg. Famuyiwa had previously denied the report that Fisher would appear alongside Ezra Miller, although his rebuttal was a little half-hearted, so this is either confirmation, or he’s just having a little fun with the fans…
…A couple of leaked images from Wonder Woman arrived online this week, giving us another look at Gal Gadot’s Amazon Princess and Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor. One seemed to be from a new trailer, so perhaps we’ll be getting another glimpse at the Patty Jenkins-directed film in the very near future…
…If you’re yet to pick pick up Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, then you may be interested in Amazon’s exclusive limited edition gift set, which is set for release this December and features both movies along with Batman and Superman figures, reprints of both characters’ first appearances in Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27, and a series of collectible trading cards. Check it out here…
…DC TV time now and The CW has released a couple of promos for its returning DC shows The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, along of course with new addition Supergirl [watch them here], as well as a new Superhero Fight Club promo which welcomes Melissa Benoist’s Kara into the fold [see here]. Meanwhile, with production underway on the big four-way crossover, Stephen Amell shared an image of Green Arrow alongside Supergirl [see here] as well as teasing the return of Deathstrok [see here], while executive producer Marc Guggenheim has revealed that the crossover will see the heroes going up against the Dominators: “This year, for our mega ‘Arrowverse’ crossover, we’re taking inspiration from a DC crossover from the late 1980s known as Invasion!, which featured an alien race called the Dominators, who’d previously vexed the Legion of Super-Heroes. We’re using cutting edge prosthetics and computer effects to achieve a feature film-quality look which is faithful to Invasion! artist Todd McFarlane’s interpretation of the characters…”
…The third season of The Flash gets underway on Tuesday, and The CW has released a trailer entitled ‘A New Reality’ [watch it here], while we’ve also got a batch of images for the second episode ‘Paradox’ [see here] along with a synopsis for the third episode ‘Magenta’, which sees the return of Earth-2 Wells and Jesse, the latter now possessing speedster abilities [read it here]…
…Arrow is also back on Wednesday, and this week has brought us a new two-minute trailer for the fifth season [watch it here], a promo introducing Team Arrow 2.0 [watch it here] and a first look at Diggle’s new helmet [see here], while we’ve also got an official synopsis for the third episode ‘A Matter of Trust’, which features a guest appearance from former WWE star Cody Rhodes [read it here]…
…We’ll have to wait until next week for Supergirl to return, but this week has given us a new trailer entitled ‘Team-Up’ [see here], a clip from the season premiere ‘The Adventures of Supergirl’ featuring Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman lending a hand to his cousin during a dramatic rescue [see here], and a synopsis for the second episode ‘The Last Children of Krypton’ which teases the introduction of Metallo [see here]. Meanwhile, we’ve also had a piece of casting news, with Brenda Strong (Twin Peaks, Desperate Housewives) joining the show in an as-yet-unrevealed recurring role…
…And not forgetting DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The CW has released a batch of images for the second episode of season two, ‘Justice Society of America’, which features our first look at the JSA; check them out here…
…Over at Fox, Jervis Tetch – a.k.a. The Mad Hatter – is set to make his debut in the Mad City in Monday’s third episode of Gotham season three, and we’ve got a promo and a batch of images for ‘Look Into My Eyes’ [see here and here], as well as a new TV spot entitled ‘Leslie Thompkins Never Forgets the Past’ [watch it here]. And of course, be sure to check out Martin Carr’s review of this past Monday’s episode ‘Burn the Witch’, which you can read here…
…Last year it was announced that Lorenzo di Bonaventura was producing a feature adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s Jupiter’s Legacy, and the producer has now revealed that he may instead opt to bring the project to the small screen. “Not for lack of interest,” said di Bonaventura when asked why he’s yet to work on a superhero movie. “As an executive, I oversaw some Batmans and tried to get Superman going. But that market is saturated now. I have a project with Mark Millar, who wrote [the comic that became] Kingsman: The Secret Service, that is a superhero project: Jupiter’s Legacy. What attracted me to it was it’s not repeating what everybody else has done. It’s not yet set up at a studio. Its universe is so expansive that it’s, in some ways, more conducive to a television treatment. I’m doing it either way…”
…Valiant Entertainment is set to unveil its live-action webseries at Comic-Con this weekend, and to whet our appetites the first promotional image was released online, giving us a look at Arrow star Michael Rowe as Ninjak and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers‘ Jason David Frank as Bloodshot. Meanwhile, it sounds like we might get to see more of Valiant’s roster on the screen, with reports this week suggesting that Sony is ready to pull the trigger on its Valiant superhero universe; initially, it has been said that things would get underway with a Bloodshot movie, followed by Harbinger the following year, and ultimately leading to a Harbinger Wars crossover after each movie received a sequel. However, if this new report is to be believed, Harbinger will now come first (with Bloodshot cameoing in the movie as a villain), while the studio is also looking to develop additional spinoffs from Valiant’s deep roster of characters…
…Amazon has announced that its superhero reboot pilot The Tick starring Peter Serafinowiczhas been picked up for a full season order; here’s the synopsis from the official press release: “In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realise his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero…”
…And finally, we end with the sad news of the passing of Bill Nunn, who died earlier this week aged 62. Best known for his role as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Nunn will be remembered by comic book movie fans for his role as Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.
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.
