…Some big – and rather surprising news – from 20th Century Fox’s X-verse this week, with Tim Miller vacating the director’s chair on Deadpool 2, due to creative differences with the studio and star and producer Ryan Reynolds. According to rumours, it’s been said that Miller and Reynolds “have had a contentious relationship for quite a while”, and have rarely spoke since the release of the first movie earlier this year. Apparently Miller wanted to take the sequel in a more stylized (and expensive) direction, as well as casting Bloodline’s Kyle Chandler as Cable; however, Reynolds wasn’t keen on the casting, and also wants the follow-up to continue its raunchy, R-rated comedy style…
…If further rumours are to be believed, it would seem that Fox is wasting little time in securing Miller’s replacement, with John Wick co-director David Leitch said to be the front-runner. Leitch has plenty of previous comic book moie experience, having worked as stunt coordinator alongside Fox and Reynolds on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, as well as performing stunts on Blade and Daredevil, and second-unit directing duties on The Wolverine and Captain America: Civil War. Should Leitch get the gig, it will probably disappoint those fans who’ve signed a petition for Quentin Tarantino to helm the sequel, but as Flickering Myth’s Anghus Houvouras points out, that was never going to happen…
…Following the arrival of the first trailer last week, James Mangold has now released a couple of new images from Logan, giving us another look at Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, along with Dafne Keen’s Laura Kinney / X-23. Meanwhile, if you want to relive the trailer – albeit a recreation using footage from the various X-Men animated series – then you may want to click here…
…Turning to the DC Extended Universe now and with Suicide Squad set to hit Digital HD this coming month, we’ve had a brand new trailer for the extended cut, which offers up some previously unseen footage from the additional 11 minutes [watch the trailer here], along with a list of the bonus features accompanying the home entertainment release. Meanwhile, illustrator Christian Lorenz Scheurer has unveiled a batch of concept art featuring the Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn, alternative designs for The Enchantress and Incubus, and an alternate scene of The Joker and Harley on a bridge [see here], while Hot Toys unveiled promotional images for its 1/6th scale Joker (Tuxedo Version) collectible figure [see here]…
…A couple of weeks ago Joe Manganiello suggested that filming on Ben Affleck’s The Batman will get underway next year, and now Jeremy Irons has stated that he expects production to begin in the summer, and that Affleck has promised him we’ll see more of Alfred than we got in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (and next year’s Justice League). Meanwhile, Batman ’66 star Adam West has thrown his hat in the ring for a cameo, and he even has a role in mind: “You know what I’d love to do? Those guys are all wonderful talents in their own ways, and they approach the role differently, but if I could approach it in a darker way, of course, in a more serious way, however, it would be wonderful to play Bruce Wayne’s father coming back. You know he was murdered, but coming back one dark and stormy lightning-riven night through a library window. Bruce Wayne is there thinking, ‘I’ll never solve this. This is the most difficult thing in my life.’ In comes old dad, like a bat, almost…”
…In other Bat-related news, some new concept art from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has landed online this week, featuring the initial designs for The Dark Knight’s Armored Batsuit; take a look here…
…It looks like we might get a new look at Wonder Woman this coming week, as the second trailer for the Amazon Princess’ solo movie has been classified. It was expected that the trailer would be attached to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but speculation is now pointing to a release this coming week to coincide with Doctor Strange…
…Having left Fox’s Gambit for Warner Bros.’ Dark Universe, director Doug Liman has now been speaking about his plans for the Justice League Dark adaptation, and what he hopes to bring to the superhero genre: “I mean first of all, I love those characters, and I love Warner Bros., and I love [producer] Scott Rudin, and it’s – and you know, I get asked to come in and do things that are ‘unconventional,’” said Liman. “If people want conventional, they don’t come to me. It’s why doing [the VR series] Invisible was like right up my alley — because how can you be conventional when there aren’t even conventions that exist? And so you know when Warner Bros. wants to sort of turn the comic book genre on its head, they call me…”
…Warner Bros. released a new image from The LEGO Movie spinoff The LEGO Batman Movie, which sees The Caped Crusader showing off his collection of Bat-vehicles; check it out here…
…Turning to the small screen and be sure to read Martin Carr’s review of Monday’s episode of Gotham ‘Follow the White Rabbit’ here, and we’ve also got a promo and images for Monday’s upcoming seventh episode ‘Red Queen’, which you can see here and here…
…Over at The CW, you can read Martin’s review of Supergirl’s third episode ‘Welcome to Earth’ here, while we’ve got a trailer, promo and images for the fourth episode ‘Survivors’ [see here and here], along with synopses for the fifth episode ‘Crossfire’ [see here] and sixth episode ‘Changing’ [see here]…
…We’ve got a review from Jessie Robertson’s for this week’s episode of The Flash season three ‘The New Rogues’, which you can read here, along with Tony Black’s review of the new book The Art and Making of The Flash. Be sure to check out a trailer, promo and images for this week’s episode ‘Monster’, which includes the debut of Caitlin Snow’s mother [see here and here], as well as a synopsis for the sixth episode ‘Shade’ [see here]…
…Take a look at Jessie’s review of this week’s episode of Arrow ‘Penance’ here, and we also have a trailer and promo for this coming Wednesday’s ‘Human Target’ [watch them here], as well as synopses for the sixth episode ‘So It Begins’ [see here] and the seventh episode ‘Vigilante’ [see here]…
…Jessie has also posted a review of this week’s third episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season two ‘Shogun’, while The CW has also released a trailer, promo and images for Thursday’s ‘Abominations’ [see here and here], and synopses for the fifth episode ‘Compromised’ [see here] and sixth episode ‘Outlaw Country’, featuring the return of Jonah Hex [see here]…
…And finally, we end on the sad news that actor Michael Massee has passed away aged 61 after a battle with cancer. Massee enjoyed a prolific career, with including a number of comic book-related projects including The Crow, Catwoman, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as well as voice work in The Batman and the Marvel animated features Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2.
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.
