…While we await the first trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron, the rumour mill has turned its attention to Avengers 3, with a report this past week claiming that Marvel is looking to shake up the roster for the third movie by swapping out the likes of Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) in favour of new blood such as Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the as-yet-uncast Doctor Strange and Ms. Marvel…
…Despite being deep into filming, Peyton Reed has added another cast member to his Phase Three launching Ant-Man, with Martin Donovan (Insomnia) signing on for an unrevealed role which is “pivotal” to the plot. Donovan joins a cast that includes Paul Rudd (I Love You Man) as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas (Behind The Candelabra) as Dr. Hank Pym, Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) as Hope Van Dyne, Corey Stoll (House of Cards) as Darren Cross / Yellowjacket, John Slattery (Iron Man 2) as Howard Stark and Bobby Cannavale (The Long Play), Michael Peña (American Hustle), Abby Ryder Fortson (Togetherness), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight), Wood Harris (The Wire), Gregg Turkington (The Comedy) and T.I. (American Gangster) in as yet-unrevealed roles. Meanwhile, a set photo from Atlanta, Georgia has popped up online, giving us our first look at the logo for Pym Technologies…
…It seemed this week that Robert Downey Jr. had confirmed that he’ll be returning as Tony Stark for Iron Man 4, with the star telling Ellen Degeneres that “I know there’s going to be a bunch more Marvel movies and they have big ideas of how to do it best, and you know, we’re in the middle of negotiations… okay, yes” when asked about another solo movie. However, he then went on to debunk his confirmation the following day, telling David Letterman that: “here’s no plans for an Iron Man 4. There’s no script for Iron Man 4. But [Marvel] have a plan and I think they’re gonna announce it. You know, they’re very secretive about it.” However, it doesn’t look like Avengers 3 will be his last Marvel appearance, adding that: “I’m gonna do other stuff with Marvel. I’m still going to be involved with Marvel, and there’s gonna be plenty of fun stuff to happen…”
…Downey’s fellow Avenger Jeremy Renner has offered up a few thoughts on whether he’s open to a solo movie for Hawkeye, as well as the possibility of a guest appearance on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: “Am I interested [in a solo movie]? Always have been interested. I always love Clint, and in the last Avengers: Age of Ultron, we got to dive into him some more. Very excited about the outcome of it, and where it can go in the future. But all I can do is want. And that’s all I can do. It all comes down to the content, and really how the puppeteers at Marvel can manifest a story that’s worthy of a solo movie. Not sure what that is, or how that is, but I’m confident they can do whatever they want, if they want to do it. And I’d be game. [Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.] is not something I sit and think about. But I suppose if it was offered up, there’s an outside chance it could happen. I haven’t seen the show, so I don’t know how it works, but I’m sure the folks at Marvel have ideas, and when they’re strong enough, they’ll bring ‘em to me. But I love me some Clark Gregg, he’s so great. We killed him and brought him back to life to do Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he’s so good..!”
…And speaking of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the show suffered another record low in the ratings this past Tuesday with the third episode of season two posting a 1.6 and 4.39 million viewers – down 13% from the previous week. You can read our review of ‘Making Friends and Influencing People’ here, and we’ve also got a promo for next week’s episode ‘Face My Enemy’, along with a batch of character promo images…
…Kyle Bornheimer (She’s Out of My League) has joined the cast of ABC’s upcoming Captain America spin-off Agent Carter in the role of Agent Ray Krzeminski, a newly-created character who will “clash” with Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter. The series will get underway in January 2015, with a cast that includes the returning Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark alongside new additions Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) as Roger Dooley, Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) as Agent Daniel Sousa, Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) as Agent Jack Thompson and James D’Arcy (Let’s Be Cops) as Jarvis…
…Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. returns to Disney XD this weekend for its second season, and you can check out the first clip from the season premiere here (assuming you’re in the U.S., that is)…
…On Thursday, Disney showcased its upcoming Marvel Comics adaptation Big Hero 6 at the New York Comic-Con, with an NYCC poster and sizzle reel trailer for the animated feature subsequently arriving online, along with yet another couple of TV spots [see here and here]…
…With Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios flooding the small screen with superhero shows, it seems that 20th Century Fox is also looking to get in on the act. According to rumours, Fox is busy developing a live-action X-Men TV series, which – depending on the sources you read – may take its inspiration from Peter David’s run on X-Factor, or revolve around Evan Peters’ Quicksilver…
…As X-Men: Days of Future Past gears up for its home-entertainment release, six-and-a-half minutes of deleted scenes from the Bryan Singer-directed superhero sequel have made their way online [watch them here], while Singer has also announced that casting is underway on 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, which so far is set to features James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)…
…Writer-producer Simon Kinberg has spoken about Fox’s plans to expand the X-Men franchise, revealing that the recently announced Deadpool movie will fit into the post-Days of Future Past continuity: “There’s definitely a sort of overall plan that we’ve all been talking about for the X-Men universe now and Deadpool obviously fits into that. So yeah, I guess I would say it’s part of certainly an overall timeline and thought process that goes into these films, some of which is inspired by the comics and some which is inspired by seeing what Marvel’s done with telling a larger tapestry and linking all those movies together, even as they stand independently as well. The same kind of thought is going to go into these X-Men movies at Fox…”
…And it also seems that the possibility of X-Men inhabiting a shared universe with The Fantastic Four is back on the cards at Fox, with Kinberg backtracking on his previous comments that the characters “live in discrete universes” by stating that: “To be honest, I’m so focused on each of the movies right now – I’m so focused on, now we’re post, on Fantastic Four, and making that the best movie it can be. And then we’re in prep on X-Men: Apocalypse, so those are kind of full time jobs. I love the characters, I love the characters in Fantastic Four, and I love the new cast. Obviously I love the characters and cast of X-Men. So, hypothetically, the notion of putting them together is really intriguing, and there’s some really fun stuff that the comics have done in the past. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility…”
…Sticking with The Fantastic Four, and Michael B. Jordan has discussed the revamped costumes from the upcoming reboot: “It’s a new look. We are all in containment suits. The costume process definitely took some time to get in and out of that thing, especially since I was bulking up. It was a little more snug during filming. We got through it man. It was a process, but we did it. It was hard work…”
…Jordan’s co-star Miles Teller has also spoken about the negative fan reaction to The Fantastic Four, stating that: “There are a million blogs and websites talking about the casting and they hear one little thing, like, oh, there was rumor it was a found-footage movie, so then there were a million comments on that. If we’re going to be up for everybody’s public disposal of it, I try not to get too caught up with anything on the Internet. Out of sight is out of mind for me a lot of the time. I already know that people hate me for the fact that I’m playing Reed Richards and that we’re ruining their franchise. It’s tough because when you’re taking on a franchise that’s already been established, you do kind of owe something to the characters and to the creator. At the same time, you want to bring it to a fresh audience. My dad grew up with the Fantastic Four comic book and not a lot of kids did, so you also want to make a movie that they can enjoy. I will say that this film that we made is not really for little kids, I don’t think. We do take a more mature approach…”
…While Fox plows full steam ahead with its plans for its own Marvel universe, if rumours are to be believed Sony seems to be at a total loss with how to proceed with its Spider-Man universe following the disappointing reception for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This week has seen a wave of rumours / speculation online, with various reports suggesting that Sony either plans to strike a deal with Marvel Studios to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, or is considering a soft reboot which would see Andrew Garfield replaced as the web-slinger in 2016’s The Sinister Six. Oh, and there’s also been talk that the Venom solo movie – thought to be going by the title of Venom Carnage – is “functionally dead”. At this point, it’s hard to know what to believe, and it doesn’t seem that anyone has a clue where the Spider-Man franchise is heading, Sony included…
…While it seemed that the final nail had been hammered into the coffin of Hellboy 3, Jeffrey Tambor – who portrayed Tom Manning in both Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army – has given fans hope that it may one day see the light of day, stating that: “Oh my god. There is actually talk of a Hellboy 3. But they better hurry or I am going to be in a walker…”
…Ahead of its NYCC panel today, Sony Television has released a first poster for its upcoming comic book adaptatin Powers, while co-creator Brian Michael Bendis has given us our first look at Eddie Izzard (Hannibal) as the villainous Wolfe…
…And finally, our superhero-related special features on Flickering Myth this week include Luke Owen’s The Flash vs. Gotham – Which Is Better?, Anthony Stokes and Thomas Roach debating whether Spider-Man should or should not join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thomas Roach’s Is An X-Men TV Series A Good Idea?, How Will Deadpool Be Integrated Into the X-Men Universe?, Why X-Men and The Fantastic Four Should Not Share the Same Universe, Why People Need To Get Over The Human Torch Casting, Does The Fantastic Four Belong In the Marvel Cinematic Universe?, and Does the Daredevil Logo Look Too Cartoonish?, and Anghus Houvouras’ Five Reasons Mel Gibson Should Direct Iron Man 4.
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.
