…Last month it was announced that Deadpool director Tim Miller had exited the sequel due to creative differences with 20th Century Fox and star Ryan Reynolds, and Reynolds has spoken about Miller’s departure for the first time this week, stating that: “All I can really add is that I’m sad to see him off the film. Tim’s brilliant and nobody worked harder on Deadpool than he did. I know when I need to exert control, and I know when I need to let go of it. I’m not gonna go and sit with Tim Miller and say, ‘The visual effects of Deadpool need to be done this way.’ The man is a visual-effects wizard. But there are character and tone things that I know really well. And I’ve also been with this thing the longest out of anybody, aside from the guys that wrote the comics. Eleven years I’ve been trying to get this Sisyphus rock up the hill, and it kept rolling back on top of me. So I’m gonna be all the fuck over it from the moment it starts to the moment it finishes…”
…Well, the search for a director on Deadpool 2 is now over, with John Wick co-director David Leitch officially signing on to direct the sequel, which is still yet to have an official release date. Hopefully with a replacement for Miller now on board, the film can quickly get back on track and start moving forward towards production without any major delays…
…Fox released a new international poster for Logan this week featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine along with X-23, played by young actress Dafne Keen [see here], while the official Instagram account unveiled the latest teaser image, featuring a cybernetic hand which presumably belongs to Boyd Holbrook’s Donald Pierce, or another member of the Reavers [see here]…
…Some interesting news this week, as it was revealed that 20th Century Fox and Marvel reached an agreement for Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with Fox giving up the rights to Ego the Living Planet (who will be Star-Lord’s father in Guardians Vol. 2) in order to get permission from Marvel to tweak the power set of Negasonic Teenage Warhead in this year’s Deadpool movie. That was certainly good news for Guardians director James Gunn, who stated that: “When I first pitched Ego as Quill’s father, I THOUGHT we owned the character. After I had worked out a very elaborate story with Ego the Living Planet as a very important part of the Marvel cosmic universe, I learned that we actually didn’t own the character. I had no back up plan, and it would be nearly impossible to just drop another character in. Thank God Fox came to us and wanted to make a trade…”
…That leads us nicely into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and while Doctor Strange will lose top spot at the box office this weekend to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the film has crossed the $500 million mark, with $504.9 million by close of play on Thursday. The movie will surpass Ant-Man’s $519.3 million haul this weekend, and will likely overtake the $585.2 million gross of the original Iron Man, which would make it the ninth-highest grossing chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe…
…It’s been rumoured this week that we’ll see the first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming alongside next month’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. With the film set for release in July, the timing is right, and it would certainly make sense for Disney to capitalise on the assured box office success of Rogue One; however, as yet there’s been no official word, so this could just be speculation…
…The Russo brothers stoked the fires of speculation this week by sharing a location scouting photo for Avengers: Infinity War from Durham Cathedral in the UK, which they then promptly removed from social media. There have been a number of theories as to where the location could double for, including Asgard, Thanos’ citadel, and even Doctor Doom’s Latverian castle (guess people are hoping the Marvel/Fox deal went beyond Ego the Living Planet)…
…Image Engine released a VFX breakdown reel for Captain America: Civil War this week, which focussed on its work on the mid-credits scene, where we got our first tantalising glimpse of the Black Panther’s homeland Wakanda; watch it here…
…Fresh from criticising the Marvel Cinematic Universe for its levels of “violence without conscience”, Mel Gibson has now once again expressed his interest in working with his good friend Robert Downey Jr. on Iron Man 4, stating that: “It might be fun [to direct]. You’d have to figure out a way to be different with that…”
…Be sure to check out Samuel Brace’s MCU-themed opinion piece ‘If The Best Marvel Movies Are Unlike The Rest, Why Are Most Just Like The Others?’, which you can read here…
…It looks like we can officially scratch The Inhumans movie from Marvel’s slate, however we’ll still have a chance to see Black Bolt and company on the big screen, as Marvel Television has announced that it will be launching an eight-episode Inhumans series, with the first two episodes premiering in IMAX theaters (and being shot exclusively in IMAX) in the summer, before launching weekly on ABC. “This unprecedented alliance represents a bold, innovative approach to launching great TV content for a worldwide audience,” said Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney|ABC Television Group. “It highlights Disney|ABC’s unrelenting commitment to finding new and creative ways to showcasing our very best programming and increasing global engagement and reach.” Inhumans was originally planned as a Phase Three release from Marvel Studios, before being pulled from the slate earlier this year amid rumours that it had been the TV side of Marvel pushing for its inclusion – something which it would now seem to have been proven correct…
…As production continues on Netflix’s The Defenders, some new photos have emerged from the New York set of the Marvel crossover series featuring returning stars Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker), Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Simone Missick (Misty Knight); take a look here…
…Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns next Tuesday (November 29th), and we’ve got a batch of images for the seventh episode of season four, entitled ‘Deals With Our Devils’, which you can see here…
…Earlier this year it was announced that Freeform had placed a straight-to-series order for a Cloak and Dagger TV series from showrunner Joe Pokaski (Heroes), and this week has brought word that the cable network is targeting a Winter 2018 premiere date for the show…
…And finally, it looks like Britt Reid and Kato will be returning to the big screen, with news this week that X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin O’Connor has signed on to direct an “edgy” reboot of The Green Hornet. “I’ve been wanting to make this movie — and create this franchise — since I’ve wanted to make movies,” said O’Connor. “As a kid, when most of my friends were into Superman and Batman, there was only one superhero who held my interest — The Green Hornet. I always thought he was the baddest badass because he had no superpowers. The Green Hornet was a human superhero. And he didn’t wear a clown costume. And he was a criminal — in the eyes of the law — and in the eyes of the criminal world. So all this felt real to me. Imagine climbing to the top of the Himalayas, or Mount Everest, or K2 over and over again and no one ever knew? You can never tell anybody. That’s the life of Britt and Kato. What they do, they can never say. They don’t take credit for anything.” Be sure to read the rest of O’Connor’s comments on his plans for The Green Hornet here.
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.
