In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Justice League, Shazam, The Batman, Justice League Mortal, Wonder Woman 2, Flashpoint, Cyborg, Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, Black Lightning, Gotham, Batman: Gotham By Gaslight, The LEGO Batman Movie, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow, The Punisher, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Runaways, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Deadpool 2, Multiple Man, The Gifted, Venom, Morbius, The Incredibles 2, Kick-Ass and more…
Warner Bros. brought its DC heroes together this weekend with the release of the DC Extended Universe blockbuster Justice League, and while it managed to edge out Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad in terms of critical reaction, it certainly hasn’t been no Wonder Woman, with the film scoring a 46 on Metacritic and 40% on Rotten Tomatoes (once RT decided to release its rating, that is). Our reviewers seemed a little more positive though – check out Ricky Church’s ★★★★ review here, and Rob Kojder’s ★★★ review here (if you’re interested in my thoughts, I’d probably give it ★★★ myself – thought the heroes were great, the villain weak, and the plot pretty much what you’d expect)…
…Having been tipped for a $110 million to $120 million domestic opening (and $325 million worldwide), early reports indicate that Justice League is underperforming in the U.S., and will likely finish up with less than $100 million from its opening weekend, giving it the second smallest debut for a superhero movie this year after Logan on $88 million. If those rumours about Warner execs being concerned that Justice League might not open as high as Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok are true, then it’s going to be a long weekend in Burbank…
…In other Justice League news, we’ve got a breakdown of the film’s two post-credits scenes [see here], a highlights reel from the premiere [watch it here], concept art of the villain Steppenwolf [see here], a banner and TV spots [see here] and promotional images for Iron Studios’ Superman collectible statue [see here]. Meanwhile, Henry Cavill has said that Justice League “is the first time we see the true Superman” [read more here], Ben Affleck talked about the Mother Boxes and their role in the film [read more here], Ciaran Hinds talked about his role as Steppenwolf [read more here], J.K. Simmons discussed his “badass” Commissioner Gordon [read more here], producer Charles Roven said that the reshoots accounted for around 20% of the movie [read more here], Jason Momoa confirmed a popular Aquaman fan theory about Man of Steel [read more here], and Ezra Miller and Gal Gadot talked about what villains they want in the sequel [read more here]. We’ve also got a couple of Justice League-related features in Samuel Brace’s ‘I’m Not Rooting for Justice League to Fail, But I Wouldn’t Be Disappointed‘ and Anghus Houvouras’ ‘The Most Disappointing: Joss Whedon’s Justice League’…
…The next DC project to go into production in Shazam, and actor Zachary Levi has been speaking about the project this week, stating that: “The hope is that it’s gonna feel like the movie Big, but with superpowers, so you’re gonna have the heart of that kind of Tom Hanks of the kid in you. I’m honoured and greatly humbled to be a part of it. It’s insane. These superhero roles, they come around very seldom and to be somebody who’s blessed enough to get to pull that brass ring and to go have a franchise, a tentpole, it’s insane…”
…Speculation over The Batman continued this week, with Ben Affleck revealing that he is yet to sign on the dotted line for The Batman, although it is “something I’m contemplating”. The actor also went on to state that, “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of it.” These comments were quickly followed by a rumour suggesting that Matt Reeves has already identified Jake Gyllenhaal as the man he wants for the title role in The Batman and that Reeves is considering two ideas for his trilogy – one whichwould serve as a prequel to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the other as a standalone series of films. Hopefully now with Justice League out, we’ll get some official confirmation soon as to just what is going on…
…Affleck also explained why he decided to accept the role of Batman for the DC Extended Universe, stating: “Literally, the reason I took this movie was imagining that, like, you know… wearing that costume and having my son see me. You know? Everybody wants their kid to think of them as a superhero. You know, before they get too smart.” Meanwhile, he also revealed that both he and his good pal Matt Damon both auditioned for the role of Robin in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie; read his comments here…
…In another case of what might have been, Armie Hammer has been chatting about almost portraying the Dark Knight in George Miller’s abandoned Justice League Mortal movie, revealing that in hindsight he is glad he never got to don the cape and cowl: “For a long time, I was like, ‘How great that could have been!’ As a 31-year-old who’s been through a lot since I was 19, I wouldn’t want to watch a 19-year-old Batman. I’d be like, ‘Who’s this spoiled rich kid who wants to play dress-up?… I used to be upset we didn’t get to do it, but everything happens exactly as it’s supposed to. I still have a lot of learning to do about this, and it’s a constant pursuit for me. If I had been that successful right out of the gate, I would have thought I already understood it all. I know that I wouldn’t have turned in a great performance, or even a good performance — it would have just been whatever. So I’m glad…”
…It looks like we’ve got a little less time to wait until the Amazon Princess makes her big screen debut – a whole six weeks – with Warner Bros. making the not-unexpected decision to move Wonder Woman 2 away from Star Wars: Episode IX by pushing its release up to November 1st 2019. There was a minor scare for Wonder Woman fans this week when it was reported that Gal Gadot was refusing to sign on for the sequel unless Warner Bros. completely removed producer Brett Ratner from having any involvement with the film in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations aimed at the filmmaker. However, both Gadot and director Patty Jenkins subsequently cleared things up by stating that the issue has already been addressed and it was a “foregone conclusion” that Ratner would not be involved…
…With Warner Bros. said to be closing in on a director for its Flashpoint movie, Geoff Johns has confirmed that the plan is for Batman to feature: “There’s elements in it that we’re going to be playing into that we couldn’t do anywhere else [but Flashpoint]. The scale of it, the Batman story of it all.” As yet, there’s no confirmation as to whether this will be the Jeffrey Dean Morgan/Thomas Wayne incarnation of Batman, but Johns’ comments certainly seem to suggest so…
…Although it appears to have been pulled from Warner’s slate (going by the Comic-Con announcements, anyway), Ray Fisher still hasn’t given up hope that we’ll get a Cyborg solo movie, and this week saw the actor sharing his thoughts on what villains he’d like to Victor Stone going up against: “With this kind of story, I’d love to see it be a little bit more intimate, a little bit more specific to Cyborg. There is a sort of Cyborg special that they had done years ago where he fights a group called Phantom Limbs, which is this mercenary group of cybernetically-enhanced individuals who are very much like him. I think seeing him take on people who have similar abilities but [are] a much more finely-tuned group of warriors — seeing how that all would turn out, I think would be really special…”
Click below to continue onto the next page for Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, Black Lightning, Gotham, Batman: Gotham By Gaslight, The LEGO Batman Movie, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow, The Punisher, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Runaways, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Deadpool 2, Multiple Man, The Gifted, Venom, Morbius, The Incredibles 2, Kick-Ass and more…
