…If those Guardians of the Galaxy posters weren’t enough to satisfy your MCU cravings for a week, Marvel and Sony also unveiled the first two posters for the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming reboot featuring Tom Holland’s wall-crawler alongside Avengers Tower [see here] (Update: And here’s a third poster). Meanwhile, a new piece of promotional artwork also arrived online [see here], along with a look at the Hot Toys 1/6th scale collectible figure for Spidey in his homemade prototype suit [take a look here]…
…In other Spidey-related news, Sony has announced a second spinoff to follow the non-MCU Venom movie, with the studio dusting off its plans for the Black Cat and Silver Sable movie. The project was first announced as a spinoff from The Amazing Spider-Man back in 2014, and the studio has now tapped Chris Yost (Thor: Ragnarok) to rewrite the original script from Lisa Joy (Westworld)…
…With production on Avengers: Infinity War moving to Edinburgh, some new set photos arrived online this week featuring Paul Bettany’s Vision and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, along with a set video which sees Vision battling motion-capture characters; take a look here…
…After a report last week that Chris Evans would be hanging up the shield following Infinity War and Avengers 4, the actor has now revealed that he’s open to extending his contract with Marvel Studios: “It’s really not up to me. My contract is up. I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘No more.’ I think Hugh Jackman has made 47 Wolverine movies, and they somehow keep getting better. It’s a character I love, and it’s a factory that really knows what they’re doing. The system is sound, over there. They make great movies. If they weren’t kicking out quality, I’d have a different opinion. But, everything Marvel does seems to be cinema gold. And like I said, I love the character. The only reason it would end is ‘cause my contract is up. After Avengers 4, my contract is done. Talk to Marvel. If we engage further, I’d be open to it. I love the character. It’s almost like high school. You certainly always look to senior year, and then, all of a sudden, senior year happens and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ready to go.’ It’s tough thinking about not playing the guy…”
…We also got some photos and video from the South Korea set of Marvel’s Black Panther showing T’Challa riding atop a car during a chase sequence [see here], along with a look at a member of the Dora Milaje, the Black Panther’s personal bodyguards [see here]…
…In a couple of other bits and pieces from the big screen side of the MCU, Michael Pena has confirmed his return as Luis for Ant-Man and the Wasp, while LEGO’s Thor: Ragnarok minifigures leaked online, and you can take a look at them here…
…A lot of Marvel fans are hoping to see some kind of crossover between the big and small screen sides of the MCU, but not Anthony Mackie, who feels that it just won’t work: “Different universes, different worlds, different companies, different designs. Kevin Feige is very specific about how he wants the Marvel Universe to be seen in the film world. It wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t work at all…”
…With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. set to return on April 4th, Marvel has released a batch of promotional images for the next episode ‘What If…’ [see here], along with a series of propaganda posters teasing the new ‘Agents of HYDRA’ story arc [see here]…
…Some new set photos from ABC’s next Marvel series Inhumans arrived online this week, giving us another peek at Anson Mount’s Black Bolt; take a look here…
…We also got some new promotional art for the Netflix team-up The Defenders, featuring Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones), along with Sigourney Weaver’s villain Alexandra and what could be Elodie Yung’s Elektra; see here…
…Netflix’s latest Marvel series Iron Fist hit the streaming service last Friday; be sure to read Shaun Munro’s individual episode reviews here, and check out Samuel Brace’s op-ed ‘Marvel’s Iron Fist: A Reasonable Response to a Very Reasonable Show’ here. Meanwhile, a video arrived online compiling all of the Easter eggs and Defenders references in the show [watch it here], while Iron Fist creator Roy Thomas dismissed claims of whitewashing, and Finn Jones said it will be a couple of seasons before we see Danny Rand donning his classic green and yellow costume…
…As Logan crosses the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office, director James Mangold has blasted tentpole movies, and seemingly had a dig at the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe in the process: “Tentpole movies in general … they are not movies, generally. They are bloated exercises in two-hour trailers for another movie they are going to sell you in two years. There are so many characters that each character gets an arc of about six-and-a-half minutes at best, and I’m not exaggerating. You take 120 minutes, you take 45 of it for action, what are you left with, divide it by six characters, you have the character arc of Elmer Fudd in a Warner Brothers cartoon. That formula is empty for me…”
…As Deadpool 2 gears up to go into production this summer, it was reported this week that Man of Steel star Michael Shannon had emerged as the front runner to play Cable in the hotly-anticipated sequel, although that was quickly followed by a rumour – and some now deleted official concept art – that Brad Pitt could also be in contention. Meanwhile, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have been chatting about the film, discussing Zazie Beetz’s casting as Domino, working with new director David Leitch, and the inclusion of some obscure characters, as well as clarifying that Deadpool 3 and X-Force will be separate movies…
…X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner took to social media this week to announce that filming is underway on Gifted, the new X-Men TV pilot from Marvel and Fox, with Donner sharing an image of Bryan Singer directing Amy Acker [check it out here]. Acker is joined in the cast of the pilot by Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Natalie Alyn Lind (The Goldbergs), Emma Dumont (Pretty Little Liars), Jamie Chung (Gotham), Blair Redford (Switched at Birth), Sean Teale (Incorporated), Coby Bell (Burn Notice) and Joseph Morgan (The Originals)…
…Marvel’s first X-Men series is rapidly moving towards its season one finale, and you can read Rachel Bellwoar’s review of the penultimate episode of Legion here, while we also have a promo for this coming week’s season finale, which you can watch here…
…And finally, Paramount has snapped up the rights to the superhero parody graphic novel The Pro from creators Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, which follows a prostitute who wakes up one day with superhero powers and is asked to join the League of Honor to help curb her anti-heroic behaviour. The script for the movie adaptation is being penned by Zoe McCarthy (Bitches on a Boat).
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.
