…Another week, another rumour of trouble within the DC Extended Universe. This time it’s Wonder Woman (again), with a report on Schmoes Know claiming that they’ve been told the movie “stinks” from the same source that told them Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice “stinks”, and that the unnamed source was “very disappointed in what I saw, and it seems like all the problems are the same problems. It’s discombobulated, it doesn’t have narrative flow. It’s just very disjointed.” Of course this isn’t the first time that Wonder Woman has been described as a “mess”, and it seems these kind of rumours now go hand-in-hand with every DC project. Whether there’s any truth to them, or just headline-generating guesswork, is another matter entirely…
…And so we come to The Batman (another DC film rumoured to have all kinds of problems), and after being a little down on the project over the past few weeks Ben Affleck had a much more positive outlook this week, stating that the script is coming along great and the fans will love the movie; meanwhile, he also reflected on his experience on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – and the Sad Affleck meme – and how it has prepared him for the challenges of making The Batman: “I learned a ton actually, making that movie. I had not made a movie of that scale. I didn’t know what the technology was capable of doing nowadays. The last big blockbuster-y movies I made were like Armageddon in 1997. The technology had really changed the way those movies were made. It was fascinating and I learned a tremendous amount…”
…And on to another DC movie rumoured to be a mess (definitely seeing a pattern with these “scoops”), and Ben Affleck has been discussing the tonal shift we can expect from Justice League: “You probably saw the teaser that came out of Comic-Con; I thought it is nicely emblematic of the kind of minor tone shift and segue in storytelling,” said Affleck. “It’s a little bit lighter, the characters are a little bit more comfortable in themselves, so they can express a wider array of emotions. And there are just more people in it, so it’s more fun. It’s all of these different characters bumping up against each other and the team dynamic offers a lot of dramatic possibility.” Meanwhile, we also may – and the emphasis is on may here – have our first look at Henry Cavill rocking Superman’s black suit; check it out here…
…With David S. Goyer announced as writing and producing Green Lantern Corps, it was only a matter of time before the usual suspects threw out some casting rumours, and sure enough a “shortlist” for the role of Hal Jordan has emerged via El Mayimbe. Apparently Tom Cruise, Jake Gyllenhaal, Armie Hammer, Bradley Cooper and Joel McHale are all under consideration, as is Ryan Reynolds, who of course played Hal in the 2011 box office flop Green Lantern, while a further report suggested that X-Men star James Marsden is also a possibility. Feel free to pick your own names out of a hat and add them to this list…
…Following his big meeting with DC, it looks like Dwayne Johnson has added a second DC Films project to his upcoming slate, with news this week that he’ll also be headling a Black Adam solo movie, as well as the previously announced Shazam, as reportedly “it made no sense” to execs “to have a man of Johnson’s stature be just a villain and a supporting character in an expensive tentpole.” There’s no word yet as to whether Black Adam will arrive before Shazam, but there has been speculation that The Rock could reteam with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and San Andreas director Bray Peyton on one of the projects owing to some following activity on social media…
…Hot Toys has released a batch of promotional images for its Harley Quinn (Prisoner Version) collectible figure from Suicide Squad [see here], while Jared Leto shared a couple of Joker-related images to social media, leading to speculation that he could be gearing up for a return as the Clown Prince of Crime, perhaps in The Batman or the Harley Quinn-led Gotham City Sirens…
…Turning to the small screen now and Gotham returned from its midseason break this week with ‘Ghosts’; you can read Martin Carr’s review of the episode here, and we’ve also got a promo for this coming Monday’s thirteenth episode ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ [see here], along with some promotional images for Kotobukiya’s Jim Gordon collectible statue [see here]. Meanwhile, producer John Stephens has pretty much confirmed that Harley Quinn is heading to Gotham, stating that “we might see her” in the season finale, and that it would not be a cameo, but rather a “launching point” for the season four narrative..
…It’s been confirmed this week that the musical crossover between Supergirl and The Flash will air on March 20th and March 21st, with Melissa Benoist, Grant Gustin, Jesse L. Martin, Victor Garber, Carlos Valdes, Jeremy Jordan, and John Barrowman all confirmed to sing in the Flash episode, titled ‘Duet’…
…On the subject of crossovers, it looks like Kevin Smith is keen for a return to the Arrowverse, revealing that he’s already expressed his interest in directing an instalment of The CW’s next big DC crossover event: “If they ask me? I put in my request to [executive producer Andrew] Kreisberg already, dude. After I watched their crossover, I said, ‘Please, dude, please, next year, just give me a taste of that crossover. I just want to be involved in one of them. I don’t care which one. They look like a nightmare to shoot, I’ll be honest with you. I did the ‘Killer Frost’ episode [of The Flash] right before they went into the crossovers, and the crossover schedule, you’re talking about four different shows where you’re swapping performers and characters and stuff like that. It’s a nightmare on all the AD’s, as they have to try to figure out how to make this all work. That being said, look at the end results, dude. That was absolutely thrilling to watch all four of those shows cross over….I’m asking, I’m asking. I don’t know if they’ll let me but believe me, I’ve already put in the request. I said, ‘Whatever it is next season, whatever the crossover is, even if it was ‘The Death of Kevin Smith,’ I want to be involved somehow…”
…In other Arrowverse news, Rick Cosnett has announced that he’s set for a return to The Flash as Detective Eddie Thawne (although it’s unclear quite how he’ll return), while we’ve also got a trailer for next week’s midseason premiere of The Flash ‘Borrowing Problems From the Future’ [watch it here], and next week’s midseason premiere of Arrow ‘Who Are You?’ [watch it here]…
…NBC has continued to count down to the February 2nd preview of Powerless by releasing a new trailer for the DC workplace comedy [watch it here], as well as a batch of promotional images from the series premiere [see here], and a promo entitled ‘Working for Bruce Wayne’ [watch it here]. Meanwhile, executive producer Justin Halpern has been discussing the possibility of some of DC’s A-list heroes cameoing in the show: “Usually they’re very protective of their characters — for good reason. A lot of people invest a lot in these characters. We ask for as much as we can get, and we see where we can find a happy medium. Like anything, they wanted to make sure they didn’t think the show was terrible before they let us use stuff. It’s one of those things where there’s a concern that most Americans [don’t know] anything but the Big 5 [Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern]. So if we use something that’s not one of those five, there’s a little trepidation…”
…With less than three weeks to go until the release of The LEGO Batman Movie, Warner Bros. has released five TV spots offering up some new footage from the hotly-anticipated animated movie [watch them here and here], while Chevrolet also unveiled its life-size LEGO model of the film’s Batmobile, which consists of a whopping 344,187 bricks and measures 6.92 feet high, 17 feet long, and 9.25 feet wide; take a look at some images of the model here…
…With Justice League Dark set to hit Digital HD this coming Tueday, two new clips from the animated film have arrived online this week, the first of which sees Bruce Wayne receiving a supernatural message [watch it here], and the second featuring John Constantine and Jason Blood as they unleash Etrigan the Demon [watch it here]…
…Warner Bros. announced two new casting additions for Teen Titans: The Judas Contract on Thursday, with Christina Ricci voicing Terra and Miguel Ferrer as Deathstroke. Sadly, the announcement was followed a couple of hours later by news of Miguel Ferrer’s death, with the actor passing away aged 61 after losing a battle with cancer. The RoboCop and Twin Peaks star had regularly worked in the superhero genre, playing the Weather Wizard in the 1997 TV pilot Justice League of America and the Vice President in Iron Man 3, as well as lending his voice to Superman: The Animated Series, The Batman, Justice League: The New Frontier, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice…
…And finally, it looks like Guillermo del Toro might be ready to take another crack at dragging Hellboy 3 out of development hell, with the filmmaker sharing a poll on Twitter asking fans if they want to see the long-awaited threequel . As you’d expect, the idea garnered a lot of support, with del Toro then tweeting: “I spoke with Ron Perlman. He’s in for the sit down. Will approach Mignola next. Will keep you posted. Very moved by your love of part I & II.” So, could we get the closing chapter of the Hellboy trilogy after all? Here’s hoping.
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.
