…The CW debuted its new superhero series this week as DC’s Legends of Tomorrow got underway on Thursday, with the pilot episode pulling in a 1.2 rating and 3.1 million viewers, helping the network to climb above ABC in the Thursday night ratings; before the premiere, The CW released a bunch of new trailers [see here and here], while we’ve also got a behind-the-scenes featurette for the first episode [see here], a promo and extended trailer for episode two ‘Pilot, Part 2’ [see here], a synopsis for episode three ‘Blood Ties’ [see here] and episode four ‘White Knights’ [see here]. And in casting news, Martin Donovan (Ant-Man) has nabbed the role of Druce, Rip Hunter’s (Arthur Darvill) mentor at the Time Master Academy, while Johnathon Schaech (Ray Donovan) is set to play Jonah Hex, who has the following character description: “A true legend of the Old West, a morally ambiguous gunslinger with a penchant for danger. Surprisingly, he knows a thing or two about time travel and the future, but is at home in the Wild West. He’s been battling outlaws and gangs for awhile now, and advises the team to be extra careful when they arrive in the small town of Salvation…”
…The Flash returned from its winter break with the tenth episode of season two ‘Potential Energy’ [read Jessie Robertson’s review here], scoring a 1.3 rating and 3.42 million viewers. You can take a look at a trailer for the second half of The Flash season 2 here, and we’ve also got a promo and trailer for Tuesday’s upcoming eleventh episode ‘The Reverse-Flash Returns’ here, a synopsis for the twelfth episode ‘Fast Lane’ here, and a synopsis for the thirteenth episode ‘Welcome to Earth-2’ here…
…Fans got to find out Felicity’s fate this past Wednesday thanks to Arrow’s season four midseason premiere ‘Blood Debts’ [read Jessie Robertson’s review here], with the episode improving on the midseason finale with a 1.1 rating and 2.8 million viewers. Take a look at a trailer for the second half of the season here, along with a promo and trailer for episode eleven ‘A.W.O.L.’ here, a synopsis for Roy Harper’s return in episode twelve ‘Unchained’ here, and a synopsis for episode thirteen ‘Sins of the Father’ here…
…The CW has also give us our first look at Meganlyn Echikunwoke’s live-action Vixen from her guest role in Arrow, while executive producer Marc Guggenheim has suggested that we won’t be seeing any more of Matt Ryan’s Constantine in the Arrowverse following his guest appearance in Arrow earlier this season: “Back when Constantine was on, we were talking about a crossover. Then Constantine wasn’t on, so we stopped talking about a crossover. It took a while. I think it was actually something Matt Ryan and Stephen Amell started talking [about]. It was always in the cards. When we were given the character, we were given the character with the understanding and the agreement that this is a one-off…”
…Moving on to the small screen and it’s been announced that Supergirl has found its Superman – well, sort of – with Daniel DiMaggio (Tales of Halloween, A Tiger’s Tail) set to appear as a teenage Kal-El in the February 8th episode ‘For the Girl Who Has Everything’. Before then, Kara has to tackle a White Martian in this Monday’s ‘Strange Visitor From Another Planet’, and we’ve got a promo and extended trailer for that episode [see here and here], along with a batch of stills for the following week’s ‘Bizarro’ [see here]…
…With the likes of The CW and ABC launching spinoff series left, right and center, Fox chairman and CEO Gary Newman was asked about the possibility of extending the world of Gotham with additional shows: “We’re really happy with the creative on Gotham this year. We thought the Rise of the Villains has been great, and it feels like a world that has many, many stories to tell. We haven’t had any conversations with Warners about whether or not they’d want to do a spinoff series. I think that would be an issue for DC. It isn’t quite clear to me that they’d be ready to do that, but it’s a good idea.” Be sure to check out the Gotham TV Podcast review of the second episode of season two, ‘Knock Knock’, here…
…On the DC animated front, Machinima debuted the five-minute opening scene from Batman: Bad Blood ahead of its release next month [watch it here], while Warner Bros. also revealed details of the voice cast for the next DC Universe Animation Original Movies release, Justice League vs. Teen Titans; featuring in the cast of the film are returning voice stars Jason O’Mara as Batman, Jerry O’Connell as Superman, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman, Christopher Gorham as The Flash, Shemar Moore as Cyborg, Sean Maher as Nightwing and Stuart Allan as Robin, while new additions include Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story) as Raven, Jake T. Austin (The Fosters) as Blue Beetle, Brandon Soo Hoo (From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series) as Beast Boy, Kari Wahlgren (Phineas and Ferb) as Starfire, and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) as Trigon. You can check out some plot details for the animated movie here…
…Batman: The Animated Series fans! DC Collectibles has announced that it is set to release a Deluxe Batmobile from the classic animated series, which includes a 1/6th scale Batmobile, working Bat-Signal, and Batman and Robin figures complete with cloth capes. It will set you back $175 though…
…Moving on to Fox and with just a few short weeks to go until the release of Deadpool, the studio has continued its marketing blitz with the release of a couple of new TV spots [see here], a Spanish poster [see here], a hilarious viral video which sees Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth delivering a special message for his Aussie fans for Australia Day [see here], and details on the soundtrack, which includes the ‘Deadpool Rap’ [see here]. You might also be interested in taking a look at a fan-made animated version of the red band trailer [watch it here], and if you need to brush up on your Deadpool knowledge ahead of the film’s release we’ve got a handy infographic for you here…
…Fox’s box office ambitions for Deadpool took a knock this week when it was revealed that the Chinese authorities have denied the film a release in the Middle Kingdom owing to its graphic violence, nudity and bad language, with Fox opting against a “cleaned up” / “toned down” version of the movie as it would cause plot problems (or as Ryan Reynolds said this week, a PG-13 version would be “a very short movie. It’s almost a commercial at that point”). Nevertheless, the film is tracking a solid domestic opening in excess of $55 million, which is more than the original X-Men ($54 million), X-Men: First Class ($55 million) and The Wolverine ($53 million). It’s also more than Fox’s last superhero movie Fantastic Four ($25.6 million), but that was surely always going to be a given…
…Deadpool had a surprise screening in New York this past weekend, where it was met with some highly positive reactions from fans lucky enough to be in attendance. Ryan Reynolds was also on hand at the screening, where he talked about the possibility of a Deadpool and Cable movie and an R-rated X-Force, as well as sharing his excitement that the film has finally happened: “For me, this is 11-years-of-a-dream come true. Every single second I got to spend making this movie, being a part of it, wearing the makeup, wearing the suit – all that crap that is usually kind of aggravating, it was – I couldn’t complain for a second of it. It was six years of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and I going back and forth on pages on the script. They have our emails from six years ago, still, when we plot out the exact beats of the movie. I wish we lived in a paper age still, it would be great to have those things framed…”
…Various sites posted their X-Men: Apocalypse set visit reports this week, which included a new image of Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Storm (Alexandra Shipp) arriving online; meanwhile, producer Simon Kinberg suggested that Apocalypse is “the biggest X-Men film we’ve done” owing to its “extinction-level threat to the world”, and also discussed how he and Bryan Singer decided on the line-up of Magneto, Angel, Psylocke and Storm as Apocalypse’s (Oscar Isaac) Four Horsemen: “Fassbender was the first person that we decided would be an interesting Horseman. And then truly we just kind of sat there the way that anybody would, rather you were in a role-playing game or a video game or doing fan fiction, and it was like who are the coolest characters you wanna see? And who are interesting combinations with one another, and who are interesting foils for the heroes of the movie? A lot of those decisions are made based on who are the people that deepened the core ideas of the movie? Who are the people that challenge, emotionally, the main characters of the movie, or are mirror images of the main characters..?”
…During an Apocalypse set visit interview, Bryan Singer revealed that he’d potentially have some interest in revisiting the Dark Phoenix Saga storyline, while producer Simon Kinberg suggested that it is a possibility now that the timeline has been reset and Jean Grey is being reintroduced to the universe with Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones): “I think everything that hasn’t been told from First Class and Days of Future Past is up for grabs going forward, so it would absolutely be a story we could tell in a different way. We definitely explore how powerful [Jean Grey] is in Apocalypse, and that can be something that is empowering and something that is dangerous…”
…Bryan Singer has also revealed that he sought advice from James Cameron with regards to the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past: “I sent the film to Jim, and at the end of that movie, it was very interesting; when Wolverine woke up, originally, my editor was obsessed with this visual blurriness, so when Wolverine’s walking around he’s seeing things in kind of a blur. So I sent that to Jim, and Jim called me and goes, ‘Bryan, that blurry thing made me think that the wool was going to be pulled out from under me, and I was not satisfied. I thought it was lie and that it would fail, and it would all be dark. Then suddenly it was okay.’ So I pulled the effect, and it was the only note Jim gave me. He gave me no other note. He said, ‘Oh, I love the movie. It’s going to be great, but please let the audience enjoy the fact that it all turned out okay… in that future.’ [Laughs] So I pulled the effect…”
…It looks like Marvel is going down the DC route with its X-Men TV series, with FX Networks chief John Langraf revealing that the upcoming Legion show will not be set in the same continuity as Fox’s movies: “We’re already in active prep. We’re building sets. Our writers room is already assembled and has already beaten out the first season. It’s not in the continuity of those films in the sense that the current X-Men films take place in a universe where everybody on planet earth is aware of the existence of mutants. The series Legion takes place takes place in a parallel universe in which the U.S. Government is in the early days of being aware that something called mutants exist, but the public does not. I wouldn’t foresee characters moving back and forth because they really are parallel universes…”
…Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man, Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, Daredevil, Avengers: Infinity War, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6, Avengers: Ultron Revolution, Heroes Reborn and more…
