In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Inhumans, Gifted, Legion, Logan, Deadpool 2, X-Force, Wonder Woman, Justice League, The Batman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, Powerless, The Tick and more…
We’ll start things off this week with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, seeing as we’ve had our very first look at November’s Thor: Ragnarok! Entertainment Weekly kicked off the fun by releasing the cover to its latest issue, featuring a short-haired Thor (Chris Hemsworth) alongside Cate Blanchett’s Hela and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie [see here], followed by a batch of images which included shots of Thor, Hela, Valkyrie, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) [see here]. We also got some plot details which give us an insight into how the likes of Hela, The Hulk and Sakaar factor into the story (and why Thor has a new haircut) [read them here], while Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson both discussed their characters, and Taika Waititi spoke about the shift in tone and the film’s comedic elements, although he did also stress that “it’s not really a comedy”…
…Marvel will kick off its 2017 superhero slate in less than two months with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and director James Gunn has been chatting about the sequel this week – more specifically, the character motivations of the original team members Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot; if you’re interesting in knowing what is driving the Guardians in the hotly-anticipated follow up, you can find Gunn’s comments here…
…A new cast member for Avengers: Infinity War was announced this week, with motion performer Terry Notary (Planet of the Apes, Kong: Skull Island) revealing that he’s set to portray Thanos’ right hand man: “I’m working with Josh Brolin and three other actors in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, and I’m playing Josh Brolin’s right hand bad guy in the film. I can’t say the name of the character or I think Marvel will sever my head, but I apply those same principals of what it means to drop bullshit and just play a character truly evil. And it’s working. It’s truly working.” Click here for our speculation as to who Notary could be playing…
…Doctor Strange hit Blu-ray in the UK this past week, and to coincide with the release we had an exclusive feature from Marvel looking at the costumes of the Phase Three blockbuster, while some new concept artwork and VFX featurettes also arrived online, which you can find here…
…Iron Fist is set to hit Netflix this coming Friday, and this week saw the streaming service releasing a new character poster, banner and featurette for Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing [see here], while showrunner Scott Buck revealed that we won’t be seeing Danny Rand in his traditional yellow and green costume: “There was no good reason we could imagine to put Danny Rand in a costume. Because Danny Rand is still discovering who he is as a hero and where he is going to be, so he’s not yet ready to put on a mask or a costume.” You may also want to read Anghus Houvouras’ latest op-ed, where he responds to the accusations of whitewashing with the casting of Finn Jones as Iron Fist; check it out here…
…Marvel kicked off production on its upcoming Inhumans TV series this week in Hawaii, and sure enough it was only a matter of time before we got some set photos, which gave us our first look at Anson Mount in costume as Black Bolt, along with a pre-CGI Lockjaw; take a look at the set photos here…
…Marvel will soon be going into production on its latest TV project, the untitled X-Men series from Matt Nix (Burn Notice) and director Bryan Singer (X-Men: Apocalypse), and it is untitled no more, as producer Lauren Shuler Donner has revealed the title Gifted, as well as unveiling a first-look photo of the cast [see here]. Gifted will follow two parents who go on the run from the government after discovering their children have the X gene, and link up with an underground group of mutants fighting for freedom. Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and Amy Acker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) lead the cast as the parents alongside 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)…
…Gifted is of course the second X-Men series from Marvel after Legion, and you can read Rachel Bellwoar’s review of this week’s fifth episode here, and we’ve also got a promo for ‘Chapter Six’ here. Meanwhile, if you were hoping that David Haller’s father Charles Xavier could pop up at some point in the future, you’ll be delighted to hear that Patrick Stewart has revealed he’s open to an appearance in the series, despite the fact he planned to retire from the role of Professor X with Logan…
…That leads us nicely onto Logan, and Fox was celebrating last weekend as the critically acclaimed Wolverine solo movie debuted to $237.8 million worldwide. Domestically, it grossed $85.3 million, setting a new record for an R-rated opening in March, as well as claiming the third-biggest worldwide opening for the X-Men franchise after Deadpool ($264.7 million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($262.9 million). It also pushed the Wolverine franchise beyond the $1 billion mark globally, and will presumably have little trouble overtaking the $414.8 million gross of The Wolverine and $373.1 million haul of X-Men Origins: Wolverine over the coming weeks to make it the most successful entry in the trilogy…
…Having decided to hang up the claws with Logan, Hugh Jackman spoke this week about the ending of the film, which of course contains major spoilers for anyone yet to see it, while director James Mangold confirmed that the Blu-ray release will include a black and white version of the film. Mangold also offered up some details on two deleted scenes, the first of which namedropped Jean Grey, and the other featuring the ‘Westchester Incident’. Read what he had to say about the scenes here…
…In other Logan news, we got a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Hugh Jackman recording ADR for the movie [watch it here], while Fox released a featurette entitled ‘Logan’s Legacy’ looking back on Jackman’s 17 years in the role [watch it here], and Simon Kinberg confirmed that Jackman will be consulted if and when the time comes to appoint his successor as Wolverine. Meanwhile, we also got a look at some concept art featured unused locations, and a canine companion for Wolverine [see here]. Meanwhile, you may also be interested in Tom Jolliffe’s op-ed ‘Losing a Grip on Greatness: Dropping the Ball with Logan’, which you can read here…
…Fox and director David Leitch have found their Domino for Deadpool 2, with Ryan Reynolds taking to Twitter to reveal that Atlanta star Zazie Beetz has secured the role of Neena Thurman in the hotly-anticipated sequel. So much for The Hashtag Show’s report from the previous day claiming that Janelle Monae was the front runner…
…Although Deadpool 2 is yet to start filming, Fox is already looking ahead to X-Force, with Simon Kinberg confirming this week that Deadpool and Cable will lead the team, as well as discussing how the R-rated movies will sit alongside the main X-Men series given the difference in tone: “We are working hard on New Mutants, Gambit with Channing Tatum, Deadpool 2 and the new X-Force movie where Deadpool is alongside Cable and other main characters. Then X-Force which is a combination of Deadpool, and Cable –they’re like the Black ops of the X-Men. They’re much darker and have an R-rated decibel. There are other X-Men characters coming into X-Force at different times in the comic, but it’s separate from X-Men. I talk to the studio all the time about this and there is a plan for how these movies can connect and be a part of a larger narrative. It’s something that’s fun, exciting and it will be interesting to see how we marry the different tones that we’ve been generating in these standalone movies of the X-Men universe. But we go into making the best movie we can. It’s not just about a Colossus or Deadpool cameo. Connecting all of these movies will happen when it organically makes sense. These movies aren’t simply being built as stepping stones to a larger story. Each one is wholly enclosed and a movie worth seeing…”
…We’ve posted a couple of X-Features on Flickering Myth this week; be sure to take a look at Eric Bay-Andersen’s ‘Making Sense of the X-Men Movie Timeline(s)‘ and Ben Robins’ ‘How Deadpool Could Bridge the Gap Between the MCU and Fox’s X-Men Universe‘…
…Click below to continue on for Wonder Woman, Justice League, The Batman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, Powerless, The Tick and more…
