Presenting our weekly round-up of all the biggest news stories from the world of movie superheroes…
It was thought that the conclusion of the Cleveland leg of The Dark Knight Rises shoot would put an end to the incessant wave of spoilers coming out of Christopher Nolan’s third and final Batman feature, but this past week has brought plenty of juicy rumours from the film, including some shots of possible interiors and exteriors for the new Batcave and a look at Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox, who appeared to be sporting a prosthetic hand as he prepared for a ‘sewer’ scene with Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Bane’s mercenary goons. Meanwhile another source seemed to confirm that Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman goggles would double as cat ears when pulled back like a headband, while heading towards the more unsubstantiated rumours, Jeff Sneider of Variety suggested via Twitter that Juno Temple could be playing Harley Quinn and a poster over at the SuperHeroHype forums claimed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake is actually Robin. There had been talk back in February that JGL could appear as the Boy Wonder, but personally I can’t see it, although it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he does take over from Batman in some capacity during the film.
Shifting across to Warner Bros.’ other major DC property for a moment and we also got a good, close-up look at Henry Cavill’s new Superman attire with a few new images from the Man of Steel shoot, which you can check out over at SuperHeroHype. Cavill certainly looks the part as Superman, but I have to say the more I see of the suit the less impressed I am with the design. Another couple of images also cropped up showing Cavill with Antje Traue’s Faora and the mysterious ‘Mo-Cap Man’, whom fans have been speculating as a CG version of Non, along with that of Doomsday, which seems a bit of a stretch given that the reboot is intended an origin story.
The Cleveland portion of The Avengers shoot wrapped earlier in the week before the production moved on to New York City, with some early set photos depicting what appears to be a crashed Quinjet, along with images of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark holding a briefcase containing the Cosmic Cube. ComicBookMovie collected together a selection of spy photos from the NYC set featuring principal cast members such as Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, along with a scene description that you’d have to assume to be the final sequence of the movie. Meanwhile, director Joss Whedon spoke briefly to Total Film about his vision for the superhero team-up, while Thor’s Stellan Skarsgård also discussed his involvement with The Avengers in some depth during an interview with IAmRogue.
This past week has also seen plenty of talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-Avengers with Tom Hiddleston discussing the possibility of returning as Loki for Thor 2, Clark Gregg seemingly confirming his return as Agent Coulson for director Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 and former WWE star (and soon-to-be Roadblock in G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation) Dwayne Johnson throwing his elbow pad into the ring for the role of Luke Cage, if and when the Power Man ever makes it to the screen. In other potential casting news, rumours have surfaced linking Bradley Cooper (The Hangover), Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies), Eddie Redmayne (The Good Shepherd) and Joel Kinnaman (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) to an unspecified future role, which the good folk over at ComicBookMovie have speculated as Hank Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man, while Captain America: The First Avenger co-writer Christopher Markus told Hero Complex that he’d like to see Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) crop up in Cap sequel as MODOK.
Not that we condone piracy here at Flickering Myth, but if you’d like to cast your eye over some of the special features from the home entertainment releases of this summer’s superhero offerings (before you purchase the DVD or Blu-ray, of course) then this week is your lucky week. Along with a featurette looking at the make-up process to turn a semi-clad Jennifer Lawrence into Mystique, the Russian release of X-Men: First Class saw thirteen deleted scenes make their way online. Meanwhile if you have the patience of a saint you can also check out eleven deleted scenes from Thor, along with the special feature The Road to the Avengers and the Marvel One-Shot short, The Consultant.
Wrapping up the best of the rest…
…After news last week that Fox had delayed production of James Mangold’s The Wolverine until next year, it’s now been reported by Variety that Mark Bomback (Jack the Giant Killer, Total Recall) has been brought in for rewrites on Christopher McQuarrie’s original script. Variety also revealed that the cast will be comprised solely of Japanese and Japanese-American actors, excluding Hugh Jackman of course, along with a character called Viper, whose role is expected to expand with the latest draft…
…It may have received a rather mixed (i.e. bad) reception from critics, but Green Lantern has finally crossed the $200m mark at the global box office this past week. Although it’s technically recouped its production budget, much of that haul will go straight to the exhibitors and with a hefty marketing budget, Warner Bros. are still likely to suffer a loss unless the home-entertainment release exceeds all expectations…
…Fans of animated superhero adventures may want to check out a three-part interview with Sam Liu (Hulk Vs., All-Star Superman, Batman: Year One) over at ComicBookMovie, during which the director talks about his work on the likes of The Batman, Teen Titans, Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns…
…Director Marc Webb had a few words for Total Film about his upcoming reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, while Chris Zylka (Shark Night 3D) spoke to Collider about his experience as Flash Thompson and rumours persisted that Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) could feature alongside in the cast alongside Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and company when the film arrives next summer…
…And finally, the results of our latest poll are now in, with X-Men: First Class enjoying a late surge to take the title of your favourite superhero movie of 2011 with 45% of the vote, ahead of Captain America: The First Avenger (29%), Thor (20%) and Green Lantern (4%). Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote.
Holy Franchise, Batman! – Coming 2012.
