Our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes…
It’s been another busy week for Batman fans as The Dark Knight Rises marketing campaign continues to pick up the pace ahead of the film’s arrival next month. Earlier in the week, two new TV spots were released, along with a host of set reports and cast interviews as Warner Bros. lifted the embargo on sites lucky enough to receive an invite to the Pittsburgh set of the hugely anticipated sequel. You can check out a selection of the set reports at Batman-on-Film, HitFlix, IGN, Movies.com and SuperHeroHype, but the pick of the bunch comes from Collider, who have posted separate interviews with Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and producer Emma Thomas, in addition to a detailed ’20 Things to Know About The Dark Knight Rises’ feature…
…The latest edition of Empire Magazine also features an interview with director Christopher Nolan, where the director confirmed there’ll be no reference to Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight Rises, as well as discussing the introduction of Catwoman into his universe, not to mention his level of involvement in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel [take a look at the highlights here and here]. Meanwhile, according to David S. Goyer, if Warner Bros. executives had been given their way, we may have seen Bale’s Batman squaring off against The Riddler in The Dark Knight Rises, with Leonardo DiCaprio adding to the Inception reunion…
…We don’t often cover fan-made stuff here, but a selection of impressive character posters have been popping up online courtesy of MessenjahMatt which are certainly worthy of a mention; adopting the same style as the official posters of Batman, Bane and Selina Kyle, check out these superb one-sheets for Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson), John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and Peter Foley (Matthew Modine)…
…Before we move on, Christian Bale has muddied speculation that Nolan is set to kill off Batman in The Dark Knight Rises – and given hope of a future Nolan-directed installment – telling Empire that: “My understanding is that [TDKR] is the last one. I think it’s appropriate, I think it’s going out at the right time. But… if Chris came to me with a script and said, ‘You know what? There is another story’ then I would love the challenge of making a fourth one work.” Of course, this could be nothing more than a case of classic misdirection…
…The 2012 superhero season may still be in full swing, but production is now underway on the first of next year’s superhero offerings as stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley and company descend on Wilmington, NC. for the filming of Iron Man 3. Of course a selection of spy photos soon emerged, which rather surprisingly revealed that the Iron Patriot would be making an appearance, with James Badge Dale – who has previously been announced as the character of Savin (a.k.a. Coldblood) – snapped wearing the armour. According to Latino Review, Ben Kingsley is definitely portraying The Mandarin in the Shane Black-directed squel, although “he’s more a veiled threat as a silent partner to Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian. Killian is the man inventing Extremis and putting it into his ‘Extremis army’ of multiple super-powered individuals.” If that’s correct, then it’s a pretty safe bet that Iron Patriot/Coldblood will be one of these recruits, along with Ashley Hamilton’s Firepower…
…Looking further ahead, Kevin Feige has discussed the Alan Taylor-directed Thor 2, promising “a major, major new antagonist” and passing on a little info about the focus of Chris Hemsworth’s next outing as the God of Thunder: “We’re going to see the other side of Asgard. It’s not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of The Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki [Tom Hiddleston] will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie Portman and Thor returning with Jane Foster.” Thor 2 is set to go into production in London this summer, while the sequel’s release date has also been brought forward a week to November 8th, 2013…
…As The Avengers overtakes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to climb to number #3 in the all-time global box office chart, Disney has announced details of the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled’ 10-disc limited edition Blu-ray box-set, which features Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, and is set to go on sale on July 15th…
…While they might not be garnering quite as much attention as The Dark Knight Rises, Sony’s marketing department are plugging away in their efforts to promote The Amazing Spider-Man ahead of it’s release on July 3rd. Along with an extended TV spot, a new Oscorp Industries viral video has been released featuring Rhys Ifan’s Dr. Curt Connors [see parts one and two], while Andrew Garfield has also taken part in an interview with NPR to discuss his role in the Marc Webb-directed reboot…
…Fox has announced release dates for several of their big upcoming 2014 tentpole releases, including Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Untitled X-Men Sequel’. The follow-up to last year’s mutant prequel, which is set to reunite James McAvoy with Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence, will arrive on July 18th, 2014, while other non-superhero releases include Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse (April 25th, 2014) and another sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (May 23rd, 2014)…
…During an interview with CBM, Star Trek and Prometheus scribe Damon Lindelof responded to a question about which superhero he’d like to bring to the screen: “Well there’s a huge part of me that wold somehow like to be involved in a Batman movie, but now that I’ve seen what Christopher Nolan has done with it I just don’t think that anyone is ever going to do better. Sooner or later someone may have the audacity to do so, but It’s not going to be me! I think I would rather do a character that not many people knew, and maybe saw as lame and couldn’t carry their own movie. One character I’ve always loved is Iron Fist, and Matt Fraction’s incredible run with him a couple of years back. I always thought that would make a really cool movie…”
…According to Deadline, Universal are close to signing deals with Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse to reprise their roles in the Jeff Wadlow-directed sequel Kick-Ass 2, which is set to begin filming later this summer. Meanwhile, their report also states that Nicolas Cage could return as Big Daddy for a cameo, presumably in the form of a flashback (quite how that might work with Chloe Moretz now is anyone’s guess), although he’s apparently yet to receive a formal offer…
…Speaking to Zap2it, actor Stephen Amell has told fans to expect a realistic take on Green Arrow far-removed from his previous appearances in Smallville when the CW’s Arrow series arrives on TV screens later this year: “Nobody in our universe has super powers, so that’s a big jumping off point. I think we find Oliver Queen more injured than we saw him before. Other than in name, there are virtually no similarities between [Justin Hartley’s version and the new version]. It’s not to say that one’s better than the other, it’s just that they’re so different, it’s almost weird to compare them…”
…Two new posters have been released for the upcoming DC Comics Premiere Movie Superman vs. The Elite, while voice actor George Newbern (Justice League) has also discussed reprising his role as the Man of Steel for the animated feature ahead of its arrival on DVD and Blu-ray on June 12th…
…Sony Pictures and Marvel Animation have announced the home-entertainment releases of Marvel Anime: Wolverine (featuring the voice talents of Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia) and Marvel Anime: Blade (with Lost’s Harold Perrineau), both of which are set to hit DVD in North America on July 31st. For more details, including a rundown of the special features, head on over to IGN…
…And finally, action legend Sylvester Stallone had a few words about the superhero genre earlier this week as he commented on the state of the traditional, old school actioner: “[The action] genre unfortunately is becoming… let’s just say it’s fading away… You have the superheroes today which are possessed with all extraordinary powers; they can blink and a fireball comes out of there. It’s great. And then you have a bunch of us which is just your basic male-pattern badness… Kind of like hands-on action.” Kind of hard to disagree with Sly – when an audience can witness at entire city being destroyed by aliens or giant robots, it’s always going to be difficult for the likes of Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger to compete. That being said, I fully expect The Expendables 2 to hammer Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance when it comes to box office receipts this year.
Holy Franchise, Batman! – Now available for pre-order.
