…With Warner Bros. unveiling the Suicide Squad, Marvel Studios wasted little time in firing back with its own big casting announcement, revealing that Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness star Benedict Cumberbatch has officially signed on to play the Sorcerer Supreme in director Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange movie. Cumberbatch’s casting finally, finally brings an end to the incessent speculation and rumour surrounding the role, which had seen the likes of Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, Joaquin Phoenix (Her), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Ethan Hawke (Sinister), Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar), Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Colin Farrell (Total Recall), Justin Theroux (The Leftovers), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Johnny Depp (The Lone Ranger), Keanu Reeves (John Wick) and just about every other actor in Hollywood linked to the part…
…Some new promotional art for Avengers: Age of Ultron arrived online this week, giving us our clearest look yet at Paul Bettany as The Vision alongside fellow Avengers Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Meanwhile, it has been announced that the UK will play host to a fortnight of reshoots in January at Pinewood Studios with Hemsworth, Downey, Ruffalo, Renner, Bettany, Johansson and Tom Hiddleston all said to be involved (what price Chadwick Boseman and Benedict Cumberbatch?), and it’s also been said that Earth’s Mightiest will return to these shores to shoot Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2 back-to-back…
…Director Peyton Reed has taken to Twitter to announced that principal photography on Marvel’s Ant-Man is now complete, while Evangeline Lilly has discussed the Phase Three movie, and more specifically, Edgar Wright’s original vision for the film: “I thought Edgar’s idea to blend the [Hank and Scott] stories was brilliant. You’re going to have fans up there who insist that you tell the story of Hank Pym, and fans up there who will be more on the Scott Lang side of it. … I think we are going to come close to pleasing them all. And what’s cool is that, you know, Janet Van Dyne is my mom. Hank Pym is my father. I was raised by two superheroes. I’m no schlump. I’m a pretty smart, competent, capable, kick-ass female. She’s very cool. I finally got the script literally the day before I was supposed to go in for fittings. I said, ‘I’m not going to do my fitting until I see the script.’ I saw with my own eyes that Marvel had just pulled the script into their world. I mean, they’ve established a universe, and everyone has come to expect a certain aesthetic [and] a certain feel for Marvel films. And what Edgar was creating was much more in the Edgar Wright camp of films. They were very different. I feel like, if [Marvel] had created Edgar’s incredible vision — which would have been, like, classic comic book — it would have been such a riot to film [and] it would have been so much fun to watch. [But] it wouldn’t have fit in the Marvel Universe. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how good it was. It just would have taken you away from this cohesive universe they’re trying to create. And therefore it ruins the suspended disbelief that they’ve built…”
…A couple of weeks ago it sounded like Hugo Weaving could be open to a return to the role of the Red Skull in Captain America: Civil War, but the actor has clarified this week that his “views have not changed” and he has little interest in a return to the MCU: “You never know what might or might not happen. But my views have not really changed. I certainly have not had any conversations with anyone about that. No change at all on that landscape. I was talking to you about another Matrix, and I doubt that would happen. But there are always circumstances. Certain circumstances do change, and there is always a good reason to revisit or reinvestigate something. It may not be worth following, but it is always good to keep your options open and your mind open. Having said all of that, I have not really changed my opinion about not wanting to do another Captain America. It was fun to do. It was a very great thing to do in many ways, but I suppose my focus is more likely to be elsewhere, but who knows…”
…Benedict Cumberbatch isn’t this week’s only new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad) securing the role of Jessica Jonesin Marvel’s upcoming Netflix series and Mike Colter (The Following) rumoured to have nabbed the part of Luke Cage. Speaking about Ritter’s casting, Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb said: ““Krysten Ritter has the type of range, spanning the comic to the tragic, that makes for the stuff of the best Marvel heroes. As Jessica Jones, Krysten will bring one of the most beloved new characters of the past decade to life in a way we know will delight her longtime fans and introduce her to many more…”
…It’s the midseason finale this coming Tuesday for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and ABC has given us a sneak peek at the episode ‘What They Become’ by releasing a promo [see here], along with a batch of promotional images [see here]…
…The week’s final piece of superhero casting news came over at 20th Century Fox, with Ryan Reynolds confirmed as reprising his role as Wade Wilson from X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the 2016 solo movie Deadpool. Reynolds announced his return via Twitter by posting a teaser image of the Merc with the Mouth made up of used shells, with the caption “It’s Chimichanga Time”; check it out here…
…Fresh of his appearance in the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Oscar Isaac has been speaking about his upcoming role as the titular villain in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse: “In the early conversations we talked a lot about that [Apocalypse’s distinct point of view and agenda]. Of course, you read the comic book, and [Apocalypse is] not so shaded with gray — except his face. [Laughs] That’s the only thing gray about him. Just as Bryan’s done with the other films, I think he seeks to find something a little more interesting than the archetypal aspects of the characters, which work really well in print, but for a film I think you want to see a bit more of the — for lack of a better word — humanity in [Apocalypse]; because ultimately this is a story about humans. It’s just different symbols for different things that we feel, so with this character I am incredibly interested in the challenge of finding someone that’s psychologically interesting and compelling, and actually the spiritual aspects of the character…”
…As the wave of negativity towards Fox’s The Fantastic Four continues to grow, Miles Teller has spoken out to defend the film, and the complete lack of promotional material that we’ve had for the Josh Trank-directed reboot: “We’re proud of what we did. If you want to go on the internet and find out what every person has to say about it, it’s very easy to find that and you can kinda get caught up in the whole thing. We’re right on schedule…we shot the whole thing during the summer and images have started to come out…I don’t know when they’re gonna show it but the movie doesn’t come out until next August. They just showed something for Jurassic World and that movie comes out a couple months before ours…I think it’s right on schedule.” Teller does have a point about Jurassic World in terms of a trailer, but he’s also neglecting the fact that we got our first promotional stills from that film several months back now…
…With Sony Television’s Powers set to arrive on PlayStation Network at some point this month, we’ve had a new batch of promotional images from the TV adaptation of the Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s comic book series; check them out here…
…And finally, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the only superhero movie of the year not to make the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy all vying for one of the five nominations alongside Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Interstellar, Maleficent, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
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.
