Our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes…
With just over two weeks to go until the release of The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony’s marketing campaign has gone into full swing [sorry] on the Marc Webb-directed reboot, with a host of promotional material flooding the internet these past seven days. Along with a new poster – which finally sees Andrew Garfield’s Spidey joined by another character, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) – Sony has also released a couple of new clips (see here and here), in addition to a featurette centred on the characters of Gwen Stacy and The Lizard (Rhys Ifans), which includes plenty of new footage, including the Ifans’ fully-transformed Lizard talking to Spider-Man. There’s also been a host of cast and crew interviews popping up online, the pick of which sees director Marc Webb discussing all things Spider-Man to ComingSoon, and Garfield, Stone, Ifans, Martin Sheen and Dennis Leary talking to Jake’s Takes…
…Despite the fact that The Amazing Spider-Man is yet to hit cinemas, plans are already well underway for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and co-writer Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Star Trek, Cowboys & Aliens) had a few brief (and unrevealing) words about the sequel in an interview with Movies.com, while Andrew Garfield spoke to MTV about his thoughts on a potential villain for the inevitable follow-up: “I love all of them. I like Elektro, he’s one of the ones I’m very into… I really like the [Green] Goblin, obviously, and I love Doc Ock. I think I like Doc Ock especially because of what Alfred Molina did [with the character in Spider-Man 2]. I don’t know; he made that so memorable and kind of profound, somehow.” Meanwhile, looking beyond Sony’s main Spider-Man franchise, producer Avi Arad has also spoken about the planned Venom feature, which is currently under development with Chronicle director Josh Trank at the helm, and also teased the possibility of a future alliance between Spidey and The Avengers…
…Mad rush for IMAX tickets notwithstanding, it’s been a pretty quiet week on The Dark Knight Rises front as Warner Bros. makes way for the imminent arrival of Sony’s wall-crawler. A UK TV spot featured some snippets of new footage from Christopher Nolan’s hugely-anticipated sequel, while a handful of images also cropped up online, with some shots of The Bat appearing over at SuerHeroHype and Batman-Online (via GeekTyrant) delivering a new image of Bane (Tom Hardy). The John Williams Fan Network also debuted the cover artwork and track listing for Hans Zimmer’s official TDKR soundtrack, which may of course contain some spoilers. And no, before you ask, it doesn’t conclude with ‘Batman’s Noble End’…
…As Nolan prepares to bring the curtain down on his acclaimed Batman trilogy, a host of filmmakers have reflected on 2008’s seminal comic book movie The Dark Knight in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. Head on over to CBM for a selection of thoughts from Tim Burton (Batman), Gareth Edwards (Monsters), Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods), Zack Snyder (Watchmen) and Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), along with Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige, and pick up the magazine for more from the likes of Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom), David Koepp (Men in Black III) and Peter Berg (Hancock)…
…Warner Bros. shopped several of its upcoming projects around the 2012 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas this past week, and while there was no sign of the Caped Crusader, the studio did take the opportunity to showcase some costumes from Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel, including those of Superman (Henry Cavill), Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Faora (Antje Traue). It’s also been revealed that Snyder will take part in a Man of Steel panel at Comic-Con International next month, which will include the first reveal of footage from the movie. So, perhaps we will get a trailer alongside The Dark Knight Rises after all..
…Superman wasn’t the only hero to have a presence at the Licensing Expo, with ComingSoon spotting a promotional poster for the Shane Black-directed Iron Man 3, which is currently filming in Wilmington, North Carolina and will join Man of Steel as part of next year’s superhero slate (alongside Thor 2 and The Wolverine)…
…If rumours are to be believed, we may be getting more of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes before the summer’s out, with SuperHero Authority suggesting that a three-hour ‘Director’s Cut’ of The Avengers could be released in cinemas in August in an effort to push its North American gross beyond Avatar and Titanic to claim the all-time North American box office record. Of course, there’s been no confirmation from Marvel or Disney as of yet, but should the extended re-release prove true then The Avengers certainly has a good chance of topping Titanic’s $658.6m gross, although surely the $760.5m haul of Avatar will prove a step too far…
…Regardless of where The Avengers ends up on the all-time list, the mega-blockbuster looks set to have a major impact on Marvel’s animated small screen offerings; last week it was revealed that a new show entitled Marvel’s Avengers Assemble would replace The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes next year, and Marvel exec Jeph Loeb has now provided some details on the upcoming project, which he describes as a “really extraordinary looking animated series dealing with the Avengers in that same world.” Check out the rest of his comments about Avengers Assemble (including five promotional images), Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and the second season of Ultimate Spider-Man here…
…On the subject of Ultimate Spider-Man, this Sunday’s episode sees Spidey teaming up with Wolverine to square off against the super-villain combo of Mesmero and Sabretooth and you can take a look at two clips and a selection of images from the episode over at Marvel Animation Age…
…X-Men fans may also be interested in some concept art by Steven E. Gordon (X-Men: Evolution, Ultimate Avengers) for the ultimately aborted second season of Wolverine and the X-Men, which you can peruse over at the 1 Million Ways to Save Wolverine and the X-Men Facebook page…
…Screenwriter Tom Wheeler (Puss in Boots) has signed on to rewrite the script for Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment’s Mandrake the Magician, which had originally been written by David and Janet Peoples (12 Monkeys). Based on the comic strip created by Lee Falk (The Phantom) in 1934, Mandrake the Magician counts Charles Roven (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel) among its producing team and is expected to present “a Sherlock Holmes-esque 21st century makeover” for the early superhero….
…And finally, Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson has confirmed that he’s set to reprise his role for the upcoming sequel Kick-Ass 2, which is gearing up to go into production this year: “It’s pretty much set to go, this Fall. I think now Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are on board. I’m certainly set up to do it. Jeff Wadlow [Never Back Down] is to direct… Matthew Vaughn [X-Men: First Class] has got his name all over this one, as well. The only way he was ever going to make a sequel was if it could be anywhere close to the first one, and keep that class and that quality, and just maintain something original and new and refreshing. And this script delivers all of that, right now. I’m excited to get back in the suit.
Holy Franchise, Batman! – Now available for pre-order.
Originally published June 16, 2012. Updated November 29, 2022.
