Our weekly round up of all the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man 3, Phase Three, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Fantastic Four, Batman vs. Superman, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow and more…
Well, The Avengers: Age of Ultron has kicked off production this past week, with the crew heading to Johannesburg for a fortnight of filming in South Africa (with the city apparently doubling for Johannesburg, rather than Wakanda), so we should expect to see and hear plenty from the Joss Whedon-helmed sequel over the coming weeks and months, and to get us started new cast addition Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marelene, Godzilla) has spoken about her costume for the Scarlet Witch, reiterating that we’ll be seeing something different than the traditional comic book appearance when The Avengers reassemble in May 2015: “We’ve done some costume stuff, yeah! My favourite piece is my secrecy cloak that prevents anyone from seeing what I’m wearing. There’s a hood, and a robe – it protects the image! I don’t think Joss ever would have hired me, honestly, if he wanted me to wear those outfits; I am not a professional athlete and nor am I a model. Wearing those costumes wouldn’t be fun for anyone who wasn’t those things. He already had a different idea. It respects and involves the comic-book character but it’s different, more rooted. It’s for someone today. If someone walked around wearing what she wore in the comics, people would stop and say, ‘What the hell… she thinks she’s a superhero!’..”
…Of course Scarlet Witch won’t be the only female on the roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Age of Ultron, with Scarlett Johansson reprising the role of Black Widow, and Marvel chief Kevin Feige has spoken about the S.H.I.E.L.D. spy’s role in The Avengers sequel, as well as revealing that the studio has been developing a solo movie for Scarlett’s Natasha Romanoff: “[Black] Widow’s part in [Age of Ultron] is very big. We learn more about her past and learn more about where she came from and how she became in that film. The notion of exploring that even further in her own film would be great, and we have some development work with that.” Meanwhile, Feige also went on to touch upon the implications that Captain America: The Winter Soldier will have on the climactic Phase Two offering: “We wanted to change the dynamic of the cinematic universe with this film. We wanted Cap and really the entire cinematic universe to be very different at the end of Winter Solider than it is at the beginning. Therefore when we meet the Avengers at the top of Age of Ultron, it’s a very different landscape than we left them at the end of the film film. Partially that’s because we love the rhythm that the comic books have developed – each of the characters appear in their runs, occasionally they get together for a big event or crossover series, they part again, and then they come back together again…”
…That leads us nicely into the upcoming Captain America sequel, and Anthony Mackie’s Falcon has become the latest character to get his own poster, while the star has spoken about his role in The Winter Soldier, explaining where Sam Wilson gets his name, discussing his costume, and seemingly confirming that he’ll be back for future Cap sequels: The Air Force had a specialty group, like the Navy SEALs. But instead of giving them the ability to quietly go in and manoeuvre through hazardous territories, they gave them the ability to fly. It’s a lot of me on wires screaming and them saying ‘Action’ and me flying around. I’m deathly afraid of heights, they always say, ‘Oh, we’re just gonna take you this high.’ Then they take me and swing me… It’s 10 times tougher performing with wings. I’m like, ‘Wait, I’m the only dude that’s on strings? Everybody else gets to walk around or drive cars and I gotta fly?’ When we had our first conversation about the movie, my biggest statement to the Russos was, ‘You better not make me look like an idiot.’ That was my greatest fear. Even though I wanted to wear red spandex, I was hugely afraid of looking like a pigeon! As the Falcon aged [in the comics] and grew up, his uniform grew up. The uniform we have now is the uniform of an adult… The Ultimate look gives him a sense of purpose and makes him look like a badass. The wings can look funny at times, so you have to do something to combat that – at no point in time do you want him to show up on film and have people laugh. That’s what we’ve been able to find, between the tactical suit and the Ultimate suit. As the franchise goes on and you see more of me and Captain America, the suit will evolve into the Ultimate look, the hard-leather black look. The suit that he has in this movie is more of a military suit because it’s the first time you see it…”
…Meanwhile, Mackie has also revealed that he’s been pestering Marvel to have Sam Wilson link up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as part of The Avengers: Age of Ultron: “I call all of them at Marvel every Monday,” Mackie told Total Film. “I’m like, ‘So have y’all decided if I’m in Avengers 2 yet? I’ll get on the bus to Albuquerque tomorrow!’ I wanted to be a superhero from the first day that I started in this business, and to have the opportunity to be a superhero is kind of remarkable. If I get the opportunity to be in The Avengers 2, 3, 7 and 18, there’s no way I would complain or balk at any part of that…”
…Shifting back to The Winter Soldier for a moment and co-director Joe Russo has spoken about Captain America’s (Chris Evans) own uniform in the film, and the decision to outfit him with his ‘Captain Rogers’ uniform, which he says plays into the plot of the sequel: “It was about a real world grounding approach to the character, in the spirit of Ed Brubaker’s book, which is postmodern and deconstructionist and a grounded thriller. We wanted to put Cap in a space where he’s a special forces operative for S.H.I.E.L.D. who goes on missions around the world that are clandestine and sometimes require a certain level of anonymity or stealth. We wanted to use his Super Soldier outfit from the comic books as a way to represent, thematically, his place in the world of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the difference between working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and being Captain America. That’s something that gets explored on a very concrete level in terms of what outfits are used in the film. We didn’t feel like we were messing with the icon. People can say that they’re fans of the books if they’re only loyal to the ‘60s and ‘70s version of the character – well, then you’re a fan of that version of the character, but if you’ve been reading the books till the current runs then this is a journey that the character goes on and it’s a pretty explicit journey. We just felt like we were being faithful to the more recent issues of the books. The movie has a very thematic component in terms of the use of costumes. When you come to see the film I think you’ll understand why we made the choice we made…”
…It’s been revealed that the first trailer for August’s Guardians of the Galaxy will arrive this coming Tuesday (February 18th), with a running time of 2 minutes and 23 seconds. So, as we await our first look at the cosmic superhero team, be sure to check out some early concept animation from the film featuring Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) in action, as well as Hasbro’s recreation of the first official still from the movie using the upcoming line-up of Marvel Legends action figures, which are set to be showcased this weekend at the 2014 Toy Fair…
…During a promotional interview for the upcoming Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King, Ben Kingsley has spoken about the controversial ‘Mandarin Twist’ in Iron Man 3, revealing that he was never concerned about a negative reaction from fans: “I wasn’t worried. I truly wasn’t worried. When I worked a lot in the theater before I became heavily involved in movies, which I love, I was privileged to play a lot of Shakespearian roles that most people in the audience were familiar with and everyone has their preconception of… so, it had to be my Mandarin. It had to be my Trevor. I think that what I’m saying is that I tend to take on the character and not be concerned too much about the audience’s reaction to how I’m portraying it and which direction I’m going. So, I didn’t even think of the twist. I thought f it as one whole balanced acting exercise. So, if it’s naive of me, I apologize. But, it didn’t worry me that, ‘Ooh, this might be rejected.’ I can only respond by congratulating Kevin Feige, Drew Pearce and Shane Black on holding their nerve — on holding their nerve right through the shoot. When I came back to do some little tidy up reshoots, I thought, Oh, they’re still holding their nerve. This is still Trevor and the Mandarin. And to hold your nerve as a Marvel Comics filmmaker is great. They did. If they would have wobbled, I would have been dead in the water. They held their nerve. Terrific. And I think you’re right — I don’t get too heavily involved with feedback; I express and then I’m done. I paint my portrait and then I put my brushes down and I walk away. But it has filtered through to me in a gentle way that very, very, very few people indeed were upset by that twist. Even avid Marvel fans, they went along with it…”
…If rumours are to be believed, Marvel Studios may have finalised its plans for Phase Three of the Cinematic Universe, with reports suggesting that the third wave of superhero movies will consist of Ant-Man, Captain America 3, Thor 3, Doctor Strange and The Avengers 3. Of course, we shouldn’t take this as gospel until we hear something official from Marvel, but if true it would seem we’re going to face an even longer wait for our first trip to Wakanda, as well as the rumoured sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy…
…On the small screen, J. August Richards has been speaking about his excitement over getting the opportunity to bring the cyborg superhero to the screen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and we’ve also had our first look at Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif from her upcoming guest role in the fifteenth episode ‘Yes Men’, which is due to air on March 11th [see here]. Meanwhile, Clark Gregg was asked about the chances of his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents making it to the big screen, as well as how the show will integrate with the upcoming Captain America sequel, although it seems like he’s pretty unsure what the future holds himself at this point: “Ask me again [about a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie] after I’ve seen Captain America 2. From what I can tell from the trailers, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s a big part of that world… this C.E.N.T.I.P.E.D.E. plot and The Clairvoyant is going to kind of pull a lot of things together and perhaps connects to some of the Marvel films in the same way that a [previous episode] connected, to certain extent, with Thor 2. It will be interesting to see how our team integrates with the world after Captain America…”
…On the Marvel animation front, TV Guide has revealed that NBA star Chris Bosh is set to lend his voice to Heimdall in this Sunday’s episode of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., which sees the all-seeing Asgardian teaming up with the Mighty Thor to battle Malekith the Accursed and his army of Dark Elves. “Marvel was great to work with and I was honored to voice Heimdall,” says Bosh. “I enjoyed the Hulk as a kid and am excited for kids’ reaction to the episode…”
…Moving on to Sony’s Spider-Man universe and this week has brought us a third trailer for the upcoming sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 containing some new footage from the film, as well as a new wallpaper featuring Andrew Garfield’s web-slinger surveying New York City. And, as always, the Daily Bugle viral site has been busy this week with two new articles, the first of which makes reference to Alistair Smythe, a.k.a. Spider-Slayer, who has been confirmed as B.J. Novak’s (The Office) character in the film [see here], while the second has been penned by none other than the Bugle’s beloved editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson and naturally adopts an anti-Spidey slant, posing the question about who foots the bill for the destruction that accompanies the wall-crawler’s heroics [see here]…
…20th Century Fox has kicked off what looks to be a new phase of its marketing campaign for X-Men: Days of Future Past by releasing three character images from the mutant sequel featuring Future Magneto (Ian McKellen), Past Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Past Professor X (James McAvoy), while three new images from the Bryan Singer-helmed sequel have also popped up online, giving us another look at Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Magneto (Fassbender)…
…Back in September, Channing Tatum expressed an interest in joining the X-Men franchise in the role of Gambit, and now X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Taylor Kitsch has spoken about the potential casting, stating that he’s still open to reprising the role, but would hold no grudges against Tatum should he find himself replaced: “I would [return] under the right circumstances, but if [Tatum] does it, good on him. He’ll kill it. It’s such a cool character. Whoever plays him will be a lucky guy. It is what is it, I’m not going to be like ‘Oh my God, why don’t I get to play him?’ If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. And if not, I’ll move on. If they cast him, I wish him nothing but the best. I hope he kicks the [crap] out of it…”
…We’re still waiting on casting announcements for Fox’s reboot The Fantastic Four ahead of filming next month, and while he hasn’t offered any confirmation on his expected role as Johnny Storm, Michael B. Jordan has addressed the rumours, as well as the potential ethnicity change for the Human Torch: “I can’t even — you know how it is in the industry! I can’t talk [about it] – it’s still up in the air, I just can’t. It’s one of things where, certain people start talking too soon and then what if it doesn’t happen for whatever reason? Then I’m the guy who was out there talking about something that coulda, shoulda, woulda, but didn’t. It’s not just about that role — I think times are changing. It’s 2014, comic books in general were established when we didn’t have civil rights, for the most part. So there weren’t a lot of comic book characters who were geared towards us, period. We weren’t the market that comic books were made for in the beginning. But as times change and things move on, I think us as a people need to evolve as well in our thinking and not be so narrow-minded. So, if not me, if not this project, [if it’s] someone else in another character, I wouldn’t be mad at that at all… [But] I would like to play a character, that may or may not be written for myself, that might look like me…”
…Moving on to Warner Bros. fledgling DC Cinematic Universe and this week has brought some rare comments from director Zack Snyder, who spoke about the casting of Ben Affleck as The Dark Knight in his 2016 Man of Steel sequel Batman vs. Superman, and what he’ll add to the movie: “Ben brings an interesting counterweight to the performance of Henry Cavill’s Superman. [Affleck] has the experience necessary to paint the picture of an older and more [advanced] man than Clark Kent, [one] who bears the scars of a seasoned vigilante while [simultaneously] retaining the charm that Bruce Wayne deploys when present in the world.” Snyder then went on to respond to a question about whether Batman vs. Superman will take inspiration from Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, with Snyder stating that it won’t be a direct adaptation, “but the comic book will influence the history of Batman vs. Superman, on which David S. Goyer and myself will work…”
…Flickering Myth’s Trevor Hogg caught up with production designer Patrick Tatopoulos earlier this week to discuss his work on 300: Rise of an Empire, with Tatopoulos also expressing his excitement over getting the opportunity to work on Batman vs. Superman, as well as stating that for himself, the decision to push the sequel back 10 months has been a blessing in disguise: “At the end of 300: Rise of an Empire [2014] I met with Zack [Snyder] and he said, ‘I going to do this movie and want you to design it.’ I was stunned. I thought, ‘Wow! Great.’ That’s where it started. This is a crazy huge movie. It’s taking a lot of energy but it’s something that someone like me needs to do in his lifetime. There’s a project that is close to me that I was going to direct and I said, ‘I need to do this.’ Working with Zack again was important to me because he’s an amazing director with an incredible vision. Batman and Superman is something I’ve always wanted to do. I would have chosen one or both. I got the offer and jumped on it. The big chunk that we want to do for the movie is there but there is so much more to do. For me, it’s been a blessing that it has been pushed a little bit…”
…Clancy Brown, the longtime voice of Lex Luthor in DC animation, has spoken about the casting of Jesse Eisenberg as the billionaire industrialist in the Man of Steel sequel, stating that he feels Eisenberg will be “great” in the role: “I think Jesse Eisenberg is a great choice. I think he’s a really sharp choice, and I know a lot of people don’t agree with that, but I think he could be spectacular. I liked [Michael] Rosebaum’s take on it, but that was kind of a WB show. But I just love the idea that the Facebook guy is Lex Luthor. That’s just perfect. He’s a pretty specific actor. He’s not a chameleon like Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey. He has a similar smugness the way that Spacey does — that highly-intelligent, super-smug, almost effeminate kind of smugness about him — but he’s way more current. I just watched Now You See Me, which I thought he was terrific in. He has a really specific persona engrained that is super-smart. You don’t necessarily like him, but you don’t dislike him. You don’t necessarily think he’s a good, fun guy — you see him as a real quirky, weird dude. You don’t completely trust him, although he’s kind of adorable in his nerdy way. I think Lex has that. Lex is attractive in all the things that shouldn’t be attractive — or aren’t traditionally attractive in comic books — his intelligence and his ambition and his ego and all the rest of that. Jesse carries that really well. Plus, I hear he’s a really nice guy, which helps. It’s why I think it shines through, why his attractiveness shines through, because deep down he’s a good guy. But he also has this kind of intellectual persona that’s unsettling. It’s almost reptilian, which is something I think Lex carries with him...”
…It’s not just on the big screen where a new chapter in the Batman saga is set to get underway, with Fox and Warner Bros. Television stepping up casting on the TV pilot Gotham, which is set to feature a young Bruce Wayne and take place in the years before his emergence as the city’s watchful guardian. Southland star Ben McKenzie (who happened to voice Batman in the animated Batman: Year One movie) has secured the role of Detective Jim Gordon [see what advice The Dark Knight Trilogy star Gary Oldman has for McKenzie here], while other additions include Donal Logue (Sons of Anarchy) as Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers) as Alfred Pennyworth, Robin Lord Taylor (Another Earth) as Oswald Cobblepot, Zabryna Guevara (The Guilt Trip) as Detective Essen and Erin Richards (Being Human) as Barbara Kean, the future Mrs. Gordon. Gotham has been developed by Bruno Heller (The Mentalist) and is expected to be picked up for a full series…
…Over at The CW, there’s been a couple of extra additions to the pilot episode of The Flash, with Tom Cavanagh (Scrubs, Ed) set to play Harrison Wells, described as “a rock star in the world of physics and the mind and money behind Central City’s S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator. He becomes a pariah after his lab explodes. But he redeems himself when he discovers that his failed experiment accidentally created the world’s fastest man, The Flash (Grant Gustin)”, and John Wesley Schipp, star of the original 90s Flash TV show, signing on for a top secret role (there’s a lot of speculation on his character being Jay Garrick, the first incarnation of The Flash). Meanwhile, in the event that the pilot episode fails to lead to a series, The Flash and Arrow executive producer Greg Berlanti has revealed to Digital Spy that they still have plans for Gustin’s Barry Allen: “Fingers crossed we don’t screw it up and he gets his own show!” he joked. “If he didn’t, I don’t think we would ever want to let Grant go. He’s too valuable. That would be our hope, I think – no matter what, to keep Barry part of the universe…”
…And we’ll finish things off this week with Arrow, and as well as a batch of promo images from next week’s episode ‘Time of Death’ featuring our first look at Robert Knepper (Prison Break) as William Tockman, a.k.a. The Clock King [see here], leading man Stephen Amell has delivered some news that’s sure to be music to the ears of Arrow fans, confirming that we’ll be seeing plenty more of Oliver Queen and company with The CW renewing the hit superhero show for a third season.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
