In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Aquaman, Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Vixen, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Blade, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, The Sinister Six, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, The Incredibles 2, Heroes Reborn, SuperMansion and more…
Over the past few weeks we’ve heard a lot of speculation regarding Warner Bros.’ plans for a sequel to Man of Steel, and now Zack Snyder has confirmed that Man of Steel 2 is happening, and it’s title is… Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Yes, Snyder has now backtracked on his previous comments, stating that: “I think in a way Batman v Superman is Man of Steel 2. Justice League is kind of the transcendent, knights-of-the-round-table of the story. It’d be interesting to think about what a standalone Superman movie might be.” Meanwhile, Snyder also offered a few comments on the two-part Justice League movie, adding: “We really have to figure out the why of them. And I think that we have. That’s the one thing that’s cool to me about Batman v Superman, it’s all about the mythology of these two massive icons. And I think that’s compelling…”
…In other Batman v Superman news, a promotional video for Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood has arrived online, giving us our best look yet at Ben Affleck’s Batmobile [see here], while Jason Momoa has suggested that Aquaman’s costume could yet pay homage to the character’s traditional comic book look: “There might be a bit of orange and green. A bit of respect to prior work, but I think he is meaner now and upset – look at what has been done to our oceans. That’s his world that has been polluted…”
…On the small screen, Fox kicked off the new DC season with the return of its Batman prequel series Gotham, although the ratings for season two premiere episode ‘Damned If You Do’ was down on the season one finale, pulling in 4.49 million viewers compared to 4.9 million viewers for the season one finale and 8 million viewers for its season one premiere. Looking ahead we’ve had a new red band trailer entitled ‘Maniax’, along with a promo and batch of images for this Monday’s second episode ‘Knock, Knock’…
…Gotham has added a new DC villain to its roster, with Raul Castillo (Looking) set to play Eduardo Flamingo, while showrunner Bruno Heller has confirmed that the Court of Owls is incoming – at some point: “The Court of Owls is deep, deep, deep Gotham mythology. The comic book fans know about it, but I would suspect the larger audience is not so familiar. We sometimes have to make a distinction between the ‘Nolan-era Batman movie fans’ and the comic book fans. It’s not that they’re two separate audiences, just that there are two levels of engagement. Court of Owls is very much deep DC mythology. We are absolutely going to explore that world down the line. Looking at the longevity of the show, we have to hold some cards back, we can’t just throw all of the elements, all of the story at once. The long arc of the show is Bruce Wayne’s journey of discovery down into the depths of the physical and meta-physical world of Gotham. The Court of Owls is a brilliant conceit that will absolutely be part of our storytelling. I just won’t tell you when…”
…CBS gave us our first look at The Red Tornado (a.k.a. The Budget Vision) from Supergirl this week with the arrival of the first official image of Iddo Goldberg in full costume as the android [check it out here], while a new trailer was released which featured shots of villains such as Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli), Reactron (Chris Browning), Vartox (Owain Yeoman) and Hellgrammite (Justice Leak) [watch it here]. Supergirl premieres on CBS on Monday, October 26th…
…With The Flash set to return for its second season on October 6th, The CW has released a new poster and promo for the returning series, as well as an official synopsis for the second epsiode ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ which will introduce Teddy Sears’ Jay Garrick: “Jay Garrick (guest star Teddy Sears), a mysterious man fromEarth-2, appears at S.T.A.R. Labs with a dire warning about an evil speedster named Zoom, who is set on destroying The Flash. Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team must decide if they can trust this stranger even as they face yet another powerful meta-human. Meanwhile, Joe (Jesse L. Martin) must deal with a determined officer named Patty Spivot (guest star Shantal VanSanten) who wants to join his meta-human task force...”
…We’ve also got an official episode description for the second epsiode of Arrow season four, entitled ‘The Candidate’: “When an old family friend, Jessica Danforth (guest star Jeri Ryan), tells Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Thea (Willa Holland) that she is going to run for mayor, both Queens are concerned considering the last three mayors have been murdered. Despite their protests, Jessica makes her announcement so the Green Arrow and Speedy vow to protect her. Meanwhile, Thea begins to exhibit effects from the Lazarus Pit. In addition, Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) is faced with a tough business decision and looks to one of her employees, Curtis Holt (guest star Echo Kellum), for help...”
…This week brought further casting news on The CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, with Peter Francis James (The Losers) set to play Dr. Aldus Boardman, an original character who will have ties to Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and Stephanie Corneliussen (Mr. Robot) nabbing the role of Valentina Vostok, better known as the DC villain Negative Woman, whose character is described as: “a gifted and beautiful Soviet physicist who will stop at nothing to defend her precious “Motherland.” When the Legends encounter her at the height of the Cold War, they suspect her of working with Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) on a secret weapon. Ray/The Atom (Brandon Routh) and Leonard/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) must vie for Valentina’s affection in an attempt to thaw her cold heart, and find out where her allegiance truly lies -— before she completes her project and potentially turns the tide of the Cold War…”
…The CW has also released the fifth episode of its animated DC series Vixen, which you can watch over on the CW Seed website…
…Despite talk this summer that TNT’s live-action Teen Titans pilot Titans (or Blackbirds, or whatever the hell it’s called) would shoot this October, there’s been no word on movement on the project. However, a report has surfaced suggesting that the network has not yet given up on the teen superheroes, and that it is still in development. Although Development Hell might be a more accurate description…
…Good news for fans of the DC Animated Universe, as it has been announced this week that all 39 episodes of Justice League Unlimited are coming to Blu-ray courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection. No word on a release date just yet, but you can check out an ad for the Blu-ray here…
…Click below to continue on for Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man, Blade, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, The Sinister Six, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, The Incredibles 2, Heroes Reborn, SuperMansion and more…
