In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman: The Killing Joke, Justice League Dark, Supergirl, Gotham, The Flash, Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Doctor Strange, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, The Defenders, The Rocketeers and more…
Comic-Con may be over [you can find out round-up of SDCC here], but the superhero news is showing no signs of slowing down, especially with Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad now just under a week away from release! Naturally we’ll start things off with Task Force X, and this week has brought us new images of The Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) [see here, here and here], a four-minute featurette entitled ‘Good to be Bad’ [watch it here], and a clip featuring Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Slipknot (Adam Beach) [watch it here]. Meanwhile, for anyone still holding out hope that the old Joker / Jason Todd theory holds any weight, director David Ayer has addressed the speculation, writing it off as ridiculous, while the official cast list has revealed that Ben Affleck’s Batman isn’t the only Justice League member to make a cameo in the film…
…Jared Leto has been discussing his role as The Joker this week – and specifically, filling the shoes of Heath Ledger, who won an Oscar for his iconic portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight: “Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It’s one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn’t know him well, but he was a beautiful person. I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate. But I thought that given the history, it was OK. The good thing about other people having done this is that you know what direction not to head in…”
…Following on from the poster and trailer released during Comic-Con weekend, a new image from next year’s Wonder Woman has arrived online giving us another look at Gal Gadot’s Amazon Princess; check it out here and be sure to listen to Oli and Luke’s thoughts on the Wonder Woman and Justice League trailers from SDCC in the Flickering Myth Podcast Mini here…
…In other DCEU news, this week has brought confirmation that Kiersey Clemons will be reuniting with Dope director Rick Famuyima on 2018’s The Flash, where she’ll play the female lead alongside Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen. Character details are unconfirmed, but it’s assumed that Clemons is playing Iris West…
…Our UK readers may be interested in several DC competitions we’ve got running on the site at the moment for Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Supergirl and Gotham…
…And on the collectibles front, Hot Toys has unveiled a host of DC-related products this week in Suicide Squad’s Joker (Purple Coat Version) [see here], Deadshot [see here], Harley Quinn [see here], Joker (Batman Imposter Version) Cosbaby [see here] and The Joker and Harley Quinn Cosbaby Set [see here], Batman v Superman’s Batman (Blue Chrome Version) Cosbaby [see here], and Sideshow Collectibles’ Joker maquette from Batman: The TV Series [see here]…
…The LEGO Batman Movie was showcased at SDCC with a new trailer [watch it here], and Warner Bros. has followed that up with a new promo, which sees Will Arnett’s Caped Crusader checking out his Comic-Con selfie collection; take a look here…
…Following its premiere at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. Animation’s Batman: The Killing Joke enjoyed a one-night-only theatrical run, with the R-rated adaptation of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s classic one-shot pulling in an impressive $3.1 million, enjoying a higher per-screen average that both Star Trek Beyond and The Secret Life of Pets. Be sure to read Ricky Church’s ★★★ review of the movie here…
…This week also brought us a near-ten minute sneak peek of the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie, Justice League Dark, which also confirms that Matt Ryan will be reprising his role as John Constantine from the cancelled NBC series; watch the sneak peek here…
…Sticking with Justice League Dark for a moment, and before it was an animated movie, it spent several years in development as a live-action project, entitled Dark Universe. The supernatural ensemble hit a stumbling block following the departure of Guillermo del Toro, with Warner Bros. then inviting filmmakers to pitch their take on the material. One such pitch came from Joseph Kahn (Detention), and this week saw the director sharing a brief VFX concept he had created for the pitch featuring Swamp Thing; take a look here…
…Moving on to the small screen now and this week gave us our first look at Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel as he’ll appear in Supergirl, with The CW releasing a promotional image of the former Teen Wolf star’s Superman alongside Melissa Benoist’s Kara. You can see the first-look image here, and check out some set videos of Hoechlin’s Superman in action here…
…As production continues on the third season of Gotham, FOX has debuted another two character teasers for the returning Batman prequel series, this time focussing on Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova); take a look at the teaser promos here…
…During his appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con, Grant Gustin was asked if there are any other Hollywood directors he’d like to work with on The Flash following Kevin Smith’s episode earlier this year – and he’s shooting pretty high: “Yeah actually. I met Joss Whedon last night. Yeah, that’d be really cool. He was a really nice guy and he loves the show. He’s seen every episode of the show…”
…Click below to continue on for Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Doctor Strange, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, The Defenders, The Rocketeers and more…
Originally published July 30, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
