In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers 4, Thor: Ragnarok, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Cloak & Dagger, New Warriors, The Punisher, Deadpool 2, X-Men: The New Mutants, Batgirl, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Powerless, Gotham, Krypton, Static Shock and more…
We’ve got less than a week to go until the UK release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so as you’d expect it’s been a bit of a crazy week in terms of promotional material. So, take a deep breath, and sift through a batch of new images [see here], two new clips and a behind-the-scenes featurette [see here], a clip of Star-Lord and Gamora enjoying a dance [see here], another clip of the Guardians battling the Abilisk [see here], a promo featuring Baby Groot going up against Baby Dinosaurs [see here], a new TV spot [see here], a live-stream of the red carpet action from the world premiere [see here], promo images for Hot Toys’ life-size Baby Groot collectible figure [see here], and promo images for Build-A-Bear’s new range of GOTG Vol. 2 products [see here]…
…In other Guardians news, we also got a look at the tracklisting for Awesome Mix Vol. 2 [see here], with Chris Pratt also discussing his approach to the sequel’s music [read his comments here], Sylvester Stallone’s role has been officially confirmed [see here], Miley Cyrus was revealed as having a voice role [find out who she’s playing here], Michael Rosenbaum has teased his mystery character [read his comments here], Nathan Fillion shared a behind-the-scenes photo of him on set [see here] and director James Gunn discussed how he pitched Ego the Living Planet as Star-Lord’s father [read here], as well as confirming there are FIVE post-credits scenes in the film [read more here]…
…As well as expressing his interest in a Star Wars-style Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, director James Gunn has officially confirmed that he will be returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Discussing the trilogy of films, Gunn said that: “I think really that the three movies work together as a whole. They’re going to tell one story. This is the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and we’re going to get to know the characters even better in the same way we got to know them much better in this film than the first one. I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t have a fairly clear idea of where we were going and what we were going to do. I’m not a guy that’s just going to do it if I don’t have a vision for it. So I’m very excited.” Gunn also revealed that Adam Warlock was present in his original treatment for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he decided ultimately to hold him back for the third instalment…
…With the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming fast approaching, this week brought us details on Logan Marshall Green’s mystery villain, as well as three new images from the film [see here], some promotional artwork featuring the homemade suit [see here] and official images of LEGO’s tie-in sets [see here]. Meanwhile, asked about the Sony deal for Spider-Man, Marvel’s Kevin Feige responded that: “[Avengers 4] is as far as it goes for now”. However, Flickering Myth’s Henry Bevan believes Spider-Man will remain part of the MCU beyond that, and you can read his op-ed on the matter here…
…It looks like Marvel has had a slight change of plans when it comes to the simultaneous shoot for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, with Kevin Feige revealing that they are now shooting the two movies separately, one after another. Meanwhile, Dave Bautista expressed his hope that he gets to see Drax going one on one with Josh Brolin’s Thanos, while some rather spoilery set photos of The Vision and the Scarlet Witch popped up online, which you can find here if you’re so inclined…
…Some new promotional art for Thor: Ragnarok surfaced online this week, giving us another look at the God of Thunder and The Incredible Hulk from November’s hotly-anticipated threequel [see here], while director Taika Waititi revealed that he’s playing Korg the Kronan: “Obviously, being made of rocks, we wanted somebody like The Rock to play him, but there wasn’t enough chicken or salmon in Australia to sustain he and Chris Hemsworth. I never thought I’d be playing the most loveable character in the film. We wanted to change the idea of what a hulking guy made of rocks could be. He’s huge and heavy, but with a light soul. We wanted to make him funny and a relatable entry point into this world. And Thor needs friends…”
…During a Marvel press event this week, Ant-Man and the Wasp helmer Peyton Reed let slip that Marvel has found its director(s) for Captain Marvel, with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Mississippi Grind) signing on to direct the studio’s first female-led superhero movie. And, during the same press event, we also got a rather detailed description of the costume set to be worn by Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers [read it here], along with descriptions of some Black Panther footage and Ant-Man and the Wasp concept art [read more here]…
…With Phase Three in full swing, attention is slowly turning towards the next Phase of the MCU – although according to Kevin Feige, it may not be a ‘Phase’ after all: “Certainly as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don’t know if it’s Phase 4, it might be a new thing… We have an idea [of what the MCU looks like post-Infinity War], and it’s gonna be very, very different.” One thing it seems we can be sure of though is that Marvel won’t be releasing an R-rated superhero movies…
…You can read Danny Hale’s review of this past Tuesday’s episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘No Regrets’ here, while we also have a promo, images and clip from this coming Tuesday’s ‘All the Madame’s Men’ [see here, here and here], along with a batch of images for the following week’s twentieth episode ‘Farewell, Cruel World!’ [see here]…
…Over at Freeform and this week brought us our first look at Cloak & Dagger with the release of the first trailer for the new series, which stars Aubrey Joseph (The Night Of) and Olivia Holt (Kickin’ It) as Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen. The show isn’t slated to premiere until 2018, but you can watch the first trailer here…
…Click below to continue on for New Warriors, The Punisher, Deadpool 2, X-Men: The New Mutants, Batgirl, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Powerless, Gotham, Krypton, Static Shock and more…
Originally published April 22, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
