In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Ant-Man, Agent Carter, Daredevil, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Deadpool, Gambit, The Fantastic Four, The Fantastic Four 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Gotham, Constantine, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, LEGO Batman, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and more…
After teasing us with an ant-sized preview (and a subsequent human-sized one), Marvel Studios gave us our first look at July’s Ant-Man during the Tuesday premiere of Agent Carter with the release of the first trailer for the Peyton Reed-directed film, which Marvel is celebrating as its third-biggest trailer launch ever behind Avengers: Age of Ultron and Iron Man 3 with 29 million views by Friday. The trailer launch was of course accompanied by the release of a poster and some official stills and concept artwork (including the villain Yellowjacket) [see here and here], along with the news that Christophe Beck (Elektra, RED, R.I.P.D.) has signed on to score the film. Be sure to check out the somewhat mixed thoughts of our writing team on the Ant-Man trailer in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction, as well as the Flickering Myth Podcast and Anthony Stokes’ op-ed Why The Ant-Man Trailer Is So Serious…
…The accompanying press release for the Ant-Man trailer revealed that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish will not receive a screenwriting credit on the film (that goes to Adam McKay and Paul Rudd), and will instead have to settle for ‘Story By’, with Wright also listed as executive producer.
…As well as the first trailer for Ant-Man, Tuesday saw the two-hour premiere of Marvel’s latest TV show Agent Carter, with the Hayley Atwell-headlined show pulling in a 1.9 rating and 6.7 million viewers. This is an improvement on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s season two ratings barring the season premiere, although it’s far from the numbers S.H.I.E.L.D. pulled in with its series premiere back in 2013, with the first episode bagging a 4.7 with a whopping 12.1 million viewers. Be sure to read Amy Richau’s reviews of episode one and episode two, and check out a new poster, official character images, and stills and a promo for Tuesday’s third episode ‘Time & Tide’…
…Marvel has revealed that the first Netflix series, the Charlie Cox-headlined Daredevil, is set to land a little earlier than expected, with all 13 episodes arriving on the streaming service on April 10th, and accompanying the news was a brand new teaser poster, motion poster and still of the Man Without Fear. Surely we won’t have long to wait before we get the first trailer…
…A new image from Avengers: Age of Ultron arrived online earlier in the week featuring Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans), as did a size comparison chart of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which gives us a look at the scale of Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor and the villainous Ultron, along with a new glimpse at The Vision (Paul Bettany)…
…With Avengers: Age of Ultron set for reshoots this month, Jeremy Renner took to his WhoSay account to reveal that he’s currently shooting scenes as Hakweye – although with the timestamp on his post revealing that he’s in Los Angeles, it’s sparked speculation that this could actually be for a guest role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (something which Clark Gregg has previously teased). Meanwhile, it’s also been announced that Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) will join the second season for a recurring guest role as Robert Gonzales, a character who “will have massive repercussions for Director Coulson and his team…”
…This week has brought us some rather nice fan art of Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, while the British star has taken a moment out of his Sherlock schedule to discuss the 2016 Phase Three release, and whether he thinks there’s an element of risk to the project: “I don’t think it’s a risk because of Marvel. Marvel is a stable of bringing out ordinary comic characters and turning them into screen-like gods. It’s very different, it’s an Astral Plane. There’s a huge new element to this Marvel universe that’s going to be employed in building this story and this character. But you know, I’m really excited about it, about working with Scott [Derrickson] whose imagination is endless, and all the boys and girls at Marvel who know what they’re doing…”
…Ethan Hawke has confirmed that he came “as close as anybody could” to securing the role of the Sorcerer Supreme, and that he’s very keen to work with Marvel: “There’s a tremendous amount of salesmanship that’s now really important to a studio like that. It’s a tremendous amount of time in your life where you’re working, and you’re not acting. We’re living in the age of Marvel. They’re making movies at a high rate, and they’re making them successfully. I’m totally open to doing something like that…”
…Guardians of the Galaxy picked up some surprise recognition this week, with James Gunn and Nicole Perlman bagging a WGA Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Could this translate to an Oscar nod? There’s an outside chance, perhaps, but seeing as the Writers Guild considers Whiplash an Original Screenplay and the Academy deems it to be adapted, it would seem pretty unlikely…
…It doesn’t open in cinemas here in the UK until January 30th, but Disney has already announced the DVD and Blu-ray details for the animated Marvel movie Big Hero 6, which will hit the States on February 24th. Be sure to read our review of Big Hero 6 here…
…Click below to continue on for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Deadpool, Gambit, The Fantastic Four, The Fantastic Four 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and more…
Originally published January 10, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
