…20th Century Fox launched a new marketing campaign for X-Men: Apocalypse this week, releasing a faux trailer for a documentary entitled ‘In the Footsteps of En Sabah Nur’ [watch it here], along with an infographic charting the impact of the ancient mutant throughout history [see here]. Meanwhile, Fox and Sky Fibre teamed up for an advert promoting Sky’s super fast broadband featuring the super fast mutant Quicksilver [watch it here]…
…Rumour time now, and despite Fox seemingly focussing on its X-Men spinoffs, El Mayimbe of Heroic Hollywood is claiming to have the inside scoop on the potential plot line for the as-yet-unannounced next instalment of the main franchise. Apparently, the studio is mulling over the possibility of another adaptation of The Dark Phoenix Saga, which they messed up rather royally in X-Men: The Last Stand, but of course the rumour comes with his typical get-out-of-jail-free disclaimers that it’s early days, plans can change, etc. etc…
…In another “unconfirmed” rumour (which immediately raises doubts about its authenticity, seeing as the definition of a rumour is that it’s unconfirmed), it’s been claimed this week that Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Wolverine could see him joined by the character of X-23, who will reportedly feature in Wolverine 3 alongside Jackman’s Logan and Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier. Should it prove true, you’d have to wonder whether Fox intends on copying the All-New, All-Different Marvel route of replacing the outing Jackman with a female version of Wolverine, rather than recasting the role of Logan…
…A few weeks back it was rumoured that Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) had been cast in Josh Boone’s New Mutants movie in the role of Wolsbane, before Fox quickly issued a denial. Well, the young actress was asked about it this week, and by the sounds of it she’s definitely under consideration: “I can’t say much about it at all, but I would absolutely love to be a part of it, [and] to be a part of the Marvel family,” states Williams. “New Mutants looks absolutely incredible and I’ve always loved the idea of spin-offs and [director] Josh Boone is incredibly talented. So, yeah, sign me up…”
…As Deadpool winds down its theatrical run (with a whopping $760 million in the bank), Fox has released details of the Blu-ray special features for the X-Men spinoff, which will include two audio commentaries (although sadly not one from the Merc with a Mouth himself), deleted and extended scenes, various featurettes, and ‘Deadpool’s Fun Sack’. Check out further details at the link, and if you haven’t already you can pre-order the movie via Amazon US or Amazon UK…
…Moving on to the DC Extended Universe now and despite falling down the box office charts, Warner Bros. will be hoping that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits the $850 million mark worldwide this weekend, with the film sitting on $835 million by close of play yesterday. Be sure to read Oliver Davis’ op-ed ‘Batman v Superman: The Winnie the Pooh Defence – How Zack Snyder Missed His Own Point’ [see here], and check out promo images of Prime 1 Studio’s 1:2 scale Armored Batman collectible statue [see here] and Hot Toys’ Cosbaby collectible sets [see here]…
…During an appearance at CinemaCon, Jared Leto and Margot Robbie spoke about their upcoming roles as The Joker and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad: “We walked in a completely new direction [with The Joker],” said Leto. “I think we knew that we had to do that. It was important to do that. When the Joker has been done and done so well, it gives you a bit of an indication of where you shouldn’t go. There’s a bit of a map there. That’s the good part about it. It’s quite an honor. Joker has been written about in pop culture for 75 years. I’m just the latest in the long list of people who have redefined and reinvented this character. The actors, the voice actors, the television series, the writers, the artists and the fans. People have taken the Joker and reinvented and redefined for 75 years. It is really special to be asked to do that.” You can read Robbie’s comments on her preparation for the role of Harley here…
…DC Collectibles has been unveiling its line of Suicide Squad collectible statues, featuring Harley Quinn, The Joker, Killer Croc, Katana, Captain Boomerang and Deadshot…
…This week brought some new casting news on Justice League, with Spider-Man star Willem Dafoe joining the film in an as-yet-unrevealed role, while fellow Spidey star J.K. Simmons also spoke about his preparations for playing Commissioner Gordon: “Obviously, a lot of really wonderful actors have played that character previously, and most of them I saw at the time the movies came out, never imagining that I would be doing the same thing. So, I can’t say that I don’t have some impression of that character in my head that’s based on what I saw, but I’m not planning on going back and watching any of the other films. I’m just planning on learning as much as I can about him through the comics and getting my feet wet in the first movie, and then hopefully continuing on from there. I wasn’t a big comic book reading kid, so I did a fair amount of reading when I was playing Jameson, who was very much the comic relief in those movies. Even in the comics, he was a blowhard who was all bark and very rarely bite. My understanding, from what I’ve learned so far about Commissioner Gordon, is that he’s the older guy with the mustache who relates with our hero in a certain way. Other than that, it’s a vastly different character and much more of a stronger, impactful character in the DC universe…”
…A set video from Wonder Woman has arrived online this week from Matera, Italy, which is doubling as Diana’s home island of Themyscira, and features Amazonians going about their business; watch it here…
…Click below to continue on for The Flash movie, Green Lantern Corps, Krypton, Supergirl, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, SuperMansion, Bling and more…
Originally published April 23, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
