In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, Aquaman, The Flash, Jonah Hex, Superman: Flyby, Supergirl, Vixen, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Batman: The Killing Joke, Justice League Dark, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes – Justice League: Gotham City Breakout, Justice League Action, DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3, Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6 and more…
We’re four movies into the 2016 superhero season, and next up it’s the supervillains, with Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad set to hit cinemas in August. This week, the studio has confirmed that Task Force X will be invading next month’s San Diego Comic-Con International, while the MPAA has officially rated the movie PG-13 for “for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language.” Meanwhile, on the promotional front we also got a new batch of images [see here], four TV spots [see here and here] and a selection of character promo artwork [see here], while Jared Leto offered up a few words on his take on The Joker: “The only villain who may be more infamous is the devil. The Joker is an icon, a legend, the baddest of the bad and seems to be having the most fun. Hard not to be a fan of that. I knew I was going to have to dive deep and go to a place I had never gone before…”
…With the duo currently reuniting on Justice League, a new behind-the-scenes image from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has arrived online, which sees Zack Snyder helping Gal Gadot to perfect her Wonder Woman pose; meanwhile, having previously stated that the Ultimate Edition of the movie would not sway any haters, cinematographer Larry Fong has now had a change of heart (or a right good bollocking from Warner Bros.), and is suggesting that “EVERYONE will LOVE it”…
…J.K. Simmons is set to join the DC Extended Universe next year as he takes on the iconic role of Jim Gordon in Justice League, and it seems he’s determined to put the rest of the cast to shame when it comes to physique judging by an image the 61-year-old actor shared to social media this week. As Luke Owen points out, Gym Gordon is an accurate description…
…As he gears up to head to Atlantis for the Aquaman movie, director James Wan has revealed that Warner Bros. offered him a choice between that movie and The Flash, with the filmmaker revealing why he opted for Arthur Curry: “They asked me which of the two characters I’d be interested in and it was between The Flash and Aquaman. This is how I weighed it: For me, we’ve seen various versions of The Flash… There’s a popular show on TV and there was a great one in the ‘90s. I loved that Flash! But the thing that ultimately pushed me more towards Aquaman is I love the possibility of creating a whole new world. I’ve always wanted to do a world creation story and visually create this amazing, incredible, magical kingdom. And also, I love the fact that Aquaman is an underdog character. I love the fact that people like to make fun of him. [Laughs.] I feel the bar is a lot lower and I can have fun with him…”
…Although he’s going to be tied up in the MCU for a while, Josh Brolin has revealed this week that he’s open to the prospect of a return to the DC universe, on the very slim chance that Warner Bros. might want to make a Jonah Hex sequel: “People say, ‘I like your résumé, I like what you’ve chosen.’ I always appreciate that. I would still do Jonah Hex again. I don’t like the way it turned out at all, but I do think that there’s a good movie there. I think my intention was right. You’re never going to be perfect, man. You just do your best…”
…In the wake of another DC Extended Universe management reshuffle at Warner Bros., Tony Black has penned an op-ed entitled ‘The DC Films train has left the station, let’s make the best of it!’, which you can read here…
…Jude Law has been speaking this week about turning down the opportunity to play the Man of Steel in the J.J. Abrams-scripted Superman: Flyby, which was in development prior to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns: “I’m an Englishman and I felt like, I don’t know, it just didn’t seem to fit, and I was always worried about the outfit and I just didn’t fancy it. his director was very keen to meet and impress it upon me and I was actually out in California and he said, ‘look, you just have to try the suit on. The suit’s amazing, and we’ve revamped the suit,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, send the suit over.’ So I take the suit into the bathroom and I’m putting it on and then I look round, I’m in the mirror and suddenly…I’m Superman, right. I stood there and then I had this picture of me in that costume on posters all over the world and I was like…’no way’ and I unzipped it. But I was Superman for two minutes, that’s enough…”
…Some big news on the Supergirl front this week, with The CW announcing that the Man of Steel is heading to the Arrowverse, with Superman set to guest star in the first two episodes of season 2. As yet, there’s been no word on his casting, but there has been a lot of speculation that former Smallville star Tom Welling could be in the frame to reprise the role of Kal-El (although I’d be surprised if that happens). Meanwhile, there’s also been reports that casting is underway for five new supporting characters, which includes Lex Luthor’s young sister Lena Luthor; check out details of the new characters here…
…The CW has announced that Vixen will be joining the roster of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for season 2, although it won’t be Megalyn Echikunwoke’s Mari McCabe, but rather “a new Vixen who will actually be an old Vixen… an earlier version of the character who may or may not share some sort of historical tie to Miss McCabe.” Echikunwoke has been unable to join the show due to scheduling conflicts, but she will continue voicing the character in the Vixen animated series, and the door remains open for guest appearances across any of the Arrowverse shows…
…Details have also emerged as to the characters the Gotham producers are looking to add for their third season, with casting underway for the character of Vicki Vale, who is described as “an ambitious young journalist” and is in her late 20s, so no love-interest for young Master Wayne (although he may have a cougar to look forward to in the future…). Meanwhile, the search is also on for a couple of series regular villains, including one “who learns people’s secrets and manipulates them to do his bidding” and “a young villainess who uses her sexuality to entrap men”…
…Click below to continue on for Batman: The Killing Joke, Justice League Dark, LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes – Justice League: Gotham City Breakout, Justice League Action, DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3, Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister 6 and more…
Originally published June 11, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
