…20th Century Fox gave us a new look at its 2015 superhero offering this week with the release of a brand new trailer for The Fantastic Four, as well as a batch of stills from the Josh Trank-directed reboot featuring Mister Fantastic (Miles Teller), The Thing (Jamie Bell), Invisible Woman (Kate Mara), The Human Torch (Michael B. Jordan) and their nemesis Doctor Doom (Toby Kebbell)…
…With production set to get underway next week on X-Men: Apocalypse, Kodi Smit-McPhee has been speaking about his upcoming role as the young Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler in the film (“…I just did an audition and they were saying, ‘Bryan wanted you the whole time so let’s get the auditions done with'” is perhaps not the best choice of phrase), while Oscar Isaac had a few words about the titular villain and his Four Horsemen: “Without giving anything away, the recruitment of the Four Horsemen is very cool. It’s very interesting the way that he does that. You know the idea of – the way that cult leaders do – they find people that are in need of something and try to fulfill that thing in them – as it relates to every one of the Horseman… On an individual level he’s able to reveal the true power of his Horsemen and what’s true to them. And I think to reveal the weakness – how weak we’ve become. Because this is an ancient entity. So to come to – I think 1983 – and say, ‘How did the world become so weak? How did we allow ourselves to become to weak and to enslave ourselves.’ I think that’s where he’s coming from…”
…In a few other bits and pieces from Fox’s Marvel properties and the Blu-ray steelbook artwork has surfaced for The Rogue Cut edition of last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past; another batch of set photos from Deadpool arrived online offering up shots of Wade (Ryan Reynolds) going up against Colossus and the villain Ajax (Ed Skrein); and Michael Green (Green Lantern, Blade Runner 2) has signed on to pen the script for Hugh Jackman’s third (and supposedly final) solo outing for Wolverine…
…After bringing forward its trailer release plans for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice due to the early leak, Warner Bros. held its big IMAX event this past Monday, offering up a snippet of new footage featuring Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight and Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel charging at each other [see here], as well as releasing the first two posters for the film [see here]. As for the trailer itself, be sure to listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast Review, read the thoughts of our writing team in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction, and take a look at James Garcia’s op-ed ‘Why the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer is so anti-Superman‘. Oh, and you may also be interested in the Honest Teaser and LEGO recreation…
…Following the IMAX event, we got a new look at the costumes set to be worn by Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman [see here], along with some shots of the Batmobile [see here], while a set photo popped up suggesting a MAJOR SPOILER about the fate of a big DC character prior to the movie, which was pretty much confirmed by the studio demanding its removal (so seriously, don’t click the link if you don’t want to know). Henry Cavill also spoke briefly about the film, stating that he doesn’t regard it as a sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel: “I really know nothing about what the finished product looks like. I wouldn’t call this a Superman sequel. This is Batman versus Superman, so it’s a separate entity altogether. It’s introducing the Batman character, and expanding upon this universe, which was kicked off by Man of Steel. It’s an introduction to the [Batman] character, and ultimately an introduction to Justice League…”
…Moving on to the DC Cinematic Universe and director David Ayer marked the 75th anniversary of the Joker’s first appearance by releasing an official promo image of Jared Leto’s Clown Prince of Crime as he’ll appear in next year’s Suicide Squad. The image was met with a mixed reaction, and understandably so given its radical departure from the character’s traditional look, but as we learnt with Heath Ledger and The Dark Knight, it’s surely too early to be writing the portrayal off with the first image. Meanwhile, in other Suicide Squad news, Common has signed on for a mystery role in the DC supervillain ensemble, giving him a second stab at DC universe after having originally signed on to play John Stewart / Green Lantern in George Miller’s aborted Justice League movie…
…As Gotham builds towards its season one finale, Fox has released a promo for Monday night’s episode ‘The Anvil or the Hammer’ [see here], along with a batch of promotional images for the following week’s finale, entitled ‘All Happy Families Are Alike’ [see here]…
…The CW also gave us a peek at what’s to come in the final four episodes of The Flash with the release of a brand new trailer [see here], while you can also take a look at a trailer and promo for Tuesday’s episode ‘The Trap’ here, a batch of images from the following week’s ‘Grodd Lives’ here (just don’t go expecting to see the gorilla himself), and our review of the previous episode ‘Who Is Harrison Wells?’ here…
…This week has also given us a couple of posters for Arrow featuring Reverse-Flash and Malcolm Merlyn [see here], as well as a look at Oliver Queen’s new costume in promo images for this week’s twenty-first episode ‘Al Sah-Him’, which you can see here. We’ve also got a promo and trailer for the episode here, along with our review of this past Wednesday’s ‘The Fallen’ here…
…The CW has added another cast member to its upcoming Arrow/Flash spinoff – which looks to be going by the title Legends of Tomorrow – with Franz Drameh (Attack the Block) set to play ‘Jay Jackson’, who is described as “a former high school athlete, whose pro-career was derailed by injury. Now making ends meets as an auto mechanic, Jay will come to have a surprising affiliation to the S.T.A.R. Labs crew…”
…In other DC-related news from Warner Bros., the studio has set a release date for its LEGO Batman animated feature, with Will Arnett’s Caped Crusader set to headline his own spin-off from The LEGO Movie on February 10th, 2017…
…Ahead of its premiere next week, a poster and new trailer have been released for Jon Schnepp’s documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, which promises to delve into the story behind Tim Burton’s ill-fated Superman reboot featuring Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. Check them out here…
…And finally, the first details of Valiant Entertainment’s planned independent superhero movie universe have surfaced, with John Wick directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski set to direct an adaptation of Bloodshot for release in 2017. Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is producing, with Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) and Eric Heisserer (The Thing) penning the script, while Heisserer is also writing the screenplay for Harbinger, although details of a potential director are being kept under wraps for the time being.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
Originally published April 25, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
