…As Justice League’s box office run winds down, the DC superhero team-up currently finds itself sitting just short of $650 million worldwide – a figure that was said to be around the break-even point for the film, although one that is sure to be disappointing to the bean counters at Warner Bros. and DC Films, particularly as it currently still sits behind Man of Steel on $668 million as the lowest grossing instalment of the DCEU to date. Meanwhile, you may be interested in checking out some early concept art showing an unused design for the villain Steppenwolf [check out the concept art here], while Zack Snyder fans who haven’t quite given up the fight for a director’s cut may want to keep their eyes on the new website ForSnyderCut.org, which is set to launch this weekend…
…With just under a year to go until the release of the next chapter of the DC Extended Universe, a new image from Aquaman has arrived online showing Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry readying himself for battle against a mystery foe, who may or may not be the character of Black Manta. And speaking of Black Manta, actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been speaking about his experience on the DC solo movie: “The scale is epic and this movie is going to be so good. I can’t say too much, but in the hands of James Wan and with Jason Momoa at the helm, I think people are going to be really happy with it. It’s been about five days a week in the gym and doing fight training, too. I have a love-hate relationship with working out. I do not enjoy the experience when I’m doing it, but I never regret it. I think I’m in the best shape of my life. It’s just so low stress [in Australia]. I love it and have been telling everyone that if they ever get the chance they should come visit. I kind of assumed all of Australia was like the Gold Coast – so I was telling people Australians just work out and go to the beach. Like, Australia has it figured out! But then I went to Sydney and it was nothing like the Gold Coast – but I still loved it…”
…While Warner’s DC plans seem a little up in the air beyond Aquaman and Shazam, Margot Robbie has once again stated that she expects to be back filming as Harley Quinn in 2018, although we still don’t quite know for certain whether it will be in Suicide Squad 2, or Gotham City Sirens, The Joker and Harley Quinn, or the recently announced solo movie: “I think we’re very close, actually. Everyone has been working really hard, myself included, to get Harley back on screen. I think it will be quite soon. There’s so much more to explore with her. I can’t wait! I hope next year, but with bigger films, it takes a lot longer to get it all up and running…”
…On the DC TV front, The CW has released a new trailer for its latest DC superhero show Black Lightning ahead of its premiere on January 16th [watch it here], as well as synopses for the midseason premiere episodes of Supergirl ‘Legion of Superheroes’ [read it here], The Flash ‘The Trial of The Flash’ [read it here] and Arrow ‘Divided’ [read it here]…
…Back in October, Arrow name-dropped Bruce Wayne, leading to speculation that the Dark Knight could be set for an Arrowverse appearance. Well, it seems that isn’t the cast, as executive producer Marc Guggenheim has revealed that the reference was nothing more than a fun little Easter egg: “No, I love a good Easter egg, and I love doing the occasional name drop. You know, we name dropped Hal Jordan at the beginning of Season 3, but it’s really just fun for us. I think in the Arrowverse we have our own Justice League and the Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman … these are all characters that are either spoken for on the movie side and/or other shows. There’s a Bruce Wayne on Gotham. Over here on the CW, we’re sort of a mischievous lot, and we enjoy the occasional Easter egg. And our partners at DC are very tolerant of our mischief. But that’s really all it is. Just good nature, good fanboy mischief…”
…Syfy has announced that its Superman prequel series Krypton is set to get underway on March 21st. Accompanying that news was a new image featuring Game of Thrones’ Ian McElhinney as Val-El, head of the House of El, which you can see here…
…It may be over a year away from release, but David Harbour has confirmed that production has wrapped on Lionsgate and director Neil Marshall’s Hellboy reboot, while the Stranger Things star also shared a few words on how he found suiting up as Anung Un Rama: “It was hard. I’m 40 years old, and I’m running around punching giants.” Hellboy doesn’t hit cinemas until January 2019, but with filming now complete, perhaps we’ll get to see a first teaser trailer soon…
…And so, as we come to the end of another year, the Flickering Myth writing team have been casting their votes to determine our updated rankings for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe. Check out the articles via the links, and be sure to let us know how you’d rank each….
…And finally, I’d like to offer a big thanks to all of the readers of both The Week in Spandex and Flickering Myth in general this past year. Your support, as always, is greatly appreciated, and I wish you all the very best for 2018!
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 December 30, 2017. Updated April 19, 2018.
