In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Defenders, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Runaways, Cloak and Dagger, Legion, Logan, Deadpool 2, X-Men: The New Mutants, X-Men: Supernova, The Batman, Justice League, Shazam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Gotham City Sirens, Green Lantern Corps, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Powerless, Justice League Dark, The LEGO Batman Movie and more…
We’ll start this edition of The Week in Spandex off in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’s been announced this week that Anthony and Joe Russo are taking Avengers: Infinity War to Scotland and will shoot in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Highlands of Scotland. The report also claims that the budget for the film is £400 million (that’s almost $500 million), which would make it the most expensive movie of all time (a record currently held by held by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with $378.5 million), assuming of course that a) the figure is accurate, and b) it isn’t a combined budget for Infinity War and Avengers 4, which are reportedly being shot back-to-back…
…Marvel will of course need a mighty budget for the cast of Infinity War, and this week has brought a few official castings in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, as well as a report that Game of Thrones and X-Men: Days of Future Past’s Peter Dinklage is wanted for the film (and Avengers 4) in an unspecified role, and rumours that Karen Gillan’s Nebula will feature, as well as Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross, who has been absent from the MCU since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk…
…During an interview this week to promote his new movie The Founder, Michael Keaton spoke about his upcoming villainous turn in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and whether his character The Vulture can be described as sympathetic: “Not to give too much away, but interestingly, he is and he isn’t [sympathetic], that character. He’s a really interesting — and more interesting than I thought — villain because there’s parts of him that you go, ‘You know what? I might see his point.’ Really, really. It makes it interesting to play…”
…Last week Marvel officially announced that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange would be joining fellow Marvel heroes Thor and The Hulk in November’s Thor: Ragnarok, and now Tom Hiddleston has teased the role that the Sorcerer Supreme may play in the story: “Doctor Strange has very intensely cerebral, time-bending powers. At the end of Thor: The Dark World, Loki’s on the throne. What happened to Odin? So maybe Doctor Strange has to help out with that particular conundrum…”
…On the subject of Doctor Strange, some new early concept art from last year’s blockbuster has surfaced online this week, showing an alternative, pre-Benedict Cumberbatch design and costume; take a look here…
…It’s shaping up to be a very busy year for Marvel on the production front; not only do they have Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers 4 and Black Panther set to start shooting, but it’s now been announced that cameras will roll on 2018’s sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp in Atlanta in June…
…It’s going to be a pretty big year for Marvel on Netflix this year too, with the arrival of Iron Fist, The Punisher and of course The Defenders, and this week has given us our first official look at the team-up series with a batch of images featuring Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) as well as supporting players Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) and Misty Knight (Simone Missick) [see here], as well as our first look at Sigourney Weaver’s villain, whose name has been revealed as Alexandra [see here], and a series of behind-the-scenes images from the photoshoot showing the Defenders having a little fun [see here]…
…Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned from its midseason break this past Tuesday with ‘Broken Promises’, and you can read Danny Hale’s review of the episode here. Meanwhile, we also have a promo, batch of images and a clip from this Tuesday’s ‘The Patriot’ [see here, here and here], as well as a synopsis for the eleventh episode ‘Wake Up’ [see here] and a synopsis for the twelfth episode ‘Hot Potato Soup’ [see here]…
…It looks like production could soon get underway on two more TV entries in the MCU, with a rumour this week claiming that both Hulu’s Runaways pilot and Freeform’s straight-to-series Cloak and Dagger will be start production in February; if true, expect some casting news any day now…
…Marvel’s new, non-MCU X-Men series Legion is set to get underway in February on FX, and the network has released a new promo for the show, along with three character spots focussing on David (Dan Stevens), Syd (Rachel Keller) and Amy (Katie Aselton) [watch them here]. Meanwhile, creator Noah Hawley has been speaking about the show, and whether we may see any connection to the wider X-Men universe: “I’m firm believer the show has to stand on its own two feet. For a crossover to be possible we have to earn that right through the quality of our storytelling and hopefully our popularity. David’s origin story [as Professor Xavier’s son] hasn’t changed, so we haven’t changed that connection to the X-Men universe…”
…One show that has been confirmed as connected to the X-Men movie universe is Marvel and Fox’s as-yet-untitled pilot project from writer Matt Nix (Burn Notice), which has been revealed this week as revolving around “two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.” Nix himself also offered up a few comments on the project, and how it will reference the wider X-Men universe; read what he had to say here…
…That leads in nicely to the X-Men movie universe, and with Logan now receiving its official premiere date at the Berlin Film Festival next month ahead of its release on March , Hugh Jackman has now unveiled the official synopsis for his X-Men swansong, which reads: “In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.”, Meanwhile, Jackman and director James Mangold also unveiled the first and last frames from the upcoming new trailer [see here], while Mangold offered up a brief tease of Marco Beltrami’s score for the film [listen here]…
…It seems that the change of director on Deadpool 2 hasn’t led to any delay on the hotly-anticipated sequel, with screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese confirming that the movie is still on track and will go into production this year: “We’re pushing forward very hard. I think by every account we will shoot it this year, and we’re on our multiple draft now. It’s taken different twists and turns, but it’s really coalescing, and we’re very, very excited. We’re a little nervous, because now we feel like we have to live up to the first movie, but at the same time, we have to have faith, and we have an extreme passion still, and as long as we have passion still, and it’s not a mercenary, venal play, which we don’t think this is, I think we’ll be in good shape.” Meanwhile, we’ve also had some word on returning characters, with Colossus. Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Dopinder all set to feature alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth…
…Deadpool has been enjoyed a fair bit of recognition on the awards circuit, and this week saw the film picking up further nominations from the Producers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America, while Ryan Reynolds shared a rather hilarious ‘For Your Consideration’ promo lobbying the Academy voters for the Oscars; watch it here…
…We know that X-Men: The New Mutants is gearing up to go into production this Spring, and this week has brought a rumour that a second X-Men movie, titled X-Men: Supernova, will also commence filming in May. There aren’t any details on Supernova, although speculation is suggesting that it could be a new entry in the main X-Men series, potentially revolving around The Phoenix…
…Click below to continue on for The Batman, Justice League, Shazam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Gotham City Sirens, Green Lantern Corps, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Gotham, Powerless, Justice League Dark, The LEGO Batman Movie and more…
