Our weekly round up of the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Arrow, The Flash, Constantine, Gotham, Batman, Teen Titans Go!, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Planet Hulk, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse and more…
As we approach the San Diego Comic-Con and an expected announcement from Warner Bros. on the future of the DC Cinematic Universe, the studio has given us our first look at Henry Cavill suited up as the Man of Steel in 2016’s Batman v Superman, with a promotional image arriving online just one day after we also caught our first glimpse of Cavill in his civvies as Clark Kent. Having already seen Ben Affleck as Batman last month, that just leaves Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman as the only member of the Trinity still under wraps, although according to Zack Snyder the Israeli actress is yet to film any scenes as the Amazon Princess and is still “working out and getting buff…”
…In other Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice “news”, it’s been rumoured that Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor will be joined by a trio of secondary villains in Victor Zsasz, Morgan Edge, David Cain, with Amanda Waller also appearing. However, with a fake script reportedly doing the rounds amongst the “scoop” sites, it seems this should probably be taken with a pinch of salt until we hear something more official…
…While Zack Snyder seems intent on cramming as many DC characters as possible into Batman v Superman, one person who won’t be appearing is Arrow star Stephen Amell. After teasing a huge SDCC announcement that would “win Comic-Con” earlier in the week, Amell took to Facebook to play down speculation that his incarnation of Oliver Queen would be lining up alongside Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher in Dawn of Justice, stating that: “I appreciate all the support and enthusiasm, but not everything I post is a cryptic indicator that I’m going to be in Batman v Superman. I’m not going to be in Batman v Superman. The next time that I either do a video or an interview with a journalist that I like, I’ll be happy to explain why this is the case. Short form – it’s not a barometer on ability or quality of the genre – TV v Film, no pun intended. Everything here boils down to logistics. In any event… thank you for how much support you’ve showed me. But keep in mind, playing Arrow on television isn’t a consolation prize. We play the definitive versions of our characters in the DC Universe…”
…And on the subject of Arrow, the hit CW show has added a trio of newcomers to its cast ahead of production on the third season, with Devon Aoki (Sin City) set to play Tatsu Yamashiro, a.k.a. Katana, Karl Yune (Real Steel) signing on as Katana’s husband Maseo Yamashiro, and Peter Stormare (Fargo) securing the role of Werner Zytle, the New 52’s version of Count Vertigo…
…The day before Arrow season 3 gets underway, spin-off show The Flash will premiere on The CW, and this week has brought a new video featurette entitled ‘Detective Pretty Boy’, which focusses on Rick Gosnett’s character Detective Eddie Thawne, who may or may not turn out to be Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Professor Zoom / Reverse-Flash. You can watch the featurette here…
…Over at NBC, director Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones) has revealed that Matt Ryan’s John Constantine won’t be lighting up when Constantine gets underway in October, due to network television restrictions: “No we’re not [having him smoke. It’s the one thing, a compromise I guess. On network it’s the one thing you can’t smoke on network. That’s one of his character traits. We’re working around that. We’re trying to get aspects of it in there as much as possible. We’ll see…”
…And in other DC TV news, FOX’s Batman prequel series Gotham has secured a composer in Graeme Revell, whose previous work includes Daredevil, The Crow and Sin City, while Carol Kane (Annie Hall) has also signed on for a recurring role as Gertrud Kapelput, the mother of Oswald Cobblepot (a.k.a. The Penguin), who is described as “a proud and faded beauty with delusions of grandeur…”
…With so many DC television shows set to arrive this upcoming season, Warner Bros. has released details of its panel for Comic-Con later this month, with a block of power panels set to showcase Arrow, The Flash, Constantine and Gotham, along with the non-superhero show iZombie and animated series Teen Titans Go!. The pilot episodes of The Flash, Constantine and Gotham will all be screened along with first-look footage from Arrow season 3, while the guests in attendance will include Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes, Willa Holland, Paul Blackthorne and John Barrowman (Arrow) and Matt Ryan, Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford (Constantine), while Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar will be on hand to promote the upcoming Blu-ray release of Batman: The Complete TV Series (which also happens to have a sizzle reel trailer that you can see here)…
…In some rather sad news, Bob Hastings – best known to comic book fans as the voice of Commissioner Gordon in Batman: The Animated Series – has passed away aged 89. In addition to voicing Gordon in the DCAU, Hastings also appeared in episodes of Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as lending his voice to the likes of The New Adventures of Superman, Super Friends and The Amazing Spider-Man…
Click below to continue on to the next page for Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Planet Hulk, Ant-Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse…
Originally published July 5, 2014. Updated January 18, 2020.
