…With under two months to go before the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the marketing material for the DC epic continues to come thick and fast; Zack Snyder asked fans to take to Twitter to choose their side, releasing a brand new poster to coincide with the social media campaign [see here], while we also got a new trailer featuring a few seconds of previously unseen footage of Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince [see here], and two brand new TV spots [see here]. Meanwhile, Empire also unloaded its latest Batman v Superman-centric issue, which included a subscriber cover from artist Jim Lee [see here], some concept art [see here], and a host of new images, including a rather enticing tease for Darkseid, the rumoured villain for Justice League [see here]…
…Zack Snyder has revealed that he approached Christopher Nolan to get The Dark Knight Trilogy director’s blessing to use Batman in BvS, suggesting that Nolan found it “a little hard” but told him that: “We don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them].” Meanwhile, Kevin Smith has shared more of his thoughts on Ben Affleck’s take on The Dark Knight, stating that: “Right away, he’s the best looking Batman we’ve ever seen. The hardest thing to nail about Batman is Bruce Wayne, because that’s where you’ve got no mask and you’ve got to be a human being. But that dude is Bruce Wayne, so he’s born to play that role. Now it looks like he is the best Batman we’ve seen so far…”
…On the Batman v Superman merchandise front, a new LEGO poster arrived online [see here], Play Arts Kai released images of their Batman, Armored Batman and Wonder Woman figures [see here], while Hot Toys unveiled its 1/6th scale Armored Batman collectible [see here], along with its life-size – yes, life-size! – version, which is sure to cost a pretty penny [see here]…
…The latest issue of Empire magazine revealed some new details about Wonder Woman, with the Amazon Princess 5000 years old at the beginning of Batman v Superman and retired from crimefighting, only to be pulled back in by the events of the movie [check out some comments from Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Gal Gadot here]. Meanwhile, despite indicating that she’d be open to an appearance, the publicist for Lynda Carter has revealed that the former small screen Wonder Woman won’t be cameoing in the 2017 solo movie…
…Although Warner Bros. has decided to keep its movie and TV universes separate, Kevin Smith has revealed that during a segment cut from the DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League special he spoke to DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns about the possibility of bringing the various properties together at some point down the line: “We did a piece where we talked about… I don’t know how much I’m supposed to say because they cut it out, but the idea [came up] of, ‘Hey man, DC is known for nothing if not a multiverse,’ so at which point I was like, ‘Could they fucking crossover?’ And he was like, ‘Ahh.’ So doors are being left open and stuff like that. Think about this, you can have Ezra Miller be the Flash and you could also have Grant Gustin be the Flash, because there’s a multiverse at work…”
…That leads us on to DC’s various TV shows, starting with CBS’ Supergirl. Kara Zor-El will come up against Bizarro in this Monday’s episode, and you can take a look at a promo, batch of images and three clips here, here and here; meanwhile, Smallville star Tom Welling has been asked whether he’d be interested in a Supergirl appearance as Clark Kent, responding that: “There’s people who would like it. There’s people who don’t like it, but I will tell you that no one has ever asked me to do it. So, I don’t know. It would be kind of odd. I don’t know who he is at that point. He would obviously be Superman…”
…The Reverse-Flash returned to The Flash this week in the appropriately-titled ‘The Reverse-Flash Returns’; check out Jessie Robertson’s review here, and take a look at a trailer, promo and batch of images for this coming Tuesday’s episode ‘Fast Lane’ here and here and a synopsis for the fourteenth episode ‘Escape from Earth-2’ here. Meanwhile, we also have a bit of Flash casting news, with Allison Paige (Days of Our Lives) nabbing the role of Eliza Harmon, a.k.a. Trajectory. Her character description reads as follows: “Having arrived in town intent on creating maximum chaos, Trajectory’s antics are misinterpreted as having been perpetrated by the Flash himself. Barry thus must quickly! uncover the mystery of who is the girl under the mask — as well as what is driving her mad desire for speed and destruction…”
…The CW has released a trailer for the second half of Arrow season four [watch it here], along with a trailer, promo and images for Wednesday’s twelfth episode ‘Unchained’ [see here and here], and a synopsis for the fourteenth episode ‘Code of Silence’ [see here]. Meanwhile, Marc Guggenheim has revealed that Stephen Amell is to guest star in the sixth episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, albeit with a twist: “We’re not only introducing our version of Connor Hawke to our universe, we’re going to meet the 2046 version of Oliver Queen, and Stephen Amell is going to be reprising his role from Arrow. As an added bonus to comic-book fans, Oliver is missing his left arm and will be sporting a goatee, in a nod to the character’s appearance in the seminal Dark Knight Returns. We think this episode features some of the coolest things we’ve ever done…”
…On the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow front, The CW has released a new poster for the series [see here] along with some concept art for Firestorm and White Canary [see here], while we’ve also got a trailer, promo and images for Thursday’s third episode ‘Blood Ties’ [see here and here], and a synopsis for the fifth episode ‘Fail-Safe’ [see here]…
…Gotham will return to Fox at the back end of February, and the network has released a poster for the second half of season two, dubbed ‘Wrath of the Villains’ [see here], while showrunner Bruno Heller has been discussing two of said villains in the iconic Batman Rogues Mr. Freeze (Nathan Darrow) and Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong), and Jada Pinkett Smith has been confirmed as returning to the role of mobster Fish Mooney. Meanwhile, if you’re missing Gotham during its winter break, you may want to start tuning in to The X-Files in the same timeslot, as Fox plans to air short animated comic book tales entitled Gotham Stories during the commercial breaks…
…Warner Bros.’ latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie Batman: Bad Blood is out this coming week, and you can read our review of the film here, as well as checking out a clip of Batwoman and Nightwing battling ninja nuns here. Meanwhile, WB has also released the first trailer for its next animated feature Justice League vs. Teen Titans [watch it here], along with the cover art and official synopsis [see here]…
…That’s not the only animated Justice League news we have this week, as Cartoon Network has officially announced the new series Justice League Action, which will see the return of Batman: The Animated Series voice actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and The Joker! As yet, there’s no word on a premiere date, but you can take a look at the first poster here…
…Be sure to check out Tai Freligh’s review of ‘Project Reborn’, the series finale of NBC’s Heroes Reborn, which you can read here…
…And finally, we’ve got a couple of superhero-related op-eds on Flickering Myth this week. Take a look at Samuel Brace’s ‘Batman v Superman vs. Suicide Squad, and Judging Films Before They Release’ here and Neil Calloway’s ‘The Good and Bad of a Marvel and Star Wars Crossover Movie’ here.
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 January 30, 2016. Updated November 29, 2022.
