In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Spider-Man, The Sinister Six, Venom, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Inhumans, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Daredevil, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, Constantine, Kick-Ass 3, Hit-Girl and more…
Well, it’s finally happened… The Week in Spandex has returned to its original format. Oh, and Spider-Man is back at Marvel!
Yes, having came close last year (thanks Sony hackers!), Marvel Studios has finally got its man, with news breaking this week that the studio has reached a deal with Sony that will enable the wall-crawler to swing into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Captain America: Civil War, before launching a rebooted, Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb-less new solo series on July 28th, 2017. The deal – which cost Marvel nothing – will see the two studios linking up for the main Spidey series, with Kevin Feige producing alongside Amy Pascal. “I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie,” states Feige. “Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.” Indeed we have, indeed we have…
…No sooner had the Spider-Man news broken than the first casting rumours surfaced, with Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) and Logan Lerman (Fury) both reportedly on the studios’ shortlist for the role of Peter Parker. Meanwhile, Flickering Myth’s Luke Owen looked at 7 Actors Who Could Play Marvel’s New Spider-Man, while Luke and Scott also discussed the big news on the latest edition of the Flickering Myth Podcast, Pim Razenberg looked at the Downside of The Avengers Adopting Spider-Man, and I posted some complete speculation, Could We Get a Spider-Man Cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron?…
…Marvel may have got its hands on the web-slinger, but it seems that Sony is still moving ahead with its plans for The Sinister Six, Venom and a female-led spin-off, all of which will reportedly be produced without the involvement or creative input of Marvel and Kevin Feige. Just how those will tie in to the rebooted Spider-Man, and the MCU, is anyone’s guess at this point…
…As a result of Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man movie grabbing the July 28th 2017 release date, Marvel has pushed back Thor: Ragnarok to November 3rd, 2017, which has also had a knock-on effect for Black Panther (now landing on July 6th 2018), Captain Marvel (November 8th 2018) and Inhumans (July 12th 2019), although Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Part 2 both retain their original dates of May 4th 2018 and May 3rd 2019…
…Turning to Marvel Studios’ next offering and this week has brought reports that Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron will run for 160 minutes (compared to 143 minutes for The Avengers), while a boat load of promotional artwork and character posters have landed online, including several featuring The Vision (Paul Bettany) [check them out here, here, here and here]. Oh, and if you’re into your deluxe collectible figures, you may also want to take a look at Hot Toys’ 1/6th scale Ultron, which you can see here…
…In a few other bits and pieces from the big screen side of the MCU, some new concept art from Ant-Man has arrived online [see here], Tom Hiddleston has spoken briefly about Thor: Ragnarok and its “questions that need to be answered” [see here], rumours have suggested that Angelina Jolie (Unbroken) could be in line for the director’s chair on Captain Marvel [see here], Samuel L. Jackson has revealed he’s down to just two films remaining on his Marvel contract [see here], and Selma director Ava DuVernay has thrown her hat into the ring to direct an upcoming Marvel movie [see here]…
…On the small screen, Marvel has debuted a new still from the upcoming Netflix series Daredevil showing Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in a confessional, complete with a line of dialogue: “My Dad, he used to come to this church…he was a fighter…lost more than he won…but he always got back up.” Take a look at the image here…
…As Agent Carter approaches the end of its run, a promo and batch of images have been released for the penultimate episode ‘Snafu’, while you can also read our review of episode 6, ‘A Sin to Err’, here…
…With Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gearing up for its midseason return on March 3rd, we’ve got a detailed synopsis for the second half of season two, while there’s also been a couple of bits of casting news, with Drea de Mattero set to play the villain Karla Faye Gideon, “a Gifted woman with a grudge to bear against S.H.I.E.L.D. who joins forces with Skye’s father, Cal,” and Thor and Thor: The Dark World star Jaimie Alexander set to make a second guest appearance as Lady Sif…
…On the animated front, click here to check out a clip of this Sunday’s episode of Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., entitled ‘Big Green Mile’, which sees the Green Goliath and company getting into a prison food fight with the Absorbing Man and his supervillain buddies…
…Click below to continue on for Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, The Wolverine 3, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, Constantine, Kick-Ass 3, Hit-Girl and more…
Originally published February 14, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
