…Moving on to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now and while it’s slipping down the charts, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues to pull in the cash at the box office, with the James Gunn-directed sequel having now outgrossed its predecessor and surpassed $800 million worldwide, becoming the fifth MCU movie to reach the milestone after The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and Iron Man 3. Meanwhile, this week has also brought us some concept art of Michael Rosenbaum’s Martinix along with unused artwork of Matthew McConaughey as Ego the Living Planet, while Sean Gunn has revealed that development on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is on hold as the story will be dependent on Avengers: Infinity War and the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4…
…And speaking of Infinity War, Sean Gunn has also been speaking about his work as the motion-capture performer for Rocket Raccoon, revealing that the Marvel team-up will feature more CGI characters than we’ve seen in the Guardians movies: “I can tell you that the process for Rocket has been very similar to the Guardian movies,” said Gunn. “If anything, it’s even more painstaking, because there are even more CGI characters around. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Baby Groot was there the whole time, but the rest of the time was mostly with other live actors. In Avengers, there are several other characters who are CGI enhanced that I’ve interacted with, which makes the process a little more deliberate.” While Gunn wouldn’t confirm or deny whether he’ll also be portraying Kraglin in Infinity War, we can add another character to the roster, with Black Panther star Winston Duke set to reprise the role of M’Baku/Man-Ape…
…With Spider-Man: Homecoming just a little over a month away from release, Marvel and Sony have unveiled a new promo for the reboot featuring a cameo by Stan Lee [watch it here], while we’ve also got details on the film’s possible run-time and the tracklisting for the original motion picture score by Michael Giacchino. Collectors may want to check out a batch of images for Hot Toys’ line of Cosbaby figures [see here], while Tom Holland has been chatting about the film, revealing that Peter Parker’s ultimate aspiration is to join The Avengers: “I think the difference [from previous Spider-Man films] now is that Peter Parker finally has an all-time goal, and his goal is to become an Avenger. Everything he does, even though he’s doing it for the right reasons, is done so that one day he can become an Avenger and prove himself to Tony Stark. And I think we’ve never really seen Spider-Man with that kind of motivation before…”
…Rumour time now, and according to Splash Report (so healthy pinch of salt at the ready), Sony’s Spider-Man-less Spider-Man spinoff Silver & Black is being used to set up an all-female Avengers-style SpiderVerse movie, which would feature the characters of Silver Sable, Black Cat, Spider-Woman, Stunner, Jackpot and Dusk. Meanwhile, the site also claims to have plot details for the pair-up, stating that it will feature characters such as Kraven the Hunter, Scorpion, The Chameleon and Tombstone…
…In other Spidey-related news, Disney XD has released the first clip from the upcoming animated series Marvel’s Spider-Man, which sees the wall-crawler in his homemade suit as he battles Scorpion; check it out here…
…Some new concept art for Thor: Ragnarok surfaced online this week featuring Thor, Loki, The Hulk, Odin, Valkyrie and Hela [see here], while LEGO also unveiled some official promotional images of the minifigures from its upcoming tie-in sets [see here]. And fans may also want to check out a rather humourous fan-made animated trailer, which features some Thor-inspired Immigrant Song lyrics; watch it here…
…Flickering Myth’s Liam Hoofe has been looking towards Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his latest feature, predicting what movies we might see post-Avengers 4; read his article here…
…This week has brought us a teaser poster for Netflix’s Daredevil spinoff The Punisher, which is reportedly set to hit the streaming service in November. Meanwhile, in other Netflix/Marvel news, a new batch of set photos from season two of Jessica Jones have arrived online featuring Krysten Ritter’s Jessica and Rachael Taylor’s Trish Walker in trouble with the law [see here], and Finn Jones has suggested that we can expect an official announcement on Iron Fist season two in the very near future…
…Runaways co-creator Brian K. Vaughan has shared his thoughts on Hulu’s upcoming Marvel pilot: “I just did a little consulting early in the process, but I think the Runaways found the ideal ‘foster parents’ in Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. They took a weird comic set in the Marvel Universe of 2002 and lovingly adapted it into a stylish drama that feels like contemporary Los Angeles. Love the cast, crew and especially the writers they assembled. And the pilot looks like an Adrian Alphona comic! I can’t wait to watch this first season unfold…”
…Marvel and Fox have released a new promo for the upcoming X-Men series The Gifted, entitled ‘When You Find Yourself in a Different World’; take a look here…
…As X-Men: The New Mutants gears up to go into production next month, we’ve had three new additions to the cast this week in Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things) as Cannonball, Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why) as Sunspot and Blu Hunt (The Originals) as Danielle Moonstar, the latter of whom is said to be the most important character in the script. The trio join the previously announced Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as Wolfsbane, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as Magik and Rosario Dawson (The Defenders) as Dr. Cecilia Reyes…
…Charlie Heaton’s Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown could have found herself as part of the X-Men universe, with the young actress revealing that she auditioned for the role of X-23 in Logan: “I was like, ‘It’s going to be amazing, I’m going to really prepare,’ and I sat in my room reading the lines. Honestly, for me, I felt so — I felt an actor, in the audition room, hitting Hugh Jackman, and James Mangold sitting right in front of me. I watched it; [Dafne Keen] was incredible…”
…And finally, with Josh Brolin set to take on the role of Cable for Deadpool 2, X-Men producer Hutch Parker has discussed the introduction of the time-travelling mutant, and what he will bring to the table for the series going forward: “It just opens a whole series of doors. I think that was part of what was so exciting of adding him to the mix is, not only what he brings as a character – and I think what I think Brolin will bring to the part, which I think was just brilliant casting – but it expands the landscape again and gives us more flexibility and opportunity which is one of the ways we can keep this franchise feeling vibrant and exciting and fresh – by introducing elements that are exciting and dynamic and different.”
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.
