…This week has brought us a host of concept and production artwork for Thor: Ragnarok, which includes alternate designs for the likes of Thor, Loki, Valkyrie, The Grandmaster, Hela, Surtur and Fenris [see here, here and here]. Meanwhile – ***SPOILERS*** – Zachary Levi (the future Shazam) spoke about his final outing as Fandral, revealing that his last line in the MCU ended up on the cutting room floor: “For those of you who have watched the movie, you see that Cate Blanchett comes out and she very just willy-nilly throws some knives of demonic purpose, I don’t know, they’re evil knives impaling both me and Volstagg, killing us instantly, the end,” said Levi. “What is on the cutting room floor is me charging at Hela and getting impaled and going ‘For Asgard.’ No shit, I had my last line, my last words in the Marvel Universe were ‘For Asgard.’ Cutting room floor…”
…In one other piece of news from the big screen side of the MCU, it has been reported this week Marvel held an event in Russia, where Ant-Man and the Wasp was being marketed as the studio’s first romantic comedy…
…Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made its return last Friday with its two-part season five premiere ‘Orientation’, which scored the show’s lowest ever season premiere ratings with 0.7 rating in its key demo and 2.6 million viewers overall. You can read Danny Hale’s review of the premiere here, and we’ve also got a promo and batch of images for next week’s fourth episode ‘A Life Earned’, which you can see here and here. Meanwhile, executive producer Jed Whedon has been chatting about the decision to take the series cosmic, as well as discussing the show’s “thematic” tie-ins with the big screen side of the MCU; read his comments here…
…Over at Netflix and we’ve had our first official image from the second season of Jessica Jones featuring Krysten Ritter’s Jessic and David Tennant’s Kilgrave [see here], and official details have been announced for the home entertainment release of Luke Cage: The Complete First Season [see here]. Meanwhile, it has also been announced that Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) has been cast in the second season of Iron Fist, news which followed hot on the heels of a rumour suggesting that the character of Lady Gorgon is set to feature as a villain…
…Be sure to check out Liam Hoofe’s review of the fifth episode of Hulu’s Runaways, ‘Kingdom’, which you can read here…
…Marvel has announced that it is launching a brand-new multi-platform animation franchise entitled Marvel Rising, which will showcase the next generation of Marvel heroes and includes a series of digital shorts, leading to a feature-length animated film, Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors. Featuring in the voice cast are Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet, Tyler Posey, BooBoo Stewart, Kathreen Khavari, Milana Vayntrub, Cierra Ramirez, Kamil McFadden, Skai Jackson, Kim Raver, Ming-Na Wen, Steven Weber, and Dee Bradley Baker. Read the official synopsis and character breakdowns here…
…Sony has its own animated Marvel movie incoming next year which focusses on the character of Miles Morales, and it’s been revealed this week that it is going by the title Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. A trailer is set to arrive imminently, so be sure to check back here at Flickering Myth for that [UPDATE: The trailer is now live and you can watch it here]…
…As production continues on Venom, Tom Hardy shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the set of the Spidey spin-off this week, sparking speculation that his Venom costume could be taking inspiration from Agent Venom. Well, if the promotional artwork from Brazil’s CCXP is anything to go by, it seems we will be getting the classic Venom costume, meaning it’s more than likely that Hardy was simply wearing some kind of harness…
…Moving on to the DC Extended Universe now and Justice League managed to break the half billion dollar mark at the box office last weekend, with its current haul just short of $575 million. One positive is that it’s become the highest-grossing DC release of all time in China, but with Star Wars: The Last Jedi set to suck the life out of everything at the box office this coming week, it’s entirely possible that Justice League will finish its run as the lowest-grossing DCEU release worldwide, with Man of Steel having pulled in $668 million back in 2013. Meanwhile, in other Justice League news, cinematographer Fabien Wagner has revealed that scenes were shot featuring Superman’s black costume but ended up on the cutting room floor, Arrow star Manu Bennett shared some words of praise for Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, while a fan petition has rather sarcastically called for an all-Joss Whedon cut of the movie, and details of screenwriter Will Beall’s abandoned, pre-DCEU Justice League script have surfaced online…
…However you try to spin it, it’s clear that Justice League has disappointed financially, and now comes word that Warner Bros. is planning a major DC Films restructure as a result of its performance. According to Variety, co-chief Jon Berg will leave his role, but remain involved as a producer, while Geoff Johns will remain chief creative officer with DC Entertainment, but his work on the films could be reduced to an advisory role. A replacement as head of DC Films could be announced in January, but it’s also possible that the studio will simply decide to absorb control of DC Films into the studio’s larger filmmaking operation. Furthermore, the report also claims that Warner is still happy to move ahead with Flashpoint, although it is likely that it will mark the final outing of Ben Affleck as Batman…
…Sure enough, that news was followed by the latest Batfleck replacement rumour, with a report this week claiming that Mad Men star Jon Hamm has been lobbying hard for the role of The Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy. Hamm has apparently spoken to Reeves, who is a fan of his work, and that while Jake Gyllenhaal remains under consideration, it is claimed that as “Jon is closer to Ben’s age and look, and will be a smoother replacement to fit into the plans already in place…”
…Click below to continue on for Aquaman, Shazam, Nightwing, Justice League Dark, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Arrow, Black Lightning, Krypton, Gotham, Watchmen, The Incredibles 2 and more…
Originally published December 9, 2017. Updated April 19, 2018.
