Our weekly round up of all the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Man of Steel, Justice League, World's Finest, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Avengers 2, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man 3, Runaways, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Fantastic Four, Arrow, Teen Titans Go!, LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Wolverine: Origin and more...
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As you'd expect with just three weeks to go to its release, Warner Bros.' publicity department ramped up the marketing for Man of Steel this past week. Pick of the promotional goodies was a brand new fourth trailer, which saw a heavy focus on the epic action set to be unleashed in Zack Snyder's hotly-anticipated reboot when General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Faora (Antje Traue) arrive on Earth in search of Kal-El (Henry Cavill). If for some reason you're yet to see the trailer, you can watch it here, and be sure to check out the thoughts of our writing team in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction...
...Preceding the arrival of the fourth Man of Steel trailer was the arrival of three character posters featuring Superman, Zod and Jor-El (Russell Crowe) [see here and here], along with a behind-the-scenes featurette [see here] and a batch of official stills, which included new images of Cavill, Shannon and Traue, along with the likes of Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys) as Jonathan Kent, Ayelet Zurer (Angels & Demons) as Lara Lor-Van, Harry Lennix (Dollhouse) as General Swanwick, Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) as Perry White, Richard Schiff (The West Wing) as Dr. Emil Hamilton, Diane Lane (Unfaithful) as Martha Kent and a behind the scenes shot of Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) [see here]. Meanwhile, Snyder, Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) offered up a few thoughts on the impending reboot, with Nolan taking the opportunity to explain why Snyder was given the task of updating the Man of Steel for the 21st century: "[Zack has an] innate aptitude for dealing with superheroes as real characters. That was what a new approach to Superman required. He understands the power of iconic images, but he also understand the people behind them... You’re dealing with a filmmaker who has deconstructed this mythology [with Watchmen] and now has to reconstruct it. That’s a fascinating challenge for him." Read more of their comments here, while Flickering Myth's Martin Deer has more thoughts and opinions on the latest talking points from the Superman reboot in his penultimate Countdown to Man of Steel round-up...
![The Justice League]( "The Justice League")
...With Man of Steel fast approaching, expectations are building for an announcement from Warner Bros. as to its future plans for a DC movie universe, and more 'evidence' has emerged that the studio is laying the groundwork for a Justice League movie, with Variety reporting that the studio is embarking on a huge merchandise push with the American retail giant Target, launching over 50 products based around the New 52 line-up of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg. The article goes on to state that Warner Bros. intends on rolling out even more Justice League products through other big retail chains later in the year and suggests that "getting stores used to carrying Justice League merchandise beyond the traditional toy aisle could create a boon for WB once the Justice League film bows years from now..."
...There has been talk that Warner Bros. could build towards Justice League by teaming Henry Cavill's Man of Steel up with The Dark Knight for a World's Finest movie, and Cavill has admitted that he'd be very interested to see Superman lining up alongside Batman on the big screen, although he also stressed that he's currently in the dark when it comes to the next stage of the proposed DC movie universe: "I think it would be really interesting with the age-old Batman / Superman conflict because they are two different sides of the same coin and their methods are entirely different. And I think it would actually make for an interesting story as to why, first of all, they were going head to head, and how. I think that would make a great story. Who knows, I’m sure there’s all sorts of ideas being thrown around at Warner Bros. right now..."
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...Man of Steel wasn't the only one of this year's superhero movies to get a new trailer this week with 20th Century Fox debuting a full theatrical trailer for Hugh Jackman's latest X-Men solo adventure The Wolverine, which features out best look yet at Will Yun Lee's (Total Recall) antagonist the Silver Samurai, as well as more of Famke Janssen's return as Jean Grey. Two more character posters also surfaced, this time focusing on Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova) and Yukio (Rila Fukushima), while Jackman had a few words about his sixth outing as Logan in an interview with CNN: "Wolverine's] back, and I couldn't be happier. I never in a million years would've thought I'd still be playing this character. It kind of really is shocking to me, but at the same time, it's such an instant gratitude, because I love this character... [Wolverine's] sort of interested in [the offer of mortality], because if your life is not great and there is a lot of regret and pain, would it be great to live on and on? The Wolverine is a character piece, and I would say it may be a little darker in tone than the others, and it certainly feels a little different, [but] it's just as much fun. The action in this is probably more inventive than we've ever had before..."
...Looking ahead to next year's mutant ensemble and Bryan Singer has been active again on Twitter this week from the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past, releasing a behind-the-scenes shot of himself and the film's 'primary antagonist' Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) [see here], as well as Jennifer Lawrence in full make-up as Mystique [see here]; however, the really big story was his announcement that Evan Peters (American Horror Story) has joined the cast and will be playing none other than Quicksilver, the son of Magneto (Ian McKellen / Michael Fassbender), and the very same guy who Joss Whedon recently confirmed would be joining the roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes - along with his sister, Scarlet Witch - in Marvel Studios' The Avengers 2. If you're wondering how they hell that can be, the two characters are the subject of a bizarre rights issue whereby both Fox and Marvel Studios are entitled to use them, based upon their affiliations with the Avengers and X-Men comic books, although neither studio is allowed to make reference to the other incarnation. According to a report over at HitFix, Quicksilver's inclusion in Days of Future Past has understandably raised tension between Fox and Marvel, with Singer apparently only wanting to utilize the character for a single action sequence, and Whedon planning much bigger things for him and Scarlet Witch in The Avengers 2...
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...Assuming a merging of the two Marvel universes is out of the question (which would be highly, highly unlikely), Quicksilver's inclusion in X-Men: Days of Future Past raised questions about whether Whedon would be forced to drop the characters from his Avengers 2 script, but based upon his appearance last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, it seems he's still pushing ahead with his original plan for the 2015 sequel: "I already said that we’re going to have a brother/sister team, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, who were great mainstays of The Avengers when I was reading the comics as a kid... Besides the fact that I grew up reading them, their powers are very visually interesting. One of the problems I had on the first one was everybody basically had punchy powers. [Quicksilver's] got super speed. [Scarlet Witch] can cast spells and a little telekinesis, get inside your head. There’s good stuff that they can do that will help sort of keep it fresh..."
...While we're on the subject of Joss Whedon, he also offered a few comments for IGN about Marvel's first small screen venture, The Avengers spin-off Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is set to premiere on ABC in the fall. Stating that the reason for Agent Coulson's (Clark Gregg) return from the dead "ain't a fanwank", Whedon went on to reiterate that the series will look to avoid a "superhero of the week" style approach, instead focusing on the newly-created core roster of agents under Coulson's command: "The show is about the six people who are in the show. And [every] week we’ll meet somebody that they have to deal with. Some of those people will be very sympathetic, some of them will be evil, some will be from the Marvel canon, some will reference it - but it’s not an Easter egg hunt... It really is just about the lives of these people as they’re dealing with this super-world..."
![Iron Man 3 unused poster design]( "Iron Man 3 unused poster design")
...Turning back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Iron Man 3 has now officially overtaken The Dark Knight Rises to become the highest-grossing solo superhero movie of all time, and second only to The Avengers in terms of the genre. As of this morning, the Shane Black-directed sequel will have surpassed Skyfall to take seventh in the all time global box office chart, and despite competition from the likes of Star Trek Into Darkness, Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III, the film should go on to surpass The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King ($1.119 billion) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.123 billion) this week to crack the top five, although it remains to be seen whether the fourth-placed $1.341 billion haul of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is an achievable target...
...In other Iron Man-related bits and pieces, we've posted a selection of VFX video breakdowns from effects house Digital Domain which offer an insight into the Air Force One sequence and Extremis effects [see here], in addition to a selection of unused poster designs from the first Phase Two offering [see here]. Meanwhile, screenwriter Drew Pearce took part in a lengthy - and spoilery - and spoilery discussion with io9 about the film, explaining how his work on the now-aborted Runaways led to the Iron Man 3 writing gig, while martial arts icon Jackie Chan has jokingly thrown himself into the mix for the role of Tony Stark should Robert Downey Jr.'s renegotiations with Marvel Studios fall through: "I really want to play Iron Man but I don’t think the audiences want to see me as Iron Man. Anyway, nobody pays me big money to make this kind of movie. I love Iron Man and this kind of movie, but no one hires me. Fools!" Given Chan's popularity in China, expect Marvel to immediately cast him in all of their upcoming movies, before leaving all of his scenes lying on the cutting room floor...
...Elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new batch of spy photos have surfaced from Captain America: The Winter Soldier showing a bloodied and bruised Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) taking part in a large scale action sequence on the Cleveland set, while Toby Jones has indicated that Arnim Zola could be integral to the plot of next year's sequel, telling Coming Soon that: "I was pleased to be brought back. I thought I might be--because you'd know better than I do--but Zola finds a way to defeat time and you won't be disappointed with the way that's been treated in the film, that's what I would say." Meanwhile, Thanos creator Jim Starlin has retracted his previous retraction about the Mad Titan featuring in Guardians of the Galaxy, with Starlin telling ComicBook.com that the cosmic villain will "make some kind of appearance" in the film (as well as calling the upcoming adaptation "a desperation movie to get another franchise" and criticizing the choice of Ant-Man for a solo movie), and Irish actor Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids) has hinted that he could be set to extend his Marvel stay beyond a cameo appearance alongside Natalie Portman in November's Thor: The Dark World, hinting to MTV Splash Page that "there's a lot of talk" of him starring in a future Daredevil movie, and "maybe some contract talk"...
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...While heavy rain may have put the dampeners on filming on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this past week, the web (sorry) was abuzz with speculation that the wall-crawler could potentially find himself back home at Marvel Studios, with The Register claiming that Sony was considering a proposal from investor Daniel Loeb which could see the studio selling off parts of its music and movie business, including the rights to the Resident Evil and Spider-Man franchises. Of course, what the speculation failed to take into account was that a) even if Sony did sell to Daniel Loeb, he's not part of Marvel Studios, and b) would Marvel Studios even be interested in forking out an absolute fortune to reacquire the rights to their own character? Either way, it seems that Sony has no interest in giving up the Spidey cash cow, with Aint It Cool News quoting Sony co-chair Amy Pascal as stating she would "never ever ever" let go of Spider-Man. Ever. So, that's that then. At least until the next rumour of a Spider-Man / MCU crossover, anyway. Llet's just hope Marc Webb doesn't include a nod to Quicksilver, or things will start getting really confusing...
...After confirming last week that he was in the running for the role of Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four, Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) had a few more words about the possibility of him linking up with Chronicle director Josh Trank in 20th Century Fox's 2015 reboot during a video interview with Empire, and judging by his reaction, it would appear we may have our Human Torch: "Oh man, on camera. This is the first person to ask me that question on camera, everything else has been on audio... There's nothing in writing, nothing's official, but you know me and Josh are very, very good friends, he's a very talented guy and if it were to happen I would embrace it and go all the way in, but I can't really talk too much about that..."
![The Fantastic Four]( "The Fantastic Four")
...While we're on the subject of the Fantastic Four, pre-production has got underway on a new documentary entitled Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four, which is set to explore the B-movie legend's infamous 1994 adaptation. Shot on a budget of just $1 million in less than a month with a cast you've never heard of (well, you might have heard of former child star Jay Underwood, the autistic kid from The Boy Who Could Fly, who played Johnny Storm), The Fantastic Four was shelved prior to release. It's said that the movie was never intended for public viewing (which was news to the cast and crew) and made solely to ensure that producer Bernd Eichinger (Downfall) retained the rights to Marvel's First Family. The new indie documentary is set to include interviews with many of the cast and crew in order to unravel all of the secrets, stories and legal wranglings that have kept The Fantastic Four a "lost" film; find out more on the official Facebook page here...
...Now that the first season of Arrow is over, we're starting to hear bits and pieces about the plans for season two of The CW's hit superhero series. Speaking to TV Guide, executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen will find himself up against two main villains when the show returns in the Fall: "We made no secret of the fact that we subscribe to the Whedonesque model of having a big bad, and in Season 2, we'll actually have two big bads. They'll both be very recognizable names to fans of the comic book. We're really excited about both of them. With Malcolm and the Dark Archer, we sort of had two big bads in one person. In Season 2, we're going to split them up essentially, and there will be a Malcolm-esque big bad and a Dark Archer-esque big bad." Meanwhile, Guggenheim also stated that the second season will see an increased emphasis on Slade Wilson, played by Manu Bennett (Spartacus): "If the question of Season 1 is, 'What happened to Oliver on that island?' The question of Season 2 is, 'What happened to Slade Wilson on that island..?'"
...While we await the arrival of the CG-animated Beware the Batman and the return of Arrow, DC fans have to make to with the comedy series Teen Titans Go! for their small screen superheo fix; as always, head on over to The World's Finest for a selection of stills and clips from the upcoming episode 'La Larva Amor', which airs on Cartoon Network in the States on Tuesday at 7.30pm (ET/PT)...
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...Tuesday saw the arrival of Warner Bros.' latest direct-to-video animated offering, the video game adaptation LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite, and to coincide with the release the studio dropped a new batch of images, as well as a clip which sees the Boy Wonder pursuing Catwoman [see here]. The movie is produced by TT Animation and features the definitive voice of Lex Luthor, Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption), along with Troy Baker (Bioshock Infinite, Batman: Arkham City) as Batman, Travis Willingham (Avengers Assemble, The Super Hero Squad Show) as Superman, Christopher Corey Smith (Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe) as the Joker and Charlie Schlatter (Diagnosis Murder) as Robin...
...Warner Bros. has also released the first trailer for the next DC Universe Original Animated Movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, which you can check out here. Based upon Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert's 'Flashpoint' crossover, the direct-to-video feature hits shelves on July 30th, with a voice cast that includes Justin Chambers (Grey's Anatomy) as The Flash, Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman, Dana Delany (Superman: The Animated Series) as Lois Lane, C. Thomas Howell (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Professor Zoom / Reverse Flash, Vanessa Marshall (Young Justice) as Wonder Woman, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Aquaman, Sam Daly (Red Tails) as Superman, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as Green Lantern, Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as General Lane, Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting) as post-Flashpoint Batman, Ron Perlman as Deathstroke and Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg.
![Marvel's Avengers Assemble]( "Marvel's Avengers Assemble")
...Earlier this week Disney XD debuted the first trailer for Marvel's latest animated series Avengers Assemble [see here], along with two clips featuring Earth's Mightiest Heroes battling the Red Skull's HYDRA soldiers, as well as a rematch from last year's live-action blockbuster as Thor and The Incredible Hulk go ahead to head once more [see here]. Avengers Assemble premieres on Disney XD tomorrow night (Sunday 26th) with a special one hour preview before shifting to Sunday mornings from July 7th; the show has been produced by Man of Action Studios, and features a voice cast which includes includes Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) as Iron Man, Fred Tatasciore (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness) as The Hulk, Roger Craig Smith (Wreck-It Ralph) as Captain America, Travis Willingham (Shelf Life) as Thor, Troy Baker (Ultimate Spider-Man) as Hawkeye, Laura Bailey (The Super Hero Squad Show) as Black Widow and Bumper Robinson (The Game) as Falcon...
...And finally, before Hugh Jackman dons the adamantium claws for The Wolverine, Logan is set to take centre stage in the latest Marvel Knights Animation motion comic Wolverine: Origin, which is based upon writer Paul Jenkins and artists Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove's comic book of the same name and is set for release on July 9th. Here's the official synopsis: "Wolverine is the best there is at what he does - although of course, what he does isn’t very nice. But long before he was a member of the X-Men, a tormented experiment of the Weapon-X project, or even a savage bar brawler known as Logan – he was simply a young boy. What incredible forces created this man, the world’s greatest killing machine? For years, Wolverine has searched desperately for answers from his past, from the wilds of the Canadian Wilderness to the teeming cities of Japan and beyond. And despite his perseverance and longing for the truth, he remains an enigma to himself and those around him. But, in this landmark event, Marvel reveals all: the birth and childhood of young James Howlett…the intriguing secrets of his family history…and the tragedy that changed everything. Welcome to the greatest story never told."
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen - Available now via Amazon.co.uk![]()
and Amazon.com![]()
.
Gary Collinson
As you'd expect with just three weeks to go to its release, Warner Bros.' publicity department ramped up the marketing for Man of Steel this past week. Pick of the promotional goodies was a brand new fourth trailer, which saw a heavy focus on the epic action set to be unleashed in Zack Snyder's hotly-anticipated reboot when General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Faora (Antje Traue) arrive on Earth in search of Kal-El (Henry Cavill). If for some reason you're yet to see the trailer, you can watch it here, and be sure to check out the thoughts of our writing team in the latest Flickering Myth Reaction......Preceding the arrival of the fourth Man of Steel trailer was the arrival of three character posters featuring Superman, Zod and Jor-El (Russell Crowe) [see here and here], along with a behind-the-scenes featurette [see here] and a batch of official stills, which included new images of Cavill, Shannon and Traue, along with the likes of Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys) as Jonathan Kent, Ayelet Zurer (Angels & Demons) as Lara Lor-Van, Harry Lennix (Dollhouse) as General Swanwick, Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) as Perry White, Richard Schiff (The West Wing) as Dr. Emil Hamilton, Diane Lane (Unfaithful) as Martha Kent and a behind the scenes shot of Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) [see here]. Meanwhile, Snyder, Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer (Batman Begins) offered up a few thoughts on the impending reboot, with Nolan taking the opportunity to explain why Snyder was given the task of updating the Man of Steel for the 21st century: "[Zack has an] innate aptitude for dealing with superheroes as real characters. That was what a new approach to Superman required. He understands the power of iconic images, but he also understand the people behind them... You’re dealing with a filmmaker who has deconstructed this mythology [with Watchmen] and now has to reconstruct it. That’s a fascinating challenge for him." Read more of their comments here, while Flickering Myth's Martin Deer has more thoughts and opinions on the latest talking points from the Superman reboot in his penultimate Countdown to Man of Steel round-up...
...There has been talk that Warner Bros. could build towards Justice League by teaming Henry Cavill's Man of Steel up with The Dark Knight for a World's Finest movie, and Cavill has admitted that he'd be very interested to see Superman lining up alongside Batman on the big screen, although he also stressed that he's currently in the dark when it comes to the next stage of the proposed DC movie universe: "I think it would be really interesting with the age-old Batman / Superman conflict because they are two different sides of the same coin and their methods are entirely different. And I think it would actually make for an interesting story as to why, first of all, they were going head to head, and how. I think that would make a great story. Who knows, I’m sure there’s all sorts of ideas being thrown around at Warner Bros. right now..."
...Looking ahead to next year's mutant ensemble and Bryan Singer has been active again on Twitter this week from the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past, releasing a behind-the-scenes shot of himself and the film's 'primary antagonist' Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) [see here], as well as Jennifer Lawrence in full make-up as Mystique [see here]; however, the really big story was his announcement that Evan Peters (American Horror Story) has joined the cast and will be playing none other than Quicksilver, the son of Magneto (Ian McKellen / Michael Fassbender), and the very same guy who Joss Whedon recently confirmed would be joining the roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes - along with his sister, Scarlet Witch - in Marvel Studios' The Avengers 2. If you're wondering how they hell that can be, the two characters are the subject of a bizarre rights issue whereby both Fox and Marvel Studios are entitled to use them, based upon their affiliations with the Avengers and X-Men comic books, although neither studio is allowed to make reference to the other incarnation. According to a report over at HitFix, Quicksilver's inclusion in Days of Future Past has understandably raised tension between Fox and Marvel, with Singer apparently only wanting to utilize the character for a single action sequence, and Whedon planning much bigger things for him and Scarlet Witch in The Avengers 2...
...While we're on the subject of Joss Whedon, he also offered a few comments for IGN about Marvel's first small screen venture, The Avengers spin-off Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is set to premiere on ABC in the fall. Stating that the reason for Agent Coulson's (Clark Gregg) return from the dead "ain't a fanwank", Whedon went on to reiterate that the series will look to avoid a "superhero of the week" style approach, instead focusing on the newly-created core roster of agents under Coulson's command: "The show is about the six people who are in the show. And [every] week we’ll meet somebody that they have to deal with. Some of those people will be very sympathetic, some of them will be evil, some will be from the Marvel canon, some will reference it - but it’s not an Easter egg hunt... It really is just about the lives of these people as they’re dealing with this super-world..."
...In other Iron Man-related bits and pieces, we've posted a selection of VFX video breakdowns from effects house Digital Domain which offer an insight into the Air Force One sequence and Extremis effects [see here], in addition to a selection of unused poster designs from the first Phase Two offering [see here]. Meanwhile, screenwriter Drew Pearce took part in a lengthy - and spoilery - and spoilery discussion with io9 about the film, explaining how his work on the now-aborted Runaways led to the Iron Man 3 writing gig, while martial arts icon Jackie Chan has jokingly thrown himself into the mix for the role of Tony Stark should Robert Downey Jr.'s renegotiations with Marvel Studios fall through: "I really want to play Iron Man but I don’t think the audiences want to see me as Iron Man. Anyway, nobody pays me big money to make this kind of movie. I love Iron Man and this kind of movie, but no one hires me. Fools!" Given Chan's popularity in China, expect Marvel to immediately cast him in all of their upcoming movies, before leaving all of his scenes lying on the cutting room floor...
...Elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new batch of spy photos have surfaced from Captain America: The Winter Soldier showing a bloodied and bruised Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) taking part in a large scale action sequence on the Cleveland set, while Toby Jones has indicated that Arnim Zola could be integral to the plot of next year's sequel, telling Coming Soon that: "I was pleased to be brought back. I thought I might be--because you'd know better than I do--but Zola finds a way to defeat time and you won't be disappointed with the way that's been treated in the film, that's what I would say." Meanwhile, Thanos creator Jim Starlin has retracted his previous retraction about the Mad Titan featuring in Guardians of the Galaxy, with Starlin telling ComicBook.com that the cosmic villain will "make some kind of appearance" in the film (as well as calling the upcoming adaptation "a desperation movie to get another franchise" and criticizing the choice of Ant-Man for a solo movie), and Irish actor Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids) has hinted that he could be set to extend his Marvel stay beyond a cameo appearance alongside Natalie Portman in November's Thor: The Dark World, hinting to MTV Splash Page that "there's a lot of talk" of him starring in a future Daredevil movie, and "maybe some contract talk"...
...After confirming last week that he was in the running for the role of Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four, Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) had a few more words about the possibility of him linking up with Chronicle director Josh Trank in 20th Century Fox's 2015 reboot during a video interview with Empire, and judging by his reaction, it would appear we may have our Human Torch: "Oh man, on camera. This is the first person to ask me that question on camera, everything else has been on audio... There's nothing in writing, nothing's official, but you know me and Josh are very, very good friends, he's a very talented guy and if it were to happen I would embrace it and go all the way in, but I can't really talk too much about that..."
...Now that the first season of Arrow is over, we're starting to hear bits and pieces about the plans for season two of The CW's hit superhero series. Speaking to TV Guide, executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen will find himself up against two main villains when the show returns in the Fall: "We made no secret of the fact that we subscribe to the Whedonesque model of having a big bad, and in Season 2, we'll actually have two big bads. They'll both be very recognizable names to fans of the comic book. We're really excited about both of them. With Malcolm and the Dark Archer, we sort of had two big bads in one person. In Season 2, we're going to split them up essentially, and there will be a Malcolm-esque big bad and a Dark Archer-esque big bad." Meanwhile, Guggenheim also stated that the second season will see an increased emphasis on Slade Wilson, played by Manu Bennett (Spartacus): "If the question of Season 1 is, 'What happened to Oliver on that island?' The question of Season 2 is, 'What happened to Slade Wilson on that island..?'"
...While we await the arrival of the CG-animated Beware the Batman and the return of Arrow, DC fans have to make to with the comedy series Teen Titans Go! for their small screen superheo fix; as always, head on over to The World's Finest for a selection of stills and clips from the upcoming episode 'La Larva Amor', which airs on Cartoon Network in the States on Tuesday at 7.30pm (ET/PT)...
...Tuesday saw the arrival of Warner Bros.' latest direct-to-video animated offering, the video game adaptation LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite, and to coincide with the release the studio dropped a new batch of images, as well as a clip which sees the Boy Wonder pursuing Catwoman [see here]. The movie is produced by TT Animation and features the definitive voice of Lex Luthor, Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption), along with Troy Baker (Bioshock Infinite, Batman: Arkham City) as Batman, Travis Willingham (Avengers Assemble, The Super Hero Squad Show) as Superman, Christopher Corey Smith (Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe) as the Joker and Charlie Schlatter (Diagnosis Murder) as Robin......Warner Bros. has also released the first trailer for the next DC Universe Original Animated Movie, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, which you can check out here. Based upon Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert's 'Flashpoint' crossover, the direct-to-video feature hits shelves on July 30th, with a voice cast that includes Justin Chambers (Grey's Anatomy) as The Flash, Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman, Dana Delany (Superman: The Animated Series) as Lois Lane, C. Thomas Howell (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Professor Zoom / Reverse Flash, Vanessa Marshall (Young Justice) as Wonder Woman, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Aquaman, Sam Daly (Red Tails) as Superman, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as Green Lantern, Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as General Lane, Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting) as post-Flashpoint Batman, Ron Perlman as Deathstroke and Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg.
...Earlier this week Disney XD debuted the first trailer for Marvel's latest animated series Avengers Assemble [see here], along with two clips featuring Earth's Mightiest Heroes battling the Red Skull's HYDRA soldiers, as well as a rematch from last year's live-action blockbuster as Thor and The Incredible Hulk go ahead to head once more [see here]. Avengers Assemble premieres on Disney XD tomorrow night (Sunday 26th) with a special one hour preview before shifting to Sunday mornings from July 7th; the show has been produced by Man of Action Studios, and features a voice cast which includes includes Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) as Iron Man, Fred Tatasciore (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness) as The Hulk, Roger Craig Smith (Wreck-It Ralph) as Captain America, Travis Willingham (Shelf Life) as Thor, Troy Baker (Ultimate Spider-Man) as Hawkeye, Laura Bailey (The Super Hero Squad Show) as Black Widow and Bumper Robinson (The Game) as Falcon......And finally, before Hugh Jackman dons the adamantium claws for The Wolverine, Logan is set to take centre stage in the latest Marvel Knights Animation motion comic Wolverine: Origin, which is based upon writer Paul Jenkins and artists Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove's comic book of the same name and is set for release on July 9th. Here's the official synopsis: "Wolverine is the best there is at what he does - although of course, what he does isn’t very nice. But long before he was a member of the X-Men, a tormented experiment of the Weapon-X project, or even a savage bar brawler known as Logan – he was simply a young boy. What incredible forces created this man, the world’s greatest killing machine? For years, Wolverine has searched desperately for answers from his past, from the wilds of the Canadian Wilderness to the teeming cities of Japan and beyond. And despite his perseverance and longing for the truth, he remains an enigma to himself and those around him. But, in this landmark event, Marvel reveals all: the birth and childhood of young James Howlett…the intriguing secrets of his family history…and the tragedy that changed everything. Welcome to the greatest story never told."
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen - Available now via Amazon.co.uk
and Amazon.com
.Gary Collinson