Our weekly round up of all the latest stories from the world of screen superheroes, including Kick-Ass 2, Thor: The Dark World, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel's Phase Three and Phase Four, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Wolverine, Venom, Superman vs Batman, Big Hero 6, Avengers Assemble, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Teen Titans Go!, Beware the Batman and more...
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We're just a few days away from the arrival of the year's fourth superhero movie as Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Kick-Ass and Chloe Grace Moretz's Hit-Girl return to do battle with Christopher Mintz-Plasse's supervillain The Mother F*cker in Kick-Ass 2, and Universal has been releasing a steady stream of promotional material in the run up to its release this coming week. Along with an extended clip which sees Dave luring a group of muggers into an ambush by Hit-Girl [see here], several other video featurettes have also popped up online including The Mother F*cker and Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina) recruiting for The Toxic Mega-C*nts [see here], an extended TV spot [see here], a behind-the-scenes look at Hit-Girl vs. Mother Russia [see here], Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse answering fan questions [see here], and Moretz, Mintz-Plasse, director Jeff Wadlow and comic book co-creator Mark Millar commenting on Jim Carrey's decision to withdrawn his support from the movie - including Millar's assertation that: "People keep saying to me, 'Are you pissed off at Jim Carrey?' No, I'm delighted with Jim Carrey, this is amazing. For your main actor to publicly say, 'This movie is too violent for me' is like saying, 'This porno has too much nudity. We'll have to go and see this now'" [see here]. We'll find out what impact Carrey's decision has had when Kick-Ass 2 opens in the UK on Wednesday (August 14th) and in North America on Friday (August 16th); be sure to check back here at Flickering Myth early next week for our review, as well as our interview with director Jeff Wadlow...
...Looking further ahead and we've also been given a preview of 2013's fifth and final superhero movie thanks to YouTube's Geek Week, which saw Marvel Studios debuting the second trailer from the upcoming solo sequel Thor: The Dark World. If for some strange reason you're yet to see the trailer you can watch it here, and head on over to ComicBookMovie for a tonne of hi-res screen grabs. Thor: The Dark World is directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) and sees returning Thor stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Rene Russo (Frigga), Stellan Skarsgård (Erik Selvig), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Ray Stevenson, (Volstagg) Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun) and Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis) joined by Marvel newcomers Zachary Levi (Chuck) as Fandral, Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) as Malekith the Accursed, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as Algrim the Strong / Kurse. The film is set for release on October 30th in the UK and November 8th in North America...
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...Anyone hoping to see the God of Mischief popping up for round two against Earth's Mightiest Heroes in The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be disappointed to hear that Loki will be absent from the 2015 sequel, with Tom Hiddleston telling Entertainment Weekly: "He's not in it. Here’s the thing: I don’t think there’s anything else Loki could contribute to The Avengers, narratively. Joss gave me so many wonderful things to do in that first film that we’d only be trying to repeat ourselves, and probably less well in the second one... When I think of all the things I loved as a child, for example, Hans Gruber wasn’t in Die Hard 2. And in Indiana Jones, by the time he moved from the Lost Ark to the Temple of Doom, there was a whole new bad guy. I think keeping it fresh and new is good for The Avengers even though it’s a shame for me. And let’s face it, there’s seven or eight of them as it is, and Joss is thinking about adding two more, so the screen’s gonna be a busy place. But I had the time of my life on that film. It was the most fun ever..."
...While Hiddleston doesn't expect to see Loki tussling with The Avengers again, he isn't ruling out a reunion of sorts with Joss Whedon on the upcoming live-action TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., telling Crave Online that he's open to the idea of a guest appearance: "It would be something that would depend upon script and story but yeah, of course. I’ve spoken to [Joss] about it. I saw him down in San Diego. I hear it’s good fun." Meanwhile, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. set to premiere next month, ABC has debuted a new poster [see here], along with a selection of featurettes, two of which showcase the character of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and the other featuring Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) introducing his team of Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) [see here]...
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...Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have only just kicked off earlier this year with Iron Man 3, but if you thought Marvel Studios were thinking ahead when Disney announced a trio of as-yet-unrevealed titles for 2016 and 2017, then think again. According to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, the studio has not only mapped out Phase Three of the MCU, but it's also got a pretty good idea of what's in store for Phase Four: "I could arguably say what we’re planning for the year 2021. Will that happen? I don’t know. But what we planned for 2015 in 2006 is happening." So far, Marvel has Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers: Age of Ultron set for Phase Two, with Ant-Man kicking off Phase Three in November 2015. It's been strongly rumoured that Phase Three could see the introduction of Doctor Strange and Black Panther, while Marvel certainly has plenty of options for the following years, with the studio previously mentioning the likes of Inhumans and Heroes for Hire as potential movie franchises, as well as having reacquired the movie rights to Daredevil, Blade, The Punisher and Ghost Rider...
...From one Marvel Universe to another now and Bryan Singer was on hand at Fantasia Fest this past week, where he screened the Comic-Con footage from 20th Century Fox's mutant epic X-Men: Days of Future Past [check out part of the footage - in poor quality - here], as well as taking part in a Q&A where he revealed that he has plans to follow next year's X-Men sequel with what he described as a "Marvel Universe mash-up." Assuming Singer intends on directing this for Fox rather than Marvel Studios, he'll find himself limited with his options, but there is of course the possibility of combining the X-Men universe with The Fantastic Four, which is being rebooted by Chronicle director Josh Trank in March 2015...
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...The Wolverine crossed the $100 million mark domestically this past week, and by close of play on Thursday the Hugh Jackman-headlined solo sequel had pulled in $260 million world-wide. The film should go on to overtake Bryan Singer's X-Men ($296.3 million) by its third weekend, and looks likely to finish up with a similar performance to that of Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class ($148 million in North America, and $353 million globally). Considering it cost lest to produce than Fox's previous three X-Men movies, then the studio will surely be pleased with the returns, especially there's still an outside chance that it could surpass the $373 million haul of X-Men Origins: Wolverine...
...Over the past couple of months The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb has made several references to the fact that the recently announced fourth movie in Sony's rebooted franchise "might not be just a Spider-Man movie." Of course, with Sony only owning the rights to the Spider-Man franchise, it's unlikely that any superheroes under the control of Marvel Studios or 20th Century Fox will be popping up in The Amazing Spider-Man 4, but one popular Marvel character who could potentially feature alongside Andrew Garfield's wall-crawler is that of Venom - especially as Sony has been keen to launch a solo spin-off franchise for the symbiote for several years now. IGN asked The Amazing Spider-Man 2 screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci if they had any interest in tackling the character, and while they refused to discuss whether there'd been any discussions with Sony, Orci admitted that the duo are "fans of Venom", with Kurtzman adding that "Venom is an amazing character. Venom is a brilliant character. Part of what's interesting about Venom is that Venom can do all of the things that Spider-Man can't do, in a lot of ways. And I don't know, I guess that's why I respond to him..."
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...Since Warner Bros.' big Comic-Con announcement, there's been a flood of speculation surrounding the next actor to don the cape and cowl as The Dark Knight alongside Henry Cavill's Man of Steel in Superman vs. Batman; just last night, British actor and martial artist Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) posted on his Facebook page stating that he'd already auditioned for the role of Batman (although the message has since been removed), while Watchmen star Jeffrey Dean Morgan became the latest name to be linked / plucked from thin air (*delete as appropriate), joining an exhaustive list of rumoured candidates that so far includes Josh Brolin (Oldboy), Ryan Gosling (Only God Forgives), Joe Manganiello (True Blood), Richard Armitage (The Hobbit), Max Martini (Pacific Rim), Matthew Goode (Watchmen), Josh Duhamel (Transformers), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Gerard Butler (300), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Brad Pitt (World War Z), Ben Affleck (Argo) and Jim Caviezel (Person of Interest). And it seems its not the new Batman that's subject to speculation, with Mark Strong (Green Lantern) stating, "All I can say is... watch this space" when asked if there's any truth to the reports linking him with the role of Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor...
...A couple of weeks ago we heard that Warner Bros. plans to expand its DC Television Universe by launching a spin-off from The CW's Arrow centred around The Flash, and now comes a new rumour suggesting that Gotham City could be next on their agenda; apparently there's been some talk about Jonathan Nolan developing a series set in the Nolanverse, which would take place between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises and revolve around the Gotham City Police Department as they struggle to fight crime during Batman's eight-year absence. Sadly, there's absolutely nothing in the way of evidence to support the claims, so I wouldn't hold your breath for this one...
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...In the build up to this weekend's D23 Expo, Walt Disney Animation Studios' chief creative officer John Lasseter offered a few words about some of the Mouse House's upcoming animated features, including their first Marvel offering, Big Hero 6, which is due to hit cinemas in November 2014 courtesy of Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh): "[Big Hero 6] is based upon a very short series of comic books and it’s six comic books," says Lasseter. "They’re out of the Marvel universe, but more of a Japanese manga style. We’re creating something based upon that so it’s really a Disney Animation production. A loose adaptation — like all adaptations are. They almost have to be." You can also check out some concept art from Big Hero 6 which debuted at D23 yesterday right here...
...Big Hero 6 won't be the first collaboration between Disney and Marvel, with The Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb set to mingle with the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe this month in the upcoming crossover Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel. The show is set to premiere Stateside on Friday (August 16th), and you can check out three posters for the animated special here. Meanwhile, in other animated Marvel news, we've got a clip from this weekend's episode of Avengers Assemble which you can view here, while Earth's Mightiest Heroes will be joined on Disney XD' this Sunday by Marvel Animation's latest series Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.; watch the latest trailer, along with two clips here and here...
...And finally, on the DC animation front, we've got clips and images from this weekend's DC Nation offerings on Cartoon Network, including the DC Nation Short Metal Men, Teen Titans Go! and Beware the Batman - the latter of which introduces two new villains to the CG animated Dark Knight series in Tobias Whale and Humpty Dumpty.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen - Available now via Amazon.co.uk![]()
and Amazon.com![]()
.
Gary Collinson
Watch a selection of superhero clips, trailers, interviews, featurettes and more in our video player...
...Looking further ahead and we've also been given a preview of 2013's fifth and final superhero movie thanks to YouTube's Geek Week, which saw Marvel Studios debuting the second trailer from the upcoming solo sequel Thor: The Dark World. If for some strange reason you're yet to see the trailer you can watch it here, and head on over to ComicBookMovie for a tonne of hi-res screen grabs. Thor: The Dark World is directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) and sees returning Thor stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Rene Russo (Frigga), Stellan Skarsgård (Erik Selvig), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Ray Stevenson, (Volstagg) Jaimie Alexander (Lady Sif), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun) and Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis) joined by Marvel newcomers Zachary Levi (Chuck) as Fandral, Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) as Malekith the Accursed, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as Algrim the Strong / Kurse. The film is set for release on October 30th in the UK and November 8th in North America...
...While Hiddleston doesn't expect to see Loki tussling with The Avengers again, he isn't ruling out a reunion of sorts with Joss Whedon on the upcoming live-action TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., telling Crave Online that he's open to the idea of a guest appearance: "It would be something that would depend upon script and story but yeah, of course. I’ve spoken to [Joss] about it. I saw him down in San Diego. I hear it’s good fun." Meanwhile, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. set to premiere next month, ABC has debuted a new poster [see here], along with a selection of featurettes, two of which showcase the character of Skye (Chloe Bennet) and the other featuring Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) introducing his team of Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) [see here]...
...From one Marvel Universe to another now and Bryan Singer was on hand at Fantasia Fest this past week, where he screened the Comic-Con footage from 20th Century Fox's mutant epic X-Men: Days of Future Past [check out part of the footage - in poor quality - here], as well as taking part in a Q&A where he revealed that he has plans to follow next year's X-Men sequel with what he described as a "Marvel Universe mash-up." Assuming Singer intends on directing this for Fox rather than Marvel Studios, he'll find himself limited with his options, but there is of course the possibility of combining the X-Men universe with The Fantastic Four, which is being rebooted by Chronicle director Josh Trank in March 2015...
...Over the past couple of months The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb has made several references to the fact that the recently announced fourth movie in Sony's rebooted franchise "might not be just a Spider-Man movie." Of course, with Sony only owning the rights to the Spider-Man franchise, it's unlikely that any superheroes under the control of Marvel Studios or 20th Century Fox will be popping up in The Amazing Spider-Man 4, but one popular Marvel character who could potentially feature alongside Andrew Garfield's wall-crawler is that of Venom - especially as Sony has been keen to launch a solo spin-off franchise for the symbiote for several years now. IGN asked The Amazing Spider-Man 2 screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci if they had any interest in tackling the character, and while they refused to discuss whether there'd been any discussions with Sony, Orci admitted that the duo are "fans of Venom", with Kurtzman adding that "Venom is an amazing character. Venom is a brilliant character. Part of what's interesting about Venom is that Venom can do all of the things that Spider-Man can't do, in a lot of ways. And I don't know, I guess that's why I respond to him..."
...A couple of weeks ago we heard that Warner Bros. plans to expand its DC Television Universe by launching a spin-off from The CW's Arrow centred around The Flash, and now comes a new rumour suggesting that Gotham City could be next on their agenda; apparently there's been some talk about Jonathan Nolan developing a series set in the Nolanverse, which would take place between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises and revolve around the Gotham City Police Department as they struggle to fight crime during Batman's eight-year absence. Sadly, there's absolutely nothing in the way of evidence to support the claims, so I wouldn't hold your breath for this one...
...Big Hero 6 won't be the first collaboration between Disney and Marvel, with The Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb set to mingle with the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe this month in the upcoming crossover Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel. The show is set to premiere Stateside on Friday (August 16th), and you can check out three posters for the animated special here. Meanwhile, in other animated Marvel news, we've got a clip from this weekend's episode of Avengers Assemble which you can view here, while Earth's Mightiest Heroes will be joined on Disney XD' this Sunday by Marvel Animation's latest series Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.; watch the latest trailer, along with two clips here and here...
...And finally, on the DC animation front, we've got clips and images from this weekend's DC Nation offerings on Cartoon Network, including the DC Nation Short Metal Men, Teen Titans Go! and Beware the Batman - the latter of which introduces two new villains to the CG animated Dark Knight series in Tobias Whale and Humpty Dumpty.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen - Available now via Amazon.co.uk
and Amazon.com
.Gary Collinson
Watch a selection of superhero clips, trailers, interviews, featurettes and more in our video player...