Marvel and Sony to share custody of Spider-Man films. It’s been rumored for a while, and now the deal is through. The new Spider-Man will appear in a Marvel film – expected to be Captain America: Civil War, but maybe Doctor Strange – before his next solo outing. Andrew Garfield, the current Peter Parker, is not expected to return. The deal has also pushed back several Marvel films, including Black Panther (from November 2017 to July 2018) and Captain Marvel (from July 2018 to November 2018.)
Trailer: Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four
Mark Hamill will reprise The Trickster on CW’s Flash
Mark Hamill will reprise The Trickster on CW’s The Flash. Hamill first played the Flash villain (aka James Jesse) on the short-lived CBS series in the early ’90s.
Marvel announces Captain Marvel, Black Panther films as part of their Phase 3 slate
And that’s not all. Marvel has revealed their (nearly complete?) slate for Phase 3, which also includes Doctor Strange, a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, Thor: Ragnarok, the much-rumored Inhumans and a two-part Avengers: Infinity War.
The Wrap reported yesterday that Benedict Cumberbatch (of course) is in negotiations for Strange, but Marvel did not announce any new cast aside from Boseman. Civil War and RDJ’s involvement were also rumored a few weeks back. The Civil War comic series was fairly controversial (I saw a few fans describe it as Marvel’s New Jedi Order) but the movie version will take a slightly different angle.
Still no standalone Black Widow (or Hulk) films, but Captain Marvel and Black Panther are a big step forward… Hopefully not the last.
Teaser trailer: Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer was supposed to come out next week… Or so we heard yesterday. It leaked this afternoon, so Marvel made a Hydra joke and released it for real. Well played.
(Now, hopefully this lesson means they don’t announce the Episode VII trailer drop date, when the time comes…)
Wonder Woman is getting her own film (and so are a lot of other DC superheroes)
Warner Brothers dumped the next several years of DC Comic films on the internet today – but the highlight, at least for our purposes, is the news that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman will get headline her own film in 2017.
Gadot will debut as Wonder Woman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, alongside Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. (Who will be getting their own solo films, too.)
Three other new hero-centric films – and leads – have been added: 2018 will see the long-rumored Jason Momoa in Aquaman as well as The Flash starring Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower.) 2019 will bring Cyborg, starring Ray Fisher. (Who we heard was in the running for Episode VII at one point.) Momoa and Fisher reportedly also show up in Batman v Superman. (Momoa was definitely in Detroit, where BvS has been filming.)
There’s also Suicide Squad (2016,) Shazam (2019) and a new Green Lantern (2020.)
There have been female-led superhero films in the past – 1984’s Supergirl, 2005’s Elektra, and (arguably, depending on your feelings about antiheroes) the infamous 2004 Catwoman. None of these films did very well, but none of them are regarded as very good films, period. Supergirl is getting a TV show, but this cast list seems to make it very clear that Warner Bros. isn’t including DC’s TV shows in the same universe, as they just debuted a Flash TV show starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. However, there have been multiples Flashes in the comics…
Whatever the case, and as weird as this huge infodump of movies and actors is, it’ll be interesting to see how BvS incorporates the proto-Justice League – and if it’ll be enough to launch this ambitious slate successfully.
Rumor: Ewan McGregor up for Marvel role?
Is Marvel ‘looking at’ Ewan McGregor for Doctor Strange? Well, that came out of nowhere.
Today in Episode VII: Peter Mayhew praises film
→ Peter Mayhew talked a bit about Episode VII at a recent con, saying it “will be the best Star Wars film I will have seen” and about the day of the table read.
→ One man’s encounter with Mark Hamill at London’s Heathrow Airport. BEARD!
→ And in other 2015 films, behind Zack Snyder’s latest Star Wars mashup.
Marvel announces release dates (but not actual films) through May 2019
Marvel announces release dates (but not actual films) through May 2019. Honestly, the only reason I’m noting this is that although they are claiming May 3 in 2019, there are no May dates for 2017 and 2018. Could Disney be keeping them clear for the return of Star Wars to our rightful month? I freely admit I’m grasping at straws, but for the moment we are still expecting Episode VIII in 2017 and a second standalone in 2018… Stay tuned.
Her Universe announces Marvel products
Her Universe has announced the first wave of their new Marvel line! There’s more coming, including a Loki dress, Ashley Eckstein tells The Daily Dot. A Black Widow hoodie will be available at San Diego Comic Con. And Ashley herself will be voicing Dagger of Cloak and Dagger in the animated Ultimate Spider-Man.
The line is also part of Marvel’s own “Characters and Creators” initiative, which is targeting women and girls. (The new Ms. Marvel is an earlier example.)