Marvel fans around the world rejoice. The Spider-Man embargo in Marvel movies has ended. You might just see him in an upcoming Avengers movie and more as Spider-Man joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
With this new deal the new Spider-Man will appear in a Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Sony Pictures will then release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise on July 28, 2017 in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his team at Marvel, and May Pascal who launched Sony’s Spider-Man franchise 13 years ago. Sony and Marvel will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony will continue to finance, distribute and own the Spider-Man films. They’ll also have final say with creative control of the character. We’ll have to see what this news will hold, but things are headed in the right direction.
This announcement follows a decade of speculation of will they or won’t they add Spider-Man to the MCU. Today, it’s official. Spidey’s back, but what does that mean for movie goers?
1) Sorry, Andrew Garfield is out as Spidey.
2) Future Spidey–the ones beyond the Sinister Six, perhaps–should get pushed six-ten months into the future. We told you that last week’s graphic was subject to change.
But, hey. We can finally see Spidey on the big screen with Cap, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, so we can wade through a short transition period. Welcome back, Spidey.
Here’s a video depicting the legalize that has kept Spidey from Marvel for over a decade.
We found the following picture of upcoming comic book movies and decided to post it.
Original source is Comics Alliance
This pic doesn’t have all the geeky goods–it only covers upcoming comic book based movies–and all the dates can change from now and when the movies get released, but let’s do some quick takes for the films that have closer release dates.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
2015, the year of Marvel movies, kicks things off right with the anticipated sequel to 2012’s Avengers. The gang returns with some additions: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Warmachine (making his Avengers film debut), Vision, and the titular character Ultron.
Hopefully, Age of Ultron won’t follow the story arc of the abysmal comic of the same name. It doesn’t appear that it will. I’m cool with changing Ultron’s creator from Pym to Stark–Marvel hasn’t introduced Pym yet–but I’m not sure how Ultron ties into the growing Infinity War. I trust Marvel’s creative team, and I don’t plan to leave the theater until after the tail end of the credits roll.
Check out the extended trailer:
Ant-Man
We get introduced to Hank Pym a couple of months after Age of Ultron when he gets his own movie Ant-Man. Michael Douglas plays Pym, but he’s not the one jumping around in tights. Paul Rudd fills Pym’s thief turned protegé Scott Lang, and Lang’s the one riding a flying ant.
To the best of our knowledge, this movie follows the comic. Lang is the second man to don the Ant-Man mantle. He was a thief, who mended his ways after his daughter becomes ill, and Jim will love the fact that Hayley Atwell–a.k.a Hotwell–might find her way on the screen as Agent Carter.
Here’s the trailer. Enjoy.
Fantastic Four
Fox comes out with their attempt to hold onto the Fantastic Four franchise–so long as they keep making movies, Marvel can’t get the rights. But the Fantastic Four reboot has gained a lot of buzz. This shows that people want to see a good Fantastic Four movie.
It remains to be seen if this will be a good FF movie. I hope it is. I’m alright with recasting Johnny as an African-American. So long as the cast has chemistry, I don’t care if Johnny and Sue are twin brother and sister or if one of them is adopted. But Dr. Doom as an IT specialist? What? Tell me that’s an April Fool’s joke in February. I can’t see Doom saying, “Do as I command, Richards, or I won’t give you tech support.”
Check out the Fantastic Four trailer:
Deadpool
Not much is known about this film yet except that Ryan Reynolds will reprise his role as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. Thank goodness. I think I join most fans by saying that I liked him more as Deadpool than as Green Lantern. We don’t have a trailer yet, but the internet leaked a test video of the movie some time ago.
Here’s that leaked movie-test video:
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman and Superman have no reason to fight each other–unless we’re talking mind control for one of them. Sure, they’re opposite sides of a coin, but they’re part of the same coin. So I hope the title misleads us, but they’ll have to show at least one scene of the two of them fighting. I’d be down for a bout similar to Thor and Iron Man’s in Avengers.
Thankfully, we’ll see Wonder Woman in this film. You can’t have a not-so-subtle reference to the Justice League in your title without having at least one other member of the JL. I know that the idea of this film turns Jim’s stomach, but I’ll withhold judgment. For now.
Sadly, there isn’t an official or even a trusted unofficial video for Dawn of Justice…yet.
Captain America: Civil War
We get another Cap movie? Score. The movie’s based on the Civil War storyline? Meh.
If you don’t know the Civil War storyline, look no further than The Incredibles. The government institutes a super-power registry with which to monitor superheroes. That doesn’t sound so bad, but Cap is anti-registry, while Stark’s pro-registry. On what alternate universe is Stark pro-registry? He defies the government from confiscating his suits of armor in the second Iron Man movie. Again, I trust the Marvel team, and Captain America: Winter Soldier was arguably the best superhero movie of all time.
Still too soon for a Captain America: Civil War trailer, and the announcement video from Marvel’s media day doesn’t want to load into this post. Sorry for the inconvenience.
X-Men: Apocalypse
Who was that young, thin, blue-skinned dude at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past? That’d be Apocalypse in ancient Egypt, and he’s getting his own movie treatment in spring 2016.
Fox plans to bring back the core cast from Days of Future Past and add Apocalypse (obviously) and Channing Tatum as Gambit. We’ll have to see about Tatum. We’ll also see Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm recast as well as the return of Rose Byrne as MacTaggert (X-Men: First Class). Not much is known about the script, yet. And there’s no word as to whether or not Nightcrawler will make another appearance. Director Bryan Singer has said he wants to include him.
Just in case you missed it, here’s the closing credits scene in Days of Future Past:
Suicide Squad
Incarcerated anti-heroes with explosive devices attached to their spinal cords go on “suicide” missions.
We know the cast–check our previous JK Casting Couch post–and we know that The Joker factors into the script. Again, I’ll withhold judgment, but I can’t see The Joker as either a member of the Suicide Squad or as the Suicide Squad’s foil. I will say that the Suicide Squad is my most anticipated DC Comics movie in the next year and a half.
Sorry. We’ll have to wait for a trailer for this movie, too.
Beyond the summer of 2016
We’ll stop here for now. The more we travel beyond the summer of 2016, the less we know about the projects, but we’ve got a lot to look forward to in the coming months.
Marvel’s Defenders is a group of individuals – usually labeled as outsiders – that happen to team up together to fight a common foe. This “non-team” often battles mystic and supernatural enemies, which makes sense given that Doctor Strange started the group and the first incarnation featured the Hulk and Namor.
In 2013, Marvel began development on a set of Defenders series for an online streaming video company, and Netflix quickly bought the rights. Starting in the 2015 we’ll see individual series for each of these characters, culminating in a Defenders mini-series. Some roles have been cast. Others have yet to have their actors revealed. JK Casting Couch will give you the info on these characters and the actors who’ll play them or at least give you some rumors of actors who could play them.
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
What do you do when you crush on both Peter Parker and Johnny Storm in high school, and then get superpowers through a freak accident? Fight crime of course. Jessica Jones does just that for a while as a superhero, but no amount of name changes or powers prepared her for the big time. Now she fights crime as a super-powered private eye.
Krysten Ritter has been confirmed as Jessica Jones, and she’s shown her ability to switch from comedy to drama. She played the tragic Jane Margolis on AMC’s Breaking Bad and the titular character Chloe in Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23. With Jones, Ritter should have plenty of opportunities to explore a deep, troubled character.
Unknown as Iron Fist
A nine-year-old Daniel Rand (aka Iron Fist) loses his mother and father on an expedition to the mystical city of K’un-L’un. A team of archers happen upon Rand and take him to Yu-Ti, the ruler of K’un-L’un. Under Yu-Ti’s tutelage Rand learns martial arts and becomes the heroic Iron Fist.
There’s no official word on who will play Iron Fist, and there have been several actors rumored or suggested for the role: Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), Justin Hartley (Smallville’s Green Arrow), Mike Vogel (Angel from X-Men: The Last Stand), and Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games).
I’m sure any one of these actors could bring life to the role, but Hemsworth is the most intriguing from this list of names. His brother is already Thor, and it’d be nice to see the two of them share screen time.
But personally, I would prefer a complete or virtual unknown, and if certain conditions are met, I’d love to see an Asian-American cast in this role. The only problem with an Asian-American as Iron Fist is that Asians are type-cast as either the martial artist or the sexy nerd. Take Lucy Liu for example. She gets close to escaping these stereotypes but she tends to get bounced back and forth from one of these two clichés.
The best case scenario for an Asian-American actor playing Iron Fist is the hope of a love story (or some other deeper story thread) within an action show, similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Iron Fist has a wealth of such stories, but we’ll have to see if the focus is on telling a great story or mindless action. My gut tells me a great story given the two creative parties involved.
Mike Colter as Luke Cage
Born and raised on the streets of Harlem, Carl Lucas runs with a bad crowd. He gets framed for drug possession and goes to prison. After some jailbreak attempts, Lucas gets transferred to a max-security prison, where a research scientist turns Lucas into a guinea pig by dosing him with a new Super-Soldier serum. Lucas escapes and becomes Luke Cage: Hero for Hire.
Mike Colter is a veteran actor who brings credibility to the role. He’s been in Oscar darlings like Million Dollar Baby and Zero Dark Thirty, but Cage isn’t his first foray into comic books. He had a role in 2012’s Men in Black 3 as the Colonel. Colter certainly looks the part, too. I have a hard time hearing him deliver the line, “Sweet Christmas.”
Charlie Cox as Daredevil
Matt Murdock gets blinded by a radioactive substance at a young age. He may not have his sight, but his other senses get blown to epic proportions. If that weren’t enough, gangsters off Matt’s father Jack Murdock because Jack won’t throw a prize-fight. Furious, Matt Murdock throws on a yellow and dark red costume, which later became an all red costume, and battles crime as Daredevil.
Charlie Cox may not have as many acting credits as the other confirmed roles, but his stint as Owen Sleater on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire catapults him into Daredevil’s jumpsuit. My only concern is that he’s an English actor and has either played in period pieces or with an English or Irish accent in most of his roles. There will come a time where Daredevil/Matt Murdock will yell and that’s when your natural accent can poke through your vocal armor.
The Suicide Squad is a group of captured DC Comics super villains who are implanted with an explosive device in their spinal cord and forced to go on “suicide” missions that no one in their right mind would tackle. Recently, Warner Brothers and DC Comics have announced who they have tapped to play these polarizing characters in the upcoming blockbuster. JK Casting Couch will give you the skinny on these roles and who’s playing them.
Tom Hardy as Rick Flag
Often considered to be the shining knight to Deadshot’s shadow, Rick Flag is the reluctant leader of the Suicide Squad. Just don’t tell Flag I said he was anything like Deadshot. Flag’s the only member of the Squad that’s not a straight-up criminal and resents having to lead a team of ne’er-do-wells.
Oddly enough, when the actors were announced and before the roles were confirmed, many people believed Will Smith (who ended up cast as Deadshot) would play Rick Flag, while Hardy would play Deadshot. Hardy (Bane in Dark Knight Rises) comes off as a grizzled killer, so I could see him as Deadshot. But I don’t like it when folks typecast actors. It’ll be nice to see Hardy take on the less obvious choice.
Will Smith as Deadshot
Deadshot is a hired assassin who claims he never misses. A consummate professional, Deadshot continued with one hit even though Batman threatened him and his family. Of course the Dark Knight was bluffing, but Batman did cause Deadshot to abort his mission by freezing his client’s bank account.
As mentioned above Will Smith wasn’t most people’s choice as Deadshot. Smith has more of a squeaky clean image than Hardy has a tough guy image. I love that Smith gets to try his hand as a nasty piece of work, but I wish they would’ve considered using Michael Rowe from Arrow. Is there some kind of rule that the DC Comics TV and movie universes can’t mix? And I hope they don’t make Smith wear the helmet or at least not the full Deadshot helmet. It’d be a shame to hide that face under silver.
Jai Courtney as Boomerang
Dropping the Captain from his name, Boomerang is the illegitimate son of an American soldier and an Australian woman. He gained an affinity for the uniquely Australian tool. He first worked as circus performer and then began his life of crime as primarily a Flash villain.
Jai Courtney’s casting as Boomerang is a touch of good news and not-so-good news. We’ll start with the not-so-good news. Courtney doesn’t portray Captain Boomerang in the Arrow TV show, so the same question of cross-pollination between DC Comics TV and movie universes applies. But unlike Nick Tarabay, who does play Boomerang on the small screen, Courtney is Australian, so that’s good news. Since boomerangs are so engrained in Australian culture, it’s silly not to cast an Aussie. It’s kind of like casting a muscular German – instead of a pudgy American – to play Sergeant Whopper.
Cara Delevingne as Enchantress
Things get weird when a freelance artist June Moone attends a costume party at a creepy castle. In short, a magical being gives her the power to fight an evil force in the castle. All Moone has to do is say the words “The Enchantress” and she transforms into the mystical booty kicker of the same name. She’s able to stop the malevolent presence, but she suffers from a nasty duality. Moone is a kind-hearted lady. The Enchantress would spit on Superman’s cape.
Cara Delevingne is the most junior member of the cast—in terms of acting experience. She’s mostly known for modeling but she did have a large role in 2012’s Anna Karenina. So she has some experience playing a period piece character. Still, Enchantress may be the most nuanced character on the Suicide Squad. It’s a tall order, but I can’t wait to see her tackle this role.
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the Joker’s mental therapist, but it didn’t take long for the clown prince of crime to warp her to his way of thinking. Let’s face it. The Joker’s life has a lot more laughs. Quinn may have made her debut on Batman: The Animated Series, but she’s been in more than a few comic books including The Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad movie will be the first time Quinn will receive the live-action treatment—to much fanfare.
Margot Robbie sure does look the part of Harley Quinn. She received raves from her star turn in The Wolf of Wall Street as Naomi Lapaglia, so she has the acting chops to hang with Leo DiCaprio. It’ll be fun to see Robbie transform her sultry voice to Quinn’s high-pitched nasal. If things don’t work out with Robbie’s voice, perhaps Alex Borstein could provide a voiceover.
Jared Leto as The Joker
Perhaps the one character on the couch that doesn’t need an introduction, The Joker is The Batman’s preeminent villain. He’s the clown prince of crime and Harley Quinn’s Puddin’.
Jared Leto is on the short list of actors who could pull off The Joker as the guy who played The Joker after Heath Ledger. But seriously, Leto following Ledger as The Joker could be tougher than George Lazenby following Sean Connery as James Bond. Ledger as The Joker earned the first Academy Award in Acting for a comic book movie and Ledger’s Joker remains the only comic book movie role to date to have earned an Academy Award.
This role is a monumental task, but we knew The Joker would find his way back on-screen eventually. Leto has earned his own Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2014 (Dallas Buyers Club), so I’m not against Leto’s casting. I question The Joker’s inclusion in the Suicide Squad movie. From what I’ve heard of the script, The Joker runs amok, and the Suicide Squad gets tasked to bring him in. The Suicide Squad doesn’t need a marquee villain. They’re their own antagonists, and we’ll see plenty of in-fighting. I’m sure Leto will give a fine performance, but I hope there’s more meat on this bone.
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