The Licensing Expo is getting underway today in Las Vegas, and just before the doors opened they allowed some members of the press inside to snap some photos of the promotion materials on the floor. One such item just happens to be the new Batmobile, and Collider was able to grab a number of high-resolution images of the intimidating car and also grab a fact sheet with more information on the vehicle.
This is our best look at the Batmobile yet, and as you can see it’s fully equipped for Snyder’s uneasy and treacherous world that his versions of the DC superheroes inhabit.
Take a look at the official description and specs of the vehicle below, followed by images. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens in theaters on March 25, 2016.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the highly-anticipated action adventure starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film. Jason Momoa will also be making an appearance as Aquaman.
Single-handedly designed and fabricated in near complete seclusion by The Batman, this infamous pursuit and capture vehicle has earned its reputation as the apex predator on the mean streets of Gotham City. Over powered with an unmatched hybrid of prototype military and civilian performance technologies, this top machine has been estimated to reach speeds of up to 205 MPH. The Batmobile’s imposing defense capabilities, supported by stolen Wayne Industries technologies, have been integrated with the latest in covert military grade armaments, stealth and active protection systems.Facts:– Twin .50 caliber retractable machine gun turret– Fully armored– Stealth-capable– Active Protection Systems/Anti-ballistics– 20 ft. long/12 ft. wide– 7000 lbs.
Ahead of the Licensing Expo 2015, Warner Bros. Consumer Products has announced their full line-up of what they will be showing at the event, ranging from their DC Comics-based films to their planned “Harry Potter” spin-off. You can read the full press release below and check back here next week for exclusive photos from the event!
With a powerhouse portfolio of entertainment properties—anchored by a theatrical slate of tentpole films, a fan-driven TV portfolio, global initiatives with immersive worlds, all-new animated content developed for younger fans, and a diverse lineup of pop-classic favorites—Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) soars into Licensing Expo 2015 with an unrivaled lineup of content support and partners that will drive its licensing, merchandising and retail business in 2016 and beyond. “WBCP arrives at Licensing Expo with an unmatched portfolio of content and product offerings, led by the most anticipated feature film events of 2016—DC Comics’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the first time fans will see Batman and Superman together in a theatrical event; DC Comics’ Suicide Squad, the first-ever theatrical team up of some of the most iconic Super-Villains; and from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” said Brad Globe, President of Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “Content is the cornerstone of our robust programs, and we have an unparalleled lineup of collaborations and partnerships, which is a testament to the trusted relationships we have built with all of our licensing and retail partners.” Batman and Superman – First Time Ever Together in a Theatrical Event! For the first time ever, fans will see Batman and Superman together in the theatrical event of the year in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and WBCP stands tall at Licensing Expo with a powerhouse roster of global partners to support as Batman and Superman fly into theaters on March 25, 2016. WBCP promises to deliver on fan anticipation and licensing opportunities as this heroic theatrical event continues to build momentum through its licensing and merchandising programs around the world. At the same time, the tentpole film will help drive the Batman and Superman franchises to new heights, offering licensees and retailers new opportunities to reach fans of all ages. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be supported by an impressive list of licensees, including global toy partner, Mattel, with a wide range toy line, including action figures, role-play, playsets and collectible figures, highlighted by the fan-favorite Movie Masters line. Also supporting Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be The LEGO Group, global construction partner; Rubie’s Costume Co. with a wide range of costume products based on the entire DC Comics portfolio, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; and Thinkway Toys for role play items. Additionally, apparel and accessories collections from Junkfood and Bioworld, and footwear from Converse, with a graphically unique inspired line for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; among many others will support the film. DC Comics’ Super-Villains Team Up for First Time in Theatrical Film: As the power of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and DC Entertainment’s film portfolio shows its strength, WBCP will also offer a targeted licensing and merchandising program focusing on collectors and adult fans in support of Suicide Squad, the first film to feature many of DC Comics’ iconic Super-Villains as a team, including Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Boomerang, Katana and The Joker, as the second theatrical release from the Studio’s DC Comics film slate rolls out. From J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World: The wizarding world continues to delight audiences with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut, which marks an expanded creative partnership between Warner Bros. Entertainment and J.K. Rowling, and which will be fully supported by WBCP to offer fans an exciting licensing and merchandising program. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a new film series from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, is inspired by Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and the adventures of the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander. “We are incredibly excited to further explore and dig deeper into our already strong portfolio with an eye towards content creation, allowing us to offer initiatives for girls, boys and preschoolers on a global scale,” said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “With programs like DC Super Hero Girls, Batman Unlimited, DC Super Friends and more, WBCP is creating new content and building impactful activations with partners around the world.” DC Super Hero Girls Empowers Girls to True Potential: In a revolutionary partnership, WBCP, DC Entertainment (DCE), Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) and Mattel have joined forces to launch the DC Super Hero Girls franchise, an exciting new universe of Super Heroic storytelling that will help build character and confidence, and empower girls to discover their true potential. Developed for girls aged 6-12, DC Super Hero Girls stars the female Super Heroes and Super-Villains of DC Comics during their formative years. DC Super Hero Girls will take the girls space by storm when it launches this fall as it plays out across multiple entertainment content platforms and product categories to create an immersive world. Featuring a completely new artistic style and aesthetic, this unprecedented initiative will include digital content and TV specials, while made-for-videos, publishing, toys, apparel and other products will begin to roll out in 2016, providing opportunities for girls to interact with characters, learn about the storylines, and engage in customizable play. The LEGO Group will also be key to building the DC Super Hero Girls franchise, leveraging their experience and success engaging girls in creative construction play to bolster this universe through an array of LEGO building sets designed to inspire girls’ imaginations. The Random House Books for Young Readers imprint of Random House Children’s Books has been appointed the master publishing partner for the franchise and offers a portfolio of books that will bring the DC Super Hero Girls world to life. Global partner Rubie’s Costumes will also offer a wide range of costumes based on the various characters. Additionally, consumer products partners around the world will be engaged in creating a merchandise line dedicated to DC Super Hero Girls across all key categories. All-New Adventures with Batman Unlimited and DC Super Friends: As the DC Comics universe expands, WBCP, DCE and WBA offer boys and preschoolers all-new content inspired by two of the company’s most successful toy lines developed in partnership with Mattel and Fisher-Price: Batman Unlimited and DC Super Friends, respectively. Bringing dimension to the action figures and playsets available in toy aisles globally, each program will engage millions of young fans around the world like never before. Batman Unlimited debuted content in May as a made-for-video animated movie entitled Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, with the sequel Batman Unlimited: Monstery Mayhem set to release in the second half of 2015. Adding to the new Batman Unlimited content, Warner Bros. has started to roll out the 22 stand-alone, two-minute shorts featuring additional story elements along with companion apps designed for young fans to extend and customize their experience in a new interactive way. Rubie’s Costumes will support the new original content with a line of inspired-by dress-up and costumes, and toymaker Thinkway will introduce new Batman Unlimited-themed role-play accessories. Batman Unlimited will have products in other key categories, such as apparel and publishing, to be announced at a later time. DC Super Friends content, inspired by the Fisher-Price Imaginext toy line, also introduces a series of shorts. Exciting new playset environments from the successful product line are featured in the shorts, such as The Joker Laff Factory as well as a new design of the fan-favorite Batcave, all featuring the interactive Imaginext Power Pad that enables kids to activate key features in the toy. Publishing partner Random House Children’s Books will also continue to extend storytelling by publishing new titles. Additional licensees in other key categories and will be announced in the coming months DC TV Portfolio Takes New Heights: Additionally, WBCP will highlight its rich primetime TV licensing portfolio based on DC Entertainment’s pantheon of characters across DC Comics and Vertigo. From Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) and DCE, new DC Comics–based series “Supergirl” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” and returning hits “Arrow,” “The Flash” and “Gotham,” along with Vertigo-based new series “Lucifer” and returning series “iZOMBIE,” will continue to inspire an array of new products from licensing partners in every category as WBCP brings fans closer to their favorite WBTV hits. Zoinks! Scooby-Doo is Building Excitement: Everyone’s favorite canine, Scooby-Doo, is building more excitement at retail with licensing support from The LEGO Group, bringing Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the Gang to life in LEGO form for the first time ever, in five all-new building sets and in never-before-seen animated content, featuring the zaniness of the classic characters in true LEGO form. Later this year, fans can look forward to a 22-minute LEGO special, featuring Scooby-Doo, and produced in partnership with WBA. In addition, WBA will also be producing made-for-video movie titles, which will be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in the coming years. Scooby-Doo and the Gang are rollin’ up in the Mystery Machine for the upcoming new animated comedy Be Cool Scooby-Doo! as WBCP will continue to offer licensing opportunities for the Scooby-Doo brand and groovy opportunities to new and returning partners, including global master toy licensee Character Group, Kellogg, General Mills, Rubie’s Costumes, Scholastic and Hallmark, among others. Classic Animated Favorites Just Keep Getting Better: Beloved classic animation properties such as Looney Tunes will continue to drive new trends with hot new partnerships, such as the return of the fan-favorite collaboration, Hare Jordan, to high-end fashion collections including haute couture apparel and accessories with globally renowned label Moschino, by designer Jeremy Scott; and Tom and Jerry with PUMA. Also as part of WBCP’s classic animation offerings comes Wabbit – A Looney Tunes Production and The Tom and Jerry Show, from WBA, with all being supported by top-tier licensees. TV Properties Continue to Win Over Audiences: Network television’s most-watched comedy among Adults 18–49 and #1 entertainment series among Total Viewers, WBTV’s “The Big Bang Theory” continues to draw support from licensing partners with new product leading into this year’s Licensing Expo, including fan-favorites Ripple Junction, Funko, Bioworld, USAopoly, Hallmark and Bif Bang Pow!, among many others. WBCP is also excited to work with The LEGO Group to indulge The Big Bang Theory fans’ inner genius and bring them the LEGO version of Leonard and Sheldon’s living room as seen in the hit series. Created by two LEGO fan designers and selected by LEGO Ideas members, this limited edition set features minifigures of all seven main characters from the show—Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, Raj, Amy and Bernadette—with assorted accessory elements and authentic detail. WBCP will also continue to highlight its current and classic hit television properties such as Warner Bros. Television’s “Supernatural” and “The Vampire Diaries,” as well as Warner Horizon Television’s “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Voice,” in addition to perennial hits such as Friends, Seinfeld, and many more with continued cross-category support at retail as part of its television licensing entertainment portfolio. Adding to the diverse licensing show lineup, WBCP will also introduce the summer event game show 500 Questions and the new 2015-2016 season series, including “Rush Hour,” “Blindspot,” “Containment” and “Heads Up!” WBCP Offers Immersive Experiences For Young Fans: WBCP and DCE have teamed up to launch all-new online entertainment destinations for kids, ScoobyDoo.com, LooneyTunes.com and DCKids.com, engaging young fans with their favorite Warner Bros. characters and DC Comics Super Heroes in immersive experiences, featuring original content. In addition, these websites feature components such as videos, downloadable activities, games, quizzes and contests, offering kids the opportunity to stay connected to these dynamic and immersive worlds 24/7. An international market roll-out in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the UK is planned for the coming months. Video Games Bring Worlds to Life: WBCP is excited to offer enthusiasts many of their favorite collectibles, apparel and more, in niche licensing programs that allow them to show-off their fandom and support for some of the most popular video games in the industry. This year, WBCP offers licensing opportunities for the upcoming LEGO Dimensions game as WBCP, on behalf of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE), partners with The LEGO Group for a game-inspired product line to bring fans of all ages many of their favorite characters and worlds, including DC Comics Super Heroes, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit Trilogy, The Wizard of Oz and Scooby-Doo, among many others. Additional video game offerings include the much-anticipated Batman: Arkham Knight game, from WBIE and Rocksteady Studios, releasing on June 23; and Mortal Kombat X, from WBIE and NetherRealm Studios, already a hit among fans. Worldwide Reach of Global Themed Entertainment: Warner Bros.’ global themed entertainment offerings continue to expand worldwide bringing the Warner Bros. experience to theme parks, international cultural venues, live stages and more. In July of 2014, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expanded globally, opening at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, and domestically with the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, the highly anticipated expansion at Universal Orlando Resort, creating the world’s first centrally themed, multi-park experience and expanding The Wizarding World of Harry Potter across both Universal Orlando theme parks. Additionally, the countdown has begun for the Spring 2016 opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. Harry Potter: The Exhibition, currently in Paris and with more stops planned for 2015 and beyond, continues to bring the Harry Potter experience to fans with a state-of-the-art interactive, travelling exhibition featuring thousands of props, costumes and magical creatures from the Warner Bros. films based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series. WBCP also currently manages a successful theme park portfolio with partners around the world, including Warner Bros.-inspired theme parks in Australia and Spain, Six Flags theme parks throughout North America, and Hopi Hari in Brazil, all immersing fans in the world of DC Comics Super Heroes, Looney Tunes characters and more. Located at Booth #N139, WBCP is one of the largest exhibitors at this year’s show.
Collider has just released the seemingly first official story synopsis for Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Though it’s understandably fairly light on specific plot details, it does confirm that a villain/villains will take advantage of the superhero showdown and launch some kind of global attack of their own. This “new threat” is most likely engineered by Lex Luthor, who may have had a hand in setting the Dark Knight and the Man Of Steel at each other’s throats in the first place. But that’s just a theory! Have a read of the synopsis for yourselves and see what you think.
“Fearing the actions of a god-like super hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the highly-anticipated action adventure starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film. Jason Momoa will also be making an appearance as Aquaman.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be in theaters on March 25th, 2016; Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman – June 23rd, 2017; Justice League – November 17th, 2017; The Flash – March 23rd, 2018; Aquaman – July 27th, 2018; Shazam – April 5th, 2019; Justice League 2 – June 14th, 2019; Cyborg – April 3rd, 2020; Green Lantern – June 19th, 2020.
Speaking with SpotlightReport.com to promote Terminator: Genysis, actor Jai Courtney also touched on his role as Captain Boomerang in David Ayer’s Suicidie Squad and Jared Leto’s performance as the Joker. Said the Divergent actor, “[Suicide Squad’s] really great, man. I’m really excited about it. The vibe on set’s fantastic. We’ve really found a sort of a family atmosphere out there. The cast are fantastic. And I’m working with some wonderful actors and David Ayer’s someone who… I mean, he was the real draw card for me. I hadn’t read a script at all when I signed on. We’d met on a couple of occasions and we’d spoken. And, to be honest, when he told me that the role of Captain Boomerang was what he was thinking, I kind of cringed. ‘Cause I wasn’t a comic book kid. I wasn’t familiar with the DC universe and the history of that’. So I knew nothing about it. And I was, like, ‘Oh, god, Captain Boomerang…Really?…I really don’t know how Australians will react to this.’ (laughs) And It’s funny, ‘cause something like that you want to do right. And it’s been interesting finding the balance. But he’s the perfect guy to have on your side, because you look at some of the comic books and some of the old sixties stuff is so hammy, you know, and kind of camp. But, get a guy like David Ayer at the helm of a thing like this and it really gets kind of dark and gritty, and, you know, awesome. And he’s a stickler for authenticity. So I think what we’re going to create is going to be really, really cool.”
And just as many fans have surmised from set photos and videos, Jared Leto’s Joker will take crazy to another level. When asked about Leto’s portrayal, Courtney briefly confirmed, “[It’s out there, man] (Laughs).”
Terminator: Genysis arrives in theaters on July 1, 2015.
Directed by David Ayer from his script, Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jared Leto (the Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), with Raymond Olubawale (King Shark), Jay Hernandez, Ike Barinholtz, Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, and Scott Eastwood. The film releases on August 5, 2016!
Despite Suicide Squad director David Ayer declaring last week that filming was “going dark,” more photos have surfaced from the set in Toronto, Canada. We now have a new look at Will Smith, or his stunt double, donning the full costume and iconic mask as Deadshot, while rappelling the side of a building.
Directed by David Ayer from his script, Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jared Leto (the Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), with Raymond Olubawale (King Shark), Jay Hernandez, Ike Barinholtz, Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, and Scott Eastwood. The film releases on August 5, 2016!
Surprisingly, in comparison with last week’s DC Delights this week’s is a little less intense. As this week’s DC Delights is smaller and more bite sized. Anyway, this week we’re talking Arrow & The Flash writers ready themselves for their next seasons, Gotham season 2 gets season regular, and a bunch of other TV news. On the movie side, we have more Suicide Squad stuff, mainly BTS photos, Momoa gives director a thumbs up, updates on the cancelled George Miller’s Justice League, and much much more! Then some potential spoilers at the end, hint hint that is your first warning!
SO let us dive right in!
TV NEWS
The writers of both Arrow and The Flash have begun to map out the fourth and second seasons respectively. For The Flash writers they will be tackling how to introduce more speedsters and more villains, on the other hand Arrow writers will be meddling with the fourth season villain, Damian Darhk, and many other story arcs and more!
First day back in the writers room. Lots of fun stuff. Bring it on, Season 2! #TheFlash
Nicholas D’Agosto made his debut fairly early on in Gotham’s first season last year – popping up in episodes 9 and 10 as a key element in the mid-season finale. Sadly the actor, who plays the duplicitous ‘Harvey Dent’ on the show, only returned for a single episode in the second half of the season. Fans of the character will therefore no doubt be happy to learn that D’Agosto has been bumped up to regular status for next season, per the actor’s Twitter account:
Thank you to all of you @Gotham and #HarveyDent fans for your enthusiasm. I can’t wait to join more of the fun as a regular in Season 2!
— Nicholas D’Agosto (@nicholasdagosto) May 27, 2015
Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans director Lexi Alexander was talking to fans on Twitter in a quick Q&A, and she made a surprising reveal when one of them asked if Marvel have been in touch to ask her to direct one of their shows on online streaming service Netflix. “They have not. But I’m excited to direct Arrow in August. ;-)”
Victor Garber, who plays the Dr. Martin Stein half of Firestorm, revealed that his other half, Robbie Amell, will appear in the season two premiere of The CW’s “The Flash,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Robbie and I will be joined on the first episode of the (next) season of ‘The Flash,’ and then we’ll see what happens,” Garber told THR.
Garber is also slated to appear as a series regular in the “Flash”/”Arrow” spinoff, “Legends of Tomorrow,” alongside Caity Lotz, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell and Brandon Routh. Yet there have been no reports that say Amell will join him in the show, leaving Firstorm’s status — at least the Ronnie Raymond half — in question. THR says Amell is “expected to make an appearance,” but not as a series regular.
Garber also teased that The CW had larger plans for the spinoff beyond its initial 15-episode season, saying, “They [CW] aren’t going to introduce a limited series. This isn’t HBO. They want the Full Monty.”
“The Flash” & Arrow returns to The CW and Gotham airs on Fox this fall, with “Legends of Tomorrow” slated to debut in early 2016.
Movie News
Jason Momoa is super stoked to be working with James Wan on Aquaman. Sure grossing $1.4 billion USD and counting on Fast & Furious 7 certainly helped Wan raise his profile and officially land the directing gig after being rumored for months. Wan will also work with Kurt Johnstad (300, Act of Valor) on developing the script. Reports state that though Wan signed on to helm both Robotech and Aquaman at the same time, Wan will tackle Aquaman first after completing work on The Conjuring 2: The Endfield Experiment . Wan should complete his work on The Conjuring 2 by Spring 2016, giving him plenty of time to tackle Aquaman for its July 27, 2018 release date.
With cameras surrounding the action packed scene Batman actor Ben Affleck’s stunt double leapt atop the moving vehicle and endeavoured to tear a hole in the roof. Meanwhile, The Joker – a stunt double stand-in for Jared Leto – laughed maniacally while driving at speed through the empty city street. Onlookers were also treated to another glimpse of the Batmobile, with the car cruising close by shortly after the action packed scene concluded.
While Suicide Squad director David Ayer has declared that exterior principal photography has been completed, new photos have surfaced with the cast and crew in between takes in Toronto. In addition to a first look at actress Cara Delevingne, who’s playing June Moone/the Enchantress, we also have yet another look at Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jay Hernandez (EL Diablo), and Karen Fukuhara (Katana) all sporting some bruises in full costume after shooting a subway station scene.
Lastly here are some random BTS photos I have found online.
Directed by David Ayer from his script, Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jared Leto (the Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), Jessie Eisenberg (Lex Luthor), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), with Raymond Olubawale (King Shark), Jay Hernandez, Ike Barinholtz, Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, and Scott Eastwood. The film releases on August 5, 2016!
There have already been a couple of live-action Swamp Thing movies, but although they’re campy fun, they are most definitely not a good representation of the the layered, interesting DC character. There’s been talk of Swamp Thing appearing in Guillermo del Toro’s Dark Universe movie (don’t hold your breath for that one), but short of that or another current DCCU outing it seems the best chance we had for decent take on the Earth Elemental came and went with the aborted 2010 project, which would have been produced by Joel Silver and written by Vincenzo Natali.
The latter has now posted the first four pages of his screenplay, and the direction the movie was going should be obvious to fans of Alan Moore’s acclaimed run.
It’s pretty much unheard of (unless you count Dame Judi Dench’s M returning for the Daniel Craig era Bond flicks) for an actor to reprise a role once the movie they originally appeared in has been rebooted, but that doesn’t stop fans wishing it would happen from time to time. Sure it’d mean continuity/canon issues – but who wouldn’t like to see J.K. Simmons back as J.J. Jameson in Marvel’s new Spider-Man movie for example? The same could be said for Mark Strong’s Sinestro, who was praised as one of the only positive aspects of Warner Bros.’ first Green Lantern attempt.
In an interview with MTV, Strong says he was proud of what he achieved with the performance, but doesn’t think there’s be a place for him in the DCCU as that character.
Despite being a huge comic book fan, Kevin Smith has never helmed a superhero flick, and while speaking to KPCC host John Horn at the Produced By conference in LA he admits that he’s not likely to ever get the opportunity to. But, he says if he did he’d like to make a movie based on The Question.
Smith’s idea would put a “noir-ish thriller” spin on the DC comics vigilante who uses a special substance to erase his features and a binary gas to recolour his cloths and hair. “I always thought if you were in an alley and f—ing Batman showed up you’d be like, ‘Oh f—, Batman.’ But if a dude shows up with no features and starts punching you, you would probably kill yourself in fear,” he explained to THR.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON
After the first official trailer for Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was released, fans were very curious about the shots that appeared to depict the Dark Knight brandishing a rifle of some sort. Obviously Batman and guns don’t exactly have a very good relationship (though it’s worth noting that he has actually used them in the comics when the situation called for it) so it seemed like an unusual choice of weapon for the character. Well, turns out it wasn’t a sniper rifle, but some sort of Kryptonite-laced spear!
This information comes from Heroic Hollywood, who choose not to go into any more detail in regards to how Batman comes by the Kryptonite, or how he uses it against Superman (we assume he… spears him?) but that one tidbit alone makes for some interesting speculation. We know Bats will eventually suit-up in that very formidable looking Dark Knight Returns-inspired armor, so perhaps the spear is just a precursor to that and one of his first attempts to bring down the Man of Steel?
Heroic Hollywood again claims to have some more details on the Dark Knight’s role in the Suicide Squad movie, and it definitely sounds like we’ll be getting classic Batman based on this scene description:
In short, he goes and pays Amanda Waller a visit. Batman BREAKS into her massive security prison. In fact…he’s already inside Amanda Waller’s office waiting for her in the shadows when she appears. The guards are clueless. Batman has a bone to pick with Waller. You see Batman is totally against the concept behind the Suicide Squad, in fact he warns Waller that he will hold her personally responsible for any innocents The Joker & the rest of the Suicide Squad kill. A warning so stern that he has to visit Waller personally to deliver the message.
There you have it folks another DC Delights completed, and now I hope you are fully up to date on all things DC! Goodbye and enjoy your weekend!
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be in theaters on March 25th, 2016; Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman – June 23rd, 2017; Justice League – November 17th, 2017; The Flash – March 23rd, 2018; Aquaman – July 27th, 2018; Shazam – April 5th, 2019; Justice League 2 – June 14th, 2019; Cyborg – April 3rd, 2020; Green Lantern – June 19th, 2020.
Many people see Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara as the key man behind the studios hotly anticipated DC Cinematic Universe, and while that may be true, another executive who will play a vital role over the coming years will be Greg Silverman. WB’s President of Creative Development & Worldwide Production recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the studio’s vision for their upcoming superhero properties.
Unsurprisingly, one of the first things he was asked about was how DC planned on differentiating their universe from their cross-company rivals at Marvel:
“We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other. You’ll see the difference when you see Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and all the things that we are working on.”
Silverman then addressed complaints about the Batman v. Superman trailer being “too dark”:
“There is intensity and a seriousness of purpose to some of these characters. The filmmakers who are tackling these properties are making great movies about superheroes; they aren’t making superhero movies. When you’re trying to make a good movie, you tackle interesting philosophies and character development. There’s also humor, which is an important part.”
He also explained the studio’s decision to hire Monster director Patty Jenkins, following Michelle MacLaren’s exit from Wonder Woman:
“We had a very intensive process looking at everybody. Patty and Michelle were really the ones who came to the forefront the first go-round, so when things didn’t work out with Michelle, we all knew we had someone great who had expressed interest before. She came back and is doing a great job. But it was never about the best female director. She has demonstrated doing amazing work with female characters, such as in Monster.”
Well, there’s plenty to digest there – including some very interesting points on the general direction of the DCCU, the balance between ‘dark’ (intensity) & ‘light’ (humor), and the studio’s thought process behind bringing Jenkins on board.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced this week that director James Wan (“Furious Seven,” “The Conjuring”) will take the helm of the Studio’s upcoming Aquaman feature film, with Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”) starring as the sea-dwelling Super Hero. The announcement was made by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.
Silverman stated, “We’ve been so lucky to have worked with James, first on New Line’s ‘The Conjuring’ and now on their upcoming ‘The Conjuring 2,’ and are thrilled to have him on board as we continue to expand our DC slate. The Aquaman film will be a major tentpole picture for us and James’s span of work has proven him able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative talent and unique voice to the material.”
Wan will also be supervising the script by Kurt Johnstad (“300,” “300: Rise of an Empire”). The film is being produced by Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder and Zack Snyder.
Roven said, “James is not only a great storyteller but can make action truly explode on the big screen, and Jason has a dynamic presence that commands your attention. Together, they will bring an undeniable vitality and energy to this character as he headlines his first feature film.”
An icon for over 70 years, Aquaman is the King of the Seven Seas. This reluctant ruler of Atlantis, caught between a surface world constantly ravaging the sea and Atlanteans looking to lash out in revolt, is committed to protecting the entire globe.
Currently set for a 2018 release, the film is based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will be in theaters on March 25th, 2016; Suicide Squad on August 5th, 2016; Wonder Woman – June 23rd, 2017; Justice League – November 17th, 2017; The Flash – March 23rd, 2018; Aquaman – July 27th, 2018; Shazam – April 5th, 2019; Justice League 2 – June 14th, 2019; Cyborg – April 3rd, 2020; Green Lantern – June 19th, 2020.
SO this DC Delights will be considered as the big one as it its pretty much two weeks worth of news crammed into one! We’re talking Constantine, Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Gotham and to add the movie stuff also like Wonder Woman, Batman V Superman, George Miller’s cancelled Justice League movie and a bunch more!
SO let us begin the journey of DC news!
TV NEWS
Visual effects studios Important Looking Pirates and Crafty Apes have released videos showcasing the digital effects their artists created for NBC’s Constantine.
Yes, the television series was cancelled earlier this month, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy cool effects that were designed for its first and probably only season. I especially like ILP’s “Blessed Are The Damned” video because it shows the work that went into the wings and the flight of Imogen (Megan West) the Fallen Angel.
Regardless of how you felt about Season 1 of Gotham, the FOX show did manage to bring a startling number of Batman’s famous rogues gallery to life in its freshman year (even if there was no Caped Crusader around). Notable successes included Robin Lord Taylor’s popular take on The Penguin, and Cameron Monaghan’s memorable cameo as a younger Joker.
With the latter apparently set to play an even bigger role in Season 2, TVLine have revealed details about two more thorns in Jim Gordon’s side. The site claims that the first new arrival, “a male DC villain”, will be “intelligent, cultured and highly articulate,” as well as “extremely attractive, seductive and threatening”. A seductive Mr. Freeze, perhaps?! Joining this mystery rogue will be a female antagonist, “in her mid-to late 20s”, who is somewhat of a “sexy knock-out”.
Chris Chalk is the latest guest star to be promoted to series regular status on the FOX show, having made a small but memorable guest appearance as ‘Lucius Fox’ in the late stages of Season 1. This news, revealed first by TVLine, should not come as any surprise though, as Chalk was apparently brought onto the series with an explicit ‘option to return’ during the sophomore season.
When we last saw Mr. Fox, he had a few things to say to young Bruce about the state of Wayne Enterprises. According to Gotham EP John Stephens, Lucius will become “another person who’s going to help Bruce on his journey to find out what happened to his parents and what his parents were doing, and also his journey to manhood and Batman-hood.” Stephens also claimed that “[Adult Bruce is] like a science genius, and some of that’s going to come from Lucius Fox.”
While speaking recently at MCM London, the show’s stars Willa Holland, Karl Yune (Maseo), and Rila Fukushima talked about their experiences working on this past season as well as strategically teasing their characters’ possible futures on the show. This included Yune who, despite his character dying at the hands of his former wife, Tatsu, hinted that there is a possibility fans might see Maseo return. Yune hinted that the series’ creator and showrunner, Marc Guggenheim, had simply told him “don’t make any plans“. Meanwhile, Holland reveals what alterations she’d like to see made to Speedy’s new costume
After her brief cameo appearance in the second season of Arrow, the series could have used a lot more Harley Quinn, according to actress Willa Holland, who plays Thea Queen on the show.
Holland told Flickering Myth that “We had big plans for Harley, but I guess something came down from DC execs that told us to shut it down. I mean, we had that tease with the pigtails and the A.R.G.U.S. [prison] outfit but, we’ll never see it. We would love to Harley in Arrow but it will never happen.”
The character, who originated on Batman: The Animated Series, will be featured prominently in next year’s Suicide Squad live-action feature. The Squad were featured in the episode in which Harley made her unnamed cameo on Arrow and a number of others, but their role will reportedly be significantly diminished going forward, with some of the characters from the Suicide Squad movie taken off the board entirely.
This preview doesn’t reveal a lot about what’s to come in Arrow this Fall, but some very interesting hints are definitely dropped by executive producer Marc Guggenheim. Season three may have made the mistake of focusing more on Felicity crying than Ra’s al Ghul, but there’s a lot to look forward to in season four. For example, we have no idea how Oliver will once again take on The Arrow identity, while Damian Darhk and H.I.V.E. are also set to take on major roles which should be fun.
Flash executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has confirmed that the entire first season of the show is an alternate timeline due to the manipulation of Tom Cavanagh’s Harrison Wells. So will we ever see the original timeline or will the show always exist in the alternate one? As Matt Letscher Eobard Thawne stated in latter episodes of the show, Thawne went back in time and hijacked Well’s life so that he could create the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator much earlier and create The Flash [and subsequently, many of Flash’s Rogue Gallery]. But Eddie’s (Rick Cosnett) heroic sacrifice means that Wells never even existed so wouldn’t that mean the timeline has been reset? Or does the alternate timeline continue on? Said Kreisberg to EW, “Part of the fun of The Flash is when you have people dabbling in sci-fi physics, they’re significantly altering the world. We established in the finale that the entire series of The Flash is, in itself, an alternate timeline that’s been skewed from the real one. Wells setting off the accelerator created all the metahumans, and the results of the singularity will also have long-term effects.”
The finale episode answered a lot of questions, but the ending left us with a lot of new ones. In the following promo which aired at the end of the finale, executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg tease plans for season two, and it sounds like the singularity might help to create new metahumans for the Scarlet Speedster to face off against! Throw in alternate timelines, Cisco being confirmed as having powers, that Killer Frost tease, and the Speed Force, and we have a lot to look forward to.
Grant Gustin was brought up and down the red carpet at The CW’s 2015 upfronts in New York last Thursday rather quickly. He answered questions rapid-fire, and was one of – if not the – most in-demand talents there, with Hollywood blogs, Comic Book websites, and TV news shows alike vying for his attention.
As the titular lead of The Flash, Gustin told ComicBook.com that it’s easy to relate to Barry Allen’s joy in embracing his alter-ego.
“I just innately have fun doing this,” the actor said.
While Barry has been put through quite a bit this season, especially in the last month or so of the show, Gustin hopes that he’s holding onto that sense of fun, and he talks with the folks in charge about it regularly.
“I had actually gotten to a place where I talked to [EPs] Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti about it, because I felt like Barry had gotten to this really dark place, and he maybe wasn’t having fun anymore,” he told us, expressing his concern. “They promised me that Barry was still having fun, and he’d still get those moments.”
As for next year, Gustin thinks that as Barry grows as a hero, he’ll get further away from that “dark place” and into a position that more mimics the Barry Allen of the printed page at DC Comics.
“I want to be able to, next year, get a little more cocky with it and confident with the super powers. I want to be a little bit closer to the Flash from the comics,” he said.
One thing that can help cure the “dark first season” blues as he described it, is the camaraderie with his castmates. With Wells presumably out of the picture, or at the very least off of “Team Flash,” Gustin hopes he’ll get to show how Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry spend more of their downtime.
“Cisco and Barry I’ve always wanted to explore more since the beginning; we did just a little bit in the first season, and that was because we [Grant and Carlos Valdes, who plays Cisco Ramon on the show] had brought that up to the writers,” said the star.
He also noted that he “loves working with Danielle Panabaker” and thinks the down moments with the three of them (Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco), outside of any superheroics, should get their due in season 2.
“I think it’s fun, even just as friends and not a superhero team, to just kind of have those three do more socially next year. Like the karaoke scene this year, we had a lot of fun doing that.
Gorilla Grodd’s small screen debut in The Flash was nothing short of incredible, but it could have been even better had they followed the concept art below (via Film Sketchr). Of course, this might give us an idea as to what we should expect from the character’s return in season two, but we’ll just have to wait and see on that.
Admitting that she really thought she was done in the CWverse following Sara Lance’s death in the Arrow season premiere, Legends of Tomorrow actress Caity Lotz told TVLine at upfronts last week that the new show is even cooler than she imagined it would be when the idea of a return was pitched to her.
“It’s going to be big,” she teased. “I didn’t really know that much about the show and I said ‘I want to do it, I trust you guys,’ and when we were shooting our teaser, they were telling me some of the stuff that’s going to be happening, and I was like, ‘This is way cooler than I — not that I didn’t think it would be cool, but just stuff that I wasn’t even imagining or picturing. I think this is going to be really fun to do.”
You can see the full interview below.
Speaking of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Entertainment Weekly talked with one of the stars, Wentworth Miller(Captain Cold)! “I hope the answer is no on the way to yes,” says Miller. “Because if you stuff a bunch of rabid dogs in a barrel and roll it downhill, that’s something that’s worth watching.” However, despite his evil tendencies, Miller’s Captain Cold does have a softer side. “In his relationship with his sister, you see he does have a heart. And there are people that he’s willing to put ahead of himself, so now that he’s aligned with these good guys, for better or worse, they’re going to start influencing him and his way of thinking. I’m excited to explore his shades of gray so we see he’s not just a villain, he’s a man.”
‘Kara Zor-El’ will soon be flying onto our screens on the new CBS show Supergirl this November. Apparently, one of the most overwhelming moments for star Melissa Benoist was the first time she ever got to put on the iconic suit – designed by three-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood. Speaking to E! Online, Benoist explained how exciting the whole experience was for her:
“I just had this injury so I had this eye patch on. It was kind of embarrassing, but the second I put it on, something shifts inside of me. It’s kind of impossible not to feel strength and empowerment and positivity and hope. It really is pretty surreal!”
We recently had a glimpse of the show’s special effects in that action-packed trailer. Benoist noted how strange it felt watching herself perform these heroics on the small screen: “I don’t recognize myself when I see those scenes”, she claimed, “It’s kind of insane. The sheer scope of all of it, it’s so epic that it’s kind of mind-blowing to see it all put together.”
Sadly the pilot episode for the Supergirl show has leaked.
However, unlike last year’s leaked pilots for CW’s The Flash and NBC’s Constantine, the Supergirl pilot is available in full 1080p HD and is surprisingly watermark-free. The source of the leak is yet-to-be determined, but Variety confirms that the leaked episode went live around 3 a.m. ET this morning. At the time of this posting, CBS had yet to respond to the leak.
Variety posted their annual “10 TV Actors to Watch” piece, which includes fresh looks at hotly-anticipated superhero show, “Supergirl”!
“Supergirl” actress Melissa Benoist (Whiplash), can be seen standing proudly in the wake of the pilot episode being recently pirated.
“I never imagined myself getting a role like this,” Benoist says. “There are moments when I step back and look at the bigger picture and I’m on the set with fire and explosions and I’m in the suit — and I’ll have to do a double-take.”
Benoist leads a cast that includes Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El, Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, Chyler Leigh as Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winslow “Winn” Schott, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw and, in mystery roles, Dean Cain and Helen Slater.
Hailing from Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions (who also produce the hit DC Comics series “Arrow” and “The Flash” for The CW), “Supergirl” is based on the characters from DC Comics and centers on Kara Zor-El, who comes to Earth after escaping the destruction of Krypton. After many years hiding her abilities, she joins the ranks of her cousin Superman to become the hero she was meant to be.
The pilot episode of “Supergirl” was written by Ali Adler (“No Ordinary Family”) and Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash”). They will also executive produce along with Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV. The show has a series commitment at CBS, and is expected to debut in November.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg reveals that Cavanagh will remain on the show as a series regular, weighs in on Eddie possibly returning, and teases “a bunch more villains” as well as additional speedsters for season two.
THR: When did you know Eddie would make this sacrifice?
Kreisberg: When we decided to name him Thawne, we hoped the audience would suspect Eddie was the Reverse-Flash because of his last name. We always knew Eddie would be his ancestor, but we weren’t quite sure how we would end the season. The way things were moving forward, it felt like it was the best thing to do for his character. Like with Colin Donnell [whose character Tommy died in Arrow’s season one finale], it was literally the worst thing we could do to ourselves as writers, producers and friends, because we all love Rick so much both personally and professionally, and we think he’s crushed it as Eddie all season. We’ve all become very close. It’s one of those terrible things. The story sort of tells you what it wants to be and as much as it broke our hearts, we knew this was the way the season needed to end.
What was Rick’s last day on set like?
Usually the last day on set tends to be something very mundane. The last day on set turned out to be his death scene. It was a very complicated day, visual effects-wise, because of all the things that were going on. It was also a difficult day emotionally. Not only was it the end of the season, and everyone from the crew to the cast has just been killing themselves to make this show as good as it could be, it was also incredibly emotional. Just like Collin Donnell, Rick was told about the plan way in advance, because obviously we didn’t want him to read it and be surprised. As soon as he found out, he kicked up his acting level a notch. It was almost subconsciously — his performance got even stronger, which again makes it even worse emotionally for us. Rick has been turning in his best work of the year in these last few episodes just like Colin did. I literally can’t say enough about Rick Cosnett.
Will Eddie be back?
The great thing with our show — you saw it with Colin Donnell and with Caity Lotz [whose deceased Sara is returning for spinoff Legends of Tomorrow] — is just because you are dead doesn’t mean you’re not coming back. Especially in the world of The Flash, which involves time travel and real hardcore science fiction, there’s always a way for Eddie to return, and we hope Rick will.
How does Eddie’s sacrifice work? Eobard disappears — but everything he did up until the finale still happened?
Our time travel hopefully holds together as much as it can. It doesn’t completely obliterate all of their memories of Eddie and everything, but it has the desired effect of “harm to Eddie means harm to Tom Cavanagh’s character.”
How did you lay the groundwork for Eddie to make this choice?
Eddie has been struggling these last few weeks, hearing about the future and about how there is no place for him in the future. He wasn’t going to believe in Wells’ interpretation of the future. He was going to make his own decision and he basically decided to recommit to Iris, which only makes his sacrifice that much more heartbreaking. He didn’t do it because he didn’t have anything to live for. He did it because he had everything to live for.
What does this mean for Tom Cavanagh’s future on the show?
Tom Cavanagh will be back. That is not in question. Tom Cavanagh will continue to be a regular.
This season was so well planned out in advance. Is that the approach you will take with season two — constructing a big master plan like you had for season one?
Not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but if you watch the pilot, there are clues that got laid out throughout the season. We’ve done the same thing for season two, and hopefully we’ve created a structure and a scenario for season two that people will find equally compelling and equally interesting. Some of it has already been set up in the events of season one — just like we do on Arrow where, without even realizing it, toward the end of the season we’re setting up the next season. Once people come back in season two, they’ll look back at some of these episodes in season one and go, “Oh wait a minute, I see where this came from.”
You’ve said season two will introduce more Speedsters. Is that going to be a major theme akin to the Rogues in this season?
Yeah. We are going to introduce a few more speedsters next year and a bunch more villains. How they and those villains come about is part of the surprise of season two. We’re really excited. [Executive producer] Greg [Berlanti] and myself and [executive producer] Geoff Johns and the writers, the cast, the crew, the directors — we are so proud of this season of television. It really is a high mark for all of us, and we feel a great deal of pressure and anxiety to live up to it because it’s been so well received. As proud as excited as we are about everything we’ve done this year, we really are just as proud and excited for all the things we are planning coming up. Hopefully people will continue to take this ride with us.
According to series star Grant Gustin, The Flash’s second season might explore the multiverse. With at least Earth 2 on the table, Gustin said that the series will explore alternate timelines and realities.
“What’s fun about this show is that there’s going to be multiple timelines as we move forward,” Gustin said. “I think we’re going to start showing Earth-One and Earth-Two in the near future. There will be kind of different dimensions going on.”
For those who’s heads aren’t exploding right now, let us explain. In DC Comics, there exists a multiverse of parallel dimensions and realities, all of which explore the DC Universe through a different lens. It’s one of the publisher’s biggest selling points, often playing a key role in their crossover events. Earth 2, for example, hosts all of DC’s golden age, WWII-era characters—including the silver-haired speedster, Jay Garrick.
While a thriving multiverse may work well for a sci-fi-heavy show like The Flash, series co-star Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon) thinks it could present a tricky situation for The CW’s other shows, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.
“It gets a little Rubik’s Cube-y in terms of keeping consistency between all these timelines and whatnot,” Valdes, always the science nerd, told TVGuide. “But the writers have their stuff together. If I were to trust anyone, it would be them.”
Robbie Amell, who appears on “The Flash” as one half of Firestorm, revealed in an interview with CBR News that although he filmed a sequence for the finale debuting Firestorm’s new matter manipulation ability, the scene was ultimately cut for length.
“In the finale, you were going to see a scene where Caitlin and I are talking. I tell her, we do have a better handle on our powers, [and] I show her a new trick,” Amell explained. “They introduced matter manipulation in the finale — but the finale was also thirty minutes too long, because it’s such a huge, incredible episode, [the scene] was one of the things that could go. You won’t see it, but originally I turn a thermometer into a flower for her. It was a very sweet scene that showed some matter manipulation. Maybe they will release it on the DVD/Blu-ray set… In the finale, there was going to be a scene when we turn into Firestorm. We literally step towards each other and turn into him. There isn’t any difficulty. And, now, we get to do matter manipulation — but nobody gets to see it yet.”
In the show, Raymond and Martin Stein (Victor Garber) have traveled a long, bumpy road to becoming a Firestorm that truly works in tandem. With this new ability, it seems as though the two have finally hit a groove that allows them to explore the possibilities of their metahuman abilities.
With the first season of “The Flash” coming to a close, lead actor Grant Gustin has readily expressed his gratitude for the show’s success. He’s already penned an open letter thanking the show’s cast, crew and fans, and now he’s given an in-depth interview to Buzzfeed in which he reveals what the future holds for the CW’s growing lineup of DC Comics programming.
Joining “Arrow” and “Flash” next season is “Legends of Tomorrow,” a team-up spinoff that features characters that got their start on other CW/DC series. As Gustin revealed in the interview, some “Legends” stars will pull triple duty during the 2015-2016 TV season.
“Like, I’m on ‘Flash,’ but as far as a lot of those other characters are concerned, they’re just on three TV shows at one time, which is really cool,” said Gustin. “Wentworth [Miller, who plays Captain Cold] and Dominic [Purcell, who plays Heat Wave] are on ‘Legends,’ but they’ll be on ‘Arrow’ and ‘Flash,’ too. It’s like a revolving door for all three shows.”
Crossovers with “Arrow” were commonplace during “Flash’s” first season, with a number of characters — including Felicity Smoak, Ray Palmer, Laurel Lance and the Arrow himself — all appearing on the show. Conversely, “Flash” actors Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes all appeared on “Arrow.” Appearing on both shows proved to be a little taxing on the actor, as he told Buzzfeed, but he did power through the long schedules and has learned how to handle the workload better.
“When I was doing the ‘Arrow’ crossover for the first time, I thought, I’m going to die at some point this season,” said Gustin. “But we pushed through to Christmas and that was the moment I was like, Oh good, I’m not going to die. And now I know for next season what it’s going to take, I know how to pace myself, and I don’t have to come out of the gate so strong. I put a lot of pressure on myself this time last year, and I’m not doing that to myself now because I trust Andrew [Kreisberg], Greg [Berlanti], Geoff [Johns], and my cast. We all do it together.”
Greg Berlanti takes a hands-on approach to all of the shows in his stable, and over the years has assembled a trusted team to help him execute — Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and Ali Adler, among them — which DC Comics chief content officer Geoff Johns jokingly calls his “Justice League.”
“Honestly, I’m so reliant on others,” Berlanti says to Variety. “It’s the long-term relationships I’ve had that allow me to do multiple things, because you have a shorthand with these people.”
With a total of six shows now in production — the Debra Messing vehicle “Mysteries of Laura” on NBC, along with the CW’s hits “Arrow” (starring Stephen Amell) and “The Flash” (headlined by Grant Gustin), not to mention his upcoming feature “Pan” (due in October) — he’ll need superpowers of his own to manage his staggering workload.
But nervous network execs needn’t worry. The 42-year-old wunderkind says he discovered long ago — going back to his days on the WB’s “Dawson’s Creek,” where he had a meteoric rise to showrunner — what it takes to succeed in the role.
“I learned that I really rely on other writers — that I can break stories quickly, but I can’t write quickly,” he says. “I learned that it’s OK that I’m not great at everything, that there are a lot of things that I may never be as good at as some of the other people I hired. Don’t be threatened by that. Co-opt that. Be good at the stuff you’re good at, but also know what you’re not as strong at.”
So he focuses his time and energy on where he can make the most impact: developing stories, editing, casting. You’ll rarely find him on set.
“I don’t have to be on every phone call for everything that gets approved, but I need everybody to know — whether it’s a junior executive at a network, an actor, a production person or a department head on one of the shows — that they can always reach me,” he says.
His priority is always quality: “I don’t want to do more just to do more it if it’s not good,” he says. And the frustration, he admits, is that he can’t always be where things are going well — it’s the problems that draw his attention. And certainly, the debuting shows will be his focus.
“The first thing I’m thinking about in the morning, and the last thing I’m thinking about at night, are usually the newer ones, because you haven’t figured out the algorithm yet,” Berlanti says. “From the moment the shows get picked up until we have an episode that’s as good as the pilot, I’m usually stressed about how we can do it again.”
That comicbook shows are now a success seems a no-brainer, given that they’re all that seems to be scoring in movies, but “Arrow” was a smallscreen breakthrough. And everyone involved credits Berlanti, a self-professed comicbook geek. It was his passion for the source material that infused the show — along with its successor, “The Flash” — with its emotional heart, compelling narrative and whiz-bang visual effects that have stirred fans and critics alike.
“The first thing I always do is ask, ‘What is the show if you took away (super) powers?’ ” he says. “I only know, as a fan, what I would want to see.” Thanks to his track record, Berlanti has become DC’s go-to producer for its comicbook archive. Cue “Supergirl.”
A comics heroine has been long overdue — even Berlanti’s nieces have been nagging him — so when DC pitched him on the concept, he was intrigued. But rather than keep the show in the vein of what had been done before, he wanted to take a proportional leap. “With what we accomplished and learned from ‘The Flash,’ ” he says, “if we could do that on an even larger scale, on a bigger network, what would that look like?”
CBS, he reports, jumped at the chance. He says entertainment prexy Nina Tassler fell in love with “Supergirl” at the pitch meeting, so much so that she started to cry. “It didn’t matter at that point what they were going to pay for it,” he says. “That’s who you want buying the show.” (Despite the rumor mill, Berlanti says there was never a chance of the show moving to the CW. Plus, he adds, “We would never have been able to afford the kind of budget we have.”)
As with “The Flash,” Berlanti has insisted “Supergirl” invest heavily in visual effects, and Johns calls the money well spent.
“When people see the pilot, they’ll be blown away by what’s accomplished on television,” says the DC content topper. “But Greg knows that it’s not just about spectacle. It has to be about heart; it has to be about humor.”
Casting is paramount to Berlanti: He calls the show’s star, Melissa Benoist, the “Annie Hall” of superheroes.
“The most important decision you can make as a showrunner when you’re doing a pilot is who’s in it, and who’s directing it,” he says. “If we had not found her, I would have said, ‘I don’t want to make this.’ ”
MOVIE RUMOURS & NEWS
Wonder Woman is about to get hot and heavy with Chris Pine. Sources tell Variety the “Star Trek” actor is in negotiations to join Gal Gadot in the upcoming superhero pic for Warner Bros.
Pine would play Gadot’s love interest Steve Trevor in the origin story. Warner Bros. had no comment.
Patty Jenkins, who recently replaced Michelle MacLaren, is directing from a script by Jason Fuchs. “Wonder Woman” will be released on June 23, 2017.
Charles Roven is exec producing the DC Comics tentpole for Atlas Entertainment. Zack Snyder, director of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” is also producing.
In the comics, Steve Trevor was an intelligence officer in the United States Army during World War II whose plane crashed on Paradise Island, the isolated homeland of the Amazons. He was nursed back to health by the Amazon princess Diana, who fell in love with him and followed him when he returned to the outside world. There she became Wonder Woman (and also his co-worker, Diana Prince).
Rumors had suggested that Scott Eastwood had landed the part, but insiders tell that Eastwood was given a choice to test for the Trevor role or sign on for a guaranteed supporting part in “Suicide Squad,” which he opted to take.
Warners tested a handful of other actors but later decided to look at more high-profile names and go with a straight offer. Pine won over production execs and Gadot at his meeting, leading the studio to pursue him for the role.
Pine, having starred as Captain Kirk in the last two “Star Trek” movies, is no stranger to the fanboy world, but “Wonder Woman” will mark his first venture into cinema’s most popular genre and should lead to more opportunities in DC’s Justice League universe. Gadot’s Wonder Woman, of course, plays a key role in Snyder’s forthcoming “Batman v Superman,” which arrives next March.
The CAA-repped Pine is currently in production on the thriller “Comancheria” and will immediately jump into production on “Star Trek 3″ afterward. He can be seen next in “Z for Zacharia” this August and co-stars in the Disney adventure pic “The Finest Hours” bowing next year.
It’s safe to say we’ve seen a lot of great stuff from the Suicide Squad set in Toronto recently, including some high speed chases, and some fascinating scenes from Margot Robbie’s ‘Harley Quinn’, Jared Leto’s ‘Joker’ and a certain Caped Crusader too. Many fans have (somewhat prematurely) started to wonder whether the whole movie was going to be spoiled for them. Thankfully, the movie’s director David Ayer has come out on Twitter to put their fears to rest:
Well we survived the streets. Time to go dark now. Remember, only the tiniest glimpse has been exposed. Our surprises are intact. — David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 31, 2015
It seems like he’s also signalling the end of filming on the streets of Toronto. This would give merit to his claims that fans aren’t going to see much else from the movie – and that’s probably for the best! Be sure to give the director a follow on Twitter though, you never know what sort of BTS images he could tease fans with over the coming months!
Taking to the ShanlianOnBatman Podcast, Umberto Gonzalez has revealed (as previously reported by BadassDigest) that what he refers to as “the muscle” in Zack Snyder’s upcoming BATMAN v SUPERMAN is none other than the iconic ‘Superman’ villain ‘DOOMSDAY’. Along with letting fans know (at the 39:33 time-stamp) that the villain apparently looks “incredible”, Gonzalez also been told that the [SPOILERS] “DO YOU BLEED” dialogue uttered by Ben Affleck’s ‘Batman’ actually occurs during a dream sequence in the film [END SPOILERS].
Check out the podcast down below starting at the 38: 34 mark for the details via. Elmayimbe himself.
JoBlo’s Paul Shirey is reporting that Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice will indeed feature Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor suiting up in his trademark green/purple Warsuit on film!
According to Shirey, while the film’s initial conflict will unsurprisingly be between the film’s two titular heroes, Henry Cavill’s Superman and Ben Affleck’s Batman, the true main villain of the Zack Snyder-directed picture is actually Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, which considering Luthor’s history, isn’t all that shocking. However, where this new Lex Luthor deviates from past iterations is that he will be the first ever depicted on screen to actually put on the Warsuit, an armor that Luthor has been seen wearing for decades in the comics. According to JoBlo’s sources, who have actually seen the Warsuit, the armor looks very comic-accurate, albeit with a slight DCCU touch. He isn’t sure how long Eisenberg will actually wear the armor, but he speculates that it will more likely than not be for at least part of the finale for a sure-to-be epic showdown with Superman.
It’s also not exactly known how Luthor acquires the Warsuit, but a popular theory is that he builds it with leftover Kryptonian technology, which may or may not include General Zod’s corpse, from Man Of Steel’s destructive finale. In addition to confirming that Eisenberg will definitely wear the suit, Shirey also corroborates the reports that Lex isn’t the only villain in the film, but he isn’t sure whether its Doomsday or another major villain like The Joker or Brainiac.
It was just a few years back that director Brad Peyton, fresh off the box office success of his second feature film, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, signed on to develop a feature film based on DC Comics’ intergalactic antihero, Lobo. Word even followed that the film, to be produced by Joel Silver, looked like it was going to star Journey‘s Dwayne Johnson as the Main Man. Although Johnson and Peyton did reteam, their second project together became this month’s disaster actioner San Andreas instead. Meanwhile, the big screen DC Universe was officially revealed last October without a Czarnian in sight.
“I think what’s happening with DC is that they have prioritized what they need to make first in order to kind of lay the foundations for the DC Universe,” Peyton told ComingSoon.net this weekend at the San Andreas junket. “This is what I believe is happening just from what they’ve been taking about. They’re talking about ‘Justice League,’ ‘Batman v Superman,’ and going into ‘Flash,’ ‘Wonder Woman,’ and ‘Aquaman.’ Those are kind of the pillars of that universe.”
Unfortunately for the project, it sounds like Lobo was put on the back burner at the studio, despite having a completed screenplay.
“It’s one of those things where, creatively, you and I get it, but there’s a lot of people that don’t quite get that,” Peyton said when asked if the success of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy helped bolster the chances of a film based on a similarly comedically irreverent space-traveling comic book character. “It’s a real uphill battle to talk people into spending a lot of money to do things correctly… I was really happy with the script, [though]. I talked with Dwayne about it. Joel Silver and I had a really amazing meeting about it. I did a rewrite of the script and was really, really excited for it. In their estimation, though, he wasn’t one of those main guys… That’s fair enough. I think that, to do any kind of comic book universe correctly, you do need to establish, ‘Here’s the tone. Here’s the main people.’ Then we can grow offshoots from there. With Marvel, they’re now doing smaller characters like ‘Ant-Man’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ They obviously had to start, though, with their big guns and set up ‘The Avengers.’ I kind of feel like that’s where DC is now. They’re setting that team up.”
Does that mean that Lobo could return somewhere down the line? Peyton seems optimistic at the prospect.
“I think there’s going to be a really amazing time for ‘Lobo’ and I think people are going to realize, certainly once they revisit it, what they’re sitting on,” he says. “But you never know. I’m really happy with the project and where we got it and fingers crossed it comes to fruition at some point.”
It was revealed last month that Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street) are writing Warner Bros. Pictures’ upcoming big screen take on DC Comics’ fastest man alive. Although it was already revealed that The Flash, set for release March 23, 2018, will star Ezra Miller as Central City’s scarlet speedster, Lord announced during The Hippojuice Podcast (via /Film), that The Perks of Being a Wallflower star will likely be playing a new iteration of Barry Allen as opposed to one of the other men who have, in the comics, appeared as the hero.
“We’re trying to break a story,” says Lord. “It’s interesting, because there’s a really popular TV show out there, and we’re trying to carve out space for the movie that’s apart from that. I think we’re doing alright. …I believe [our Flash] is going to be Barry Allen. …We’re more trying to stick with the cinematic universe… iI really is its own thing and is kind of a stand-alone movie. We’re just trying to think of the best story. I think you guys will like it, it’s kind of a different take on superhero stuff. I’m optimistic!”
Miller is expected to also appear as Allen in Justice League Part One and, although unconfirmed, could even make a debut in next year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
New promo art for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has surfaced onlin, and it finally shows the two iconic heroes coming to blows. Some live-action stills would obviously be nice, but we’re probably still quite some time away from that, so this will do very nicely in the meantime. As you may have realised, both of these pay homage to some classic comic book images by David Finch and Jim Lee.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is currently promoting his new movie San Andreas, but he also took some time to share his excitement for his upcoming role as the Shazam villain Black Adam in the DC Cinematic Universe.
“I can’t wait,” Johnson told HeyUGuys at the San Andreas world premiere. “He’s a unique type of villain. When you start off as a slave, you’re not in a good mood! There’s a heavy wrath that a lot of people have to pay. But when it’s fuelled by a righteous anger if you will, like Black Adam, then you open up to what the character can be which I’m really excited about. That’s why he’s not just a straightforward bad guy.”
Johnson has gone on to confirm in a new interview that the Shazam movie will come sooner than expected.
This won’t come as much of a surprise as The Rock has previously implied to MTV in March that Shazam is not beholden to the 2019 release date WB gave it back in October of 2014. Now, The Rock is sounds much more confident.
“No, I don’t think it is going to be that far away,” The Rock said when asked if fans will have to wait until 2019 to see Shazam. “It’s going to be earlier than that. I don’t think 2019.”
The latest scoop from HeoricHollywood’s El Mayimbe (formerly of Latino Review) is that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is really old in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In fact, she’s been around for centuries! It sounds outlandish, but this actually lends itself to previous reports that the Wonder Woman film will be something of a prequel to the DC Cinematic Universe, with the Amazonian warrior’s solo outing being a Period Piece.
It will be interesting to see whether Snyder goes with Wonder Woman’s New 52 origin- that she’s half-Olympian God, the daughter of Zeus ( a female Hercules essentially).
Snyder could also opt for the pre-New 52 origin which details her origin as a clay statue given life by the Olympian Gods. The third option, is that Snyder comes up with a completely new origin story for Wonder Woman but that seems unlikely given Snyder’s penchant for remaining relatively close to the source material.
George Miller’s abandoned Justice League Mortal movie is one of the most mysterious comic book movies that never got made. While other canceled comic book movies have seen a lot of concept art surface online, no concept art for Justice League Mortal has ever been revealed. That is until now.
Australian director Ryan Unicomb sat down with Inside Film to discuss his vision.“I have always been fascinated with project, which would be in the same vein as 2013’s Jodorowsky’s Dune and this year’s The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, about a Superman movie that Tim Burton was to direct in the 1990s.” Unicomb is working on the documentary about George Miller’s abandoned Justice League movie, and the official twitter account for Miller’s Justice League Mortal documentary has just revealed the first three pieces of concept art ever shown for the film.
One piece of concept art shows what Aquaman’s costume would have looked like in the film, while the other two pieces of concept art show Wonder Woman in action. Also a concept sculpt of J’onn J’onzz the Martian Manhunter was released.
The Miller’s Justice League Mortal documentary hopes to feature never before seen artwork, interviews with some of the proposed cast and crew, and a behind the curtain look into what really happened to bring the blockbuster to its knees. The documentary plans to present a non-biased recount of the development, pre-production and untimely cancellation of the project as well as the long lasting effect it had on the Australian Film Industry.
The project is currently in development and hopes to begin filming later this year.
BOOM and there you go that wraps up another DC Delights for you lovely people! Be sure to check back next week for more!
Well folks over the last week or so I have been collecting all that I could on Suicide Squad from set photos to videos and possibly a little more. Now let me preface this with a possible spoiler warning as a certain character turns up that may well be a honest surprise to some. But if you want to go on forward then go right ahead! As always enjoy!!
Principal photography on Suicide Squad is about to enter its seventh week of production in Toronto, Canada. And in addition to preparation for an action sequence involving a chopper crashing into two Midway City buses, a new batch of photos (via Margot Source) have revealed some rather dark usual-looking, fully armed creatures on the open set over the weekend.
Based on their appearance alone, it’s difficult to determine which DC Comics characters these guys could be, if any at all. However, they may actually be soldiers who have met Cara Delevingne’s “goddess witch,” the Enchantress, who we’ve seen officially but not yet on set.
Here’s some other set photos seemingly show us that s*&T is going “down” wherever Suicide Squad is taking place *cough*Gotham*cough*!
We must have seen more unofficial images and videos from the set of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad than any other CBM in recent history at this point, but one team member who’s been absent (though we did see some strange creatures she may have been responsible for) so far is Enchantress, who’ll be played by model turned actress Cara Delevingne.
During an interview with EW, the Paper Towns star remains tight lipped about her character, but does have some very nice things to say about the currently shooting flick, while admitting that she’s not usually a big fan of the genre.
“It’s f–king insane”, she tells the site. “I’m not the biggest fan of superhero films. There are so f–king many. I love the Batmans but some of them I’m not that keen on. I’ve never been so excited to see a film and I’m actually in it. I wish I could tell you about it at all. The movie is going to be the best thing in the world. The camaraderie on set is insane.”
Directed by David Ayer from his script, Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jared Leto (the Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), with Raymond Olubawale (King Shark), Jay Hernandez, Ike Barinholtz, Jim Parrack, Adam Beach, and Scott Eastwood. The film releases on August 5, 2016.
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