We've known for a while that Christopher Nolan will bring his Batman tenure to an end next year with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, but it now appears that the director is set to remain involved with the franchise in a producing capacity as Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov spoke to Hero Complex about the studio's future plans for their stable of DC characters. "We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman... Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.” Along with future stand-alone movies, it also seems that the Batman character could be cropping up in a Justice League feature, with the long-gestating project seemingly pushing forward for a 2013 release that would then pave the way for Flash and Wonder Woman to grace the big screen. Looks like someone may have a little Avengers-envy.Regarding Robinov's Batman comments, some sites have taken the line that another reboot is in store for the Caped Crusader, such as BadAssDigest, who speculate that "Nolan is putting a definitive cap on his trilogy" that will leave a reboot as the only plausible alternative. Quite how they come about this information is anyone's guess (especially as Gary Oldman has said that not even the film's cast have received the last few pages of the screenplay), so talk of Christian Bale's Batman ending the trilogy incapacitated, retired or even dead is surely premature. Personally, I think it seems a little odd that Nolan would remain involved with a rebooted series and looking closely at Robinov's comments, a "reinvention" would suggest to me more of a continuation of the series, albeit with a change of direction, a la Batman Returns to Batman Forever. Good luck with that.
Sticking with DC for the moment and last weekend brought the news that Amy Adams has signed up for Zack Snyder's Superman: Man of Steel as roving reporter Lois Lane, joining a cast that includes Henry Cavill (Superman), Diane Lane (Martha Kent) and Kevin Costner (Jonathan Kent). Now Adams probably wouldn't have been my first choice and the announcement seemed to generate a bit of a mixed reaction, but Snyder is certainly confident that he's got the right woman: "Amy is really just an amazing talent... she just really sort of embodies everything we're going for."The Sucker Punch director also remained tight-lipped on the chances of General Zod making an appearance, although Viggo Mortensen remains heavily linked to the role now that Snow White and the Huntsman negotiations have broken down. However, Snyder did take the time to confirm to HeyUGuys that, much like Nolan's Batman, his Superman won't take place in the same universe as any potential Justice League feature. Where that will leave Cavill (and Bale's replacement) is anyone's guess, but it doesn't look like WB have given much thought to their future plans (fuck it, let's just stick Nolan in charge, we'll be fine...).
Moving on now and the past week delivered a flood of information on upcoming Marvel features, so much so that the next few paragraphs should probably be considered pretty spoiler-heavy. We'll begin with their two in-house offerings, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, both of which featured heavily at CinemaCon on Monday...
Among the highlights was twenty minutes of consecutive footage from Kenneth Branagh's Thor, beginning in Asgard as Thor (Chris Hemsworth) gets into an argument with Odin (Anthony Hopkins) that sees him stripped of his powers and banished to Earth. From here he's discovered in the desert by Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgård's characters (check out a clip from that scene here), and sets out to retrieve Mjolnir from the hands of Agent Coulsen (Clark Gregg) and a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, including a quick cameo from Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye [the Walt Disney presentation also revealed some concept art as to Hawkeye's appearance in Joss Whedon's The Avengers, which is said to differ considerably from that of the comics]. Along with the screening, Marvel also debuted a couple of new posters featuring Thor and nemesis Loki (Tom Hiddleston).Not to be outdone, the scenes from Joe Johnston's Captain America kicked off with the present day discovery of Cap by two military men in the Arctic (which again, is said to be a more realistic interpretation of the comic, i.e. no iceberg) before shifting to its WWII setting with a digitally altered Chris Evans in pre-Super Soldier Steve Rogers mode. After introducing characters such as Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci), Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), Steve goes through his transformation into Captain America, ending with him receiving his vibranium shield. For a much more detailed overview of both the Thor and Captain America previews, be sure to check out the report from SuperHeroHype.
Shifting to Matthew Vaughn's upcoming X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class and it seems as though James McAvoy is doing his best to give the entire plot of the film away as he took part in a spoilerific interview with IGN Movies. The discussion covered pretty much everything, revealing that Xavier will have a thing going with Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) and find himself in a love triangle with Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), as well as ending the film sans hair and in a wheelchair. Furthermore, the latest edition of Empire Magazine comes with a few scene descriptions including the fight between Xavier and Magneto, along with the news that cult actor Michael Ironside will be making an appearance in addition to "a surprise and fun cameo that qualifies as a massive spoiler".In other X-Men news, Hugh Jackman has been talking about the search for a new director on The Wolverine, reaffirming his commitment to the project in the wake of Darren Aronofsky's departure: "The script is fantastic — the best we’ve ever had, which is why it attracted Darren in the first place. His personal situation precludes him from doing it now, and I feel for him. But now we need to find a director." Meanwhile James Marsden has also spoke to MovieLine about Cyclops' off-screen death in X-Men: The Last Stand and his hopes for a reunion with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman should Bryan Singer's rumoured sequels come to fruition.
Other interesting bits and pieces from the world of movie superherodom…
...It looks as though the marketing for Green Lantern could finally be kicking its arse into gear with four clips from the movie and a new trailer screening at CinemaCon and WonderCon (watch an abridged version here), along with news that Geoffrey Rush will provide voice-work for Tomar-Re. Green Lantern also debuted a new poster, while stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively discussed the film in depth with a Q&A that you can see here......Reynolds also had a few words about the status of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine spin-off Deadpool at CinemaCon, stating that delays aren't down to the screenplay (written by Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick), but the project remains some way off from moving forward...
...Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones spoke to Rope of Silicon about meeting with Christopher Nolan for Superman: Man of Steel, confirming that he would have taken the gig had it been offered to him. Meanwhile Jones also revealed that he'd passed on the opportunity to reboot the iconic British character Judge Dredd...
...Deadline have revealed that British writer Drew Pearce is in talks to develop the screenplay for Iron Man 3, which sees Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director Shane Black stepping in to replace the departing Jon Favreau for Tony Stark's first post-Avengers outing...
...After hinting about a possible return to the comic-book genre, details have emerged on Arnold Schwarzenegger's next project - an animated superhero series entitled The Governator. Arnold is teaming up with Marvel legend Stan Lee to develop the show, which is expected to arrive some time next year, and EW got their hands on some concept art...
...Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey spoke to Hero Complex about his desire to star in Marvel's proposed Dr. Strange movie (which has Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer attached as screenwriters) or the rumoured television series centred on the Sorcerer Supreme...
...And finally, recent set photos from the shoot of the Wonder Woman pilot confirm that Warner Bros. have listened to fans' disappointment at Adrianne Palicki's costume, which has since went through a redesign. Shame it still looks shite...
Gary Collinson
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