Benedict Cumberbatch and Zack Snyder both add to Star Wars speculation, while Joss Whedon teases a character for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Plus, details about the cast of characters populating American Horror Story: Freakshow. Get a look at concept art for Sleepy Hollow's villains. And USA picks up a show set in near-future L.A. Spoilers now!
Top image: Sleepy Hollow
Star Wars
So while Benedict Cumberbatch said that he ended up not being able to be in Star Wars: Episode VII, he did say this:
J.J. and I are friends, so yeah, possibly. But I think J.J. is very good at creating something original out of something known, and I think apart from his continuing use of Simon Pegg — and who can blame him, frankly — it made sense not to do it.
Now, the phrase "the continuing use of Simon Pegg" has been construed as Cumberbatch revealing that Simon Pegg is in Star Wars. Which it could mean — but it could also just reference Pegg's roles in the Mission Impossible movies and Star Trek. [MTV]
And speaking of people not involved in Star Wars causing speculation, here's tweet from Zack Snyder:
Does this mean Henry Cavill's going to be in Star Wars? Probably not. [E! Online]
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Speaking with Hey U Guys at the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere, Joss Whedon dropped this little tidbit about Avengers: Age of Ultron:
There are four prominent female roles in the center of the movie, and I think [there] is a more balanced presence throughout the movie.
We know of three for sure: Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, and Maria Hill. Figuring out the fourth one Whedon is referring to has led to a ton of speculation. The obvious answer is that it's someone we've already met: Pepper Potts, Jane Foster, Betty Ross, Sharon Carter, hell, he could even mean Peggy Carter (who is appearing in a flashback, so maybe the flashback is more important than we think). Or, if we want to just veer into hopeful wishing territory, he could mean the introduction of a new character, like the old Captain Marvel rumors. See the interview below. [via We Got This Covered]
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Eva Green is in talks to star in the adaptation based on the Ransom Riggs' novel. Green would play the titular Miss Peregrine, who acts as the guardian of orphans with special powers. The story follows a teen who finds himself having to protect the children from monsters who want to destroy them. [Variety]
Maze Runner
Here's a poster. [SpoilerTV]
American Horror Story
At the Comic-Con panel this weekend, we got the official character names and some information:
- Sarah Paulson as conjoined twins Bette and Dot.
- Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling, wife of Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis)
- Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree, ex-wife of Dell Toledo
- Evan Peters as Bates' son, Jimmy Darling.
- John Carroll Lynch as a villain promised to Minear promised would "scare the shit" out of viewers.
- Emma Roberts as "Maggie," with all further details omitted.
- Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars.
Arrow
Here's an interview with John Barrowman, who says he can't wait to shoot the scene in the limo between him and Thea, with the two having "the best of brutal times."
Sleepy Hollow
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Roberto Orci spoke a little about all the plot threads they're going to explore in season two:
But we just got to think about things more. We got to make room and expand certain things. Let's just go through some of the arcs: For example, Abbie and Crane in a way have switched places. Abbie was sort of unwilling [to accept] the fact that she's potentially a biblical witness. This year, she she's gung ho to get ahead of evil. Unfortunately, getting ahead of evil also means potentially—
—killing Crane's son.
Defeating Henry Parrish, which is Crane's son. And so suddenly there's a hesitation introduced to his mission. Abbie and Jenny had a rough start last season. Now they're a little bit united—they're still going to go through their ups and downs, but now their goals are the same. And in solving their personal dynamics, they get to spend some time figuring out a lot more about their mother, and why they ended up where they ended up. Irving, meanwhile, is continuing to want to protect his daughter, and part of that is potentially being tempted by Henry Parrish. Henry Parrish is like the best evil characters. He continues the theme that we started in season one, which is that evil doesn't operate by showing up in your living room and blowing up your house. Evil operates by tempting you to do the wrong thing, by turning neighbor against neighbor, by making regular people do evil. The horsemen of the apocalypse themselves, as we established, are people who then end up magically personifying sort of these roles. In the case of the Headless Horseman, it was a man who was in love with Katrina, and his quest to win her back continues on in season two.
Katrina is able to see who the Headless Horseman truly is once again, and they get to flesh out their history. He gets to continue to pursue her as a love interest, and then the question is, is she really being tempted by this man slash god of evil, or is she potentially using his affections to find out more? Same with Henry Parrish—evil sometimes, the way they operate is to be very under the radar. So now Henry Parrish is a man living in the town, sitting among us as he pushes things in place to destroy the town. Entering all this is a new sheriff, who unlike Irving is not privy to the fact that Sleepy Hollow is a centerpiece of supernatural activity. That really complicates Abbie and Ichabod's journey.
He also gave a description of new character Nick Hawley:
Nick Hawley is an antiquities dealer in the way that Indiana Jones was. But our guy's a little bit more of a mercenary. He's been around the world uncovering artifacts, and he's not a particularly superstitious person. He does it for the money—more of a Han Solo, I guess, than an Indiana Jones. He's not aware that these things may be real or have real powers. It's only when he encounters Abbie and Crane that he starts to understand wow, these things that I've been selling for money actually may be bullets that can be fired one way or another in terms of good and evil and the end of the world. And so he becomes sort of an interest for Abbie, and potentially an irritant for Crane.
They also have some concept art that shows off some intense new looks for the villains of season 2. [Entertainment Weekly]
The Walking Dead
You can watch the cast joke about the show's new light-hearted direction in the next season at the link. [Entertainment Weekly]
And here's another cast interview:
Supernatural
Here's executive producer Jeremy Carver talking about where season 10 will find the brothers:
When the season starts, Sam has no idea what happened with his brother. He laid him down dead on a bed, and he came back in the room and his brother wasn't there. He doesn't have any idea. He doesn't know that Dean is a demon…. he doesn't know any of that. So, Sam is very hot and heavy in the pursuit. He's got ideas of what may have happened, and I think you'll see the brothers, when all is said and done… I like it a lot. Even something a little bit different than what we've seen in the past couple years, in the way they react in the aftermath.
I think there's a certain amount of healing that has to go on, that they both acknowledge - both in their relationship and just on a personal level. So you're going to see the boys really going underground saying 'we need to get better,' and of course, the supernatural always follows them, but it's not the same bombastic 'you idiot!' - you know what I mean? It's neat. And of course, schisms always occur and everything, and secrets, but the boys - for everything they go through - actually end up in a good place.
Colony
USA has picked up a show called Colony, which is described as a "naturalistic drama about a family torn by opposing forces and making difficult choices as they balance staying together with surviving the struggle of the human race." Created by Carlton Cuse, this show is set in a near-future version of Los Angeles, which is in a "state of occupation by a force of outside intruders." [Entertainment Weekly]
Daredevil
The series will be released on Netflix in May, 2015. No specific date yet, but who bets it won't be until at least a few weeks after Avengers: Age of Ultron hits on May 1st? [Den of Geek]
The Vampire Diaries
Here's a video from the CW with the cast joking around about the "the Other Side" and what it means:
Gotham
And here's a movie-style trailer for Gotham:
The Strain
Here's the promo for episode 1.04, "It's Not For Everyone." [via SpoilerTV]
The Leftovers
Here's the preview for episode 1.06, "Guest." [via SpoilerTV]
Witches of East End
Here's the promo for episode 4.05, "Boogie Knight." [via SpoilerTV]
And go here for more photos from the episode. [SpoilerTV]
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Madeleine Monson-Rosen