When does the long-awaited solo Hulk movie come out, and will we ever see a Namor movie? Could Anthony Hopkins star in Westworld? We finally know what games will be in Pixels. Plus, check out a fantastic Jurassic World poster, and tons of Sleepy Hollow bombshells. Spoilers now!
Top image: Game of Thrones
Marvel
Speaking with IGN, Kevin Feige spoke all about the potential crossovers that could happen. First, he talked about bringing the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers together, since they share Thanos as a common enemy:
Part of the fun of the comics is that could happen. Any character could interact with any other character because they inhabit the same time period and the same universe. And certainly it is the inclusion of Thanos most specifically that is a declaration to audiences who are paying attention that this is connected to those other universes. Part of the fun is that it could happen someday. I don't know when that would be. Or maybe I know and I'm not going to tell you!
As for the possibility for an X-Men crossover, Feige says his answer is the same as it's always been:
[W]hen I started at Marvel 14 years ago the notion of us becoming our own studio, becoming more successful than other studios doing this, and bringing The Avengers to the screen, would have seemed like the pipe dream of all pipe dreams. And because we are sitting here talking because this has all happened, I'm not going to rule out anything. It has been unbelievable – the Marvel experience for me in particular over the years, so anything's possible. But I would say for the immediate future, Fox is very busy building their X-Men universe and redoing the Fantastic Four universe. Sony is well underway with their Spider-Man plans. And we clearly have a long-term vision for the cinematic universe. And thankfully have so many characters and so many possibilities that we don't find ourselves in a position going 'Will we ever get these other characters in here? Because we don't know what to do.' There's lots to do.
He also said that he hopes that Vin Diesel's voice work as Groot is "is going to be quite iconic, and a signature part for him and for us," but that he won't rule out giving him another part in the future. Finally, he said that Sub-Mariner, as a film, isn't in the hands of Legendary, and Marvel would make the film if anyone would. However, "there are older contracts that still involve other parties, that mean we need to work things out before we move forward on it." [ IGN]
Feige continued on to say that there are no plans for a Planet Hulk movie and explained why another stab at a Hulk movie is so long coming:
I think what's cool about the Planet Hulk story is it's all Hulk. He's a gladiator, he's fighting all these creatures on another world. Yes, some of those creatures show up in [Guardians of the Galaxy], which makes people think, 'Oh, maybe it could exist.' And maybe it could exist, someday. I don't think that's the first place we would go though for the very reason that you stated, which is, if we were ever able to do a standalone Hulk movie, 60 percent of the fun would be seeing Mark Ruffalo leading a Marvel movie — and that's what we would do if we ever went down that road.
After the first Avengers, Iron Man had his own movie, Thor had his own movie, Captain America had his own movie, and Widow and Fury were in The Winter Soldier. So it was really about, frankly, saving somebody so that the only place you could get Hulk between Avengers movies is the next Avengers movie, so [director Joss Whedon] could continue to play with that in [The Avengers: Age of Ultron]. Where we go after that, we'll see.
More at the link. [IGN]
Ant-Man
Feige is also still talking up Peyton Reed as the new director, saying:
I think you'll find, from all his films, Ant-Man is the kind of film he'd want to make. It's just like James Gunn bringing his sensibility to Guardians. Most of our filmmakers have great examples of wonderful things they've done, but yearn to do something bigger or different. With Peyton, I think he's got a great body of work. He has Down with Love and Bring It On which, frankly, kickstarted a genre in itself for a number of years. I do think his sensibility is apparent in all those movies. I don't think it's dissimilar about what's great — and what continues to be so great — about Jon Favreau, is that he's a master of tone. If you look at Elf it could've been a very shallow comedy, but it's a holiday classic now. We thought it was the showcase for him doing something bigger. We thought the same with the movies Peyton has done.
He also said that Reed being a huge Ant-Man fan helps because "You have to love something and respect something to sort of twist it." [Film School Rejects]
Pixels
Due to the licensing involved, it's always been uncertain exactly which games will be involved in Pixels, which we saw the first photo of this weekend. But now we have a non-exhaustive list:
- Atari® Interactive: (Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede and Missile Command)
- Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. (Frogger)
- BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc. (PAC-MAN, Galaga and Dig Dug)
- Nintendo (Donkey Kong)
- Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (Q*bert)
- Taito Corporation (Space Invaders)
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Joust, Defender, Robotron and Wizard of Wor)
A few things are apparently being kept secret, so that there will be some surprises a la Wreck It Ralph. [First Showing]
King Arthur
Sources tell Variety that Idris Elba is in talks to play a Merlin-like mentor to Arthur in Guy Ritchie's take on the tale. [Variety]
The Last Witch Hunter
Michael Caine's joining the cast, along with Vin Diesel and Rose Leslie, who play a witch hunter and a witch who join forces to stop the covens of New York from unleashing a plague. [ Shock Till You Drop]
Lucy
At the link is a video about the making of the film's special effects. [Entertainment Tonight]
Guardians of the Galaxy
Here's an IMAX featurette:
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Here's a new TV spot. [via First Showing]
Jurassic World
Here's the Comic-Con poster, courtesy of director Colin Trevorrow. [via First Showing]
Predestination
Here's a trailer for a new time travel film, starring Ethan Hawke. [ First Showing]
Gotham
Cory Michael Smith said his Edward Nygma is only in a few scenes in the first episodes, setting up his character and the way he's treated by others. He does say that Nygma's starting out as a good guy:
Absolutely [he's a good person]. And what I'm so happy about… we're all starting at different points in our lives. We're meeting Oswald at a place where he is actively being beaten and slowly turning. This first season's going to be about the rise of the Penguin. But I'm starting from a place of being with the Gotham City Police Department, being a good guy…. my intentions are completely positive. I'm trying to contribute, and it's starting from the beginning, that Harvey Bullock is being a little rude, mistreating me… I'm underappreciated; I'm misunderstood, and I don't understand why people don't understand me. And that's where I'm coming from.
The lovely thing about the Riddler is he's not someone that is a sadist; he doesn't hurt people. In the history of all the comics, he's not someone that's trying to harm people, necessarily. What he does is he sets up tricks to make people be as smart as him. "Prove you're as smart as me. Figure this out. I'm smarter than you. You don't understand that. Try to figure this out. If you don't get it, something terrible is going to happen. I don't want it to happen, you don't want it to happen, so figure it out." So his whole thing is about being misunderstood, mistreated, underappreciated. He just wants people to understand how smart he is, and that he can contribute.
[ K Site TV]
At TCA, showrunner Bruno Heller backed this up, saying that the villains will be slowly rolled out into the show, that there would be a lot of disturbing violence (which he says is appropriate for a crime show), and that the time period is a "mash-up." That last we've already seen hints of: classic cars on the streets alongside cell phones. Heller also said that they're going to take viewer reaction into account when they plan out the villain arcs:
It depends entirely on one of the joys of TV series—which is you can respond to what pops with the audience or what actor pops. So the first year is very much about the rise of The Penguin [Robin Lord Taylor] and his titanic struggle with Fish Mooney [Jada Pinkett Smith]. But other characters will be introduced as we roll along through that first season. But we'll respond to what's working and what isn't.
Westworld
HBO's Westworld TV show, from J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan, is apparently circling Sir Anthony Hopkins for the role of Dr Ford, the man in charge of the new Westworld, who "views the robots as utterly inhuman, little more than livestock". The robots are looking like the leads, with Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden apparently having been offered those roles. [Film Divider via Den of Geek]
Agent Carter
Here are character bios for the new show:
Deputy Director Roger Hooley is a hardworking, principled older man and Peggy's boss. As you might expect, he's bothered by ongoing problems in his personal life as well as the challenges of his day job.
Agent Jack Thompson is in his 30s, handsome and damn well knows it. The polar opposite of Dooley, he doesn't take kindly to women in the workplace, nor how little recognition he gets. Worse, he wants Dooley's job and is desperate to prove himself.
Edward Hutchins is a highly professional agent with an unusual problem; duplicity. He's lying to his wife about what he does to stop her worrying. True Lies, SHIELD style.
Daniel Sousa is everything Jack Thompson wants to be. He's a war hero who walks using a leg brace, but finds dealing with office politics to be harder than working around his injury. Sousa is also a fiercely honourable, gentle man and we're betting he becomes one of Peggy's major allies.
And outside of the agency, there's Angie Martinelli. Working as an automat waitress, Angie dreams of being a singer. She's a tough, compassionate young woman who is smart and loyal and seems set to be Peggy's anchor to the world away from SHIELD.
[ Film Divider via SpoilerTV]
The Originals
Executive producers Michael Narducci and Julie Plec described the second season as being about confronting the "sins of the past." There will be more flashbacks going into Klaus' history and his abusive father. Plec said that the premiere, "Rebirth" is both a reference to the theme of the episode and a reference to the New Orleans Brass band. Narducci also said that there's going to be a lot happening with Klaus and Hayley:
[Hayley] and Klaus are the only two hybrids in existence now, so Elijah will inevitably wonder, 'Is there a connection between my brother and Hayley that I could never surpass? There's going to be some interesting friction. Ultimately, Elijah is going to have to decide, 'Do I want to help this girl?'
[ TV Line]
Game of Thrones
Sean Bean was very excited to hear that there could be flashbacks in season five, which could allow him to return to the set. He's also very certain that he's not Jon Snow's father:
I could be wrong, but I think they might show flashbacks via Bran's connection to the heart trees.
Oh, yeah, yeah! And I'm his father, so that would be great fun! Just to go back to that for a while, it would be such fun to do. It would be great! It would be bizarre, but it would be great! So I guess if they're going to do flashbacks, then yeah!
Well, it's just my theory ...
But it's a good theory! And that should happen, shouldn't it? I've definitely got some unfinished business that needs to be resolved there. I'm obviously not Jon Snow's dad. And you need that to be revealed at some point, don't you? So Bran would kind of be the one having the flashback, and he would see Ned praying, right? And revealing those things? You never know what those guys are going to do with that. It's got to be something special. But I'm into that. I certainly would be into that. Print that! Give them a nudge. [Laughs.] Hopefully I'll get a call soon.
[Vulture]
Supernatural
EP Jeremy Carver says that Demon Dean is deeply tied to the show's mythology, and yet different from anything that's come before:
Dean being a demon here ties into a deeper mythology in the show, that being the Mark of Cain and Cain. That's really one of the places we started to get the idea. The show has made a point of saying how rooted these brothers are in, frankly, the mythology of the world, and to find another anchor that was literally around at the beginning of time made us feel like… It wasn't so much the spectacular effect or whatever of Dean being a demon. It's more just rooting him in something more final, something that will not necessarily totally go away even when/if he's converted back from demonism.
Dean as a demon, how is that different from Dean just being possessed by a demon temporarily? What is he like?
Dean is not possessed by anything. It's his own soul that's been twisted into a demon soul, so this demon is not anyone other than Dean. So every thought, every action, that's Dean, as opposed to some other demon possessing him. So while he's a demon, that causes some complication of thought in him in that, "This is really me doing it." It also motivates a certain bravado. "Yeah, this is me doing and owning it!" There's a real period for Dean of deciding how dark he's going to be and what kind of demon he's going to be, because he can't blame it on anyone else but himself. And then afterwards is when it will have the most effect on him because it was him. It was his actions that led him to becoming a demon. He pushed it with the Mark. He pushed Sammy away at the end of last season. He said, "I can do this by myself." So there's a certain consequence to all this that is almost more interesting to us than the actual demon part.
More at the link. [ TV Guide]
Sleepy Hollow
At TCA, Nicole Beharie said she's not in any rush to get Abbie and Ichabod together because "it's interesting and kind of fun … that she has a relationship with a man, but it's not romantic. She's not defined by some sexual [desire]. She's unearthing all these things about her past and her history through this person who seems like he shouldn't be in her life."
Producer Mark Goffman said that there would be more "bombs" for Ichabod and Katrina and teased the new sheriff:
We're going to drop a few bombs this season with Crane and Katrina. We're going to find out a few things that neither of them could possibly be prepared for.
... We have a new sherrif in town, Lena Reyes, and I think that's going to pose a lot of cool conflict for Crane and Abbie as they try to work their way in the precinct, as they did with Irving. She has a history in Sleepy Hollow, but has been with the border patrol for a while, so she's really no-nonsense and a real obstacle.
[ TV Line]
Go here for more cast photos. [Multipleverses]
The Walking Dead
Here's a new promo image, featuring the cast in handcuffs. There are a few people from this group who aren't in the image, which could be a hint, or could be nothing. [Entertainment Weekly]
Agents of SHIELD
Here's a behind-the-scenes photo from Chloe Bennet. [via SpoilerTV]
The Strain
Here's a promo for episode 1.03, "Gone Smooth." [SpoilerTV]
The Leftovers
Here's a promo for episode five, "Gladys." [SpoilerTV]
Once Upon a Time
Episode 4.02 will be titled "White Out."
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Madeleine Monson-Rosen