That Xena reboot is definitely happening. Jessica Jones is a psychological thriller more than a superhero show. Plus, how Constantine matters to the Arrow universe, teasers for Legends of Tomorrow, there’s a little more Heroes Reborn than we previously thought, and high-res Force Awakens pictures. Spoilers Now!
Batman v Superman
Henry Cavill touches on what makes Superman interesting to play in the movie, despite being a seemingly invulnerable hero:
He’s a complex dude. People think Kryptonite can beat him. No. The only thing that can really beat Superman is Superman. His own noggin messing with him. His own moral choices. When you have that to start with, the storytelling can really delve into something rich...
It’s like shagging someone for the first time. Sometimes it turns out to be amazing. Mostly you’re trying to get each other’s rhythm going. It’s on the next go that you start to expand. That’s why I do it. That and the money!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
J.J. Abrams reveals how halting production to allow Harrison Ford to recover from his broken leg helped the film:
It wasn’t something that we knew for a little while. When it became clear that he was going to be just fine, we realized we didn’t need to change that at all. In fact, there are some places where he’s more active than he was prior to the accident. As you’ll see in the movie, he is running and doing more physical activity in this movie than I think anyone who knows he was injured would expect. Nothing was adjusted or lessened because of that accident. Even for Harrison, who is famously resilient and strong, he blew everyone’s minds.
It was obviously a horrible experience that I wish had never happened for obvious reasons. But the truth is, once we knew that Harrison was going to be okay, we all realized this was this greatest gift to the movie, and I would think that any filmmaker would say, ‘If I could get a break after a month of shooting, for a few weeks, to recalibrate, I would take it.
Here’s some high-res versions of this week’s Entertainment Weekly pictures—go to the link to see more. [Comic Book]
Untitled Boba Fett Anthology Film
The rumored Boba Fett film that Josh Trank was set to direct is still in development, according to Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy:
It’s still one of the stories that we absolutely want to tell. There is a lot of innovative technology in and around what it is we’re doing with that story, so for a lot of reasons, we were comfortable postponing that. But we’re definitely still developing it.
We’re trying to get to a point where we’re never rushing for anything.
Ghostbusters
Rock star Ozzy Osbourne is allegedly going to cameo as himself in the film, following set reports that mention adverts for an Osbourne concert among the scenery. [/Film]
The Garden
A short film about a war against alien creatures has been optioned to be turned into a feature film at Warner Bros. Film School Rejects calls it less of a short film, and more of a “crappy” trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist yet, filled with cliches.
SPECTRE
Here’s a new featurette on the women of the film.
Hotel Transylvania 2
Sony have released a short youtube video masquerading as a “Living Poster” for the film.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Andrew Kreisberg discusses how The Flash and Arrow will build up to the series:
Both Arrow and Flash are helping to set those things up, in both big ways and small ways, which is lovely. The mystery of what happened with Palmer is playing out on Arrow. Sara Lance will also be playing out in the first seven episodes. The Flash, we obviously have Firestorm and Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond. And Kendra Saunders lives in Central City in the Flash finale. Getting to know her. There’s going to be a lot happening leading up to the crossover, which is serving as a [quasi] pilot for Legends.
The same interview features six other minor teasers for The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl—check them out at the link below.
[THR]
The Flash
The show is looking to cast ex-STAR Labs employee Kimiyo Hoshi, a.k.a the female, heroic version of DC comics superhero Doctor Light. [CBR]
Arrow
Good news, Constantine fans: Executive Producer Wendy Mericle has confirmed that Constantine’s arrival on the show will find him as he was in his own series, as well as retroactively canonising the events of Constantine within the Arrow/Flash universe:
Absolutely. He is coming in fully as who he was on the show. We’re getting wardrobe. We’re very excited to have him. He’s a tremendous actor. It’s so cool to have that cross-pollination. We are very lucky and DC was very generous letting us have him.
[IGN]
Jessica Jones
Jeph Loeb sets up the tone and approach of the show:
When we first sat down and started talking about ‘Daredevil,’ what we said was, for all intents and purposes, it was a crime drama first and a superhero show second. One of the things we’ve talked a lot about is that ‘Jessica’ is in many ways a psychological thriller first and then a superhero show second.
In the same kind of way Vincent D’Onofrio owned his half of ‘Daredevil’ ,you’ll see David Tennant own his half of ‘Jessica Jones’… What you get out of ‘Jessica’ is a sort of hold-your-breath tension as to what’s going to happen. When you see the dynamic between Krysten Ritter and David Tennant… that question of ‘What’s going to happen next?’ and ‘What could happen next?’ and how that’s driven by character is something that is so important to not just the scripts but also the way the show is shot, and the way that everyone reacts, and the way those two react with each other.
Jessica is about paying rent, getting the next client. She’s dealing with a fairly dark past. She’s trying to get through the day. She’s not really trying to save the city, she’s trying to save her apartment. At her core, she wants to do something good. She wants to contribute to the world. But there are a lot of personality issues for her that can get in the way… Jessica Jones is a brawler. She gets drunk, she gets pissed off, and boom, you’re down. She doesn’t wear a costume, she doesn’t have a mask. She’s just who she is.
Xena: Warrior Princess
NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt has confirmed that the network is actively planning the recently rumored reboot of the show:
Yes, we’re in the early stages of developing a new take on Xena and we’re looking for a writer. We want to do it. I don’t think it’s just a continuation, but we haven’t gotten that far. I think it’s a great character, and we should try to figure out how to revive it somehow.
Colony
Executive producer Carlton Cuse says the show is not really an alien invasion drama:
Ryan and I felt like that show had been done. The story of colonization is really an espionage thriller with a sci-fi backdrop … If you look at the history of the world, almost every country has either been a colony or a colonizer. The social dynamic of one group of people having absolute power over another group of people is something we wanted to explore. We wanted to find a contemporary way to do that.
Heroes Reborn
The show’s premiere has been extended to 2 hours:
Gotham
Finally, the show has cast Leo Fitzpatrick as Joe Pike—an original character who leads a gang of arsonists called “The Pike Brothers”. [Coming Soon]
Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson and Charlie Jane Anders. Top image: Batman v Superman.