Chris Pratt promises Guardians of the Galaxy will surprise you. Check out Hunger Games set photos. Michael Cudlitz talks about how similar Abraham will be to the comics version in The Walking Dead. Check out Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman physique. Plus a Transformers trailer glimpse, and a Age of Ultron set video. Spoilers now!
Top image: Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel's released three new photos from the movie: one group shot, one of the Milano, and one close-up of Chris Pratt as Star-Lord. Pratt, speaking to USA Today, promised that Guardians of the Galaxy is going to play with audiences' expectations a bit:
They know what to expect at every turn. So that's why it's important now to do a comic-book movie that no one's ever seen before
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Filming is continuing in Atlanta, Georgia this week. When the cast was on set on February 4th, reports say that everyone was on edge, as the scene they were filming was originally supposed to include Phillip Seymour Hoffman. There are a number of photos from filming here. Of note is a closer look at Julianne Moore's President Coin, as well as Liam Helmsworth and Jennifer Lawrence in what appear to be the identical grey coveralls of District 13. There's also a picture of Sam Claflin. [Access Atlanta, E! Online]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Composer Henry Jackman, who scored the movie, says that the difference between scoring the first and this one is the difference between a period piece and a modern setting:
You need a sort of perfect storm of circumstances to allow something radical to work in a film where you're not just being self-conscious, where you're not just trying to show off or whatever, and this [Captain America] was it. I can't say too much because I know Marvel will shoot me, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a brilliant film that is part of the Marvel franchise but the directors John and Anthony Russo are geniuses. It's a Marvel film that's taking it one step further. They've made Captain America much more contemporary. The story is set in 2013, so it's not a period film and it doesn't have Indiana Jones style Nazis running around the place, it's all set in the modern era and it's a cross between a superhero and a modern political thriller so that's already awesome
He also previewed how he fused Captain America's traditional sound with the Winter Soldier's darker one:
What's great about that is because it's a Captain America film you need these traditional, thematic elements which eventually come through in act three of the film, but also the film is super-contemporary. Plus, Winter Soldier is this crazy, dark, RoboCop-type figure who is somewhat human but mechanised, completely messed up. Slightly human but completely tortured and completely manipulated, but crucially mechanised.
So I said you know what, I'm gonna do something completely crazy and dark for the Winter Soldier, and I'm just gonna go for it. I hadn't worked with these directors before, and away from picture I just wrote a suite for the Winter Soldier that was about six or seven minutes long that I spent ages on and treated it like a record. The idea being that if I get this vibe right, if I nail this six or seven minute thing which I think is the essence of the character and it's super radical and it's not that traditional and not completely orchestral because I want to save some of that for Captain America, let's just see what these guys say. I played it for them really loud, and after they were finished there was a bit of a silence, and then Joe [Russo] went "I love it! Awesome!" (laughs) What was really cool about it was that he said that piece was so great and unique and it doesn't sound exactly like film music, do me a favour and don't do that thing when once we start working on the movie it gets sanitised or watered down. Whatever it is I just heard, I really want to hear that in the movie and not just 20% of that in the film, and that gave me all the information I needed about how creatively brave these guys were and it works in the film, and I'm really proud of it. And this track that I'm talking about will be on the CD in it's original form.
Transformers 4: Age of Extinction
Comic Book Movie has a post that may describe the soon-to-debut trailer from the film. The poster, T4TRAILERGUY, says the description is from his "industry" brother, and that it seems convincing, but that he also gets false information from him as well. So take the following with a grain of salt.
The trailer starts out in space and features "dozens of battleships" approaching Earth. A large badass robot (possibly Lockdown) exits one of the ships and stares down at Earth, before jet engines come out of his back and he jumps off the ship, plummeting towards Earth. On Earth, the evil robot crashes into the concrete so hard, it causes shockwaves for miles. Optimus and his fellow Autobots, hiding at a farm, look at the ground and then Optimus says "They have arrived." Lockdown's face turns into a gun and he shoots it at Optimus, who goes down.
Meanwhile, there's a facility where thousands of Transformers are being manufactured, and Mark Wahlberg confronts Kelsey Grammer, who says he is going to give them a blessing: "Their extinction."
Then Optimus Prime is in a futuristic, cybernetic cave, looking down at five ginormous Autobots — which combine into an even bigger ginormouser Autobot. Then there's the "money shot" of people in Hong Kong fleeing a thundering sound, which turns out to be Optimus Prime riding on Grimlock, plus Bumblebee riding on Strafe, and Slag, Sludge and Snarl, causing a stampede towards the camera.
There's more at the links. [Comic Book Movie via Seibertron]
Avengers: Age of Ultron
A pair of Instagram videos have emerged from filming in South Africa, including the use of a bust of the Hulk. There's some speculation this is the first set piece that begins the movie — and it looks as though the action (whether in Johannesburg or the rumored Wakanda), will include a Hulk rampage. [Coming Soon]
Ant-Man
Steven Price, who scored Gravity and recently won a BAFTA for that work, has been hired to score Edgar Wright's take on the hero. [First Showing]
Batman Vs. Superman
Gal Gadot, who said she's taken up "Kung Fu, kickboxing, swords, jiujutsu, and Brazilian" training to prepare to play Wonder Woman, has shared a post-workout photo on her Facebook page. The caption read, "There's nothing like a good workout in the morning. Love it! You?" [Super Hero Hype]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Here's a new TV spot:
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Here are a few character posters, showing past and future Professor Xs and Magnetos. [X-Men Movies Twitter]
Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau spoke about how last season changed Jaime Lannister and what this season means for that evolution:
I think the biggest change is the fact he loses his identity in many ways and has to reevaluate and rediscover himself. That goes back to the scene with Brienne in the bath where he reveals this huge secret that he's carried since he was sixteen. He tells, of all people, this woman because I think they have connected and he sees himself in her. The big question, of course, is what happens when he gets back to King's Landing? That's where we'll find out what has changed. At the end of season three something has changed but he doesn't know what it is. I think he surprised himself and doesn't really know why he went back and rescued Brienne from the bear pit.
He also previewed what that return to King's Landing means for his on-screen family:
I think for Jaime it will be the fact the Lannister family is together for the first time on the show. That will be very interesting to explore. It's a very dramatic season and where before you'd have one or two episodes that peak, here there will be a lot of peaks.
[Reveal]
The Walking Dead
In answering a question about whether he read the comics after being cast as Abraham, Michael Cudlitz let slip that Abraham will be nearly identical to his comics counterpart:
Yes. I talked to [showrunner] Scott Gimple after I was hired and I said, "Look, I want to read the comics. I want to get caught up and up to date, but I don't want to mislead myself. How much of what Abraham does is going to be based on the comics?" He said, "Go ahead and do that. All of your backstory is going to be almost exactly as it was from the comic book as far as what happened before we met him." It's an awesome jumping-off point.
He elaborated on that a little bit:
In the comics, we know that Eugene has teamed up with Abraham under false pretenses. Is their story line similar?
Cudlitz: Yeah, there are a lot of similar elements. A lot of it is going to feel very familiar. But you have to remember, a lot of these characters that they interacted with in the comics are no longer with us. So some situations just could never happen because those people are no longer here. I will say that it's going to feel very familiar and there's a push from Scott's side to really pay homage to the comic and not get so far off track or so diluted that if you're a fan of one, you wouldn't recognize the other. There's a way to marry the two elements together that does justice to both. What if these two characters lived in the same world at the same time even though they don't in the comics? What would that have been like? Well, now you get to explore certain things like that. There are people that I am inhabiting a world with that were already dead in the comics. That's going to be exciting for people who really know the comics. There's a lot of bada—es in one room. Sh— is going to hit the fan. Where it ends tees up a whole new world.
More at the link. [TV Guide]
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Emily Kinney talked about how the trauma of Hershel's death hasn't yet been seen in Beth:
We hear one line from the journal where she says, "I believe for daddy." That makes me wonder, what is the impact of what happened to Hershel and how is that affecting Beth? When she is saying stuff like, "We have to get out there and search, we have to be hopeful," is that her way of honoring her father and carrying on in an almost What Would Hershel Do, WWHD kind of way?
I think she definitely still hasn't come to terms with that life is over yet — in terms of the people and the family she gained by having that stability of the prison. She's still sort of hopeful. She still hasn't come to terms with her father's death yet. That is something that is going to play out throughout the whole rest of the season. This is just the beginning. She is still tying to grasp something.
Well, it's a lot of trauma to take in at one time.
Yeah, I don't think it's all happening yet. This episode is to see how much hope she had in this other life. And as soon as people do have food and stability and shelter, they start to journal. You don't need to much to start to dream and think about what your life could be and that sort of thing.
Here's a promo for episode 4.11, "Claimed." [via SpoilerTV]
And here are two promo photos from "Claimed." [SpoilerTV]
Teen Wolf
Dylan O'Brien spoke about how the Nogitsune will become a greater threat in the next few episodes:
Well, what we've seen now is the Nogitsune and how much power it has over Stiles. I think over the next few episodes we're going to see that become more of a factor and more of a, like, permanent thing or a danger of it being a permanent thing. The Nogitsune is feeding off everything through Stiles. And the stronger it gets, the more control he has over him, basically. So it gets darker. And of course there's the other side of the spectrum — we still see Stiles in every episode. We see his struggle with not understanding; he clearly has no control over it. He goes in and out of being aware of it. And you see the Nogitsune getting stronger. So it just gets really dark and crazy….It becomes insanity, basically.
How soon does everyone else catch on about the truth about what's going on?
I think at this point it's been pretty weird [for them]. I think it's so funny watching how everyone's so, like, I guess, cool with it. [Laughs] They just don't even believe that it's happening. But I really think the next episode is where Stiles' friends — Scott and everybody — see what is happening to their friend.
He also previewed how it will all come to a head in the finale:
I mean, I think any time a person goes through something like this — I think in real life it's never [laughs] — I think you learn a lot and grow a lot. I think the season has made Stiles stronger. And this whole Nogitsune possession thing could sort of empower him in a human way. He's survived a lot. And the finale is basically [him having] to face himself, finally. The whole season for him is a struggle with himself — himself being, obviously, the spirit. It will be one or the other, basically. So the finale is crazy because either he dies or the Nogitsune dies and no one knows how to kill the Nogitsune, So it gets weird.
Meagan Tandy will return to Teen Wolf as Braeden. She tweeted:
The interview was awkward bcuz I didn't know what I could say but I can definitely say now I WILL be apart of Season 4. #MoreBraedenComing
More bad assness is coming. Season 4. Get ready!! Can't wait #TeenWolf
Lost Girl
A report on some new season five casting scripts is interesting — apparently, the scripts contain no references to existing characters or plots. Now, this could be a way to keep everything a secret, or it could be that the show's intending to introduce a ton more characters in a kind of quasi-reboot. If the scripts are accurate, there's a new character named Maeve, who is a the leader of a Fae group who wants to reclaim the world from humans and stop hiding. In pursuit of that, she forces "Alice" (possibly code for Bo) to give her a bloodoath to save a female human named "Jo" (possibly code for Lauren). [SpoilerTV]
Star-Crossed
Aimee Teegarden talked a bit about the love triangle between her character (Emery), the alien Roman, and Grayson:
So Grayson is another kid she meets in high school who's a bit of an outsider himself. He's one of the first people she meets that's nice to her, and talks about how awkward it is, and can connect with her feelings of being the new kid in school. He's what you would want in a boyfriend. He's sweet and nice and cares about her, and she's kind of caught between what she should want and what she does want. And then, throughout the season, you get to know more about Grayson and Roman, and they both have some bad boy stuff.
Teegarden also previewed a later episode, which has her in the body of an Atrian for a day:
One of my favorite moments is towards the end of the season. I get to embody an Atrian for a day. So I went through the whole works and got tattoos made especially for me and got a little Atrian flight suit and got to speak some Sondiv, which is the Atrian language developed by the same guy who developed Dothraki [from Game of Thrones]. That's a fun fangirl moment that I got to have, because my character's obviously not an alien, so getting to play an Atrian for a day was awesome. I'm excited to see how it looks.
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Emily Stamm