Sony’s take on Cinderella finds its king. Warner Bros. gives the Shazam sequel a release date. Ubisoft’s Rabbids are making the leap to the big screen. Florence Pugh says Black Widow is not about Natasha handing off her mantle. Plus, what’s to come on Supernatural, and another element from the recent comics comes to WandaVision. Spoilers, away!
Cinderella
THR reports Pierce Brosnan will play the King in Sony’s upcoming Cinderella adaptation from writer/director Kay Cannon.
The Suicide Squad
Meanwhile, a new rumor from Fandomwire suggests Idris Elba will play the Adrian Chase incarnation of Vigilante in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. The outlet also alleges that Cyril “Knight” Sheldrake—England’s very own Batman—is slated to make an appearance in the film, but “nobody has been cast yet.”
Shazam 2
Warner Bros. has officially announced a sequel to Shazam is scheduled to hit theaters April 1, 2022. [Coming Soon]
Rabbids
According to Deadline, Lionsgate is developing a live-action film adaptation of Ubisoft’s popular Rabbids video game franchise. Isn’t It Romantic’s Todd Strauss-Schulson is currently in talks to direct the adaptation of the series, about a group of hyper-manic rabbit-like creatures known for collecting trash, being goofy, and screaming the word “Bwaaaaah” a lot.
Black Widow
In a recent interview with Uproxx, Florence Pugh confirmed Black Widow is not a “passing the torch” movie and will not end with her character, Yelena, taking over the mantle from the late Natasha Romanoff.
No, I actually will say when we were making it, it wasn’t anything like that at all. And I am saying it very honestly, it certainly didn’t feel like a passing of the torch kind of film when we were making it. And I think the direction and the feeling and the vibe behind it was genuinely just trying to make this complicated and painful story. And do it justice because a lot of fans have been waiting for her film. And also a lot of people I think will appreciate this story. Cate’s [Shortland] done an amazing job on showing these two girls and, I suppose, facing their history and facing their pain. The direction was more on that front. But I’m happy that people have appreciated the trailer and I’m looking forward to watching it.
Gretel & Hansel
We have a delightful new poster for Osgood Perkins’ Gretel & Hansel starring Alice Krige and Sophia Lillis.
The Lord of the Rings
THR reports Will Poulter has exited Amazon’s billion-dollar The Lord of the Rings television series “due to scheduling conflicts.”
The 100
Jason Diaz has joined the cast of The 100's final season as Levitt, “a brilliant mind who has always lived by the book, doing exactly what he’s told. But when life throws him a curveball, he’ll come to discover that there is a bit of an artist—and a rebel—buried within.” [Deadline]
WandaVision
During a recent panel at CCXP, Kevin Feige teased an appearance from Sparky the synthezoid dog—introduced in Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez-Walta, and Jordie Bellaire’s stellar Vision comic—in the upcoming WandaVision TV series.
There were some beautiful covers [by Mike Del Mundo] for that, with [Vision] in the suburbs which [provided] a lot of inspiration [for WandaVision]. If you know that comic, you might meet Sparky the Dog at a certain point in that series, but it’s only just inspired by that series and goes into a different direction.
Doctor Who
The Judoon hype the new season of Doctor Who in a strange featurette promoting its eventual home video release.
Legacies
Legacies rings in the new year with the promo for “I Couldn’t Have Done This Without You,” airing January 16.
Supernatural
Finally, God gives Sam a glimpse of the future in the promo for “The Trap,” the January 16 episode of Supernatural.
Banner art by Jim Cooke.