Rumor has it that Marvel's already cast Doctor Strange, and it isn't Johnny Depp. Scarlett Johansson promises that the Avengers sequel is equal parts deep and funny. Don't hold your breath for a Halo movie. One actor denies he's Gotham's Jim Gordon. Plus could Yoda play a vital role in the Star Wars sequels? Spoilers right now!
Top image: Arrow.
Star Wars
Here's a rumor to take with a grain of salt: Cosmic Book News says that Yoda will appear as a Force ghost in Episode VII to warn Luke about a rising unbalance in the Force and the need to protect the Jedi. The rumor also mentions that the new Jedi temple will have a number of holograms depicting Jedi from the previous films: Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness version), Qui-Gon Jinn, etc. [The Force.net]
Doctor Strange
Coming right on the heels of the rumor that Johnny Depp's up for the title role are reports that Jon Hamm has already been cast as Doctor Strange. ComicBook.com claims that they have two sources telling them the same thing, and This Is Infamous is reporting it as well. Both are also saying that Marvel sees Doctor Strange as an important film, since it'll be used to link other future movies together. The This Is Infamous story also seems to indicate that Marvel's looking for Doctor Strange to step into the void that'll be created when Robert Downey, Jr. stops being Iron Man. [This Is Infamous, Comic Book.com]
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Scarlett Johansson has received the script for the Avengers sequel, and she's raving about it:
I think the script is dark and it's dry. It has got this amazing one-liner, glass-cutting sense of humor. Obviously, the script is very cerebral. It doesn't lose that exciting comic book aspect that people enjoyed in the first film, but it's smart and it feels like the next installment. It doesn't feel like a rehashing. It feels like these characters are moving forward. Plotlines are moving forward. It's deep and I think that's why people really respond to the Marvel Universe, because the films are fun and exciting and have all that flashy stuff, but there's a gravity to them. People can expect that gravity this time around.
Halo
Microsoft released a statement making clear that there's no Halo movie on the horizon:
The Halo franchise encompasses many elements, including games, action figures, novels and more. As always, we have many projects in the works that offer us the opportunity to bring in new audiences to the franchise, as we did in the past with Halo Legends and Halo: Forward Unto Dawn. We plan to continue telling the Halo story through innovative channels, but there are no plans for a Halo motion picture at this time.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Here's a new trailer for the animated movie. [First Showing]
Planet of the Apes Sequel
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes isn't even out yet, and its sequel already has a release date: July 29, 2016. [Coming Soon]
Poltergeist
The remake by Gil Kenan also has a release date: February 13, 2015. [Coming Soon]
Gotham
Donal Logue's denying a report from Latino Review that he's been offered the lead role of Jim Gordon in the series. He responded on Twitter:
Not true! I wish-would be awesome (but who could top Gary Oldman?) From what I heard, Gotham catches Gordon in his late 20's.
Not a huge surprise following the statement that the show would involve "all the classic Batman characters" — but it's been confirmed that young versions of Catwoman, the Penguin, and the Riddler will be among Gotham's characters. [Den of Geek]
Orphan Black
There's more details from the first scene shown to reporters at BBC America's TCA presentation. Season 2 will start with the aftermath of Kira's kidnapping, showing Sarah running down the street screaming her daughter's name. She reaches a diner, leaving a voice mail for Paul, which says "What the hell is going ondd? Did Rachel take my family?" Two men show up at the diner, where a gun and a shotgun are fired. Both bullets hit their intended targets.
Jordan Gavaris also explained what we'll see from Felix this season:
I think what season 2 helps to do is establish him as an individual with his own identity and as a multifaceted human and not just a plot device or not just someone who's there to facilitate whatever Sarah's crazy idea is that day.
[Buddy TV]
Arrow
Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says that we will see what connects the Slade we saw on the island to the one shown in Starling City in the present, as well as crediting actor Manu Bennett with coming up with something of significance:
I think the audience now understands that what the stakes are on the island and what is fueling Slade's rage in the present day to destroy Oliver. It's sad and hard to write because we spent such a long time building up the brotherhood and the bond between these two men to struggle to survive this horrible place, and now we see that Slade is his enemy. We'll be charting that downfall in the back half of this season, but it was hard to write because we've come to love this Slade on the island, and to watch him slowly go insane and turn his anger and his hatred on Oliver… hopefully it will be difficult for people to watch. But the best villains are not the mustache-twirling kind. The best villains are people who are doing what they're doing out of a sense of loss and love and regret. That was certainly true for Malcolm last season, and it's doubly true for Slade now.
When we first saw Slade sitting at that desk, talking to Sebastian, repeatedly the camera showed him clenching his fist over and over again. Is there any significance to that…?
There actually is significance to that — and funnily enough, it was thought up by Manu [Bennett] himself. That will be explained later on.
He also gave a little bit more detail about the upcoming Diggle-centric episode and discussed how they'll be playing with the flashback structure this season:
We actually are going to have an episode where we flash back to Dig's time in Afghanistan, so that's going to be a huge David Ramsey episode. Last season when we flashed back to the week before the Queen's Gambit left and we left the chronological narrative of Oliver's time on the island, the success of that episode allowed us to start playing with the flashback structure a bit, and people are able to follow it. So just as this year in City of HeroesEpisode 5 we had the flashbacks from Sara's point of view, we have an episode in the back half of the season where the flashbacks are from Laurel's point of view, and we have this other episode where the flashbacks are from Dig's [Afghanistan] days.
More at the link. [TV Line]
Colton Haynes revealed a little about Roy's story this season and guessed at how he'd react to learning about Oliver's alter ego:
[I]t's so great that they've been able to kind of give Roy and Oliver these quippy, slow, brooding remarks towards each other because it changes the dynamic between Roy and Oliver, obviously, because he's dating his sister. And it's also going to be really interesting to find out if Roy ever finds out Oliver and the Arrow are the same person, because it's going to be so shocking because he doesn't like Oliver, but he idolizes Arrow. So that's going to be a really fun thing to see throughout the season. You'll see a lot more terrible interactions between the two very soon.
. . . [In this season, Roy] forms a kind of a mini team with a few characters to finally find out who the Arrow is so they can try and start getting getting revenge.
[TV Line]
Coming off of last night's episode, Sean Maher's totally willing to return as Shrapnel:
That's the beauty of the show; they leave it so open-ended. I'd like to return with a vengeance and a distinct plan in mind. He's incredibly calculating, and — pun intended — I think he's going to return with a big bang.
Helix
Executive producer Steven Maeda revealed that the character of Peter was originally just going to die, but they've kept and he'll be a major part of the season:
He'll figure very prominently. It's something we talked about a great deal. In the very first version of the story, Peter was dead at the beginning. We decided to leave that character alive. He's going to be sick, but let's have him be alive because it gives you all sorts of emotional possibilities for Alan. And then, let's complicate it even further by creating this romantic triangle that went really bad between Peter, Alan and his wife. Once we came up with that triangle, we were like, "That's fun. That's going to give us a lot of opportunity to let these family dynamics play out over the course of the 13 days on this base."
He also talked about the upcoming appearance of Jeri Ryan:
She does have a connection to the base. We were definitely excited to get Jeri, and she was great. She comes in about halfway through the season. She's someone who is integral to the secrets that are being kept on the base. That is something we've been very big on, is everybody has secrets. They have either personal secrets or professional secrets or scientific secrets. Everybody has come in there with baggage or hidden agendas.
More at the link. [Comic Book Resources]
The Originals
Charles Michael Davis says that, even though Marcel and Klaus appeared to settle on co-ruling, the second half of the first season is still very much focused on the ebb and flow of their relationship:
What you think is going to be one storyline quickly becomes something else, depending on the importance, and with this show, the one thing that's most important is family. That's the big through line. So it's not the issue about ruling together; I think that the bigger thing is the relationship between Marcel and Klaus. I think going forward it's going to be one that they're going to try to reconcile. But as you see with the show, there are a lot of things thrown into the mix that change how characters feel towards each other. So it's just about balancing and keeping a stable family. For right now, it seems like at least those two brothers are doing okay.
He also said that the big secret Rebekah threatened Marcel with will be revealed soon, but "not next week." He described the effects of it, without divulging anything about what the secret is:
It's something that not only changes things for Marcel but obviously for Rebekah or else she would've told the secret, and there's a reason that they hide it from Klaus, because they know how he reacts when things don't go his way. It's something pretty big.
And here's the promo for episode 1.11, "Après Moi, Le Déluge." [via SpoilerTV]
Tomorrow People
Luke Mitchell said what he could about the rest of this season:
It depends on what road you want to travel down, because there's, obviously, the main story arc of Stephen and his father and Ultra. And then there's splintered story arcs that come out from there. Let's just say that there are some interesting relationships coming up that I wasn't expecting that were a lot of fun to play out, working with some different people that I hadn't got to work with that I think audiences will like. Obviously, John and Cara are going to continue down the complicated path and probably reach the highs or the lows of that, depending on your perspective on it.
Peyton List also explained what the fall out would be from the big revelation:
I think it is such a bombshell when they found out that he has the ability to kill and that the rest of the Tomorrow People don't have all the information as to how that came about and how he is now able to kill. But there's a lot of things that come out of that. And one of them is the fact that most of the Tomorrow People have bonded and are so tightknit and close because they're so isolated from the rest of humanity. They're different. And they find their togetherness because they're different. Well, then you add the fact that John is even more different. And how do they respond to that? Does he become an outsider from them, or are they going to close ranks around him and protect him and look out for him? And the fact that he kept it a secret will affect how the Tomorrow People respond to that. We definitely explore that coming up in the next few episodes.
[TV Line]
Showrunner Phil Klemmer said that there's always a chance for Luka to develop powers, too:
It is absolutely possible! That's how genetics works. It's the roll of the dice. The big question is whether he will break out, or if he doesn't break out, will that drive a wedge between the two brothers? Will it be effectively Jedikiah and Roger all over again? It's an interesting question for Stephen, because certainly it's complicated his life in a horrible way, and in a wonderful way. So, Stephen will eventually have to sit down and wonder what he's hoping for, for Luka. A human life, which is much simpler, or a paranormal life, which at least means that the brothers can remain brothers?
He also previewed Alexa Vega's character, who shows up in next week's episode:
She is designed to be our Tracy Slick from Election or Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. We love the idea that Stephen would have a partner at ULTRA who is just total ball-buster, by the book. As sexy and feminine as Alexa Vega is, she also can play a real hard-ass. The fact that Stephen, who is sort of a made man at ULTRA because of who his uncle is, we liked the idea of somebody coming into the company who has just got his number, and is determined to take him down. They have a very fun energy, and the fact that they're friends in real life, you would never guess it on screen; because there's a lot of vitriol between them.
Intelligence
Michael Trucco will be guest-starring as Riley's ex-boyfriend, who will be in charge of Secret Service unit. Riley and Gabriel will run into him in a story where a former president heads to Syria to negotiate the release of two journalists.
Also guest-starring this season will be Peter Coyote, who will play Leland Strand, Lillian's father. Marg Helgenberger (Lilian) said that the relationship isn't all that warm and fuzzy:
He's a former CIA director and we have a very complicated relationship, as you can imagine. He basically trained me to be in the position that I'm in.
At least I think he's playing her father. The TV Guide article also mentions "Leland and Lillian's daughter" (played by Laura Wiggins), so he could also be her husband or their father/daughter relationship is taking a Chinatown-style twist. [TV Guide via SpoilerTV]
Agents of SHIELD
Here's a promo for episode 1.13. [via SpoilerTV]
Supernatural
Below's a preview for episode 9.11, "First Born." [via SpoilerTV]
Ravenswood
Here's the promo for episode 1.o8, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." [via SpoilerTV]
Almost Human
Go here for more photos from episode 1.09, "Unbound." [SpoilerTV]
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Jason Krell