And which ones does Robert Kirkman refuse to give any hints about? Plus, Gary Oldman gives us the closest thing to a confirmed new Star Wars actor we've seen. A new casting rumor connects The Hobbit to Ant-Man. And Arrow's looking to be in the Birds of Prey business for a while. Spoilers now!
Star Wars
If it's a day ending in "y," it must be time for some casting news: Gary Oldman's confirmed that he's been in talks about being in the film. Of course, being Gary Oldman, he's skeptical about it actually happening:
They've called, yeah. I'm more cynical about it (casting) now, I believe it when I'm on the plane home. You know, the deal isn't done (until then). But yeah, they've inquired.
On the other hand, this is the closest we've had to information about an actor actually being contacted by the film, and not just being one of the many, many. See the interview below. [Slashfilm]
Ant-Man
Evangeline Lilly is reportedly in talks to play "the female lead." While we still don't know who that character is, bets are on some version of Wasp. We do know that the female lead isn't expected to show up in this movie only, and then disappear forever from the Marvel movieverse. This could just mean that they're locking this actress (whoever it turns out to be) in for a sequel, or that she'll be appearing in other Marvel movies. Like a third Avengers, which may need to have a changed-up roster. [Slashfilm]
Red Rising
Marc Forster (World War Z) will be directing the adaptation of this novel by Pierce Brown, who also wrote the script. Here's the novel's description:
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
[Deadline]
Welcome to Yesterday
This Michael Bay-produced film about teenagers building a time machine has has its release day pushed back from February 28th to sometime this summer. In addition, Paramount's now partnering with MTV, in the hope of reaching a larger number of teen and college viewers. [First Showing]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Here's a behind-the-scenes featurette. [via SpoilerTV]
Jurassic World
The Times-Picayune revealed that this movie will spend 11 weeks filming in New Orleans, starting in June. That's in addition to four weeks on Oahu in April followed by two weeks on Kauai, Hawai'i. Finally, director Colin Trevorrow tweeted that they'd be shooting on 35mm and 65mm film. [Coming Soon]
Game of Thrones
Doing press for Pompeii, Kit Harington says season four is "a bigger season, action-wise, than we've ever done," adding: "There's more battles, there's more fights." He also promises "quite a few deaths this season," and that this will be the biggest year for Jon Snow yet:
It's a really special season. It's my favorite on paper. It's the biggest for my character and I think people are gonna love it. I hope they will because they seemed to have loved the first three so the pressure's on for the fourth. I'm really confident in what we've done.
The Walking Dead
The New York Post has a rundown of the three new characters who are being added soon: Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Rosita Espinoza (Christian Serratos). Click the link to learn more about who these characters are in the comics. [NY Post]
Meanwhile, creator Robert Kirkman talked a bit about these new characters:
We know we're going to see new characters in the back eight, a few big ones from the comics — Abraham and Rosita and Eugene. What can you tell us about them and how similar or different they will be to the original comic iterations?
KIRKMAN: These characters are going to be extremely similar to who they were in the comics and I'm really excited about that. The visuals and costuming for them has been absolutely amazing. These people really do look like they were torn out of the comic page, it's pretty startling. But I will say people excited for the introduction of these characters won't have to wait very long. I don't want to reveal exactly when they'll be introduced, but it won't be too terribly late in the season so get your hopes up. They really are going to add a very interesting and very compelling dynamic to the show. I think they're going to bring in elements to the show that we've never really explored before and I think that's exciting and something that's going to change the game to a certain extent. I'm always very excited at how much this show evolves over time and changes season to season and these three characters are agent that very much changes the story and very much changes the direction of the show to a certain extent.
And here's Kirkman dancing around giving any answers:
Okay, where's Baby Judith?
KIRKMAN: All I know is that there's a bloody car seat so things aren't looking too good.How about Lilly and Tara. Will we see them or anyone from the Governor's storyline again, or is that chapter complete?
KIRKMAN: There are some people in that mix that we didn't see die that could theoretically pop up at some point in the future.... What about this new character named Gareth? What can you tell me about him?
KIRKMAN: Nothing.
That's a little frustrating, so Kirkman did say that we would learn more about the rats and the radio signal:
Let's talk about some other loose ends. Are we going to learn more about the faint radio signal Daryl and the others picked up on in the car?
KIRKMAN: We will absolutely, definitely learn a ton more about that. I think that the first eight episodes of the season probably deserve a rewatch if you're really invested in what's coming up. And when it comes time in a couple of years when you watch all of season 4 as a whole there are so many hints and so many little breadcrumbs thrown out that are going to be paid off in the back half of season 4 that people are going to be shocked at the things that they didn't notice. There are so many little things that are unresolved and are going to be picked up and addressed in these last eight episodes and that recording is definitely chief among them but there's a lot of stuff we're going to be dealing with.Does that include the identity of the person putting the rats by the fence and performing rat vivisections?
KIRKMAN: Yeah, that's like a whole plot thread! I wanna know what happens there! We wouldn't leave that hanging.
Arrow
In answering the question about whether they'd ever actually show Ra's al Ghul, the executive producers refused to give a solid yes or no, with Andrew Kreisberg saying:
We've thought of the show as this multi-year epic arc, and things get produced and paid off later — and this is one of those epic things that is being introduced now.
Marc Guggenheim said that Felicity's discussion about her family this week wasn't a one-off — two things she mentioned will paid off in later episodes this season. Guggenheim, following the same theme as Kreisberg above, said that the show's version of Birds of Prey is playing a long game:
We gave ourselves room to grow and evolve that. … You're not going to end up with the holy trinity of Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress right out of the gate. We'll get there.
Katrina Law will be back later this season as Nyssa, and this will spell more trouble for Sarah. Meanwhile, whether the Oliver/Sarah relationship can work is "part of the journey of these next five episodes," says Kreisberg. "Oliver has not had many successful relationships, and part of him and Sara moving forward is [the question of], 'Is this something that can work given both of our [pasts]?"
Meanwhile, "The cold war between Oliver and Moira is not going to go unnoticed by anyone," Kreisberg promises. He also says Moira hasn't yet had her "come-to-Jesus moment," but that it's coming soon. And Oliver is going to realize "that as much as he despises his mother, he's actually a lot more like her than he wants to admit."
Tons more at the link. [TV Line]
Here's the promo for episode 2.14, "Time of Death." [via SpoilerTV]
Being Human
Here's the description of episode 4.05, "Pack It Up, Pack It In":
Aidan tries to forget a recent loss; Josh and Nora throw a baby shower; Sally learns about her new abilities and what they mean in regards to her future.
Helix
Go here for photos from episode 7, "Survivor Zero," and here's a short description:
Hatake rescues Walker from Sutton's mercenaries.
Agents of SHIELD
Here's a synopsis for episode 1.14, "Tahiti":
Coulson goes on the attack to save Skye—enlisting the aid of Ward's former S.O. John Garrett (Bill Paxton)—and uncovers shocking truths about his own life and S.H.I.E.L.D., on "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Agent Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons.
Guest starring are Bill Paxton as Agent John Garrett, Elena Satine as Lorelei, David Conrad as Ian Quinn, Rob Belushi as Jimmy, B.J. Britt and Agent Triplett, Sarayu Rao as Dr. Jazuat, Michael J. Silver as Alpha, Jake Newton as Beta and Julie Civiello as Nicole.
Tomorrow People
Here's the promo for episode 1.14, "My Brother's Keeper." [via SpoilerTV]
Almost Human
Here's the press release for episode 1.11, "Disrupt":
WHEN FUTURE SMART HOMES GO BAD, THEY CAN BE DEADLY
ON AN ALL-NEW "ALMOST HUMAN" MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, ON FOX
A deadly crime from the future occurs when a "smart home" goes terribly bad and turns on its occupants. Detective Kennex and Dorian lead the investigation that forces them to interface with a house that is represented by a mysterious hologram character in the all-new "Disrupt" episode of ALMOST HUMAN airing Monday, Feb. 17 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (HU-111) (TV-14 L, V)
Cast: Karl Urban as John Kennex; Michael Ealy as Dorian; Minka Kelly as Detective Valerie Stahl; Mackenzie Crook as Rudy Lom; Michael Irby as Detective Richard Paul; Lili Taylor as Captain Sandra Maldonado.Guest Cast: Anthony Konehcny as MX-43 #1; Darren E. Scott as MX-43 #2; Garfield Wilson as MX-43 #3; Suleka Mathew as Kay Stenson; Matthew Kevin Anderson as S.A.M.; David Stuart as Peter Newsom; Laine MacNeil as Emily Wilson; Dalias Blake as Michael Bennett; Karen Holness as Linda Bennett; Diana Pavlovska as Cynthia Kasden; Reece Thompson as Nico.
Beauty and the Beast
Here's the synopsis for episode 2.14, "Redemption":
VINCENT SEES WHAT HIS LIFE COULD HAVE BEEN — When some of Gabe's (Sendhil Ramamurthy) acquaintances go missing, Cat (Kristin Kreuk) and Vincent (Jay Ryan) must come together to save them. Vincent ends up returning to the hospital where he was an intern, allowing him to see what his life could have been. Nina Lisandrello also stars. Grant Harvey directed the episode written by John A. Norris (#214).
And go here to see more photos from the episode. [K Site TV]
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Emily Stamm