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  • Matt Reeves Reveals that ‘The Batman’ Has Wrapped Production

    Matt Reeves Reveals that ‘The Batman’ Has Wrapped Production

    It has been a turbulent year, to say the least. The pandemic has changed the entire media landscape, may it be delaying productions or keeping us out of cinemas. Matt Reeves’s reboot of Batman was hit pretty early on, as it was forced to halt production on multiple occasions. At one point, the main star Robert Pattison was tested positive for COVID, which made many wonders what it could mean for the film’s production. Even after all that, it seems that The Batman has finally wrapped production, as the director took to Twitter to reveal the final day on set.

    The visual includes some interesting teases for the film. Especially the “Just For You” cards might be connected to our main villain. We know that they are taking inspiration from the iconic The Long Halloween storyline, which will explore Batman’s hunt for a holiday-themed killer. It was uncertain how they would twist up the original storyline. The Batman’s first trailer proved that they are taking a unique route, as we were introduced to what seems to be the Riddler, who is played by Paul Dano. His speech still haunts me since it was first revealed last August.

    The upcoming film will take place in Bruce Wayne’s second year in the role of the Caped Crusader. We got small glimpses at his relationship with the GCPD, who are also getting their own spin-off series on HBO Max, and his place in this version of Gotham. We sadly still have to wait until it releases on March 4th, 2022, but what we saw is already promising quite the experience.

     

    Source: Twitter, Slash Film, YouTube

  • What I Heard This Week: HBO Max’s ‘GREEN LANTERN’

    What I Heard This Week: HBO Max’s ‘GREEN LANTERN’

    Once again wading into unfamiliar territory and territory in which I was burned not too long ago when I shared the rumor that James Gunn was in the earliest stages of developing a Krypto project for Warner Bros…but I’m nothing if not dense, so here’s another hot DC rumor: the Manhunters are set to go up against the Green Lantern Corp in the HBO Max Green Lantern streaming series!

    Manhunters | DC Animated Universe | Fandom

    Though the streaming series hasn’t settled on a start of production much less a release date, tidbits of info have leaked out over time. We know the series is set to span decades and galaxies and feature several members of the GLC including Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz and newcomer Bree Jarta as well as fan favorites such as Killowag and Sinestro. Scott’s story will take place in the 1940s, Gardner’s in the 1980s and Cruz’s in the early 2000s but the story will obviously need some connective tissue and that might just be where this RUMOR comes into play.

    First brought into canon in 1975 by the legendary Jack Kirby, the Manhunters are the first attempt by the Guardians of Oa at a universal peace-keeping corps. Over time their programming led to them believing that the extinction of organic beings was the only true path to peace in the universe and led to the creation of the rage-fueled Red Lantern Corps.

    Review: Red Lanterns Vol. 1- Blood and Rage - ComicBookWire

    While we cannot confirm the Manhunters as part of the series, their shared history with the Guardians of the Universe, audience familiarity from their role in Green Lantern: The Animated Series and the relative ease of creating them via VFX makes this rumor an easy one to buy into.

  • REPORT: ‘Aquaman 2’ Eyeing June Production Start

    REPORT: ‘Aquaman 2’ Eyeing June Production Start

    Warner Bros. and DC have been busy preparing for their future releases. We just recently got a showcase by HBO Max that teases a variety of projects, which included a project focused on Zatanna. They also seem to be hard at work preparing for the upcoming The Flash film adaptation, as Maribel Verdú joined the cast. It looks like the next project is about to enter production, as DiscussingFilm has revealed that the production is planning on beginning next June. They are heading to the United Kingdom to enter production. Of course, the pandemic could potentially postpone these plans.

    They have also learned that Richard Sale is joining in the role of a costume designer. Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Louise Frogley is supposedly also involved in the same role, so it is uncertain if they are working alongside each other. It will enter production under the working title Necrus, which actually has a connection to the comics. Unlike Atlantis, the underwater city of Necrus is falling apart and has been at war with Aquaman’s home often in the past.

    It may tease an all-out underwater war, but could also act purely as a fun node to the comics. We’ve seen production titles act merely as jokes in the past, so we shouldn’t read too deep into it for now. Hopefully, we will get some casting announcements as we near the production start, so we have a better feeling for where the story is heading. Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will reprise their roles in the upcoming film, which is set to premiere on December 16th, 2022.

    Source: DiscussingFilm

  • Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Showcases Hawkeye and the Wasteland

    Latest ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Dev Stream Showcases Hawkeye and the Wasteland

    It has been a massive week for Marvel’s Avengers. They have been building up to the release of their next DLC character. We got quite a few reveals throughout the last few weeks. Finally, we will be able to replay the Reassemble campaign. We will be able to customize unique HARM rooms to test out our abilities. Now, we got our first look at Hawkeye in action, and the developers revealed a variety of tidbits on the character’s future content:

    • Hawkeye’s sword combat is inspired by his time as Ronin. They also revealed that he wall runs like Captain America due to his ninja training.
    • Unlike Kate, Clint has a variety of arrows in his arsenal. Instead of just switching between them, his move set allows you to use them in fun ways. He has arrow types like Implosion Arrows, Split Shot Arrows, and many more that have a unique attribute. You can use them in the air or on the ground, which offers some variety. He even has an arrow type called a Suspension Arrow that levitates your enemies.
    • His support heroic lets you heal your allies. He can even heal people from cryo. CD also showcased the variations of his heroic specialization. You can create a fire tornado or even freeze enemies.

     

    Hawkeye rejoins the Avengers in a new DLC, launching March 18 | NME

    • They hire professional stunt actors for the motion capture. CD’s aim is for every hero to feel unique in their movements to make them stand out.
    • There will be a lot of documents that will explore Hawkeye’s past before the events of A-Day.
    • We got a brief glimpse at the Wasteland, which includes a lot of easter eggs. The AIM robots have new designs and are just working on an old protocol. The main story is the team looking for information on the Kree to stop the invasion in the past. New biomes were briefly teased.
    • When you switch out of the new Wasteland biome, the Quinjet will be hit by a wave of Tachyon energy.
    • The robot Roy seems to have taken over JARVIS’s role in the post-apocalyptic future.

     

    Marvel's Avengers game DLC: Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and more | GamesRadar+

    • They reworked a lot of the system to make them work with PlayStation 5’s haptic feedback. Each hero has a unique effect, such as Clint’s Dead Eye ability adding pressure.
    • They mentioned the Marvel Cinematic Universe skins, but they can’t announce anything currently.
    • Loot 2.0 is still getting worked on, and they will communicate it as soon as they nailed it down.

     

    In chat, Crystal Dynamics has once again pointed out that they are committed to years of content for Marvel’s Avengers, and they are working on a lot of things at the moment. The Hawkeye showcase was fantastic, as they teased some incredibly-looking moves that will make the character stand out. I cannot wait to return to the game next week and explore his abilities and the Wasteland.

    Source: Twitch

  • How Marvel Studios Plans to Take the Fight to Superhero Fatigue

    How Marvel Studios Plans to Take the Fight to Superhero Fatigue

    It probably feels like a lifetime ago but it was only in 2017 that the MCU started releasing three feature films every year. By that time the franchise was approaching its 10th year with 17 movies under its belt and many started wondering just how long could Marvel Studios’ dominance at the box office truly last until audiences’ superhero fatigue managed to creep up on it. The following couple of years presented everyone with a resounding answer to that question as five out of the six movies released in that period surpassed the 1 billion dollar mark at the box-office, with two of those going over the 2 billion dollar mark while making Avengers: Endgame the highest-grossing movie of all time.

    By that point, and besides being the final chapter of a story being told since 2008 through 23 interconnected movies, the end of the Infinity Saga had audiences saying goodbye to arguably its two most important characters, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, that had been at the forefront of the MCU since its inception. So being, Marvel Studios had a few problems on their plate as 2019 came to a close: How to reintroduce surviving characters making them a bigger presence within the franchise filling the void of the ones lost, how to make fans care for the new characters being introduced as they did the legacy ones, and most importantly how to maintain global audience interested in the MCU avoiding the aforementioned superhero fatigue to finally become a real thing, in what the MCU is concerned.

    A few of the issues mentioned above had already started being addressed head-on by taking a chance on characters like Black Panther and Captain Marvel, allowing for a larger and more diverse audience to feel embraced by the superhero cinematic universe Marvel created, all while keeping longtime fans engaged by diversifying the type of stories being told, the angles in which they were told, and the voices that told them. Phase 4 would be doubling-down on this idea of bringing into the franchise a much more diverse group of filmmakers (Cate Shortland, Destin Daniel Cretton, Chloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta) and introducing characters like Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and the incredibly diverse cast of Eternals that are further living proof that the MCU is trying to evolve and become a much richer and relevant franchise by allowing so much different voices to shine through.

    But today, exactly one week after the WandaVision finale and one week before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiere, it’s becoming increasingly clear that, as contradictory as it may sound, another way Marvel Studios is trying to avoid superhero fatigue is by going all out and delivering ten projects in a single year. One would think that that would be against their interests as this means that there’ll be hardly a week throughout the year without some sort of new MCU content, but Marvel Studios is managing to circumvent that by turning inwards and redefining what the superhero genre can aspire to become. This way, instead of only releasing properties that could be described as being the generic superhero production and thus paving the way for audiences to quickly lose interest by the lack of novelty, they are expanding into sub-genres that are already a reality across the industry.

    As WandaVision played with sitcom tropes while combining romance, mystery, and drama, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is set to be more of an action-thriller experience. Ms. Marvel could be categorized as a teen drama while Hawkeye (mystery-thriller), Eternals (action epic), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (martial arts action film), and Loki (sci-fi adventure) will each have their particular characteristics, making each project fresh in its own right. Going beyond 2021 we’ll find the same being applied to shows like She-Hulk (courtroom drama) or movies such as Thor: Love and Thunder (space opera rock show). All of this seems to mean that Marvel Studios is thinking that, by diversifying, audiences won’t grow tired of what they have to offer in the same way they don’t get tired of movies and tv in general. Even if all properties are a part of a larger franchise, their particulars will allow all of them to be experienced without the added weight of being presented with the same formulaic concepts and narratives.

    Marvel Studios broke the mold for what franchises of this magnitude could become, and by keeping themselves in the public eye year-round but also understanding that a gimmick can only keep itself relevant for so much time, so much so that it’s not afraid to reinvent itself on the go (as we were able to see with WandaVision), is likely doing it again, before our very eyes.

     

  • Billy Crudup Exits ‘THE FLASH’ As Maribel Verdú Joins the Cast

    Billy Crudup Exits ‘THE FLASH’ As Maribel Verdú Joins the Cast

    A few days ago, Kiersey Clemons was confirmed to be reprising her role from Zack Snyder’s Justice League in The Flash. Now, news dropped that Billy Crudup has exited the project. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Crudup has exited the upcoming superhero project due to scheduling conflicts. Known for his role as Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen, he played the titular heroes father, Henry Allen, in his Justice League adaptation. Luckily, fans will be able to see him in the role again when the movie’s director cut of Justice League drops on HBO Max later this month.

    Despite the actor’s exit, Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen won’t be without a parent in his solo outing. Maribel Verdú has boarded the project as Barry’s mother, Nora Allen. The Spanish actress is most recognizable for her roles in the Oscar-nominated Y tu mamá también and Guillermo Del Toro’s classic Pan’s Labyrinth. The actress’s role is integral to the origin of The Flash. His mother’s death plays a large part in turning him into the hero he eventually becomes.

    The Flash, which has been delayed multiple times under multiple directors, is scheduled to release on November 4, 2022. It will be directed by Andy Muschietti, who recently helmed both It films to acclaim. Adding to the anticipation surrounding the project are the returns of two Batmen, as Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck are both signed on to reprise their iconic roles in a multiverse story.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Director Kari Skogland Open to a Second Season

    ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Director Kari Skogland Open to a Second Season

    We are only a week away before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will release on Disney+. The series will follow-up on Avengers: Endgame‘s ending, as Sam Wilson comes to accept the shield passed on to him by Steve Rogers. Now, he and Bucky will become unlikely allies as they face a new foe. It is uncertain how the story will lead into the future of the franchise, but it looks like director Kari Skogland might have enough plans for a second season. In an interview with The Direct, she revealed that there might be more stories to explore with this dynamic duo:

    I can’t even answer that because I would say there’s nothing I didn’t get to do in this one, and yet there’s so much more to do. So, let’s hope that there is a season two. I have no idea whether there will be or not, but I do know there’s always more stories to explore and more characters to have go down the rabbit hole with.

    So far, none of the announced Disney+ shows have a confirmed second season. WandaVision just ended a few weeks ago, but there hasn’t been a word on the series getting an additional season. The advantage of Marvel Studios’ approach allows them to continue these stories at a later date. Wanda’s story seems to lead directly into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So, once that story gets resolved, they can continue her tale in a future sequel. They also aren’t restricted to keeping specific names. So, they could create a new show inspired by Vision Quest that continues these story threads. It will be interesting to see what their approach will be in the future.

    Source: The Direct

  • EXCLUSIVE: Director Kari Skogland on the Most Important Questions ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Will Answer

    EXCLUSIVE: Director Kari Skogland on the Most Important Questions ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ Will Answer

    In an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland discusses what drew her to the project, the key questions this series will address and how developing how the nature of the project allowed the characters to live and breathe without the usual time constraints.

    Kari Skogland – Red Arrow Studios

    Charles Murphy: “The episode has big action but it also has some beautiful and chilling character moments. The leads are hurting for different reasons and we finally have time to explore them more deeply. Did the opportunity to help define these characters make the project more attractive?”

    Kari Skogland: “I don’t know about more attractive. No matter what I was excited. The central idea of it where Sam was handed the shield and what was that going to be and what is that what’s that the exploration of will he or won’t he take on what’s this is going to be for a Black man to carry the shield? What is Captain America’s relevance? Is there a Captain America that makes any sense anymore? All of those questions I thought were very topically important to not just discuss but to go on a real exploration in a deep dive sort of way.”

    Needless to say the legacy of Steve Rogers and the weight of carrying his shield and taking up the mantle are major themes in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. When he was handed the shield in Avengers: Endgame, Sam told Steve it felt like it belonged to someone else. The fact that we’re getting a series titled The Falcon and The Winter Soldier tells us he hasn’t resolved those feeling just yet.

    Skogland continued on to explain how the structure of the show allowed for her to find the moments in which the characters could live and breathe and struggle, which they do beautifully in the first episode.

    KS: “There was that on the one level and on the other level was the nature and the depth of these characters that we were able to in a 6-hour space compared to…I call it the meal vs. the snack. 6 hours is the meal and the feature is now the snack. And there’s plenty of room for snacks but I love the meals because you don’t feel like you’ve got these time constraints where you’re trying to jam too much into too short a space and the characters can live and breathe. And you’re also not sweating the “I better wind this up” too quickly. You’re able to let it gestate and let us worry for the character or be with the character. I really looked for performance opportunities and found from the get go it was going to be a challenge for the actors to find those moments and the table was set for them to do their great work and they did.”

    And the actors really did great work delivering on the promise of this extended opportunity to develop their characters, something you’ll all have a chance to see when the first episode streams one week from today!

     

  • Haley Bennett Joins Eli Roth’s ‘Borderlands’ Film

    Haley Bennett Joins Eli Roth’s ‘Borderlands’ Film

    The Borderlands film has been a shock to many. There is a negative stigma surrounding the very idea of video game movies. There have been exceptions, but their track record hasn’t been motivating. Maybe in the coming years, that’ll finally change. Something feels different with this one. The film has managed to acquire a large cast for what’s sure to be a volatile and deranged adventure on the planet of Pandora. We recently broke the exclusive on the film seeking an aged-up version of the popular character, Mad Moxxi. Now, it seems that they are expanding with a brand new character

    The Hillbilly Elegy and The Devil All The Time star Haley Bennett has officially joined the production. She will play a brand new character. According to the description, she will be “the key to Cate Blanchett’s character, Lillith.” For those who don’t know, Lillith is a being with incredible and mysterious powers. She belongs to the famous Sirens, who are covered in tattoos. It is also interesting to note that only six can exist at a time. As IGN points out, Bennet could get connected to how Lillith gains her abilities. It is also interesting that they

    Borderlands is set to be directed by Eli Roth, with a star-studded cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Florian Monteau, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ariana Greenblat. Plot details are currently under wraps, but considering it’s a Borderlands movie, we’ll probably see them crack a vault or two.

    Source: IGN

  • ‘Zatanna’ Project Officially In The Works

    ‘Zatanna’ Project Officially In The Works

    Almost a year ago, it was announced that J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, would be getting into development on a series of projects that build up to a Justice League Dark series. At first, it seemed that it was going to be a series purely about the team, but a few months later words got out that HBO Max developing a new solo series surrounding John Constantine. At the time, they’d already begun searching for an actor to play the role. Now, it seems as though we could see a build-up to the eventual meeting of the JLD, as another famous member is getting their own series.

    During an AT&T Investor’s Day presentation, they revealed a variety of DC shows that are in development. Eagle-eyed fans noticed a fan-favorite magician, Zatanna, is getting her own adaptation. While it’s not known if this project will be a film or a series, it seems more likely to be the series if you consider how these characters are being handled at HBO Max. Little is known about the project considering it was just announced but we’ll hopefully get some word on it soon.

    It’ll be interesting to see what eventually brings these magical heroes together. We also will have to see who ends up on the roster of this team. In the comics, the roster has changed so frequently. So, they have a variety of choices for the upcoming series. I do believe that Zatanna is a necessity on the team. She has been part of almost every version, as such, she is a necessity. It will be great to see also see what evil might force these unlikely heroes to work together.

    Source: The Verge, Twitter