Let's face it: In the last few years it's become clear superhero movies aren't a bubble waiting to burst anymore. They're going to be a part of the cinematic landscape for a long time to come. That means that nearly every week there is a new report about some big-name actor taking on the role of some obscure villain or a new rumor about some indie director helming the adaptation of a comics franchise. It's really hard to keep track of who is attached to what. So, in our on-going effort to keep you up on the latest comic book movie news, we're going to start rounding up some of those stories each week and giving you the low-down on whether or not the latest casting news or director announcement seems like a good idea—or a terrible one. Here's the cream of this week's crop.
After months of speculation, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson finally 'fessed up on Twitter that he'll be playing Black Adam in the upcoming movie Shazam, which is currently being written by *Jack the Giant Slayer'*s Darren Lemke. For those worried that this movie will fall under the rumored No Movies Based on DC's Superheroes Can Have Jokes rule, it should be pointed out that Shazam isn't actually a Warner Bros. movie as such, but comes from WB subsidiary New Line. New Line president Toby Emmerich told Entertainment Weekly that the movie will "have a sense of fun and a sense of humor." So now you know.
Why this is super: Even when he's appearing in, uh, less-than-great movies like Hercules and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Johnson's very watchable. Letting him play the bad guy in a superhero movie sounds like a spectacular move indeed.
At Atlanta's Dragon Con last weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn said that he aims to bring more female characters to the space super team in the follow-up to this summer's blockbuster, according to Collider. None of them will be from Earth, though, as Gunn also said that Chris Pratt's Peter Quill will remain the only Earthling in the series. (That sound you heard was all of the Captain Marvel fans sighing in disappointment.) But that's probably a good thing. After all, those humanoid scum have all the rest of the Marvel movies to show off in.
Why this is super: As fun as it was, the first Guardians was hardly the least sexist of the Marvel movies to date. Bringing in comic characters like Quasar or Mantis would be a step in the right direction of repairing some of the damage.
In an interview with the UK's Total Film magazine to promote her zombie movie Life After Beth, *Parks and Recreation'*s Aubrey Plaza confessed that she would "fucking die" to play Batman's favorite femme fatale. "I just think it's the ultimate female role," she explained. "You get to be a woman, but you also [get to] destroy people, and you use all your female energy for evil. I just kind of love that." Just try and picture April Ludgate as a badass cat burglar. No, really; close your eyes and do that right now.
Why this is super: OK, sure: Given that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is delivering an older, grimmer Batman in the shape of Ben Affleck, the likelihood of Plaza ending up on screen as Selina Kyle is more than a little unlikely. But still, how great could this be? Can someone set up a Catwoman comedy franchise right now, please?
The next superhero movie in our future is November's Big Hero 6, an animated Disney flick based on the Marvel property of the same name (albeit a property that Marvel doesn't intend to release any tie-in comics for, with editor-in-chief Axel Alonso saying that doing so "would be a disservice to filmgoers"). As we edge closer to the release date, Disney has released a couple of new peeks at what's to come, both focusing on the inflatable robot Baymax, voiced by *30 Rock'*s Scott Adsit. Yes, that's right: "inflatable robot."
Why this is super: Between Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, Disney's been on an upswing lately, so seeing people involved in both those movies try their hand at superheroics—and especially superheroics aimed at kids—makes Big Hero 6 seem like a charming prospect. Our only concern is that since Baymax is getting so much attention ahead of time (he was also central to the two trailers released so far), we might get a little sick of him by the time the movie is released.
Apparently, you really can't keep a good vampire hunter down. In what might be the least convincing rumor of the week, the New York Daily News reported that Wesley Snipes is set to make a comeback as Blade in a revival of the horror franchise that was seemingly staked through the heart after 2004's disappointing Blade: Trinity. Apparently, the 52-year-old actor will make $3 million for the movie, as well as getting a cut of the profits.
Why this is villainy: Considering that Marvel Studios (which has regained the rights to the character from New Line, the studio behind the franchise so far) has a pretty good thing going with all of its current and upcoming franchises and has never once hinted that it'd reboot the Blade series, let's just call this one "very unlikely" and quietly move on.
