OK, so maybe the Oscars were a little unkind to the superhero movie genre last weekend (something that got Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn fired up enough to respond on Facebook), but given the amount of big news from that side of the movie industry over the last seven days, it's clear who's likely to have the last laugh. Marvel's Avengers got busier, Amanda Waller outed herself, and, oh yeah, Twitter got a little fishy for a while.
It happened too late to make it into last week's column, but look! It's Jason Momoa's Aquaman! The fact that this one image got "Aquaman" trending internationally on Twitter remains both amusing and horrifying. What has become of this world in which we're living?
Why this is super: Come on, just look at him. There are, of course, haters online—this is the Internet after all—but as far as potential big-screen Aquamen go, it has to be said that Momoa makes a pretty great, very badass, one. Next up: let's see what Cyborg looks like, please.
It's been rumored for some time, but Viola Davis finally confirmed it during an interview from this weekend's Academy Awards: She'll be playing Amanda Waller in David Ayer's Suicide Squad movie.
That wasn't the only Suicide-related piece of news to leak out recently; Margot Robbie revealed she's signed a 10-year contract to play Harley Quinn, while Jared Leto let it slip he's trying to gain weight to play the Joker, who he described as being a "beautiful disaster of a character."
Why this is super: If nothing else, Suicide Squad has a genuinely impressive cast who all seem to be committed to whatever the hell this movie is going to end up being. It's as exciting as it is confounding.
Also at the Oscars, Dwayne Johnson told MTV that maybe the Shazam movie might show up earlier than its announced 2019 release date.
"It may happen a little earlier than what has been predicted," he said. "The script is coming in, it's great, the support from the studio has been great, and it's just a great opportunity.”
Why this is super: We are, admittedly, very into the idea of the Shazam movie; We love the original Captain Marvel, the magic-word-that-turns-a-kid-into-an-adult-superhero gimmick is great, and Dwayne Johnson playing a charming anti-hero? How could anyone not want to see that? So the idea of it arriving sooner than four years from now is a good thing indeed. Now all we need is strong casting for Captain Marvel/Shazam himself...
https://www.youtube.com/embed/1ghT7KWXsUE
We're still some time away from Spider-Man's next big screen appearance (in 2016's Captain America: Civil War), but that hasn't stopped a number of rumors about who'll be behind the webbed mask when it happens. Donald Glover is talking about the possibility. (In fact, he's even making puns about it.) For those who'll point out that rumored names in the Sony ring have trended towards being ... well, white, a new rumor has come from The Wrap's Jeff Snider that the next movie Spider-Man is "most likely not going to be white."
Why this is super: It's about time that we had a POC in the lead of a major superhero franchise. Admittedly, it'd be great if it wasn't the one where you can't see the character's skin at all when he's wearing his costume, but we'll take what we can get.
The first official poster for Avengers: Age of Ultron was released online this week, confirming rumors that the cast for the movie really is even bigger than we'd previously expected. Now confirmed to be appearing in the movie are Anthony Mackie's Falcon, Idris Elba's Heimdall, Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter, and Stellan Skarsgård from Thor and the first Avengers movie. Rumors that the movie is going to be renamed Remember That Guy You Liked in That One Marvel Movie? Yeah, He's in This One, Too are, as yet, unconfirmed.
Why this is super: As nervous as we are that Avengers 2 will be filled with far too many characters for its own good, we can't even pretend to deny that any screen time for the Falcon is a bad thing. If Agent Carter can get her own series, who do we have to bribe to get The Falcon a primetime ABC slot?
