Appropriately enough now that it's June, things are beginning to heat up in Atlanta for Marvel Studios, with not only the third Captain America being shot there (complete with almost all of the Avengers), but also appearances by no less than six prospective Spider-Men. Oh, to be a fly on those walls. Well, maybe not necessarily a fly, but ... well, you know what we mean. If you don't, then you can always read the pick of this week's superhero movie news and work it out for yourself.
We still don't know who'll be the new cinematic Peter Parker, but it seems as if Marvel and Sony are nearing a decision. This past weekend, six actors went through screen tests for the role on the set of Captain America: Civil War for directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, and Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal. The six are: Tom Holland, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer, Charlie Rowe, and Asa Butterfield, the latter of which had been rumored to have been offered the part last month. (The character will make his re-debut in the Marvel movie, hence the emphasis on Civil War-related matters.)
Why this is super: Sony and Marvel certainly seem to know what they're looking for when it comes to the latest on-screen Spidey: young, skinny, white kids. Well, it's worked OK-ish for the last two Spider-Men, so I guess they know what they're doing?
Talking of Spider-Man, Latino-Review shared an unexpected rumor this week, suggesting that references to the character and his mythology will show up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe earlier than Civil War—in fact, if the rumor is true, July's Ant-Man will be awash with Spider-Man-related conversation. Although the site stressed the rumor was unconfirmed, it was suggested that the Spidey-related dialogue was part of the reason for the many rewrites the movie went through.
Why this is super: If, as is rumored, Captain America: Civil War will present a world in which Spider-Man has been active for some time, it only makes sense that he'd be mentioned in an earlier movie. Maybe we'll even get some references on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when that show returns in the fall.
It feels as though production had only just started on Fox's Deadpool, but last week, Ryan Reynolds shared this on Twitter:
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Why this is super: If the shoot seemed speedy, there's good reason: The movie is due in theaters next February, giving little time for post-production, effects, etc. But how oddly refreshing is it to think about a superhero movie being particularly fast and agile during its shoot, as opposed to a massive monolith that takes over an entire city for months?
You might think that we've seen a lot of photos from the set of Suicide Squad, but director David Ayer reassured fans on Twitter that nothing major from the movie has been spoiled just yet, despite the many sneak peeks:
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Of course, he wrote that before Heroic Hollywood ran a potential spoiler about what Batman is doing in the movie, so perhaps he doesn't feel the same way right now.
Why this is super: With photos from the Toronto shoot of Suicide Squad being almost as popular online as ones from the Atlanta Captain America: Civil War set, it was beginning to feel like we'd seen a lot from the movie, including the Batman appearance. This is somewhat reassuring, and a nice reminder that—despite everything revealed so far—we still don't really know what the plot of the movie actually is yet.
As if the thought of Jason Momoa as Aquaman wasn't enough to get you interested in Warner Bros.' big screen Aquaman, perhaps the news that James Wan—better known as "that guy who directed the Saw movies and Furious 7"—is directing it might turn you around on the subject. Warner Bros. announced his involvement in the 2018 project this week, also noting that the movie will be written by *300'*s Kurt Johnstad. Time to break out the "This... is... Atlaaaantiiissss!" jokes, just to be on the safe side.
Why this is super: What, didn't you see Furious 7? If Wan can bring that level of insanity to Aquaman, we're in for a good time ... admittedly, in three years, but patience is a virtue, right?
During a Facebook chat, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn revealed that one of the Avengers' most famous foes won't be showing up in the Marvel universe anytime soon. The movie rights to Kang the Conqueror, he said, belong to Fox. How he ended up there is somewhat convoluted; theoretically, Kang first appeared (as a totally different character) in Fantastic Four, which Fox controls the rights to, but Kang himself debuted in Avengers; if Marvel and Fox can share rights to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, two characters who first appeared as themselves in X-Men, why Kang isn't available is a mystery.
Why this is villainy: Because Kang isn't known as an X-Men or Fantastic Four villain, this means that he'll probably never make it onto the big screen (or, at least, not anytime soon). Given that he's a remarkably fun villain (he's a time-traveling despot who rules the future with an iron fist but becomes obsessed with defeating the superheroes of the present day), this is bad news indeed. Can we start a Free Kang movement, do you think?
