Perhaps it was the holiday weekend, or an industry quietly hoping that more news would leak from the big Marvel shake-up, but it's been rather quiet when it comes to superhero movie updates over the last seven days. Even an appearance by Aquaman himself up in Canada failed to make waves (pun, surprisingly, not intended but definitely appreciated). Here, then, is a truncated pick of the last week's superhero movie news.
So, what is going on with Marvel's Creative Committee right now, anyway? Well, it depends who you talk to. Maybe it's entirely finished, because it was too closely aligned with the anti-Kevin Feige forces at Marvel. Or perhaps it's just been diminished in terms of scope in the new reality over at Marvel Studios—something that might not be for the best for Marvel's long-term prospects, if others are to be believed ... especially if this list of the movies influenced the most by the Creative Committee is accurate. (In other words, the best ones to date.)
Why this is super: The fallout from the Marvel re-org looks set to continue for some time—all the way up through next year's release of Doctor Strange, which will be the first movie made in the post-Creative Committee era. Is the Creative Committee responsible for the things audiences loved in the movies? Maybe so. We'll know in a year's time, perhaps, whether or not what's happening now is for the best.
The more rumors leak out about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the more it sounds as if Superman isn't going to win this fight in the minds of studio executives, at least. Heroic Hollywood had the rumor that Warner Bros. execs would like more of Ben Affleck's dark knight in the movie, because apparently he's by far the most magnetic thing onscreen. That goes along with an earlier rumor that the studio is fast-tracking solo Batman movies because Affleck was just that good in BvS. Future solo Superman movies, though...? Nothing just yet. Let's just call the new movie Batman (Featuring Superman) and get it over with.
Why this is super: Good news for Batman fans, at least—and who could say that that character has been overexposed in cinema over the last 26 years? That would be ridiculous! And if more Batman makes the movie better, then that's a great thing, of course. But for now, file under "wait and see, but feel anxious about in the meantime."
Now that we know the Hulk really isn't in next year's Captain America: Civil War, rumors have started re-emerging that the reason for that is because Bruce Banner's alter-ego is out in space, and will show up in Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2. Turns out, Guardians writer/director James Gunn has a little something to say about that:
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Sorry, Hulk fans.
Why this is super: Well, OK; the fact that we're apparently not going to see Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner for a while—seriously, will he be off-screen until 2018's Avengers: Infinity War?—isn't super, but Gunn managing to keep Guardians in possession of its own identity is certainly a good sign.
Jason Momoa apparently has some ideas about how his Aquaman is going to act when he finally plays the DC hero in the upcoming Justice League (or, perhaps, even sooner; he's rumored to be debuting in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, after all): "I can't see me busting out a bunch of jokes," he said during an appearance at Fan Expo Canada that appeared online earlier this week. "I mean, I don't think it'll be like that." But don't expect an overly grim hero, either: "I don't think Aquaman's going to be raping and pillaging any villages," he clarified. Maybe we should think of him as the Goldilocks of superheroes.
Why this is super: It was always clear that Momoa's Aquaman was never going to be the most playful of superheroes (most badass, sure), so this is hardly a surprise. But knowing that he's not going to be a monster is a welcome thing to learn. Of course, here's hoping he has some kind of personality when he finally shows up on-screen.
