There’s frankly a lot of superhero related news that’s been buzzing about the web in the last few months, and most of it is Marvel related. DC’s a little slow on the uptake (even if there has been more Gotham and Flash casting news rather than hype for Batman Vs. Superman). Anyway, let’s dive right in and catch you up on all the news you may have missed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
TV
Starting with the biggest news first, Marvel and Netflix signed a deal to bring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to the small screen in short individual seasons, leading up to a limited-run Defenders series. Cabin in the Woods and Cloverfield‘s Drew Goddard will be the writer and showrunner for Daredevil, and Dexter‘s Melissa Rosenberg will handle Jessica Jones. No word yet on who will handle the Heroes for Hire or the Defenders as a whole. (via Slashfilm)
As for TV-TV news (as opposed to Netflix-TV, but TV is subjective these days), Marvel luminary Stan Lee cameoed in the February 4th episode of Agents of SHIELD (titled “T.R.A.C.K.S.”), and Jamie Alexander and Bill Paxton are soon to follow! Paxton will appear for a multi-episode arc as John Garrett, a former cohort of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Ward’s (Brett Dalton) commanding officer, starting on March 4th with “T.A.H.I.T.I.”. Jamie Alexander, on the other hand, will be reprising her Thor role as Lady Sif and will be going up against Lorelei (Elene Satine) in “Yes Men” on March 11th. (via Marvel)
And in even bigger Marvel TV news, after the success of the Agent Carter one-shot on the Iron Man 3 Blu Ray/DVD, Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) is getting her own series! Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas of Reaper will be heading up the show, and Captain America scribes Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely are at work on the pilot script. Right now, it’s looking like the show will hit the air in the 2014-2015 season on ABC. (via Nerdist)
Iron Man
Continuing with the Marvel One-Shot goodness, The Mandarin/Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) returns in “All Hail the King” on the Blu Ray/DVD/digital release of Thor: The Dark World. It’s pretty good, if you ask me – and that’s without giving any spoilers whatsoever.
Thor
In Thor news, a deleted scene of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in Captain America’s wardrobe (shield and all) made its way onto the web, and it is utterly amusing. (via Empire)
Also, Craig Kyle, a senior development and production VP at Marvel, is set to co-write Thor 3 with scribe Christopher Yost. No word yet on what it might tackle, but Ragnarok could be at the center of the film. (via Variety)
Captain America
On the heels of the Super Bowl trailer, there are four new character posters (and several stills) for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They certainly help set the tone for the film, and while I do like that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has her own poster, the Photoshopping is totally evident and outrageous. You can judge for yourself. (via SuperHeroHype)
Guardians of the Galaxy
There have been whisperings that there’s a trailer on the way for Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s second release of this year. It was classified/rated and timed by the Alberta Film Ratings Board a week ago, and just the other day, Yahoo Singapore’s Twitter feed let a trailer release date slip. And just a little earlier today, Marvel Thailand confirmed that the trailer will be online tomorrow. There has been no confirmation from director James Gunn and/or the lead Marvel accounts (Marvel Entertainment, etc.), but if you take the two early reveals (coupled with New York Toy Fair product reveals) into consideration, it’s looking more and more like we’ll have a trailer by week’s end at the latest. And we’ll have it for you here, of course. All those whisperings are getting stricken out because official news has broken, both by way of USA Today and James Gunn’s Twitter. The first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy will have its debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (11:35 PM Eastern) – but probably not right at the start of the show – and it will unspool in theaters starting this Friday, most likely in front of Pompeii. We brought you the three released promo stills that have been circling the web last night.
Ant-Man
As for Marvel’s next new film (post-Guardians and post-Avengers: Age of Ultron), Ant-Man has been bumped up to a July 17, 2015 release date. Edgar Wright also announced via his blog and Twitter that recent collaborators Bill Pope and Steven Price have signed on to the film with Pope as the cinematographer and Price as the score composer. Pope was previously the DP for Spider-Man 2 and 3, as well as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The World’s End. Price also worked in the music department on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and scored The World’s End.
X-Men & Spidey
As for non-Marvel Studios properties, X-Men: Days of Future Past is ramping up hype with 25 interlocking Empire Magazine covers, new stills, and individual cast photos.
.@SirPatStew is #ProfessorX, founder of the #XMen and gifted telepath. pic.twitter.com/l6wfq4wlcI
— X-Men Movies (@xmenmovies) February 16, 2014
And the other big non-Marvel property of the summer (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), it has been confirmed that BJ Novak (The Office) is playing Alistair Smythe, better known as the Spider Slayer. (via Marc Webb’s Twitter)
Avengers: Age of Ultron
And last but certainly not least, the big casting news coming out of Marvel Central is that Paul Bettany (a.k.a. the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S.) will don the cape of The Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which has already begun shooting in Johannesburg. Stills and video are already popping up on the web, so watch at your own caution, lest you be spoiled. Also, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch costume will be kept under wraps, and Thomas Kretschmann has joined the cast as Baron Von Strucker, a notable HYDRA villain. (via The Wrap)
And lastly, we’re going to cap things off with a trailer for an upcoming French documentary about Marvel and its roots, featuring interviews from Marvel notables and, among others, El Mayimbe of Latino Review.
If there’s anything you think we missed, let us know, and we’ll include it in the next edition! And what, out of all these Marvel projects, are you looking forward to the most?
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