As the world continues to recuperate from the events of Captain America: Civil War—they're going to be rebuilding that airport for ages, let's be real—it's time to turn our attention to the superhero fights of the future. Who will the Black Panther scuffle with in 2018? Where will the X-Men fight next? And who isn't allowed to menace Iron Man? All the answers lie ahead in this week's roundup of superhero movie news.
Things are beginning to heat up in Wakanda, with both Lupita Nyong'o and Michael B. Jordan in talks to appear in director Ryan Coogler's Black Panther alongside Chadwick Boseman. Jordan is reportedly playing the villain and Nyong'o is in line to play the hero's love interest—but both are still in negotiations, so things could fall through.
Why this is super: There is no downside to either Jordan or Nyong'o joining the cast of the project, although let's hope that Nyong'o has a meatier role than playing the Black Panther's girlfriend. Come on, Coogler. We know you can do it.
How confident is Warner Bros. about the potential success of Suicide Squad? Confident enough to start developing a spin-off movie that will put Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn in the middle of a storyline featuring other female heroes and villains from the DC Universe. Details are sketchy, but apparently Robbie is the prime mover behind the project, and brought in the film's mystery (female) screenwriter herself.
Why this is super: Quinn has certainly proven to be a major player in DC's comic book line in recent years, and Robbie is an extremely charismatic actress, so the combination of the two is likely to be cinematic dynamite. This is also very interesting when looked at in comparison to the current plans of Marvel Studios. If the Harley spin-off is fast-tracked, it's possible that Warners will have two female-led superhero movies in theaters before Marvel finally releases its first. Oh, and speaking of Marvel and women...
Turns out, everyone who was paranoid about Marvel's New York (i.e. publishing and toy divisions) operation interfering with Marvel Studios output had reason to be. In a conversation with Uproxx, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black revealed that Marvel East prevented him from using his original plan for the movie's Mandarin reveal. "There was an early draft of Iron Man 3 where we had an inkling of a problem," Black remembered. "Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female... New York called and said, 'That’s money out of our bank.' In the earlier draft, the woman was essentially [the final movie's villain] Killian—and they didn’t want a female Killian, they wanted a male Killian. I liked the idea, like Remington Steele, you think it’s the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show. They just said, 'No way.'"
Why this is villainy: Well, why this is particularly crappy needs no explanation. But there's another question to be asked here: If the original villain was nixed because she wasn't toy-sale-friendly, does that mean there were lots and lots of Aldrich Killian toys that we don't remember? Because we genuinely don't recall seeing any toys based on Guy Pearce's character.
Recently, X-Men: Apocalypse director (and franchise executive producer) Bryan Singer has dropped a couple of unexpected hints about the future direction of the series after this month's installment. For example, he told Fandango the next movie will take place in the 1990s, and might take place somewhere out of this world. Literally. "Another thing that’s been introduced in the comics is a big alien, interstellar tenant within the X-Men universe that hasn’t been explored [in the movies]," he said. "And to me, that might be kind of fun because I’m a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan, and exploring the X-Men universe and being able to utilize that would be exciting, visually."
Why this is super: If this means that the people on X-Men Earth will finally get a break from an apocalyptic event every decade, that can only be seen as a good thing from their point of view, at least. (Also, if it means we get to see the Shi'ar on the big screen, consider us fans.) Elsewhere, details about the post-credits scene for Apocalypse have started to leak online...
Wondering what to expect from next year's Wonder Woman movie? You're in luck! The Amazon Princess herself, Gal Gadot, dropped some hints in a recent interview. "We are going to tell the entire coming of age story of Diana," Gadot told SciFi Now. "We're going to see how she becomes Wonder Woman. She is very different to the Diana that you see in [Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]. She is more naïve and she’s purer. She is a young idealist who does not yet understand the complexities of life." In her solo movie, Gadot teased, "Diana is so passionate about life and she is so passionate about love and truth and justice—and she is very inspiring, even to me."
Why this is super: Wait, an inspirational, positive, pure superhero... in a Warner Bros. DC movie? But the Internet said such things don't exist! (Oh, no, wait; that's Marvel's solo women movies. Our bad.)
