David F. Sandberg talks Shazam. We’ve got another mysterious tease from the set of the Han Solo movie. Paul Bettany discusses the Vision’s future. Plus, even more set pictures from Aquaman, and another new look at Jessica Jones’ big returning character. Spoilers now!
Shazam
David F. Sandberg spoke to Film Riot about the earlier drafts of Shazam featuring Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam.
There’ve been variations of the script, like before I came along, where…you know, variations where Black Adam was in and out and, you know. But now, this is about Shazam.
Sandberg went on to state he’s “taking it all in” while honing his take on the character—including the original Fawcett stories from the ‘40s.
I’m taking it all in. Some of those really old ones are quite fun, when he’s, like, fighting Hitler. Stuff like that. No, ’cause he’s been around since the ’40s for, like, as long as Superman. So there’s a lot to read and that’s also interesting because he sort of has a couple of different origin stories or a couple of different takes on it. You know, you have the most recent sort of Geoff Johns version and then you have Ordwell version and then you have those really old versions.
Han Solo
Ron Howard’s shared this image of a Imperial Navy Trooper’s helmet on Twitter, hinting at an Imperial presence in the film. Promptly the internet decided that this must be a tease for an appearance by the Death Star, as these helmets were famously worn by officers on the battlestation in Rogue One and A New Hope. But it should be noted that it’s a helmet for Imperial Navy personnel, not explicitly just people on the Death Star.
Aquaman
The Atlantean armor resurfaces in another pair of set photos, as well as the defenestration of Jason Momoa’s stunt double.
We also have this figurine of Willem Defoe’s character, Vulko, who is wearing similar armor to what we’ve seen Arthur wearing in Justice League.
Avengers 4
Paul Bettany revealed Vision appears in the fourth Avengers movie, indicating the android should at least make it out of Infinity War relatively unscathed, despite the fact one of the Infinity stones is embedded in his forehead:
It felt like the biggest movie that I’ve ever made and will ever make, and we’ve still got to make the [next] one. It’s f***ing crazy! I would come in, often at dawn because of the length of my make-up, and there would just be all of these twinkling lights. It looked like a town, but it wasn’t. It was where all of the trailers were. It was just massive. It’s massive! The call sheets are bananas. When you see the list of cast members, you’re like, “How is anybody else making a film in Hollywood, this year? How are they getting films financed? Everybody is in this!
[Collider]
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Eggsy is asked about his work with Kingsman during a fancy dinner party in the latest TV spot.
Stasis
Here’s a clip from an upcoming scifi drama from Nicole Jones-Dion about time-traveling body snatchers.
Deadpool 2
Deadpool 2 has resumed filming following the tragic death of stunt performer Joi “SJ” Harris. [Deadline]
Doctor Who
The Radio Times reports that Jenna Coleman has been asked by the BBC to make an appearance in the upcoming Christmas special, reprising her role as Clara for one last time in Peter Capaldi’s tenure on the show.
Presumably the cameo would be brief—such as Billie Piper and Karen Gillan’s were for David Tennant and Matt Smith’s swan songs, respectively—and it’s not a full confirmation Coleman will appear. But given Who’s tradition of bringing back famous companions for a Doctor’s exit, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
The Birds
Digital Spy reports the BBC is adapting Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic horror film The Birds into a TV miniseries, set in Cornwall instead of California.
The 100
Lola Flanery will take over from Imogen Tear as Madi in season five.
The Flash
The Flash references Eugene O’Neill in the title of episode four, “Elongated Journey Into Night,” which we can safely presume introduces DC hero Ralph “The Elongated Man” Dibney. [Spoiler TV]
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Cort Lane revealed the animated show won’t have a “villain of the week” format:
We don’t have a villain of the week kind of format. The stories interweave and villains come in and out and it moves quickly. But, at the same time, there’s always a very grounded Peter Parker personal story in every episode. That’s the story of the week. What does Peter learn, or how does he grow? So all the stuff around him can move as fast as we want it to as long as that Peter story is grounded.
No villains are off limits, but we do want to parse them out in a smart way and hold some back for later seasons, because we want there to be fresh stories to tell. It’s always a Peter story, and the villains service that story. A lot of villains come back frequently. It’s rare that we have a story with one villain because life is more complicated than that. And what’s really going on with the villains is not so straightforward.
Ash vs The Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell discussed his new, lighter chainsaw prosthesis with CinemaBlend:
I do push them for engineering progress. The chainsaws have gotten lighter. We have an 18-volt chainsaw now that was much lighter. They’re using like carbon fiber and stuff. They’ve done good. The grips inside have improved so you can hold on without cutting your hand. They’ve done a very good job at improving what is a clunky thing. This 18-volt one, I can power the blade myself, so we don’t have to use cables, which is a technological leap.
The Defenders
Speaking with Den of Geek, Charlie Cox discussed how Daredevil and Iron Fist convince Luke and Jessica The Hand exists:
Now Danny and Matt have seen it. They’ve experienced it, and as hard as it is to explain, we know it exists because we’ve been there. Jessica and Luke don’t have that. Initially at least, the role for Matt and Danny is quite similar. They’re the ones that have to bring the other two up-to-date and explain how serious this situation is and how you can’t just walk away from it and how dangerous these people are and what they’re capable of, blah blah blah. So that was kind of our role.
Likewise, a series of motion posters highlighting the negative qualities of each member of the team have been posted to Twitter.
Jessica Jones
Finally, more season two set pics of Kilgrave haunting Jessica and Malcolm have crawled from the woodwork and onto Twitter. They definitely make it seem like Kilgrave’s return is something that’s in Jessica’s psyche rather than a physical return after his neck-snapping exit in the first season.
Banner art by Jim Cooke.