Time for this months'...
MONTHLY MARVEL MUSINGS
This month it's been relatively quiet on the Marvel movie
news front, although there have been some interesting casting announcements,
which I'll discuss below. As well as
that, even though it's a DC property, I'll discuss what the implications of
that Suicide Squad movie (what a cast!) are going to have for Sony's planned
Sinister Six movie...
Some Casting News Round-Ups
Although it wasn't made official at the Marvel Event in October, it was pretty well known that Benedict Cumberbatch was in talks for the
role of Doctor Strange - following on from other contenders including Joaquin Phoenix, Ewan McGregor, Jared Leto, and Ethan Hawk.
Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has said that Cumberbatch has the "depth and sincerity" to play the 'Sorceror Supreme', so it seems
this film has a pretty solid lead locked in now. With the announcement of some Avengers: Age
of Ultron reshoots in the new year, there's speculation we might see Doctor
Strange briefly in that film, but we'll definitely see him in July 2016. I know one thing - if they ever get Strange
and Loki in the same MCU movie, on screen together, then a few ladies I know
might explode with excitement..!
As well as this, then next X-Men movie has found its
titular villain, Apocalypse, in an actor who has seen a growing amount of
acclaim heaped on him in the last year: Oscar Isaac. After getting praise for his work in the
Coen's most recent 'Inside Llewelyn Davis', and the forthcoming 'A Most Violent
Year', he'll also be seen in the next Star Wars film (you can spot him in the Trailer piloting an X-Wing). It shows
the strength of what Fox has done with this franchise that they can cast a an
actor based on their qualities and skills as an actor, and no one complains
about their physical resemblance to the character - something that isn't as
much of an issue in some cases, but still rears its ugly head (see some of the
recent commentary on some of the DC characters casting). But this casting signals they want someone to
bring a nuanced portrayal of this villain to this movie, which is befitting
with the recent quality of this franchise.
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| Spidey's not the dad, by the way - that's (yet to be cast) Luke Cage... |
Another piece of casting that will affect the MCU, but
might not have garnered as many headlines, is the choice of Kristen Ritter for the role of Jessica Jones for Netflix's series that will link with Daredevil
(currently in production), Luke Cage & Iron Fist (both of whom have yet to
be cast) for an event series called 'The Defenders'. Ritter is probably best known for a role in
Breaking Bad, and the comedy 'Don't Trust the B*tch in Apartment 23'. She's an interesting choice, as she's a physically diminutive actress but this isn't your typical 'Superhero' role; rather Jones is someone who gave up on using her powers after personal tragedies, and is haunted by PTSD; instead she became a private detective. Judging by her previous work she should be able to pull off the 'emotionally scarred woman with troubled past' angle without a problem. This character is a relatively new Marvel
creation, launching in the early 2000's, but she's had ties to Luke Cage and
The Avengers. But with this Netflix
series there's the potential we'll see all of these characters on the big
screen in the future - as the Infinity War story in the comics featured just
about every Marvel character, a lot of fans are hoping to see the Defenders in
the two-part Avengers Phase 3 finale.
Time will tell, but it just goes to show that it's an exciting time for
Marvel comics fans.
Well, perhaps with ONE exception...
Have DC beaten Sony to the punch with Suicide Squad,
their Villain Team-up Movie?
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| ...what a cast!!! (Pic from JoBlo) |
This time last year Sony were so confident of success
with their Amazing Spiderman franchise that they were announcing plans for a
number of spin-off movies, including one based on a team of super-villains
formed to take on Spidey - the Sinister Six.
Apparently the plan was to have them brought together not to fight the
web-slinger, but on a mission to 'redeem' themselves.
But then The Amazing Spiderman dropped to lower than
expected (but not underwhelming) Box Office, and a pretty negative fan reaction
(yup, that would have included me). As a
result, The Amazing Spiderman 3 was moved back, and everything sort of went
quiet on the spin-off front - even though Sony are still saying they will make
their Sinister Six movie. Well,
following the casting announcement for Warner Bros' DC adaptation Suicide Squad last week, it'll be interesting to see what Sony will do now - because
they've effectively been beaten by a movie that has got the same premise
(super-villains given the chance of redemption by doing some covert, government
ordered missions), and has already announced shooting and release dates. Not only that, but Warners arguably don't
have the connective tissue in place that Sony have for their Sinister Six -
should they choose to include them in the line-up, they've already established The Lizard,
Electro and Green Goblin.
Warners on the other hand have not only got a new take on
The Joker (Jared Leto is a brave, brave man for agreeing to follow Heath Ledger
in that role) to establish without the easier option of introducing him in an
actual Batman film, but they've got four characters that have virtually no
recognition outside of comic-fan circles.
And the only pre-established connection is Man of Steel, a film that
only hinted at a wider DC cinematic universe.
Despite this, Warners have beaten Sony at the first hurdle - and helped
by a surprising (and surprisingly good!) cast, and a Director straight off the back of an acclaimed and modestly successful WW2 drama, they've already
generated a tremendous amount of interest and maybe even anticipation for a
fairly obscure title.
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| This could be the first time the Sinister Six have been defeated by non-Marvel characters..! |
So where does this leave Sony with Sinister Six? It's all been quiet from them. But they've got an even greater mountain to
climb if they want to go ahead with their Sinister Six movie - not only have
they got to justify it in the face of a backlash over their treatment of the
Spiderman franchise in general, but they'll be doing it amidst feeling that
Warners have done this type of film first.
And this is all a shame, as Spiderman is truly one of the
flagship Superhero characters, and his films should be able to stand shoulder
to shoulder, quality wise, with the X-Men and Avengers movies (even if they're
not in a shared universe with them).
Perhaps instead of trying to force a shared universe franchise a la Marvel
Studios, Sony should cancel Sinister Six and the other spin-offs, and just
concentrate on getting the main character's films right. The future of the Spiderman franchise seems to be even more up in the air, following leaked e-mails between Sony and Marvel that confirm rumours that the two Studios were discussing sharing the rights (it didn't work out, sadly). The only thing that's clear at the moment is Sony have quite a job on their hands to restore Spiderman back to the status he previously had...
That's it for Marvel stuff this month - there'll be more in the New Year!
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