J.J. Abrams teases the power of The Force Awakens’ new superweapon. Michael Douglas can’t wait to be back for Ant-Man and The Wasp. Wonder Woman reveals its Steve Trevor in the first set picture. Plus, Mark Gatiss on following up his newest Doctor Who, and new pictures from iZombie and Supergirl. Spoilers Get!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
J.J. Abrams talks about the scope of Starkiller Base:
It is very much — and it’s acknowledged as such in the movie — apparently another Death Star. But what it’s capable of, how it works, and what the threat is, is far greater than what the Death Star could have done. Starkiller Base is another step forward, technologically speaking, in terms of power.
While Domhnall Gleeson discusses his new villain, First Order General Hux, and his relationship with the rest of the First Order:
He’s kind of opposite Kylo Ren. They have their own relationship, which is individual and unusual. One of them is strong in different ways than the other. They’re both vying for power.
Ant-Man And The Wasp
Michael Douglas is excited to be part of the sequel:
I just got a call recently — they want to negotiate for a sequel and I thought ‘That’s great!’ Hopefully, I won’t have to carry quite as much expositional dialogue as the first one but I had a wonderful time doing it. Just a great, great time. The cast was fantastic. Paul [Rudd], Evangeline [Lilly], Michael Peña — I’m sure he’ll be back. If they can scrape Corey Stoll off the wall, I’m sure they’ll want him too — he’s such a good villain. And Peyton Reed too. It was a lovely experience, so you know, I welcome it. I chuckle about being involved with a movie that already has a release date in 2018. Ya know, it’s hard to conceive of that, but it’s all good, all the way around, it’s all good.
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Thor: Ragnarok
Rumors that Marvel is looking to introduce their first major female movie villain has led to speculation that the third Thor movie will be the picture that does so. Allegedly, Amora the Enchantress (one of the most powerful Asgardian magic users around) and Hela, Queen of the Dead (Loki’s daughter in the comics) are being seen as potential characters to be shopped around as the movie’s prime villain. [Film School Rejects]
Doctor Strange
Scott Adkins has joined the film in an undisclosed role. [The Wrap]
Death Note
The manga adaptation has found its female lead: Margaret Qualley. Qualley’s role was not confirmed, but it’s likely some form of Misa Amane, a model from the manga that becomes infatuated with main character Light Yagami. [/Film]
Aquaman
David Leslie Johnson will pen the script. [THR]
Suicide Squad
Producer Charles Roven says the film is aimed at being rated PG-13:
The intention of the film is definitely to be PG-13… We really want to make these films tonally consistent so that, as I said because this is a shared universe, at least our current thinking—and again, we’re not dealing in absolutes because while this is business it’s also a creative endeavor, so you want to leave yourself open to changing your mind, doing something different, being inspired, that’s the whole process of filmmaking is you have to allow for inspiration as well as having a road map for what you’re gonna do. So our plan right now is to make all these films PG-13. In some cases, you know, right there on the edge of PG-13, but still PG-13.
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Wonder Woman
A since-deleted photo posted to social media by actor Saïd Taghmaoui gives us our first look at Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor—and confirms that presumably filming has begun already on the project. [Den of Geek]
The Witch
Here’s a new poster for Robert Egger’s new colonial-period horror story. [Film School Rejects]
Game of Thrones
Speaking to Pop Goes The News, Ian McShane has dropped a teaser for his mysterious role on the show
I’ll give you one hint. I am responsible for bringing somebody back that you think you’re never going to see again. I’ll leave it at that.
McShane also reveals that he will only appear in a single episode—but the comment about responsibility for someone’s return has led to fan speculation that McShane’s character will revive someone for the grave. Watchers on the Wall posits two potential options: Sandor Clegane, the Hound, who was recently rumored to be returning to the show
Doctor Who
Mark Gatiss says he’d like to write a direct follow up to this weekend’s episode, “Sleep No More”:
Steven’s asked me if I’d write a sequel to this one, which I find in a ‘yeti’ way very exciting. There’s a bit of a history of groupings. There’s two Mara stories in Peter Davison’s time. Two yeti stories. It would be nice to. I’d love to. I think the idea is good and the monsters are great so it would be quite nice. I suppose you’d have to do a Web Of Fear-type thing where you ask where else could they go?
But the Doctor loses in this episode. And that’s an unusual place to be. And so it also needs some closure.
The BBC have released a new picture from “Heaven Sent”, the penultimate episode of the season. [Blogtor Who]
The Flash
Grant Gustin teases a trip to Earth-2 for the main cast:
It sounds like we’re going to be making an Earth-2 trip in the future at some point this season. I don’t know which characters are going to be going. I’m pretty sure Barry will be one of them. I don’t know if we’re going to see his doppelganger when we go over there. I’d imagine we would.
In the same report, Jesse L. Martin also teased that Joe’s Earth-2 counterpart would appear, and allow the actor to stretch his musical muscles. [Entertainment Weekly]
Blindspot
Gaius Charleshas been cast in the 12th episode of the season as Charlie Napier, an Army officer who “has something mysterious in common with Jane”. [TV Line]
Arrow
Diggle’s heroic codename has been confirmed: it is indeed “Spartan”.
The synopses for the show’s two-part crossover with The Flash (and precursor to Legends of Tomorrow) have been revealed. The Flash side of the story, “Legends of Today”, can been found below:
In its second major crossover event with “Arrow,” Vandal Savage (guest star Casper Crump) arrives in Central City and sets his sights on Kendra Saunders (guest star Ciara Renée). After Vandal attacks Kendra and Cisco, they turn to Barry for help. Realizing how dangerous Vandal is, Barry takes Kendra to Star City and asks Oliver and team to hide her until he can figure out how to stop Vandal. However, things quickly go from bad to worse when a man with wings AKA Hawkman (guest star Falk Hentschel) shows up and flies off with Kendra. Meanwhile, Harrison develops a serum to make Barry run faster and asks Jay (guest star Teddy Sears) to test it out.
While the Arrow episode, “Legends of Yesterday”, is here:
Oliver and Barry Allen take Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall to a remote location to keep them hidden from Vandal Savage while they figure out how to defeat him. Malcolm arranges a meeting between Vandal, Green Arrow and The Flash that doesn’t go as planned. Meanwhile, Felicity, Thea, Diggle and Laurel work with Team Flash to come up with a weapon powerful enough to destroy Vandal Savage.
iZombie
A gallery of pictures from “The Hurt Stalker” has been released—find some more at the link. [Ksite TV]
Vampire Diaries
Here’s some pictures from “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”—find some more at the link. [Spoiler TV]
Supergirl
CBS have revealed a few more pictures of Red Tornado from “Red Faced”. [CBR]
Jessica Jones
Finally, there’s a few tiny snippets of footage strewn into the purple haze of this new promo for the show.
Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson and Charlie Jane Anders. Image: Game of Thrones.