Tag: DC Comics

Posted on in Film News

Margot Robbie Still Pestering Warner Bros. About Tackling Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy Relationship In DCEU

Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has three feature films and the actress is still pining for Warner Bros. to move forward with Harley and Poison Ivy’s relationship as seen in the cartoons and comic books. The pair of female rogues have been longtime favorites and were first paired-up in the Batman animated series from the 1990s.

While speaking with Den of Geek, Margot says she is still pestering the studio about it but it’s unknown if we’ll see more Harley Quinn after The Suicide Squad.

ROBBIE: “Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time. They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like, ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it.’ I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen. It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.”

This isn’t the first time Robbie has been chatting up the idea of seeing Ivy and Harley together on the big screen. She said the following during a chat with Pride Source.

ROBBIE: “If you read the comics you know that Poison Ivy and Harley have an intimate relationship. In some comics they convey it as a friendship; in other comics you can see that they’re actually sexually involved as a couple. I’ve been trying to—I would love to have Poison Ivy thrown into the universe, because the Harley and Poison Ivy relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the comics, so I’m looking to explore that on screen.”

Originally, there were plans for a Gotham City Sirens film that would have brought Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn together before the studio pivoted to make Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey instead pairing her with heroines Huntress and Black Canary.

The Suicide Squad is set for release on August 6, 2021.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD – Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The film stars Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey,” “Bombshell”), Idris Elba (“Avengers: Infinity War”), John Cena (upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker,” “Bumblebee”), Joel Kinnaman (“Suicide Squad”), Jai Courtney (the “Divergent” franchise), Peter Capaldi (“World War Z,” BBC’s “Doctor Who” ), David Dastmalchian (upcoming “Dune,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Daniela Melchior (“Parque Mayer”), Michael Rooker (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films), Alice Braga (“Elysium”), Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island,” TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), Joaquín Cosio (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” TV’s “Narcos: Mexico”), Juan Diego Botto (“The Europeans”), Storm Reid (“The Invisible Man,” “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Euphoria”), Nathan Fillion (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” TV’s “The Rookie”), Steve Agee (“Brightburn,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”), Sean Gunn (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the “Avengers” films), Mayling Ng (“Wonder Woman”), Flula Borg (“Ralph Breaks the Internet”), Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn,” upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker”) and Tinashe Kajese (TV’s “Valor,” “The Inspectors”), with Sylvester Stallone (the “Rocky,” “Rambo” and “Expendables” franchises), and Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Suicide Squad”).

SOURCE: DEN OF GEEK

Posted on in Film News

Zack Snyder Reveals Brainiac & Faora Could Have Appeared In ‘Man of Steel’ Sequel

Zack Snyder’s next feature film Army of The Dead is getting some early buzz ahead of it’s theaterical and Netflix debut this month. The filmmaker is making the press rounds to promote the action-horror film and spoke with Bro Bible’s Post-Credit Podcast revealing some ideas about villains that could have been used for a direct Man of Steel sequel, something we never really got as the studio seemed hellbent on rushing the DCEU to get to Justice League instead of flushing out the heroes in multiple solo films first.

Snyder reveals they were indeed musing about using Brainiac, a villain long rumored to make his debut on the big screen but never came together. He also mentioned the possibility of bringing back Antje Traue’s Faora from the original film, who he previous suggested survived the ordeal and is currently in the Phantom Zone.

SNYDER: “We talked about a Brainiac movie. But I do think that the Kryptonians that are in the Phantom Zone are probably still around. And there was always a possibility for their return. Faora and whoever’s left. That was a thing that was always out there that we talked about as a possible sequel. I just think it’s best to give Superman these extaterrestrial challenges because I think you’ve got to be careful with — other than Lex Luthor, because, of course, you have to continue with Lex, because Lex is his real nemesis — but I think you really have to look outside of the Earth for challenges for him because of how powerful he is.”

It seems like WarnerMedia has closed the door for future Snyder installments alongside the Snyderverse, but, hopefully, if they do ultimately bring back Henry Cavill’s Superman they’d at least consider using the two villains.

At the moment, Warner Bros. is busy trying to find a director for their new Superman film that will see a black actor portray the next incarnation of the Kryptonian hero alongside Sasha Calle hired to play Supergirl in The Flash movie.

SOURCE: BRO BIBLE

Posted on in Film News

Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Reboot & WB’s Next ‘Superman’ Movie Courting The Same Directors

Disney and Warner Bros. are reportedly courting the same black filmmakers for their upcoming superhero projects as mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter. As both Blade and the next Superman film produced by J.J. Abrams are expected to be shot by experienced black directors. An exciting era of inclusion given the budgets expected for the two comic book movies.

Apparently, screenwriter Ta-Nehisi Coates’ black Superman project is expected to have a non-contemporary setting, which sounds similar to the studio’s original plans for Supergirl (1980s). However, it’s unclear when in the 1900s they’ll be aiming for. Instead, Supergirl will appear in The Flash movie (filming in the United Kingdom) played by actress Sasha Calle ushering her directly into the DCEU but the Superman movie doesn’t seem to be joining that corner of the cinematic universe.

The Superman film appears to be moving onto its own track and won’t be part of the universe, as of now. Sources tell THR that Coates is crafting a Kal-El in the vein of the original Superman comics and will have the protagonist hail from Krypton and come to Earth. While the story is currently being crafted and many details could change, one option under consideration is for the film to be a 20th century period piece.

THR is claiming that there is a group candidates that have been looked for both movies.

The names mentioned in the report are Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II), J.D. Dillard (Sleight, Sweetheart), Regina King (One Night In Miami, and Shaka King (Judas & The Black Messiah). It’s certainly an excellent group of contenders but it’s unclear if these names are simply suggestions by the outlet or actually in the running.

The former list can include Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr., J.D. Dillard, Regina King — who got raves for her drama One Night in Miami — and Shaka King, who is popular at Warners thanks to best picture Oscar nominee Judas and the Black Messiah. Some potential directors have met with both studios for both films, even as one agent said the process was “phenomenally early.” 

You might remember that Steven is currently busy with Paramount’s latest Transformers movie about to shoot over in Montreal and Dillard had been previously tasked to co-write a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm.

They also mentioned that Blade’s shoot was bumped from September 2021 to July 2022, giving folks over a full year to complete any outstanding projects before jumping to the MCU. Coates is said not to be delivering his script until mid-December suggesting both projects won’t be shooting until 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

‘Green Lantern’: Finn Wittrock Cast As Guy Gardner In HBO Max Series

HBO Max is working on a live-action Green Lantern series and Deadline reports that Finn Wittrock has landed the role of Guy Gardner. Finn is best known from American Horror Story and the prequel series Ratchet.

Written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Seth Grahame-Smith, Green Lantern reinvents the classic DC property through a story spanning decades and galaxies, beginning on Earth in 1941 with the very first Green Lantern, secretly gay FBI agent Alan Scott, and 1984, with cocky alpha male Guy Gardner (Wittrock) and half-alien Bree Jarta. They’ll be joined by a multitude of other Lanterns — from comic book favorites to never-before-seen heroes.

While their is effort being pushed towards a series, there is talk that Warner Bros. is still developing a Green Lantern Corps. movie.

Other characters that are expected to be cast in this HBO Max series include Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott, Sinestro, and Kilowog.

Past incarnations of Green Lantern saw Ryan Reynolds play Hal Jordan in the unsuccessful feature film that he continues to make fun of and director Zack Snyder tried to cast actor Wayne T. Carr in the role of John Stewart for Justice League.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Dave Bautista Reveals He Had Meeting About Playing DC Comics Villain Bane

Could we end up seeing Guardians of The Galaxy actor Dave Bautista join the cast of a DC Comics film in the future? According to Dave, he’s been actively trying to get his foot in the door recently.

While speaking during Justice Con (via Screen Rant), the wrestler turned actor revealed he had met with Warner Bros./DC about playing Batman villain Bane, but the studio apparently was shocked about his request as they weren’t even actively casting the role. It remains to be seen if he’ll ultimately play the character but you can’t get the impression he was passionate about trying to land it.

BAUTISTA: “Oh, it would be Bane all day long. I’ve made no secret about this. I want to play Bane so bad I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, ‘I want to play Bane.’ I’m not kidding. They were a little like ‘Woah, we’re not even casting Bane.’ I was like ‘I don’t care, I’m playing him.'”

Bane is traditionally a Batman villain and we don’t really know the next time we’ll see him on the big screen as Matt Reeves is currently overseeing the new Batman trilogy starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and it’s unclear if he plans to introduce Bane anytime soon. Something like the Suicide Squad franchise might be a project where Bane could have popped-up without the need to have him interacting with Batman.

The most notable version of Bane was Tom Hardy’s incarnation featured as the League of Shadows leader in The Dark Knight Rises directed by Christopher Nolan.

Dave Bautista’s next big project will be Zack Snyder’s Army of The Dead which will be released on May 14, 2021, and is still expected to return for James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy 3.

ARMY OF THE DEAD – After a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries takes the ultimate gamble by venturing into the quarantine zone for the greatest heist ever.

SOURCE: JUSTICE CON

Posted on in Film News

Lucy Liu To Play Villain Kalypso In ‘Shazam! Fury of The Gods’

As Warner Bros. has already started filming Black Adam over the weekend, there is another big DC Comics franchise casting announcement for their Shazam! sequel. Actress Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill) has landed the role of Kalypso in Shazam! Fury of The Gods, according to Deadline.

From an action standpoint, Lucy is likely best known to audiences from her roles in the Charlie’s Angels films, Shanghai Noon, and playing the iconic villain O-Ren Ishii in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Other credits include Chicago, Payback, Elementary, Domino, and voicing Viper in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda franchise. She also has as second career as a television director working on various projects including Netflix’s Luke Cage.

Liu joins a cast that also includes Helen Mirren as Hespera, Rachel Zegler as Hespera’s sister, Zachary Levi as Shazam, and Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield, Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez, Meagan Good, Michelle Borth, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, and Adam Brody.

Billy and his foster siblings are endowed with superpowers.

Shazam! Fury of The Gods directed by David F. Sandberg will be released on June 2, 2023.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Dwayne Johnson Announces ‘Black Adam’ Has Officially Started Production

Dwayne Johnson might be one of the few actors that has dedicate their careers trying to secure their dream comic book role, and for Johnson that has been Black Adam. His attempts to land the DC Comics role goes back to 2007 and this weekend things have finally come to fruition.

Yesterday, it was announced on Johnson’s Instagram account that they have finally started filming on Black Adam in Atlanta and posted a picture of the clapperboard from the set. I’m sure this shoot is going to become a career highlight for Dwayne, because he’s wanted this project/role so badly and it’s actually happening.

Joining Johnson on the superhero project directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise) includes Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall aka Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan as Kent Nelson aka Dr. Fate, Noah Centineo as Al Rothstein aka Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkell aka Cyclone, Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz aka Isis, Bodhi Sabongui, James Cusati-Moyer, and Marwan Kenzari expected to play the film’s villain.

The New Line Cinema project is going to be releasing head-to-head with Indiana Jones 5 on July 29, 2022 as Lucasfilm announced they would be sticking to the summer date even after Warner Bros. placed Black Adam in the same spot. We imagine one of them is going to eventually find a new date down the road.

Warner Bros. seems to be moving on with their DC franchise post-Zack Snyder and a project like Black Adam will allow them to introduce a multitude of new characters in a single installment with The Justice Society playing a role in the film. They should be an interesting addition to the DCEU alongside the Shazam! family.

SOURCE: DWAYNE JOHNSON

Posted on in Film News

Warner Bros. Reportedly Still Pursuing ‘Green Lantern Corps.’ & ‘Supergirl’ Movies

It’s been a while since we’ve had any real concrete updates on multiple DC Comics films in development at Warner Bros. and it was revealed yesterday that the studio’s plans still include Green Lantern Corps. and Supergirl movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Other projects on the slate due out in 2022-23 include Warners’ and New Line’s Black Adam (July 29, 2022) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (June 2, 2023), as well as Warners’ Blue Beetle, Batgirl, Supergirl, Green Lantern Corps and Static Shock.

We really shouldn’t be too shocked that a new Supergirl movie is still being considered. The solo project has had screenwriter Oren Uziel working on a script and the studio has cast actress Sasha Calle as the character for their upcoming Flash movie that will introduce DC’s multiverse. All they’re missing is a director and a release date at this point.

However, there hasn’t been much movement on a Green Lantern Corps. film since the announcement of a live-action Green Lantern series heading to HBO Max. Geoff Johns, David Goyer, and Justin Rhodes had been previously tasked to write. A series could do heavy lifting to introduce a heap of Lanterns before a feature film and we’ve seen with Peacemaker and Gotham PD that the studio is open to linking the films to the HBO Max shows. It’s been established that the Green Lantern series will feature Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Alan Scott, Sinestro, and Kilowog.

Other films in the works include a Zatanna movie written by Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell and a Superman reboot from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, both will be produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘New Gods’ & ‘Trench’ Movies Given The Ax By Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. and DC Films have been developing a heap of feature films based on DC Comics characters along with a few spinoffs of existing projects set within the DCEU. There was a time when announcing projects felt like they’d never follow through with the volume of press releases.

Yesterday, it made huge waves when The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros. won’t be moving with Ava DuVernay’s New Gods movie she was writing with comic book writer Tom King, featuring the cosmic characters created by Jack Kirby. Some appeared in the Justice League (Granny Goodness & Darkseid) and were expected to play a bigger role in Zack Snyder’s never-made sequels.

It’s not the only project getting the boot.

Aquaman’s James Wan was working to develop a horror spinoff from his Aquaman film with Trench, a horror flick that was penned by Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald. Wan and Peter Safran (Black Adam, Shazam!) were producers on the project that was expected to have a much smaller budget than it’s superhero counterparts. It’s also not moving forward as well.

Wan is about to shoot Aquaman 2 and produced the Mortal Kombat reboot set to be released later this month. Ava is also working on a CW series Naomi and a DMZ series for HBO Max. So their working relationships with WarnerMedia don’t seem to be tarnished over this decision.

This what the studio had to say in a statement suggesting they might consider circling back in the future.

“As part of our DC slate, some legacy development titles including New Gods and The Trench will not be moving forward. We thank our partners Ava DuVernay, Tom King, James Wan and Peter Safran for their time and collaboration during this process and look forward to our continued partnership with them on other DC stories. The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future.”

Ava posted on Twitter her reaction to the news praising co-writer Tom King.

This news comes after WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff revealed to Variety last month they weren’t interested in restoring the Snyderverse and hoped to continue moving forward with new projects instead.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if the studio started announcing other things they won’t be making, officially. Projects like Steven Spielberg’s WWII flick Blackhawk I suspect will go the way of Sgt. Rock, Joker & Harley Quinn, Lobo, and the purposed Cyborg movie.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Adds ‘Eastbound & Down’ Director Jody Hill

The Ronin has learned that director Jody Hill will be working on the HBO Max original series Peacemaker starring John Cena as the titular DC Comics character. The show is a direct spinoff of James Gunn’s upcoming Suicide Squad sequel.

As the original press release from WarnerMedia states, Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker but won’t be directing all them leading to the hiring of Jody Hill.

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first.

Hill is best known for his collaborations with comedian Danny McBride. His credits include Eastbound & Down, Observe & Report, The Foot Fist Way, Vice Principles, The Legacy of A Deer Hunter, and The Righteous Gems.

UPDATE: James Gunn has now confirmed our original reporting via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1413947006423293958

Judging by their previous work it’s hard to ignore that Jody and James share a similar sense of humor. I guess we’ll have to keep our fingers-crossed that Danny McBride appears on the show and Jody ends up pitching his own DC Comics series or film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Om5C_Sd_RQ

Production on Peacemaker is already underway in Vancouver.

It’s cast also consists of Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang as Sophie Song, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Nhut Le as Judomaster, Steve Agee as John Economos, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase aka Vigilante.

The Suicide Squad is coming to HBO Max and theaters on August 6, 2021.

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.