ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie news items. From Marvel to D.C. and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic-book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, we have turmoil on ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ Peter Parker’s high school graduation photos, and exciting sequel news for fans of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Unbreakable.’

‘Man of Steel’

The full-court press for Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ is underway. The summer blockbuster held its official press junket in Los Angeles over the weekend, meaning the studio has actively begun screening the film in earnest to loose-lipped journalists with Twitter accounts. And while press members are under strict embargo not to speak about the film for now, I’d advise you to tread lightly on social media from now until the movie opens on June 14, because you just know spoilers are bound to start creeping up in places you don’t want to see them.

What you’d rather see, I’m sure, is footage, and this 13-minute behind-the-scenes featurette is the most thorough examination of Snyder’s film we’ve seen to date.

-- So far, everything we’re hearing from Hans Zimmer’s ‘Man of Steel’ score is helping us to forget, at least temporarily, John Williams’ iconic ‘Superman’ score.

This embed from WaterTowerMusic gives you 33 minutes of samples from Zimmer’s score. It’s majestic. There’s no other way to put it:

-- Equally cool? This fan-made minimalist poster for ‘Man of Steel,’ made by graphic designer Patric Connan:

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-- And even though ‘Man of Steel’ likely will be soaring past the $300 million mark by the time Comic-Con rolls around in July, that doesn’t mean Superman won’t have some presence in San Diego. Warner Bros. revealed that a short film developed by Snyder in celebration of the hero’s 75th anniversary likely will screen at Con. It will be one continuous shot, showing how Superman’s image has changed over the years. Maybe the clip will end with a promise of ‘Man of Steel 2?’ That kind of announcement would turn Hall H on its ear.

D.C.

A ‘Man of Steel’ sequel may or may not be next on D.C.’s docket. At the very least, we know that if Snyder’s movie does as well as expected at the box office, plans will immediately kick in on either a ‘Man of Steel 2,' a Batman-Superman team up, or a full-blown ‘Justice League’ movie.

Either way, it sounds like Zimmer is on board. While speaking with Superhero Hype, the ‘Man of Steel’ composer said he’s had conversation with Snyder about the next steps in the D.C. plan, revealing:

I just had a conversation recently with Zack where I was trying to look at my life in the future. He was going, 'Well, we want to go and do this and we want to go and [do this].' I was thinking, 'Oh my god. Here we go again.'

But where will they go? ‘Man of Steel’ might hint at future plans, just by talking about what isn’t in this movie. Snyder tells Superhero Hype:

Someone asked me, 'There's no Kryptonite and no Lex Luthor?' I said, 'Well, okay. Within the parameters of this story, there's no Kryptonite or Lex Luthor, but that's not to say that they don't exist in the world. That's an entirely different question.

He also revealed a tantalizing tease to SlashFilm about an Easter egg in ‘Man of Steel’ that hints to a larger connection within the D.C. universe.

Henry Cavill tells ComicBookMovie that there have been no “official” talks about either ‘Man of Steel 2’ or a 'Justice League' movie … yet.

There’s so much talk about it constantly. Everyone’s talking about if Justice League will happen. None of it has ever been official speak. It’s always been what if, and if we were to do, how would we do it? It’s always just been brainstorming and fun ideas as opposed to genuine thoughts. Certainly when it comes to me, because if there is genuine thought about it, it’s probably behind very locked doors.

Listen, D.C. has a long way to go before it catches up with Marvel’s current cinematic universe. But it’s at least sounding like building blocks are dropping into place for a future wave of D.C. adventures on the big screen.

Now, who should direct this Justice League movie? Vote in our poll, which currently is being led by Christopher Nolan. Obviously.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

Let’s switch gears and dive into Marvel news. Over the past few days, casting has heated up on James Gunn’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’

Oscar nominee Glenn Close has been added to the ensemble as the head police officer on the Nova Corps, an intergalactic space control. Her character’s being described as the ‘Guardians’ version of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.

But who are the ‘Guardians’ going to square off against? We reported over the weekend that scorching ‘Doctor Who’ red head Karen Gillan has been tapped to play one of the film’s villains, alongside the already cast Michael Rooker and Lee Pace.

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

Villains are top of mind when it comes to the Marvel movies. While ‘Guardians’ lines up its baddies, Cleveland.com shares the first images of the Winter Soldier in action, courtesy of the ongoing ‘Captain America’ shoot in the Ohio city.

Cleveland.com
Cleveland.com
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S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to need a lot of help to take down this new threat. Thankfully,there are new agents added to Robert Redford’s team (via Twitch):

‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Aunt May is going to be so proud! According to a photo posted on Marc Webb’s Twitter feed, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) will be graduating from Midtown Science High School in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.’

Marc Webb's Twitter
Marc Webb's Twitter
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From the looks of things, Gwen might actually be the class valedictorian. These two come from Superhero Hype, and show Parker arriving late for his big ceremony. Typical. He probably had to stop to apprehend a super-powered criminal.

Superhero Hype
Superhero Hype
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And look who was invited to the graduation ceremonies. Excelsior!

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-- Don’t worry. Parker won’t be hitting the books for the duration of the sequel. He has to contend with The Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Electro (Jamie Foxx) and, possibly, The Green Goblin (Chris Cooper). Which explains why Webb shared this high-flying photo on his always busy Twitter feed!

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And ComicBookMovie has photos of an original ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ cast member making an unexpected return for the sequel, but DON’T CLICK unless you don’t mind seeing some very spoilery material.

‘Kick-Ass 2’

We haven’t talked a whole heck of a lot about Jeff Wadlow’s ‘Kick-Ass 2,’ probably because it doesn’t open until August. There will be time to dissect the further adventures of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, but this international trailer, with new footage, has the movie back on our radar:

‘Thor: The Dark World’

We hinted at problems in the post-production on ‘Thor: The Dark World’ in last week’s Comic Strip. Sure enough, this week we can verify that composer Carter Burwell (‘True Grit’) has exited the Marvel project, citing “creative differences.”

Meanwhile, the warrior Sif (Jamie Alexander) joins Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on the battlefield in an official image Marvel sent over. They also sent hi-res shots of those Empire scans we had last week, so click here if you want good looks at Malekith and his Dark Elves.

Marvel
Marvel
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‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

Patrick Stewart talked to crowds at Comicpalooza this weekend, opening up about his role in Bryan Singer’s in-production sequel ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ You can listen to the actor below discuss what he’s calling “the ‘X-Men' movie of all 'X-Men' movies.” He also address the pesky fact that he died in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand,’ promising that there will be some explanation as to how and why he’s back in this new movie. Give him a listen:

Meanwhile, rumors continued to swirl regarding Peter Dinklage’s identity in the sequel. New photos shared over the weekend suggest that he is playing Bolivar Trask, the creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinels.

Need more confirmation. Look no further than the Trask Industries logo, Tweeted by Singer over the weekend:

Bryan Singer's Twitter
Bryan Singer's Twitter
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‘Unbreakable 2’

OK, so this isn’t exactly a comic book property, but M. Night Shyamalan did deliver one of the most satisfying superhero origin stories with ‘Unbreakable,’ so news that he’s still circling a sequel catches our eye.

The director sat down with MTV and went to far as to say the sequel was on his “agenda.”

The sequel came up again in a conversation with The Huffington Post, where we learned that Shyamalan has been talking with Samuel L. Jackson – Mr. Glass – over Twitter about it.

“It’s getting closer,” Shyamalan says.

Perhaps even closer still, now that his latest, ‘After Earth,’ tanked at the box office. Nothing helps get a flailing director (or star) back on his or her feet quicker than a sequel to a hit, and for Shyamalan, ‘Unbreakable 2’ could be just what the doctor ordered.

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