Comic Strip: Revisiting That New 'Avengers 2' Trailer

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie/TV news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, ‘Fantastic Four’ finally plans to release a trailer, Tom Hardy ditches ‘Suicide Squad,’ and ‘Avengers 2’ reveals an action-packed new trailer.

Today in “Hell Freezing Over...”

Yes, the new ‘Fantastic Four’ movie exists. No, it’s not some wacky scheme invented entirely by 20th Century Fox to trick Marvel and let them keep the rights to the characters. However, we don’t blame anyone for thinking differently, especially since we haven’t seen a single still, official or otherwise, from this thing. Which opens in August. When you consider that we already have a trailer for movies as far off as ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ you have to wonder what Fox is hiding.

If the rumors circling the internet over the past few weeks are to be believed, the film is a disaster, undone by a director who found himself in over his head. However, until we hear more, consider most of those rumors...well, rumors. The simple fact of the matter is that we still know nothing for sure. For all we know, the movie is so unique (i.e., good) that Fox simply doesn’t know what to do with it. But that is some glass-half-full thinking. Feel free to look at this in any way you personally see fit.

Anyway, that brings us to the real news of the moment. Hell has frozen over and Fox has actually announced when the first trailer for ‘Fantastic Four’ will arrive. It’ll be attached to Fox’s own ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’ which opens on February 13, 2015. A portion of it will actually debut during the Super Bowl on February 1. Producer Simon Kinberg revealed the news, also adding that the film will have a few days of reshoots:

To confirm - Fantastic Four will be doing 3-4 days of additional photography with director Josh Trank and some key cast members. We are very excited about the film and can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been up to. And you will be able to do that very soon as I can confirm here that the teaser will be on Kingsman in theaters February 13.

Internet scuttlebutt suggests that the reshoots will add action to what is apparently a very character-driven film. But who knows? Certainly not most people.

And while we’re on the subject of Fox-produced superhero movies doing things we weren’t expecting, it looks like the upcoming ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ won’t find a way to squeeze Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in to the mix. Stewart himself broke the news:

I was learning quite a lot more about it last night. It is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters. And so I don’t think we’ll be making an appearance.

To be fair, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ did feel like a swan song, with the torch officially being handed off to the younger, rebooted cast. But you’d still think that they would have found some way, any way, to fit the older actors into the mix somehow because the ‘X-Men’ movies have a bad habit of playing it safe.

Wait ... maybe this is a good thing? It’s not like Fox to truly shake things up with this franchise, but it sure could use it. The previous film was fine, but this is one series that needs to evolve or die.

Tom Hardy Departs ‘Suicide Squad’

And like that, ‘Suicide Squad’ has lost one of the big names from its impressive ensemble cast. Tom Hardy, who was set to play the team’s leader, Rick Flagg, has departed the project. The official reason: filming on the western ‘The Revenant’ was going long and he had to find time to fulfill his contractual obligations to promote ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’ The unofficial reason: he read the most recent draft of the script and didn’t like it.

However, director David Ayer and Warner Bros. are already looking to fill that Bane-sized gap with an actor of similar caliber. Enter Jake Gyllenhaal, fresh off a career-best performance in ‘Nightcrawler.’ Although nothing has been confirmed yet, the casting makes sense. Gyllenhaal has worked with Ayer before on the police drama ‘End of Watch’ and he would slide right into the existing ensemble of movie stars, promising talent, and Jai Courtney. Not to mention the fact that Gyllenhaal has wanted to play a superhero movie role for years, having previously been in the running for both Spider-Man and Batman.

And now he could be playing Rick Flagg! Every kid’s dream role!

Your Weekly Marvel Studios News Dump

You probably already watched it (because this is a superhero movie news column and why would you be reading this if you haven’t?), but the new trailer for ‘Avengers 2’ arrived and it’s pretty much what you’d expect. Although not quite as well cut as the first trailer, this one teases a lot more action, including a few extra shots from that big Iron Man vs Hulk battle. However, a close watch will reveal that the trailer really doesn’t cover ground that is much different from the first version. If history repeats itself, this means Marvel is saving some surprising stuff for the actual release.

If you do want to delve into every single frame of this thing, we got you covered in still image and GIF form right over here. We know what you love, obsessive superhero fans. We love it, too.

We led this section with that trailer because it’s a quantifiable thing that we can see and hear. It exists. It’s real. However, the biggest Marvel news of the week sounds like something that could turn out to be the cruelest rumor of the year. You’ll want an entire bag of salt for this one, but the Big Rumor of the Moment is that Sony and Marvel Studios have reached a deal for Spider-Man to appear in ‘The Avengers: Infinity War.’

Granted, there is some basis for this. We know that the two studios have met and discussed sharing Spidey before and we know that plans to include him in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ fell through. However, with Sony’s Spider-Man situation looking increasingly desperate, they may have a hard time saying no to a Disney-sanctioned check with a lot of zeroes on it.

Then again, if this is true, it is literally years away from being a thing. Let’s concern ourselves with movies that are only a year away, like the next ‘Captain America’ movie. First up, directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow will once again team up with Steve Rogers in the film. Then the film’s screenwriters teased a direct connection between their movie and the ‘Agent Carter’ TV series. And finally, Anthony “The Falcon” Mackie hyped up the film by calling it ‘The Avengers 3.8’ And—

Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Why can’t we stop thinking about Spider-Man?

Updates on ‘Constantine’ and Trailers For Everything Else

Well, would you look at that? If that doesn’t bring a grin to your comic book-loving face, then what will? Bring on this Netflix/Marvel partnership business!

Meanwhile, over in the realm of traditional television, the folks in charge of ‘Constantine’ remain wary of the show’s future. It seems that the show does satisfying numbers after the fact (steaming, iTunes, etc), but the disappointing live numbers are a big problem. At this moment, we wouldn’t be heartbroken if the show was cancelled, but with the series coming back after a nice, long break, we’re willing to give it a second chance. ‘Constantine’ is not beyond saving, especially since it’s on the same network that has the nerve to air ‘Hannibal.’

Meanwhile, the far-worse and borderline unfixable ‘Gotham’ has ben renewed for a second season and here’s a new clip from the next episode to remind you that this whole thing is a mess:

But don’t worry: you can wash that ‘Gotham’ taste out of your mouth with the this new extended trailer for ‘The Flash,’ which still looks intentionally silly and fun and upbeat and charming and so on and so forth:

And there’s also this new ‘Arrow’ trailer, which just looks like more ‘Arrow’ (which isn’t a bad thing):