Comic Strip: Wonder Woman Casting, the ‘X-Men’ Apocalypse, and ‘Spider-Man’ Trailer Secrets

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie 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, Warner Bros. announces who will play Wonder Woman in the upcoming 'Batman vs. Superman' film, Bryan Singer reveals the 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' sequel, and the 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' trailer unleashes loads of secrets.

Wonder Woman

It's long been rumored that Wonder Woman (aka Diana Prince) would be making an appearance in the 'Man of Steel' follow-up, unofficially titled 'Batman vs. Superman,' with Gal Gadot, Olga Kurylenko and Elodie Yung up for the part. Well, not only did Warner Bros. officially confirm that the Grecian strong woman would make her first feature-film appearance, Gadot of 'Fast Five' and 'Fast and Furious 6' fame landed the part.

Of course, the fan nation had a thing or two to say about it, with most declaring the slender Israeli actress needs to get ripped. As for Amy Adams, who's set to reprise her role of Lois Lane in 'Batman vs. Superman,' she thinks the casting is "awesome" and hopes there won't be a stereotypical love triangle involving the two women and the Man of Steel. Speaking with Super Hero Hype:

I hope that I can be involved with a woman on screen where we’re not in a love triangle. That would be fun. Maybe where we team up together and we work as teammates instead of adversaries.

Adams also revealed (to Collider) that the film starts filming this February for its previously announced release on July 17, 2015.

'Justice League'

Regardless of what you may think of this casting, this is a major move towards the inevitable 'Justice League' cinematic team-up. Some have even suggested that because the 'Batman vs. Superman' film is still unofficially titled, it will secretly be revealed as 'Justice League.'

To add fuel to this fast-burning fire, Variety reports that The Flash will also swoop into the film alongside the already announced Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill) and Wonder Woman. The super-speedster made his small-screen debut recently on 'Arrow,' as played by 'Glee' star Grant Gustin, and will likely get his own spinoff series on The CW.

As for the villain of this 'Batman vs. Superman,' which is looking to be Lex Luthor, actor Callan Mulvey of 'Zero Dark Thirty' is being eyed for the part.

'X-Men'

While DC continues to beef up its cinematic universe, so too is the 20th Century Fox-owned world of the X-Men, and director Bryan Singer had some huge news for fans of this supergroup: the sequel to his 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' will be titled 'X-Men: Apocalypse,' coming on May 27, 2016 and taking its name from one of the most powerful adversaries of the X-Men.

While no other details were revealed at the time, Bleeding Cool gleaned that this will be a direct sequel to the events of 'Days of Future Past' and First Showing got their hands on the post-credits scene that is said to feature Apocalypse's first appearance. (For a SPOILER-filled description, click HERE.)

Vulture reports that Singer will be directing 'X-Men: Apocalypse,' as was inferred, and the next installment will focus specifically on the 'First Class' generation of mutants (i.e. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, etc.), who can be seen in the international banner for 'Days of Future Past' alongside some of the original 'X-Men' members:

While this is all incredibly exciting news for X-Men fans, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg ('Days of Future Past,' the 'Fantastic Four' reboot) has been hired by Fox to build a shared universe for its superhero properties -- X-Men and Fantastic Four -- akin to what Disney has with The Avengers. Does this mean a joint X-Men-Fantastic Four movie? It seems likely.

If anything, though, James Mangold is working on another solo Wolverine movie, which he confirms will be based on an existing comic. While Hugh Jackman was originally excited by the prospect of rejoining with his 'The Wolverine' director, he now seems iffy about returning as the adamantium claw-slashing mutant. As he said to Vanity Fair:

I don’t know whether or not I will do this next movie. I am really proud of this movie ['The Wolverine'] and I am excited to develop something with Jim Mangold from the beginning because that is a great ride. That’s exciting, to see what we come up with but I have a very high expectation of what it would need to be [for me to star in it] and if it doesn’t reach those, I won’t be doing it.

'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'

The first trailer for 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' is finally here. Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty bits, re-watch it:

As you can see, much has been revealed, mainly that Electro (played by Jamie Foxx) is certainly not the only villain who'll be grappling with Spidey. The Rhino (Paul Giamatti) has a brand-new look akin to something from 'Transformers' and the Green Goblin (likely that of Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn) will be flying in, as well.

Also, did you catch comic-book villains Doctor Octopus and Vulture? Well, they weren't there, but their equipment was -- Doc Ocks' tentacles and Vulture's wings. We at ScreenCrush have learned from sources that this particular scene from the trailer is actually from the post-credits scene for 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2,' which will see that same mysterious man at the end of the first film walking through this hall in OsCorp. And aside from the two previously mentioned baddies -- SPOILER -- Venom's symbiote suit will also be revealed.

This is all to set up the appearance of the supervillain group the Sinister Six in the coming 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3.' Does this mean Electro, Green Goblin, Rhino, Doc Ock, Venom and Vulture will make up that team?

There are tons more Easter eggs to be found, but listen as cast members and director Marc Webb walk you through some of the highlights (courtesy of Total Film):