Comic Strip: Nick Fury’s New Look, ‘Red 3′ and the Mysterious Future of ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2′

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 'Man of Steel' soundtrack mash-ups, Thanos rumors for 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Avengers 2' plus a look into Spider-Man’s “future.”

’The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Who the hell is Spidey speaking to on that cell phone? It must be a pretty important conversation if he’s willing to stay on the line while dangling from the front of a police car during a high-speed chase.

The above shots come from a series of set pics snapped last week as Marc Webb continues to film his anticipated sequel, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2,’ in New York City. SuperHero Hype has a full gallery of updated images, including this candid shot of Spidey kissing his one true love, Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone).

These aren’t official. This one is. Webb Tweeted the following photo on Sunday, calling it, “Day 73. The Future.”

What could that mean? We see a gun on the floor on the right side, and what looks like a crumpled shirt on the left. Then, the path leads to what looks like a lab. My guess? This is where Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) transforms himself into The Green Goblin.

But that’s just a guess. What’s your theory?

’Man of Steel’

We are one month away (roughly) from the release of Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel,’ which means its time for Warner Bros. to ramp up its marketing so that the Superman reboot opens to a better number than, say, the $84 million generated by ‘Star Trek Into Darkness.’ (Oof.)

This link has the latest ‘Man of Steel’ featurettes, as well as a controversial character photo that might have fans up in arms.

And then there is this official character poster for Jor-El (Russell Crowe), the first of what I assume will be several character posters that will drop between now and the film’s release date.

While they wait, some fans (including YouTube member IronPixelChef) are making awesome mash-ups of John Williams and Hans Zimmer’s Superman scores. It’s about s epic as you might have hoped:

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

If you aren’t following Bryan Singer’s Twitter feed, you aren’t a real X-Men fan. The director teases everything from his set for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ The latest is the below shot of Jennifer Lawrence in costume as Mystique.

His reveal, however, is where he calls her the “vengeful” Mystique, clarifying that while Lawrence’s character was a friend of Xavier (James McAvoy) in the ‘First Class’ universe, she’s fully on Magneto’s side in this sequel. And that means trouble for the X-Men … no matter which decade they happen to be in.

Speaking of that ‘First Class’ world, Singer earlier teased a shot of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) next to a younger Beast (Nicolas Hoult) with the tease, “Welcome to 1973.” But, is this the Wolverine who popped up in a cameo in ‘First Class,’ or will Logan from Singer’s modern ‘X-Men’ movie time travel back to the ‘70s?

If Singer’s going to use time travel as a device for ‘Days of Future Past,’ he’s going to need Kitty Pryde. So when Collider sat down with the actress as part of her press details for ‘The East,’ she opened up about Singer’s Tweets, her surprise at being asked back to the series (because she worked with Brett Ratner on ‘The Last Stand’), and shooting the movie in 3D. Give it a listen:

‘The Avengers 2’

Joss Whedon opened up about how he plans to use Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch in ‘The Avengers 2.’ It already has been explained that the mutant comic book characters will not be mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the movie likely will emphasize the siblings’ Eastern European roots.

They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with ‘The Avengers.’ So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.

While everybody is focusing on the characters who WILL be in ‘The Avengers 2,’ there has been news about which beloved characters might NOT show up. For example, MetroUK asked Samuel L. Jackson if he plans to be back for the second ‘Avengers,’ and he explained: 

I don’t know. They don’t tell me that kind of stuff. All I know is that I am doing Captain America 2. It’s been cool. The Marvel universe continues to grow and get better. I think I have four or five pictures left on my nine-picture deal, so I will just keep showing up.

He already has shown up on the Cleveland set of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier,’ and he’s sporting a new look (courtesy of ComicBookMovie).

With Jackson in Ohio, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson shot ‘Cap’ footage on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

On a related note, ‘Iron Man 3’ announced a street date for its DVD and Blu-ray. You can own it on Aug. 27. 

And Thanos creator Jim Starlin confirmed, though ComicBook.com, that the character will appear in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ flick.

You know the gal who plays Gamora, I kind of like, I’ve seen her in a couple of things, I can’t think of her name off the top of my head. The wrestler they got for Drax looks pretty cool. Apparently Thanos does make some kind of appearance in there, which makes sense because Gamora is sort of his foster daughter.

Will Marvel use ‘Guardians’ to set Thanos up as the villain in ‘The Avengers 2.’ That seems to be the case.

Graphic Novels

‘R.I.P.D.’ is going to be a tough sell for Universal. It’s based on a graphic novel, though not one that carries the weight of, say, ‘Watchmen’ or ‘Batman: Year One.’ And it has Ryan Reynolds front and center … but he’s dead, and he’s teaming with an off-the-rails Jeff Bridges.

If it works, it has the potential to be a riot. If it fails …

The latest TV spot is promising. The effects work is solid. The pacing is frenetic (in a good way). My hopes are relatively high for this ‘Men In Black’ meets ‘Ghostbusters’ summer action comedy. It arrives in theaters on July 19. Interested?

- ‘Red 2,’ on the other hand, should be an easy sell. The first movie was a hit. The main cast – including Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren – is back for the sequel. And as we reported earlier, the wheels already are turning on ‘Red 3.’

Head writers Jon and Erich Hoeber have been hired to return for the second sequel. And the reason that we’re hearing is because ‘Red 2’ is testing “off the charts” with preview audiences. We’ll be able to see when the sequel opens on July 19.

- And Luke Evans, while promoting his villainous role in ‘Fast & Furious 6,’ opened up about his passion for the character he’s going to play in ‘The Crow.’ Thanks to Empire for the vid!