Comic Strip: Marvel Casts Luke Cage and Sets a Release Date For ‘Daredevil’
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, Marvel finds its Luke Cage, ‘Daredevil’ may have a release date, and the ‘Ant-Man’ trailer is almost here.
Marvel’s New Shows Are Taking Shape
No one will ever say that Marvel Studios’ grand plan for a unified series of movies is anything less than ambitious, but their upcoming Netflix shows really are something else. Running alongside the big screen movies, ‘Daredevil,’ ‘AKA Jessica Jones,’ ‘Luke Cage,’ and ‘Iron Fist’ will follow a collection of “street level” heroes who will ultimately come together for ‘The Defenders.’ And maybe, just maybe, they’ll cross over with their big screen counterparts. Maybe.
Anyway, last week we got the official word that Krysten Ritter was officially the new Jessica Jones and this week, we have word that Mike Colter is Luke Cage. Colter will appear in six or seven episodes of ‘AKA Jessica Jones’ before spinning off into his own series, which is more important than non-comic book fans may realize. These characters have a long-running relationship in the comic world (Marriage! A child!) and it’s heartening that Marvel is allowing their connection to blossom across two different series.
As for Colter himself, he certainly looks the part! He’s still a relative unknown, best known for the TV series ‘Ringer’ and appearances on ‘The Following’ and ‘American Horror Story.’ We will probably get a better picture of how he can handle a superhero role with the upcoming ‘Halo: Nightfall.’ Until then, all we can say is that he’s the spitting image of how Cage has been drawn for the past few decades and leave it at that.
That’s the same day that ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ opens in theaters. If this is true, everyone better prepare for one Marvel-ous weekend! Hahahahahaha.
Moving on.
Since we’re talking about Marvel television, this is where we would share the new trailer for ‘Agent Carter,’ but the video has been pulled down all across the internet for reasons that remain unknown. However, we can offer you this new gallery of images. It’s not a trailer, but they’ll do.
Updates From the DC Movie Universe
Last week, everyone lost their minds because an excellent profile on director Michelle MacLaren mentioned that the ‘Wonder Woman’ movie she’s been hired to direct has not been officially greenlit. However, this is perfectly normal. Even movies that are deep into development (and have supposedly hired six different screenwriters) haven’t been given the green light. That will happen when the studio has a final script and casting has really taken shape and so on and so forth. Chill out. This excellent Badass Digest article goes into further detail.
Meanwhile, DC’s official blog confirmed the obvious: yes, all of their new superhero movies will take place in the same universe. We’re not sure why they felt the need to reiterate something that everyone has known for over a year now, but their post is worth reading because they say “other publishers” instead of Marvel. It’s a legal thing, but it sounds sooo beautifully catty:
Yes, there were rumors of some sort of film slate, mentions that Warner Bros. had “big plans” for DC Entertainment and occasional informal announcements (like the news that New Line had a Shazam movie in development). But for fans who were hoping to see a DC Cinematic Universe similar to what they’ve seen from other publishers, one that included super heroes other than Superman or Batman, there didn’t seem to be a lot to talk about.
That changed on October 15, 2014, when Warner Bros. revealed a full slate of ten DC Entertainment feature films all set within the same universe. The list included the movies we were hoping to see—Wonder Woman will get her own film, while the Justice League will get TWO movies. However, it also included quite a few surprises. A standalone Cyborg movie! A Flash feature starring Ezra Miller! A Suicide Squad movie! And coming in 2016, no less!!
Speaking of ‘Suicide Squad,’ Jared Leto took to Instagram to show off his new 2015 haircut. Yeah, this is probably his Joker hairdo and it’s the kind of modern dapper look that we were expecting.
And now, we move onto the Joker’s nemesis! In a little blast from the past, director Tim Burton revealed that he didn’t direct a third Batman movie because he wasn’t invited. And he wasn’t invited because ‘Batman Returns’ freaked out the wrong people:
I think I upset McDonald’s. [They asked] ‘What’s that black stuff coming out of the Penguin’s mouth. We can’t sell Happy Meals with that!’ It was a weird reaction ‘Batman Returns,’ because half the people thought it was lighter than the first one, and half the people thought it was darker. I think the studio just thought it was too weird —they wanted to go with something more child- or family- friendly. In other words, they didn’t want me to do another one.
Finally, someone with waaay too much time on his hands decided to cut together a huge trailer showcasing the DC and Marvel heroes throwing down in the ultimate battle:
The Latest Marvel Movie News
Right now, all hands are on deck for ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ but we shouldn’t forget that ‘Ant-Man’ is set to arrive only a few months after that epic team-up movie. After all, it looks like the new trailer should be arriving soon!
The folks over at Comic Book Movie did some digging and learned that the first trailer has been cut and classified and should premiere sooner rather than later. But when will we get to see this one minute, 48 second preview? Go ahead and bet some good money that it will premiere during the first episode of ‘Agent Carter’ next month.
Everyone (yes, even your mom) knows that the Marvel movies take place in the same universe and follow a basic chronology. However, only one madman decided to edit all of the scenes from every movie into chronological order. Not movies: scenes. Yes, that means that his cut opens with the battle against the Frost Giants and the beginning of ‘Thor’ and that the bulk of ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ arrives before ‘Iron Man.’ If you are also a crazy person and want to follow his lead, he’s made a helpful video and provided some notes. Go with Galactus:
Thor: The Dark World 00:00:01:22 00:03:32:06
Thor 00:03:22:06 00:07:34:14
Captain America: The Winter Soldier 01:32:17:06 01:33:13:20
Captain America: The First Avenger 00:03:39:08 01:48:41:20
Agents of Shield, 208 The Things We Bury
Agents of Shield, 201
Agents of Shield, 208 The Things We Bury
Agents of Shield, 208 The Things We Bury
Captain America: The First Avenger 01:48:40:21 01:50:24:05
Agent Carter One-Shot 00:00:50:18 00:12:06:03
Agents of Shield, 208 The Things We Bury
Guardians of the Galaxy 00:00:03:19 00:03:37:13
Agents of Shield, 208 The Things We Bury
Iron Man 3 00:00:30:09 00:04:52:16
The Incredible Hulk 00:00:56:05 00:03:05:19
Iron Man 00:04:20:06 00:16:23:17
Iron Man 00:00:36:21 00:03:51:20
Iron Man 00:16:27:22 00:16:39:16
Iron Man 00:03:51:14 00:04:19:15
Iron Man 00:16:39:14 01:57:10:23
Iron Man 2 00:00:33:10 00:05:02:14
Iron Man 02:05:09:00 02:05:40:18
The Incredible Hulk 00:03:10:10 00:12:52:18
Iron Man 2 00:05:03:21 00:18:01:12
The Incredible Hulk 00:12:51:14 00:28:30:04
Iron Man 2 00:18:01:00 00:22:20:04
Thor 00:07:33:15 00:14:41:17
The Incredible Hulk 00:28:29:13 00:37:26:22
Iron Man 2 00:22:19:15 01:23:39:01
Thor 00:14:41:13 00:29:51:08
Thor 00:00:39:16 00:03:03:00
Thor 00:29:59:21 00:32:26:23
Iron Man 2 01:23:38:19 01:27:25:02
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor’s Hammer 00:00:05:16 00:02:41:15
Thor 00:32:27:05 00:36:35:08
Iron Man 2 01:27:23:08 01:54:12:01
The Incredible Hulk 00:37:25:20 00:44:11:15
Thor 00:36:34:23 01:05:04:00
The Incredible Hulk 00:44:09:05 01:06:55:22
Iron Man 2 01:54:09:22 01:56:55:16
Thor 01:04:55:00 01:15:34:14
The Incredible Hulk 01:06:55:00 01:09:56:18
Thor 01:15:34:12 01:20:42:04
The Incredible Hulk 01:09:57:14 01:14:48:15
Thor 01:20:37:17 01:41:48:22
The Incredible Hulk 01:14:48:13 01:42:35:14
Thor 01:41:49:14 01:45:09:08
The Incredible Hulk 01:42:33:06 01:44:22:18
Thor 01:53:00:14 01:54:33:07
The Consultant 00:00:03:01 00:02:06:09
The Incredible Hulk 01:44:22:13 01:45:29:06
The Consultant 00:02:40:23 00:03:12:16
Captain America: The First Avenger 00:00:35:20 00:03:39:07
Captain America: The First Avenger 01:50:30:14 01:53:42:12
The Avengers Deleted Scene 00:00:00:00 00:02:55:08
The Avengers 00:00:29:02 02:13:07:20
The Avengers 02:15:04:04 02:15:53:19
And while we’re talking about the interconnectedness of the Marvel movies, it looks like someone had a little chat with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn about his comments from last week. You know, when he said that the Guardians won’t be sharing the screen with the Avengers anytime soon. He’s now clarified his statement, emphasizing that he only meant to say that the Guardians were as important as the Avengers:
All I’ve ever tried to say was the Guardians are an important part of the MCU, and they definitely share an existence with the Avengers and other characters in the MCU. But the week after the movie opened I walked into the Marvel offices, and I sat down with Kevin Feige and some of the other folks at Marvel. We had a long discussion about where the Guardians were headed and what was happening to them. I told them exactly what I wanted to do with the sequel to ‘Guardians,’ and everyone was on board and excited. And, regarding the bigger picture, we all agreed on one thing, and that was to keep huge chunks of the Guardians separate from the Marvel heroes of earth, because they have a whole galaxy to explore. We wanted to use them as a way to make the MCU bigger, not smaller. We wanted to make sure they have their own mythos, as opposed to only one that is intertwined with the earthbound characters. They ARE connected, of course, but that connection would not be the purpose of their stories and fictional lives.
Oh, and Gunn also talked about Stan Lee’s original cameo in the film, which would have included him dying a fiery (and, if we‘re going to be honest here, hilarious) death:
Originally, when they walked through, they come into the Collector’s museum, and they walk in there. And they’re walking up there, and we look over and we see Cosmo, who growls at Rocket. And if you’ve ever read Guardians of the Galaxy, Cosmo and Rocket don’t like each other. Cosmo’s a space dog. And then they look over here, and Quill looked into this box that was full of steam, and this tentacle shoots out, and he jumps back. And he’s embarrassed and he’s scared in front of Gamora. And then, we went to another box, and Groot looks inside it, and it’s Stan Lee just sitting there.
And we actually did two different versions. We did one where Stan Lee was just sitting there, and one where he looked at Groot and just gave him the finger. But it wasn’t really Stan Lee, because we were in England, and Stan’s an older gentleman, and he couldn’t make the trip. So we did it with a double. And then we were going to digitally replace his head with Stan’s head, which we were going to shoot later.
But we weren’t sure if we should add it. Kevin thought it was a little bit too jokey. And then also we very clearly saw Stan Lee’s box exploding, when the thing explodes. And I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if Stan Lee’s … these are the kind of ideas that I would come up with and Marvel would say I think that’s ‘Super’ James Gunn … but Stan Lee’s head is rolling into frame.’ And anyway, so we didn’t do that.
Finally, the holidays may be essentially over at this point, but it’s not too late to watch Marvel’s official holiday video, which finds Thanos impersonating Santa Claus with funny consequences. They had us at the concept, but they won our hearts by going stop-motion.
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