It‘s official: Maggie Gyllenhaal takes Katie Holmes’ place in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. And, with Tobey Maguire appearing to beg off any future webslinger installments after Spidey 3, the door is now wide open for Maggie’s brother Jake…
Category: Comics
The Death of America.
Steely blue eyes (with no love in them) scan the world no more: The powers-that-be at Marvel kill off Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, who apparently gets shot down on the courthouse steps. “‘He hasn’t been living in the modern world and the world does move,” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada.” But has the good Captain joined Bucky…or will the Bucky clause take effect?
Save the Spider, Save the World.
As you may have seen during last night’s Heroes (a show which has certainly hit a stride of some kind in the past few episodes — it’s gone from low-grade cheesy fun to being genuinely surprising at times, and it — and Sundance‘s Slings and Arrows — are now don’t-erase Tivo staples), NBC.com is previewing seven minutes of Spiderman 3 until 9pm PST this evening, including Aunt May on memory lane, a knock-down, drag-out between Spidey and the Green Goblin II (Harry Osborne/James Franco), and our first official look at Venom.
Split Decision.
“Batman is a complex character, and Two-Face comes a little bit from the same world. But [at the same time], he’s apart from it. I’m looking for the tension between the two, the similarities between the two. I want to find what’s similar to Batman, and then find what’s opposite to him.” The Dark Knight‘s Aaron Eckhart talks D.A. Harvey Dent, and suggests that he may well be popping up as Two-Face before the last reel of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins sequel. (Presumably, Heath Ledger’s Joker is somehow involved.)
Justice is Served?
Word leaks that Warner Brothers is moving forward on a Justice League film, having hired the writers of (ugh) Mr. and Mrs. Smith to pen a screenplay for the project. “How the story arcs unfold will also affect whether the studio will make offers to actors Christian Bale and Brandon Routh to play their respective roles in the project.”
Dented Eckhart | Ripley Returns.
As rumored a few weeks ago and in a bit of inspired casting, Aaron Eckhart looks set to join Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight as Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two-Face. And, also in fanboy casting news, the cast of James Cameron’s Avatar fills out, with Wes Studi, Sigourney Weaver, and others joining Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana for the 3D-epic.
Top Dog/Underdog.
Because noone demanded it, the trailer for Disney’s live-action Underdog. (Somewhere, Krypto is sulking.) No way on God’s green earth I’ll be seeing this one, although I did sorta like the Superman Returns spoof and the “One Nation Under Dog” tagline. (And if you think this film was unnecessary, how ’bout a grown-up Hardy Boys film with Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise? That’s just straight-up bizarre.)
The Clock is Ticking.
“The truth is, ‘300’ to the studio is a graphic novel movie. It’s not a movie that they necessarily understand exactly when I pitch it on paper. They feel in some ways the same about “Watchmen.” They don’t understand why it’s not ‘Fantastic 4.’ I have to remind them that it’s much more ‘Strangelove’ than it is ‘Fantastic 4’ which they don’t like hearing, but they believe that I know, and in that way, it helps.” 300 helmer Zach Snyder checks in with the status of Watchmen.
Blame the Skekses | In the Company of Dent?
The Power of the Dark Crystal, the sequel to the 1982 muppet fantasy announced last year, has officially been put on hiatus. (Sorry, Gelflings.) And Latino Review, breakers of the Heath Ledger Joker casting, says Thank You for Smoking‘s Aaron Eckhart is now in line to play Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face) in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Great choice. (Also, apparently Katie Holmes has been kicked off the Batman Begins sequel — word is she’ll be replaced by Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams, or Maggie Gyllenhaal.)
Grind, Kingdom, Prime, FF.
Another wave of holiday trailers comes down the pike: Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez let their B-film freak flags fly (again) in the full trailer for Grindhouse, with Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, and Freddy Rodriguez, among others; Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Chris Cooper, Jeremy Piven, and Richard Jenkins fight the war on terror in Saudi Arabia in this first look at Peter Berg’s The Kingdom; and Shia la Boeuf and the US military run from metal toy-like things in the new preview for Michael Bay’s Transformers (If you’re interested, see also the pic of Optimus Prime here.) Word is the trailer for Fantastic Four 2 is also showing in theaters at the moment, although the only thing online right now is this rather meh image of the Silver Surfer…hopefully, they do a better job with Galactus. Update: The FF teaser is now up.