Spider-Gwen Makes Debut Appearance in Ultimate Spider-Man

Marvel’s had its fair share of female Spider titles: Silk, Spider-Woman, a number of Spider-Girls, Madame Web – but none seem to have captured fans attention like Spider-Gwen. Originally introduced as part of the 2014-15 Spider-Verse event, she was quickly given her own series, following the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65; an alternate universe where Gwen was bitten by the radioactive spider, not Peter Parker.

Not content with her own popular series, Gwen is now hitting the screens in Disney X D’s Ultimate Spider-Man. She’s voiced by Dove Cameron, a previous Disney Channel sweetheart, best known as Mal in Descendants. Some careful Googling reveals that this is the Disney channel tv movie about the kids of Disney villains, not the 2011 film starring George Clooney  – every day’s a school day!

In her first appearance, released on Marvel’s YouTube channel, she runs into Peter Parker and Miles Morales while holding a bag of money she’s recovered from some bank robbers. Of course the guys think she’s the culprit – she looks like she’s been caught red-handed. She explains herself, and, to be honest, Parker seems cool with it. We know he’s a sucker for a pretty face. I’m going to assume there’s a pretty face under the mask.

The 3 vigilantes are then cornered by none other than Captain George Stacey (who happens to be her dad). She then tells the two guys that he’s her dad – which seems a bit crazy to me. Does no-one respect the secret identity any more? Or are they ok knowing who she is because they’re Spider-Men? I don’t know Gwen, but it seemed like a rookie mistake to me. Schoolgirl error.

Watch the clip here to judge for yourself:

The clip comes from season 4 finale ‘Return to the Spider-Verse’ which will be on Disney X D 17th September.

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Margot Robbie Signs First Look Deal With Warner Brothers

DC’s didn’t exactly set the world on fire when Suicide Squad was released to dreadful reviews over the summer, but fan favourite Margot Robbie has landed a first look deal with Warner Brothers this week to bring Harley Quinn back to the big screen.

Warner Brothers, possibly in a bid to push DC ahead of the often favoured Marvel Studios, is focusing on female-driven storytelling. Although they haven’t released any details about the Quinn solo movie (to be honest, the script probably isn’t written yet) the WB has stated that it could feature other ladies of the DC Universe, such as the Birds of Prey.

Robbie will be one of the producers on the film, and by all reports has become a driving force behind the Harley Quinn picture. Sources talking to the Hollywood Reporter said that when she was preparing for her role in Suicide Squad, she fell in love with the DC characters, and is keen to bring them to the screen.

This is a huge success for the 26 year old Australian actress, who has commanded starring roles in Hollywood since her breakout performance in The Wolf of Wall Street. She really seems to have found a home with the WB.

As part of their female-driven storytelling, Warner Brothers also have other Margot Robbie vehicle Queen of the Air, the Wonder Woman movie in the works (due 2nd June 2017) and Ocean’s Eight (an all-female version of Ocean’s Eleven) in their near future.

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Whatastory: Whataburger and Wonder Woman’s “Friendly Trademark Discussion”

There’s been reports that DC Comics and American burger chain Whataburger have been embroiled in a bitter dispute over logos. The chain has a stacked W logo, which it launched in 1972, 13 years before Wonder Woman‘s  original logo was trademarked. The new version of the logo, relaunched to tie in with Gal Gadot‘s incarnation of the superheroine, appears to stepped on Whattaburger’s toes.

However, according to Chron, the press folks at Whataburger seem to be taken aback at claims that there is a nasty dispute between them and the home of the Amazon princess. They describe the ‘row’ as a ‘friendly trademark discussion’. In fact, their statements are unbelievably cute, as if written by characters from the 1970s series.

“Contrary to some suggestions, Whataburger is not at war with Wonder Woman over her newly redesigned logo. In fact, Whataburger supports superheroes like Wonder Woman and her friends in the Justice League.” Whataburger actually have a superhero mascot -Whataguy – and they would apparently love to see a crossover with these two. Maybe DC should introduce him as a character for the Wonder Woman solo film? He could be a love rival against Bruce Wayne…

“Wonder Woman’s stacked W logo has both made it appear more similar to Whataburger’s long-standing Flying W trademark and has been accompanied by nine new trademark applications, covering a much more substantial list of goods and services than just comic books, including a variety of food and beverage products.”

And therein lies the problem – the original logo was only related to comic book merch; now it maybe linked to similar products as Whataburger.

“Whataburger anticipates a positive discussion with DC Comics and a resolution of that discussion that will be acceptable to both parties.”

In a quaint closing of the statement, Whataburger said they wanted Wonder Woman to be able to focus on keeping “planet Earth safe from villains” while they focused on making burgers.

Whataclassact.

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New Luke Cage Promo Features Cottonmouth

Marvel is at it again with clever marketing to draw us all in. This time it’s for the latest instalment of the Netflix hosted TV series, Luke Cage (not Nick Cage as I am frequently paranoid I will call it…) The series, which is due to go live on the streaming service on 30^th September will focus on Hell’s Kitchen’s own man of steel (are DC going to come after me for that one?). The eponymous hero was introduced as Jessica Jones’ on-again-off-again love interest, and a man so strong, with super strength and unbreakable skin, he could flick attacking bruisers off him like gnats. The show promises to be gritty and edgy like its predecessors Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but also   showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker has promised fans that the drama will be infused with ’90s hip-hop.

The new promo shows villain Cottonmouth, played by Mahershala Ali (House of Cards), appearing to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. He has a large portrait of rapper Biggie Smalls in the background, and explains how the late hip-hop star is the real King of New York. There is quite a cool shot that looks like Ali is wearing the crown in the portrait – some nice camera work there! He is not, in fact, addressing us, but rather his unfortunate victim who gets a beating as he’s told “Everybody wants to wear the crown”.

Watch the promo:

The whole series of Luke Cage will launch on Netflix 30^th September

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Vincent D’Onofrio Teases a Return for Kingpin

Best things about Daredevil (in no particular order):
1. Charlie Cox is super handsome and a pleasure to look at
2. Foggy has classic lines all the time – “why are you fancy?” is still said in our house all the time
3. Karen giving Matt a balloon was hilarious
4. The 2 epic corridor fight scenes
5. The villains – both Kingpin and Punisher were incredible

Vincent D’Onofrio‘s star turn as Wilson Fisk was one of the highlights of season 1 for me. No cat stroking, one-dimensional bad guy here; Fisk was portrayed as sensitive, deep, and all together reasonable in his villainy. D’Onofrio was terrifying with his calm, quiet, anger culminating in violent, deadly rage. At times, he cut quite an empathetic figure, and creating that in the big bad is a real talent.

Fans were delighted earlier this year when Fisk had a cameo appearance in Daredevil season 2 (resulting in an incredible prison fight sequence), and D’Onofrio has not ruled out a reprisal of the Kingpin in future Marvel series. Last week he spoke to LRM Online, and said that although he hadn’t signed on to do any further work with Marvel, he would go back to the character if the right chance came up.

He told the website, “Marvel, the company, and especially Jeff Loeb, who runs Marvel Television, he’s a clever dude. All those people over there are pretty clever and they love talent. There’s no giant commitment for me at Daredevil. Like I didn’t have to sign my life away at all. When Jeff tells me there’s something coming up and if I’m available, I’ll be there. And because it’s written so well, I’m going to show up. I’m going to do everything I can because the writing is so good. And then there’s a company like Netflix and they’re not pressuring you either. They just want good material, good content. They give you money to make good content, so they’re not pressuring actors to sign their life away either…. I think that there’s this common ground where they say, ‘Look, if the material is good are you going to show up?’ and I said,  ‘Definitely’.”

When asked directly if he would be appearing again in a Marvel/Netflix series, D’Onofrio was coy. “That I can’t answer. I do know, but I can’t answer… so take that how you will. Jeff and Charlie (Cox) and Netflix love Kingpin, and so, Kingpin is good for Marvel’s television stuff and I think they agree.”

So, although our favourite Kingpin might not be back on Netflix for Luke Cage on 30th September, we might not be waiting too long to see him again.

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James Gunn Shares Yondu Concept Art on Instagram

As we know, James Gunn is a very fan-centric director. He is a comic book fan himself, so treats his films with the respect you’d expect from someone with a great love of the stimulus material. He also spends a lot of time on social media, and makes an effort to share little Easter eggs with the fans, engaging with them in the comments section. This is awesome, because it draws the audience in and gives them an investment in the movie well before it’s released. It also gives me a lot of James Gunn stuff to write about, which is no bad thing.

This week, Gunn treated his Instagram fans to early concept art for Yondu:

View this post on Instagram

Sweet early concept art for #Yondu in #GotG by Andrew Kim featuring a fantastic vision of @michael_rooker's abs.

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn) on Sep 13, 2016 at 10:43am PDT

In the artwork, Michael Rooker‘s space outlaw has a different image – something more Egyptian than intergalactic. He also has a red Mohawk (more in keeping with comic book Yondu than the one we came to love in the movie); face gills; and a fancy eye patch. The artist (Andrew Kim) also showed the character wearing a lot of heavy and ornate armour/jewellery (I think it looks like costume jewellery but my other half insists it’s armour!)

One fan asked Gunn why he doesn’t stick to the concept art, but the director advised that he does – just different concept art. He explained that while the picture is beautiful, the costuming was impractical and not the concept he had for movie Yondu.

Knowing how GotG turned out, I think the Egyptian (almost Apocalypse-esque) god figure in the artwork would have jarred massively with the cool crew of the Alyssa Milano. Thanks for sharing James, and I think you made the right choice!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due for release in the United Kingdom on April 28 and in USA on May 5

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Kurt Russell Teases Fans “GotG2 Will Be Complex”

Earlier this week, Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2’s leading man Chris Pratt delighted fans by teasing that it would be “the biggest spectacle movie of all time.” (That’s a big claim, fella. I know at least one Twitter user who will have 140 characters for you if it’s not…) Veteran star Kurt Russell has followed hot on his heels, saying how good he thought the film was going to be.

Speaking to Collider at the Toronto International Film Festival, he admitted that he’d been very impressed with the footage director James Gunn shared at San Diego Comic-Con. “I was really impressed with it, really impressed with it.” he said (you see, this is good journalism… I worked out he was impressed from that alone!) “I mean, believe me, from knowing the script, to see that and what he did with that sequence, I’m excited to see the movie. I think it’s going to be really good.”

Russell said the crew felt they’d found their feet with this second film – now the characters had developed they could really have fun with it. “They really knew what they were doing and the story itself was strong” he explained.

He also teased that the story would be perhaps more complex that other comic adaptations, as it is concerned with parental/human issues. Yeah, we knew Star Lord had daddy issues, and they’re going to be front and centre for GOTG2! “It’s a very complex story, and they really get into it.” Kurt Russell told Collider, “This is going to be one of the more — probably for Marvel, it’s more connected to human issues, family issues, parental issues, and issues that sons and daughters have with their mums and dads and their family tree, where they come from.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due for release in the United Kingdom on April 28 and in USA on May 5

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Chris Pratt Confirms GOTG Will be “The Biggest Spectacle Movie Of All Time”

We just can’t stop with the Guardians of the Galaxy gossip! As we count down the days until 5th May 2017 when we can finally continue our adventure with Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and (fan favourite) Groot, the news from planet GOTG just keeps coming. James Gunn has confirmed Vin Diesel will still be voicing Baby Groot; Vin Diesel spilled the beans on his Facebook page that the gang would be appearing in Avengers: Infinity War; and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler called out to James Gunn in a role for the as-yet unconfirmed third film. Chris Pratt is adding to this, by waxing lyrical about GOTG Vol.2 in the Toronto Sun.

“It’s a fabulous script,” the former Parks and Recreation star gushed. “I think it’s going to be — I’m not using hyperbole, here – I think it’s going to be the biggest spectacle movie of all time… I’m fortunate. I’m fortunate in so many ways. I couldn’t count the ways, even if I tried.” This, coming from the man who got to sing a tribute to Pawnee’s hero Lil’ Sebastian, is high praise indeed.

The second instalment of the franchise will focus on Pratt‘s character Peter Quill tracking down his father, Ego, who is a human planet. Sadly, it is unlikely that he will be portrayed in any way similar to Unicron in the 1986 Transformers movie (looking somewhat like real planet-sized human Orson Welles) – as director James Gunn has confirmed he will be taking man-sized form.

Sadly, not an early picture of Ego…

 

Pratt wasn’t giving away any other spoilers that what we already know: Kurt Russell will appear as Star Lord’s father, more awesome music will be used and (hopefully) we’ll be treated to a trailer before Christmas – sorry James, I know this is a sore point! He also neglected to disclose how large Sean Gunn‘s role will be this time around, which (as a Gilmore Girls fan) is the question I really would like answering! Come on Chris, throw me a bone here! He left the interview with a last thought, which is in no way a spoiler, as we all know it will be the case:

“It’s exceptional”

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Steven’s Got a Gunn – Tyler Wants in for GOTG3

January 19, 2011: The Season 10 premiere of American Idol. Auditions # 1 in New York/New Jersey. Pictured here: Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler Credit: FOX

The trailer hasn’t even hit the screens yet for next year’s favourite movie Guardians of the Galaxy vol2, but celebrity fans are already buttering up director James Gunn for a role in the third instalment. Last month, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was promoting independent film Happy Birthday, and took the opportunity to reach out to Gunn let him know he’s got what it takes. He told People Magazine, “I would do anything to be in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 – are you listening James Gunn?”

But James Gunn didn’t miss a thing. He addressed the comment during a Facebook Q&A, explaining that he had heard that Tyler was crazy for a role, and that he’d met him briefly before and would love to work with him. Gunn directed the veteran rocker’s daughter Liv Tyler in the underrated 2010 movie Super (if you’ve not watched it and you’re looking for a film, I recommend it. Ellen Page is particularly good, delivering tons of sweet emotion) and he met Steven at a screening.

Gunn didn’t tell Tyler to dream on, but he didn’t say the job was his either – possibly because the former Troma prodigy hasn’t confirmed he will be back at the helm for a 3rd part of the Guardians franchise. James Gunn did take to Twitter after the Q&A to explain that if GOTG3 does happen, he wouldn’t leave Tyler cryin’ for a part. So James, next question, if you’re giving out roles in the next adventure of Star Lord and co, can I have one too?

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Charlie Cox “Excited” for Iron Fist Collaboration

There are few things that make me want to drop everything, lock the doors and power through a Netflix boxset in a weekend – the Marvel series fall in to that category. While fans (such as myself) are eagerly counting down the days until Luke Cage hits the screens (30th September – you’re going to want to clear your schedule!), Charlie Cox has been telling fans what he’s looking forward to in the future of the Marvel Universe.

Cox, who has just signed on to reprise the role of Matt Murdock in season 3 of Daredevil, will be a key player in the upcoming Defenders series. The highly anticipated show will draw together the characters from Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist in one superhero extravaganza. Fans are keen to see how Murdock will interact with last year’s solo project star Jessica Jones, but Cox is more excited to explore his relationship with Iron Fist.

Speaking at the 2016 Toronto Fan Expo recently, Cox told fans, “The relationship I’m most interested in seeing fleshed out is the Matt Murdock and Danny Rand stuff. I just met Finn Jones the other day and I just think in the comics, that’s a great relationship so I want to see how that works out on screen.”

It will be interesting to see how the two martial artist get on with the brute force of Cage and Jones – how will Hell’s Kitchen cope!

Also, Cox dropped some personal future excitement into the mix at the Canadian convention – his girlfriend (producer Samantha Thomas) is due to give birth to a baby Daredevil any day now. Let’s hope that Charlie can get plenty of sleep before The Defenders launches (potentially next year)

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