Plus more rumours about the future of DC’s movieverse beyond the Bat-Family. Joe Manganiello wants to make his own Dungeons & Dragons movie. Also, new details about Supreme Leader Snoke in The Last Jedi. Spoilers now!
Batman & the DCEU
Bat-salt shakers at the ready, but a new rumour from the DCEU Leaks subreddit suggests Warner Bros. will be releasing four Batman-related movies in 2019, just in time for the character’s 80th anniversary. Additionally, two animated Batman films are reportedly in development for a 2019 release date — one of which is an adaptation of The Long Halloween.
The plan for 2019 is to release four Batman related films. Gotham City Sirens around Valentine’s Day weekend, Nightwing on Memorial Day weekend, Batgirl in August and The Batman in November. The studio is doing this to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Batman.
The thread continues to state that Deathstroke will still appear in The Batman, but is no longer the film’s main villain; director Matt Reeves is interested in telling a story focusing on Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery. Meanwhile, the same thread also suggests Deathstroke’s son Grant Wilson will be the main villain of the solo Nightwing film. Wilson will be hired by Roland “Blockbuster” Desmond to take out all rival mob bosses in Blüdhaven.
There’s much, much more at the link — including more updates on directorial positions for Suicide Squad 2, updates on the Justice League Dark movie, and even plans for 2020 and beyond. But considering this is just a big long Reddit list — a really long one — it’s best to treat it with some scepticism for now.
Dungeons & Dragons
While promoting The Smurfs: The Lost Village on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, actor Joe Manganiello revealed that he has written a script for a Dungeons & Dragons movie with a friend from university — and he’s even had a meeting with Wizards of the Coast about it.
Last year with a playwright I went to Carnegie Mellon with, I actually made a draft of a film, and now we’re talking to all the right parties. I had a two-day creative summit with the Wizards of the Coast…we had like a two-day summit about where the movie could go or TV series, products, synergy, the whole deal.
Manganiello went on to describe his take on the franchise:
Obviously, there’s a spectacle. There’s dragons breathing fire and lightning. But what makes a great superhero or fantasy movie is the human aspect. It’s got to be about something. We root for those characters in Game of Thrones. Fellowship of the Ring was about friendship, this undying love for your friends. That’s something everyone can identify with. When a movie is about something human and real emotionally people are going to want to see. Then you get some dragons breathing fire, and hey, I’m in.
There is a new D&D film in the works, but it’s presumably not related to Manganiello’s pitch.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
According to Making Star Wars, Supreme Leader Snoke has a new costume in The Last Jedi — a gold, silky robe and slippers, lined in red. A similar look was hinted at in the book, The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, back when the character was more serpentine. The site also reports Snoke has a ring housing a Kyber crystal, which is allegedly the size of a Ring Pop. Fancy.
Reportedly, Snoke will spend the majority of the film inside his palace aboard a “Mega Destroyer” starship — which will be one of the largest ships ever depicted in the Star Wars franchise. Essentially a “mobile command unit”, Snoke’s Mega Destroyer is powered by 10 double-stacked engines, and features six-to-eight “Praetorian Guards” — the name for Snoke’s personal bodyguards, who wear “glossy red armour, shell plating, and matte red cloth elements for the capes” while each guard carries their own unique weapon, including a double-bladed staff, a sword and even nunchucks. There’s a bit more at the link.
Toy Story 4
A representative of the late Don Rickles’ has confirmed the actor had not yet recorded his dialogue for the fourth Toy Story film before his death earlier last week. There’s been no word yet on how Rickles’ passing will affect production, going forward. [THR]
New Mutants
Josh Boone’s New Mutants has officially begun pre-production, according to Josh Boone and the medium of delicious cake.
Mission: Impossible 6
Production has begun on M:I6, according to director Christopher McQuarrie on Twitter.
Light the fuse…
(photo @rdhardy) pic.twitter.com/kidurRcjpi
— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) April 8, 2017
Sharknado 5
Premieres Sunday, August 6 on Syfy in the US. Be there, or be… I dunno, killed by a Sharknado?
We’re going global. See you August 6th, world. ? ? 5⃣ #Sharknado5 pic.twitter.com/Ycal0POw4N
— Sharknado (@SharknadoSyfy) April 7, 2017
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Chris Pratt shared a new set pic on his Facebook account.
Mr Robot
Rizwan Manji will have a recurring role in season three as Norm, Dominique DiPierro’s new partner on the Five/Nine hack investigation. [THR]
The Inhumans
In a shocking reveal that’s also somehow not surprising in the least, Jed Whedon confirmed to Digital Spy The Inhumans does not plan to crossover with Agents of SHIELD… a show which has spent the last two years setting up The Inhumans.
Without being able to say anything really about that show, it will have its own world, just as we tried to start our own world. Whether or not there’s a crossover, we will see.
Doctor Who
Steven Moffat hints that Nardole, Matt Lucas’ recurring character from the last two Christmas specials, will be “devious” this season, revealing “a very shady past”.
I’ve been thinking for a while with Peter’s Doctor that he should have a butler, a valet, an assistant. He would want somebody to fetch and carry and do complicated tasks for him — he’d want a little expert on hand and I was already thinking about that and had quite a different idea of who that was going to be. [Nardole] is so brilliant and charming and he’s already in place albeit decapitated … So we brought him back. He is The Doctor’s go-to guy. He’s not quite, as we have seen in ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ the bumbling oaf he likes people to think he is — he’s slyer, more devious, more useful and he has a very shady past.
New Warriors
Head of Programing and Development at Freeform Karey Burke says the comedy show is “tailor-made” for spinoffs.
Absolutely. The characters they have chosen are all really singular and could each carry the show that they’re on. They’re bound together as a band of underdogs for as long as we choose with this show but it’s conceptually tailor-made for spin-offs.
For the love of God, let that mean a Squirrel Girl solo series is within reach. [THR]
Blood Drive
Finally, Syfy’s new grindhouse inspired series Blood Drive premieres June 14 in the US. Here’s a press release:
Get uncomfortable…! In the tradition of classic grindhouse movies, Blood Drive is a new series soaked in high-octane chaos and just barely approved for television. After Los Angeles’ last good cop (Alan Ritchson) is forced to join a twisted cross-country death race, his only hope of survival is a dangerous femme fatale who has the need for speed (Christina Ochoa). Oh, and forget gasoline… these cars run on human blood! The series is from Universal Cable Productions and executive producers John Hlavin (“Underworld Awakening”), David Straiton (“Bates Motel”) and Frederik Malmberg (“Let Me In”), along with producer Mark Wheeler (“Becoming“). James Roland (“Weeds”) created the project and is a co-executive producer on the series.
[Deadline]
Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson. Banner art by Jim Cooke.