Our new Batman speaks on…Batman action figures. The Marvel vs. DC rivalry is about to get a big bump. Plus updates from Nancy Drew, and more. Spoilers in spaaaaaaace….
The Batman
Director Matt Reeves has now officially confirmed what we previously reported“Andy Serkis will play Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman.
And here comes #Alfred ! ???? pic.twitter.com/Mxds0m6sqa
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) November 13, 2019
Speaking of Batman, Variety posted another Actors on Actors piece yesterday pairing Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lopez and they very briefly touched upon the Caped Crusador:
Lopez: Why “Batman”?
Pattinson: With “Batman,” there was something ” I was very focused on it. It kept coming back into my head.
Lopez: So you sought out the part?
Pattinson: Well, not sought it out directly. But I was interested in it. I don’t know what it is, which happened inside of me, but I was like, “I kind of want to do it.” I like doing something which an audience doesn’t know that it wants, and try to get it out of them: “Oh yeah, you want to play Batman.”
Lopez: You’re going to be Batman.
Pattinson: And that’s crazy! Let me tell you something. Whenever I see that little action figure, I still haven’t really got my head around it yet.Â
Mayday
Deadline reports Juliette Lewis, Grace Van Patten, and Mia Goth are now attached to star in Karen Cinorre’s directorial debut, Mayday, “a fantastical female-driven action film” focusing on “a young woman named Ana (Van Patten) who is transported to a dreamlike and dangerous land where she joins up with a band of female soldiers engaged in a never-ending war along a rugged coast.”
Clive Barker’s Books of Blood
Deadline also reports Andy McQueen, Freda Foh Shen and Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci’s Inquest/Da Vinci’s City Hall) have joined the cast of Hulu’s upcoming Books of Blood movie from director Brannon Braga and producer Seth McFarlane. McQueen will play Steve, “a dim hit man” while Shen plays Ellie, “a retired RN” and “avid gardener” who lives with her husband, Sam (Campbell) “a sturdy, outgoing man whose good humour and seemingly good heart perfectly balance his wife’s warmth.”
The Mandalorian
An oddly soundless behind-the-scenes video featuring George Lucas visiting the set of the Disney+ series has surfaced.
In other intriguing tidbits, in an interview with Variety, Disney chief Alan Horn was asked about doing the reverse of bringing the Marvel movie characters to Disney+ and perhaps making a movie jump from the small screen instead (something previously covered by Kevin Feige).
In response, Horn revealed that a feature based on Disney Plus’ tentpole original series and “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian,” for instance, might not be out of the question.
“˜The Mandalorian’ is already proving to be a big thing, so if that series proves to be so compelling that we reverse engineer it into a theatrical release, a two-hour film or whatever, O.K.,” Horn said.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Speaking of George, in a recent interview with Total Film (via Games Radar), J.J. Abrams revealed he held a meeting with Lucas to discuss the nature of midi-chlorians, the controversial Force-sensitive microbes introduced in The Phantom Menace.
Yes, there were some conversations about Midi-chlorians – he loves his Midi-chlorians. But it was a very helpful thing. Sitting with him is a treat, just to hear him talk, because it’s fucking George Lucas talking about Star Wars. I always feel it’s a gift to hear him talk about that stuff. Because the effect that he had on me at 10 years old is utterly profound.
Black Christmas
Blumhouse’s Black Christmas remake has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for “violence, terror, thematic content involving sexual assault, language, sexual material and drinking.” Notably, both the 1974 original and its 2006 remake were rated R.
Marvel vs. DC
Anthony and Joe Russo (aka the Russo Brothers) have set up a documentary series to executive produce next for Quibi. Deadline reports, “The series is inspired by Reed Tucker’s book Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle Between Marvel and DC. The competition between the publishers actually dates back to the FDR years and the publication of Action Comics No. 1 (which introduced Superman and launched DC) and Marvel Comics No. 1 (which introduced Namor the Sub-Mariner), but it was the revolutionary 1960s relaunch of Marvel by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko that gave the rivalry an urgency that transformed the marketplace.”
The Tomorrow War
Chris McKay’s The Tomorrow War is now scheduled for a December 25, 2020 release date.
The Peripheral
The Wrap also reports Amazon has officially ordered the series based on William Gibson’s time travel novel, The Peripheral, from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. In the words of a press release, the series’ centres on Flynne Fisher, “a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future. Until the future comes calling for her.”
Arrow
Production has wrapped on Arrow‘s eighth and final season.
This. pic.twitter.com/nHA40vTQoL
— Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) November 13, 2019
Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Shout Factory has announced it will continue its annual Mystery Science Theatre 3000 marathon this Thanksgiving with “six classic episodes” and brand-new host segments with Crow and Tom Servo.
Star Wars Resistance
A preview for next week’s episode summarized thusly: “When Kaz and team arrives on a mysterious planet to buy supplies, they find the outpost has been abandoned and a secret Sith Temple has been raised.”
Riverdale
Betty and Jughead investigate a murder in the trailer for next week’s episode of Riverdale, “The Ice Storm.”
Nancy Drew
Finally, Nancy Drew holds a seance in the trailer for next week’s episode, “The Tale of the Fallen Sea Queen.”.
Banner art by Jim Cooke.