- Russell Crowe Flies Out of ‘Man of Steel’ Sequel

He's blaming a change in direction (aka; Batman), but surely dwelling on the long dead parents wouldn't really service anyone but Crowe himself. We've had an abundance of it across all the Superman films -- it's the thing most people have always wanted to move on from. It's about damn time!

- Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey & Tao Okamoto Join Snyder's "Man of Steel" Sequel

Crowe's exit makes a lot of room in the Ark.

- OFFICIAL: "Captain America 3" to Challenge "Man of Steel 2" on May 6, 2016

Interesting sequel development. Gotta think someone (coughWARNERcough) will choke and shift the date before May 6th. With so many damned superhero movies, it's almost a wonder this hasn't been an issue before. I guess it took the second horse in the race to actually get running -- and even then, there's got to be a bit of the House of Assholes at play here. Of course, the way the Superman sequel is bloating by the day, they might actually need to push things back. Lucky them.

See also; Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014 film)

- RUMOR: Holly Hunter Allies With Batman in ‘Batman Vs. Superman’

"Although good guesses, they are different guesses from how LR has heard the wheel is turning. We think Holly Hunter is going to be playing Leslie Thompkins, or a Leslie Thompkins replacement character."

Fair enough.

- Dwayne Johnson Talks Up ‘Hercules,’ Teases ‘Badass’ DC Comics Role [Mar. 25, 2014]

Johnson didn’t limit the discussion to Hercules, as he also tackled his attachment to a couple of storied DC Comics characters. When asked about his long-rumored role as Green Lantern John Stewart, he responded, “So, you know, there’s been mutual interest with myself and DC for many years to find the right character. I, like everyone here in the room, love superheroes. So there’s been mutual interest with us for years, and we’ve been having ongoing discussions, myself and DC, for years about the right character, what the right character would be. That’s another thing, too: It had to be right.”

When pressed for which role he was in talks to play, Johnson cryptically responded with three qualities of the character.

“The first quality we were looking for was that he had to be extremely complex and have a lot going on,” he said. “What that does for me as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his complexities.

“The other quality was that he had to – the character we were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still pay homage to who he is.”

“The third thing – and most important – is he had to be a badass motherfucker, OK, and on a Superman level of power, where [he] could throw down. In those three qualities, I’m happy we’ve found that character.”

- 'Justice League' Movie Taking Shape At Warner Bros. [Mar. 31, 2014]

As Batman and Superman prepare to don cowl and capes for the filming of the sequel to 2013′s superhero blockbuster Man of Steel, Warner Bros. moves closer to finalizing their future plans for an extended DC Comics cinematic super-universe. Those plans have long been assumed to include a Justice League superhero team-up film featuring a larger cast of characters, and The New York Times profile this weekend on Warner’s recently crowned new CEO Kevin Tsujihara seems to confirm the assumptions.

- David S. Goyer Is Interested in ‘Green Lantern’ Movie [Mar. 31, 2014]

“I would love to do ‘Green Lantern,’” Goyer said when asked about “Man of Steel’s” depiction of an alien world versus that of “Green Lantern.” “I really wanted to showcase Krypton as a truly alien world. That was one of the things I wanted to do from the beginning when I got involved in the project. At his heart, Superman’s always been a science fiction story. I wanted to lean into that, and so did Chris, and so did Zack, so I was just glad we were able to.”

- David Goyer Says ‘It’s Too Early’ For a Cohesive DC Cinematic Universe [April 9, 2014]

David S. Goyer, who wrote Man of Steel and its follow-up and is producing NBC’s Constantine, says it may be a little too soon to plot such a tightly interconnected DC Cinematic Universe.

“I mean, it’s too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive,” he tells IGN. “There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it’s really, really early. I’m not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I’m not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It’s just been vague conversations so far.”

With Wonder Woman booked for the movie, a swelling supporting cast full of Bat-characters, and Justice League rumors constantly tacking onto the Man of Steel sequel, it's interesting to see how the situation is being addressed. On the surface, there may be some mixed messages, but you could also look at it as a whittling toward a plausible way forward: TV & movies separate; individual tent pole franchises; strong Justice League focus.

- 'Batman Vs Superman': Is This The First Photo From Set?

Apparently Batman on Film picked up on the possibility of this being the first Batman vs Superman set photo:



Not much to go on, but the going theory is that the gentleman on the far right is indeed Ben Affleck.

- Exclusive Interview With Zack Snyder, Director Of 'Batman Vs. Superman'

I gotta be honest, it definitely was a thing that... after Man of Steel finished and we started talking about what would be in the next movie, I started subtly mentioning that it would be cool if he faced Batman. In the first meeting, it was like, “Maybe Batman?” Maybe at the end of the second movie, some Kryptonite gets delivered to Bruce Wayne’s house or something. Like in a cryptic way, that’s the first time we see him. But then, once you say it out loud, right? You’re in a story meeting talking about, like, who should [Superman] fight if he fought this giant alien threat Zod who was basically his equal physically, from his planet, fighting on our turf... You know, who to fight next? The problem is, once you say it out loud, then it’s kind of hard to go back, right? Once you say, “What about Batman?” then you realize, “Okay, that’s a cool idea. What else?” I mean, what do you say after that? ...But I’m not gonna say at all that when I took the job to do Man of Steel that I did it in a subversive way to get to Batman. I really believe that only after contemplating who could face [Superman] did Batman come into the picture.

The thing also that’s really fascinating for me is that, even just in the tests we’ve been doing, the costumes, right? You basically have Batman and Superman — and this is without Ben [Affleck] and Henry [Cavill] in the costumes, but just like the stand-ins, just testing to see what the costumes look like. And you have them standing there and they’re standing in the same shot — and then we have Wonder Woman, you know, all three of them in the same shot. Even just for a test, you really have to go, “Wow, that’s crazy!” Not only is it the first time that I’m seeing them, it’s the first time they’ve ever existed together on screen in a movie. And that’s kind of a huge deal. Even just Batman and Superman standing next to each other... [I]t’s kind of epic. You do sort of sense the weight of the pop culture iconography jumping out of its skin when you’re standing there looking at the two of them and Wonder Woman. It’s crazy. But it’s fun. I mean, I have the first photo, I’ve got it in my archive because I was like, “Okay, I better keep this, it’s gonna be worth something,” [laughs]!

Whole lot more in the article. Appetizer ahead of the hard news.

- Ray Fisher to Play Cyborg In ‘Batman-Superman’ (EXCLUSIVE)

After testing actors over the past couple of weeks, Warner Bros. and DC have tapped theater actor Ray Fisher for the role of Cyborg in the untitled Batman-Superman pic.

Victor Stone or Cyborg, while not a major part in the Batman-Superman feature, is a member of the Justice League, and the role will become much more significant role as Warner and DC develop more films related to the Justice League universe, sources confirm.

There's a little part of me that wonders, dependent on the content, if this wouldn't have been a sweet cameo for John Henry Irons. A Superman character for a Superman[?] movie.

- 'Justice League' movie to follow 'Batman/Superman' in 2018

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the studio’s production president Greg Silverman confirmed that Zack Snyder would follow-up his 2016 Batman/Superman movie with this one, delivering Justice League to theaters sometime in 2018.

“It will be a further expansion of this universe,” Silverman told reporter Ben Fritz. “Superman vs Batman will lead into Justice League.”

- Get In Line, Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. Has A Shazam Movie To Make First

Gotta take the good with the bad, in this one.

Tweeted by the director with the message: "Could be time to pull the tarp...Tomorrow?"

Then this happened...



Not that you can't find it posted everywhere on the internet.

I have edited the original image. Others have quickly joined this craze. Hope you like it!

...

I dig it. Might've gone a little light on the grey, but I like it.

Really hope there's a black/grey contrast in the final look. Doesn't look like it in the monochrome, but it's kinda hard to tell. Might just be very dark grey.

I really like. It looks like Dark Knight returns skin from Arkham City:


Overall I'm really liking the direction they are taking with new Batman design.

... Which looks like the Dark Knight Returns design...

Too much Miller.

I'm not a big fan of the fat Miller logo, but I will gladly take it if it means finally getting a gray cloth Batsuit in a movie.

Hopefully this influences all future attempts as well and we never go back to the black rubber or jagged Nolan armor again.

- Jesse Eisenberg Talks Lex Luthor Role in Batman vs. Superman

IGN: Will you be bald?

Eisenberg: I'm not allowed to say anything, because of their privacy.

Whose privacy, I wonder. The strands of hair he would be displacing from his scalp? The larger bald community? So many questions!

Eisenberg: The character's really good, so it's like doing anything else. They make a lot of those movies, so if you're an actor in things, you will probably cross paths with it at some point. But the character's written really well. It's a really great role. The fact that it's in a big movie, you know, it seems like a character that would be in any kind of movie. It just happens to be in a bigger, flashier kind of thing.

- ‘Batman vs. Superman’: Jesse Eisenberg Explains Why He’s Playing Lex Luthor

Fans of Eisenberg's usual speech syntax will enjoy these slightly different words about slightly different topics.

- Kevin Smith Explains Why His ‘Batman ’66′ Comic Won’t Be Like Batfleck

All you have to do to see Ben in the costume is turn to the pages of Frank Miller’s seminal “Dark Knight Returns,” where Batman’s beating the s**t out of the Joker in the Tunnel of Love? That’s what the suit looks like.

There’s a lot of people talking about how monochrome it was, saying, “Oh, it is like Christian Bale’s because it’s all one color. That’s not the case. Look, Zack put up a monochrome picture. It’s a black and white photo. I saw a lot of people on the Internet saying, “It’s all one color, what’s the big deal?”

Having seen the actually seen the original photo in color, not that one, but the first picture — like, when I saw that picture go online I had never seen it before, I said, “Oh, that’s bad-ass.” But I knew what it looked like because of a different picture he showed me, it was all in color, lit under studio lights. But you could see everything.

I’m seen some pictures online where people have taken the Batmobile image, and blown it up, gone into the detail. Some people have color corrected it if you will. It is spellbinding. There are some people grousing, but that costume is the smart way to go. Number one, it’s a crowd favorite, a big fan favorite. Anyone who knows “Dark Knight Returns,” and that’s a lot of people at this point thanks for the work being out for years, and also the cartoon movie, that’s the Batman costume we’ve always dreamed about seeing in cinema.

So knowing that it’s color-coded correctly, some cats going, “I hear it’s blue,” I’d be all for that, but it’s not. The one I saw looks like in “Dark Knight Returns.” That’s why I hugged Zack Snyder, I was like, “Oh my god, dude, you gave me that suit — I’m gonna see that suit on screen before I die.” I know I live in the First World, so that’s a pretty low goal to have for a lot of people, but for me that was huge. I don’t live very healthy. I never thought I’d see that Batsuit on screen, and now we’ve seen the image of it.

And to top it all off, the man who wore the suit? I know him. I’ve seen his balls. I know that guy, it’s crazy.

I would've liked a simple, "It's grey and black." Interesting input, though.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice then..

Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue but I like it.

- "Man of Steel" Sequel Has a Title, Logo: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"



Press Release:
CAMERAS ROLL ON DIRECTOR ZACK SNYDER’S "BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE" FROM WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Principal photography is underway in Metro Detroit, Michigan

BURBANK, CA, May 21, 2014 – Filming is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures' "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," the highly anticipated action adventure from director Zack Snyder, starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as BruceWayne/Batman.

"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from "Man of Steel," Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film.

"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

Principal photography will take place on location at Michigan Motion Picture Studios and on location in and around Detroit, Michigan; Illinois; Africa; and the South Pacific.

Set to open worldwide on May 6, 2016, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.

What a mouthful of a name.
Superman receives second billing in his own sequel. LOL.

- What A Joker! Adrien Brody Wants In On Justice League Role

I would do it if I feel I can contribute something valuable and that the role would be interesting to me because they're long journeys. To me, the villains are way fun! But they don't offer me those roles. If there is an opportunity to do something like that and play a comic book hero or villain, that's not something I'm fundamentally opposed to.

He was always a guy I'd like to see wearing a purple suit. Would be nice to take the opportunity of the new franchise to finally go in that cartoon direction with it, even if it's just the look.