Guillermo del Toro acknowledges a very familiar voice in the Pacific Rim trailer and updates us on two long-simmer projects. Rachel Weisz explains the delights of evil in Oz the Great and Powerful. Plus the latest Man of Steel image! And tons of hints for Evil Dead, Revolution and Once Upon a Time!
Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Pacific Rim.
Man of Steel
Here's the full version of a recently released promo image from Zack Snyder's Superman movie. [Coming Soon]
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Original X-Men star Famke Janssen confirms she wants to return for Bryan Singer's latest X-Men movie, though she does understand why that might not work:
"I'm sitting by the phone waiting, call me up Bryan! I think their challenge is that I died as Jean Grey and I died as the Phoenix, so what else can they do. If they bring a younger version back, they'll have to get a younger actress, so what is there left to do?"
Fair enough really, though if there's any superhero that can come back from the dead like it's no big thing, surely it's all of them the one called Phoenix. [Coming Soon]
Pacific Rim
Director Guillermo del Toro confirms that he cast Ellen McLain as the A.I. in the movie because of her iconic role as GLaDOS in the Portal games, though that connection won't be nearly as explicit in the film as it was in the trailer:
"I wanted very much to have her, because I'm a big Portal fan. But just as a wink. She's not cake-obsessed. She's not out to destroy humanity. I said, ‘Look, there's no A.I. I'd rather have than GlaDOS. The filter we're using [in the film] is slightly less GLaDOS. Slightly. The one in the trailer I wanted to be full-on GlaDOS."
Oz the Great and Powerful
The Incredible Hulk
ABC's long-planned Hulk TV show seems to have taken a total backseat to Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. show, and Guillermo del Toro pretty much confirms the thing is in hibernation for the time being:
"After 'The Avengers' there's been complete radio silence. I had one more meeting after 'Avengers' with Jeph Loeb from Marvel and he said, 'We're working on it, we're waiting for a writer,' he gave me the name of the writer and their resume and I said, 'That sounds great, let's wait for him' because we had delivered a teleplay and I haven't heard since then."
Revolution
Executive producer J.J. Abrams says that just because the show has reintroduced power, that doesn't mean the show can't go back to energy-free storytelling (yeah... there's probably a better way to phrase that):
"The genie is put-back-in-the-bottle-able. They are able to tell stories that will give us these moments and peaks that you know this power exists, and this power is out there, and it's a part of what this incredible struggle is and the conflict that you'll see. You'll be able to see that really what the goal is, is that the power is possible. Will it remain on constantly all the time way too early? Based on what Eric has brilliantly pitched to us, the answer is no."
There's more at the link, including creator Eric Kripke's promise that the show will eventually travel beyond the Monroe Republic to Georgia and the West. [TV Guide]
The rest of the first season has been pared down from twelve episodes to ten, which is likely a result of some budgetary concerns and a need to fit an uninterrupted block of episodes into NBC's schedule. And since they're for some reason locked into the March 25 premiere thing, that doesn't leave them a whole of room to squeeze in ten episodes, let alone a dozen. [The Futon Critic]
Once Upon a time
Here's a promo for this Sunday's episode, "The Outside."
Terriers star Michael Raymond-James has confirmed via Twitter that he will be back as Neal Cassidy for episode 14, and he should be sticking around for the rest of the season. He also says that the third season is a possibility, but it all depends on scheduling. [TV Line]
An upcoming two-parter will flashback to Snow White's childhood — meaning Bailee Madison will reprise her first season role as young Snow White — and introduce Snow White's mother, who according to showrunner Adam Horowitz "has a surprising connection to someone we know." Fellow showrunner Edward Kitsis adds:
"The Snow White story usually begins with the stepmother trying to get rid of her, so we thought it would be fun to explore what Snow's mom was like. Her name is Eva, and she's the person who taught Snow White how to be Snow White."
[TV Guide]
Edward Kitsis previews Regina's arc the rest of the way:
I think the tragedy, obviously, is that Regina was telling the truth. At the moment things got hairy, no one believed in Regina, which just shows to Regina that these people will really never forgive her. I think that makes her susceptible to her mom. I would say watch out.
That begs the question of whether Regina could ever find happiness. Can she ultimately survive the story of Once Upon a Time?
That is the question of the series. That is Regina's character question. Will she find her happy ending? Unfortunately, she hasn't. Of all the characters, it's funny, she may have inflicted the most harm, and yet she has had the most harm inflicted to her.How will Regina act towards her mother? Will she seek her mother's affection or will she figure out Cora concocted the fake murder of Jiminy?
I would have to say keep watching. That is an interesting question and it really is, how persuasive is Cora? And how receptive is Regina? But deep down, every child wants their parent's love, and deep down, everyone wants their parent's respect and approval. Unfortunately, she has a hard choice because she wants her mother to love her, but in the same respect, she fears her mother and wanted her [to go] away. She wants to be with Henry and wants to go straight.
There's plenty more at the link. [TV Guide]
Elsewhere, Kitsis says not to expect an appearance from Ariel of The Little Mermaid fame this season:
"Probably not this season. We've taken a lot of toys off the shelf, so we're probably not going to see her this year. We do have a plan for her, if there is a Season 3."
[KSiteTV]
Defiance
Syfy's upcoming series, which sounds in the best-case scenario like Deadwood with aliens, will reportedly premiere on April 15. [TV Line]
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.