Robert Downey, Jr. discusses his future — or possibly, lack thereof — as Iron Man. Winter Soldier creator Ed Brubaker has some high praise indeed for the new Captain America film. Could the writer of Iron Man 2 play Dr. Strange? Plus Doctor Who, Continuum, Once Upon a Time, and more! Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto offer brief encapsulations of their respective characters' journeys:
Pine: In this installment, we see Kirk earn the [captain's] chair. I think you can expect a lot more vulnerability from this young man.
Quinto: It is an erroneous notion that [Spock] doesn't have an emotional life. Spock's journey in this film is learning how to honor that emotional life.
Iron Man 3
Just a heads up — if you don't enjoy actors candidly discussing their uncertainty about how long they will keep playing certain roles, you probably want to stop listening to Robert Downey, Jr. for the foreseeable future. He's still mulling over how much longer he will play Tony Stark, and it sounds like he legitimately has no idea when he will leave. It apparently all goes back to the ankle injury he suffered on the Iron Man 3 set:
It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up. How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun? Because, as quiet as it's kept, I come from a family of very innovative writers and directors and actors and artists, and the circle of friends they were in were the people I heard having pun-offs playing poker at two in the morning, and it was just the most comforting aspect of my childhood. So there's this kind of legacy of souls from what I consider to be a very particular time in entertainment, and I'm sensing a return to that-it's what me and the missus are doing next. It's not unlike: I heard Brady signed on for three more years with New England, and then he's done being a QB, because he'll be 40. I'm 47, and I'll be 50.
So that's the line in your head at the moment?
Yeah, roughly.
So what stops at 50? Superheroes?
I don't know. I don't know. Right now I don't have a contract to do anything, and I did for the last five years.
[GQ]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Comics writer Ed Brubaker, who created the Winter Soldier storyline and is just generally one of the best at what he does, offers some high praise for the upcoming sequel, particularly for its directors, Joe and Anthony Russo:
But no, I got to go out to Marvel Studios a couple months ago and read one of the later drafts of the script. I went out to dinner with [directors Joe and Anthony Russo] and talked about the project and gave them feedback on what I liked or didn't like or what parts didn't work. I mean, the script I read was fucking fantastic. It was the best Marvel movie. It was really strange because [the script] feels like my comic while not really telling the same story as my comic. It's got moments here and there where I was like, ‘hey, I wrote that.' But mostly, it's not what people think it's going to be. But the tone of it was so close to what [artist] Steve [Epting] and I were doing on that comic in the first few years, where it feels like an espionage story almost more than a superhero story [and] there's tons of action in it. I can't wait to see what they do with it.
Really, it's just that the Russos are fans of my comics and wanted me to come see what they were doing. I got to see the production art and stuff, which looks amazing. And I knew the screenwriters, I met them at the last Captain America movie and we kept in touch. I live in L.A. now and work here so I've seen those guys a little bit. I'm going to get to go out to the set a couple of times during the filming. I requested if I could come out for one of [Robert] Redford's days because he's an honorary Brubaker and I wanted to meet him. But yeah, I think I'm going to get to go out sometime during the last week of April for a day and then I'll be there for part of the filming in May. I'll get to watch some stuff. But really it's just the Russos and Kevin [Feige] being cool and letting me come to see stuff that I created get filmed. It's pretty awesome. But I wouldn't say I'm involved or anything. I'm not a consultant or anything like [Brian Michael] Bendis was.
Check out the link for more on Brubaker's upcoming comics work, plus his possibly tongue-in-cheek hopes for a Winter Soldier cameo. [Paste Magazine]
The Avengers 2
Writer-director Joss Whedon confirms the sequel should begin filming in February 2014, and he talks generally about the new film's story:
We should start shooting I think in February… I didn't think I was going to do the second but I had an idea for it before I'd figured out the first one. You go into a movie not assuming there's going to be… I've seen plenty of movies that were the first part of the trilogy that never happened and it's terrible. You don't save anything for the trip back. Having said that, though, I did sort of know, "Well, if they were to come back, I know what's going to happen… It's going to be awful."
[ET Online via Bleeding Cool]
Doctor Strange
Take this with a grain of salt, but Marvel Studios is reportedly looking at another potential actor to play its Sorcerer Supreme. The new candidate is rumored to be Justin Theroux, who beyond his various acting roles (which range from American Psycho to Parks & Recreation) actually wrote the script for Iron Man 2, so he's potentially fairly well-versed with all things Marvel. There's probably nothing to this story — and even if there were, there's no guarantee that Theroux would actually end up being cast. Still, on the off-chance this turns out to be legit, let's just hope Marvel Studios has more luck here than the last time they hired a leading man who is also a writer. [CHUD]
Oblivion
Morgan Freeman discusses his new movie, in which he stars alongside Tom Cruise:
One of the themes that is stand out in this film is the love story. It's not like one we've seen before. And then, there's the awesome technology. That Bubbleship can be remotely controlled. Remember the point where there's the emergency return to base? It's like, "Oh, really?" I agree with you that this is one, unlike many we've seen, maybe any we've seen prior, that's very intelligent and extremely creative. Joseph designed these doggone toys. Awesome. I mean, those drones are things you can't believe, but there they are, believable.
When you first read the script, what aspect of your character appealed to you the most and why?
When I first read it, they talk about the mysteriousness of this group that at the outset you don't see. They're there, but you don't see them. And then, when they are finally revealed, they're the good guys, and I'm their leader.
There's more at the link. [Collider]
Transformers 4
Director Michael Bay has revealed that Stanley Tucci, who has displayed a recent flair for blockbusters with appearances in Captain America and The Hunger Games, will join the cast for the fourth Transformers movie. There's no word yet on who Tucci will play. [/Film]
G.I. Joe 3
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — who seems like the sort of guy you doubt at your own peril — promises another G.I. Joe movie will happen, and it will be the best of the bunch (which may or may not be a particularly high bar to clear):
What we would love to do with the sequel to G.I. Joe, which will definitely happen-we set ourselves up nicely with this past G.I. Joe because we really paid attention with respected homage to the mythology. And now that we've redesigned that foundation of the mythology, there are many places to go. There are phenomenal G.I. Joe characters who we can bring to life, we're all talking about it now, and certainly [thinking about] using the 3D platform in even better ways for the next one, so, I'm very excited about that.
[Collider]
Doctor Who
Here are two promos for this Saturday's episode, "Hide." You can also check out a bunch of promo photos from the episode right here. [Den of Geek]
Chris Chibnall — who is probably never going to live down his work on the early seasons of Torchwood but has written a bunch of decent to very good Doctor Who episodes — says he has been asked to work on season eight:
You know, I hope to, and Steven's been good enough to ask, so we'll just see if all the schedules figure out and stuff like that. But it's always lovely to be on the list for that.''
Chibnall is the first writer other than Steven Moffat to mention potentially working on season eight. [Cultbox]
Revolution
NBC has confirmed that, because Monday night's episode was preempted for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, all subsequent episodes will air a week later than planned, with the season finale now airing on June 3. [SpoilerTV]
Once Upon a Time
Co-creator Edward Kitsis discusses what's ahead for Mr. Gold:
"We understand that Rumple and/or Mr. Gold is a man who has darkness inside him, and all season he's been searching for the light, for a way to be better now that his son is in town. And we also know there is a prophecy that said Henry would be his ‘undoing', and he said to the seer, ‘Well, I'll just kill him.' But now that it's his grandson, he's facing a conundrum, and Belle has always been the person who's brought out the best in him. What ‘Lacey' does is watch Rumple struggle with his inner demon."
[TV Line]
Continuum
Here's a new promo for the second season. The official description for the upcoming season is below.
In search for answers, Kiera continues her uneasy alliance with Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Webster), and season two sees her grapple with the big question that closed the first season – why was she sent back in time? While Alec (Knudsen) struggles to understand the implications of the mysterious message he received from his future self, the Liber8 terrorists become more strategic and even more lethal as they seek to ward off what they see as the seeds of a disastrous future.
In the season two premiere entitled "Second Chances," an in-hiding Kiera must resurface and reunite with Carlos to solve a murder when the Mayor is killed in a brazen assassination. Trying to reconnect with Alec in an attempt to salvage their strained relationship, Kiera finds he’s changed since reading the message from his future self.
Continuum also stars Lexa Doig (V, Stargate SG-I), Omari Newton (Blue Mountain State, Sophie) and Luvia Petersen (The L Word).
And here's a synopsis for the second episode, "Split Second":
Kiera and Carlos's reunion is a bumpy one as they attempt to thwart Liber8's brazen hijacking of a prison transfer. Meanwhile, Kellog approaches Alec with an enticing partnership proposition. The young genius is tempted, but will it lead him down a dark path?
Teen Wolf
The eleventh episode of season three will reportedly be called "Alpha Pact." [SpoilerTV]
Hemlock Grove
Bill Skarsgard discusses his role in the upcoming Netflix horror series:
I play Roman Godfrey, who's a son of the Godfrey family. Basically the Godfrey family runs Hemlock Grove town; they used to do it throughout the steel industry, but then my dad on the show decided to change that. When the steel industry was going out, he started investing in biotechnology, so it's an old steel town that's now very weird high tech. It has a grungy Pennsylvania look to it, but in the middle of this town there's a huge white tower where all of this biotechnology is happening. So my character is from that background. He's a prince in the town. He gets whatever he wants. He's very wealthy, obviously, and good looking. So on paper, everything's given to him, he's had an easy life, but he's battling a lot of demons inside him and he's not happy at all. The only one that he cares for and loves is his sister Shelley, who's a special character as well.
Is he a bad person?
I wouldn't say that he is. He's doing bad things on the show, but personally I don't believe in bad people. I think there's always a reason for people acting badly. For me, I care for Roman a lot. I love that guy. I love that character. I think that's important for me to be able to portray that character, to find that deep bond and care for them as well. So I wouldn't say that he's bad. He's a victim in a lot of ways.
There's a bunch more at the link. [Collider]
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.