Carrie Fisher once again confirms that she will be in Star Wars: Episode VII. Michael Shannon reveals why he's so excited about General Zod in Man of Steel. Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx are spotted in an Amazing Spider-Man 2 set video. An Oscar nominee joins the latest incarnation of American Horror Story. It's all spoilers!
Top image from Game of Thrones.
Star Wars: Episode VII
Because Carrie Fisher is well past the point in her career where she gives a shit about things like official casting announcements, she once again decided to confirm that, yes, she will be back as Princess Leia in the new Star Wars movie. Here's a quote from a recent appearance at the Calgary Comic Expo:
“I like being bought by Disney, because they never wanted to buy me before. I’m glad they are doing a new movie because they are sending a trainer to my house so I can get in really good shape. So I’m really eating a lot of sugar in advance, as you can see. By the time I really get down to it I will have eaten everything.”
So then, let's start the countdown for her publicist's latest halfhearted denial. I'm guessing we'll be cycling through this story a couple dozen more times before Disney makes her return official. [Calgary Herald]
The Avengers 2
Writer-director Joss Whedon hints at how he will use Thanos, who was unveiled in a mid-credits scene in The Avengers:
Well, Thanos is more powerful. He is so powerful he is not someone you can just try out and punch him. Like he did in the comics, you want him to threading through the universe and to save the big finale for ‘the big finally’. He is definitely a part of what I have got going on. The thing about the Avengers is that they are very powerful but not very stable. So, there will definitely be some people that will shake them up in the next installment.
There's been quite a lot of speculation based on that quote — which really doesn't sound like it was transcribed entirely accurately, but that's neither here not there — that Whedon is holding back Thanos until The Avengers 3, because that's somehow the big finale of the Marvel cinematic universe.
Honestly, that doesn't seem like even remotely the most plausible interpretation; more likely, Whedon is suggesting that the Avengers won't take on Thanos directly until the final act of The Avengers 2, and in the rest of the movie they will fight his underlings, because Thanos is just too powerful for them to fight throughout the movie. So, unless we get some major clarification on this quote, I'd say this is just minor plot information about how Thanos and the supporting bad guys will fit into The Avengers 2, rather than news about The Avengers 3, which I'm not even entirely sure Whedon is signed on to work on at this point. [Desde Hollywood]
Meanwhile, if you're looking for an even wilder brand of speculation, here's an article that posits we're headed towards a West Coast Avengers spin-off of some sort.
Iron Man 3
Here's a TV spot.
Man of Steel
General Zod actor Michael Shannon shares his excitement for the new Superman movie:
It's going to blow everybody's socks off. And I know they're probably pissed off, like I'm jinxing it or something and I shouldn't say that. I'll knock on wood just out of deference to the gods, but the movie is solid. It's gonna get the job done.
This is your first big superhero movie. Was it weird going from being in that odd-looking CGI suit to seeing the final product?
It's exhilarating. It's what Zack [Snyder] promised would happen, you know? Because I remember the first couple of days I was on set, I thought This is ridiculous. I look like an idiot. I don't look anything like General Zod. I'm a total failure. I went over to the screen for playback and it was ridiculous. All of us were wearing pajamas, basically. And there was this neon green set of stairs that was supposed to be our spaceship. So you see us all marching down these neon green stairs in our pajamas and I'm like, "This looks like a Monty Python skit." And he's like, "I know right now it looks pretty silly, but, two years from now, it's going to look like the most badass thing you've ever seen in your life." And he's right.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Here's a set video featuring stars Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx, the latter of whom joins the franchise as Max Dillon, alias Electro. [Coming Soon]
Monsters University
Director Dan Scanlon discusses the apparent continuity error at the heart of the premise for this Monsters, Inc. prequel, as the original movie suggested Mike and Sulley had known each other since fourth grade, when in this film they meet for the first time at college. Here's his explanation:
Well in the first film, uh, they actually say you’ve been jealous of my good looks since fourth grade. And in the teaser they go on and on about fifth grade. So that was something we talked about early on. We chose college because we wanted to see their relationship develop when they were adults and not just still be more or less similar to the characters we remember from the first film. And we also felt like college is so much about self-discovery and figuring out who you are. It just felt like the perfect place to do this, but we had that line, you know, that line was out there. So we tried versions where they met young and then we kind of skipped ahead to college. And we knew we didn’t want to make Monsters Elementary. We had no interest in that. Honestly it became a thing where you sort of felt like you were missing the relationship grow, because you jumped ahead any way we sliced it.
Check out the link for more, as he explains precisely how Monsters University coyly acknowledges the line about fourth grade. [/Film]
Game of Thrones
Here's a promo for the next episode, "The Climb." A synopsis for the episode is included below. [Coming Soon]
Robb considers a compromise to mend his alliance with House Frey; Melisandre visits the Riverlands; Tywin plans strategic unions for the Lannisters; Jaime's fate is in Roose Bolton's hands; Jon prepares for a dangerous climb with the Wildings.
True Blood
Here's a promo for the upcoming sixth season. [EW]
Here's a teaser for episode nine, courtesy of SpoilerTV:
True Blood episode 6.09 will be called "Life Matters" and a few co-star roles are being cast, including a crazy vampire, a sickly vampire, and a male vampire who is the sickly vampire's progeny.
Grimm
Star David Giuntoli previews the next episode, "Endangered," which airs tonight as the show shifts to its new Tuesday time slot:
"The Captain will be giving me a stern Captain-esque lecture about my history and the Royals, and why they want me and me in particular. We’re going to be seeing something very paranormal — I want to say almost X-Files-y — that is not a standard Grimms fairy tale, almost like we’re dealing with what people on Earth think are aliens, but we tell you what they really are, the real explanation for them."
Check out the link for a clip from the episode. [EW]
Once Upon a Time
Here's a sneak peek at the eight opening minutes of the next episode, "Second Star to the Right."
And here's a promo for the episode. [KSiteTV]
Orphan Black
Here's the synopsis for this Saturday's episode, "Variations Under Domestication":
Sarah’s hunt for answers is interrupted by a trip to the suburbs. Alison’s paranoia has boiled over, putting all the Orphans at risk. But when Sarah, Alison and Beth’s worlds dangerously collide, Sarah must decide who to trust with her secret.
American Horror Story: Coven
Precious star Gabourey Sidibe is joining the third, witch-focused season of the FX series in an unspecified role. [@MrRPMurphy]
Warehouse 13
Showrunner Jack Kenny discusses the overall story of the upcoming season 4.5 as well as the show's longer-term future:
We start the arc in Episode 1, and it’s an arc that goes through the whole season. It is not as heavy as last season because last season’s arc was all Artie (Saul Rubinek). So, it’s hard for that not to land in a major way, both on him and on everybody else. This season is an external character arc, so it’s a little easier to just tap on it, once in a while, like we do with HG. We tap on it, now and again. But, it is a solidly followed arc, and it does land very squarely in everybody’s lap at the end. We had Anthony Head come to join us, and our arc culminates in his discovery, in Episodes 8, 9 and 10. It lands very heavily in the characters’ laps. Myka (Joanne Kelly) goes through a very big life-changing event in Episode 7, and she and Pete (Eddie McClintock) have to deal with that. It’s very emotional. They keep it to themselves. That also explodes into the finale, and it drives things a lot. We are playing arcs, but we’re also doing the bag-and-tag of the week. We like to keep that engine going because that’s where a lot of the fun lives.
How are you going to be splitting the season up?
We have 10 episodes that are ready to air now, and then we’re waiting for our Season 5 pick-up. The writers have already started thinking of great new stories for Season 5. We’re looking at hopefully another 13. A lot of it will depend on the viewership numbers this season, how Defiance does, how do we do, how the other shows do, and what they have in development. But, I’m hoping that we can be around. This show could last forever because there’s an endless number of artifacts and stories to tell.
[Collider]
Elsewhere, Kenny and star Joanne Kelly discuss the ever-evolving relationship between Myka and H.G. Wells:
Joanne Kelly: Well obviously when we see H. G. you know kind of give her life for the warehouse it was a huge moment. I think there's a lot of confusion and I think that we see these women trying to connect and try to redefine themselves after the huge events that kind of have befallen them both. And I think that their relationship is kind of a constant journey. And I think H. G. will always kind of have a positive - I think there's something really nice about having two women as Jack mentioned earlier that aren't you know bitchy to each other, that two women yes women actually do like each other and sometimes can love, you know, and I don't think H. G. is ever a negative thing in Myka's world.
Jack Kenny: It's nice to see that each - it seems like each character makes the other one ask themselves really good questions about where they are in their life and what's going on. I know that in Episode 15 some issues come up between H. G. and Myka where Myka asks the way you would of a close friend that you really care about, she asks some tough questions. She raises some really tough issues with her about where she is and what she's doing and only someone who loves you can ask you those kind of questions without getting thrown out of the room.
Joanne Kelly: Yes definitely. I think it's any relationship between two people of the same sex, roughly the same age sometimes it's like looking in the mirror a little bit especially with your best friends, you know? You ask the questions maybe you can't ask yourself of the other person, you know? So I think it's a really interesting dynamic and I'm excited for the fans who are fan of that relationship to see that episode because I think they'll be very happy.
There's a bunch more at the link. [Media Boulevard]
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.