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Check out a new official synopsis of The Dark Knight Rises. Doctor Who adds another British acting legend in a guest role — and we've got the first pictures!
Game of Thrones keeps expanding its season three cast. Plus check out photos from The Walking Dead's prison!
Spoilers from here on out!
Top image from The Amazing Spider-Man.
The Dark Knight Rises
After what feels like years of offering up obviously fake Dark Knight Rises synopses that offered up about five movies worth of villains, including Dr. Hugo Strange, Alberto Falcone, and always, always, always The Riddler, it feels weirdly like cheating to pass along an actual, certified official Dark Knight Rises synopsis. And yet, here we are:
"Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' The Dark Knight Rises is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act. But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane."
Of course, that synopsis sounds like it mostly just covers what happened between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, leaving most of the movie's actual plot still up in the air. So, hey, feel free to speculate the Riddler is still going to somehow show up, just for old time's sake. [IGN]
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Also, here's the latest bit of viral marketing, a performance review of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's police officer John Blake. This may shock you, but the short version is that he's mostly an exceptional lawman, except he doesn't play well with others. Not that that description reminds me of any Batmen or anything. Anyway, click to expand out the image and get a closer look. [Comic Book Resources]
The Amazing Spider-Man
Director Marc Webb responds to the idea that his film is darker and more brooding than Sam Raimi's trilogy, suggesting it's really just more naturalistic:
People say that, but, to me, it's about treating it in a little more of a realistic way, whether emotionally or in terms of the action. It was certainly the intention, for me. I feel there's certain scenes in the movie I'm really proud of –- like when Peter comes home to Aunt May, he's got bruises on his face, she's concerned for him, and he tries to protect his identity — where there's great conflict. I felt if it wasn't in a Spider-Man movie, it could be in any other independent drama that I liked. I felt the nature of the performance in that scene illustrates my favorite parts about the movie, and I think the scenes between Gwen and Peter also contain that naturalism. For the first half of the movie you're really with the characters, where you feel there's more emotional stakes.
He also discusses Peter Parker's revised origin story, and why the character's trademark wisecracking sense of humor — something noticeably absent from the Raimi films — was so important to him:
It's an important question to talk about, because I think people are rightfully curious about that. The Peter Parker I imagined and cared about growing up is different from the version we've seen before. To start off in the middle of things would have been a disservice, and I didn't know how to do that. We had seen the origin of Spider-Man, but we hadn't seen the origin of Peter Parker. I kept going back to this moment making this movie, and it's the moment of Peter Parker being left behind by his parents, and, in my opinion, that's a more significant event in his life than the spider bite. Everything in the movie emerges from that moment, in terms of the narrative. Anyone who's experienced that type of abandonment is going to have a chip on their shoulder and distrust authority.
I wanted to find the origin and genesis of the wise-cracking Peter Parker I know. Anyone who knows comedians knows it's a defense mechanism and a method to be accepted in the group, and I thought that was something Peter would develop over his life. Ultimately, he's an outsider by choice, because he distrusts authority figures and has a rebel quality, which I felt was interesting to explore.
There's still plenty more at the link. [Film School Rejects]
The Ten O'Clock People
Live Free or Die Hard costar Justin Long and reportedly in talks to play the main role in an adaptation of this Stephen King short story. Long would play Brandon Pearson, whose attempts to quit smoking lead him to come face-to-face with terrifying aspects of reality he could not previously comprehend. [Deadline]
Doctor Who
Diana Rigg, best known for her supporting role in The Great Muppet Caper — fine, fine, also The Avengers and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but really, The Great Muppet Caper is where it's at — will guest star on an episode this series alongside her daughter Rachel Stirling. The pair are well-cast, insofar as they're both professional actors (always a plus) and they will be playing mother and daughter on the show, specifically a pair from the rural northern England county of Yorkshire who share a "dark secret."
According to Rigg, the script was written specially for them by longtime Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss, whose previous efforts include "The Unquiet Dead" and "Victory of the Daleks." The episode is currently filming, as you can see in these brand new set photos from WENN.com. (Which also feature Brendan Patricks, in an undisclosed role.) The one question is whether this is the same Mark Gatiss episode guest starring the great David Warner and Game of Thrones costar Liam Cunningham — or if Gatiss in fact has written two separate episodes for the second half of the series, much as Chris Chibnall wrote two different episodes for the first half. [BBC and WENN.com]
Game of Thrones
Charlotte Hope, whose credits so far have been limited to some supporting roles on British TV shows, has reportedly been cast for season three as a character called Myranda. This is slightly surprising because there isn't a Myranda in A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin's third book in the series, which is thought to be the main source material for this season and likely the following one as well. Den of Geek has a useful breakdown of the three most likely things this could mean:
1) That the first appearance of Myranda Royce, noblewoman and daughter to Lord Nestor Royce, is being fast-tracked from book four to season three
2) That Hope will be playing an entirely new character
3) She's to be a version of Mya Stone, the guide who accompanies Catelyn Stark on the treacherous path up to the Eyrie in book one.
I'd say options one or two is the most likely, with the edge probably going to number one, but there's plenty of room for uncertainty here. Also, there are rumors flying about of three more casting additions in unknown roles, with the most notable name probably being that of The Office and Pirates of the Caribbean actor Mackenzie Crook. Sarah Bolger, who played Queen Mary I on The Tudors, might end up joining her onscreen stepmother, Anne Boleyn actress Natalie Dormer, who plays Margaery Tyrell. Finally, Nathalie Emmanuel, who played Sasha Valentine on the British soap opera Hollyoaks for nearly two hundred episodes, is also reportedly up for a role. [Den of Geek]
True Blood
I don't think this was ever especially in doubt, but HBO has renewed the show for a sixth season, meaning the series will officially continue on after the departure of creator and showrunner Alan Ball. [BuddyTV]
The Walking Dead
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Here's one of the first photos inside season three's prison set, via Entertainment Weekly. You can check out another at the link, and here's showrunner Glen Mazzara on why he's so thrilled with the set:
"I'm incredibly proud of the prison. I think our crew has done a great job. It's a huge sense of scale and magnitude I haven't seen on any other show as far as construction. What's important to us is, the prison itself is now a character in the show. It's a haunted house, it's scary, it's frightening, and there are parts of the prison that are always terrifying, that are always inaccessible to our group. It's not necessarily the blessing that the prison in the comic book turned out to be."
[EW]
Grimm
Here's a poster promoting season two. You can also check out another, more stylized version at the link. [TV Line]
Revolution
Quick clarification on just how Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell will fit into J.J. Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke's show about a world without electrical devices. She is indeed playing Rachel Matheson, the mother of the show's two young main characters Charlie and Danny (and sister-in-law of Billy Burker's Miles Matheson), will reportedly appear only in flashbacks, although I'm guessing it's possible the show will ultimately reveal she's still alive, because that just feels like the sort of twist a show like this would do. [Deadline]
Supernatural
The third episode of the upcoming eighth season is reportedly called "Heartache." The episode will reportedly feature "a sweet 70-year-old lady with a very questionable past who helps out on a case." [Zap2It]
Primeval: New World
The Canadian spin-off of the British original is set to premiere later this year, and Niall Matter, Eureka's own Zane Donovan, is playing main character Evan Cross, described as "the enterprising inventor and visionary hero." Matter offers this preview of what to expect from the new show:
"Our moments with the dinosaurs are going to be a lot more real and higher stakes. It's got a harder edge that we walk on because every time we see these creatures it affects us in a huge way and we're never getting used to that. I feel like the original Primeval knew a lot more about the world that they were dealing with than we do."
He also explains how Cross's search for anomalies ended up costing him everything he held dear:
"He stumbles on one accidentally in 2006 when he's driving with his wife. He's not really sure what it is but he does know that it's creating radio interference so he goes to search for the source. He finds the building that is now Cross Photonics but he doesn't know he's going to buy it at that time. In that building he stumbles across one of these anomalies. In doing that, though, he loses the most important thing in his life."
[SciFiNow]
Additional reporting by Rob H. Dawson and Charlie Jane Anders.