BIG RUMOR: Sony's Leaked Casting Wish-List For SINISTER SIX

Another day and yes, another Spider-Man franchise rumor. The fate of Amazing Spider-Man 3 is pretty much known to us via leaked email exchanges, it's gone. However, Drew Goddard's Sinister Six hasn't been linked to getting cancelled. Actually it's been the opposite, with talk of it being the perfect launching-point for the reboot (via a pre-leak report by BadassDigest). Not to mention it being potentially the first collaboration between Marvel Studios and Sony for the rebooted franchise set within the MCU.

Before that is all worked out and made official an interesting piece of casting information has made it's way to ComicBookMovie. They are again claiming to have found more emails pertaining to Goddard's Sinister Six. This time involves Sony's ideas for the casting. The last name we had heard Sony wanted was Ryan Gosling when they put out feelers, when he voiced interest in the Ghostbusters reboot.

This potential casting wish-list seemingly reveals two villains previously never mentioned for the project. That would be Sandman and Scorpia who is the female version of hired goon The Scorpion. A female villain really hasn't been explored in a majority of comic book films, and I love the idea of using someone like Scorpia. Drew did an excellent job with the female lead in Cabin In The Woods, so I'm all for seeing more of his female characters. A lot of people (myself included) had assumed that Black Cat would be the female team member, that might not be the case. Although, Felicia Hardy is named-dropped but not her alter ego.

They mention that Sony wants Sandman to be the comedic relief and the casting seemingly reflects that since the names they were putting forward included a bunch of comedians. Including Danny McBride (Eastbound And Down, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, This Is The End), Jonah Hill (Moneyball, Wolf of Wall Street, Superbad, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street), Chris O'Dowd (IT Crowd, Bridesmaids, Thor The Dark World) and Shartlo Copley (District 9, Maleficent, Elysium, Chappie). Others included Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke from Planet of The Apes/Terminator franchises and Ant-Man's Michael Pena. The latter might be excluded depending on his Marvel contract.

My preference out of the bunch would be Danny McBride, as he'd make an excellent funny villain.

The ladies mentioned for the role of Scorpia include Emily Blunt (Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Into The Woods), Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair, Lone Ranger), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Terminator: Genesis) and Rose Bryne (Neighbors, Bridesmaids, 28 Weeks Later, X-Men First Class, Sunshine).

Amy Pascal would go on to make terrible comments about Blunt's weight in photos, so I assume that won't win the studio any favors. It's also possible that Emily Blunt is still on Marvel Studios wish-list for a female lead, let's hope that's Captain Marvel or Medusa in Inhumans. I feel like Blunt joining this franchise would be a huge waste of potential.

I'd have to root for Ruth Wilson, she deserves a lead role like this. Even though, I'd rather see her take a part in Marvel's main cinematic universe as Madame Hydra or Amora The Enchantress. If Marvel does get involved it could make for some interesting crossovers. I just think pairing her with Goddard could make for a scene stealing villainess.

Woody Harrelson (Zombieland, Hunger Games) is mentioned alongside Sean Penn as candidates for the role of Doc Ock who is said to be the group's leader. I doubt Penn would ever consider something like this. Woody has played dark villains previously films such as  Out of The Furnace and No Country For Old Men. It doesn't hurt he's widely popular from his role in the Hunger Games franchise. An actor able to balance both dramatic and comedy, a winning combo for a comic book villain. Let's not forget his amazing performance in HBO's True Detective, which sometimes get's overshadowed by McConaughey.

Oscar winning actor Colin Firth is mentioned for the role of Vulture, which I have zero issues with. Firth is seemingly able to balance both comedic and dramatic roles, and will take the plunge into comic book films with Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman.

Other names mentioned include Denzel Washington, Daniel Craig and George Clooney, I believe slightly out of their reach if you ask me. The big reveal was that they wanted Channing Tatum as Venom, but has already setup a franchise role as Gambit at Fox. Which would likely keep him from getting involved with competing comic book franchises. A cool casting choice though, I honestly wouldn't have minded Channing as Venom.

Another aspect is they are considering female versions of Venom and Carnage, which was explored in the comics. The female Carnage just happened to be Gwen Stacy, which could a way to bring the character back. The character Ann Weying, was the female version of Venom and could be apart of the female led spin-off.

A lot of the actors seem like bizarre choices in this piece and not mention Amy Pascal possibly making digs at actors like Emily Blunt, Idris Elba and Jared Leto. It could be real or completely made-up, the female versions of Venom and Carnage also sound weird to me. Since this isn't coming from a more reputable outlet take as a huge rumor for now. I'm shocked a casting list like this hasn't made waves over at TheDailyBeast. Names like Tatum and Jonah Hill could speak to Phil Lord and Chris Miller being candidates to take over the solo films.

Another aspect is that all this could be scrapped if Marvel steps-in, as their likely going to make their own casting choices. I'm sure suggestions like these would be taken into account, but I doubt previous working relationships with Sony will be top priority to Marvel. We also haven't heard if Drew Goddard will be sticking around, since I'm sure he's going to have to making a huge amount of rewrites to his existing script which was tied to Amazing Spider-Man 2.

SOURCE: COMICBOOKMOVIE

RUMOR: Marvel Studios Wants A Post-CIVIL WAR Teenaged SPIDER-MAN For Solo Reboot?

Take the following as a straight-up rumor, considering this isn't coming from DailyBeast. ComicBookMovie is claiming to have discovered an email from a Sony executive that reveals Marvel's plan for a Spider-Man reboot. That they don't want to have him involved with Captain America: Civil War, instead having him living in the wake of those events. Wanting Peter Parker to be a teenager still in high school and living in Queens with Aunt May.

I have to assume this means Peter gets his powers after Civil War, which would explain his absence in all the New York events in Phase 1-3 and Hell's Kitchen centric Netflix shows. A better angle than some unconvincing plot that would force Andrew's Spidey into the MCU.

I'm curious if Drew Goddard's (Daredevil, Cloverfield, Cabin In The Woods, The Martian) Sinister Six due out in 2016 will indeed be the first installment of this reboot. BadassDigest suggested this was the talk at the studio before the Sony leak, so it's extremely possible. CBM also mentions that Marvel wants a second solo film out in theatres before 2019. This makes obvious sense to keep pushing releases, I'm sure Sony would be ecstatic for that to happen.

The Russo Brothers are apparently angling to produce the new series of films, not directing. As they have four other large productions to focus on with Captain America: Civil War, The Gray Man, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Avengers: Infinity War Part 2. These films would likely stop them from making a Spider-Man solo outting before 2020. Which doesn't mean Spider-Man would be excluded from The Russos' Infinity War movies. I just don't see them jumping from Avengers/Captain America to focus on solo Spider-Man, outside of a producing role.

Potential directors for the reboot could include Sony darlings Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Lego Movie, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 1-2), as revealed in a leaked director's list that was pitched to the studio. It also included high-profiled directors such as Brad Bird, Edgar Wright, James Gunn and Joe Cornish. Lord/Miller have been linked to this reboot, replacing Marc Webb on Amazing Spider-Man 3 and even an animated Spidey feature. I'm sure Sony will be pitching the duo hard to Marvel.

They also claim that the first crossover into the Marvel cinematic universe could be with Avengers: Infinity War. Something I've been saying since the possible deal emerged, as we constantly keep hearing the ship has sailed on any major role. Infinity War would allow Parker's science knowledge and heroics to play equal parts, also allowing the origin of Venom to be explored.

This is seemingly yet another in a list of reasons why Andrew Garfield isn't returning as Peter Parker. Even with all the fan campaigns and twitter hashtags, it's never going to happen folks. That's mostly due to Sony's rumored (via LatinoReview) firing of Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield and even possibly removing producer Avi Arad from the franchise. Scrapping pretty much everyone involved with the current blundering series of films. The age range would also seemingly put fan-favorite Donald Glover out of the running. Hopefully Marvel and Sony still consider him for the on screen version of Miles Morales.



We haven't heard anything concerning names in the mix for the recasting but some interesting ones have been put out there on Twitter. I've been mentioning rising actor Tye Sheridan (Mud, Scouts vs Zombies, Yellow Birds, Dark Places, Tree of Life, Joe) for the role as he just turned eighteen making him a prime candidate for the teenage Peter Parker.

Another suggestion points to Maze Runner's Dylan O'Brien who is slowly getting some fan support and being in his early twenties could pull off a high school kid. Remember Jonah Hill was almost the same age as Seth Rogen when he took the lead role in Superbad. Let's just not mess around by hiring another actor pushing 30.

Slightly younger than Dylan is Logan Lerman (Gamer, Fury, Perks of Being A Wallflower, Percy Jackson, Noah), who revealed to press about being in early talks for the Spider-Man reboot. HitFix reported back in 2010 that they thought he was a lock for the first reboot. Deadline trashed the story with a direct quote from Sony, who hired Garfield instead. Four years later and we're still considering him for the role, which has some backing by LatinoReview. Here's what Logan told to AccessHollywood back in 2010.

“It’s just, you know, conversations are starting. It’s a long process with the studio and the producers and everything. But it’s definitely a project that I’m really interested in, of course. I’d love to focus on the human element a little bit more. It’d be such a fun experience.” 

Fan demand has possibly influenced Marvel's recent casting of fan-favorites Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther and Benedict Cumberbatch for Doctor Strange. Since both had huge backing of the online fan and blogging community. If Marvel indeed gets creative control, I'm sure they'll be keeping fan suggestions in mind during the recasting.

It's been rumored that Marvel's Kevin Feige will be attending the Sony's Spidey summit next month. Even more broad claims have been made that the deal has already been made, and the fine details just have to be worked-out between the two studios. I'm still in the belief it's only a sure thing when Marvel announces their involvement, which they haven't. Considering a deal hasn't been made don't expect Marvel or Sony to rush into casting just to put a Peter Parker cameo in Civil War either.

SOURCE: COMICBOOKMOVIE

Sony Wants Ryan Gosling For SINISTER SIX And Is The Role VENOM?

We've been hearing for weeks that studios have been talking with Ryan Gosling about comic book film roles. They included leads in Marvel's Doctor Strange and WB's Suicide Squad. Sony also wants Ryan Gosling for a superhero project, as Amy Pascal wanted to offer him an unknown role in Drew Goddard's Sinister Six. More fuel that Drew's film is still moving forward, but might need some Marvel re-tooling. Again, Drew is part of the Marvel Studios family via Daredevil and could easily work with Marvel and possible producers The Russo Brothers.

It was revealed yesterday that directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War have offered their producing services for future Spider-Man films. Something that Sony should pounce-on before they change their minds.

This is actually the first casting tidbit we've had concerning Sinister Six. We've been hearing for a while that Six could include a "soft-reboot" of the franchise via BadassDigest. Marvel stating they want a complete reboot and recasting Peter Parker, this sort of makes a lot of sense. I highly doubt Sony wanted him as a new Spider-Man, since the actor is even older than Andrew Garfield. It's been said that Garfield could have already been fired from the franchise.

There are plenty of other roles in Six that could have in mind for movie including the six characters and the rumored villain/hero of the film Venom. I'm going to speculate that Venom might have be the kind of role that would be worth offering to Gosling. I don't see him agreeing to play one of the regular villains. Venom is a role that lends itself to major crossovers with the existing Marvel cinematic universe, since it's very possible that Marvel could get involved with future projects. Six hasn't started shooting it's probable this could be the first film in the collaboration.

Venom has huge connections to the rest of the Marvel universe in the comics. If Marvel is indeed focused on ignoring both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi's films, they could go with the current version of Venom. Who has veteran Flash Thompson (maybe SHIELD agent?) as the current host and eventually becomes a member of The Avengers and Thunderbolts. You might remember that James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) has mentioned a desire to give Thunderbolts their own film. Funny enough, Flash's Venom has also joined the ranks of The Guardians of The Galaxy as well. I still think Avengers: Infinity War could be the best place to give us the origin of the symbiote and Spider-Man.

However, Sony's original plan was to have Venom being created in the Oscorp labs, I assume in Sinister Six which had Amazing Spider-Man 2 spending all of it's time setting-up that movie. It's unlikely that will be Marvel's approach if they get involved.

Producer Avi Arad is still pushing the Venom solo film to Sony in emails, trying to convince them of the popularity and awareness of the character. Other Sony producers want to re-introduce him in Sinister Six before getting his own spin-off. Setting-up him and/or Carnage as the villains of the film, with Spidey having to team-up with the six villains. It's possible Venom could also take the place of Spider-Man in that film. (via NerdReactor)

Carnage is combination of a second symbiote spawned by Venom and his host Cletus Kasady who is a serial killer. One of the more dark characters in the Marvel cinematic universe, known for massacres.

The spin-off has had three directors involved over the years. Including Gary Ross who exited to direct Hunger Games, Josh Trank who exited to reboot Fantastic Four and Alex Kurtzman who exited to make the new Mummy movie. BadassDigest reported that the spin-off had been essentially axed by the studio. These email exchanges confirm the studio's cold-feet about the project. However, attaching someone like Gosling could be enough to bring it back to life.



If Sony is having a problem finding a director, they might as well consider Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 3, Knights of Badassdom, Everly) who directed the bootleg Marvel universe short film Venom: Truth In Journalism. He's the type of director that could catch the attention of Marvel Studios, and seems to "get" the dark side to the anti-hero. I'm still unsure if we'll ever see the Eddie Brock version again.

SOURCE: DAILYBEAST

Marvel Looking To Reboot SPIDER-MAN Without Andrew Garfield

LatinoReview has sparked a bit of hope that Sony will have to make some sort of deal with Marvel Studios concerning future Spider-Man films. The best sitution for everyone involved if you ask me. However, it seems like Andrew Garfield might be getting the short-end of the stick in the new deal.

As the site has an update concerning Marvel's creative control on that new trilogy, they want the all-female project and Aunt May pretty much axed right-off the bat. That isn't surprising since those seemed to be a bit much for Marvel to handle, Sony seemed even a bit overwhelming by that high level concept. The Aunt May movie being the most ridiculous of the two, since they should have just pursued a spy thriller with Parker's parents. In one of the "What-If?" comics they were SHIELD agents, which would have made a lot more sense for the revised origin in Amazing Spider-Man.

Anyways, I'm noticing there is nothing said about the fate of Drew Goddard's Sinister Six film. We know that Drew has a close working relationship with both Marvel Studios and Avengers' Joss Whedon. Working with Whedon on projects including his feature directorial debut with Cabin In The Woods, which he co-wrote with Joss and co-starred Thor's Chris Hemsworth. Before being plucked to tackle Six, Drew was working with Marvel's television division on the Netflix series Daredevil.

BadassDigest has claimed earlier that Sony had been considering a soft-reboot of Spider-Man in Sinister Six. Could that have been coming from Marvel and not Sony? We know that Amy Pascal has been fighting-hard to keep Marvel away from getting creative control, which would mean her star Andrew Garfield would be recast by the other studio. It's starting to look like that's going to be a sticking point with Marvel moving forward. This would follow how they've handled their own reboots of The Hulk and Daredevil. In my opinion this could be an excellent way for Marvel to reboot the character without having to rehash the origin we know nobody wants to see again.

It's very unlikely that the very busy Kevin Feige will be able to oversee this new trilogy. Having a Marvel friendly filmmaker like director and screenwriter Drew Goddard already involved with the franchise. I could see Marvel putting the task of rebooting the franchise to Drew Goddard, and backing him up on his Sinister Six film. I don't see how this movie couldn't be the first installment in Marvel's reboot of the character. We know Marvel won't want to rehash Spidey's origin and will likely have him already established as a hero, who has already built-up a rogues gallery.

I'm might also speculate that Joss Whedon not returning for Infinity War, could mean his role at Marvel Studios might be changing. Could he end-up taking the reigns of projects like Spider-Man for Marvel?

This news might be disappointing to fans and equally as much Andrew Garfield who has been quick to point-out his dedicated fandom since childhood. Yet, this is kind of how Marvel will rebrand the franchise and make it their own. Fans have been clamouring for a crossover, and rebooting the Spider-Man franchise to be included within the MCU is sort of a means to an end. Let's not forget all the canonical plot holes that would be attributed to just shoving this Spidey into the MCU without explaining why he's never shown up to the crazy shit during Incredible Hulk and The Avengers. Not to mention having zero presence in the Netflix shows, which are all set in New York's Hells Kitchen.

It's a shame the connective issues and Andrew being the face of the failing franchise could see him getting pushed out of the role.

They also reporting what we've all been assuming, that Parker won't be apart of Captain America: Civil War. Unless he's only given a small cameo, it's unlikely that both a deal and a new actor will have been chosen by then.

So who should replace Andrew Garfield as Marvel's new Peter Parker?

I've been vocal on this for a while and have been campaigning for rising Texas actor Tye Sheridan. The young actor, who just turned eighteen is the right age for the role and has some extremely impressive credits within his body of work. Working alongside Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick's Tree of Life. Another role in Mud saw him working with Matthew McConaughey, which was apart of Matthew's era of career resurrection. His performance opposite Nicholas Cage in Joe, earned him the Marcello Mastroianni Award award at the Venice Film Festival.

He will also be apart of the cast of Dark Places starring Charlize Theron, which is based on the novel from Gillian Flynn the author of Gone Girl. Tye is also not opposed to genre material, as he's co-starring in the zombie flick Scouts Vs Zombies.  The Yellow Birds would see him working with Doctor Strange himself Benedict Cumberbatch. Tye seems down to Earth while extremely focused on his craft, he's definitely more in the Marvel mould of actors than what Sony would be interested in.

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW 

Sony Producers Wanted Marvel Studios To Produce New SPIDER-MAN Trilogy

TheWallStreetJournal has pointed out a new story coming out of this huge data leak at Sony Pictures. Last night it was revealed that Sony had conversations with Marvel about the future of Spider-Man. There were conversations between Sony producers about Marvel Studios producing a new Spidey trilogy. This happened only two-days after the massive Marvel Phase Three announcements dominating the news cycle.

Sounds great, but Sony's stipulation was they wanted to keep creative control and marketing rights. This gives the impression Sony only wanted money and Marvel's brand attached to new films. It's glaring that Sony wouldn't be willing to give Marvel control of the direction of the character, since Marvel has been making genre landmarks. Avengers being the third biggest film of all time, and Guardians having one of the biggest debuts for Marvel film.

There is also an email exchange that Marvel had asked about using Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. While some are quick to think that this means Spidey would have replaced Black Panther. We have no idea the time frame of this Civil War email, but it's possible it was after they locked-in the main cast. Meaning, Panther was already in the Spider-Man role in the story, which will help promote Panther's solo film and introduce the character to the world.

Talks towards both ideas apparently broke-down, and Sony will move forward with their own slate.

Another potential project was an animated film produced by Chris Miller and Philip Lord, best known for Cloudy With Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie and 21-22 Jump Street. I'm sure Disney's Big Hero 6, might have helped push that idea.

Apparently, there is a "Spidey Summit" in January where producers will try to figure-out the future of the franchise. The company has been losing billions, and Spider-Man installments have been seeing slowly decreasing box office. We know that Disney has been eagerly trying to buy back the rest of the Marvel character catalog, ever since they bought Marvel. If Sony can't find a way to make these films work, it's extremely likely they'll just sell back the rights.

It's mind-boggling that Sony is really thinking about Marvel taking-over the reigns of the franchise, but not contributing to the creative-side of the films. They've obviously have done more damage with each installment since Raimi's Spider-Man 2. The Marvel-Disney produced Ultimate Spider-Man series has been so popular, that Disney changed the look/direction of their Avengers show to crossover to the Spidey toon. Rumors of projects like an Aunt May movie and delays of projects like Amazing Spider-Man 3/Venom give the impression the studio have no idea how to move forward. The Venom movie has been killed twice, and is now stuck in limbo.

Drew Goddard (mastermind behind Marvel's Daredevil Netflix series) was convinced to write-direct Sinister Six for Sony. He would be the kind of filmmaker that could spearhead a new trilogy. There had been rumors from BadassDigest that Spider-Man could be given a soft reboot in Six. This likely means a new actor and reworking the world to be cohesive to the MCU. Sorry Andrew Garfield, you are the face of a terrible franchise.

There is also some backlash recently from Amazing Spider-Man 2 composer James Horner, about the film. Sparking even brighter picture of the nightmare production. Sony, and producers including Avi Arad wanted zero input from director Marc Webb. Horner knew the film would be a disaster and wanted nothing to do with it. We rarely have a composer speaking-out about productions like this, but he obviously felt Marc Webb was treated poorly.

You'd think the director would be allowed to have a vision for the film. Instead, it's creative side was micro-managed by producers and Sony executives. We all know that leads to disaster and now after their meddling they are scrambling to figure-out how to un-fuck the franchise they've all had a hand in ruining.

Why not just give the franchise to Marvel Studios and share profits with them?

SOURCE: WSJ

Donald Glover Joins Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi Flick THE MARTIAN

TheWrap is reporting that Community's Donald Glover and Headhunters' Aksel Hennie have joined the growing cast of Ridley Scott's The Martian. The science fiction film has Matt Damon starring in the lead role. Joining Matt Damon is an impressive supporting cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Mackenzie Davis and Jeff Daniels. Jeff also reveals who is playing who, take a look below for details.

Chastain will play the leader of the rescue mission, while Pena, Mara and Henne will play astronauts. Daniels will play the director of NASA ,while Wiig will play its director of media relations. Glover and Davis will play bright young NASA employees.

SOURCE: THEWRAP

Mackenzie Davis Joins Matt Damon & Jessica Chastain In Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN

TheWrap reports that newcomer Mackenzie Davis from AMC's Halt And Catch Fire has landed a role in Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi thriller The Martian. Adapted from the novel by Andy Weir from screenwriter Drew Goddard (Sinister Six, Cabin In The Woods, Cloverfield, Lost) The 20th Century Fox project already has Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain co-starring in the leads. Kristen Wiig was also in the mix, but currently isn't mentioned in this new report.

SOURCE: THEWRAP

Jessica Chastain And Kristen Wiig Circling Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN Starring Matt Damon

Deadline reports the casting for Ridley Scott's next science-fiction film is underway. Jessica Chastain and Kristen Wiig are circling the female leads, opposite Matt Damon in The Martian. The film setup at 20th Century Fox, was adapted from the Andy Weir novel by screenwriter Drew Goddard (Daredevil, Cabin The Woods, Sinister Six, Cloverfield). It centres around an astronaut (Damon), who must survive his mission to Mars.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Rosario Dawson Moves From SIN CITY To Hell's Kitchen, Joins DAREDEVIL Cast

Another actor has been cast in Marvel's Daredevil series, and THR reveals the newest addition is Rosario Dawson (Trance, Sin City 1-2, Death Proof, Kids) in an unnamed role. One that very well could be Jessica Jones, considering her high profile it's a strong possibility. The production for the series will begin soon in New York City and as expected Marvel is looking a strong film talent to fill roles.

Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire, Stardust) will play Matt Murdock/Daredevil and recently announced Vincent D'Onofrio (Jurassic World, Full Metal Jacket, The Cell, Brooklyn's Finest, Run All Night) will play Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin. Our suspected main villain of the series, or likely most of them.


SOURCE: THR

STARDUST And BOARDWALK EMPIRE Actor Charlie Cox Is Officially Our New DAREDEVIL

Marvel has announced that British actor Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire, Stardust) has landed the role of Matt Murdock in their Daredevil series on Netflix. The 13-episode run is set to shoot this summer in New York City, with Steven DeKnight (Spartacus) showrunning the series. Drew Goddard was poised for the job originally, but had to exit to focus on Sony's Sinister Six. It's possible we could also see a new Elektra added to the cast as well, along with cameos from the other Defenders.

There's no word on villains, but it was revealed that Marvel has access to Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin. A rather formidable gangster that controls a majority of the crime in Hell's Kitchen. Other iconic villains include Bullseye, The Owl, The Hand, Typhoid Mary and Elektra. The latter two have played both love-interest and foe.

SOURCE: MARVEL

Steven DeKnight Showrunning DAREDEVIL Series, As Drew Goddard Focuses On SINISTER SIX

It's been a hectic weekend for Marvel Studios. First, Edgar Wright exits Ant-Man over possible script conflicts and now someone else leaves their television division. Marvel announces that Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods) will not be showrunning Daredevil. The Netflix series was expected to begin production this summer in New York City.

They've hired Steven DeKnight to replace Drew. Steven has worked on shows such as Buffy, Angel and showrunning Spartacus. Let's just hope this isn't another Agents of SHIELD situation, and DeKnight is a little more creative and canon with his series. DeKnight's Spartacus peers are the ones running Agents of SHIELD, so I'm a little worried. I assume that Goddard's writing-work on the few episodes he helped write won't be altered, but with Marvel's recent behind the scenes practices we can't assume that. Casting for the project should be begin very soon, and Dexter's Michael C. Hall expressed some interest.

Goddard was hired by Sony to write and direct their Spider-Man villain spin-off The Sinister Six. It was rumored that production that film could be begin as early as Winter/Spring 2015. This would mean that Drew would need the summer to tighten-up the script and then jump right into pre-production. This is supported in the press release by Marvel.

His commitments to Sinister Six wouldn't leave a lot of room to be the showrunner of a series. I'm going to place this in the conflict by Sony category and not Marvel's fault. We've seen this before when Fox dragged Josh Trank away from Sony's Venom to direct Fantastic Four, only for Sony to replace him with Alex Kurtzman.

Maybe this will mean Spartacus' Liam McIntyre will get into the mix for casting.

SOURCE: MARVEL

SINISTER SIX Lineup Revealed And Aiming To Shoot In January?

SuperheroHype has images from an Sony teaser for Sinister Six, which is linked to Amazing Spider-Man 2. The tease includes hints to the lineup, that is apparently Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Kraven The Hunter and Chameleon (Kraven's half-brother). It does spoil things a bit by pointing out Venom and Electro aren't apart of the group. We heard that the film would would include a non-traditional lineup, but these villains are extremely traditional.

TheWrap on the other hand, seems to be uncertain if this will be our final lineup, even though Sony is the one behind this tease. Adding that the script is still being written by director Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods, Cloverfield, Daredevil) and is looking at a possible January production start. This gives the impression that Sinister Six could be released before Amazing Spider-Man 3. Jeff is also hearing the it's Mysterio, not Chameleon.

SOURCE: SUPERHEROHYPE

SINISTER SIX And VENOM Happening Before SPIDER-MAN 4, Is One Coming In 2018?

It looks like the Spider-Man spin-offs are now high priority at Sony, only with Spider-Man 3. How important are they? Well Sony's Matt Tolmach told DenOfGeek they are putting Amazing Spider-Man 4 on hold, until they figure out what they are doing with Amazing Spider-Man 3, Venom and The Sinister Six. Focusing their energies on making the two spin-offs before the fourth installment.

"Before we know what we do with Spider-Man 4, we're going to do Sinister Six, Venom and Spider-Man 3. There is going to be a lot of crossover in those movies. So we're just not at Spider-Man 4, because we still have a whole other Spider-Man movie and two other movies. So we don't know yet what [Spider-Man 4] is going to be" 

The third movie is still set for release in June 2016, but Venom and Sinister Six are happening before the fourth movie. Given that that spot is highly valued at Sony, either three could take the May 2018 spot. Bumping-up the spin-offs to 2016 and 2017, before Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018 could make for an interesting third film. As it stands Drew Goddard (Daredevil, World War Z, Cabin In The Woods) is writing and directing The Sinister Six, while Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek 1-2, Lost, Transformers) will be writing and directing Venom. Marc Webb is expected to direct Spider-Man 3, but has not committed to making the fourth film.

SOURCE: DENOFGEEK

Drew Goddard Will Also Direct THE SINISTER SIX For Sony

THR is reporting that Drew Goddard is about to make a deal to direct Sony's Spider-Man spin-off Sinister Six. He previously was tapped to write the script with the intention to direct. Goddard is mostly known for his screenwriting credits for Cloverfield, Lost, Alias and World War Z. A production start or release date haven't been announced for the spin-off. Sony is also moving forward with a Venom movie.

He also worked with Joss Whedon on his shows Buffy and Angel. That relationship led to working together on the horror comedy Cabin In The Woods, which they co-wrote and Drew directed. Goddard was recently announced as the showrunner and writer for Marvel Studios' Daredevil series which will air on Netflix. The Daredevil series is expected to begin production this summer in New York City. Drew was expected to direct the pilot.

SOURCE: THR

Sony Announces Directors For VENOM And SINISTER SIX Spin-Off Films

Sony announced today that they will indeed be moving forward with two Amazing Spider-Man spin-off movies, Venom which has been in development for years and one focusing the villain supergroup The Sinister Six. They went on to confirm new writers and directors for both projects, this comes off the recent reports that Sony was hinting to creating their own expanded Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Spider-Man characters.

Director Marc Webb and producer Avi Arad will head up the brain trust of the franchise which will see Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner (Fringe, Alias, Lost), Ed Solomon (Men In Black, Super Mario Bros, Charlie's Angels, Bill And Ted, Now You See Me) and Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods, Daredevil)  pen the scripts for the films, Kurtzman and Orci currently are involved with Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Amazing Spider-Man 3 (2016) and Amazing Spider-Man 4 (2017). Nothing says this trust will stop at two spin-off films as there are plenty of characters that could get their own movies such as Black Cat, Morbius The Living Vampire (if they own the rights to him) and future set Spider-Man 2099 (think Star Trek Into Darkness or Minority Report with superheroes).

Alex Kurtzman is actually attached to direct Venom, which is a bit of a shocker since he's only made one film People Like Us, that didn't do so well with critics or box office as it wasn't able to even make back it's tiny $16 million dollar budget (even though Star Trek's Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks starred). Josh Trank (Chronicle) had originally been attached to direct but his commitments to Fox's Fantastic Four reboot might have led to his replacement. It also sounds like the studio is tossing the script from Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Zombieland). Alex has been better known as an accomplished writer helping pen scripts for Hercules, Xena, Alias, The Island, The Legend of Zorro, MI3, Transformers, Star Trek, Cowboys And Aliens, Fringe and Edge of Tomorrow. It will be interesting to see which host they'll turn to for the movie, Eddie Brock has been established with the viral campaign but the more heroic Flash Thompson is the current incarnation of the villain turned hero.

While Drew Goddard will direct The Sinister Six, this not being his first venture into the Marvel world. He's currently working on Marvel Studios' Daredevil Netflix pilot that he'll write and direct, Drew will also act as the series Showrunner. Besides being a writer at Lost, Drew co-wrote Cabin In The Woods with Joss Whedon which he also directed. Not unlike Alex, he has a longstanding record as a writer also helping pen scripts for Buffy, Angel, Lost, Alias, Cloverfield (and it's untitled) sequel along with last-minute rewrites to World War Z.

The final lineup hasn't been revealed but it looks like Harry/Green Goblin will be it's leader, as it's been teased he's behind creating the villains (such as Electro and Rhino). Other additions could include The Vulture, Doc Ock and possibly a cat-burglar with a bit of sweet-spot for Spider-Man. There had been previous hints that Black Cat could be involved with the group, if she does make the cut in this spin-off it might set her up as Spidey's side-kick/love interest in future films. It's possible that other members such as Kraven The Hunter or Mysterio won't be hinted to or cameo in the film.



No release or production start dates have been announced but it's possible we could see one of two spin-offs eye an 2015 release date. As 2015 won't have a Spider-Man title released in that year.

RUMOR: Fox Burned After Damon Lindleof's Exit Of The PROMETHEUS Sequel, After Convincing The Studio To Make A Trilogy?

BloodyDisgusting is reporting that 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott are upset over the exit of screenwriter Damon Lindelof. The writer came in for rewrites and sold the studio on the idea of a trilogy before jumping ship after the release of Prometheus. Instead of Ridley's original two-part Alien prequel the film went into a massively different direction. The studio is looking to keep things moving and are looking for writers who can develop two more films. They are apparently taking pitches from potential writers. It's first time we've ever heard about Fox's plans for an actual Prometheus trilogy. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are seemingly locked in for future films.

Ridley is currently finishing up his drug crime thriller The Counselor and has a few other projects in development including a Blade Runner sequel. It's possible if they're able to come together with a new writer that is able to put together a script soon it could go into production. Jon Spaihts who wrote the original script isn't mentioned and seems like he's being kept from moving forward with the new films. BD points to an old interview with Jon via Empire that first revealed his plans for multiple films.

“I did have a plan for multiple films and the conversations I had with Ridley was about a new franchise, from the beginning. We talked about a possible trilogy, or a duology, but more often as a trilogy. And I did have pretty broad notions as to how we were going to get from this world to the original Alien – the baton pass, closing the circle, if you will. So yes, I did have plans for two other films. I came up with an even more twisted sequence than the Medpod, but I cannot tell you what happens… 

“My vision of the trilogy would have involved the arrival of the Yutani Company and a couple of other major plays around the Engineers themselves: the revelation of an additional grand Engineer design, and the possibility of seeking an Engineer homeworld. That shot of the ship flying at the end offers a lot of creative ways to play with this. But it feels like it brackets you into the search for the Engineer homeworld and home civilisation. That’s an interesting challenge.”

I have a couple of writers in mind that could tackle this franchise. One writer I could see jump into this world is Drew Goddard. He recently took on the role of director with Cabin In The Woods but like Damon has ties to the complex series Lost. Drew also wrote sci-fi films Cloverfield and adapted Robocaplyse or Steven Spielberg. Scott Z. Burns is another solid screenwriter who could develop a solid story. He's written sci-fi scripts for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes (another Fox production), Side Effects and Contagion. Not to mention spy flicks The Bourne Ultimatum and the original script for The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

J.J. Abrams Still Producing STAR TREK 3 And MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5

According to Variety Paramount has confirmed that Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams will be involved with both Star Trek 3 and Mission: Impossible 5. While his role as director for Star Trek 3 is unlikely it hasn't been mentioned that a search for a new director has begun. Christopher McQuarrie is being looked for MI5 while Star Trek 3 is only in development phase without a completed script.

THR adds that Abrams can move Disney's purposed Summer 2015 release date for Episode VII. Which means depending on the project's development it could be released earlier or later. I have to assume that a new Star Wars film would need at least a year for artists to put together set designs, action sequences and alien concepts. We should be expecting a little more than just a green-screen production this time around.

In theory, he could choose to hold off the release of the next Star Wars until 2016. Perhaps, giving him all the time needed to be involved with pre-production on Episode VII along with a small window to make Star Trek 3. At the very least helping Paramount find a new director and continue creative choices as producer. It wouldn't be shocking to see a director like Jon Favreau (Iron Man) or Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods) coming in to pickup the baton.

Anne Hathaway Confirmed For Steven Spielberg's ROBOPOCALYPSE

Empire has word from Anne Hathaway (Dark Knight Rises) that if the film moves forward she'll have a role in Steven Spielberg's Robopocalypse. The film was written by Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods, Cloverfield) and is based on the novel by Daniel H. Wilson. Chris Hemsworth (Avengers) has already been cast in the male lead with Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) in talks for another role.

"If 'Robopocalypse' happens I will be in it and I believe it’s quite real, though you never want to hang your hat on anything."

Other Directors In The Running For Thor 2

Variety adds to the recent story of Marvel Studios being in talks with director Patty Jenkins (Monster) to helm Thor 2. They reveal four other directors also in contention which includes Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods), James McTeigue (V For Vendetta), Noam Murro (300: Battle of Artemesia) and Breck Eisner (The Crazies). Goddard's Cabin In The Woods stars Chris Hemsworth and was written by Joss Whedon, Drew might get backing from the two. Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones) has walked because of creative/financial differences with the studio so we can cross him out.