Hot Takes: From the Matrix to Superman

This week is a “get caught up on industry news” week, but I’m going to keep my comments relatively brief on each of my five news items. At least, that’s the plan…

Drew Goddard

The Matrix

Drew Goddard (The Martian, World War Z) has signed on to write and helm a new movie set in the “Matrix” universe. (Lana Wachowski will exec produce.)

“Drew came to Warner Bros. with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25-years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters.” — Jesse Ehrman, president of production for Warner Bros. Motion Pictures

While the last Matrix movie was a little disappointing, I am curious enough to see what Goddard has in mind that I find myself cautiously optimistic about this project.

Avengelyne

Move over, Deadpool. Another co-creation of Rob Liefeld’s — the avenging-angel superhero Avengelyne — may be coming to the big screen. The project is being headed by the team of Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde, and X-Men producer Simon Kinberg. Beyond that, it is way too early in development for any casting or plot details to be announced. As of last month, they had yet to sell the film to any studios or streamers.

Back in my avid comic-collecting days, I think I had a couple Avengelyne comics, but the character & title never really appealed to me. You might think that it would, since it is based on Judeo-Christian ideas. But, it is only very loosely based and twists biblical concepts in dangerous ways — e.g., making God devious and fallen angels redeemable. (Plus, the character is a scantily-clad, flesh-n-blood, female “angel”.) No thanks! I’ll pass.

Tim Kring

Heroes

Tim Kring, creator of the “Heroes” TV series and “Heroes Reborn” sequel limited series, announced a new sequel series is in development. As of a few weeks ago, writer/exec producer Kring had already pitched the ongoing series to NBC as well as streamers.

“‘Heroes: Eclipsed’ is set years after the events of the original series as new evos are being awakened and discovering powers that will change their lives. Featuring familiar villains and new enemies who once again will be attempting to suppress this next step in human evolution, it will be up to this new group of heroes to save the world.”

Sure, “Heroes Reborn” didn’t quite deliver like the original series, but I’m willing to give the franchise another shot. If we get cameos from the likes of ‘Noah Bennet’ and ‘Hiro Nakamura’, maybe even ‘Sylar’, then I’ll definitely give it a watch.

For All Mankind

If you haven’t been watching this alt-history space drama, then you really should. There is some great acting and very plausible ideas about what could have happened if things went a bit differently at the beginning of the “space race”. I haven’t watched Season 4, yet, but I was happy to read that Season 5 has recently been approved for production. (There is actually a 6- or 7-year plan for the show, so hopefully it will be shepherded along to completion.) There is also a “Star City” spinoff in development, which will be based on an alt-version of the actual Star City, Russia, a “secret city in the forests outside Moscow where the Soviet cosmonauts and engineers worked and lived”.

That all sounds cool to me!

James Gunn (r) w/ Superman

Superman

James Gunn, co-head honcho (with Peter Safran) at DC Films, posted the first photo of David Corenswet in full Superman costume for the upcoming film (prem. 7/11/2025). It shows him pulling on his boots, while a humongous energy sphere (being? vessel?) attacks the city outside his window. (Hurry up, Big Blue!)

The detail getting perhaps the most attention — primarily positive — is the red “underpants” in shadow, which reveals a return to a classic look for the first time in 18 years. For the record, I fully support this decision. The chest logo is very reminiscent of the “Kingdom Come” design, but with yellow background rather than black. I’m OK with this but would have preferred the more classically rounded “S”, which I believe all other on-screen Superman costumes had.

Another costume feature to note appears to be “armor” — or, at least, semi-rigid pieces — sown into the arms, shoulders, and knees. Supes doesn’t really need “armor”, so this design may be for purely stylistic reasons, possibly even to anchor some padding within. It also gives the costume extra ridges and seams, which are controversial. Then there is the collar that goes right up to the neck and slightly upwards. Some have commented that these features reveal a “New 52” influence, and I can see that.

Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled with “New 52” in general, and the costume tweaks were part of that. Whether or not it works for me visually on screen remains to be seen. On the other hand, despite the costume being dirty in places in the photo, it does appear that Gunn has returned the costume to its classically vibrant blue and red shades as well, rather than the darker hues of recent years. YES!

Corenswet looks good, too, especially with the iconic spit-curl.

Any of the above announcements make you smile in anticipation? (Or, maybe cringe?) Let us know below…

Rogue Titans Academy

“Ex Astris, Scientia!” — official motto of Starfleet Academy

Time for a few genre news updates that you might have missed. (Or not. Indulge me…)

First up… Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. The film was announced in Dec. 2020 with a release date in Dec. 2023. Wonder Woman‘s Patty Jenkins was set to direct from a story she would collaborate on with Matthew Robinson (Love and Monsters). But, as reported in Nov. 2021, Jenkins’ busy schedule with other projects resulted in the film getting shelved with an uncertain future.

In a recent podcast interview, Jenkins revealed that she had signed a deal with Lucasfilm right about the time the SAG-AFTRA strikes began. Now that that business has all cleared up and the possible Wonder Woman 3 project has been cancelled, she is freed up to get the Rogue Squadron development underway. Her priority now is getting a completed script to Lucasfilm. Fingers crossed that everything progresses smoothly and we finally get a good, new addition to the Star Wars franchise.

Switching franchises,… James Gunn and DC Studios recently announced that a live-action Teen Titans movie is being added to the slate of projects revealed back in Jan. 2023. The film will be written by Ana Nogueira, an actress (“Hightown”, “The Blacklist”) whose only writing credit — at least, on IMDB — is the currently-in-pre-production Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. I hope this is a good choice — “new blood” and all that — but part of the problem we have seen with disappointing genre films lately is due to relatively inexperienced writers and directors. So, this may not bode well.

The film will have no connection with the live-action “Titans” TV series that recently ended its four-season run. I think this is a good thing. For one, that show had a decent finale; for another, I hope that the film will be somewhat “mature” but less dark (whether for a standalone or first film) than the TV series was. I also hope the casting and writing are more faithful to the source material.

As of this post, no announcements have been made about cast, director, plot, or tentative release date.

I wrote last week about the Star Trek: Section 31 movie that recently finishing filming. But, another highly-anticipated Star Trek project is “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”. It has been almost exactly a year since CBS/Paramount announced that the much-rumored streaming series had indeed been approved and a first season ordered. Filming was set to begin in 2024 for a likely 2025 premiere.

Development slowed during the strikes and further news had been virtually non-existent. Until last month, that is, when franchise-boss Alex Kurtzman revealed a few tidbits about the young adult-oriented series in an interview with Collider. For example, the writers and set-builders are now hard at work during the pre-production phase (more on this later), but filming should begin late this summer. The first season is expected to have 10 episodes, but it probably won’t air until sometime in 2026.

“There’s a lot of different kids from a lot of different places. Some of them want to be there, some of them don’t want to be there. It’s gonna be a fundamental reinforcement of all the things we love about Starfleet, in general.” — Alex Kurtzman

Kurtzman also stated that (re-)building “that optimistic future that is Roddenberry’s essential vision… is very much going to be at the heart of Starfleet Academy.”

More recently, it was confirmed that the show will take place in the “Discovery” time period (i.e., 32nd century). But, whether or not the beloved Lt. Tilly will be involved has not been confirmed at this stage. No cast at all has been announced. But, we do know that Tawny Newsome, who voices ‘Mariner’ on “Lower Decks” is part of the writing team. Gaia Violo (“Absentia”, “Blood & Treasure”) is show creator, and Kurtzman will share executive producer and showrunner duties with Noga Landau (“Nancy Drew”, “See”).

Incidentally, in a recent ST cover story, Variety revealed that Paramount is going all out on this project, building the largest single set ever created for a “Star Trek” TV show. The central set for the series, used for the Academy’s atrium, will use the entire 45,900 square foot soundstage at Pinewood Toronto.

“A sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space.”

Sounds impressive! As long as the stories and characters are written well, too, I will remain cautiously optimistic.

More Superman Legacy Casting Reactions

A few weeks ago, I posted about the casting of David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and a few others in the upcoming Superman: Legacy (rel. July 2025). Not long after that, it was revealed who was cast for three additional, notable roles in the film. I thought maybe if I waited a bit, there might be additional announcements, but… none so far. Rather than get further behind the news, I’ll go ahead and give my reactions to these three:

Hoult

Nicholas Hoult (6’2.5″,b.1989) (Those Who Wish Me Dead, four X-Men films) lost out on the title role, but now he will be playing Superman’s arch-nemesis, ‘Lex Luthor’. As it happens, I just watched Those Who Wish Me Dead (starring Angelina Jolie) the other day, and it helped me see Hoult as a persistent, deadly villain. A select few other films he has been in include Renfield, Mad Max: Fury Road, Tolkien, Jack the Giant Slayer, Equals, et al. At first, I wasn’t too sure, but the more I think of it, Hoult does seem like a good choice to play Luthor. Certainly, he’s the best Luthor casting since Gene Hackman in Richard Donner’s Superman. (Though I like Hackman, I hope this newer version does not have so much humor… or the strange fashion sense (e.g., loud, plaid jackets).)

Sampaio

Speaking of Donner’s Superman, the ‘Eve Teschmacher’ role was created specifically for that film and was played as brilliantly ditzy by Valerie Perrine. James Gunn has decided to bring back Luthor’s assistant/mistress for the new DCU, giving the role to Portuguese model/actress Sara Sampaio (5’8″,b.1991). I am personally unfamiliar with her work, but I am told that she was fantastic as the lead role in Carga. She can also be seen in Crisis, Shadow, and Wifelike. Given that she is Portuguese, which means she has Latina looks (and possibly accent), it seems an odd fit for a character with a German last name. But, I suppose they could explain it away as an alias, or she was adopted, or she is an ethnic mix (e.g., Latina mother), or it is the surname of an ex-husband. In any case, she probably wouldn’t have been my pick, but she may end up doing a great job with the role. (Assuming she is anything more than eye-candy, that is.)

Gisondo

Another actor I am unfamiliar with (though I may have seen him in something years ago) is Skyler Gisondo (5’7.25″,b.1996) (“Santa Clarita Diet”, The Social Dilemma), who recently signed on to play young photojournalist ‘Jimmy Olsen’. He has been acting professionally since he was a kid, and some of the earlier shows he appeared in include “Monk”, “Criminal Minds”, “ER”, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, “Eastwick”. In the past decade or so, he has been in “Psych”, The Amazing Spider-Man & its sequel, “Once Upon a Time”, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Time Freak, and those first two I mentioned. I think Gisondo is a great choice for Jimmy! He has a youthful face, freckles, slender build, and is slightly on the short side. Sounds like Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen!

So, we have two definite thumbs-up and one maybe… not bad.

Storywise, we can assume that Jimmy Olsen will be in a few scenes, since he figures into both the Clark Kent side and the Superman side of our hero’s life. I’m less sure about Luthor, because it was already announced that The Engineer would be the villain. So, maybe we’ll just get a cameo of Luthor and his assistant, Miss Teschmacher. Or, maybe he will be in a few scenes (perhaps the focus of a Daily Planet exposé?), being set up to be the main villain in a sequel? It’s also possible that he will be manipulating The Engineer, since she was a good guy (gal?) in the comics.

Can’t wait to find out!

My Reaction to Superman: Legacy Film News

“Whatever your idea of a typical Superman movie is, James Gunn is not making that.” — Germain Lussier, Gizmodo

Corenswet and Brosnahan

There has been a lot of hubbub regarding the end of the current DCEU by James Gunn and Peter Safran, and a huge negative of that whole thing was that Henry Cavill will no longer be playing Superman. (Cue sounds of much weeping in DC fandom…) We were told that they were essentially rebooting the DCEU — which will be known as the DCU — and wanted a younger, 30ish actor to play the new Superman. (Cavill is now 40.) Fair enough. But, who could possibly fill Cavill’s red boots, as it were, in the upcoming Superman: Legacy?

After much speculation, it was announced that David Corenswet (6’4″,b.1993) (“The Politician”, “Hollywood”) had landed the title role and Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “House of Cards”) had been chosen as our new ‘Lois Lane’. All things considered, I think Corenswet may be a terrific choice. (I say this while not having seen him in anything.) He said four years ago that playing Superman would be his dream job, plus he even bears an uncanny resemblance to Cavill. He is a tad taller even than Cavill, and he should look great once he has put on 30 lbs. of muscle.

I am less enthused about Brosnahan. (She was in several episodes of Season 1 of “The Blacklist”, so I have seen her in action, but I have no memory of her.) Doesn’t have the right look, imo; but, then, neither did Margot Kidder, and she did a great job opposite Christopher Reeve. Hopefully, she can portray the right balance of independence and, um, softness.

Later casting announcements included:

Fillion

Nathan Fillion (6’1.5″,b.1971) (“Firefly”, “The Rookie”) as a Green Lantern (later clarified to be Guy Gardner): I can’t really picture him as the red-headed Gardner (especially with the tradmark bowlcut, which Vanity Fair reports he will have), and Fillion is too old for the comics-version of the character. At the same time, behavior-wise, I think Fillion is perfect to play the obnoxious-yet-likable character. Plus, he has voiced Green Lantern in animated projects.
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Merced

Isabela Merced (5’1″,b.2001) (Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Transformers: The Last Knight) as Hawkgirl: I’m going to assume she is playing the Kendra Saunders version of the character, in which case she could be a pretty good choice. Assuming she goes through training for a bit of muscle or at least muscle tone, the main drawback is her short stature, since Kendra has always been around 5’6″.
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Gathegi

Edi Gathegi (6’1″,b.1979) (“Briarpatch”, “For All Mankind”) as Mister Terrific: I have liked Gathegi in other things, but this is the first time he’ll play a proper superhero since X-Men: First Class (2011). It’s about time! He’s slender but fit. I can definitely imagine him as the incredibly smart Michael Holt version of the character. As with Fillion, though, ideally I would have preferred someone a few years younger.
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Carrigan

Anthony Carrigan (6′,b.1983) (“Gotham”, “Barry”) as Metamorpho: I think Carrigan is interesting, if a bit odd. (Or, maybe that’s just the odd characters he plays.) I guess he was OK as The Mist in a couple episodes of “The Flash”, but I didn’t like his interpretation of Victor Zsasz in “Gotham” (Blame the writers, I suppose.) His trademark (of the past several years, anyway) bald head probably helped him get this part. If he bulks up a bit, he may do a decent job as Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho, though I suppose they’ll CGI his body during shapeshifting.
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Other potential characters whose casting could be announced anyday now include Clark’s Kryptonian parents and/or the Kents, his friends in Smallville (Lana Lang, Pete Ross), co-workers at the Daily Planet (e.g., Perry White, Jimmy Olson, Ron Troupe), maybe Lois’s family (General Lane, Lucy Lane). Then, of course, we still don’t know the names of any villains — super or otherwise — who may show up. In fact, we don’t know all that much about the plot. Here’s what we do know at this point. As per Jeremy Smith at Slashfilm,

“During the introductory press conference last January, Gunn revealed that Superman: Legacy will center on a young Clark Kent as he makes his way in Metropolis. The narrative thrust of the film will find Clark ruminating on his Smallville upbringing and his Kryptonian birth parents he never knew.

Sounds kinda moody, no? Don’t fret too much. According to Safran, Gunn’s Superman will be ‘the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way; he’s kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.’… Gunn has unambiguously stated that he will draw the bulk of his inspiration for Superman: Legacy from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman 12-part comic book series.”

Sounds good. However, we don’t know which parts or to what degree that comic book story will show up in the film.

I am reasonably excited in anticipation of this film. But, one of my concerns is that there are so many other heroes from the get-go. I wouldn’t think Warner Bros. Discovery would want to jump into a “superteam” scenario right off the bat with this reboot of the franchise. How much screen time will Green Lantern et al. get? Will the development of Superman and other core characters suffer or benefit from this? Will Superman in some sense be the older heroes’ “legacy”?

By way of partial explanation of his reasoning, however inadequate, Gunn said the following on Instagram back in July:

“Superman is a man of two worlds: Clark with Lois, Jimmy, and Perry — and Superman with his meta human compatriots. How could I tell a full story about Clark/Superman without including all areas of his life?”

Gunn has also said that this will be a “workplace origin story”, implying a focus on Clark’s job at the Daily Planet.

(borrowed from mycast.io)

If I were to extrapolate from all of this, here’s what I think might be the setting for the “hero” side of the story. Clark/Superman will be introduced as an established superhero, if still a bit young (20-something?). Instead of his being one of the first super-powered heroes on the scene, there are actually several other established superheroes, including the team known as The Authority. Heroes like Green Lantern (i.e., Guy Gardner) and Mister Terrific (i.e., Michael Holt) may be a bit older because they have been around for a decade or two, perhaps acting as mentors to the younger generation (e.g., Superman, Hawkgirl). It may be revealed that there was a Mister Terrific and at least one Green Lantern on Earth even before Holt and Gardner took on those identities. Clark might even get some good advice from these older heroes as he is “ruminating on his Smallville upbringing and his Kryptonian birth parents he never knew.”

This would all be pretty much in line with the comics (though The Authority, a Wildstorm property originally published via Image Comics, was retconned into DC history a few years back). As long as it doesn’t feel like the heroes are either extraneous or that they take too much spotlight away from Superman, I would be totally OK with that.

BREAKING NEWS! As I was finishing up this post, I saw that a Deadline article came out today announcing that María Gabriela de Faría (“Deadly Class”, “Animal Control”) will be playing a villainous ‘(The) Engineer’, aka Angela Spica. The nanotech-powered character was first introduced in The Authority vol.1 #1 in 1999. Frankly, I don’t remember specifics about “The Engineer” (other than being mostly covered in metal), and I’ve never watched de Faria in anything, so I have no opinion on this casting choice. Use of the character, however, is an interesting way of introducing The Authority prior to their own film.

Problems for the DCU and Marvel Studios Scales Back

If the somewhat disappointing returns and criticisms of some of the last few superhero films weren’t enough, both the new DC Studios (and its owners at Warner Bros. Discovery) and Marvel Studios (and its owners at Disney) have been undergoing shakeups in management. This has led to or enhanced speculation about the fates of future DC and Marvel TV and film projects.

It was just this past October that fans got some good news regarding Wonder Woman 3. Director Patty Jenkins confirmed that the script was done, so Warner Bros. Discovery could finally focus on getting production underway. However, a few days ago The Hollywood Reporter reported that a new treatment (i.e., basically a story summary) — indicating that the previously completed script wasn’t the final script — by Jenkins and Geoff Johns had been rejected by the studio.

Warner Bros. Film Group execs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy apparently “didn’t think the treatment worked and decided not to move forward with the film in its current iteration.” James Gunn and Peter Safran, the recently-named co-heads of DC Studios who are working on a 10-year plan for the DC Universe, are said to have agreed with the decision. Jenkins made it clear she has no interest in “going in another direction” with the story and has left the project.

It may be just as well, since leaked plot details (Deadline) of Jenkins’ story involved another resurrection of Steve Trevor, this time via Lazarus Pit, “where the League of Assassins would use his enhanced strength to go to war against Themyscira. The film ends with Diana leaving him in the care of Task Force X.” Ugh. Personally, I’d rather see a story involving ancient legends and maybe another Greco-Roman god or two. Involve the Amazons but give Diana another friend in “Man’s world”, too. Maybe Etta’s granddaughter or grand-niece?

Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson has been lobbying to get Henry Cavill back in the Superman costume. Cavill was thrilled by the idea and immensely thankful for the support of Johnson and all the fans. It looked like the new powers-that-be at Warner/DC were listening, too, as Cavill was set for potentially multiple cameos and eventually a Man of Steel 2 to star in. Unfortunately, THR now reports that MoS2 plans have “stalled out.” It seems that the initial treatment written by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”) was not well-received, and no new writers have been hired under the new regime. Thus, “development promptly ended.”

Gunn tweeted that these reports by the usually reliable THR are partly true, partly not, and some things are still undecided. Understandably, Gunn and his fellow executives at Warner/DC are still trying to get their hands around what they can and can’t, should and shouldn’t pursue in the DCU over at least the next decade. There are indications that they are still interested in making both a Wonder Woman 3 and a Man of Steel 2, but what those might look like are unknown at this point. Heck, we don’t even know if Gal Gadot or Henry Cavill would sign on, given whatever the new direction(s) will be, or if they might be replaced in a DCU reboot.

As for next year, DC Studios still has scheduled sequels for Shazam and Aquaman, as well as new films for the Flash and Blue Beetle. A sequel for The Batman with Robert Pattinson is also planned — at the moment, anyway.

On the Marvel Studios front, its production schedule will be slowing down a bit. As you may have heard, Bob Chapek has been booted from the Disney CEO spot and replaced by his predecessor Bob Iger. This was followed up by another announcement, summed up here by Danni Button at The Street:

“Shortly after the news of Chapek’s leaving and Iger’s return, Disney released its annual report stating that 2023 will see a reduction in television shows and feature programming. According to the document, ‘In fiscal 2023, the Studios plan to produce approximately 40 titles, which include films and episodic television programs, for distribution theatrically and/or on our DTC platforms.’

To put that in perspective, 2022’s annual report set a goal for 50 titles. In the last two years, both Marvel and Star Wars have released several major film and series titles, each of which cost millions of dollars to make and market. Each new addition to the brands’ libraries drew praise and criticism alike — but now it looks like Disney is looking for more precise hits that favor quality over quantity.”

Will this mean that some or all surviving projects get a budgetary boost? Or, is Disney looking to cut expenses. As a fan, the former suits me just fine. But, the latter idea makes more financial sense, especially during an economic inflationary period like we are currently in. This would seem to fit what is happening at HBO Max (also owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). Button pointed out that the service “has been itching to slice $3 billion from its own budget, cutting programming and even shopping animated content to Amazon.”

I’m glad Warner/DC and Disney/Marvel are trying to do what makes sense both monetarily and creatively. We don’t have to have a new film or series every month or two. Let’s hope they can give us fans what we want (within reason) without breaking the bank.