Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool reportedly greenlit, Toby Kebbell joins Ben-Hur, new Agents of SHIELD teaser and (another) Interstellar poster

The marketing team for Christopher Nolan’s secrecy soaked sci-fi Interstellar will be having the time of their lives: across this week, a whole series of posters for the film have been revealed one by one. Today is no exception. This one sheet sees a spacecraft downed in either domestic or alien waters. Nolan, British writer/director behind The Dark Knight trilogy, Memento, The Prestige and Inception, directs the cast of Matthew MacConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Anne Hathaway, David Oyelowo, Matt Damon, Ellen Burstyn and John Lithgow.

A planned spin off for Ryan Reynolds’ (Safe House, Buried) crazed superhero Deadpool, who made his only, mediocre appearance in the vastly disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has been in development hell for the past six years. Most of that time the project has only been kept alive by the comic book character’s ongoing popularity. It has now been reported that Fox have greenlit the film for an early 2016 release. Tim Miller, who for an excruciatingly long time has been attached to the film, is now confirmed as director. My key hope for the film is that it can settle for a 15 rating: any lower and it wouldn’t have the same tone as the often adult comics but higher and the gore would unfairly become the focus.

I was one of many distraught by Toby Kebbell’s casting in the prestigious role of Doctor Doom in next year’s Fantastic Four but the star proved himself greatly going up against Andy Serkis’ Ceasar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He’s now setting himself up for another villainous role as Messala in the new remake of Ben-Hur. The historical epic already has Morgan Freeman (Batman Begins, The Shawkshank Redemption, Seven) signed on to play mentor Ildarin while Jack Huston (American Hustle, Broadwalk Empire) is negotiating to play the titular hero. 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley writes while Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov directs.

Finally today we’ve got an awesome new poster for season 2 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. The expansion of the multi billion superhero universe got off to a fairly rough start but pulled itself together with an excellent second half to the series. Deduce what you like from the teaser. Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennett, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, BJ Britt, Adrianne Palicki, Patton Oswalt, Nick Blood, Reed Diamond, Adrian Pasdar, Kyle MacLachlan and Lucy Lawless will all feature in some way in the new season.

Agents of SHIELD season 2 – this autumn on ABC and Channel 4

Deadpool – February 12th 2016

Interstellar – November 7th

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Jack Huston confirmed for Ben-Hur, James D’Arcy joins Agent Carter as the new Jarvis and new Interstellar poster

Brit Jack Huston is shaping up to be a potentially great rising star following his recurring gig on Broadwalk Empire and supporting role in as a mobster in American Hustle. He’s now set to be making one great step into stardom with the lead in Ben-Hur. The iconic role, once played by Charlton Heston, will be seen once more in a new remake, courtesy of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov. Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight, Seven, Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption) is already signed on to play chariot racing mentor Ildarin while you may remember that Tom Hiddleston (War Horse, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Avengers) was previously rumoured to have been attached to the role although it appears as if he’s opted out in favour of Skull Island.

The role of Jarvis in Marvel comics greatly differs to the portrayal seen across numerous film adaptations. Originally, Edwin Jarvis is butler to both Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and, later, The Avengers but on film, where he has been portrayed by Paul Bettany on four occasions, is an AI assistant to Stark’s technological enterprises, named JARVIS, who we only here the voice of. In next year’s Age of Ultron, JARVIS will be animated in the form of the robotic Vision. We thought that’d be all from the non-superpowered character but his original version is working his way onto our screen.

He’ll in fact be portrayed on the small screen by Cloud Atlas’ James D’Arcy in the upcoming Agent Carter, a spin off of the MCU set in SHIELD’s early days after WW2 starring Hayley Atwell. An eight-part first season to the show arrives this winter. Confused? We were too. We’ve now assumed that D’Arcy’s Jarvis will in fact be butler to Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), father of Tony, and will then provide inspiration for Tony’s automated companion later on. Given the significance of this role, we’d expect Cooper to either be a regular on the show or at least looming presence of SHIELD’s activities. It’s possible that younger versions of future SHIELD veterans such as Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce or Hank Pym (played by Samuel L Jackson, Robert Redford and Michael Douglas, respectively, on film) will be seen while, seeing as D’Arcy convinced in the elderly make up in Cloud Atlas, I hope that an older version of this Jarvis may crop up in the films.

Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige, Inception) writes and directs Interstellar, which may be the defining sci-fi of out generation – not to overhype. After yesterday’s unveiling, another poster has been revealed and it showcases our hero Cooper gazing at the stars, as oppose to traversing them. Matthew MacConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Michael Caine (Alfie), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James), David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment), Ellen Burstyn (The Excorcist) and Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity) all star in a cast of five Oscar wins and an additional fifteen nominations. I leave you both of the posters (note: they are almost identical in layout except for the tagline).

Interstellar – November 7th

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Agent Carter – ABC and Channel 4 this winter

Hiddleston rumoured for Ben-Hur and Johnny Depp in first trailer for Mortdecai

In loving memory of Robin Williams, 1951 – 2014

Former megastar Johnny Depp is experiencing a major career lull; with a career featuring iconic roles such as Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd and of course Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, it’s massively disappointing to now see him churning out three consecutive mainstream flops: Dark Shadows, The Lone Ranger and Transcendence. While the latter two have found their own small fanbase (for me Lone Ranger was horribly underated), he’s in great need of at least a critical hit, in the style of Tom Cruise and Edge of Tomorrow, and that may come in the form of comedy Mortdecai. David Koepp (writer of Premium Rush and Mission: Impossible) directs while you can watch out for appearances by Ewan MacGregor (Trainspotting, Big Fish), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independance Day), Oliver Platt (X-Men: First Class, Fargo), Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Shakespeare in Love) and Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale, The Avengers: Age of Ultron) in the first trailer.

We were all greatly taken aback by the shock announcement of a Ben-Hur remake with Night Watch and Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov directing and Three Kings and 12 Years a Slave for a 2016 release. There were many worries regarding the danger of it being little more than a CGI fest as well as who on earth could fill the boots of Charlton Heston, star of the original, in the titular role. It has now been reported that Tom Hiddleston is atop MGM’s wishlist to play Ben-Hur. Hiddleston is the star of War Horse, Midnight in Paris and The Hollow Crown but is still best known as the iconic villain Loki in Thor and The Avengers. Tell us in the comments if you reckon Hiddleston can pull of Ben-Hur.

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Mortdecai – January 30th 2015