New pics from X-Men: DOFP, Exodus, Captain America 2, Gone Girl, Dawn of Planet of Apes and Spider-Man 2 plus Gal Gadot on Wonder Woman

We’re still unsure if Gal Gadot will play a major role in the yet untitled superhero showdown of Batman vs. Superman. The Israelian star of Fast and Furious has already been confirmed to be playing Wonder Woman but we’re not sure of how much screen time she’ll get with Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Joaquin Phoenix (Lex Luthor?) and Jason Momoa (Hawkman?) already beefing up the cast. After initial controversy over the casting due to Gadot not having Wonder Woman’s exaggerated size and posture, she said this: “I represent the Wonder Woman of the new world,” she told the Israeli press, “If I really go ‘by the book’, it’d be problematic.”

Batman vs. Superman’s Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot

Finally, we’ve got a huge compilation behind the scenes pics and fresh new stills courtesy of Empire’s new 2014 preview extravaganza. Gone Girl. Directed by David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and adapted from the Gillian Flynn novel, the crime thriller has built an impressive cast including Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris and Rosamund Pike.

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

We move swiftly on to Jamie Foxx as the new Spider-Man villain Electro in Marc Webb’s Marvel sci-fi superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Andrew Garfield, Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Sally Field and Dane DeHaan.

Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Another Marvel project but on Disney’s side of things now. It’s Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the second character to be referenced in the title, played by Sebastian Stan, is today’s focus. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Emily Van Camp, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Hayley Attwell and Frank Grillo also star.

Sebastian Stan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Legendary British director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Prometheus, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangsters, Black Hawk Down) puts his spin on the Bible with epic Exodus. Starring Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Indira Varma, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro and Ben Kingsley. The film seems to be going for huge practical sets as oppose the the more modern, generic use of CG, perhaps in homage to Ben-Hur and Cleopatra.

Christian Bale in Exodus.

Andy Serkis leads the way for the cast of dark fantasy sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as he strides round a picturesque lake in his trademark mo-cap suit, donned by Serkis previously in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves directs additional cast members such as Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Judy Greer.

Andy Serkis on set of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

We finish with a behind the scenes peaks at X-Men: Days of Future Past, with director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) hanging out with the 70s mutants, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman, on a 70s car in front of a suspiciously modern greenscreen.

Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Bryan Singer, Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Hoult on set for X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

Gone Girl – October 3rd 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th 2014

Exodus – December 12th 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 17th 2014

X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 22nd 2014

Don Cheadle joins Avengers 2 and Sony confirms Spider-Man spin offs

In the last two Iron Man films, Jim Rhodes/War Machine and, later on, Iron Patriot has impressed us as Iron Man’s sidekick but his second portrayer (Don Cheadle) wasn’t considered into the plot by director and writer Joss Whedon. Whedon returns for the biggest sequel of 2015, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we thought he’d completed his main cast with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffallo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, James Spader and Anthony Mackie but Don Cheadle has been added to the cast so we might expect other character traditionally starring in the Iron Man films such as J.A.R.V.I.S., (Paul Bettany), Happy Hogun (Jon Favreau) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), none of whom have been confirmed yet.

The next  Marvel news comes from Sony’s expanding The Amazing Spider-Man universe. We reported about a month ago that Sony were to develop a new Spider-Man spin off, possibly more centred around the villains. Later, we told you that The Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad and comic-book legend Stan Lee were working together on a new project, which we presumed to be Venom.

We can now announce that Avi Arad and another team of writers and producers are developing both Venom and The Sinister Six. They’ve got three of JJ Abrams’ team, namely Star Trek’s Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci plus Alias’ Jeff Pinker, on to make Venom with Kurtzman directing as well as writing. Meanwhile, The Sinister Six will be written by The Cabin in the Woods director and World War Z scribe Drew Goddard and Now You See Me’s Ed Solomon but we wouldn’t be surprised if the five were to crossover and work with eachother on both projects. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce with Stan Lee being an integral part of the production.

In terms of casting, Vemon appeared once before in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 where he was played by Topher Grace but that was part of Sam Raimi’s trilogy which was updated by last year’s Amazing Spider-Man. The Sinister Six are likely to be made up of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan or Chris Cooper), Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Doctor Octopus (played by Alfred Molina in 2004’s Spiderman 2, we know Doc Oc will be rebooted with a new star thanks to The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s trailer), Vulture (hasn’t been seen on screen yet but we know he’s going to arrive thanks to the new trailer again) and then either Mysterio or Sandman (previously played  by Thomas Haden Church).

The next Spidey related adventure is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Chris Cooper and Felicity Jones.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Venom – 2016

The Sinister Six – 2017

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Wonder Woman confirmed for Batman/Superman, Amazing Spider-Man 2 publishes new pics and Louis Leterrier and Sacha Baron Cohen for Grimsby

Louis Leterrier’s career has been a little sticky. His directorial debut Unleashed, starring Morgan Freeman, Jet Li and Bob Hoskins, put him forward and he was soon some lovely big budgets but all Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans fell flat. However, this year’s Now You See Me was quite a brilliant magician themed thriller. Read our review here. Sequel talk has been floating around a bit but his project after that is today’s focus.

Grimsby is the unambitious title of the new spy comedy that Leterrier’s now attached to direct. The premise, written by Borat’s Baron Cohen and Wreck It-Ralph’s Phil Johnston, is of a couple of comedic spec ops brothers on a secret mission. I think it’s going for less of the James Bond/Jason Bourne parody road that’s been well covered by Johnny English and various other attempts so I think it’ll try and go for a satirical take on say Call of Duty. Variety says that Leterrier won the job of calling the shots over I am Number Four’s DJ Caruso.

Previous Spider-Man films have suffered from a key problem. As soon as Peter Parker gets costumed and swings around he turns into a often disappointing 3-D model. It looks as if Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 it’s trying to capture a more physical Spidey (Andrew Garfield) and these new pics unveil that a bit of that as well as Jamie Foxx as the menacing Electro. Press next to cycle through. Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan, Martin Sheen and Chris Cooper.

Finally we’ve come the big news of the day which is a bit of news about Wonder Woman. Joss Whedon performed an Amazonian dance around the project for a while before he became Marvel’s main man and names such as Cobie Smulders, Megan Fox and Jaimie Alexander thrown into the mix. However, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will be the one to bring Wonder Woman to the screen but I think we guessed that. The surprise is that we’ll get to see her in 2015’s superhero clash Batman vs. Superman, as it’s titled for now.

In addition, Fast and Furious’ Gisele, or her actual name Gal Gadot, is now set to play her. Batman vs. Superman isn’t the only time we’ll be able to see Bat, Supe and Wonder Woman share the screen. Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s The LEGO Movie comes before and features the aforementioned trio as well as Green Lantern for good measure. The Danish figures will be voiced by Will Arnett, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders and Jonah Hill as well as Elizabeth Banks, Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie and Charlie Day meanwhile Batman vs. Superman has Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman as well as Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Amy Adams.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

The LEGO Movie – February 14th 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Grimsby – 2015?