Yes, there are really already rumours about who’s been cast as Barbara Gordon. More speculation on the future of the Star Wars Story spinoffs. Could a Rogue One location play an important role in The Last Jedi? Plus, get a look at Molly Ringwald on Riverdale, and new footage from Arrow‘s return. Behold, spoilers!
Batgirl
Following on from reports yesterday that Joss Whedon is in talks to write, produce, and direct a Batgirl standalone film for DC and Warner Bros., EW has fresh details about the film, claiming that it will be based on the New 52 rebooted Batgirl comic by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes. While how much of the series’ story itself will make it into the film is left unclear, its basic premise — that Barbara Gordon is back in action as Batgirl, years after the horrifying events of The Killing Joke that had previously left her paralysed — is being used for the film.
Meanwhile, I hope your utility belts have some grains of bat-salt ready, but actress Lindsay Morgan — who plays Raven Reyes on The 100 — is already being rumoured to have been cast as Batgirl. Despite the fact that we only learned about this movie and it has allegedly only been in the works at Warner Bros. for the last month or so.
The evidence mainly comes from the fact that Morgan recently tweeted about a big upcoming project:
WELP. New project on the horizon AND IM MORE THAN ECSTATIC about it!!!! ??????????????? thank you everyone for your support & love. ❤️❤️❤️
— lindsey morgan (@linzzmorgan) March 18, 2017
And since the Batgirl news broke yesterday, Morgan has been actively retweeting articles about it, as well as any about her rumoured involvement as the new Barbara Gordon. So either she’s the new Batgirl or she’s just very excited at this point.
Star Wars Spinoffs
Get more salt shaking going, because according to Star Wars News Net, plans are underway for three Star Wars spinoffs — an Obi-Wan solo film set between episodes II & III, which may be directed by Gareth Edwards; an adventure film about a team of alien bounty hunters lead by Boba Fett; and a tragic romance aimed at the YA set, which aims to hire a female director.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Speaking to Uproxx recently, Doug Chiang hinted that Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar in Rogue One could be making its way into future movies:
It’s interesting, we did a lot of history exploration. Why did Vader build his castle here? Why does it look the way it does? Why does he even come here? For us, it was really figuring out that Vader built his castle on an existing structure, which was this ancient lava dam. And he built it here for a very specific reason. It was to come back here to meditate, to rejuvenate, to reconnect with himself. And it became a very spiritual place, and it was all centered around his bacta tank. And that’s where the form language all built around there. And we’ve done quite a bit of exploration of what’s on the inside of it as well, and hopefully that will be seen in some other film.
Come on, Kylo Ren’s totally gonna turn it into his own fanboy pad, isn’t he?
The Dark Tower
The movie has been delayed by one extra week — its new US release is August 4. No official word yet, but expect Australia to push it back to August 3. [/Film]
The Lion King
Musical superstar Beyoncé is reportedly the frontrunner to voice Nala in Jon Favreau’s live-action remake of The Lion King. No decision has been made by Beyoncé yet, but if she’s willing, the role is allegedly hers, uncontested. [Variety]
My Favourite Thing Is Monsters
Sony has acquired the film rights to Emil Farris’s debut graphic novel. It concerns a child in the ’60s obsessed with monsters, who solves a murder mystery. [Deadline]
Justice League
Zack Snyder has quashed IMDB’s alleged 170-minute running time, going to show that believing everything on IMDB is never a great idea:
@thejonberg @thejonberg Forgot to tell you that I screened the first cut of JL for IMDB. Thought that was standard WB procedure. No?
— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) March 31, 2017
The Mummy
CBM has the new poster for the film.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Speaking of posters, Coming Soon has the latest for the Kingsman sequel.
A Dark Song
Here’s a new trailer for Liam Gavin’s horror film about turning to the dark arts to resurrect a loved one.
Lost in Space
Raza Jaffrey has been cast as Victor, a no-nonsense career politician whose arrogance masks a feeling of impostor syndrome. [Deadline]
American Gods
Spoiler TV has allegedly “learned from a source” the series has already been picked up for a second season ahead of its premiere on May 1.
Doctor Who
The BBC has released the synopsis for the first episode of the new series, “The Pilot”.
A chance encounter with a girl with a star in her eye leads to a terrifying chase across time and space. Bill’s mind is opened to a Universe that is bigger and more exciting than she could possibly have imagined – but who is the Doctor, and what is his secret mission with Nardole on Earth?
Riverdale
People has the first image of Molly Ringwald as Mary Andrews, Archie’s mum.
Arrow
Finally, here’s a trailer for Arrow’s return episode, “Dangerous Liaisons”, coming in the US April 26.
Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson. Banner art by Jim Cooke.