The Week In Geek: Twin Peaks Returns? New Superman & Catwoman Pics, & Super Hero Movie News Galore!
Twin Peaks Returns? Maybe, Maybe Not
Usually in this column, I take the week’s worth of rumors and news and leaked from various sources and compile it into one easily digestible, snarky buffet. But this time I’ve got info that came directly to me, and from a source that I trust. Yeah, it could still end up being bullshit, so put this squarely in the RUMOR column for now, if only to protect my ass. I’ve been sitting on this info for awhile, but finally have permission to run it. I do hope to high Heaven it ends up being true though. If you’re not a fan of Twin Peaks and/or David Lynch, you might wanna skip this story, scroll down and stop when you see something with some Pixar characters.
Still here? Awesome. Now, If you’ve been reading my columns here at Geekscape, you probably know that my favorite television series of all time is David Lynch and Mark Frost’s seminal television series Twin Peaks, which ran for two seasons way back in 1990-91. If you know nothing of this series, you can read me wax rhapsodic about it here and here. The series ended with a pretty startling cliffhanger, in which our hero and main character, FBI Agent Dale Cooper is trapped in the otherworldy realm known as The Black Lodge. It was hinted at in the show various times that his soul would remain trapped there for 25 years. This little nugget of info has made fans ponder some sort of continuation for years.
David Lynch followed up the television series with a prequel film Fire Walk With Me, that did not resolve any of the cliffhangers of the series. It was his original intent to make two films; one set before and one set after the events of the series. But the original film tanked at the box office, leading to no resolution of any kind. In the following two decades, Twin Peaks‘ reputation and cult following has only continued to grow. When asked about a Peaks follow up, Lynch always seemed negative…but would always close with a “never say never”, giving hard core fans like me hope. And now more than twenty years on, it seems that hope might be justified, as it seems Lynch and Frost may indeed looking to return to the world of Twin Peaks.
So Here’s What I Heard
This is my understanding of what went down: While Mark Frost and David Lynch completely own Twin Peaks and all of its characters, the original network which ran the series, ABC, has rights of first refusal when it comes to airing anything new in regards to the show. In other words, for the show to air elsewhere, they would need to say no first. Apparently, Lynch and co-creator Frost proposed some kind of television movie or mini-series (I’m not clear on which) to ABC, thinking they wouldn’t be interested. ABC did cancel the series back in the day after all, and also never aired Lynch’s Mulholland Drive pilot, which later was completed and released as a feature film. However, due to 90’s nostalgia kicking in and the love of recognized name brands, ABC showed some interest. Then Lynch/Frost threw some astronomical figure at ABC for the budget, which they knew they would say no to. And ABC did indeed say no.
While this may seem like bad news on the offset for a Twin Peaks revival, the truth is it leaves Lynch and Frost with the option to go to a much more welcome place for this, namely cable. In many ways, Twin Peaks was the first quirky cable series, a good decade before those really existed. It would fit in naturally at some place like AMC, home of Mad Men (which regularly employs former Peaks directors like Tim Hunter and Lesli Linka Glatter) and The Killing, which many consider a TP knock off. Obviously Showtime or HBO would be ideal as well. Anything is better than ABC. So while a Peaks revival my now be dead at ABC, it might now have a better chance elsewhere.
As for plot details, all I heard was this: Something about a parallel reality, one colliding with the timeline already established in the series. One in which certain characters who were killed off on the show never died, including a certain famously murdered homecoming queen. Because really, what is Twin Peaks without Laura Palmer?
Pixar Finally Ready To Make The Incredibles 2?
Also another rumor that came directly to me from that source was one we geeks have been hoping to hear for awhile: A sequel to Pixar’s The Incredibles is on the way, and is further along in pre-production than anyone at Pixar/Disney is willing to admit. Hopefully this is more along the lines of Toy Story 3 and less Cars 2. But if any Pixar brand was born to be sequelized, it is certainly The Incredibles. I know no more details than that, much less if director Brad Bird is returning, but this one is coming sooner rather than later.
Our First Look At The New Superman
Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment have released the first pic of Henry Cavill as their new Superman from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel film. Based one this one pic, I would say so far, so good. The cape looks flowy and dramatic (And RED! Now more maroon or whatever) The S-Shield is bigger and bolder. No clear sign of the red undies, but considering DC Comics just dropped them for their re-design for the new DCU reboot version of Superman, that’s hardly surprising.
It is amazing when you compare it to the last “first release pic” from a Superman movie, how very clearly they are trying to convey a different message. In this new pic, Cavill is in a more aggressive stance, clearly having caused some super powered damage. He has a pissed off look on his face. They are really trying to sell us a “bad ass” Superman, without giving him something stupid like an all black costume or worse, no costume at all. Believe me, that was actually once considered.
Now look at the Brandon Routh image below…he’s posing in classic Superman style, arms at the hips, looking off into the sky. This is Superman, the classic 40’s American icon (minus the right color red in his scheme for some reason) everything about that pic screams retro. The newer pic is trying to sell a totally different, much grittier image of the Man of Steel. Time will tell if this a Superman that audiences respond to.
In other Man of Steel news, the movie has cast their Perry White, and well…white he is not (I’m sorry, it was too easy. I had to.) Laurence Fishburne is our new grouchy editor of the Daily Planet. Personally, I can totally see him in this role, and the race bending doesn’t bother me much at all. Maybe because I can already hear him in my head barking orders to Lois and Clark and it sounds right to me.
Our First Look At Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Supes wasn’t the only official pic Warner Brothers unleashed on us this week; also released was our first official pic of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. The skin tight black suit look a lot like the outfit that Catwoman currently wears in the comics, although the mask just looks like some high tech goggles. I was hoping for at least points on them, like the old school Batman television series Catwoman. Nothing in the mask screams “Catwoman” to me. However, it may not be the final version of her outfit, or even her only outfit. A girl can still have options.
Warner Brothers Gives Updates On Green Lantern 2 and The Flash
In other DC Comics film news, in an interview with the LA Times geek blog Hero Complex, Warner Brothers president Jeff Robinov talked a bit about the possibility of Green Lantern 2 and The Flash. On the subject of GL 2, Robinov said “We had a decent opening, so we learned there is an audience….To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action…. And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.”
*Sigh* Not being darker and edgier was NOT the issue with Green Lantern. Were Thor or Captain America’s movies “dark and edgy?” No, and I’d say they did well enough. What Green Lantern didn’t have (and the Marvel movies have in spades) is charm, and decent scripts. Try those Mr. Robinov. As for the Flash, Robinov only had this to say: the studio has “a solid script” for the Scarlet Speedster. Hopefully it’s a lot more “solid” than the script was for Green Lantern’s movie, that’s all I’m sayin’.
Dr. Strange Movie Coming Soon….And Maybe The Defenders Too?
The first real moves for Marvel Studios past The Avengers and sequels to Thor and Cap’s movies are being made right now, and it seems first on their plate isn’t Ant-Man like everyone assumed, but Dr. Strange. The last we heard about this movie was June of last year, when screen writers Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Donnelly were hired to write the script. Apparently Marvel liked what they got, as Twitchfilm.com ran this piece of news this week:
“Twitch has learned that Oppenheimer and Donnelly have now turned in their script and Marvel is pushing forward with the property. Marvel has drafted a short list of directors to approach on the title and is forwarding the current script to each to try and sign someone up to ‘oversee continued development.”
Dr. Strange is said to be Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige’s favorite character, and is therefore making this a priority for release as soon as 2013. With Dr. Strange coming soon, it leads me to this bit of speculation. Which I should point out, is JUST my speculation, and not actual news:
Could Dr. Strange be the opening chapter towards a Defenders movie? Just a few years ago I would have thought the notion insane, since the Defenders don’t have the longevity or fanbase of teams like the Avengers or the X-Men. But so far Marvel Studios’ gamble with the Avengers seems to be paying off; Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were blockbusters, and the “wild cards” of Thor and Captain America are pretty solid hits. There seems no way that The Avengers won’t be huge at this point. If that kind of building up of a team worked once, why not do it again?
The Defenders have had many members, but the founders and “main three” members are Dr. Strange, The Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner. The Hulk has already been introduced into the Marvel Movie-verse, if Dr. Strange in next, how much longer before Namor shows up? Maybe not in his own movie (just like Aquaman, Namor would be ridiculously expensive to make as a feature, due to all the under water stuff) but maybe fighting Nazis in flashbacks with Steve Rogers in Captain America 2? And if he does get introduced, then why not team these guys up as The Defenders?
Marvel announced at this past Comic Con that they are reviving The Defenders as an A List comic book, which indicates that they might be positioning that book to be a big team title like it was back in the day for a reason. Could this be corporate synergy at work? If this turns out to come true, remember you read it here first.
Thor 2 Gets A Director
In other Marvel Movie news, it appears that Thor 2 has nabbed a director. And although he is one you haven’t heard of, he might be one fans can get behind. It appears that television director Brian Kirk is the top choice to helm this, now that Kenneth Branagh has stepped down. The reason that fans should be excited is that Kirk has directed three episodes of HBO’s excellent fantasy series Game of Thrones, and if he can bring some of that mojo with him, I think we are in for a pretty good movie. Of course, he’d also come cheap, coming from television and all, but Marvel Studios proves you can be cheap and smart at the same time. Thor 2 is scheduled for July 26th, 2013.
