After all the criticism leveled against the critically reviled, darker-than-dark Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros.’ Justice League damage-control is in full swing! Also in today’s Movie Morsels, the very first photo from the set of Avengers: Infinity War, the latest on the Avatar sequels, and much more…

Justice League

Warner Bros’ Geoff Johns has just given his first major interview since being appointed the head of DC Films. He spoke to The Wall Street Journal about how the studio will make sure its Justice League movie won’t be as relentlessly grimdark as the films that have preceded it, and set a new template for the DC Extended Universe…

“Mistakenly in the past,” says Johns, “I think the studio has said, ‘Oh, DC films are gritty and dark and that’s what makes them different.’ That couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a hopeful and optimistic view of life. Even Batman has a glimmer of that in him. If he didn’t think he’d make tomorrow better, he’d stop.”

How this new approach will suit Justice League director Zack Snyder, who until now has been the chief architect and cheerleader behind the studio’s smile-free approach, remains to be seen.

Avengers: Infinity War

Meanwhile, over at Marvel, though it will still be many months before the cameras roll on Avengers: Infinity War, actor Josh Brolin has already arrived on the film’s set for rehearsals. As seen in a new photo shared by directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Brolin is once more donning mo-cap equipment for his performance as the evil alien conqueror Thanos…

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Avatar

Filmmaker James Cameron is delighted with Cirque du Soleil’s Avatar prequel Toruk, which opens in Brooklyn this week. In an interview about the show, Cameron has dropped some new info regarding his long-in-development four Avatar sequels…

“The storyline in the sequels,” the writer-director told Variety, “really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children. It’s more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans. But thematically, Toruk manages to land very very closely to the feeling of where the sequel stories are going.”

Gold

Matthew McConaughey is looking decidedly less glamorous than usual in the trailer for his next film, Gold, co-starring Bryce Dallas Howard. Loosely based on the true story of hard-luck prospector Kenny Wells, who struck it rich with a gold claim in Borneo in the ’90s, Gold is directed by Syriana helmer and Traffic writer Stephen Gaghan…

[Variety]

The Disappointments Room

Finally today, we have a clip for the horror thriller The Disappointments Room. Opening this weekend, the film stars Kate Beckinsale as a wife who, caught in a deteriorating marriage, moves to the country with her husband and son, only to find a whole heap of new troubles awaiting her in her dream home…

The wait is almost over! Don’t miss #TheDisappointmentsRoom in theaters TOMORROW. Get tix: https://t.co/WIlEqde2hg pic.twitter.com/lKHvI4ajim

— Disappointments Room (@TheDRmovie) September 8, 2016

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Featured Image: Warner Bros.

Images: Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox