Deadpool! Justice League! Aquaman! Today’s Movie Morsels is filled to the brim with superheroic goodness. Plus, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams talks about when we’ll learn the origins of Rey’s parents, and more…

Deadpool

The latest Deadpool billboard is also the greatest. Man, it seems that the marketing folks at Fox are owning their paychecks these days, though my contacts over at the studio tell me that star Ryan Reyolds and director Tim Miller have both contributed to the campaign for the film. In any case, if there’s an award for Most Creatively Childish Use of Emoji Ever, this one deserves it. Funnyman and comic book lover Patton Oswalt brings us this gem direct from Hollywood…

This idiotic/brilliant billboard is why I’m all in on the DEADPOOL movie. I’m an easy lay. pic.twitter.com/jSRorPvaCp

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 13, 2016

For more marketing magic, here’s a new tweet featuring the image on the last billboard we saw for the February 12 film, which sells it as a Valentine’s Day romance…

This Valentine’s Day, fall in love with #Deadpool. pic.twitter.com/ScQWrpXXmx — Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) January 11, 2016

Not familiar with Deadpool? Poor soul. Check out the latest episode of our own The Dan Cave for a crash course in the comic book character…

[i09]

Justice League

The CW has released a trailer for its Dawn of the Justice League TV special, which will debut on the network on Tuesday, January 19. The program will air after the midseason premiere of The Flash and alongside another special, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Their Time Is Now, designed to promote the Flash and Arrow spinoff series. Got all that? Good. Let’s take a look…

[CW]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Hey, speaking of film/television tie-ins… Appearing at this week’s TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena to promote his new Showtime series Roadies, director J.J. Abrams took a couple of questions about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including the big one on everyone’s minds: Where are Rey’s parents? Here’s what he said…

“I know quite a bit, but obviously it’s not for me to talk about in this moment because this is Rian [Johnson]’s story to continue now. The last thing I’m going to do is reveal something that he would be upset about. I want to make sure that Rian gets the courtesy he showed me.”

So at least it appears we’ll indeed learn about Rey’s folks in Episode VIII. As for Force Awakens actor Greg Grunberg’s recent remarks that Abrams wishes he hadn’t said no to directing Episode VIII, the filmmaker remarks…

“Here’s the thing about Greg… You put a microphone in front of him, you never know what you’re going to get. I love my friend Greg. He’s my best friend since Kindergarten. I think that my enthusiasm for VIII is enormous. I think he also might have invented a couple of the quotes that he gave but I am very much excited for and very jealous of anyone, especially Rian, who gets to work so closely with this extraordinary cast and crew. Truly an amazing group, so in that regard, for sure. Honestly, I’m also relieved to have gotten the chance to do a Star Wars movie.”

[Slashfilm]

Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off The Wall

Director Spike Lee’s somewhat awkwardly titled yet at least self-explanatory Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off The Wall will premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival before hitting Showtime on February 5th. Here’s a new trailer for the documentary…

[Showtime]

Aquaman

Finally today, in case you missed it… Yesterday we reported that Amber Heard (a.k.a. Mrs. Johnny Depp) may be cast as Mera, redheaded paramour of one Arthur Curry—the title hero in Warner Brothers’ Aquaman movie, as played by Jason Momoa. Directed by the ubiquitous James Wan, the film opens on July 27, 2018. We’ve also got lots more DC movie goodness in the latest episode of Nerdist News…

[Nerdist]

Images: Disney

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