Still recovering from last night’s episodes of The Walking Dead and Westworld? Yeah, TV can be pretty intense. But hey, there’s always the movies to help you relax, right? And that’s where we come in. Today’s Movie Morsels has the latest and greatest news and photos yet from a slew of upcoming films. Including word on someone in Logan who might just turn out to be your next favorite movie mutant. Plus, the latest photo of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman in Justice League, info on Joss Whedon‘s next genre project from the writer-director himself, and lots more…
Logan
Y’know, as good as Hugh Jackman’s been in the role of Wolverine these many years, the one thing that’s always kind of bugged me about the way the Canadian mutant is depicted on screen is the relationship he’s had with his sidekicks… or rather, the lack thereof. See, in the comics, Wolvie’s two principal sidekicks were Kitty Pryde and Jubilee. They were the mutants who helped him hold on to his humanity when his feral nature threatened to consume him. But those relationships have been more or less absent in Fox’s X-Men film franchise. Instead, he was briefly a big brother to Rogue and…that’s about it. All of which is to say that I’m hoping Jackman’s final go as Wolverine in Logan will finally give Jackman the kid sidekick he’s long deserved.
Thankfully, today we have confirmation that could indeed be the case. The character we saw in the film’s trailer played by Dafne Keen has been officially revealed on Instagram to be the young mutant X-23, a.k.a. Laura Kinney, a protege of Wolverine’s as well as his successor in the Weapon X program…
Keen doesn’t really say much in Logan‘s trailer, but she seems to radiate the kind of sincerity that’s absent in all too many child actors. Of course if she wins a lot of fans in the role, well, she’s so young there’s no telling how many times she could play X-23 on screen!
Untitled Joss Whedon Horror Film
As popular as Joss Whedon’s Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron proved, and despite the many who adore Serenity, there are a lot of folks who would insist that Whedon’s finest big-screen achievement is Cabin in the Woods. Those folks should be positively overjoyed to hear that Whedon is returning to the horror genre for his next movie, which will be set during World War II. In the midst of his “Save the Day” voting campaign, Whedon had a few words to say to Complex about what he’ll be doing after election season…
âIâm in the middle of a screenplay that I am extremely passionate about, and I am going to be extremely passionate about it again on November 9. Itâs definitely a departure from the things that Iâm known for. Itâs as dark as anything Iâve ever written. I just said, âOK, id, your turn.â I would write scenes and be like, âOh this is great! I shouldnât be allowed near people.â Itâs a historical fiction/horror movie about a time when the world was going insane, World War II.”
[Complex]
Justice League
This past Friday saw not only the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman, but the Amazon princess’ appointment as an honorary ambassador to the United Nations. To celebrate, director Zack Snyder, who introduced Wonder Woman (as played by Gal Gadot) in her first film appearance in this year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, has tweeted a new photo of the actress in Justice League. Just in case you were the one person in the world who thought Gadot looked unfit for the role, this should change your mind…
#JusticeLeague #WonderWoman75 pic.twitter.com/mGJk6GupGd
â Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) October 21, 2016
[Twitter]
Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll
There are lots of competing theories about who was most responsible for the creation of the 20th century’s dominant form of popular music, but the recent much-praised book Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll purports that it was indeed the famed Memphis music mogul who oversaw the word-changing fusion of blues and country through his Sun Records. The label on which pioneering legends like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash first recorded, Sun’s studio still stands today as a proud testament to the art form. And now Leonardo DiCaprio has bought the film rights to the book for a new biopic that he’ll executive produce as well as star in as Phillips. Since no less a rock god than Mick Friggin’ Jagger is a producer on the project, this film already has one of the best pedigrees of any rock biopic to date!
Zelda
Hey, speaking of biopics… While we’re all looking forward to seeing Jennifer Lawrence cuddle with Chris Pratt in the upcoming deep space adventure Passengers (pictured above) this December, the actress has at least four other films in various stages of development. The most interesting-sounding one, however, is Zelda, in which she’ll portray the immortal albeit tragic writer Zelda Fitzgerald (the wife, muse, and rival of Great Gatsby writer F. Scott Fitzgerald). Ron Howard is overseeing the development of the film, based on Nancy Milfordâs biography of the same name. Zelda is said to explore the eternal question “Can love exist between creative equals?”
What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!
Featured Image: 20th Century Fox
Images: Paramount, Columbia