As the entire superhero movie industry prepares for Comic-Con International in San Diego—yes, Marvel Studios isn't attending the show this year, but you know that they're going to be avidly waiting to see what Warner Bros. does—the machine continues to move on, with hints of what to expect from Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man, and a Suicide Squad star potentially provoking a complicated reaction if she shows up at the Con. These, then, are the highlights of the last week of superhero movie news.
What's the best way to win over superhero fans who are already suspicious of movies that don't bear the Marvel logo? If you're *Suicide Squad'*s Cara Delevingne, you point out that most superhero movies have terrible roles for women. "Generally though, superhero movies are totally sexist," she told Empire magazine. "Female superheroes are normally naked or in bikinis. No one would be able to fight like that. Wonder Woman, how the hell does she fight? She would be dead in a minute." Although her greater point was spot-on, it was nonetheless nit-picked by fanboys who, amongst other things, suggested she was wrong because Black Widow and Peggy Carter don't wear bikinis.
Why this is super: Delevingne's involvement was exciting in the first place, but knowing that she's so critical of the way women are treated in other superhero movies, but supportive of their Suicide Squad roles ("There are only three girls in [the movie] but in my opinion they have the best roles," she said), makes this feel a lot more interesting. What if this movie lives up to the hype?
Not only do we now know that the sequel to last year's space superhero hit will be Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2, but director James Gunn is promising a more emotional second installment, in which we'll "learn a lot about fathers." Considering that we don't know who Star-Lord's father is yet, and that Gamora's adopted dad is none other than Thanos, that's a pretty big tease to drop.
Why this is super: As fun as the first Guardians was, the prospect of a second movie that ups the emotional aspects of the series is something very promising indeed. We know Gunn and his crew can do funny and spectacular well. Let's see if they can deliver genuine emotional payoff too.
If you've been worried that the new Spider-Man movie will just retread the same ground as the last five, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is here to reassure you otherwise. "We haven't seen a John Hughes movie in a long time," he explained about the reboot for Marvel's web-slinger during a promotional appearance for Ant-Man. "Not that we can make a John Hughes movie—only John Hughes could—but we're inspired by him, and merging that with the superhero genre in a way we haven't done before excites us." He also promised big emotional stakes, and—thank God—"villains we haven't seen before." (Please use Mysterio, please use Mysterio, please use Mysterio.)
Why this is super: A Spider-Man movie that isn't just doing what we've already seen? That's almost enough to make us forgive you for casting yet another white guy as Peter Parker this time around, Sony/Marvel.
Feige has also been talking about the role that Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther is going to play in next year's Captain America: Civil War, telling Birth.Movies.Death that being the Black Panther is "a role that he is still in the beginning phases of taking on, it's a mantle he is only beginning to take on because his father is older." He'll become embroiled with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe as a result of events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Feige teased, and when he meets Iron Man and Captain America, he'll stand aside from their stroppy civil war. "The reason we introduced him in Civil War is because we needed a third party," Feige said. "We needed fresh eyes who wasn't embedded with the Avengers and who has a very different point of view than either Tony or Steve."
Why this is super: The suggestion that T'Challa isn't going to be introduced as a character in the background to serve the greater needs of Cap or Iron Man is a welcome one indeed. What are the odds that Civil War could end with everyone accepting that Black Panther is the best and should lead the Avengers?
Meanwhile, promotion for Magic Mike XXL has been hijacked to get some more details on next year's Gambit movie, with Digital Spy asking Channing Tatum how the accent is going and producer Reid Carolin how much the movie will interact with the larger X-Men movie universe. (Short answers: Slowly and not so much, although the character will move into the larger universe later, apparently.) Far more importantly, will Tatum wear the character's pink-and-purple comic book costume? "That's the fun part, to massage in," he said. "You can't just do it the way people think." So that's a no, then.
Why this is villainy: Channing, listen. The entire reason we're cool with a Gambit movie in the first place is to see you wear the classic outfit. If that's not happening, then we're going to have to rethink this whole thing.
