COMIC REEL: Barrowman Returning For "Arrow" Season Four; Bernthal Begins Punisher Preparation

ARROW

During an appearance at Amazing Las Vegas Comic-Con, Malcolm Merlyn/Ra's al Ghul actor John Barrowman confirmed that he will return for the show's fourth season.

"We start filming in July, season four... I just finalized my deal about a week ago," said Barrowman, as transcribed by ComicBook.com. "I'm very excited about going back. I can't tell you anything because I do know a bit about what's going to happen, but if you love Malcolm Merlyn, if you love Oliver Queen, if you love Thea Queen, if you love the Canary sisters, and I say that with a bit of a twist and a joke in it, you're going to love what's going to happen across the DC world."

You can see his answer on video below.

Returns this Fall on the CW

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

While speaking with Collider, Kyle MacLachlan revealed that we may have not seen the last of Dr. Calvin Zabo on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"They've left it open," said MacLachlan about the possibility of his return. "We haven't really spoken about it, so I don't know what to expect. I think they left the door ajar for him. He's still around. He's in a happier place now, but who's to say if that's going to remain that way. I don't know. It would be fun. I would enjoy it."

MacLachlan also talked about how his character developed throughout the show's second season. "'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' was a lot of fun, unexpectedly so," said the actor. "I had no idea what to expect, going in. I just didn't know. I think they also look to the actor to personify the person. It's one of the things that I learned in television, and one of the beauties of television, is that, if you have a strong writing staff, they rely on you just as much as you rely on them. They look to me or the other actors to help inspire them to take the character in interesting directions. I felt that very strongly with Cal. I would do something and invest in whatever the scenes were, and they'd go, 'Oh, wow, look what we can do.' And then, that would compel them to write further and deeper, which I think they did. They enriched that relationship, and that character became much more complex. They may have always wanted that. I don't know. But, it became more complex than what I was expecting it to be."

Returns September 29 on ABC

ANT-MAN

A pair of new TV spots have arrived for "Ant-Man," one of which sheds a little more light on Evangeline Lilly's Hope Van Dyne and the other on Scott Lang's role as a father.

Opens July 17

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

A post on SuperHeroHype's forum has added a new wrinkle to "Civil War." The message board member says they visited the "Captain America: Civil War" set on their lunch break; according to the post, they just walked onset, at some food, and went undisturbed. The MB member even claims to have watched a scene involving Elizabeth Olsen and Chris Evans. In the scene, Captain America was allegedly wielding a "CGI stand-in prop" that had a familiar shape.

"One interesting thing I noticed while they were preparing for the stunt, was Captain America waving around a CGI stand-in prop that was shaped like a double sided hammer. Do you guys think that means he's going to get his hands on Thor's hammer in this movie? Also, why do you think the Scarlet Witch (out of costume) and Captain America are doing breaking into an Infectious Disease Facility?"

It's a bit hard to believe that anyone off the street could get that close to Evans and Olsen without getting questioned, and there are no pictures or other rumors to corroborate this story.

Opens May 6, 2016

DAREDEVIL

Now that he's been cast as Punisher, it looks like Jon Bernthal has begun doing research for the role. The actor was spotted at Hypno Comics in Ventura, California where he posed for an Instagram picture, signed a Punisher comic for the first time and "asked for some recommendations."

Are You fucking kidding me? Look who just came in! Jon Bernthal! First time he has signed the Punisher too! Gonna crush it. @jonnybernthal #punisher #daredevil #netflix #hypnocomics #fanboymoment A photo posted by Hypno Comics (@hypnocomics) on Jun 20, 2015 at 3:23pm PDT

Currently streaming on Netflix

DEADPOOL

CinemaBlend has a report from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld's appearance at Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con wherein he compared the tone of the merc's upcoming film with Quentin Tarantino.

"Deadpool's pretty hardcore; it's pretty awesome. When I first read it, I thought 'This is the voice of Tarantino in a comic book movie,' which is perfect because Deadpool is more crime-oriented, action-oriented, obviously, and Tarantino has got a great sense of humor."

Opens February 12, 2016

MARVEL

UK tabloid the Daily Star claims to have heard rumblings that Beyonce is in talks to star in a Disney/Marvel movie as a superhero. The article doesn't specify the details of these extremely hypothetical "talks" nor does it cite any sources by name; the sole quote comes from a "senior executive at movie distributor Disney" and reads:

"We would love to have Beyonce on board, almost certainly as a newcomer to the screen from Marvel's existing catalogue of comic book characters."

Whether or not these talks are happening and are legit remains to be seen; these are the rumoriest of rumors. CBR News has reached out to Disney/Marvel Studios for comment on this report. The characters posited for Beyonce to play don't help the Daily Star's credibility either; they don't mention obvious choices for the singer to play (She-Hulk, Monica Rambeau, Spider-Woman, Valkyrie, Sersi, etc.). Instead, the Star implies that they were informed that Beyonce is being considered to play Boom-Boom, Blink, Tigra or Hawkeye. The first two of those are mutants and therefore owned by Fox; Blink already appeared in last year's "X-Men: Days of Future Past." Tigra is an Avenger and not a bad choice for Beyonce, but it's hard to believe that Marvel would pay to get someone of the megastar's caliber and not give her a solo-franchise-ready role like She-Hulk. Lastly, there already is a Hawkeye in the Avengers movies and, if the Daily Star means they're considering her for Kate Bishop, then that's a little off as one of Kate's most defining characteristics is that she's 18 years old.

SPIDER-MAN

Rumored Spider-Man candidate Tom Holland has decided to demonstrate his potential Spidey skills in a trio of videos posted to Instagram.