CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR



The screenwriters behind Marvel's smash hit "Captain America: Civil War" say that the inclusion of the Black Panther was more integral to the film than was Spider-Man, who they say was "in and out" of their script's drafts, as the studio sorted out the legalities surrounding the character. Much of the film's plot revolved around the prince of Wakanda, making him more indispensable.

Speaking to Creative Screenwriting Magazine, writing partners Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely described their creative process, and explained that, given the international components to the movie's story, they had little choice but to include the Black Panther, who would go on to be played by Chadwick Boseman.

As Markus explained, "We wanted an outside view on the Avengers' behavior. We wanted a foreign country to be saying, 'Look, your people are crossing borders and behaving like thugs in a way that we can't tolerate.' We thought it would be fun to bring in the Wakandans."

"As the story evolved and we found out we could use T'Challa, that began to relate to the mythology of Black Panther himself, who lost his father and took on the mantle of Black Panther, it began to sync up nicely with what we were doing," he said.

The story was always meant to feature a central, high-octane action sequence featuring a battling assemblage of heroes, one of which would be Tony Stark's latest recruit. And while the pair always hoped that they would have the opportunity to include the web-head as that recruit, back-and-forth negotiations between Marvel Studios and Sony, who own the character's screen rights, led them to hedge their bets.

"We had him in, and sometimes a month or two later [Marvel Studios President] Kevin [Feige] would come back and say, 'No, negotiations are not going quite as well. Don't plan on him!'" McFeely said.

"It was very good that he was in a section where the script would've called for somebody there, but there wasn't necessarily a tremendous amount of quantum mechanics riding on that it had to be Spider-Man. So if we finally didn't get him, the whole house of cards wouldn't fall down," said Markus, adding, "It would just mean we would have to come up with a different character to play that function."

(h/t ComicBook.com)

In theaters now

BLACK PANTHER

After a star-making turn after last week's release of "Captain America: Civil War," Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther is beginning to gain momentum for his own solo feature, which has added an Oscar-winner and a rising star to its cast. Lupita Nyong'o and Michael B. Jordan have signed on to co-star in 2018's "Black Panther" film, which will be directed and co-written by "Creed" director Ryan Coogler. The actors' parts have not yet been made public, although reports indicate that Nyong'o could play a love interest, and Jordan a villain.

At a time when Hollywood is under greater scrutiny than ever to present works that better represent and speak to the diversity of audiences, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has promised that in the film, which features a king of a fictional African nation named Wakanda that moonlights as a superhero, "90 percent of the cast is either African or African-American."

February 16, 2018

PREACHER

AMC's adaptation of "Preacher," the seminal Vertigo series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, will air Sunday, May 22, and ahead of the show's premiere the network has released a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Showcasing clips from the upcoming season, as well as interviews with executive producers Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen, and stars Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, and Joseph Gilgun, the videos explore the characters and world of "Preacher," with Negga calls "a supernatural, gothic, Western, love story, road movie."

Airs Sunday, May 22, at 10 PM on AMC

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Bryan Singer's "X-Men: Apocalypse" is less than two weeks away from its U.S. release, and 20th Century Fox has released a new video trailer, which features cast members discussing the movie's stakes and the new perspectives on familiar characters fans can expect to see.

Singer has also been discussing the potential next installment in the X-franchise, which is rumored to be set during the 1990s. Now, Singer says, the time may have come for the mutants to head to outer space.

"[Something] that's been introduced in the comics is a big alien, interstellar tenant within the X-Men universe that hasn't been explored," Singer said. "And to me, that might be kind of fun because I'm a huge 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek' fan, and exploring the X-Men universe and being able to utilize that would be exciting, visually," he explained.

In theaters May 27

GAMBIT

Sometimes even the best card player just needs to wait to be dealt the right hand. For the Ragin' Cajun, that means the right script.

Fox's "Gambit" movie, which will star Channing Tatum, may have lost its the release date it was slated for later this year, but it is still a part of the studio's X-plans, according to executive producer Simon Kinberg, who went so far as to say that hopes are that the film will echo the breakout success of "Deadpool," and mark "the start of a new franchise within the X-Men universe."

"We've got to get the script right," the "X-Men: Apocalypse" producer said, adding "What we've really tried to do with 'Gambit' is make sure we get the voice of that character right, and the tone of the comics 100 percent on the page," said Kinberg, who also explained, "We're very close, actually, to being done with the script."

No official release date

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

The CW has released photos from the upcoming season finale to "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," set to air this Thursday.

Airs Thursdays at 8 PM EST on The CW