Watch an "action-packed" Game of Thrones teaser. X-Men: Days of Future Past's production designer explains the look of the future Sentinel. Plus, Robert Kirkman previews The Walking Dead's return, plus there's a new clip. And a new trailer from Noah! Halle Berry's husband gets cast in Extant. Spoilers now!
Star Theo James says that he and Shailene Woodley have read the entire series and saw the ultimate fate of protagonist Tris Prior (Woodley) in the third book coming from a long way off:
The whole concept of selflessness runs through the entire series so the most natural way for her story to end seemed to be self-sacrifice. And there's this whole crossover with the big Jesus, which you see a little bit with this sense of Abnegation and giving yourself for the greater good. I thought it was the most natural ending.
[Woodley] liked it in a way. Again it felt natural to her in terms of the story arc of the character. In the second book [Insurgent] she's constantly sacrificing herself to the point where my character [Four] is getting deeply frustrated by it and says, 'Do you not have any value for your own life, or the people that care for you?' and she says 'It's not about that.' But if it's going that way in the second book you feel that it's probably gonna end up that way.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Along with all the other covers from Empire, there were looks at the movie's take on the Sentinels. In the magazine, production designer John Mayhre explains their concept for the future Sentinel:
They're biomechanical weapons. We had to come up with what would be the ultimate version that could actually, in principle, stop the X-Men. We started with this idea that they were almost made up of magnetic plates slapped over one another, imagining that the plates could contract or grow, so the Sentinel can be skinny to get through a small space or the plates can open up to become a bigger shape. So they have become virtually unstoppable.
Here's the Sentinel he's talking about. [Sentinel]
And here are four more photos. [Comic Book Resources]
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Looks like the sequel's going to be doing some filming in Incheon City, outside Seoul, South Korea. Twitch also reports that the production's cast local actress Kim Soo-hyun as a villain. Of course, none of this is confirmed yet, so we'll see if the report is true. [Twitch Film via Coming Soon]
Batman Vs. Superman
Speaking with Playboy, Ben Affleck re-told the story about how he didn't want the role until he heard what Zack Snyder was planning to do with the character. He also gave a few details about what that take is:
It was a unique take on Batman that was still consistent with the mythology. It made me excited. All of a sudden I had a reading of the character. When people see it, it will make more sense than it does now or even than it did to me initially.
. . . I don't want to give away too much, but the idea for the new Batman is to redefine him in a way that doesn't compete with the Bale and Chris Nolan Batman but still exists within the Batman canon. It will be an older and wiser version, particularly as he relates to Henry Cavill's Superman character.
A CG-movie based on the PlayStation and Sucker Punch game has been announced for 2016. Here's how Producer Brad Foxhoven described it:
Sly Cooper is a kinetic and comedic heist film that tells the story of Sly Cooper, an orphaned raccoon thief, and the adventures of his childhood friends and partners in crime, Bentley Turtle and Murray Hippo. In the film, Sly learns that he comes from a long line of talented, international thieves, and is catapulted into a global adventure. Sly races to reassemble pieces of an ancient book holding the Cooper clan's family secrets before it can fall into the hands of Clockwerk — an evil metallic owl bent on ending the Cooper family line.
Here's the trailer that Paramount'll be airing this Sunday during the Super Bowl.
According to Stephen Amell, Laurel's story arc is going to climax in episode 14:
We are really continuing to tell [Laurel's] story in [episodes] 12, 13, and 14. It culminates in 14 in a scene between Oliver and Laurel that, for me, I think — I reserve to change my mind — it might be my most favorite scene we've ever shot on the show. It's a new kind of scene for Oliver and Katie was fantastic in it. I can't wait for people to see it.
New in a romantic way?
Just new. Let's call it new and leave it at that.
He also said that, even though they've kind of taken a backseat lately, the Queen family drama is going to takeover the rest of the season:
Oh my God, it's not good. It's really about to get, actually, quite bad. We don't focus on it as much in episode 12, but it is in the forefront in the remainder of the season. In episode 13, things take a turn and we continue to explore that storyline. I was very very proud of this string of episodes we have coming up. I think they are exceptional. We are unearthing some things in these episodes that I think people are anticipating that they will be paid off at the end of the season. And we are just ripping them off right now, which is the style of our show. We plow ahead and worry about our pace later. Fans are in for a real treat over the next couple of episodes.
Amell said that, while they haven't done it yet, he hopes Oliver's showdown with Slade happens before the end of the season, because it would be "insane" to have them both be in Starling City without running into each other. [Entertainment Weekly]
Colton Haynes previewed the next few episodes, saying:
It's really fun knowing the way the next few episodes are going to go with the amount of comic book characters they're bringing in that have never been seen on the show before. There's a lot little Easter Eggs coming up in the next few episodes where the super comic book fans will be going, "Wait... does that mean they're going to bring in that character? Does it mean this thing is going to happen?" There's also a lot of teaming up coming in the next few episodes.
. . . Yeah, it's very cool to bring new people in because you get some new energy and some fresh material. It's great to see the way the fans react. We're all pretty invested in our social media, which is a huge reason that the show has been so successful. But now these new characters seem to be sitting well with the audience, and for me, it's cool to meet so many people for the first time — even people I didn't meet in the first season. It makes for a fun dynamic on set. We're not just plateauing. We're really, really ramping things up. I think the whole season has been that way, and we've been on a constant climb that we don't want to stop that. In the past few scripts that I've been reading, we continue to amp it up to a huge... well, I can't say that! [Laughs] It just gets bigger. As generic as that sounds, it's really all I can say.
Haynes on the stunts in last night's episodes at the link. [Comic Book Resources]
Next week will see the introduction of Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul. According to EP Andrew Kreisberg, Law was very close to playing a different Arrow character:
Our Nyssa certainly has shades of Talia. Katrina auditioned for Shado and it actually came down to Katrina and Celina [Jade] and honestly, part of it was just that because we knew she'd have scenes with Slade [played by Manu Bennett], and it just felt like a Spartacus overkill. But she's somebody that we've been a fan of. When this part came up, we saw a lot of people for it, but she certainly is exotic and beautiful and smart and our stunt guys are over the moon, because she can do a lot of her own stunts. [Nyssa is] the next wave of the League of Assasins that comes to Starling City. But she has some interesting secrets as well...
Here are three photos of Law as Nyssa, and it looks like she and Sarah Lance have history. [IGN]
The Walking Dead
Robert Kirkman got insanely coy when asked if this season would see the world outside Georgia:
Well, that would be a spoiler. But I will say they clearly leave Georgia at some point in the comic. So anyway, they will possibly, eventually follow that storyline, but I can't say when. But I would say there's a good chance that may happen.
He did say that it was "probably" Shane that got Lori pregnant. Kirkman was unwilling to say if we'd see Morgan ever again. He did say that Negan is a priority character to include:
It's a question of when not if. We actually talk about that a bit in the writer's room as to when it would be appropriate to bring him in and what needs to happen in order to get to that point. Unless the show gets canceled abruptly very soon, you'll see Negan on the TV show. Like Season 9.
Here's a sneak peek at episode 4.09, "After." [via SpoilerTV]
And below's a new photo from "After." [SpoilerTV]
Goran Visnjic (ER) has been cast as regular John Watts, the husband of Halle Berry's husband. Also cast is Michael O'Neill (The West Wing) as the former-astronaut director of the privatized space program. [Entertainment Weekly]
The Tomorrow People
According to actor Luke Mitchell, the Cara-Stephen-John love triangle will be taking a back seat for the rest of the season:
Things have happened that can't unhappen. So there's always going to be a certain amount of awkwardness, a certain amount of residual tension, [among] these three. But moving forward, I feel like there's less focus on the love triangle, although it's always there, and more focus on the bigger picture and more dramatic stuff, to be perfectly honest.
He also previewed how the Cara/John relationship and Stephen/John friendship will change:
What would you say is the biggest issue for Cara and John moving forward?
Oh goodness, their communication skills. [Laughs] Their egos. They're not willing to forgive and forget. The fact that they don't let each other in. The list goes on, which makes it very interesting… Right now, Cara's the leader, and John has to take the backseat and watch her do her thing and provide support where possible. But at the end of the day, John feels like the leader inside — even if he's not. So he has natural instincts and opinions. You'll see that those vary from Cara's. Very soon, things come to a serious head between them.
And how is Stephen and John's relationship going to evolve?
They'll evolve in a positive way. I don't think they're ever going to be best mates, but it's interesting because John is bound to Stephen. He's going to be forever trying to make good on his promise to Stephen's dad [and] on the fact that he killed Stephen's dad. So whether he likes it or not, he's forever going to be trying to help Stephen despite himself. You'll see their relationship open up. They help each other out a little bit. … That's the first move toward a healthier relationship between them.
It's been renewed for a fifth season, according to a tweet from Emily Rose. [SpoilerTV]
Game of Thrones
Here's another short sneak peek at season 4. [Den of Geek]
American Horror Story
Here's a featurette about choosing the new Supreme. [via SpoilerTV]
Here's the promo for episode 1.13, "Crescent City." [via SpoilerTV]
Here's a new trailer for the CW show, premiering on March 19th. [TV Equals]
Below's a promo for episode 9.13, "The Purge." [via Spoiler TV]
Here's a sneak peek at episode 1.10, "My Haunted Heart." [via SpoilerTV]
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Jason Krell