Matt Reeves' 'The Batman' Lands July 2021 Release Date; Ben Affleck Is Officially Out

For almost a year now, there's been speculation regarding Ben Affleck vacating the role of Batman in Matt Reeves' upcoming standalone movie. Originally Affleck was set to star and direct the movie which would've featured Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke as the villain, but since Reeves came on board the project took a whole new route. It will instead apparently focus on a young Bruce Wayne in a more detective style Batman story featuring many members of his famed rogues gallery, and this leaves the search open for a new young actor in their 30s to take up the mantle. The movie has now finally landed an official release date, as well as confirmation from Affleck via Twitter that he won't be returning under the cowl.

The upcoming plans for the DCEU have been up in the air for quite a while now, and its still hard to tell what they're doing exactly. These release dates for three of their upcoming projects are the first bit of solid news we've gotten in a while with The Batman, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, and DC Super Pets all hitting theaters in 2021. The animated film DC Super Pets will come out May 21st, followed by The Batman on July 25th, and The Suicide Squad on August 6th. This seems reminiscent of DC's plan back in 2016, when they released both Batman v. Superman and the original Suicide Squad in the same summer.

While this at least provides a bit of structure and adds to the current DC schedule of this year's Shazam! and Joker, followed by next year's Wonder Woman 1989, its still hard to tell if these movies are actually in the DCEU. Following the success of James Wan's Aquaman this past December which made little reference to the expanded universe or past films like Justice League, it seems this is the route the studio will be taking. They'll apparently be more focused on giving characters their own separate movies rather then trying to connect them all to a larger universe. 

The Batman itself could still be a story of a young version of Ben Affleck's Batman, but it seems unlikely given how restricting that would be on Matt Reeves creatively. Its more likely that the movie will stand on its own as a Batman story with characters not featured in the other films (Minus necessities like Alfred), all cast by Reeves. Several names have been thrown around for the role of the new young Batman including recent fan favorites like Oscar Isaac, Richard Madden, Armie Hammer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jack O'Connell, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Barnes. Warner Bros. apparently want a familiar face for the project, so it'll be interesting to see who they end up going with. 

So are you happy DC is moving on from Ben Affleck's Batman? Who would you like to see take on the mantle of the caped crusader? Let us know below!

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Michael Gandolfini Will Step Into The Shoes Of His Father As Young Tony Soprano In 'The Many Saints of Newark'

Depending on who you ask, fans of the hit HBO series The Sopranos are either excited or down right pissed off that the shows creator David Chase is bringing a prequel movie to the big screen. Little is known about the movie other than that it will focus on the riots between Italians and African-Americans in Newark, New Jersey during the 1960s. For weeks the only casting news we had gotten was Alessandro Navoli as Christopher father Dickie Moltisanti, but now things have really started to pick up. While its unknown who most of the other additions to the cast are playing, we now know that James Galdolfini's son Michael will be starring in the younger version of his character Tony.

Deadline broke the news that Michael, who is an actor currently featured on James Franco's TV show Deuce, landed the role after an extensive casting process. Chase apparently really wanted to make sure Michael was the right guy for the job, but one could imagine no one knows his father's mannerisms as well as his own son. The casting is of course bittersweet as James passed away in 2013, but it seems like a very fitting way to honor him by having his son play his part. 

Its hard to tell how young Tony will be featured in the movie, and how much screen time he'll be getting. We're expecting to see a young Dickie alongside Tony's father and uncle Johnny Boy Soprano and Junior. With Jon Bernthal and Corey Stoll joining the cast recently, its been suggested by fans that those might be the roles the two of them are playing. Young Johnny and Junior were featured in some flashbacks to Tony's childhood in the original series, but it makes sense that the roles would have to be recast as its been twenty years. 

Its possible that the movie will progress through time showing the original generation of the family, and eventually end up with an adolescent Tony. We can probably expect the casting of young Silvio, Pussy, Paulie, and even Ralph Cifaretto at some point if they're really going to show us the origins of Tony's crew. As for what roles Vera Farmiga and Billy Magnussen could be playing, the former is believed to be taking on the role of Tony's devilish mother Livia Soprano. Its hard to tell who any of them are playing this early on, but we should get confirmation at some point soon when an official cast list hits the web.

So what do you think of Michael playing a young Tony? What roles do you think the other actors are playing? Let us know below!

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'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Trailer Finally Drops; Peter Parker and Mysterio Team-Up Against The Elementals

After months of anticipation for its release, Marvel and Sony have finally released their first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home. For fans who haven't figured it out already, one way or another Spidey has managed to come back from the disastrous events of Infinity War. While this trailer gives no indication of how that happened, we do get what could be some hints of a post Endgame MCU. Not only that, but we also get our first look at Jake Gyllenhaal in a full comic accurate Mysterio costume, and confirming the talk that he is in fact a hero in this movie (As far as we know).

Below is the first official trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home:

Most of us are of course looking for hints of how the events of Avengers: Endgame have affected Spider-Man and his world, but Jon Watts and Marvel keep that under wraps. But there is of course a troubling lack of Tony Stark in the trailer, but this could be done to throw fans off. We also now know Aunt May is fully aware Peter is Spider-Man, playing off what we saw at the end of Homecoming. She'll apparently be working for some kind of charity or shelter like she does in the Spider-Man PS4 video game, and helping use Spidey in costume as a figure of the community.

As for the Europe trip Peter will be embarking on with his school later in the movie, we see strong hints of his relationship with Zendaya's Michelle developing. We also see Peter's reluctance to take the Spider-Man suit with him, once again playing off the common Spidey trop of him having to balance his adolescent life with his superhero life. We then of course see the entrance of Nick Fury as it was described in the trailer shown in Brazil a few months ago, shooting a dart at Ned in order to assign Peter a mission. We know at some point after that is when Fury gives him the Stealth Suit, and explains to him he'll be working with another "hero" named Mysterio.

We get our first look at Jake Gyllenhaal and the full comic book accurate Mysterio costume in all its fish bowl glory. Its still hard to tell if this version of Mysterio actually has powers, as some of the things he does are reminiscent of Doctor Strange. Its more likely this is just all part of some effects and illusions he's able to pull off like he does in the comics. We see him fighting the Elemental creatures and warning Peter not to get involved. Fans still believe of course that Mysterio is actually the one controlling them in order to make himself look like a hero. Peter's classmates even describe him as a cross between Thor and Iron Man, hinting at the public's positive perception of Mysterio so far.

So what did you think of the Far From Home trailer? Are you happy with how Jon Watts has adapted Mysterio for the big screen? Do you think he'll end up being the villain? Let us know below!

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