X-Men: Apocalypse will feature some of the cast of the original X-Men trilogy, after all. Simon Kinberg describes the Fantastic Four reboot as "grounded, real, gritty." And promos from the new seasons of True Blood and Witches of East End. Spoilers now!
Top image: X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: Apocalypse/Gambit
Writer Simon Kinberg talked about the tease of Apocalypse in the after-credits sequence of X-Men: Days of Future Past:
At some point in making the movie we talked about what the potential next film would be, and we all really gravitated towards Apocalypse. We really wanted it to be more for the core fans than for the broad audience; to be something that was a genuine tease, and almost mysterious to mainstream audiences who don't know the comics well, so they're thinking, "What's that?"
He also said that the plan was for X-Men: Apocalypse was for it to focus primarily on the First Class cast, but also to have some of the original cast involved. As for Gambit, Kinberg talked a little bit about casting Channing Tatum:
Gambit is still in-motion and being figured out. Channing made it known that it was a character that he loved and would love to play, and all the people who work on the X-Men movies are huge fans of his, so the notion of him playing it is exciting. I'm more fascinated by anti-heroes, and Gambit is one of those. I don't know why he wasn't explored in the original X-Men movies. Maybe the reason why was because they wanted to focus on Rogue/Bobby or the platonic Rogue/Wolverine relationship, and maybe there were too many similarities between Wolverine and Gambit, so in order to make it a Wolverine-centric franchise they had to cut him loose.
Fantastic Four
In the same interview, Kinberg talked about Josh Trank's vision of the Fantastic Four reboot, including every reboot's favorite buzzwords, "grounded, real, gritty." As for the tone, Kinberg said:
The tone of this movie will feel as unique as when you saw Iron Man, X-Men, or Batman Begins for the first time. It's not as goofy as the first movies; it has humor in it, but the humor is much more real and comes from character, not pratfall jokes. It's a much more dramatic film than it is a comedy. I would say it falls somewhere between Raimi's first couple of Spider-Man movies and Chronicle.
He also talked about casting Michael B. Jordan and how he's been doing on set:
We knew casting an African-American Human Torch would be news, but I can tell you it's something that Stan Lee loves, and I can also tell you that having been on set and seeing Michael bring him to life, he's really spectacular. He's doing something really cool with the character that I think will become the iconic Johnny Storm.
Penny Dreadful
Here are two clips and the promo for episode 1.04, "Demimonde." [via SpoilerTV]
Continuum
Here are the synopses for episodes 3.12 and 3.13:
Episode 3.12 - The Dying Minutes
Kiera and John Doe put an end to the Freelancers; Scar Alec is rescued from the Freelancer facility; Carlos brings balance back to Dillon and the VPD.
Episode 3.13 - Last Minute
Kiera and Liber8 join forces to stop a power-hungry Alec; Kiera and John Doe realize their relationship is doomed; Scar Alec sacrifices his hard-won desire for a simpler life.
In the Flesh
Here's a sneak peek for episode 2.05. [via SpoilerTV]
True Blood
Here are two new posters for season 7. [SpoilerTV]
Salem
Here are short descriptions of episodes six and seven:
Episode 1.07 - Our Own Private America
Cotton tackles a unique accusation in the trials as the passion between Alden and Mary grows; a powerful witch hunter makes his way toward Salem.
Episode 1.08 - Departures
The town is rocked by the arrival of Cotton's father; Mary's power over George is compromised.
Here's the promo for episode seven, "Our Own Private America." [via SpoilerTV]
Witches of East End
Here's an extended promo for season 2. [via SpoilerTV]
Beauty and the Beast
Here's a clip from episode 2.17, "Beast Is the New Black":
Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders and Madeleine Monson-Rosen
DISCUSSION
A gritty and grounded Fantastic Four will not be a recognizable version of the Fantastic Four. My dread for this project continues, and has nothing to do with the non-Jamie Bell casting.