Blue Beetle and Katana in ARROW Season 3?

At this rate, we're going to see most of the DC Universe on television by 2016.

TVLine has new details on four new characters for the third season of the CW series Arrow, with two of them factoring into Oliver Queen's flashback sequences.  Now, the names provided are most likely false to prevent spoilers, but here's the list from TVLine...

"DANIEL" -- Though Daniel could be a fake name to throw off spoilerholics, this 20something gent — a major recurring character for Season 3 — is a handsome, enigmatic and highly intelligent entrepreneur developing groundbreaking technology. (Picture a business magnate in Ryan Gosling’s body.) Though exuding charm and confidence in public, he privately harbors a tragic past that will drive him to become a tech-powered superhero. Watch for this formidable fella to be a love interest for Felicity and a rival of Oliver’s – both personally and professionally.

"SETH" -- A well-educated criminal with grand ambitions and a knack for chemistry, this potentially recurring character gains power over his enemies by exposing them to a drug that drains their willpower. Oh, and he is very much a physical match for The Arrow.

"TOSHI" -- Majorly recurring in (at least) the Hong Kong flashbacks, Toshi will serve as Oliver’s teacher and handler, and eventually become a friend. A well-trained operative, skilled in weaponry, combat and intelligence gathering, he is also a devoted father and husband.

"AKIKO" --Toshi’s wife is another of Oliver’s Hong Kong caretakers, and is herself highly skilled in martial arts.

"Daniel" seems likely to be none other than Ted Kord, better known as the Blue Beetle.  Ted has been previously mentioned in a flashback by Moira Queen where she remarks how quiet Robert Queen is after attending a Ted Kord fundraiser.  His company, Kord Industries, also made an appearance when a mechanical product is stolen by Cyrus Gold for Brother Blood out of Queen Consolidated's applied sciences division.  The product was going to help mass-produce a serum that will give people super strength.  After a brief fight with Gold, the Arrow managed to destroy it and stop the villain.  His company is again seen as henchmen of the Clock King break in and steal a device that will allow the Clock King to break into any bank vault anywhere.  In addition, Ted Kord was recently reintroduced to DC Comics readers at the end of the Geoff Johns event series Forever Evil.

As for "Toshi" and "Akiko," I believe that "Akiko" is actually Tatsu Yamashiro, also known as Katana.  Tatsu is skilled in martial arts and is married to Maseo Yamashiro ("Toshi," presumably) until Maseo is killed by his brother Takeo with a sword, a katana called Soultaker, as their children are killed.  Tatsu takes possession of Soultaker and learns that her husband's spirit now resides inside her sword, allowing her to hear his voice.  After losing her short-lived ongoing comic book series, Katana recently appeared in the pages of -- you guessed it -- Green Arrow during the storyline "The Outsiders War."

"Seth," however, seems a bit more difficult to figure out.  While he could be simply as described, it's more than likely that he's a DC Comics character, but which one?  The only one that springs to mind is Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, but I imagine he's probably off limits for a future episode of Gotham.

Arrow returns in the fall on The CW, probably around October.

Ben McKenzie Discusses GOTHAM and Jim Gordon

An Iron Man fan?  Well, we'll let that one slide...

Entertainment Weekly has posted an interview with Ben McKenzie, star of the upcoming Fox television series Gotham.  As Batfans know, McKenzie will portray Detective James Gordon, the future police commissioner of Gotham City, and he shared his thoughts about the character and his past history with the world of Batman.

When asked about what excites him about JIm Gordon as a character, McKenzie replied, "He’s a truly honest man.  The last honest man in a city full of crooked people.  It’s very tricky nowadays to play a true, honest-to-goodness hero.  Everybody is so cynical of people’s intentions.  What’s interesting about him is he comes into this city that he hasn’t lived in for two decades, since he was a kid, and has fresh eyes to a world he doesn’t actually know.  He thinks he knows it, and his journey will be to figure out how to make it better both for Gotham and himself without completely [losing] the moral standing that he has. He’s not an anti-hero, he’s a true hero — but he will have to compromise."

Of course, compromising will take Gordon into some morally grey areas, so will he be able to keep his ideals intact?  "He won’t," said McKenzie.  "And that’s one of the things we talked about very early on.  This is not a Batman-from-the-’50s kind of show, with moral duality in black and white.  In this world, everybody lives in the grey.  Everybody is on the take.  Everybody is compromised.  There is no way he’ll emerge unscathed from that.  How does he hold onto the thread of his mortality while getting things done?"

"Long story short: Gordon couldn’t be more human," McKenzie continued.  "In a DC universe where all of these characters are human, he is Exhibit A in being a simple, flawed human being.  He’s strong and smart and tough, but he’s going to make wrong decisions and trust the wrong people.  And he has no out — he can’t put on a cape and fly off."

In preparing for the role, McKenzie got some background on Gordon from none other than DC Comics' chief creative officer.  "I went to lunch with Geoff Johns and asked, 'What do I need to know?  I’m familiar with Batman and Gordon, but what’s my responsibility here?'  He gave me Gotham Central…and said two things -- The origin story of Gordon hasn’t been fully explored before.  As central as he is, Gordon has never been the focus.  And second, you can’t worry about that.  'We hired you to play you and to make this character fresh.'  And he said it without provocation.  That coming from the guy who’s so well versed in this, saying to make it your own, it was a real pat on the shoulder.  There’s a tendency with such a familiar world that it can be intimidating, but you got to relax and do it.  It ought to be bigger and grander and — frankly — cooler than most, but you have to treat it like a job."

And where did that familiarity with Batman and Gordon come from?  "I’m a big fan of Batman," said McKenzie.  "I can’t claim I grew up reading a lot of comics — weirdly the one I remember is Iron Man.  I would watch repeats of the cheesy biff-pow-bang show, the Adam West version, in the afternoons in Texas.  As I grew older, [the depictions of Batman] grew more sophisticated, and I loved the [Christopher] Nolan films.  The thing that I think is universally relateable about Batman is he’s not a superhero.  He has no special powers. He’s simply a man who’s experienced this extreme trauma, and has access to all sort of gadgets and weaponry that a wealthy person could have, and has an emotional need for justice."

You can check out more of the interview at the Entertainment Weekly link above.  Gotham is scheduled to air on Mondays this fall on Fox at 8 p.m. EST.

DAREDEVIL Casts Vincent D'Onofrio as The Kingpin

The Man Without Fear will face off against The Kingpin of Crime.

Marvel has officially confirmed that Vincent D'Onofrio has been cast as Wilson Fisk, better known as The Kingpin, in the Netflix series Daredevil. The 54-year-old actor is perhaps best known as Detective Robert Goren on the NBC series Law and Order: Criminal Intent and as Edgar in the 1997 movie Men in Black.

The Kingpin is described in the announcement as "a powerful businessman whose interests in the future of Hell’s Kitchen will bring him into conflict with the blind attorney Matt Murdock and his alter ego Daredevil."

Created by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr. in 1967's The Amazing Spider-Man #50, The Kingpin was introduced as a crime boss adversary of Spider-Man but eventually became the arch-enemy of Daredevil.  Over the years, he has used a number of assassins, including Elektra and Bullseye, in various attempts to kill Daredevil, and his son Richard Fisk became the crime lord known as The Rose.

D'Onofrio will be the third actor to portray Daredevil in live action, after John Rhys-Davies in the 1989 television movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and Michael Clarke Duncan in the 2003 film Daredevil by Mark Steven Johnson.  He joins Charlie Cox, who was cast last May as Daredevil/Matt Murdock.

“We’re incredibly proud to have an actor with the gravitas and versatility of Vincent joining 'Marvel’s Daredevil' in such an integral role," said Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television.  "Wilson Fisk is an iconic villain whose cunning and power make him the dangerous equal of our hero."

Daredevil will air on Netflix sometime in 2015.

Guillermo del Toro Working on PACIFIC RIM 2 Script

There's a good chance we could cancel the apocalypse again.

According to BuzzFeed, Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro is working on a script for the 2013 science fiction monster film.  During promotion for his new FX series The Strain at the Austin Television Festival, del Toro told BuzzFeed that he and screenwriter Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk) have begun work on a screenplay for Pacific Rim 2.

"I’m working very, very hard with Zak Penn," said del Toro.  "We’ve been working for a few months now in secret.  We found a way to twist it around.  Travis Beacham [co-writer of the first film] was involved in the storyline and now I’m writing with Zak because Travis has become a TV mogul."

The director made a point of saying that Legendary Pictures hasn't given a greenlight for the sequel -- yet -- but he and Penn are working on the project as if it's going to be filmed one day.  "I don’t have the money, but I’m proceeding like it is happening," he remarked, adding that he hopes to direct the sequel after producing his next project.

While Pacific Rim only made over $101 million in the United States, the film was huge overseas, bringing in a total of over $411 million worldwide.  And with a reported production budget of $190 million, it certainly seems like a good idea for Legendary Pictures to go ahead with the sequel, especially now that more people have seen the first film on HBO and home video.

Legendary Pictures Chief Thomas Tull recently told I Am Rogue that his production company would only make Pacific Rim 2 "if we can crack the story [and] we all think it’s great," and if del Toro is willing to direct it.

Del Toro also revealed that the script currently includes the characters Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) and the story will pick up from the events of the first film.  "Some people were wondering if we were going to do the prequel. I was never interested in doing that first wave of invasion," said del Toro said.  "I’m going for very new, very crazy ideas on the second one, which are very different from the first one, but you will get really great spectacle."

Your move, Legendary...

ANT-MAN Names Peyton Reed as Replacement Director

Okay, everyone can relax now...Ant-Man has a new director.

After going through several comedy directors as potential replacements for former director Edgar Wright, Marvel Studios has officially announced Peyton Reed as helming the first film for phase three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Reed is perhaps best known as the director of 2000's Bring It On and 2008's Yes Man starring Jim Carrey.  He's also directed several projects for television, including the Back to the Future animated series, The Weird Al Show, Mr. Show and Upright Citizens Brigade.

With a screenplay by Wright, Joe Cornish and Adam McKay (once considered as Wright's replacement), Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, and Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Patrick Wilson and Matt Gerald in currently unrevealed roles.  In addition, Steven Price will score the film.

Marvel also provided a plot synopsis for the film:

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Ant-Man is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 17, 2015.

DOCTOR STRANGE Finds Director, Jared Leto Rumored

At long last, the hosts of Hoggoth are about to get hoary.

While Marvel Studios is scrambling to find a replacement director for Ant-Man, it seems they've managed to bring in a director for their long-awaited film adaptation of Doctor Strange.  The Hollywood Reporter announced yesterday that Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose director Scott Derrickson has signed on to helm the big-screen debut of the Sorcerer Supreme.

Derrickson confirmed the news himself on Twitter, with the following post...

My next movie will be STRANGE: pic.twitter.com/5pdbO6Op6j
— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) June 3, 2014

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange debuted in 1963's Strange Tales #110.  Dr. Stephen Strange began as an arrogant and egotistical neurosurgeon that suffers permanent damage to his hands as a result of a car accident.  He searches around the world for a way to repair his hands, ultimately coming across a master sorcerer known as The Ancient One in the Himalayas.  When Strange learns that Baron Mordo, the Ancient One's disciple, intends on killing his master, the Ancient One agrees to teach Strange the mystic arts after Mordo is defeated.

As far as who will play the good doctor, Badass Digest claims that Marvel has (or at least had) their eye on Jared Leto, the 42-year-old actor and frontman for the band 30 Seconds to Mars who recently won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the film Dallas Buyers Club.  Other names that have been considered include Johnny Depp, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen.  Whoever ends up landing the role, it's expected there will be an announcement at this year's San Diego Comic-Con International along with plans for Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

THE COLBERT REPORT Shows Goatee Solidarity with Tony Stark

And it's not even Movember yet.

During last night's episode of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, host Stephen Colbert returned from his Memorial Day break sporting a brand new goatee.  The reason?  Solidarity with Marvel Comics character Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man.

With French economist Thomas Piketty appearing on the program to promote his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Colbert showed his opposition to Piketty's belief that there needs to be "a progressive global tax on capital" with "a punitive 80% tax rate on incomes above $500,000."

And that's where Colbert's new goatee comes in.  "I grew this in solidarity with my personal friend, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark," said Colbert.  "You see, if Piketty had his way, and Tony was coughing up 80% in taxes, suddenly he's not a billionaire anymore and can't afford to be Iron Man.  Then who's saving New York from the Chitauri invasion?  Hawkeye?!  Yeah, after he gets there on the bus."

"Billionaires protect us," he continued, growing emotional, "and tonight, I protect them.  I got your back, Tony."

Hawkeye could not be reached for comment on the bus.

If you'd like to check out the full video, you can view it below thanks to Colbert Nation...