Why Tom Hardy Went to TV with Taboo
Tom Hardy is more than just the lead actor in FX and BBC's new drama Taboo; he's baked into the DNA. Beyond just acting in the show, he produces it and co-created it, and it's a bit of a passion project he's been developed for close to a decade.
Hardy credits the conception for Taboo to a conversation he had with his father nine years ago, while he was making 2007's BBC mini-series Oliver Twist. At the time, he went to his father, novelist and comedian Chips Hardy, with the pitch to take a villainous character like Oliver Twist's Bill Sikes, mix him with the likes of Heart of Darkness's Marlow and Jack the Ripper, put him inside a gentleman's body and mix the two together.
The idea was to create a hero in a classic period drama that could transcend the class divides between the opulent upper class of 19th century London and the city's dark underbelly. At the time, his father's response was he didn't have a story there, to which Hardy declared: "I just want to play this character."
Ghost Rider Is Based on Science in the MCU
A man walking around with a flaming skull who can kill ghosts and infuse his Dodge Charger with hellfire sounds as mystical as you can get, but according to the Executive Producers of Agents of SHIELD, their version of Ghost Rider is actually based on science instead of magic.
There’s a precedent for this in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, with the wonders of Thor and Asgard being chalked up to science so advanced it merely looks like magic to us on Midgard. Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, got his origin movie last year where it was explained that “spells” are akin to computer code and the bursts of sparks and light that appear out of thin air are the result of channeling the energy of the multiverse. More like the Scientist Supreme. This is the MCU’s attempt at using extraordinary, fantastical elements of Marvel’s lore while still keeping things “grounded” in the real world.
Infinity War: 5 Characters Dinklage Could Play
As if the cast of the two-part Avengers: Infinity War wasn’t already chockfull of super-dudes and -dudettes, word came yesterday that Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage was in talks for a major role in the upcoming epic featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Of course, fans are now speculating as to who he could be playing -- which of the many, many Marvel characters who have yet to appear in the MCU might Dinklage be up for?
There are certainly a bunch of options here, and while we know very little about how Infinity War will play out onscreen, we do have the comics version of the mad Titan Thanos’ hunt for the six Infinity gems (or stones, if you will) to look to as a guide. That said, read on for some of the characters we think Peter Dinklage could be playing in Avengers: Infinity War…
Dishonored 2 Custom Difficulty Settings Coming This Month
Dishonored 2's custom difficulty settings and mission select options will release for free as part of Game Update 2 for PC in Steam Beta on January 18 and in full for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on January 23.
Custom difficulty settings will add more than 20 different sliders that "let you fiddle with everything from how quickly Sleep Darts take effect to how many active enemies are likely to attack you at once," according to Bethesda. Iron Mode is also being added as a difficulty slider, which turns off manual save and load functionality and adds permadeath.
Affleck: I Need a Better Batsuit IF I’m Also Going to Direct
Earlier this week actor-filmmaker Ben Affleck seemed to confirm on TV that he will indeed direct The Batman this year. Now he's back to hedging, but this time explaining a very specific concern he needs dealt with before he steps on set.
"I know what’s it's like to be in the suit," Affleck told USA Today. "We’ll have to modify the suit to make it a little bit easier to put on and take off. When you are in it, you can be sweating, crazy and exhausted, do your part and walk away. But when you’re a director, you can’t walk away. You have to be there for everybody. Chief among the challenges of doing Batman, will be finding a suit that’s more comfortable."
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Beauty and the Beast Star on the Challenges of Playing the Beast
Dan Stevens, best known for his role as Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, is readying for a huge 2017. He stars in FX's forthcoming Marvel X-Men series Legion as David Haller, and also takes the title role of the Beast in Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast.
Coming from a British period drama background, both Legion and Beauty and the Beast required significantly more physical acting than Stevens was used to. The role of the Beast required Stevens to act on 10-inch stilts and wear a creature mask, and performing as that character changed how he's worked ever since.
"Physically, the Beast is the most challenging role I've taken on," Stevens told IGN at the 2017 winter TV Critics Association press tour, where he was promoting Legion. "The condition I had to have my body in to puppeteer that suit on stilts was like nothing else I've ever experienced, seriously. The kind of engagement -- and actually a lot of dance involved in that role, albeit on stilts; it was a very, very intense dance training process -- has gotten me more physically engaged with all of my performances in everything else since."
WWE 2K17 PC Release Date Announced
PC gamers will be able to play the latest entry in WWE2K17 on February 7.
WWE 2K17 was released on all other major platforms, including PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in late October. But even though it's been a long gap between the console and PC versions, it's an improvement from last year. WWE 2K16 released on consoles in October, 2015, but was only available on PC starting in March.
There will be two versions of WWE 2K17 available for purchase: the $49.99 standard edition, which nets you the Goldberg Pack that's included in every copy, and the $74.99 deluxe edition, which comes with the $29.99 Season Pass.
All of the DLC that's been released to date will be immediately available for PC at launch. However, any future DLC released for console platforms will be available on PC at a later time.
Rogue One Comic Features Director’s Extra Scenes
Marvel Comics is adapting Rogue One: A Star Wars Story into a six-part miniseries that includes story content that didn't make it into the final movie.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the series will debut in April. Jody Houser is writing the comic with illustrations by Emilio Laiso.
Cover art for the first issue of Marvel's Rogue One: A Star Wars comic, via EW
Green Lantern Corps: Batman Begins Writer Joins
DC and Warner Bros. are moving full steam ahead with their planned Green Lantern Corps film.
Deadline reports that Batman Begins, Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman scribe David Goyer is penning the script along with Justin Rhodes (Grassroots, Contract Killers). Goyer is also producing the film with DC head Geoff Johns executive-producing. Goyer and Johns conceived the story together.
Green Lantern Corps is described as "Lethal Weapon in space" and will be an origins story of sorts. It follows both Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and focuses on former Marine sniper Stewart's relationship with Jordan and the Lantern Crops. The film doesn't have a director yet, though Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller was linked to the project earlier this year, and there are currently no actors attached to play either of the two leads.