BLT Buffet #6: Superhero "Vision" to Star in Avengers 2

Hello and welcome to BLT Buffet #6. This week I will be discussing updated casting calls, info on some big sequels, and more! I'm Linus Schill, and this is my review of the latest and greatest news from the world of entertainment, laid out to you in a BLT Buffet.

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Paul Bettany cast as Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Paul Bettany, best known for being the voice of Jarvis, Tony Stark’s virtual assistant in the Iron Man trilogy and the Avengers, was recently revealed to be starring in the Avengers sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, he will not be Jarvis, but the superhero android, Vision. This came as a shock to many people, myself included, because of the speculations of where the film was headed with its unconventional Ultron storyline. It was assumed that Tony Stark would accidentally create some corrupt form of Jarvis, which then lead to creation of Ultron. With this news being released, it can be assumed that Tony Stark will have successfully created a fully self-aware suit Iron Man armor, under the name Vision, with the Jarvis program running it. This will mean that it obviously will be voiced by Paul Bettany which explains the casting. Now, if Marvel is to keep with the qualities of the character in the comics, which they do not always do, that would mean Vision would be “good” and work along side the Avengers. However in the comics, Vision was created by Ultron, so it is unclear how this story will unfold. What is clear though, is that Ultron will be created by Tony Stark and will be the main antagonist in the next Avengers film. 

Will Smith Leaves Independence Day Sequel

It was revealed last year that not one, but two sequels would be coming. The first, entitled ID Forever: Part I,  in 2016 and the second, entitled ID Forever: Part II, on an unknown date. Then rumors started coming up that Will Smith might not be returning for the sequels, due to a request of more money then the studio was willing to offer. For me, when I heard the news, I asked myself two questions: “Why are they make a sequel to a movie from 18 years ago?”, and “Why the hell did they choose such terrible names for the films?”.  Independence Day is an amazingly fun film to watch. Everyone knows it is not working hard on amazing plot or dialogue, but thats not what a Roland Emmerich film is about, now, is it? It was pretty much the epitome the destruction-to-national-landmarks genre. Literally an entire scene is dedicated to shots of various skyscrapers around the world being decimated by the alien’s explosive green lights. It was also an extremely successful film earning over $800 million at the world wide box office, so a sequel is not unexpected. I also think the timing is not a coincidence, given that his last film just barley crossed $200 million on a $150 million budget, White House Down. In my opinion, what else is there to blow up. Are there any more original ideas out there? He could always go the James Cameron route and steal from 50 different movies and create a film with a basic plot that goes to be the top grossing movie of all time with over $2.7 billion dollars. I am referring to Avatar of course. But why create new ideas when you can just make a sequel, hell make TWO sequels, to a movie made 18 years ago? Thats what Pixar’s doing and it sure is working great for them. That is, working great for the box office; Not so much for the quality. But I digress. I don’t think it matters whether Will Smith is in Independence Day sequels. As I mentioned, the movie is not fun and exciting to watch  because of him (yes he helps) and it can work with just Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, who are both confirmed to return. 

The LEGO Movie Box Office Returns and Sequel. 

In concept, The LEGO Movie sounds stupid, pointless, and strange. How do you make a movie about LEGO’s? What’s the movie even about? Well up until seeing the movie I didn’t know myself. But the thing that drew me to the movie, was not just the incredible critic reviews, but the sheer unpredictability and wildness of the trailers. I won’t go too much into the movie because my full review of it will be coming out tomorrow. Many analytics suggested the movie would open around $50-60 million, and well, it broke that. Making nearly $70 million opening weekend, The LEGO Movie has no intention of slowing down. The studio had also predicted a large opening, on a budget of $60 million a sequel was not out of the question for them. Jared Stern was brought on board to write the sequel. I would have wished that they had brought back onboard Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who co-wrote The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street, but I trust that the studio knows what they are doing with this amazing property. The idea of the sequel I am all for though. I loved the first film, and feel there is an entire universe waiting to be built from the amazing base of The LEGO Movie. 

Gotham City TV Show Casting. 

When a Batman TV series was announced by Fox I was excited. Batman is such a great character that we’ve only see a few good renditions of in the past. A TV show with today’s superhero themes and todays effects could be great. It will be interesting to see the DC Comics characters split amongst many different universes (The cinematic universe with Man of Steel, “Man of Steel 2”, etc. The CW universe with Arrow, and a Flash spin-off show. And now Fox’s Gotham). Recently a casting call has been released for the film and is as follows:

-Ben McKenzie as James Gordon

-Sean Pertwee as Alfred

-Robin Lord Taylor as The Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot)

It is yet to be announce who characters that are rumored to be included such as Catwoman and the Riddler, and also most importantly Bruce Wayne himself. I am looking forward to see this TV show, as I am a huge fan of the DC universe. 

Thank you for reading my discussion of the updated casting calls, info on some big sequels, and more. Be sure to “Like” us down below, or visit our Facebook page at Facebook.com/BLTFilmsReviews. See you next time!

Linus Schill–––––––14