Buzz Kill – Rumors, Speculation, and Hearsay

Comic Book fans love to speculate, hell, that’s half my job/fun when trying to plan out where the movies or comic books are gonna go. It’s not so much as to spoil the ending but to see if I can think like the head honchos over at Marvel. If I can match them blow for blow, then perhaps I too could get there. Anyways, I get told a lot of movie casting and plot points in films from people throughout the day that they read on websites or someone posted on facebook or somewhere else. Sadly, 90% of these I have to shoot down due to lack of sources and the fact its mere “dream” casting, ideal actors for that role. Instead of debunking rumors left and right, let me put what rumors are currently circulating and what are/aren’t the known facts, so you can stick it to that annoying guy at work who always ‘knows everything.’

Vin Diesel as Groot – NOT confirmed. It is almost all but true, however Marvel nor Diesel has officially said the famous phrase “I am Groot” yet. Sure, we’d love to see (hear) the Riddick thespian voice over our favorite Ent-esque character in the Marvel U, but until we get a press release, this one is all hearsay. We all thought he was going to be The Vision for a while too.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver – NOT confirmed. Yet again, we have a situation where the actor loves to talk to the press about a role he was offered, but never confirm he is in that position. Johnson can talk about Quicksilver with more ease and knowledge than most people I know, so that means he’s doing research, but until Avengers 2 starts filming next February, this one is just not confirmed yet.

Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon – NOT confirmed (at the time of this writing). This is the newest rumor to grace my presence. Theory on the street as of this morning say he has been offered the part to voice the gun-toting, foul mouthed critter, until his agent or Marvel’s says so, its rumor.

Elizabeth Olsen for Scarlet Witch – NOT confirmed. This week, word is it that Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, The Host) passed on the role for Scarlet Witch in the upcoming Avengers 2 film. No sooner than that word passed, we get word that the younger sister to the Olsen twins is being considered for the part. Mind you, out of the two actresses, I see this one being the most likely. She was heralded for her performance in Marcy Martha May Marlene and has a few big films coming out over the next year, making her a hot item by the time Age of Ultron hits the screen. Despite my hopes as of right now, no casting announcement has been made.

Simon Pegg up for Ant-Man – NOT true. To begin with, this story began when Pegg visited the Marvel offices and was posting pictures of himself with pictures and items from the Marvel U. There was one where he was pointing at Ant-Man among all of the various photos, which people took as a ‘sign’ he would be playing Ant-Man in Edgar Wright’s Phase 3 film. Sure, Pegg works with Wright a lot (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, At World’s End) but to make this assumption was idiotic on everyone’s part. You should all be ashamed! (Note: he could appear in the film, but not as the titular character)

Hugh Jackman offered $100 Million to act in 4 more films as Wolverine – NOT confirmed, but unlikely to be true. Coming off the success of The Wolverine this summer (one of my favorite comic book movies of 2013), and starring in Days of Future Past next year, Hugh Jackman has shown an affinity to play the clawed mutant, even 14 years after the first time he graced the set as the character. However, I don’t think he needs to be in 4 more films, especially as Jackman gets older (probably isn’t stopping him), but the studios could slow down and focus on their other, more popular characters first (Deadpool, Psylocke, X-23 could replace Wolverine even). Despite how sweet that number sounds, I really doubt it happened and that Jackman will agree to that kind of commitment, especially without any scripts in hand. (Note: Jeff Wadlow, director of Kick-Ass 2, is in fact writing a script for an X-Force film.)

Christian Bale offered $50 Million to return as Batman in next Batman/Superman film. NOT true. This is all coming from an unauthorized story of the making of the Batman films, in which someone stated “He could make $50 million being in the movie 20 minutes.” I also think that Nolan’s world does not exist within the Snyder-verse and therefore recasting Batman would destroy everything WB is trying to create, a stable, consistent universe for its DC comics films.

There you have it, all the known rumors as of today, and what do you know! They’re all unsubstantiated claims. Some of these casting announcements (especially the four Marvel films) may change as information becomes public and deals are set in stone, but until then it’s all just pillow talk.