Superhero Bits: 'Batman '89' Comic Preview, 'Black Widow' Actor Claims To Be MCU's First Mutant & More
(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)
In this edition of Superhero Bits:
Tour Avengers Campus with a Super Fan
An intrepid young reporter takes you on a cheesy tour of the new Avengers Campus theme park expansion at Disneyland in California. Check out the Spider-Man attraction, get a glimpse at the action happening around campus, and get a load of some of the Marvel merch you can stock up on.
Ruby Rose Details Her Allergic Reaction to the Batwoman Suit
Ruby Rose stepped down from the mantle of Batwoman after just one season of the show at The CW. The commitment turned out to be much more taxing on her than she realized, going so far as to have an impact on her mental, emotional and physical health. Aside from a neck injury that required emergency surgery after some stunt work on set, the suit itself gave her a troublesome allergic reaction. Speaking on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Australian radio (via CBR), Rose explained:
"I did find out that I was allergic to latex... unfortunately, my mask is latex. I was getting worse and worse, because as you get more contact with it, I guess you get more reactions. I took off the [mask] at the end, and my face was just hives. My throat was all messed up. It was like it was out of a scary movie."
Rose previously explained that a new cowl was redesigned with extra cotton padding that limited her skin exposure, but it still made production quite the hellish experience, so we can't blame her for wanting to be done with the part.
Who is Kang the Conqueror?
Now that Loki villain He Who Remains has introduced Kang the Conqueror (without ever saying his name) as the next Thanos-level villain, take a look back as this little explainer video that Marvel released back in February. It dives into Kang's comic book origins and explains who he is and provides some insight as to how he will be a massive threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Black Widow Actor Claims to Be the MCU's First Mutant
Marvel's Black Widow fleshes out the origins of Natasha Romanoff and her adoptive assassin family by introducing us to the likes of Yelena Bolova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). But there's another character in Black Widow straight from Marvel Comics with a smaller supporting role, and the actor behind this character is making quite the claim about the role.
When Red Guardian is shown in prison, he's seen arm wrestling with another hulking prisoner. It has been proposed that this character is none other than Ursa Major, a member of The Winter Guard team that Red Guardian is part of in Marvel Comics. Actor Olivier Richters portrays the bulky bro and has confirmed that he is indeed Ursa Major, a character who has the ability to turn into a bear in the comics. Now he's claiming to be the first mutant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But of course, if it's not coming from Marvel, then it's not canon, so as you were.
The 10 Most Powerful Variants of Kang the Conqueror
He Who Remains teased the threat of many variants of himself waging multiversal war in the Marvel Cinematic Universe if he were to be killed in the finale of Loki. If you're wondering why that's such a terrifying prospect, Comic Book Resources ranked 10 of the most powerful variants of Kang that we've seen in Marvel Comics. There's a lot that the heroes of the MCU should be worried about.
How James Gunn Chose Which Suicide Squad Members to Kill
James Gunn recently partook in a Q&A (via Heroic Hollywood) about The Suicide Squad, and he talked about how he figured out which members of the team were going to get killed off. Many of them are going to die, which is why the marketing tells audiences not to get too attached. Gunn explained:
"Some characters, I knew were gonna die from the beginning. And then other characters, I didn't know for sure that they were gonna die. I chose some characters that I knew were going to die."
There are characters who are clear contenders for a quick death, but others feel like they'll be around for awhile. In fact, Gunn himself wasn't sure at times about whether characters he thought were going to die would still end up with that fate. The director said:
"Some of the characters surprised me. Some of the characters that lived I didn't know for sure were gonna live. As you go further into the movie, some of the deaths later in the film, still break my heart. Every time I watch, there are two characters in particular that when they die, I still get teary eyed... It still really kills me."
Hot Toys Summer Showcase Includes New DC and Marvel Figures
Hot Toys has shown off some of their upcoming figures in a summer showcase featuring a variety of characters from Marvel and DC. We've already shown off Iron Strange and the new black and gold Spider-Man suit from Spider-Man: No Way Home. But there's also a King Shark figure from The Suicide Squad, an armorized version of Deadpool, and so much more.
Batman '89 Comic Book Preview
Here's a preview of the upcoming Batman '89 comic book coming from DC Comics. The new series will pick up where Tim Burton's Batman film franchise left off and will give us Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent and eventually Two-Face, the version of Robin that we never got to see alongside Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader, and so much more.
Check out a variety of comic covers and some of the pages within Batman '89 over here.