Superhero Bits: New Spider-Man: No Way Home Clip, The Batman Toys Look Rough & 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:

• "The Flash" movie is already stirring the pot

• Another "Spider-Man: No Way Home" clip has been released

• "The Batman" gets an unfortunate bit of merchandise

• An Arrowverse star is worthy of wielding Thor's hammer

• All that and more!

To help ring in the new year, Marvel released some new artwork for "Hawkeye" which features the Tracksuit Mafia in all of their bro glory, wishing us a happy new year. The poster is in-universe, as it positions this as an ad for the Trust-a-Bro Moving Company, which was sort of a front for the Tracksuit Mafia's dealings. Marvel Studios should really get on some viral marketing that has people in track suits offering moving services. 

For the younger superhero fans out there (or for parents looking to entertain said fans) the Marvel HQ YouTube channel now has a dedicated marathon stream for "Spidey and His Amazing Friends." The show is aimed squarely at younger viewers and has been received well in its first season. So for fans who fall into that category, this unending livestream might be just what the doctor ordered. You can check it out at the link above.

Some sad news entering the new year, as it has been revealed that pop culture expert Rob Bruce has passed away. Known for his expertise on collectibles, toys and more, Bruce appeared frequently on shows like "Comic Book Men" to help appraise items coming through the doors of Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in New Jersey. The news was confirmed by his brother, John Bruce, on Twitter, with "Comic Book Men" creator Kevin Smith weighing in after being informed of his friend's passing.

My condolences! I’m truly sorry to read this John. @popculturizm was always a welcome addition to any episode of @ComicBookMenAMC, as well as a nice guy. I’ll miss Rob. (@AMC_TV shot a sizzle reel for a spin-off with Rob & his family before they got rid of all the reality shows.) https://t.co/rNeTxCFnHZ

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) January 2, 2022

Bruce was found dead at a storage facility in New Jersey. He was 62 at the time of his passing. No foul play was suspected, according to local authorities. Rest in peace, Rob Bruce.

We are well over two weeks and $1.3 billion at the box office into the release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and I'd wager that 99% of the people reading this column have seen the movie. Having said that, the folks at Marvel and Sony have released a new clip from the film online, which features the highly-advertised fight between Doc Ock and Spidey. So for those who have yet to venture to a theater to see what all of the fuss is about, or for those who just want to relive the moment, here you go.

"The Batman" is finally coming to theaters this year, and that is a good thing. We finally get to see Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in director Matt Reeves' long-awaited DC flick. And that means lots of merchandise! Some of that has started making its way online, such as the "Drifter Bruce Wayne" figure (pictured above) from the folks at McFarlane Toys, as revealed by Toy Ark. In this case, it appears to be a pretty unfortunate piece of merchandise, as the figure looks like it's melting. It's like you ordered a Robert Pattinson figure from Wish. Our own Ethan Anderton made another apt comparison:

pic.twitter.com/plV0gq3Fgb

— Ethan Anderton (@Ethan_Anderton) January 1, 2022

We can only hope that the final product looks a little more inspiring. No word yet on a release date or pricing for this one, for those who might wish to have this haunt their nightmares by putting it in their home.

Ever since the release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," there is been renewed interest in Andrew Garfield's take on Peter Parker, and calls to make "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" happen. Honestly, Sony has reason to think more of Garfield as Spidey might be a good idea, but nothing is official yet. However, Garfield's stunt double William Spencer has been engaging with some fans on social media recently, and one exchange (seen above) caused a bit of confusion.

As we can see, Spencer replied to a fan with gratitude, and that fan took it to mean that "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" is happening. That is not at all the case, and Spencer had to go to Instagram to clarify the situation. Don't get too excited just yet, Garfield stans. But if I were a betting man, I'd put money down that says we haven't seen the last of him in the suit just yet.

Zack Stentz, known for his work on superhero movies such as "X-Men: First Class" and, most importantly as it relates to this story, Marvel's "Thor," has weighed in on an interesting superhero debate. Specifically, as we can see in the above tweet, Stentz recently agreed with a fan in assessing that Jesse L. Martin's character Joe West from The CW's "The Flash" is the only character from the Arrowverse that would be worthy of wielding Thor's trusty hammer Mjolnir. Surely there is room for debate, but this is coming from a man who knows at least a little bit about the subject at hand.

Alright, it's big fat rumor time, gang. While I will avoid posting the actual rumors themselves here, since they are extremely spoiler-y, a known leaker by the name of MyTimeToShine recently shared some information that suggests "The Flash" movie is going to all but erase the Snyderverse from the DCEU. Given how passionate, often on a toxic level, Snyder fans are, this understandably caused some uproar online. However, the film's star Ezra Miller, who appeared as Barry Allen in Zack Snyder's "Justice League," has apparently weighed in on the matter.

Erasing Zack Snyder work? Ezra Miller says that's an over-simplification ⚡️#TheFlash pic.twitter.com/X8gbX71HIP

— The Flash Film News ⚡ (@FlashFilmNews) January 2, 2022

The supposed direct message from Miller has him refuting these reports pretty intensely, at least on the surface. If we're to assume that DC is going to use the multiverse to reposition some things within the DCEU, moving away from what Snyder had done, the movies he made wouldn't be "erased" so much as they would now exist elsewhere in the multiverse. From Warner Bros.' perspective, cleaning the slate might be helpful in some way, so these rumors aren't altogether hard to believe. We'll see what comes of it when the movie hits theaters later this year.

Lastly, today brings a new preview for the upcoming "Marvel's Wastelanders: Black Widow" scripted podcast series. It features Susan Sarandon in the lead role, and picks up where the "Hawkeye" podcast left off. The show is part of an ongoing partnership between Marvel and SiriusXM, with the preview above giving us a taste of what to expect from the show. As far as talent goes, the series is written by Alex Delyle ("Fear the Walking Dead") and directed by Timothy Busfield ("The West Wing"). The series premieres on January 10.