MARTIN FREEMAN JOINS EVERYBODY IN CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was one of the mostly highly rated entries into the MCU so far and among the things it was praised for was its relatively streamlined storytelling and for refreshingly focusing on spy thriller antics rather than over the top superheroics, massive helicarrier-destruction ending notwithstanding. Its sequel Civil War on the other hand, seems to be moving away from that, with a big comic-booky story, many plot plates to be spun and a massive cast that has now added Martin Freeman.
The film already has Avengers cast members Robert Downey Junior, Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner, previous Cap cast members Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and Scarlett Johansson and newbie Chadwick Boseman getting an early appearance in as Black Panther, as well as Inglourious Basterds‘ Daniel Brühl as villain Baron Zemo, and now it has added Freeman in an as-yet unspecified role. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that they “couldn’t be more honored or excited to have such a talented actor join the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, although he must say that a lot because at this point, who is left?
Civil War‘s attempt to continue Marvel’s box-office dominance and simplify the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game for everybody will be released next summer. Then Tumblr can get writing fanfics where Freeman’s character sleeps with Doctor Strange.
SHERLOCK OLD
As Martin Freeman goes from Sherlock Holmes to a superhero movie (after a fashion), Ian McKellen, having tied a bow on his great Magneto in last year’s X Men: Days of Future Past, goes from a superhero movie to Sherlock Holmes. His new film Mr. Holmes, where an elderly Sherlock deals with his legacy, old traumas and a child actor, has a trailer. Now you can see just how obviously perfect Ian McKellen is for the part of ‘Old Sherlock Holmes’, as he is for most things he’s cast in. One can only hope that the finished project isn’t as emotionally devastating as other takes on Sherlock getting old.
Though this news column normally focuses on the CGI-explosion side of the movie world, this film looks pretty charming and is worth your attention. Mr. Holmes is set for release on July 17th.