Henry Cavill (Formerly) The unluckiest man in Hollywood

It may seem hard to believe now, but there was a time when Henry Cavill was widely regarded as the unluckiest man in Hollywood. He often made it to the final rounds of consideration, for major franchises. He was so infamous, that I knew about him before I even knew his name.

With the news that Man of Steel 2 has been put on hold until WB get their next slate of movies out. I thought I would take a look back at the five roles Henry Cavill almost had before he represented the house of El.

  1. James Bond-Casino Royale(2006)

After die another day received a critical mauling, Pierce Brosnan was forced to retire his Walther PPK. Which meant Bond had to be rebooted.

Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli managed to whittle down a list to two suave actors to play 007. Those actors were Daniel Craig and Henry Cavill.

Cavill has said in interviews:

“I came very close.”

Ultimately at 22, they decided Cavill was just a bit too young for the role and they instead went with Daniel Craig.



  1. Batman – Batman Begins (2005)

Whilst Cavill states that he didn’t actually test for this, he has confirmed that his name was on a shortlist of actors which included; Joshua Jackson, Eion Bailey, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhaal and, of course, Christian Bale.

  1. Superman – Superman Returns(2006).

You may remember that before Brian Singer helmed Superman Returns, it was set to be directed by McG.

When McG left the project Brian Singer gave Henry Cavill the old tin-tac and he was replaced with Brandon Routh.

  1. Green Lantern/Hal Jordan – Green Lantern (2011)

Cavill’s third unlucky attempt at a superhero movie happened in 2011, with Green Lantern. When casting began in 2009, his name was listed alongside Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, and of course, Ryan Reynolds.

 

  1. Edward Cullen – Twilight (2008)

Twilight creator, Stephanie Meyer has previously stated that she based the Vampire on Henry Cavill, she even tried to get him cast in the role. Ironically, two short years after he was told he was too young to play Bond, he was told he was too old to play a 200+-year-old vampire and the role went to Robert Pattinson.

Times have sure changed for Henry Cavill. He now has multiple franchises under his belt.

Check out our interview with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer.



Colin Baker answers THE Question

This weekend saw Doctor Who fans flock to Derby for Whooverville 7.

Listeners to our podcast will know that sometimes we borrow a question from our good friend Mr.Paul from The Pharos Project.

This is a question Paul has asked at the previous 6 Whooverville conventions. Recently Paul moved to America so he was unable to attend, yet he still managed to pose his question, in the most spectacular way.

 

Video courtesy of Tim Drury.

Insert Game Here

Please excuse the blatant act of self-promotion. I’ve launched a new podcast, which I co-host with our good friend Rix. It’s a Youtube based podcast called ‘Insert Game Here’.

Insert Game Here, is a spin on news, reviews and debates. Come join us for all the WTF moments, the arguments and the fun we have doing this!

New names added to the Doctor Who festival

BBC Worldwide have announced some new names for the official Doctor Who Festival, which takes place this November in Excel. 

Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, Night Terrors), Sarah Dollard (Primeval, Doctor Who Series 9, Episode 10), Toby Whithouse (Being Human, Doctor Who-School reunion), Catherine Tregenna (Torchwood, Doctor Who-The Woman Who Lived), Jamie Mathieson (Flatline, Mummy on the Orient Express) and Peter Harness (Kill The Moon, Invasion of the Zygons).
Will join the previously announced Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Michelle Gomez (Missy), Ingrid Oliver (Osgood) and current showrunner  Steven Moffat. (Still no mention of Jenna Coleman). 

BBC Worldwide have come under a lot of fire about the cost of the event, but honestly I think they’re making it worth your money. 

Along with the guests and photo opportunities, there will be theatre panels with the show’s stars. 
You’ll get to attend panels with all the series 9 writers, plus watch shows by real SFX and Millennium FX, and exclusive looks at three sets from Series 9. 

Big Finish will also have a large presence there,  you’ll get the chance to take part in Acting sessions run by Nick Briggs. You’ll also get the chance to see what it’s like to work behind the scenes in production village. 

This sounds like it’s shaping up to be a great event for any Doctor Who fan.


For more information click here

Steven Spielberg talks about Superheroes

Film legend Steven Spielberg has caused a bit of online outrage again, you may remember that a few years ago, he claimed that Hollywood was heading for an “implosion” due to ballooning budgets and recycled film ideas.

Now, he’s spoken out about the Superhero genre.

He said:

“I still feel that way. We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns. Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are

supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.”

 

Twitter has been ablaze with people criticising the director and even taking stabs at his recent output.

The thing is, Spielberg IS right the superhero bubble will eventually burst, it may be another 20 years from now, but it will happen.

It wasn’t too long ago that a Superhero movie was box office poison that only changed in 1998 when Blade hit and showed there was life in Superhero genre.

 

What do you think about Spielberg’s comments? Let us know at @BadWilf

River Song to return at Christmas

The BBC announced today that River Song will be joinging the Dcotor on his Christmas adventure.
The eleventh Christmas special started filming this week and is written by showrunner Steven Moffat and, is directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

The BBC also released this synopsis:

“It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas”.

Alex Kingston said on her reappearance:

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humor and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through. We had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September?, why not!”

Steven Moffat added:

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her, she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”

The character of River first appeared in 2008. She’s often regarded as a marmite companion.
My feeling is that River is to Steven Moffat what Rose was to Russell T Davies. He’ll neve be able to resist bringing her back.

Andrew Garfield opens up about Spider-Man

After months of keeping quiet about his experiences on The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Andrew Garfield has started to open up about his time as the wall-crawler. 

In a recent interview, he spoke about Sony bosses wanting to ensure the films had mass appeal:

“The pressure to get it right, to please everyone… it’s not going to happen…You end up pleasing no one, or everyone just a little bit. Like, ‘Eh, that was good.’ The films are mass-marketed, like ‘We want 50-year-old white men to love it, gay teenagers to love it, bigot homophobes in Middle America to love it, 11-year-old girls to love it.’ That’s canning Coke.” 

In the same interview, he spoke about the moment he learned he wouldn’t be involved with Marvel Studios/Sony reboot:

“So that aspect of it was a bummer, especially for the group of us trying to infuse it with soul, trying to make it unique, something that was worth the price of entry. It was about authenticity, flavour, and truth, but at the same time, I understand people want to make a lot of money, and they’re going to spend a lot of money so the playpen can be as big as it was. I can’t live that way; it sounds like a prison, to be honest, living within those expectations.”

 
He also added that he is interested in playing another superhero:

“With a film like The Amazing Spider-Man, there’s so much projection and expectation that is inherent in taking on a story and character like that. I was well up for the challenge, and I still am. I’m not going to shy away from something that a lot of people are going to see. Bring it on, life’s short.”

Personally, I think Garfield was the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man we’ve seen so far. The problems with those movies lay solely with Sony. There were also working on the next film, instead of focusing on the one they were making.

 

I’d be interested in seeing Andrew Garfield play another Superhero, Chris Evans played the Human Torch, then Captain America, Brandon Routh was Superman, then the Atom, and Ben Affleck was Daredevil long before he was Batman. So it is certainly possible.

Turbo kid blu ray details

Sadly, I didn’t have the opportunity to attend Film 4’s Frightfest, however one of the films I’ve heard the most about is Turbo Kid. Luckily for those of us unable to attend, the blu ray is out next month.

Turbo kid is out on Blu Ray on October the 5th.

Episode 142: A couple of dicks

In which Martyn and Gerrod crack open the bourbon and attempt to record a podcast.

They discuss, Pressure, Straight outta compton, Mission Impossible:Rogue Nation, Ant-Man and, Fant4Stic.

Help Dewi

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as;

Audioboom, Player fm and Itunes.

Follow the Bad Wilf team:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Pete – @BeeblePete

Gerrod – @ingerrodsmind

Check out the Bad Wilf Vlog.