Jason Bourne Would Kick The Shit Out Of Batman, Says Matt Damon

Batman is one of the most well-known superheroes of this generation. He’s been played by different actors through the years, but one thing is for certain: Batman can kick ass. Not only is he an extremely talented fighter, but he’s also a great tactician that makes use of his environment and the gadgets at his disposal to defeat any enemy that comes his way. He might not have any powers, but he is considered one of the greatest heroes just because he can hold his own against even the strongest villains. But what if he faced someone just as skilled in combat and has a ton of experience beating up bad guys just like Batman? No, we’re not talking about the characters that he has faced in the comics who fit this description. We’re talking about CIA assassin Jason Bourne.

Jason Bourne actor Matt Damon left the Bourne filming location to attend the Toronto Film Festival this weekend for the highly successful premiere of his latest film – Ridley Scott’s The Martian. And when asked by E! on who would win in a fight between Batman and Bourne, here’s what he has to say:

“Jason Bourne would kick the shit out of Batman—absolutely! Batman's gotta take on Superman first. If he could beat him then maybe he could take on Jason Bourne.”

Some fans might think this is a jab at Ben Affleck, who plays Batman in Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, but this is all in good fun since as some might not now, Matt Damon is best friends with Ben Affleck. He also jokingly said that he might ask Affleck to do his Batman voice when he was asked if he’s ever heard it.

Matt Damon also shared his thoughts about portraying a superhero, saying that he is already playing a superhero in Jason Bourne.

“I think they're kind of out of superheroes. Ben's going to be like the sixth or seventh Batman, so I don't think there's really any left. So I'm good. Jason Bourne is my superhero.”

Although the industry is definitely not out of superheroes to adapt from the comics, this does say that Damon isn’t interested in adapting a superhero from the comics. And while a lot of actors are jumping on the superhero train, he’s good enough on playing Jason Bourne.

He does have a point in Jason Bourne being a superhero. The first photo revealed from the filming location on their first day of production shows that Matt Damon as Jason Bourne definitely has the physique of a superhero. He might not have a costume, but all he needs is his skills and his smarts to save the day.

Bourne 5 is currently filming and will also feature Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel, Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), and Julia Stiles, who is reprising her role as Nicky Parsons. It is set to premiere to U.S. theaters on July 29, 2016.

Scarlet Witch Will Be A “Wild Card” In Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War has just wrapped up from their filming location in Atlanta, and fans are eager to find out anything new about Marvel’s first movie into Phase 3. Last month we got to see a couple of concept art that revealed Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America’s (Chris Evans) team. But two characters were left out from the images; that is Marvel’s version of Spider-Man, and the recently introduced character from Avengers: Age of UItron – Scarlet Witch. For now, it’s anyone’s guess on which team the two will be on, but one of the stars might give us a clue on what her character will become in Civil War.

In an interview with MTV about her latest film “I Saw the Light”, Elizabeth Olsen revealed some details about her character’s state in the next Marvel film and why Scarlet Witch was not featured in the concept art.

 "She’s OK. She’s doing alright.” Olsen said. “She’s confused, she’s conflicted. She’s found some people she thinks she connects with, but she’s doing alright. They released images of Team Cap and Team Iron Man. She wasn’t there. She’s always the wild card. I like being the wild card."

From what it looks like, it seems that her state as a wild card will play a big role in the film considering that her powers are well beyond what other heroes can manage. But this does suggest that she will be switching sides during the movie, and whatever team she picks will have a big advantage with her on their side. As for her powers, Olsen tells MTV that Scarlet Witch will have a huge transformation in the film, which tells us that she will have a much more powerful ability than when we last saw her in Age of Ultron.

"It’s not a new hand technique per say. We’re trying to grow her movement as a whole… Jenny and I have great pride in trying to make this a huge transformation — the next time we see her — of her abilities."

There was a rumor earlier this month that Scarlet Witch will be responsible for the event that results in the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act, leading to Civil War. This was never confirmed however, but photos from the filming location show her and Captain America chasing Crossbones, who was wearing what seems like a vest packed with explosives. Whether this scene will lead to the disaster that split the Avengers apart, we’ll just have to wait and see. Captain America: Civil War will open to theaters on May 6th, 2016.

Chris Evans Weighs In On The Future Of Superhero Movies

The superhero genre is a big hit in Hollywood right now. Every year there are tons of superhero films being released. Just this year we saw the premiere of Marvel's second superhero team-up in Avengers: Age of Ultron and the last film in their Phase Two initiative – Ant-Man. There's also Fox's failed attempt at rebooting their other franchise besides the X-Men – Josh Trank's dark and gritty Fantastic Four. While some of these failed to impress the critics and the movie audiences, it's still another addition into the ever growing list of superhero films produced just this decade. Even more interesting, next year will be the release of a lot of big superhero films from popular properties such as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, and X-Men Apocalypse to list a few. While some might agree with Steven Spielberg that superhero films will go “the way of the western” (fade off in popularity), other artists are still optimistic about the future of the genre.

Chris Evans is one of these optimists. After all, he was a part of the rise of this genre when he played the Human Torch in 2005's Fantastic Four and its sequel. And right now he's starring in his third  solo film as Captain America, one of the most popular heroes from Marvel. He left the Civil War filming location recently to promote his directorial debut “Before We Go”, and in an interview with Collider he was asked about his thoughts on Spielberg's statement.

According to Evans, the improvement of technology is what drives the genre, as well as other types of films that makes use of this technological advancement:

“I certainly think that given the fact that technology has finally advanced, they’re always going to be looking for other films to match their technological accomplishments. Any film that can incorporate these larger-than-life characters and fantastical locations and plots, the technology wants to prove they can do it so whether it’s superhero film or fantasy in general, that’s going to surge for a while.”

He also stated that for the superhero genre to last longer, it has to be approached with something new to add to the table and keep reinventing the genre:

“In terms of superhero in general, existing properties that we know and love, it’s going to be a matter of the tone they strike. You could look at Jason Bourne as a superhero. You could take any superhero movie and if you ground it enough, if you make it real enough—that’s what I think [Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo] do really well. Certain superhero movies feel like “superhero movies.” Russo movies almost feel like human stories with a little bit of superhero sprinkled in. So you might get exhausted of the larger-than-life powers I suppose, but as long as the filmmakers keep on reinventing the flavor and the approach and the tone, audiences are going to still go.”

From what it seems like, future superhero films are already adding other elements to the mix. Marvel's attempt at a Spider-Man reboot will be akin to a John Hughes film, while David Ayer compared his Suicide Squad to the Dirty Dozen. Whether this will be successful in preventing it from going the way of the western or not, we'll have to wait and see. If Evans is right, then the genre might last longer. Chris Evans will likely be moving to the next filming location for Captain America: Civil War, which premieres to theaters on May 6, 2016.

Fox In Talks With Marvel For Live Action X-Men TV Series

The X-Men franchise has been doing quite well in Fox's hands as of now. With three movies coming out next year, X-Men: Apocalypse, Ryan Reynold's spinoff Deadpool, and the Gambit movie lead by Channing Tatum already starting production soon in their New Orleans filming location. One might ask what's next for the mutants? Well apparently 20th Century Fox is planning to make an X-Men TV series, and is currently in talks with Marvel to finally greenlight the production of the show. Now this rumor has been going on for a while in the internet, but now it seems like they're close in to having the series started. There hasn't been any deal signed with Marvel yet, but the company confirms that they are nearing a deal for a planned long-running series, and not just a one time television run.

            Television Group chairman and CEO Dana Walden recently talked with The Hollywood Reporter during the Television Critics Association press tour that they are hoping to make an announcement soon. Here's what she has to say about the deal:

“[For] X-Men, we’re in negotiations with Marvel. We’re hopeful we’ll be able to announce something soon. We’re not closed on a deal yet but it’s something we’re definitely pursuing.”

            It should be told that a live-action X-Men TV series is a very tricky thing for Fox to do considering that Marvel aren't particularly fond of sharing the rights to what they have on hand without an incentive, now that they're doing pretty good on their own. 20th Century Fox owns the movie rights for the X-Men characters, but Marvel/Disney has the rights for anything outside of the films. That is, Marvel needs to sign off on the deal for Fox to use their characters in the small screen.

            

        Another thing to note is that Disney's ABC has plenty of Marvel shows as it is, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter, and another one in development. There's also Marvel's Netflix shows featuring the Defenders series: Daredevil (who's already on filming location for its second season), Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. TV series featuring Marvel characters seem to be working well enough without help from Fox. That being said, Walden remains optimistic with the deal:

“The characters from the X-Men franchise are with Fox on the feature side so we won’t be including Marvel characters that are at ABC with Disney. This will be exclusively the franchise as it has existed at Fox.”

            While the deal is still underway, Fox has already hired Star Trek 3's Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne to write the series, and sharing a "created by" credit with 24's Evan Katz and Manny Coto.

            It's obvious to think that Fox would want to connect the series with the feature films in some way, perhaps even featuring characters from the movie. But for now, we'll have to wait and see if Marvel agrees with the deal so production can start once and for all.