Hello, everyone! It’s One Of Us’ weekly article series, “The Weekly Wrap-Up.” Covering everything from film announcements to comic books, “The Weekly Wrap-Up” ensures that the biggest stories of the week are analyzed and discussed by our team of writers. This week we cover the casting news for Captain America: Civil War, Josh Trank and Lucasfilm and the release of several unfinished Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes.
Daniel Brühl Cast as Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War
Confirmed via an interview with the British newspaper The Independent, Actor Daniel Brühl (Rush, Inglorious Basterds) revealed earlier that he has been cast as the purple-hooded nemesis of Captain America, Baron Helmut Zemo, in Captain America: Civil War. Prior to the announcement, Brühl was rumored to have signed onto the superhero sequel back in February. Although probably recognized by most audiences for his performance as Nazi sniper Fredick Zoller in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, its Brühl’s portrayal of Formula 1 racing champion Niki Lauda that truly showcased his range and capabilities as an actor.
While talking with The Independent, Brühl expressed his enthusiasm and appreciation for the production.
“For the first few days I’ll walk around like a little boy, just amazed by the megalomania of it. It’s such a huge project. We could do 20 films with the budget.”
For those unfamiliar with Baron Zemo, the Marvel villain has had a long and complicated history with Captain America. The son of a Nazi/HYRDA scientist, Zemo attempted to avenge his father’s death (the original Baron Zemo) against Captain America, but horribly disfigured himself in the process. Permanently bonded with his mask, Zemo has plagued Steve Rogers and the heroes of the Marvel Universe for decades, even forming the supervillain group known as the Master of Evil to battle the Avengers.
While I’ve frequently talked about by nervousness for Captain America: Civil War and my utter disdain for the original material it’s based on, Brühl’s casting as Zemo is perfect. He’s a charismatic performer and I believe that Civil War directors Anthony and Joseph Russo recognize that. My only fear is that he’ll be fighting for screentime along with everyone else in the film’s bloated cast.
Josh Trank Leaves Star Wars Anthology Film
Reported by Lucasfilm yesterday, Director Josh Trank (Chronicle) has left the yet untitled stand-alone Star Wars Anthology film. According to the production company, Trank made the decision to leave the film to pursue “original creative opportunities.”
Star Wars.com has since released his official statement. The director thanked several members of Lucasfilm and highlighted the Star Wars franchise as a major influence on his career.
“After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path. I’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and I know deep down in my heart that I want to pursue some original creative opportunities. That said, the Star Wars universe has always been one of my biggest influences, and I couldn’t be more excited to witness its future alongside my millions of fellow Star Wars fans. I want to thank my friends Kathleen Kennedy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg, and everyone at Lucasfilm and Disney for the amazing opportunity to have been a part of this. May the Force be with you all.”
After failing to appear at his own panel for Star Wars Celebration, it was speculated that Trank was having creative difference behind-the-scenes. The director later clarified that his absence was due to being sick with the “worst flu” of his life. Though all parties could be speaking truthfully about the situation, there has been a constant flow of rumors that the filming of Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot was supposedly not the smoothest of productions, only adding further fuel to fire that Trank may not play well with Hollywood executives. Whatever the real reason may be for his exit from the production, the film is still expected to release sometime in 2018.
New Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episodes Online
While the show has been cancelled for some time now, several unfinished episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars were released at this year’s Star Wars Celebration. Though fans of series were able to watch it at the celebration, Star Wars.com has finally released all four unfinished episodes to the general public for free. The last arc of the series follows the Bad Batch, a team of malformed Clone troopers tasked with completing the most dangerous missions. Having watched the first episode, it’s immediately apparent that The Dirty Dozen was a huge influence on this particular storyline. The team, which consists of Hunter, Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker, all have specialized skills that make them individually unique. You can view all the episodes here.
While people may be hesitant to watch a show set in the prequel era of Star Wars, The Clone Wars actually got better as it went along. It expanded on the events between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and it actually made Anakin Skywalker an interesting (and far less annoying) character.
