Superhero Bits: Why Venom Made Riz Ahmed Avoid Blockbusters, Simon Kinberg Talks X-Men Reboot & 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:

• "Venom" made Riz Ahmed quit blockbusters

• Simon Kinberg weighs in on the "X-Men" reboot

• James Gunn shares a new BTS look at "The Suicide Squad"

• "Eternals" gets another new featurette

• All that and more!

Logan And Warpath Statues From Iron Studios

The folks at Iron Studios have revealed two new X-Men statues that are set to debut next year in the form of Logan and Warpath. In the case of Logan, we're seeing Wolverine stripped down out of his costume and in his more casual human garb, though the claws are still out. Warpath, on the other hand, is decked out in his full costume. Logan is set to retail for $179.99, with Warpath going for $169.99. Both 1/10 scale statues are set to debut in the third quarter of 2022. You can check out full details for both at Toy Ark.

Batwoman Season 3: Freeze

Here's the official promo for the third episode of the third season of "Batwoman" on The CW:

An unfortunate incident in downtown Gotham alerts Batwoman (Javicia Leslie) and the Bat Team that another missing trophy has made its way into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, a new member of the Jet family surfaces when Marquis Jet (Nick Creegan) makes a not-so-subtle entrance, interrupting a very personal moment between Ryan and Jada (Robin Givens). Back on the streets, cryogenics is the name of the game and Sophie (Meagan Tandy) reminds everyone she's a badass, especially in the middle of life-threatening situations. Batwing (Camrus Johnson) must decide if he's ready to suit up again, and at Mary's (Nicole Kang) clinic, the Hippocratic Oath forces a strained sisterly moment between Alice (Rachel Skarsten) and the new doc.

Greg Beeman directed the episode, which was written by Nancy Kiu.

Savage Avengers Canceled By Marvel Comics

As reported by the folks at GamesRadar, Marvel Comics is ending its current "Savage Avengers" series. The book, which sees Conan the Barbarian leading a squad of Marvel heroes including Wolverine and Doctor Strange, has been going since 2019. Hailing from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Patrick Zircher, the publisher has decided to pack it in with the upcoming 28th issue. The synopsis for what will be the final issue of the series reads as follows:

All good things must come to an end. This volume of SAVAGE AVENGERS concludes after an epic 28-chapter run, and it ends as it began: with a good old-fashioned stabbing. CROM WITNESSES YOU, SAVAGE AVENGERS READERS. Thank you for the adventure.

"Savage Avengers" #28 hits stands on January 12, 2022.

James Gunn Shared New Look At Thinker

Director James Gunn is great at sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses at his movies on social media. Such is the case with his latest, "The Suicide Squad," which makes its way to Blu-ray this week. Recently, Gunn shared the above tweet, which offers us a look at the screen test Peter Capaldi did to play The Thinker, one of the villains of the DC Comics flick. It is a bit different from what ended up in the final product. Check it out for yourself.

Venom Caused Riz Ahmed To Quit Making Blockbusters

Riz Ahmed was the villain in the first "Venom," starring alongside Tom Hardy in what became an unexpectedly huge success, financially speaking. But Ahmed, in a recent interview with Variety, explained that the experience taught him that he needed to step away from big blockbusters, at least for a while, as he doesn't feel he's developed the skillset needed for them just yet. Says Ahmed:

"I'm not saying I don't like those big movies. I'm saying I had not learned yet how to bring myself to those movies. Those films teach you stamina, technical craft, and it is a skill to be able to eke out your artistry in that setting. Look at Javier Bardem in Skyfall. I just hadn't developed the skill set at that point to do the technical thing and the emotional thing."

Ahmed can currently be seen in "Mogul Mowgli." Just don't expect him to turn up in the inevitable "Venom 3."

The Flash Director On The Movie's Emotional Story

DC FanDome gave us a first look at "The Flash" movie last weekend. However, in the Chinese version of the event, director Andy Muschietti had some more to say, as reported by ComicBook.com. Specifically, the "IT" filmmaker talked about the emotional story at the movie's center, in addition to its fun time travel elements.

"Mainly the emotional aspects of the story were very compelling to me. Obviously, it's a superhero movie, it's a big spectacle adventure, but what really brought me into it was the emotional power of it," Muschietti said at the Chinese version of DC FanDome. "There's an emotional message in the story, it's also a time-traveling story which is always very attractive to me. Time travel has something that is inherently compelling in general, but this one is very special because it's a very intimate conflict... It's about a boy who is looking for his mother, and that's what was so attractive to me, that emotional drive."

"The Flash" is set to hit theaters on November 4, 2022.

X-Men Producer Simon Kinberg Weighs In On MCU Reboot

Simon Kinberg was instrumental in Fox's version of the "X-Men" franchise, producing many of the movies, as well as directing "Dark Phoenix." Now, the producer has weighed in on his hopes for the inevitable reboot within the MCU in a new interview with Comic Book Resources, saying that he is a fan of what Kevin Feige has done.

"I'm really interested to see what they will do with it, to make it different if I'm not a part of it, or even if I am a part of it, because it's a little bit like -- not to sound bombastic, but it's a little bit like Shakespeare, where a million people have played Hamlet. There's been tons of fascinating versions of Hamlet. I myself started with the original X-Men cast and then went into the First Class cast and then put them together in a movie and split them back up again and did something very different with Logan than what we were doing with Wolverine and the X-Men mainline franchise. So there's just so many different ways you can go tonally and cast-wise.

I'm excited to see what they do. I don't have any hopes for what they do. I know it's gonna be cool because everything they do is cool and smart and really well thought-out. As a fan of the comics and as a fan of Marvel movies, I literally can't wait. So yeah, I'd certainly be open to being involved. If not, will be first in line and wildly excited to see what they do."

Whether or not Kinberg will be involved remains to be seen, but for now, he's sitting on the sidelines like a fan, just like the rest of us. Well, maybe not just like the rest of us.

Eternals Visionary Featurette

Lastly, Marvel Studios has released another new featurette in anticipation of the release of "Eternals" on November 5. This one largely focuses on director Chloe Zhao and her vision to bring these characters to life within the confines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It contains some new footage, but lots of little tidbits from the cast and crew. 

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