In an age where progressiveness seems to define critical acclaim, the latest news regarding the upcoming X-Men spinoff Deadpool details the titular antihero’s sexuality. Director Tim Miller said in an interview with Collider last week that Deadpool will in fact be pansexual. Ryan Reynolds, who is reprising his role as Deadpool in the 2016 film from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, further added that “There is some sexuality in this movie for sure. You kinda think you have moments when you’re shooting where you think, “This is, uh, a little excessive. This is a comic book movie. Are we gonna get away with this?” But so far so good. Studio hasn’t crushed us with anything.”
Deadpool as a film has been a relatively hands off project for Fox, with the studio allowing director Tim Miller and producer/star Ryan Reynolds complete creative freedom. This is quite contrary to the only other film featuring Deadpool, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. There are horror stories of director Gavin Hood clashing with multiple studio executives who tried to leave their stamp on the film, which might explain why the Merc with a Mouth had his mouth melted shut for the majority of his screen appearance. A classic example of too many cooks in the kitchen, most cinematic superhero adaptations that fail are due to this, most recently with Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spiderman 2.  Deadpool is shaping up, and this news about the character’s sexuality certainly does not tamper the momentum behind the project. By adding in this character trait, Deadpool might end up being one of the most pivotal superhero films in featuring a LGBT main character. The big fear is that too much focus on sexuality may distract from a film that will hopefully remain the irrerevant action sci-fi that is promised by the trailers. Deadpool is coming out Feb. 16, 2016.
The first trailer for Alice Through the Looking Glass was released recently. A sequel to the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, this new film marks the return of many of the first film’s cast, including Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp.  Not returning is director Tim Burton, who is merely staying a producer on Alice Through the Looking Glass. Burton’s next project is a live action adaptation of the 1941 film Dumbo. Regardless, the trailer for Alice Through the Looking Glass delivers all of the visual thrills that the first film gave. Whether or not the screenplay will improve from the first film is what time will tell. Alice Through the Looking Glass comes out May 27, 2016, competing directly with X-Men Apocalypse.
Far more anticipated than Alice Through the Looking Glass is the upcoming film Warcraft. Based upon the popular role playing game World of Warcraft, Warcraft is being directed by Duncan Jones, who has helmed two of the most original science fiction films of the past decade, Moon and Source Code. Based off the trailer, Warcraft is about a group of orcs who form an uneasy alliance with humans to save both of their worlds. The visual effects admittedly look a bit like they are taken from a video game ironically. Yet Warcraft also looks like it could be the revival of high fantasy, a genre that films have not really had success in since Lord of the Rings. Since Lord of the Rings, studios have tempted to shy away from the genre in fear of not matching the quality and financial success that LOTR enjoyed. While the Hobbit films were all financially successful and very good films, they still have not reinvigorated the fantasy genre the way analysts hope Warcraft will.
Lastly, a slew of news about the upcoming Harry Potter spin off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find   Them has been released. The plot is set to be about Newt Scamander, a wizard who travels to the United States in the 1920s, bringing along with him a magical suitcase full of the aforementioned fantastic beasts he has been traveling the world to collect. When the beasts break loose, Scamander must find new allies in America and use his wizarding powers to collect the beasts. Quite frankly, this film sounds like a fantastic adventure mixed within a period piece.  The images feature Newt Scamander, played by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set to come out Nov. 18, 2016.