Doctor Doom's Surprising New Name and Origin in the 'Fantastic Four' Reboot

How much have we actually seen of Josh Trank's Fantastic Four relaunch? Other than a pair of set photos, not a heck of a lot. Most of what we know has been learned from the cast, and that was enough to send fans into an uproar because, frankly, this version of the FF is going to be vastly different from the original comics. If the lineup of Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell wasn't enough to make that obvious, then maybe these comments by Toby Kebbell, who plays villain Doctor Doom, will do the trick.

Kebbell opened up a little bit to Collider about what his version of Doom will be like, revealing that he's not going to be Victor Von Doom, he's not going to be ruler of Latveria, but he's got one busy Wordpress account.

Kebbell: “He’s Victor Domashev, not Victor von Doom in our story. And I’m sure I’ll be sent to jail for telling you that. The Doom in ours—I’m a programmer. Very anti-social programmer. And on blogging sites I’m ‘Doom.’ “

So it will certainly be a modernization of the character but then again so was Julian McMahon's unfortunate version in the other movies. This news will undoubtedly cause a flurry of angry posts on FF message boards, but I trust in Trank and Simon Kinberg to make this work...even though it sounds pretty horrible. Fantastic Four is set to open on August 7th 2015.

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Toby Kebbell Joins 'Ben-Hur'; 'King Arthur' Adds Astrid Berges-Frisbey; Jack Reynor goes to 'Sing Street'

 Toby Kebbell seems to have found his niche playing baddies. He was the crap-starter in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes earlier this year, and will play Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four. Now he's joining Timur Bekmambetov's Ben-Hur remake as chief backstabber, Messala. Jack Huston stars as the titular nobleman who is betrayed by his friend Messala and put into slavery where there will be chariot races, gladiator fights, and training by Morgan Freeman.  Ben-Hur opens February 26th 2016. [Variety]

She played the apple of Michael Pitt's eye in I Origins, and now Astrid Berges-Frisbey will be the King Arthur's lady love Guinevere in Guy Ritchie's Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur. We all know that she eventually will leave him for the dashing Lancelot, but in this film, the first of a six-part franchise, her relationship with Arthur will be in the beginning stages. Idris Elba is also on board as Arthur's mentor, Bedivere. [THR]

John Carney (Once, Begin Again) has added Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Aiden Gillen (Game of Thrones), and Maria Doyle Kennedy (The Tudors) to his latest musical, Sing Street, which features music by U2's Bono and The Edge. The story follows "a 14-year-old named Cosmo growing up in 1980’s recession-hit Dublin who must break free of a home strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles, deal with his drop-out older brother’s antics, and survive a new public school where the kids are rough and the brothers are tougher."

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Leaked Set Photos May Reveal First Look at Doctor Doom in 'Fantastic Four'

Not long after 20th Century Fox offered up nothing on Fantastic Four at Comic-Con, a set photo emerged that appeared to be our first look at Jamie Bell as The Thing. That's never actually been confirmed but now Geek Pride is posting very similar images from Josh Trank's reboot, only these show Toby Kebbell as the villainous Doctor Doom.

These photos seem to have been taken at the same location as the earlier shots, and in them you can see a much creepier version of Victor von Doom than we've seen before. Who is that guy standing opposite, though? Is that perhaps Jamie Bell's stunt double as The Thing? He's bulky enough to be. A stand-in, or in this case fly-in, of the Human Torch (Michael B. Jordan) is also present so we may be looking at a showdown between the team and Doom.

That's assuming these are legit, of course.  Fantastic Four stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, and opens June 19th 2015.

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Benedict Cumberbatch Joins 'The Jungle Book: Origins'; Sigourney Weaver and Toby Kebbell Board 'A Monster Calls'

Don't get confused. Yes there are two adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book on the way. Disney and Jon Favreau are developing their version opening next year, while Warner Bros. has Andy Serkis directing The Jungle Book: Origins. With the film set for 2016, Serkis has turned to his The Hobbit co-star Benedict Cumberbatch to voice man-eating tiger, Shere Khan, lifelong enemy of the orphaned Mowgli.  Cumberbatch will be seen later this year as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, and will voice the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. [THR]

Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible) has added Sigourney Weaver and Toby Kebbell to the cast of A Monster Calls, his adaptation of Patrick Ness' dark fairy tale. Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones star in the film about a boy who tries to cope with being bullied and his mother's terminal illness by escaping to a fantasy world where a monster tells stories of courage, loss, and faith. Kebbell, who was last seen causing trouble in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and will do the same as Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four, will play the boy's father with Weaver as his grandmother. [THR]

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Review: 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, and Gary Oldman

By now we all recognize that Hollywood is driven by the big money and bigger spectacle that sequels provide, with narrative need probably way down the totem pole when considering such follow-ups. As we've just endured the third unnecessary Transformers sequel, such things can prove to be a little depressing, and there was some concern that Dawn of the Planet of the Apescould be just another soulless sequel churned out by the system with pumped up CGI and no real heart. But the film, a technical and thematic marvel crafted by Matt Reeves, is not only exciting in the way we all want summer blockbusters to be, it improves on its predecessor in just about every way.

That's not a knock on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a film that far exceeded expectations largely by giving in to its sci-fi B-movie roots. It worked as a warning to man's selfish meddling in the ways of nature and as a campy action flick about rampaging apes. 'Dawn' is considerably more serious but let's be honest here, this isn't the "Planet of the Apes and those Pesky Humans' series. We expect things to get a little dark along the way and probably won't turn out so well for our side. Action and violence, of which there are plenty of both, doesn't simply occur for the sake of momentary thrills. Every life-or-death decision is weighed, measured, and has real significance to the future of two opposing species.

Building on the sturdy foundation laid by the prior film, this one moves forward in time ten years after the human population has nearly been eradicated by the Simian Flu. Caesar (Andy Serkis, and let's just say the man deserves an Oscar by now) is no longer the young, genetically evolved ape we saw before. Now he's the leader of a tribe, and more than that he's got a wife (Judy Greer) and young son, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston), relying on him. Like any leader, Caesar has those who are loyal and some like the badly-scarred Koba (Toby Kebbell), who claim loyalty but have their own motivations. The rules of their society are pretty simple, with the biggest rule scrawled in chalk, "Ape no kill ape". Humans haven't been spotted in what remains of San Francisco in years, so when a small pocket of them are encountered and it ends in bloodshed, some of Caesar's followers start sounding the drumbeat for war.

Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver draw obvious but resonant parallels between Caesar and Malcolm (Jason Clarke), a leading voice amongst the humans with his own son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and lover (Keri Russell) to take care of. Unlike some of the others in their group, neither Malcolm or Caesar wants a battle, recognizing that a full scale war could destroy them all. But the humans need power to rebuild civilization, and the only source is on the apes' home turf. Without it, people have essentially reverted back to a primal state and their desperate, battle-ready leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman, in Commissioner Gordon mode) is ready to do anything to change that.

Analogies to race relations or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East are clear but never beaten to death. It's far more concerned with common themes of loyalty, family, and betrayal, all of which are approached with sincerity and intelligence. When Caesar becomes father to a newborn child, we recognize how the stakes have been elevated and why he makes certain choices. Of course, we also know that whatever he decides it will end up with hundreds of digital apes swinging from power lines and firing machine guns from horseback. How would you like to be a normal animal in a world of evolved chimps? That must really suck. Anyway, when monkey mayhem ensues it's quite the computer-generated showcase. Reeves has done some spectacular digital effects work before, most notably in the monster flick Cloverfield. But let's not forget he also directed the superior vampire remake, Let Me In, and 'Dawn' impressively combines pot boiling thrills with moments of sheer horror. Comedy is sparse but there are a few moments of monkey mockery that are worth a laugh. They tend to end with somebody dying but they're funny for a time.

What more is there to say about Andy Serkis' performance capture work at this point? The emotion he's able to wring is truly exceptional, and I've personally come around to thinking we need a special category for honoring what he's so consistently been able to do. One only wishes the humans had more to work with. Clarke makes the most of a character that is basically just meant to play a lesser version of Caesar. Oldman is never given a chance to be the firebrand his character would seem to demand. But as noted before, this is 'Planet of the Apes', and so they get the bulk of the character focus. Where 'Rise' was mostly a movie about humans, we're clearly meant to land on the side of the apes now and it feels a little counter-intuitive at first.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a deeply intelligent, wildly entertaining sequel that proves the summer blockbuster is capable of evolution, too.

 Rating: 4 out of 5

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'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Reveals Final Trailer

After an excellent viral and the first released clip from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox have now revealed what they claim is the final trailer for the anticipated summer film. Matt Reeves, who directed the monster disaster flick Cloverfield and the surprising vampire remake Let Me In, is on board for the 'Apes' sequel that takes place years after a virus has wiped out most of the human population. That leaves only a few left to coexist alongside Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his army of evolved apes, until conflict inevitably erupts.

Also starring Jason Clarke, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Toby Kebbell, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

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International Trailer for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Offers New Footage

Before you go and hang out with a talking raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy, 20th Century Fox would like you to spend some quality time with their army of talking apes. A new international trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has been released that offers up a few bits of new footage and a slightly different focus, but still looks like a sequel that has grown exponentially from the first film.

Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Judy Greer, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee and the returning Andy Serkis, the story follows a group of human survivors in San Francisco trying to co-exist with Caesar and his clan. Of course that proves to be easier said than done and a conflict erupts that may wipe out humanity once and for all.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

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Common Joins 'Selma'; Julia Stiles Boards 'Gilly Hopkins'; Toby Kebbell Builds 'Sand Castle'

* Rapper Common (Just Wright) is in talks to play civil rights activist James Bevel in Selma, Ava Duvernay's film about Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, AL to secure voting rights for African-Americans. Also coming aboard is Andre Holland (42), who will take on the role of Andrew Young. David Oyelowo has been attached to the role of MLK since back when Lee Daniels was eying the film. [Deadline]

* Where Julia Stiles goes, my attention will follow. That might read kind of creepy but I'll watch her in anything, even an adaptation of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Stiles will join Sophie Nelisse (The Book Thief) in the film based on Katherine Peterson's book about brilliant, angry, brash 11-year-old Gilly Hopkins, who battles with her foster mom and hopes to be reunited with her mysterious mother. Co-starring are Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Glenn Close, and Billy Magnussen. [Deadline]

* Toby Kebbell will join Nicholas Hoult in the Iraq War drama, Sand Castle, which is based on a script by war veteran Chris Roessner. Directed by first-timer Seb Edwards, the story is taken from the real experiences of a platoon repairing an aqueduct in the dangerous and remote region of Baqubah, Iraq. Kebbell will play platoon leader Sgt. Baker who is dealing with mounting casualties, while Hoult is a machine gunner. Kebbell has been keeping busy of late, taking on the role of Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four, plus he'll star in this summer's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  [Screen Daily]

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'Fantastic Four' Casts Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom

Now that Josh Trank has put together his Fantastic Four with Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, and Kate Mara, the team needs a villain to face. There was never any doubt it would Doctor Doom, the only question was who would be under the metal mask. With a list of names circulating a few weeks ago, we now know it was Toby Kebbell who has emerged with the role.

Variety reports that Kebbell has beaten out Domhnall Gleeson, Eddie Redmayne, and Sam Riley to play Reed Richards' arch-nemesis in the big screen reboot. In the comics, Victor von Doom was an intellectual rival of Richards while in college. After an experiment literally blew up in his face, Doom donned the metal mask and proceeded to make Richards' life a living Hell. There's a lot more to the story than that, but it remains to be seen how Trank and screenwriter Simon Kinberg approach it.

Kebbell has been a great character actor for a long time, getting his big break in Guy Ritchie's Rocknrolla. He's got plenty of blockbuster experience, having co-starred in Wrath of the Titans and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Next up for him is another tentpole, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. There was even a time when he was on the verge of playing Tetsuo in a live-action Akira movie, but that fell through. Basically, this is a really solid move bringing him aboard.

Fantastic Four hits theaters June 19th 2015, and should begin production soon.

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Domhnall Gleeson, Eddie Redmayne and More on Shortlist for Dr. Doom in 'Fantastic Four'

There were once rumors that Josh Trank and 20th Century Fox were considering a female Dr. Doom in the director's Fantastic Four reboot, but that was quickly squashed. Now the rumor is further trampled by the news that the shortlist for the role has been narrowed down to four, and they are all very male and rather low on the Hollywood totem pole.

According to The Wrap, Domhnall Gleeson, Toby Kebbell, Sam Riley, and Eddie Redmayne are up to play the Fantastic Four's arch-nemesis, Victor von Doom. All are relatively unknown but come with varying degrees of franchise experience. Gleeson, who was terrific in the Sundance hit, Frank, was one of the Weasley brothers in the Harry Potter movies. Kebbell played a god in Wrath of the Titans and was once set for the shelved live-action Akira.  Riley is probably best known for the Ian Curtis biopic, Control, and will appear in Maleficent opposite Angelina Jolie. Redmayne was brilliant in Tom Hooper's Les Miserables and plays a villain in the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending. Jack Huston (American Hustle) was mentioned for the part some time ago but doesn't seem to be in the picture anymore.

Whoever gets to wear the iron mask of Doom will co-star alongside Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, and Jamie Bell. Expect a decision soon as Fantastic Four begins filming later this month for release June 19th 2015.

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Duncan Jones' 'Warcraft' Adds Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, and Rob Kazinsky

 After toying with blockbuster gigs directing The Wolverine and The Hunger Games, Duncan Jones decided his first foray into the big money world (Source Code cost about $30M) would be video game adaptation, Warcraft. The best-selling game offers a world of swords, sandals, and sorcery, which will give the director a chance to show what he can do on a larger canvas, and now he'll have an impressive cast to help justify Legendary Pictures' investment.

With Travis Fimmel and Paula Patton already on board, the cast has been filled out with Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, and Rob Kazinsky, while Dominic Cooper is in final negotiations. Of them all, Foster has the least blockbuster experience but he's the most acclaimed actor of the bunch. He's coming off a searing supporting turn in Ain't Them Bodies Saints, and will star in Peter Berg's Lone Survivor later this month. Kebbell has been a part of Wrath of the Titans and Prince of Persia, while Kuzinksky battled giant monsters in Pacific Rim last summer. Cooper has a home in the Marvel-verse as part of Captain America: The First Avenger, he's staked some vamps in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and then he gets behind the wheel for Need for Speed. Nothing on the previously-rumored Colin Farrell so he must have dropped out at some point.

Warcraft is set to open March 11th 2016.

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Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell Eyed For 'Frankenstein'

After not really appearing on screen since Van Helsing, there are now a couple of Frankenstein movies in the works. One is the Aaron Eckhart-led I, Frankenstein, which nobody seems to be talking about. The other, simply titled Frankenstein, has quite a bit of heat behind it thanks to a genre-bending script by Chronicle scribe, Max Landis. Daniel Radcliffe came aboard to play a version of Igor a few months ago, and now two more names have emerged for the role of Victor Frankenstein himself.

Deadline reports that Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell are being flown out to London to read for director Paul McGuigan and 20th Century Fox. I thought Huston was pretty good in David Chase's directorial debut, Not Fade Away, and he's great as Jack Kerouac in this fall's Kill Your Darlings. I've never seen him in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, but supposedly he's good in that, as well. Kebbell is still probably best known for his breakout in Guy Ritchie's Rocknrolla, and can be seen now in Brit Marling's The East.

We're seeing studios do this a lot, lately, putting bigger stars in flashy supporting roles only to give the lead to a lesser name. Disney is doing it right now in The Lone Ranger, and Fox deserves credit for following the same path. Expect a decision to be made within the next week.

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Toby Kebbell explains what was wrong with the live-action 'Akira' remake

There's a good chance we'll never see Warner Brothers' live-action Akira remake. Good riddance, if you ask me. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. After a combative casting process ended with original director, Albert Hughes, walking away from the project, he was replaced by Jaume Collet-Serra. That didn't solve the problems, which revolved around the budget, and continued hang-ups with the script. . In November the film was officially put on hold, yet we continue to learn more of what might have been.

Toby Kebbell(Rocknrolla) had been up for the role of Tetsuo, the psionic powerhouse at the center of Katsuhiro Otomo's acclaimed manga and the equally revered anime. Kebbell, a long time comic book and manga fan, had been very familiar with the source material and voiced his suggestions to the film's producers, which apparently didn't turn out so well....

Kebbell: “They were like, ‘This is going to be a big franchise!’” he explained. “So I said, ‘Then in that case, understand that I’ve read the comics, and I’ve read the comics that got turned into the annuals, and then the annuals that got turned into the one-off anime. So if you really want to do it, then why don’t you look at the six comics and just put two into each film?’”

“That way my character, Tetsuo, is not the lead. He’s not the second lead, and he’s not the third or the fourth lead, because there are eight major characters there. You’ve got great young actors, and you could get them in there. That’s the way to do it if you want to do sequels.”

Warner Brothers shot his idea down, not surprising considering their hope to keep the budget as low as possible. The plan was to capture the entirety of Otomo's six-volume manga in two movies, which would have called for so much cutting of the story as to lose much of the significance. Another change they made which Kebbell found especially offensive was the relationship between gang leader Kaneda and Tetsuo, by far the most important of the entire story....

Kebbell: “The other thing they wanted to do was make [Tetsuo and Kaneda] brothers,” he continued. “I was like, ‘The point is that Tetsuo can’t comprehend how someone who isn’t his brother could love him so much — and that’s where his wrath and his rage come from. Do you not see that? Why have you made them brothers? What the fuck are you doing?’”

As of now, Akira is still dead and nobody's around with a set of jumper cables. Garrett Hedlund was the only confirmed star in the role of Kaneda. Kristen Steart, Ken Watanabe, and Helena Bonham Carter were circling other key parts, with Dane DeHaan(Chronicle) and Michael Pitt(Bully) the finalists for Tetsuo. [IFC]

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