Two more questions about the U.N.C.L.E. movie

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer during filming

Photos appeared on Oct. 2 on places such as Zimbio.com and Us magazine’s Web site of filming of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie. Shots included stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer together and in costume. There were also PHOTOS of Hugh Grant as Waverly and actress Alicia Vikander. So this seems a good time to pose two more unanswered questions.

What’s the name of Alicia Vikander’s character? The Sept. 3 PRESS RELEASE doesn’t specify.

When Vikander was identified by THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER in May as being in the film, the trade publication said she “will play a British agent who has a thing for cars. The character did not appear in the TV series nor the short-lived spinoff, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and is a new creation.”

What if, by chance, that’s not correct? Remember the filming of Skyfall? Naomie Harris’s Eve wasn’t supposed to be Moneypenny — except she was.

Thinking out loud, what if Vikander is playing April Dancer, the lead character in The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.? There’s no evidence of that, of course. And given how complicated rights can be, the April Dancer character might even be unavailable for director Guy Ritchie & Co. to use. Time will tell.

U.N.C.L.E. insignia from a second-season episode

Will the original U.N.C.L.E. insignia return? Over the past few days of filming in Italy, some shots of crew members have shown up on social media. In some cases, people are wearing security badges that appear to have the original U.N.C.L.E. insignia used in the main titles of the original 1964-68 series.

Even if it’s the original insignia (and in some cases it’s pretty small in the photos), that’s no guarantee it will show up in the movie. On the other hand, if it is used in the film, it would be another of the seeming homages to the original show.

UPDATE: The U.K. Daily Mail has A STORY WITH MORE PHOTOS of the filming in Rome.

The story has one noteable mistake. “Set at the height of the Cold War, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (which stands for United Network Command for Law Enforcement), was originally a TV series created by Sam Rolfe, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.”

Robert Vaughn played Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill’s role) and David McCallum played Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer’s role). Neither actor created the show.

Norman Felton and Ian Fleming created the Solo character and Sam Rolfe devised the U.N.C.L.E. detail and created Kuryakin and other characters.

Of that trio, only Rolfe had an on-screen credit for the show’s concept: “Developed by” in the first season, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Developed by” for the rest of the series. Felton was the executive producer throughout the series, and was credited for that. Rolfe was also producer for the first season.

Also, the formal name is United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. The Daily Mail isn’t the first media outlet to drop the “and.”

Earlier posts:

RETURN OF THE ICONIC U.N.C.L.E. TURTLENECK?

HOW THE U.N.C.L.E. MOVIE WILL DIFFER FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOW