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Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 24, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Avoid this post if you don’t want any spoilers about Captain America: The Winter Soldier! It’s possible that recent TV spots are ruining a bit plot point for the film… or perhaps it’s just some old-fashioned misdirection. Here it comes: in the TV spot, it’s briefly shown that a bomb is detonated under Nick Fury’s car, and he’s blown sky-high. Then is the line “Nick Fury’s last words were not to trust anyone.” They’re definitely implying that he’s offed, but I can’t see Marvel being willing to kill off Nick Fury. Given what we all know about comic books — he’s probably not dead. If you want to look at it from a logical perspective: Samuel L. Jackson is still signed on for several more Marvel films, so no, he’s not going anywhere. Read more…
Tags: captain america, Marvel, the winter soldier
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 22, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
It still blows my mind that Marvel is doing Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and freakin’ Doctor Strange, all before DC and Warner Bros. can get a standalone Wonder Woman film out the door. It’s truly a testament to the organizational skills of Marvel… along with their excellent casting department. So, you heard me mention Doctor Strange, right? It seems Marvel is now on the hunt for several directors to tackle the film, and they’ve got four that they’re listing right now: Mark Andrews (co-director of Brave), Nikolaj Arcel (director of A Royal Affair), Dean Israelite (director of Welcome to Yesterday), and Jonathan Levine (director of 50/50). Kung Fu Panda writers Jon Aibel and Glenn Berger are rumored to be scripting it, too. Not a terrible list! Read more…
Tags: Doctor Strange, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 22, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
You’ve seen the trailer, now check out several videos that look at each member of the team from Guardians of the Galaxy. If you’ve been itching to hear Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon, you’ve come to the right place. There’s little bits of new footage sprinkled in each video, including a bit of fighting between Gamora and Nebula (Karen Gillan). Also included below is the first poster for the movie, and it’s about as silly as can be, with a tagline like “You’re welcome.” Everyone posing like they’re on a retro sci-fi book cover along with the huge list of other Marvel films — you know, just in case you forgot. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 21, 2014 in Anime, Comic Books 
Here’s the full, most-official cast for Fox’s Fantastic Four. From left to right, taking on the role of Reed Richard is (rumored to be) Miles Teller, and Sue Storm (confirmed) will be played by Kate Mara. Jamie Bell, while not yet confirmed, will likely play Ben Grimm. And last but not least, just confirmed, Michael B. Jordan will play Johnny Storm. Assuming that everything works out, I’m pretty okay with this casting. I think Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch is a great bit of casting in particular. I’m a bit disappointed this cast isn’t under Marvel’s Cinematic Universe umbrella, though. If only Marvel’s other rights could return to them! Read more…
Tags: Fantastic Four
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 20, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Marvel premiered the first full trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and after seeing it, I’d say it’s out of this world. Puns aside, we get a nice overview of the team, learning a bit about what makes them special. There’s Starlord’s awesome looking ship, the Milano. There’s a guard listening to a Walkman. There’s Zoe Saldana. There’s a talking raccoon with a machine gun fighting alongside a tree-person. What more could you want? Admittedly, John C. Reilly falls a bit flat here with some of his “snark,” but that might just be the trailer editing’s fault. It’s looking like this first “true” entry into Marvel’s cosmic corner of its universe should be some fun, old-school fantastical sci-fi. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel, Science Fiction
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 16, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Marvel has been toying with the idea of film focusing on Black Widow for a while now, but we’ve never really gotten a solid answer from Marvel one way or the other. Kevin Feige recently spoke to the possibility, and while he didn’t confirm anything, he did imply it was still on the table. “The notion of exploring that even further in her own film would be great, and we have some development work with that.” Just do it already! She’s a fan-favorite character, and Scarlett Johansson is a great actress — plus, we need more female superheroes in leading roles. It’d be a shame to leave her as a perpetual sidekick in all the other Marvel films. Read more…
Tags: Black Widow, Marvel, The Avengers
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 12, 2014 in Comic Books 
In hindsight, it was kind of creepy to buy those big packs of branded Valentine’s Day cards and pass them out to your friends in elementary school. But let’s ignore that and look at these Batman Valentines from 1966, found by Mark Anderson. Batman and friends make horrible lovey-dovey puns, the Penguin is “hissable,” Mr. Freeze has apparently cured his wife but left her in ice, and there are naturally hearts everywhere. So print one out and give it to your sweetie this Friday — but tuck it into a better card, because you don’t want to annoy your other half too much. Read more…
Tags: Batman, DC Comics
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 8, 2014 in Comic Books, Television 
It seems after ages in limbo, a live-action Preacher adaption will finally see the light of day. The This Is the End team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will be palling up with Sam Catlin of Breaking Bad to adapt the series for AMC. It seems the cable channel thinks they have the next big Walking Dead-ish hit on their hands — or at least some potential. Now, I’m not a big fan of Preacher, but I know a lot of you out there are. Do you think Rogen and crew can adapt it properly? I wonder how AMC will handle it — and what’ll change from page to screen. Read more…
Tags: AMC, Preacher
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 8, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Here’s a hero people weren’t exactly predicting: the Vision. And, the actor portraying him is already in the Marvel universe — Paul Bettany has been previously playing Jarvis, Tony Stark’s AI companion. As comic fans know, the Vision was created by Ultron, so that fits nicely with the plot, but I wonder if perhaps the Vision’s origin will be modified, given the actor? Maybe he’ll be a physical form for Jarvis, instead? Whedon and his pals are clearly playing with the various origin stories for everyone involved, so we’ll see how it all turns out in the end! Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 7, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Fresh off of her work in The Hobbit, Evangeline Lilly is doing well — and it looks like things might be getting better. THR is currently reporting that Lilly is in talks to star opposite of Paul Rudd in Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man. Her role would not be a one-off appearance, so many fans are speculating that she’d be playing the Wasp (which would also make her a likely candidate to show up in the third Avengers film). I’m all for more female roles to balance out the Avengers! It also helps that Lilly was one of the best parts of the second Hobbit film. Let’s hope this rumor works out. Read more…
Tags: ant-man, edgar wright, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 1, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Here’s a bizarre turn of events: Jesse Eisenberg, star of such films as The Social Network and Zombieland, will be playing Lex Luthor in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. The Batman vs. Superman action film will feature one of Superman’s most iconic villains from a very different perspective. While I know a lot of fans might be mad about this, that’s exactly why I’m interested in this casting. A younger, more modern Lex could be the right twist needed to help reestablish the character. Also announced at the same time: Jeremy Irons will be playing Alfred. This is some all-star casting, so I’m more interested than ever before about how this will all turn out. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel, Superman
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 29, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn’t out on April 4, but that doesn’t mean Marvel isn’t already thinking of the future. Since we’re still in the middle of Marvel’s “Phase 2,” there are not a lot of confirmed details for movies in “Phase 3” besides Ant-Man. However, we might see a third Captain America movie, as Marvel has already arranged for Anthony and Joe Russo to return to direct a third film. They’re already working on the story, even though the movie isn’t officially confirmed yet. Read more…
Tags: captain america, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 25, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Last we had heard, Gal Gadot has been picked to play Wonder Woman in the upcoming sequel to Man of Steel, but now it’s confirmed that she’ll be sticking around in the DC movie universe a bit longer. She has signed on for a standalone Wonder Woman film and an eventual Justice League movie. I’m interested to see how this second Superman film turns out, now that Wonder Woman and Batman are creeping in on his turf. I also think Gadot is a great choice for the part, and people who complain that she’s “too skinny” and “not buff enough” need to take a chill pill. You’ve seen the change Christian Bale went through for the Batman trilogy, right? I bet she’s started an impressive regiment already. Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, Man of Steel, Wonder Woman
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 19, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
A movie with a nebulous future date has gotten pushed back to another nebulous future date! Yes, the sequel to Man of Steel, which will feature Batman facing off against Superman has been moved to May 6th, 2016, which is nearly a year’s delay. Rather than heading off against the rest of Disney’s onslaught in 2015, it’ll instead battle X-Men: Apocalypse and Amazing Spider-Man 3 which come out the same month. Rumor’s have been circulating that Ben Affleck hurt his leg, but studio execs say that’s not the case. So, that means script problems then, eh? Maybe. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Man of Steel
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 14, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Paul Rudd will play Ant-Man in Edgar Wright’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 film, fittingly called Ant-Man. But he’s not playing Hank Pym, the classic character. No, Marvel has clarified that Rudd is playing Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man who steals equipment from Pym. Of course, it makes sense for Pym to be in the movie, so Michael Douglas has been cast in that role. Now that we finally know which Ant-Men are involved, I can make some guesses as to some plot points. I’d imagine that in this universe, Hank Pym might just be a scientist instead of also being Ant-Man. Scott Lang steals his equipment for some reason, uses it to become Ant-Man, and eventually gets mentored by Pym. I’m still curious as to what the conflict will be. Could it be related to Ultron in The Avengers 2, since Pym created him? Read more…
Tags: ant-man, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 10, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Many fans weren’t happy with the twist involving Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin. If you haven’t seen Iron Man 3, bail out here. Unless you don’t mind being spoiled. Since he was merely posing as the Mandarin, fans were upset that we’d never get to see the version of the famous villain from the comics, clearly ruining his legacy. I thought it was a great twist, although sadly Guy Peace couldn’t really hold his own as an interesting villain once the “Mandarin” was gone. Anyway: Ben Kingsley is back as the actor Trevor Slattery again, but it seems that the whole Mandarin thing was perhaps… appropriated from the already existing terrorist group The Ten Rings. And hints that perhaps the real Mandarin is very upset that someone is using his namesake. This could be a neat twist on things, but we’ll have to wait till the one-shot arrives — it’ll be on the Thor 2 blu-ray, which comes out February 25th. Till then, have some pictures of Ben Kingsley looking nervous! Read more…
Tags: Iron Man 3, Marvel, Thor: The Dark World
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 4, 2014 in Comic Books, Star Wars 
Farewell, Dark Horse! You’ve been a lovely friend for Star Wars all these years — over 20, actually. But given that Disney owns both Marvel and Lucasfilm, it was only a matter of time until the comics were brought under the same roof. Marvel will be taking over publishing of all Star Wars comics in 2015. Whether they’ll continue currently running series or halt them remains to be seen. I imagine at the very least they have plenty of plans for comics that’ll support the new films that begin in 2015. What’ll happen next? And what will Dark Horse do to fill the gaps? Read more…
Tags: Dark Horse, Marvel, Star Wars
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 3, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Straight from the New Year’s celebration comes this new clip of Amazing Spider-Man 2, featuring shots of Spidey, Electro, and 1.2 seconds of the Rhino. Of course, it’s all set in Times Square. Also, am I alone in noticing how… video game-y this trailer looks? I’m not sure if it’s the over-saturation or the glossy effects, but everyone looks like a CGI model. Rhino also didn’t look great for his brief appearance. At least Spidey is wise-cracking, though! I’m worried about all these villains, still, as I’m not sure Marc Webb can pull it off. Read more…
Tags: The Amazing Spider-Man
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 1, 2014 in Cinema, Comic Books 
New Year’s Eve means news is light, but Marvel decided to give fans a little present with the first still from Guardians of the Galaxy. You’ve got five characters standing in this line-up: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), and Groot (Vin Diesel). I for one love the fact that Marvel has decided to spend money on hiring someone really big like Diesel to voice a walking tree that only says his name. I’m curious how Chris Pratt does in the role of Peter Quill though, a.k.a. Star-Lord. I keep worrying I’ll just see his character Andy from Parks and Recreation. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 23, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Well this is a weird story to write. Apparently Vin Diesel, despite saying publicly that he was playing Groot, was not “officially” announced as part of the project. Disney and Marvel never denied it, and Vin Diesel was talking about it, so everyone assumed it was a done deal. But now, Disney has sent out a press release along with a new promotional image officially telling us all about this super-cool new actor in Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanks guys! Hey, if anything, at least we’re getting a better look at how Groot will look in the film, although James Gunn says that his appearance has changed slightly in the final version. Neat stuff! So, Disney, when are we going to get that first real trailer? Soon I’d hope? Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 20, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Get excited, Ant-Man fans! Variety is reporting that the rumors that have been swirling for months are true: Paul Rudd will star in Ant-Man, Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the Marvel comic book. Paul Rudd is a great actor, and given the more comedic angle Wright will be taking (presumably) I think it’s a great fit. I really hope they still integrate it with the other Marvel films too. In the end, I’d love to see Ant-Man join up with the Avengers in their third film, but who knows how Marvel will handle that right now. Below the jump I’ve embedded the FIRST footage of the film, which is TOTALLY LEGIT. I’m serious! Read more…
Tags: edgar wright, Marvel, paul rudd
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 16, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
People keep asking me why I prefer physical media in an increasingly digital world. Today, I get to give another reason why. Though they didn’t give a specific reason, Capcom has announced that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will soon be delisted from Xbox Live and PSN, along with all related DLC. You won’t be able to purchase them digitally after December 17 (North American PSN), December 19 (European PSN), or December 26 (global Xbox Live). Anyone who has previously purchased the games and DLC will still be able to redownload the games from their download history if need be. While there are still physical copies of UMvC3 out there, there will be no way to buy any extra characters or costumes for it, while the HD version of MvC2 will disappear completely.
And this is the reason why I not only prefer having physical copies of games, but also am wary of DLC and digital-only games. I recognize the boon digital releases have been for indie developers or smaller games from big-budget publishers, because many of those games might never be made and released at all if they needed a physical release. But the idea of this content becoming inaccessible in the future due to whatever reason — I’d imagine that Capcom can’t justify the cost of renewing Marvel’s license — just plain sucks for consumers who may want to purchase these games in the future after hearing about them from a friend.
And even if you have already purchased the content and downloaded it to your hard drive, what happens down the road when this iteration of Xbox Live and PSN are taken offline? After Microsoft shut down Xbox Live for original Xbox consoles, any DLC for those games became forever lost and no longer available to redownload. What happens when your hard drive inevitably fails in the future and you need to redownload unlicensed content from a service that is no longer running?
Many gamers probably won’t care and might put down money for a future rerelease, such as the soon-unavailable HD version of MvC2, which made the game affordable and accessible to those who couldn’t acquire a copy of the original releases from 2000 to 2003. But for those who care about the preservation of these works for future generations to enjoy, the whole thing is nothing but a headache.
Source: Kotaku
Tags: Capcom, Marvel, PS3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 14, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Keen eyes may have noted two interesting hints in the recent trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. At one point, you can see suits in the background that look like they might be intended for Vulture and Doctor Octopus. And with Electro being one of the main villains in the next movie, it’s easy to imagine a scenario where some other villains join these three to form the Sinister Six, perhaps even the Green Goblin/Hobgoblin and Rhino that are appearing in next May’s movie. Well, Sony just confirmed that they’ll be producing two spin-off movies: The Sinister Six and Venom, the latter of which has been rumored for years. Read more…
Tags: Sony, The Amazing Spider-Man
Posted by Ben Huber on Dec 7, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
The upcoming film X-Men: Days of Future Past isn’t even out yet and already Bryan Singer is announcing the next one: X-Men: Apocalypse! In fact, it has gotten a release date too: May 27th, 2016. Guys, I get that you need to make an X-Men film every few years to keep the rights, but calm down. At least wait to find out if we all hate or love Days of Future Past first! I have high hopes for it like most, but let’s not jump to conclusions here. Oh well, at least fans will be happy to hear that Apocalypse will finally be showing up and wreaking havoc. I expect next week we’ll hear the announcement of the NEXT X-Men film, scheduled for release in 2018. Read more…
Tags: X-Men
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