X-Men Origins: Wolverine Footage Debuts
July 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
At San Diego Comic Con today a brief trailer-like set of clips from the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie debuted. The movie will premier in theaters May 1, 2009.
Sadly, I’m not at Comic Con, and as of now there is no linked cell phone footage. The best I can do is share some of the characters and castings that have been confirmed and/or shown:
- Hugh Jackman is of course reprising his role as Logan/Wolverine.
- Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth (replacing Tyler Mane)
- A younger Major William Stryker will be played by Danny Huston.
- Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau/Gambit
- Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox
- Kevin Durand as Frederick J. Dukes/The Blob
- Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool
- Daniel Henney as David North/Agent Zero
- Dominic Monaghan as Barnell Bohusk/Blackwing/Beak
- IESB is claiming they saw Emma Frost in the footage too
Other than all these characters making brief appearances in the film, not much is known yet. Hopefully a general public trailer will be revealed in the next couple months. Filming has completed.
Tags: agent zero, comic books, comics, david north, deadpool, emma frost, hugh jackman, iesb, marvel, movie, movies, ryan reynolds, Wolverine
Marvel Civil War Continues?!?
August 28, 2007 | 2 Comments
IGN posted this image today with a gigantic veil of secrecy. It’s drawn by Marko Djurdjevic, perhaps the hottest cover artist at Marvel right now… As soon as I looked him up, I realized he is the artist responsible for nearly every painted cover I’ve been in love with since December.
Anyway, from left to right this image includes: Sentinels, Cable, Wolverine, Thing, unknown #1, Ms Marvel, Cloak (without Dagger, WTF?), Captain America (who’s in the suit?), Iron Man, Thor, Hercules, Yellowjacket, unknown #2. I think I should know unknown #1. IGN makes a big deal about who unknown #2 is (the dude in the top right corner). If we knew who was writing this, we might be able to make a better guess. A Marvel.com article makes me wonder if this is Vulcan, but that’s a serious shot in the dark.
Many knock Civil War, but I haven’t felt the passion since that series ended. This has the potential to make me dig in with some serious Marvel induced excitement. Is this a one-shot? A new series? An alternate universe? What does it mean?!? I can’t wait to find out.
Tags: cable, captain america, civil war, cloak, comic books, comics, dagger, emperor vulcan, hercules, IGN, iron man, marvel, ms marvel, sentinels, thing, thor, vulcan, Wolverine, x-men, XMen, yellowjacket
A Darker Spider-Man
April 15, 2007 | 2 Comments
I am certain that putting Spider-Man back in the black suit was primarily a marketing ply to bring him inline visually with the new Spider-Man 3 film coming out this summer. It can’t help but sell comics if the book on the newsstand looks just like the character on the big screen.
However, I have been pleasantly surprised by how they are playing out this change in the books. First of all, in the wake of Civil War, Aunt May was shot by a sniper hired by the Kingpin. All evidence indicates this bullet will be lethal, but for now she hangs on, in a coma, sustained by life support. He vows to avenge her by all necessary means. In fact, as you can see in the image on the left, he intends to find who is responsible and he “is going to kill them”.
Additionally, Peter Parker decides not to take the pardon offered by new director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony Stark/Iron Man. This leaves him as a criminal fugitive in defiance of the Superhero Registration Act. As part of this he remains a member of the New Avengers who are now made up entirely of heroes in a similar situation. Now led by Luke Cage, the New Avengers are made up of Wolverine (Logan), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Ronin (unknown), Echo (Maya Lopez; formerly Ronin), and the surprise addition of Doctor Stephen Strange. This is a group who are known far more for street level crime fighting as opposed to global/galactic/cosmic level events. They start right out fighting Elektra and The Hand, but Spider-Man is here to fight the Kingpin’s crew.
This newly formed team is certainly darker, with a much more aggressive take on crime fighting. The US government considers all of them criminals and this combined with their plans, means they will be taking out their aggressions in potentially lethal ways. I would not want to be a street thug in the Marvel Universe with these guys out for vengeance. The image below shows that they are not implying this, but stating it outright.
Al of this leaves us with a Spider-Man who has turned to much darker tactics. His life has taken a dark turn. So… using the black costume as a symbol of his new stance both to fans reading the book and to criminals he will encounter in the Marvel Universe is a nice and accurate touch. Again, the marketing aspect of this change had me a bit hesitant about their decision to make this change, but I’m loving the story lines that are emerging.
Tags: "black suit", "Spider-Man 3", aunt may, avengers, danny rand, dark, doctor strange, echo, elektra, iron fist, iron man, jessica drew, lethal, logan, luke cage, marvel, marvel universe, maya lopez, new avengers, power man, Ronin, shield, spider-man, spider-woman, stephen strange, the hand, tony stark, vengeance, Wolverine
Avengers, New and Mighty
February 22, 2007 | 9 Comments
In the wake of Civil War, the Avengers are left split into two teams. These will be the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers. Little is known about either, especially considering Civil War has not yet completed. However, the cover for Mighty Avengers has been revealed, and the first issue with the new New Avengers is out!
We do know that Brian Michael Bendis will be writing both books. Leinil Yu will be drawing New Avengers and Frank Cho will be drawing Mighty Avengers.
Here’s what the teams are looking like so far:
Mighty Avengers
based entirely off the cover art
- Ms. Marvel - leading the team
- Iron Man - is this Tony Stark? I have my doubts…
- The Sentry
- Ares
- Wonder Man
- Wasp
- Black Widow
New Avengers
- Luke Cage (returning)
- Spider-Man (returning, now in black suit)
- Wolverine (returning)
- Spider-Woman (returning)
- Maya Lopez/Echo (returning, no longer as Ronin)
- Iron Fist - no longer wearing the Daredevil costume and clearly the new money for this group.
- Doctor Strange
- Ronin - not Maya, so who’s Ronin? They imply it is “not quite” Matt Murdock. Could this be Nick Fury? Captain America? Sue Storm? Some other lesser known disenfranchised character?
I find the Mighty Avengers to be the more surprising of the teams. Lots of old characters being brought back to the main stream.
Early indications say that Mighty Avengers will be the more government acknowledged team addressing the massive universe effecting events.
New Avengers are a darker more street level team with a concentration on fighting crime. The art styles do a great job of immediately indicating that distinction as well.
Tags: ares, art, avengers, bendis, black, black widow, brian michael bendis, captain america, civil war, comics, daredevil, doctor strange, echo, iron fist, iron man, luke cage, marvel, matt murdock, maya lopez, mighty avengers, ms marvel, new avengers, nick fury, Ronin, sentry, spider-man, spider-woman, spiderman, spiderwoman, sue storm, tony stark, wasp, Wolverine, wonder man
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
July 30, 2006 | 11 Comments
Marvel Ultimate Alliance comes out this fall for all major consoles from Activision. The game will feature 140 characters from the Marvel Universe. Most important to me, this game will be available on the Nintendo Wii.
Here is a great trailer from San Diego Comic Con:
This is an older trailer that’s been around for awhile:
This trailer outlines the basic plot lines and shows quite a few non-playable characters:
This game is a four player RPG from the makers of X-Men Legends 1 & 2. Arguably, those games aren’t fantastic, but they can be fun when played in a group. Being the major comic geek, specifically as relates to the Marvel Universe, I am really excited for this game. Combine that with the fact that I’ll be purchasing a Wii on launch day, this will certainly be one of my first games for the new console.
Currently announced characters include: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Thor, Blade, Elektra, Invisible Woman, Captain America, Human Torch, Iceman, The Thing, Dr. Strange, Nightcrawler, Nick Fury, Silver Surfer, Uatu, Lilandra, Dr. Doom, Black Bolt, Black Widow, Namor, Karnak, Corsair, Death Bird, Galactus, Heimdall, Professor Xavier, Scorpion, and more to come!
Tags: "dr. strange", Black Bolt, black widow, blade, captain america, console, Corsair, Death Bird, Dr. Doom, elektra, Galactus, game, ghost rider, Heimdall, human torch, Iceman, Invisible Woman, Karnak, Lilandra, marvel, marvel ultimate alliance, Namor, nick fury, Nightcrawler, Nintendo, nintendo wii, Professor Xavier, rpg, Scorpion, Silver Surfer, spider-man, The Thing, thor, trailer, Uatu, ultimate alliance, video game, wii, Wolverine
Marvel Podcasts
June 5, 2006 | 3 Comments
I am silly amounts of addicted to the Marvel Universe. As part of that I was pretty excited in January when I first discovered Marvel’s podcasts. Since then I have found myself waiting less than patiently for the semi-monthly or so releases. The insight into the authors, artists, and overall creative teams at Marvel has engrossed me even further into the Marvel Universe and the many exciting events that are currently taking place there.
The first one of these I casually listened to was with Damon Lindelof talking about Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk. Of course I have been rabidly following that series, at least for the first two issues. Where’s issue #3 Lindelof/Marvel?!?
Next, I heard Joss Whedon talk about his Astonishing X-Men series, which I immediately sought out the trades and am now following monthly. In fact, if you want to get in on a modern X-Men title, this is the one to read. The team consists of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Colossus, and Beast. The series has dealt with some fantastic plot twists and events, including a story line about a mutant cure whihc is eerily familiar to X-Men 3’s major plot line. Understanding Whedon’s reasoning for building the team he did and why he is playing with the stories he is made the whole experience that much richer.
Craig Kyle was interviewed about the Ultimate Avengers movie. After listening I of course bought the DVD on launch day. If I hadn’t heard him explain in great detail about why he had changed many of the major story elements, I may have been annoyed at the film. Instead I enjoyed every minute of it and again found insights into the changed characterizations.
I was surprised to find Keith Giffen and editor Andy Schmidt raising my interests for Annihilation and all the cosmic Marvel heroes featured there. I had previously had every intention of being blissfully ignorant of this major event which follows primarily characters I find out of place and uninteresting in Marvel. Instead, Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer, and Nova have all captivated me into this major event. In fact I’m trying to find back issues of Drax the Destroyer which are proving to be as elusive as honest politicians… Granted, I still find Ronan and Super Skrull about as boring as anything ever written… but you can’t win them all.
The X-Office episode was an amazing amount of fun to listen to, but I haven’t been able to find much that is too interesting in most the X-Men comics these days. The exception is of course Joss Whedon’s previously mentioned Astonishing X-Men. The banter between the many editors, writers, and artists who participated in this episode made for the occasional laugh out loud moment and definitely made a flight from Orlando to Manchester entirely more tolerable.
The two Civil War episodes added to my already frothing excitement for this event. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has ever felt so giddy about an upcoming set of comics as I do about Civil War. I just wish I could sit down and read the 30+ comics that will make up this massive event in one long binge. Alas, I will have to wait for Mark Millar to layout his tale slowly over the next six months…
I could go on, because there are more great episodes to highlight (Neil Gaiman on Moon Night, Ed Brubaker on Daredevil, Daniel Knauf on Iron Man, etc). However, I just need to say thanks to Marvel and hopefully encourage at least one person to listen to these amazing podcasts. I’m certain they will continue, especially if the marketing team learns how addictive they may prove to be.
I will warn you though, listening to the Marvel podcast will be hazardous to your wallet! You’ve been warned, now go listen and spend money on comics.
RSS feed of the Marvel Podcasts
Tags: "astonishing x-men", "Damon Lindelof", "ultimate avengers", Andy Schmidt, Beast, civil war, colossus, comic books, comics, Cyclops, Daniel Knauf, daredevil, Drax the Destroyer, ed brubaker, emma frost, hulk, iron man, joss whedon, Keith Giffen, Kitty Pryde, mark millar, marvel, marvel universe, moon knight, Neil Gaiman, Nova, podcast, podcasts, ronan, rss, Silver Surfer, super skrull, ultimate hulk, ultimate wolverine, Wolverine, x-men
Road to Civil War
May 7, 2006 | 8 Comments
Over the last few months Marvel has been building both marketing and storyline in preperation for this summer huge event, Civil War. Marvel has had a lot of major events in their universe over the three years, but this one is by far the largest, and all the recent events seem to point nicely at this one.
In 2004 Brian Michael Bendis wrote Secret War. This event saw a change in leadership at S.H.I.E.L.D., as Nick Fury was replaced by Maria Hill. As part of the fallout, there was some serious distrust established between the super hero community and the US government.
Later in 2004, Avengers Disassembled (also written by Bendis) truly began this whole arc. In a stunning series of events, Scarlet Witch goes crazy leading to the death of Hawkeye and destruction of the Vision.
In the aftermath of Disassembled, a New Avengers team and comic was formed. This new team is currently made up of Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Sentry, and Ronin. In addition, a group of young super heroes formed a Young Avengers team.
While all of these new teams were forming, the summer of 2005 brought the next big event, House of M. Scarlet Witch, daughter of Magneto, was taken by him and Professor X of the X-Men in hopes of helping her get control after the events of Avengers Disassembled. At some point during this, she snaps, sending all of the Marvel Universe into an alternate reality of her creation. When she eventually puts things back, she changes something else.
Most of the mutants throughout Marvel are stripped of their abilities. This event was called Decimation. Notable on the list of depowered include: Magneto, Jubilee, Quicksilver, Stacy X, and Professor X. In the days after, there is a worldwide lash out against mutant kind. Additionally, the government recommends and helps round up many of the remaining mutants into a concentration camp-like area. Tensions are high here.
Last fall, Marvel’s banner character Spider-Man faced his own major event. In the course of Spider-Man: The Other, he is killed, resurrected, gets new powers, gets a new costume, and further establishes a deep relationship with Tony Stark (Iron Man). This newly forged bond will undoubtedly influence where he stands when full fledged civil war breaks out.
While all of these events show unrest and change in the Marvel universe, a difference of opinion on a major issue is needed to polarize the characters enough to spark a Civil War. This issue is the super-human registration act (SHRA). The plans for this act are revealed in New Avengers: Illuminati.
This secret group is made up of Namor, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Dr. Strange, and Professor Xavier. This group represents all the major groups in the super human population. It is also revealed in this one-shot how the group reacted to continuing destruction by the Hulk of cities and communities by exiling him into space. This ongoing Planet Hulk storyline will follow Hulk’s adventures in space. When Iron Man brings them an early copy of the act, its clear this will be a devisive topic. Iron Man tries to convince the group that by registering and supporting the act, they can diffuse an inevitable future conflict. They do not come to agreement on this.
Civil War #1 hit the shelves this week. The war has been set off and sides are forming.
Which side are you on?
Tags: and Professor X, avengers, captain america, civil war, comic books, comics, house of m, iron man, Jubilee, luke cage, Magneto, marvel, new avengers, Quicksilver, Ronin, sentry, spider-man, spider-woman, spiderman, Stacy X, Wolverine, x-men, XMen, Young Avengers