Second Iron Man 2 Trailer

The second official trailer for Iron Man 2 has just hit the web. The film sees Tony Stark pitted against his competitors, his government and a new threat in the form of Ivan Vanko, a mysterious Russian with a vendetta against the Stark family.

The film is directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson.

Iron Man 2 hits theatres May 7th 2010.

Spider-Man 4 Canned; Reboot Planned

In what comes as surprising, but not totally unexpected news Deadline Hollywood has confirmed that Sony has scrapped Spider-Man 4. For months the film has been plagued by script problems, production delays and a May 2011 release date which was starting to look increasingly unrealistic. Sources report that director Sam Raimi told Sony Pictures that he could not “go forward creatively” with such a rushed production schedule. With Raimi’s departure Sony decided that they would rather scrap Spider-Man 4, replace Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and start fresh.

So how does Sony plan to revive the franchise? By putting Peter Parker in high school naturally. That’s how you make things young and fresh, right? From the sounds of the press release Sony’s new Spider-Man film can be likened to Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man line in which the hero was literally a 15 year old high school kid. No director or actors are currently attached. Though Anton Yelchin and Michael Cera (Jesus Christ, WHY!?) have already been mentioned as potential replacements. The Spider-Man reboot is set for a 2012 release date.

This is probably a good thing for both the Spider-Man franchise and Sam Raimi. Spider-Man 3 was awful; the studio interfered too much and Raimi lost creative control, the result was a bloated, mess of a movie. Spider-Man 4 seemed to be heading in the same direction: too many villains (Black Cat, The Vulture and The Vulturess(!?) too much going on and too many story threads needing resolution. A fresh start with a younger Peter Parker (Maguire will be 36 in June) will be a good thing. Plus now Raimi is free to work on other projects like his new Evil Dead movie… and the World of Warcraft film. On second thought, maybe Sony should reconsider Raimi and spare us all what is sure to be an awful, awful Warcraft film.

Jeff: Back from the Dead

Fear this!

I am not dead. I actually just joined the Sinestro Corps and have been battling the Black Lanterns in a far off sector.

But in all seriousness, to avoid getting into the heavy details and making this post uber-bloggy, I will summarize by saying that my day job has been deliciously kicking my ass. However, the craziness is over and I shall get things back on track. I want to thank Will, Joel, Lucas and Raj for keeping us posted on the upcoming Thor and Green Lantern films and various comic related things.

So with that I’ll recap some things I’ve taken note of these past months I have been away: Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff’s Pulls for the week of June 1st

Welcome back to this week’s pull list: what comics I’m looking forward to reading in the next week, and why I’m excited about them. Last week, I explained what pull lists are, and I hope since then some of you are now happy pull-listers in your own right.

Batman and Robin #1
Spoiler Alert!  Dick Grayson and the son of Talia al ghul and Bruce Wayne are the new Batman and Robin.  Much like Bucky replacing Captain America, Robin replaces Batman; the sidekick takes over the mantle of his mentor. From the creative team that brought us All Star Superman, Frank Quietly and Grant Morrison.

Dark Avengers #5
The Sentry and Norman Osborn square off. The Sentry, whom the Dark Avengers thought dead in the previous issue, returns and is not pleased. Written by Brian Micheal Bendis and Art by Mike Deodato Jr. this is a book that will provide newcomers with a lot of enjoyment, while keeping longtime readers entertained with little nuggets of awesome.

Mighty Avengers # 25
This weeks issue includes a guest spot by the Fantastic Four, and is a great point to jump on. Written by Dan Slott, and featuring art by Khoi Pham. Khoi’s art has kept me on this book from day one. Slotts writing, while enjoyable, is not particularly my cup of tea. The Avengers roster selection seemed very mismatched, but they have brought them together rather well over the last few issues, I like where it’s going.

Ultimate Spider Man #133
Brian Micheal Bendis and Stuart Immonen bring you the second last issue in this series. With the events of Ultimatum echoing through the Ultimate Universe this book is the one that has never disappointed. The series will relaunch after Ultimatum, until then make sure you go back and pick up the trades. Great books for guys who want to get their girls into comics as well.

Ultimatum #4
Well, that happened. Jeph Loeb was tasked with ending Marvel’s Ultimate Universe as it is…. and he’s certainly doing it. In the multi-title crossover event, Loeb’s tells the story of Magneto, seeking revenge for the death of his children no matter the cost. The first three issues featured the deaths of some of the most major characters in the Ultimate Universe. More to the point several other major heroes have been amped up, in a throwback to their 1990’s Marvel universe counterparts, I’m interested in seeing how this ends. Now I’m not saying the book is bad, it’s decent. David Finch’s art grows on each page and is an incredible visual read.

Your suggestions and questions are always appreciated. Drop a comment below or email me.

Until next week, same Dork Time, same Dork Channel!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Characters Revealed

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 ,the sequel to Activision’s 2006 hit game Marvel Ultimate Alliance is due out this Fall.  The game follows the recent Civil War storyline that rocked the main Marvel universe.  The U.S. government enacts a superhuman registration act after an incident caused by a third-rate Superhero team results in the death of hundreds of innocent people.  The heroes of the Marvel universe become divided over the superhuman registration act, with those against it being led by Captain America and those that are for it led by Tony Stark/Iron Man.  Civil War changed everything in the 616 universe and is an amazing starting point for the game.

The Civil War storyline certainly has a lot of potential, and the new gameplay mechanic of combining the superpowers of multiple heroes looks promising. I thought the first Ultimate Alliance was a blast to play, all of the recent gameplay videos and trailers seem to indicate that Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will be just as fun.

Hit the jump for a list of announced playable characters and the latest trailer for the game.

Read the rest of this entry »

Has Kenneth Branagh Found his Thor?

Latino Review has a scoop regarding the Kenneth Branagh directed Thor movie from Marvel.  At this point it is unsubstantiated, but apparently Branagh was spotted having lunch with Alexander Skarsgård(son of Stellan Skarsgård), best known for his work on HBO’s excellent Generation Kill and so-so True Blood.  Skarsgard, long a fan favourite to play the Son of Asgard, seems perfectly suited for the role: he can act, he’s blonde, he’s 6′4 and he’s also Scandinavian.

Hopefully Branagh decides to go in the Ultimate Thor direction, where Thor is actually a male nurse who claims to be the Norse god of thunder and may or may not be insane.  Far more interesting than the regular Thor origin.  Whatever direction Branagh decides to go, I’m sure it will epic and Shakespearean in tone.

Has Kenneth Branagh found his Thor @ Latino Review

Thanks to Raj

Fox Planning to Ruin Perfectly Good Marvel Properties… Again!

Not satisfied with making two terrible Fantastic Four movies, 20th Century Fox is once again poised to ruin Fantastic Four: this time from scratch.  IESB.net is reporting that in addition to rebooting the Daredevil franchise(oh goody.) Fox will be going in a different direction for the next Fantastic Four.  In the wake of serious comic book films like The Dark Knight and to a lesser extent Iron Man, the studios are now convinced that darker is better.  Whether this will actually pay off by giving us a particularly good film is highly doubtful since 20th Century Fox is seemingly only interested in raping every decent Marvel franchise they can get their grubby little hands on; leaving a bloated, dead corpse of a film that only superficially resembles the source material.  Sorry for the graphic analogy, but that’s how I feel.  You saw X-Men 3, right?

I for one will pass on the new Fantastic Four film.  As much as a brooding Reed Richards and psychpathic Doctor Doom sound interesting(it doesn’t), there is no way Fox will get it right.  They’re merely riding the tide of post-Dark Knight morally ambiguous superheroes.  I didn’t see the first two Fantastic Four films, and I sure as hell am not going to give a new Daredevil film a chance if 20th Century Fox has anything to do with it.

Fantastic Four is Getting a Reboot @ IESB.net

As a side note, this new tone and direction for superhero films bodes well for the Wolverine film, also produced by Fox.  Principal photography had wrapped on Wolverine and it was pretty much in the bag, when Fox decided they needed to reshoot large portions of the film.  I guarantee this decision came from some Fox suit who stated that “Yeah it’s pretty good I guess , but it needs to be more like the Dark Knight!”

Thanks to Raj for the heads up.