Archive for July, 2013

Review: Astonishing X-Men #64

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , on July 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Astonishing X-Men #64Did… did Bobby do what I think he did?

Seriously, did that just happen? Fully and completely… no ‘he recovered’? Because if so… then Bobby Drake just murdered his own father.

Granted, Bobby is possessed by the Death Seed, but then that’s the thing, isn’t it. Scott had the Phoenix in him when he killed his ‘father figure’ Xavier. Both powers, the Death Seed and Phoenix, seemed to have corrupted the core of the person, warping what was there into something dark.

So… will Bobby get forgiveness once this is all over, much like Wanda after her mental breakdown? Or will he be ostracized like Scott? Only time will tell… and with Astonishing X-Men ending… it could all be swept under the rug for the main storyline.

As for Mystique, have I ever mentioned how awesome she is?

Read Full Post »

DOFP: Wolverine, Rogue, and I totally called it.

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , on July 15, 2013| 5 Comments »

Warning: Spoilers for Days of Future Past

wolverine-rogue-xmenThe Vulture got some exclusive information regarding Days of Future Past. You can read it all here but this is part that interests me the most:

In Singer’s take, Ellen Page returns as Kitty from the Brett Ratner–directed X-Men: The Last Stand, but this time she uses her powers to send Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine back into the past, where he encounters the younger mutants played by James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michael Fassbender. However, something bad happens to Kitty during the time-travel trance, and while Wolverine is still under her spell, the other X-Men must race to find a mutant who can siphon Kitty’s powers and bring their friend back to the future. Could that be the plot development that brings Anna Paquin’s power-copying Rogue into the fold once again?

First off: Totally called it that Wolverine was going to be the time traveler. I was thrown a bit with Bishop being included, and I suppose there could be a surprise twist there and Bishop be another time traveler… but we’ll see. Should be interesting to see how Logan reacts to the younger version of the characters, how much will he reveal of the future?

Secondly: Rogue! Rogue? The siphon power thing does sound like a job for a powered Rogue, but the question is, if she isn’t already hanging around with them when they attempt it the first time… then where the hell is she? Did her powers come back or not (Singer hinted that maybe she didn’t)? Did she leave the X-Men over the Bobby/Kitty thing? Have they devolved her character even further to someone who is out nursing a broken heart? Or is she simply out with a different team kicking loads of butt like she should have been in the first place?  So many questions! So may possibilities! So many chances for this go to horribly wrong…

Read Full Post »

Review: X-Men #2

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on July 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

X-Men #2Wood wastes no time getting into the action. Arkea has taken over Karima’s body and starts to wreck havoc.

The leads all the title characters to show themselves to be fairly capable and calm in the face of an attack. However, the issue`omes to a standstill as Arkea jets out leaving behind a little present.

Story wise, we don’t get a lot of movement, just clarification of everything set up in the first issue. This isn’t really a bad thing. We’re not covered in exposition nor are we drowned in layers. It’s straight forward action and adventure.

There is a little touch on Jubilee’s mentality, what with her history with the X-Men and her adoption of the child. Nothing overbearing though, Wood isn’t trying to smash through the tropes, which is always a plus.

Now let’s hope Arkea’s present doesn’t cause too much damage.

Read Full Post »

X-Force movie is actually happening.

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , on July 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

X-Force #1I hadn’t been very quick to believe, but seems I was mistaken. The X-Force movie will be happening according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Jeff Wadlow, who is readying for the Aug. 16 release of Kick-Ass 2, has been tapped to write an adaptation of X-Force, an X-Men spinoff being developed by 20th Century Fox. … Longtime X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner is producing X-Force.

So the question now is: Which X-Force team will they be using?

If they go classic, they already started on it by bringing Warpath into the movies. He’s in the ‘future’ part so it wouldn’t be hard to say that the X-Force team is a continuation of previously established film canon.

But the big issue is with Cable. Cable may not have been in every version of the X-Force team, but not having him in an X-Force movie is like having an X-Men movie with no Xavier. Though seeing that Jean (well, Maddy, but as no clones were mentioned in the films I’d assume they’d make Jean the mother) and Scott both died in the films without procreating, how are they going to explain where he comes from?

This could mean they are definitely rebooting the universe with DOFP and bringing back previously killed characters. Though Cable would have to be a teenager in the X-Force movie, not enough time has passed to make him a full on adult, well, it might work depending on how old Scott/Jean were supposed to be in 2000’s X-Men and when this X-Force movie comes out, but it would be pretty tight. Though they could go the time traveling route too…

As much as I’m really interested in this… the logistics puzzle me and not sure I want a Cable-less X-Force movie. So until we know more, or see DOFP and what it does to the timeline, I’m going to refrain from further speculation.

Read Full Post »

Astonishing X-Men cancelled

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , on July 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Astonishing X-Men #68 cover artAnd yet another of my favorite titles gets axed. Here is the October solicitation for Astonishing X-Men #68 courtesy of Newsarama:

ASTONISHING X-MEN #68
MARJORIE LIU (W)
GABRIEL HERNANDEZ WALTA (A)
Cover by PHIL NOTO
FINAL ISSUE!
• Through thick and thin, from marriage to apocalypse, the X-Men have always stood together as a family.
• Is there anything in this world – or any other – that could break them up?
• It all ends here as Marjorie Liu bids a fond farewell to the Astonishing team!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

The thing is, Astonishing hasn’t been doing that bad in sales. Sure, it’s been skirting above the 20k milestone (23k in June) but it’s still up there unlike other titles which are floundering, like Morbius with only 14k. So why cancel Astonishing if it’s steady? I’m sure there is probably a reason, and that might do with how it’s 3.99 vs 2.99, perhaps they could give it a price cut? Or maybe they simply felt it ran its course?

It often feels like Astonishing doesn’t ‘fit’ with the whole Marvel NOW! thing, staying out of the AvX stuff and whatnot, but that’s been good for Astonishing. It’s allowed it to be its own title.

The worst part about this is while most of the main characters in Astonishing have homes in other titles, since Gambit’s solo was cancelled, this leaves the Cajun without a home unless one of the other titles picks him up. I haven’t heard any news of such a move, though it might be something that will crop up in the November solicits. Crossing my fingers he does get picked up, just not by Remender in Uncanny Avengers… though since apparently someone will die in #13 according to the October solicitations… there will be an opening.

Read Full Post »

Reblog: Fox Registers ‘X-Force Movie’ Domain, Awesomeness To Ensue?

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , on July 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

XMTFFS Note: I don’t trust anything Mark Millar says… so taking this with a big ol’ grain of salt.

from MTV Splash Page

X-Force

by Brett White

Get ready for the force to be reckoned with! X-MenFilms.com reports that Fox Studios has registered a very x-citing domain name: xforcemovie.com. Yeah. X-Force.

The site quotes an interview conducted by Comic Book Resources with Fox’s comic creative consultant Mark Millar, wherein Millar discusses the possibility of an X-Force movie.

“You have to remember that Fox grabbed the X-Men back in the ’90s because it was the biggest franchise in the world,” said Millar. “So X-Force or Cable or Deadpool — all these amazing characters are things we haven’t really gotten to yet. ‘X-Force’ #1 was the second biggest book of all time behind Jim Lee’s ‘X-Men’ #1, so there’s an immediate brand recognition to that stuff and a build in fanbase.”

For those not in the know, X-Force is title bestowed on a number of X-Men spin-off teams dedicated to preserving Xavier’s dream of mutant and human coexistence and/or protecting the mutant race by any means necessary. The idea originated from the minds of artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, as they were working on the “New Mutants” comic in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The duo reinvented the team as X-Force in 1991, with the young mutants under the guidance of the time-traveling half-machine military leader Cable.

In the past decade, X-Force has been used to describe two teams with varying degrees of ties to the original one; the first was a black ops squad created by Cyclops and led by Wolverine to take out threats, and the second was a tighter-knit team created behind Cyclops’ back to go on the same types of missions.

Full disclosure: I am a stupid big X-Force fan. The first 100 issues of the first volume are my absolute favorite run of issues of anything published in the ’90s. Cannonball, Boomer, Siryn and Warpath remain some of my favorite characters of all time, and I urge everyone to read the masterpiece that is “X-Force” vol. 1 #19. My personal favorite stretch of issues has to be issues #19-25 of volume 1, by Fabian Nicieza and artist Greg Capullo. They’re incredibly well done action stories with plenty of hilarious and touching character moments. It’s great.

Any talk of an X-Force movie has to include a mention of the constantly languishing Deadpool film. The character originally debuted in the final issues of “New Mutants” before becoming an “X-Force” foe in the series early issues. Deadpool then became a permanent member of the squad in the third ongoing series, “Uncanny X-Force.”

The large “X-Men: Days of Future Past” cast actually contains two prominent X-Force members. Adan Canto will portray Sunspot, and Booboo Stewart will bring Warpath to life. While it’s still too early to tell if  “Days of Future Past” will lead to an “X-Force” film, it’s definitely a possibility.

 

Read Full Post »

Avengers 2: Vin Diesel as Vision?

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , on July 10, 2013| 2 Comments »

Vin Diesel at Marvel via FacebookVin Diesel has let it be known quite publically that he’s in talks with Marvel/Disney for a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This could be a little dicey/dodgy for him because some studios/execs don’t like their actors running about and blabbing everything.

That aside, the big question is: Who will he play?

There isn’t a shortage of choices, though some roles he’s better fit for than others. The people at io9 seem to think he’ll play The Vision, and it’s a really popular rumor right now, especially since Vin jockeyed for it back when Avengers came out.

It’s possible, he certainly has the “look” for Vision (tall, stoic, bald)… but here is my problem: he’s too old for Vision.

Before you yell ‘agest’, let’s look at the fine points here. The Vision is an android which means he doesn’t age, he’ll always look the same. If they want to use the character for several films then getting a younger actor simply makes the most sense. Just as you get an older actor who has already gone through puberty to play a teenager (that way you don’t have to worry about the sudden growth spurts, etc), you start with a young actor for a character who doesn’t age. Because no matter how well they stay in shape, they will eventually show their age once they hit the hill. (I’m sorry Hugh, you’re a wonderful Wolverine, and still sexy as hell, but Wolvie is looking rough around the edges now.)

So, if Vision aged like everyone else, then there wouldn’t really be a problem with Vin… except…

If they are looking at the likes of Saoirse Ronan to play Wanda Maximoff, or at least someone like her, then Marvel/Disney probably would want to get a guy in their 20s to play Vision as Wanda and Vision are the Avenger’s power couple. Granted, since Vision doesn’t really have an ‘age’ and there isn’t anything wrong with the age difference in general, an argument could be made that it’s perfectly fine to have a 46 year old Vin and 20 year old Saoirse (at time of filming) do a romantic sub-plot. But more likely Marvel/Disney will want to cash in on the pre-teen and young adult demographic and go with someone who can play the young romance/angst against Saoirse (or whoever gets cast as Wanda).

From a completely corporate/capitalism/what makes the most money view, Vin is not a good fit for Vision, which is why I think Marvel/Disney will cast him as someone else. Then they’ll get a 20-something for Vision, probably a small-name like Chris Hemsworth was before Thor, someone they can pay scale and contract for several films.

Anyway, personally, I love Vin Diesel and can’t wait to see him in the MCU, but I don’t see it happening as The Vision. There are a lot of options out there… he could be playing a villain for all we know. So until we have more to go on, I’m not going to even bother to speculate.

Read Full Post »

Review: Gambit #14

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on July 10, 2013| 1 Comment »

Gambit #14A funny thing happened on the way back to school, Gambit got pulled into the Fairy dimension where the ladies just loved him. I feel my world is complete.

Other stuff happened in this filler issue, such as Remy and Pete Wisdom bro-mancing it up. Seriously, these two are awesome. I want to see a mini-series that is nothing but Remy, Storm, and Pete all together doing some kind of Ocean’s Eleven style mission/heist. Throw in Courier and X-23 and it will be a thing of beauty.

Also liked the beatnik!Remy look, did he steal Cyclops’ sunglasses? I want to say yes. It’s funnier if it’s a yes.

But getting to the bones of the matter, Remy really is having an identity crisis. He’s supposed to be a responsible role model now, but for a man of his background, that’s as alien to him as a human breathing water. And it’s not specifically said, but Rogue, the love of his life, being there probably doesn’t help much either.

With only  a few issues to go… any outcome is fair game for our Cajun hero. Has he truly matured? Or will he revert to what he knows best? Whatever happens, we’ll still love him anyway. Most likely.

Read Full Post »

Review: Uncanny Avengers #9

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , on July 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Uncanny Avengers #9So, that happened. Remender ended the previous issue with a bang, literally, then just skips ahead to ‘oh, yeah, we’re good’ and spends the whole issue arguing. Literally, it is nothing but people talking and arguing over the different issues that they face, and not in a decent way either.

The whole M-Word thing, while Bendis wrote is as a civilized discussion, Remender just has Wanda and Rogue bitching each other out. Is this Remender lashing out at his critics?

Everyone is ‘so surprised’ that Logan killed someone. Huh? What part of his catch phrase did they not understand?

It’s all just crappy filler until the big reveal which was spoiled ages ago: The Four Horsemen of the Death. So, yeah, no surprises or, anything, really. 

It’s like Remender doesn’t understand how comic books work…

Read Full Post »

Reblog: Alan Moore’s League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen To Become A TV Show

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , on July 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

From BleedingCool

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Brendon Connelly

league of extraordinary gentlemenThough I’m sure Alan Moore won’t have many nice things to say about it, 20th Century Televison and their partners at Fox have committed to a new TV adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the exceptional comic book series that blends a staggering amount of fictional universes into one, from the worlds of Bram Stoker, HG Wells and Conan Doyle to those of JK Rowling, George Orwell and W. Somerset Maugham.

I’m sure that many of you will recall the adventure-focused Stephen Norrington movie of some ten years back, or the legal shenanigans that followed when Larry Cohen filed a suit alleging Fox had stolen the idea from his rejected pitch, Cast of Characters.

The comics, co-created and superbly illustrated by Kevin O’Neill, are rich and complex and could give rise to years worth of TV, maybe even following their multi-era structure of the comics.

Or, of course, they could be essayed into a lowest common denominator “Steampunk Justice League of the library.”

The only indicator of potential success or failure we have so far is that Michael Green, a writer on Smallville, Green Lantern and Heroes, will be the writer and executive producer.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is being developed with a “put pilot” deal in place. This means that there will be a financial penalty to pay if the show doesn’t go to air.

Of course, Fox are past masters are cutting a show off after just a few episodes, or at least before its due, and for all we know, that could the fate of these Gentlemen too.

Meanwhile, over at Showtime, John Logan, Sam Mendes and JA Bayona are working on the similarly themed Penny Dreadful…

 

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »