Archive for the ‘News and Editorials’ Category

DOFP: thebentbullet.com viral site

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , , , , on November 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

thebentbullet.comFox has opened up a new viral site, thebentbullet.com, which is a gallery that discusses “JFK and the Mutant Conspiracy”.

Half a century ago, Magento was implicated in the mutant plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. The events of that fateful day in November have been a point of contention between humans and mutants ever since.

This comes on the eve of the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination and ties in with comments made after First Class came out that pretty much stated that Magneto on the grassy knoll would be an interesting way to open the sequel considering the controversy around ‘the magic bullet’ of the real assassination.

I thought that Magneto gets arrested at the Paris Peace Accords and is later broken out by Xavier to help combat Trask, but it looks like Magneto will start off in jail for the assassination. The only other option is that he’s constantly in and out of prison, which does fit with X2, it’s very hard to keep that man inside a cell, a fact that is commented on in the gallery as apparently Magneto destroyed several of his cells until Trask got involved to make the one he brakes out of in the trailer.

As for the gallery itself, Kennedy is painted as mutant sympathizer. I don’t know why Magneto would necessarily want to ensure his death as it’s inferred that Mystique, as Lee Harvey Oswald, was the actual shooter.

There are several references to make note of:

  • Friends of Humanity and the Purifiers are mentioned
  • Erik Lensherr is called “the strange, squinty man”
  • Magneto has a trial, presumably he allows this as it seems like a normal, though secret, trial, and they even let in a crow bar for him to bend… he could have killed everyone with that, didn’t they realize that?
  • Magneto’s cell has unbreakable glass… we see it get broken in the trailer
  • Azazel and Tempest are listed as ‘dead’

There are also many moments which could have been references to specific mutants being involved, such as Emma Frost, but it would all be guesses.

With still six months away until the film’s release, makes you wonder what other interesting revisionist historical stuff may be popping up in the near future.

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OFFICIAL: Elizabeth Olsen & Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , , , on November 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth OlsenI’ve already commented that it was official due to other reputable sources, but now it’s official!official with Marvel itself signing off on the casting.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen have officially joined the Avengers family as the brother-sister duo of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the highly-anticipated sequel to 2012’s smash-hit “Marvel’s The Avengers”! “Avengers: Age of Ultron” arrives in theaters May 1, 2015.

Taylor-Johnson broke out with his roles as Dave Lizewski in the “Kick-Ass” franchise and with his portrayal of a young John Lennon in “Nowhere Boy,” for which he won an Empire Award for Best Newcomer. Since then, Taylor Johnson has starred in 2012’s critically-acclaimed “Anna Karenina” and director Oliver Stone’s “Savages.”

Since making her big screen debut in 2011 with “Silent House” and “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” for which the actress garnered a number of awards and nominations, Olsen has gone on to star alongside the likes of Robert DeNiro and Sigourney Weaver in “Red Lights,” Josh Brolin and Samuel L. Jackson in director Spike Lee’s “Oldboy.”

Taylor-Johnson and Olsen will share the screen as leads in the highly anticipated “Godzilla” remake scheduled for a May 2014 release.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” will bring the Marvel Universe’s biggest heroes together again to face one of their biggest villains, with “Marvel’s The Avengers” director Joss Whedon returning to write and direct the sequel. “Marvel’s The Avengers” was released in 2012 and went on to earn $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the third-largest grossing movie of all time.

In addition to “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014; “Guardians of the Galaxy” on August 1, 2014; and “Ant-Man” on July 31, 2015.

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Reblog: X-Men: Days Of Future Past Plans Reshoots In Montreal

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , , on November 19, 2013| 4 Comments »

via CinemaBlend

X-Men: Days Of Future Past Plans Reshoots In Montreal

X-Men: Days Of Future Past Plans Reshoots In Montreal image
One of the most encouraging changes I’ve seen in movie fandom over the last five years is in the way we understand news about reshoots. Just a few years ago word about additional shooting days for something like Where the Wild Things Are or Sherlock Holmes would send us and the rest of the Internet into a tizzy, with everyone assuming that something disastrous was happening, that the director had been forced off the movie and that the studio was ruining everything. Sometimes, of course, it was true– Jonah Hex‘s reshoots were only the beginning of its troubles. But most of the time, especially on hugely expensive movies, it’s just part of making sure that spending all that money was worth it.

Which brings us to X-Men: Days of Future Past, now going into reshoots in Montreal according to The Calgary Herald. The production was a huge boon for Montreal when it started there earlier this year, and will reportedly be adding several extra weeks of production– Quebec film commissioner Hans Fraikin calls it “a big reshoot” while also noting that this kind of extra production “happens all the time, especially with big pictures.” And just how big X-Men: Days of Future Past is may be more than any of us were expecting– according to Fraikin it’s the second-biggest production in 20th Century Fox history, just below Avatar. That probably means a final budget way, way bigger than the $160 million it cost to make X-Men: First Class— and if you remember just how cheap the Emma Frost diamond effects looked in that first one, you know why the extra cash is such a good thing.

Not that we were relying on budget to get us excited about Days of Future Past— with everything from Peter Dinklage as a mustache-wearing villain to two versions each of bothProfessor X and Magneto, the movie has enough going on that I’d probably watch a version of it made for 15 bucks and the promise of free popcorn for the entire crew. Most of the expensive effects on the movie aren’t yet finished– and neither is the filming, apparently– but we finally got our first look at the superhero sequel when the teaser trailer emerged online a few weeks ago. Check it out below, and share your speculation about what’s happening in the reshoots in the comments.

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Reblog: Plans For The CW’s Flash Are Changing

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , on November 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

via BleedingCool

Plans For The CW’s Flash Are Changing – He’s Getting His Own Pilot Instead Of Arrow Episode

The Flash

While Barry Allen will still be introduced in the upcoming eight and ninth episodes of Arrow season two, his full-on Flash-suited debut won’t now happen in episode twenty but in a standalone pilot.

“Standalone” is Deadline’s choice of word. They don’t mean that the links with Arrow will be severed – the CW and their showrunners are keeping the two series as sharing the same universe – but that the pilot won’t be an Arrow episode but the first Flash episode proper.

This seems to be a result of episodes eight and nine working very well. We’ll see for ourselves in just a couple of weeks.

I guess we’re to assume that this pilot, unless it’s a washout, will herald the beginnings of a Flash series come next Autumn.

Now back to wondering about Nightwing coming into the show too. Or… you don’t think CW could be planning a series for him too, do you? The trademarks are in place…

…nah. Those registrations were almost certainly made in preparation for Zack Snyder’s new Superman-Batman movie; that’s the reason why we’ll be getting Nightwing lunchboxes, pyjamas and ice skates, not a spin-off show on a minority channel.

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Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver Actors Confirmed (finally)

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , , , on November 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Elle Style Awards, London, Britain - 11 Feb 2013It was pretty much a sure thing, though still classified as ‘rumor’, but the casting for Scarlet Witch seems to have finally been confirmed by the Witch herself.

Elizabeth Olsen Finally Confirms ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ Role via MTV

“Avengers” director Joss Whedon has been very open about his intentions to include brother-sister duo Scarlet and Quicksilver in his upcoming sequel “Age of Ultron,” but confirming who will play the sibling has been a little more difficult to pin down.

“Kick-Ass” star Aaron Taylor-Johnson was first mentioned as a contender for the role of Quicksilver this summer and was finally confirmed for the part last month (via The Wrap). He was said to be joined by his “Godzilla” co-star Elizabeth Olsen, in a report from Bleeding Cool in August, but an official confirmation was harder to come by for Scarlet Witch.

Samuel L. Jackson’s comments to The Wall Street Journal seemed to have confirmed that Olsen would appear with him in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” but now the actress herself has shared her excited about joining the project with MTV News’ Josh Horowitz.

Speaking with MTV News at the junket for “Oldboy,” Olsen joked that Jackson had freed her from refusing to talk about the project by confirming her role. She said that she doesn’t know too much about “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” but that she’s excited to work with Taylor-Johnson again.

“We get to play husband and wife, and we get to play twin brother and sister,” she said. “It’s also fun because even though in ‘Godzilla’ we play husband and wife, we don’t have a lot of scenes together. I just love him. I love his family. I love his kids. I’m so excited…to actually work with each other. I think it’s going to be fun.”

Olsen also mentioned her soon-to-be director, Whedon, who she was quick to compliment. “He’s very smart. He’s too smart. He might be too smart,” she said. “Some people are too smart for their own good, but he’s amazing.”

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.

While I’m not against the casting in and of itself… this basically confirms that the Maximoff twins are being stripped of most of their classic characterizations as Romani/Eastern European and being turned into ‘edgy British’. I understand Marvel!Disney had to tread water lightly since they can’t use ‘Magneto’ or ‘mutant’ in the film, but that doesn’t excuse changing the Maximoff’s nationality as it is wholly separate from their mutant status. The twins where Avengers long before they were ever discovered to be Magneto’s children and being mutants is just an excuse for them to have powers. The filmmakers could literally translate the twins onto the big screen with almost no changes from their comic book form just by saying ‘magic/experimental thingy’ instead of ‘mutant’.

There are only three reasons for them to be doing this:

  1. They don’t think the audience would want to see POC characters.
  2. They don’t want to make the effect to do POC characters correctly (or risk backlash from screwing them up).
  3. They are pissed about the license issue and deciding to completely remake these characters as some kind of thumb-nose to Fox.

None of these reasons are acceptable.

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More on Marvel Netflix Series

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , , on November 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

daredevil born again

Drew Goddard To Write Daredevil Netflix Series

via BleedingCool

When the announcement came that Disney and Marvel were bringing some of their superheros to Netflix in the form of live action 13-episode series, it seemed almost like a fever dream and way too good to be true, but today’s news reiterates how real this really is.

First one out of the gate is Daredevil, which famously flopped as a feature film starring Ben Affleck as the blind superhero. With its newly reinstated rights won back from Fox, Disney are now negotiating with Drew Goddard to write the Netflix series, according to The Wrap.

Goddard is a longtime pal and collaborator of Joss Whedon, who is either officially or unofficially overseeing the entire MCU for the studio (either way, he’s had something or other to do with all the post-Avengers films thus far). The two co-wrote and Goddard directed cult favorite horror flick Cabin in the Woods, so we can probably assume Whedon will have quite a bit to do with this latest massive undertaking as well.

Daredevil will be followed by Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, culminating in an Avengers-style team-up miniseries bringing together The Defenders. Oh my gosh, I can’t wait. Your move, DC.

jessicajonesMelissa Rosenberg To Write And Oversee Marvel’s Jessica Jones Netflix Series

via BleedingCool

Yup, this is real alright. Hours after we learned that Drew Goddard would be writing and overseeing Marvel’s Daredevil live-action series for Netflix, now comes word via Deadline that Jessica Jones has itself a showrunner as well, in the form of Melissa Rosenberg.

She may be best known for Twilight and elicit an automatic negative reaction, but Rosenberg is very respected for her TV work on series like Dexter, and more than that, she’s very familiar with Jessica Jones as she had previously worked on writing for the Marvel superhero three years ago when a series was in development at ABC. The Netflix series will be a different incarnation, according to Deadline, though Jones will still be hanging up her spandex and opening a detective agency.

Also interesting about the two bits of news we’ve gotten today on this new undertaking is that Marvel and Netflix seem intent on experienced, relatively well known writers to oversee these projects. No direct-to-Netflix quality issues here, I think. Also, this means we’ll probably find out soon who will be shepherding Iron Fist and Luke Cage.

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Reblog: 10 BEST Comic Book Live-Action TV Series of All Time

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , on November 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

via Newsarama

If you’re a comics fan with a television, you’ve been having a pretty good year. Television has long been a home for comic book heroes, from early shows like Adventures of Superman on to more recent successes like Smallville, but 2013 has been a bumper crop of new programming running the gamut from zombie drama with AMC’s The Walking Dead, street-level superheroics with WB’s Arrow and ABC’s spy-shop procedural Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

And 2014 looks to be even better. You might want to add some space to your DVR’s storage capacity, as DC has four television series in development (Hourman, Flash, Constantine and Gotham), and Marvel has one upped them with four unnamed shows as well as a miniseries in the works. That’s all in addition to the aforementioned Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Walking Dead. And that’s not counting AMC and Robert Kirkman’s partnership to develop his comic series Thief of Thieves and Outcast, and everyone else working outside the Big Two.

So as we enter what looks to be a golden age for comics on TV, we’re taking stock of what’s already made its way to the small screen. There’s a lot of ground to cover and it’s more than just superheroes, so we’re narrowing our focus to American television programs.

We’re holding off on including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just yet – it’s not Level 7 security, it’s just that they haven’t even completed their first season yet; Nick Fury wouldn’t want us to be trigger happy.

 

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10. WONDER WOMAN
Although some joke about the show’s costume changes and formulaic nature, this primetime series starring Lynda Carter in the title role made a definite impact. Over four years and a mild reboot at the end of season one, the Wonder Woman TV series cemented the character’s place as the most popular female comic book hero and, in some ways, a feminist icon.The Carter Wonder Woman series was preceded by two earlier attempts to make the character work on the small screen. First came a ’60s era comedy in the vein of the Adam West Batman series, followed by an early ’70s attempt that downplayed the superhuman abilities in favor of spy gadgets akin to James Bond. It wasn’t until a third pilot, one more faithful to the source material, that a full-length TV series was commissioned, and found success at ABC and later CBS.

Lynda Carter’s portrayal of Wonder Woman proved so popular that it defined the actor going forward, leading Carter to reprise the role in everything from The Muppet Show to a reference in the film Sky High. In a way, Carter’s portrayal of Diana Prince casts a shadow on the character not unlike Christopher Reeve’s Superman or the more recent star turn of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man.

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09. DENNIS THE MENACE
Although it’s the sole entry on this list that originated from comic strips, not books though the character has certainly appeared in a considerable amount of comic books over the decades Dennis The Menace made a big impact when it debuted on the small screen in the late ’50s. This story of a precocious kid that cuts a “menacing” but lovable path through his neighborhood became an instant hit when adapted to black-and-white live-action.Child actor Jay North excelled in this star-making role, and under the guidance of TV impresario Harry Ackerman it became one of the highest ranking series on CBS at the time. The series ran for four years and was only canceled because North was growing out of the young role literally and the network didn’t want to recast the part.

Later generations discovered the show through frequent reruns in the dawn of cable television, and the popularity of the series both on screen and in newspapers led to several other adaptations in films and television, though they never matched up to the original show’s early success.

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08. THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN
Superman has become one of the most filmed comic book characters of all time, but one of his earliest appearances the 1950s era Adventures of Superman continues to leap and bound over its counterparts.Despite its first two seasons being filmed in black and white, the George Reeves-led show brought a feature-budget feel to television and gave the mainstream public the best portrayal of DC’s flagship character it had seen at that point.

Looking back on the series now, it has a lot in common with Grant Morrison’s recent take on the character in Action Comics gone are the cartoonish array of supervillains like Brainiac, in favor of the more classic villains like evil scientists, maligned businessmen, gangsters, thugs and spies. The closest thing to a superhuman you’ll see facing Superman in this is a midget Martian similar to Mr. Mxyzptlk named “Mr. Zero.”

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07. THE FLASH
Although it only ran for one season, 1990’s The Flash stands out to this day as a major accomplishment in the world of live-action superheroes on the small screen. Developed for TV by the future screenwriters of The Rocketeer, the series showed a modernized Flash with soap actor John Wesley Shipp playing Barry Allen.Influenced by Tim Burton’s Batman movie released one year earlier, the short-lived The Flash had a darker tone than one might expect, but it became catnip for devoted comics fans at the time. The television series was cut short due to the high costs of filming a live-action superhero series and had stiff competition in its time slot from then-new series The Simpsons and The Cosby Show.

One long-term positive that the series did was the introduction of Star Wars star Mark Hamill to DC’s roster of characters. Hamill made his DC debut as The Trickster on The Flash series, and went on to become the definitive voice for the Joker in DC’s animated works and video games for two decades.

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06. THE MIDDLEMAN
The Middleman is the most unknown of our entries, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t great. The short-lived ABC Family show took the indie comic series and made one of the truest comic book to small-screen adaptations thanks in part to series co-creator/writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost,Medium) being an accomplished television writer/producer that stayed on to helm the show.It received high marks from TV Guide and other industry magazines, but Variety‘s review of the pilot gave what would become fateful praise by calling it “almost too smart” for the network.

Borrowing some of its tongue-in-cheek tone from earlier genre success story Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Middleman featured guns, spy action and witty banter on par with modern critical darlings like 30 Rock and Community. Ultimately the show was done in after one 2008 season by the oversized budget compared to its audience, especially among ABC Family’s comedies and low-budget high school dramedies.

DC October 2013 solicitations - Beyond New 52
05. ARROW
They may have made some missteps with the scripting of the Green Lantern movie, but writing duo Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim (along with Andrew Kreisberg) have been making up for it (and then some) with the WB series Arrow. They’ve taken DC’s archer hero the Green Arrow and made him a man with a purpose – and a bow & arrow – in the streets of Starling City. Season One exceeded everyone’s expectations, and so far Season 2 has continued on that upward trajectory.Between Arrow, Deathstroke and Paul Blackthorne’s great portrayal of Quentin Lance, the series has been jumping from high point to high point. With the recent reveal of the Canary (Black Canary, for you comics fans) and Sin, it’s opened to door to even greater stories. And the rest of the season promises some more debuts (cough BARRY FREAKING ALLEN cough) as well as more surprises, giving fans and some Newsarama staffers something to look forward to every week.

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04. BATMAN
If there’s one show that defined comics for the mainstream public, then the ’60s-era Batman series starring Adam West is it. This campy send-up of DC’s Dark Knight was anything but dark, but for its time period it worked, becoming an unprecedented success. Despite only being on air for two years, it was a massive hit, airing twice a week on ABC and producing more than 100 episodes.Far removed from the dark crusader we’ve seen in movies, Adam West’s Batman was a more jovial and lighthearted adventurer, starring alongside guest stars hamming it up for the camera. The series became so popular that it gave some of its stars short-lived careers in music, with West even recording a country song that he performed in costume at some live appearances.

The series was ultimately cut short when ABC attempted to slash the budget by eliminating a number of characters including Robin, bringing a close to the series. It’s also one of the most prominent television series never to be officially released on VHS or DVD due to complicated rights issues, with bootleg copies of the show becoming mainstays at comic conventions large and small.

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03. THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Although DC has proved more successful in adapting its characters to live-action TV in sheer number, Marvel’s late ’70s The Incredible Hulk showed just how different a superhero show could be. The long-running series saw TV veteran Bill Bixby sharing screen time with bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as they played Bruce Banner and alter-ego the Hulk, turning them both into massive stars on the small screen. Although created 15 years before, it was this seminal series that brought Marvel’s Green Goliath into the minds of the mainstream public and went on to influence the comic books for years to come.The journeyman nature of the show allowed for an ever-rotating cast of guest stars to play opposite Bixby and Ferrigno, including cameo appearances by the character’s creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, at one point. The series ultimately ended in 1981, but found new life with a series of made for TV movies that continued for several years before Bixby’s death in 1993.

The Incredible Hulk show became an integral part of the Hulk mythos, influencing the character’s comic series to varying degrees over the years. The 2008 film The Incredible Hulk was heavily influenced by the TV series, with lead actor Edward Norton basing much of his performance on Bixby’s original portrayal.

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02. SMALLVILLE
The only entry in our list not specifically tied to one comics title, the long-running Smallville series borrowed liberally from the entire breadth of the Superman and DCU catalog to become the hit it is today.Over the course of 10 years and two networks, the show covered the early years of the man who would one day become Superman in a bare bones approach. As the series went on, it became a showcase of the diversity of the DCU with guest stars ranging from future Justice League members to the time-traveling Legion of Super-Heroes.

On its debut in 2001, Smallville became the highest rated show in the WB’s history and landed on the cover of TV Guide. The endorsement by former Superman Christopher Reeve (who guest starred on the series) gave the then-budding show a burst of enthusiasm amongst hardcore comics fans, paving the way for the show and its unique dynamic of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor being childhood friends who are slowly torn apart.

As the series went on it explored the early life of Superman in more detail than any of its comic adventures, leading Geoff Johns to fold in some of the show’s elements in his later revision of Superman’s origin in the comic series Superman: Secret Origin.

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01. THE WALKING DEAD
AMC’s The Walking Dead has gone from being a pleasant surprise to a sure thing if you’re looking for riveting television. Robert Kirkman’s zombie drama became a cult hit in comics and bucked sales trends with ever-increasing sales, and once cable channel AMC put its adaptation on screen seven years later starting on Halloween 2010, the whole world got to see just how big the zombie phenomenon could be. And it only looks to getting bigger, with the recently debuted fourth season earning over 16 million viewers – over three times it’s series premiere in 2010, up nearly 5 million from its season 3 premiere just a year ago.Despite some shaky staffing issues behind-the-scenes, The Walking Dead has had a steady upward climb with no signs of stopping under new showrunner Scott M. Gimple. They’ve already announced a season 5 for 2014 (with Gimple signed on for another year, too), and have a wealth of stories to draw from in the comic series or if the series decides to take its own path into the zombie apocalypse. 2014 should also see a spin-of series debut, with Kirkman teasing a whole new location in the world of The Walking Dead. One more thing: Man of Steel screenwriter and defacto DC Movies’ head writer David S. Goyer is coming to direct the penultimate episode – the shows fiftieth – early next year.

Although previous zombie films were often pigeon-holed as simply genre material, the critical acclaim for the Frank Darabont-led show went all the way to The Wall Street Journal and Salon.com.

Based on the long-running Image series of the same name, the Walking Dead television adaptation was further strengthened by the feature-quality direction of Darabont combined with the expert hand of producer Gale Ann Hurd (Terminator, Armageddon). The show got on the good side of hardcore fans by the inclusion of Kirkman and series artist Charlie Adlard in the production, with Kirkman going so far as to write several episodes of the show and serve as a very hands-on executive producer.

There is little about this show that hasn’t gone right, making it the hands-down best comic book live-action TV series of all-time.

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MARVEL: Disney’s Marvel and Netflix Join Forces to Develop Historic Four Series Epic plus a Mini-Series Event

Posted in News and Editorials on November 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

Marvel logoDisney’s Marvel and Netflix Join Forces to Develop Historic Four Series Epic plus a Mini-Series Event Based on Renowned Marvel Characters

Landmark Deal Brings Marvel’s Flawed Heroes of Hell’s Kitchen, led by “Daredevil,” to the World’s Leading Internet TV Network in 2015
 

Burbank, Calif. – Nov 7, 2013—The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced an unprecedented deal for Marvel TV to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures of four of Marvel’s most popular characters exclusively to the world’s leading Internet TV Network beginning in 2015. This pioneering agreement calls for Marvel to develop four serialized programs leading to a mini-series programming event.

Led by a series focused on “Daredevil,” followed by “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” the epic will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking Netflix members deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell’s Kitchen, New York.  Netflix has committed to a minimum of four, thirteen episodes series and a culminating Marvel’s “The Defenders” mini-series event that reimagines a dream team of self-sacrificing, heroic characters.

Produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios, this groundbreaking deal is Marvel’s most ambitious foray yet into live-action TV storytelling.

“This deal is unparalleled in its scope and size, and reinforces our commitment to deliver Marvel’s brand, content and characters across all platforms of storytelling. Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty,” said Alan Fine, President of Marvel Entertainment. “This serialized epic expands the narrative possibilities of on-demand television and gives fans the flexibility to immerse themselves how and when they want in what’s sure to be a thrilling and engaging adventure.”
“Marvel’s movies, such as ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ are huge favorites on our service around the world. Like Disney, Marvel is a known and loved brand that travels,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “With ‘House of Cards’ and our other original series, we have pioneered new approaches to storytelling and to global distribution and we’re thrilled to be working with Disney and Marvel to take our brand of television to new levels with a creative project of this magnitude.”

This new original TV deal follows last year’s landmark movie distribution deal through which, beginning with 2016 theatrically released feature films, Netflix will be the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated movies from the Walt Disney Studios, including titles from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Disneynature and Lucasfilm.  Netflix members can currently enjoy a wide range of Disney, ABC TV and Disney Channel films and shows across the 41 countries where Netflix operates.

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of $42.3 billion in its Fiscal Year 2012.

About Netflix

Netflix is the world’s leading Internet television network with over 40 million members in more than 40 countries enjoying more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including original series. For one low monthly price, Netflix members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

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DOFP: Trailer #1 Rundown

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , on October 29, 2013| 4 Comments »

On the heels of the release of fellow comic book movie, Thor: The Dark World, FOX has released its first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past… or as it’s already been called, Wolverine III… though technically it would be Wolverine VI.

Long ago when it was announced that Hugh Jackman would be joining an all-star cast of mutants, old and young, I said that this meant he would be the time traveler. Partly because it didn’t make sense to send Kitty since she wasn’t even born yet (unless they did a physical time travel) but mostly because Singer has the man crush on Wolverine and all movies except First Class have been “Woverine… And These Other Guys”. I was right, Logan, as confirmed in the trailer (though it was sorta confirmed earlier), will be the time traveler… and this trailer wants to make sure you know that.

Half of the trailer is basically telling everyone what’s going down. The future is pretty crappy and we’re going to send someone back in time to try to stop a war before it happens. Since Logan is the traveler it makes sense that he would have a pretty big roll in showing that in the trailer… only underscoring the fact that this movie is likely going to have a healthy dose of Wolvie. That’s pretty much all the plot we get although we can read between the frames for other stuff.

The rest of the trailer is bits and pieces of the film cut in a generic non-linear fashion to try to give us the sweeping scope of the film. Here is what I see, and warning, speculative spoilers ahead:

  • The temple looks Mediterranean due to the papyrus motif on the pillars. Could this have something to do with En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse? Possibly, it was first speculated he might be involved when Blink, a descendant of Apocalypse, was revealed to be in the movie. However, Storm seems to be standing on a high cliff with snow capped mountains in the not-so-distance, so I’m not sure where exactly they’re supposed to be.
  • We get a scene of Kitty and Iceman just staring at each other in what looks to be the Amazing Technicolor Backdrop. Seriously, pause the trailer and look at the background, it looks like the 70’s threw up in the ancient temple. Anyway, this scene likely takes place right before Kitty sends Logan back. So this is probably a “I may never see you again cause I might die” stare-down.

    dofp_kitty_iceman_rogue

    click for gif

  • Immediately we go into a flash of Rogue which tells us nothing about what’s going on with her, even the background is blank, though it’s possible she’s looking down on the above mentioned Kitty/Iceman stuff because of the common orange hue (but it’s kinda a requirement that post-apocalyptic stuff has to have an orange hue so she could be anywhere). Just the fact that they chose to cut these scenes together means we’ll be subjected to more of this tiresome love triangle. (All I want is for Rogue to be found in New Orleans, I can fill in the blanks.)
  • Then there’s some flashes of the school and Xavier before we get a shot of Magneto and Iceman standing in a blue-lit grimy hallway. These are usual a maintenance hallway of some sort. It’s not Cerebro’s hallway as one of the walls is just brick plus there is too much stuff hanging from the ceiling. It’s also not the temple because of the new stuff. I’m guessing Magneto is getting something and Bobby is babysitting. Rogue could be there with them, see comment below, or she could be who they are after.
  • Now we get the obligatory line-up showing us all the new mutants. Bishop is first, no qualms there, but we don’t get to see anything more than him just standing there looking like a bad-a. I’m not sure who the second guy is, Colossus maybe? Warpath is up next and I’m not digging the outfit (it’s the shoulder pads, why are they back in style?). Then Blink who I don’t know a lot about but she looks cool.
    dofp_temple

    click for gif

  • We get better looks at this temple which seems to be a plethora of motifs just threw up on each other. It’s a little Asian, Indian (as in India), as well as Middle Eastern. Are they in the Himalayas? I’m so confused… esp as there seems to be a lot of blocky colored glass insets which is probably what is creating the technicolor backdrop mentioned above. Non of this makes sense from an architectural standpoint. Nobody built like this! But obviously this is where the magic of time travel will happen so… yeah… can we use “it was the 70s” as an excuse since that is when they are time travelling to?
  • Notice how they put from “the Director of The Unusual Suspects and X-Men” in that order? Like… what are you trying to say here?
  • Now we get to the past and see glimpses of Xavier and Erik as they talk about how they were different back then, trying to be existential in the moment. They both basically admit that they were kinda douches when they were young… hey, who wasn’t?
  • Mystique is seen crying, over what, we don’t know (Kurt maybe? Nah, the filmmakers aren’t that awesome). She also later doesn’t seem to be all that interested in Magneto saving her as she looks to be struggling against him when he’s dragging her towards him. Trouble in paradise… which totally doesn’t track with the X-Men movies but who knows…
  • Quick shots of Kitty (presumably from the rings on her hands) doing the mind bend on Logan to travel him back. The temple is attacked, stuff blowing up. There is havok at the Paris Peace Accords, thanks to Magneto.
  • The President is being hidden in a bunker, I guess they think something major is going to go down. Trask is with him, so likely going to see some Sentinel bashing. This could be promising.
  • Logan is being shot by some red shirts, just some guys who thought they could kill him for either money, revenge, what have you. By the non-streak in his hair, I wonder if this is when Logan pops back into his old body. Talk about a wake-up call.
  • Xavier breaks Cerebro, could this be why he needs Erik’s help?
  • Beast is not looking Beastly, so I’m guessing he developed the image inducer, or some kind of “i’m always angry” Hulk way to keep his beast side at bay?
  • A white room with a glass ceiling breaks over someone, I believe Magneto since stills show him in a prison jumpsuit of the same color later on. Who exactly breaks him out, and why? Was he caught at the Paris Peace Accords but now the X-Men have to break him out so he can help them? A least we know it’s not Quicksilver, cause hey silvered up his hair according to Evan Peters and this guy was definitely a brunette.

    dofp_rogue_iceman_magneto

    click for gif

  • Back to that blue hallway from before, definitely some kind of maintenance shaft, and now Iceman is dragging along a hurt Rogue. She’s not wearing a uniform like everyone else, so is she no longer part of the X-Men? What is the story here? And will it fix Rogue’s horrible mis-characterization in X3? Probably not…
  • More random shots of violence at the Paris Peace Accords. Beast takes on Magneto and tries to drown him. Makes me think this is how Magneto is imprisoned. It would be fun if it’s a “we caught Magneto, finally! oh wait, now we have to break him out, doh!”
  • young!Xavier shouting “I don’t want your suffering. I don’t’ want your future.” He does realize he’s in an X-Men movie, right?

What I don’t see…

  • Quicksilver, not even a hint at him existing let alone what kind of part he will play in the movie. However, it does look like they haven’t really shown us anything past the opening gambit of the film so there is plenty left he could be doing. Could this be why they need Erik, not cause of Cerebro but to get his son to help?
  • The Misty Knight look-alike, was that really Misty?
  • What exactly has happened to make the future so crappy. And what exactly do they have to do to fix it? There is little mission statement here other than “fix the future”… which is cool, I mean, we don’t want to be too spoiled… but still… maybe spoiled a little?

Overall, it’s a very neutral trailer. There isn’t a lot here we haven’t really already seen or guessed. There isn’t anything here that’s a game changer for the good or bad.

They could still do something really great with this… or really really really bad… and we now have seven months to think about that…

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Captain America 2 – Trailer #1

Posted in News and Editorials, tagged , , on October 24, 2013| 2 Comments »

We finally get our first trailer for Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier courtesy of Apple, but in case you don’t do QuickTime, here it is on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RKQPgeYRs

captain america 2 teaser posterAt first blush, the tone is very different from the first film, which makes a lot of sense seeing as it’s set 80 years later and the world has very much changed. Winter Soldier looks to have the popular ‘dark and gritty’ feel but does so by bordering on a political thriller style reminiscent of Tom Clancy. It’s good to see that the Cap movies are doing their own thing and not trying to skate on the Avengers popularity by mimicking the style. Considering that Rogers is a soldier in an major peacekeeping/military body and the general tone of modern politics, you only really have two choices: Campy or Clancy… and I’m so glad they chose Clancy. It’s a natural fit and looks stunning.

Between the Shakespeare of Thor 2 and the Tom Clancy of Captain America 2… I think I’m more interested in Cap as a movie… but yes, I’m more interested in Loki as a character.

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