Author: Rick Marshall

Larry Hama joins G.I. Joe Film, Devils Due loses license

  • News
  • January 30, 2008

Sure, there have been a lot of recent announcements regarding the live-action G.I. Joe feature film, but they all pale in comparison to this one, folks: Larry Hama, the architect of much of the G.I. Joe mythology for several decades now, will be joining the G.I. Joe film in some capacity!

According to The Latino Review, an announcement is expected later today, but it’s believed that Hama will be a creative consultant for the film.

Hama is well-known for writing the Marvel Comics’ G.I. Joe series that ran for 155 issues (1984-1992). He also wrote the "file cards" on the G.I. Joe action figures produced during that period, and many of the characters are named after Hama’s friends, family and favorite historical figures.

In other G.I. Joe news of note, Devils Due Publishing will not have their contract renewed with Hasbro, owners of the G.I. Joe license.

First reported over at IESB, it’s speculated that Marvel or IDW will receive the license, with IDW the more likely recipient due to their current contract with Hasbro for the Transformers license.

Devils Due was widely regarded as a savior of the G.I. Joe property when they acquired the license in 2001, publishing numerous critically praised stories under the G.I. Joe banner, including the 2006 Snake Eyes: Declassified miniseries.

With the G.I. Joe feature film scheduled for a 2009 release, it appears as if Hasbro is looking to consolidate its film properties with a single publisher, much to the disappointment of G.I. Joe comics fans.

 

Boondocks Banned?

  • News
  • January 30, 2008

It appears as if Boondocks, the popular animated series created by Aaron McGruder, has finally discovered how much (and more importantly, what type of) controversy it takes to get an episode banned. Actually, make that two episodes.

According to this report at Newsarama, two episodes from the current season of Boondocks have been removed from the schedule by Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Sources say the episodes target key executives at BET, specifically Debra Lee and Reggie Hudlin, the comics writer and former Boondocks producer.

Newsarama provides the following description of the episodes:

The reason for this is two of the planned episodes, “The Huey Freeman Hunger Strike” and “The Ruckus Reality Show” have been pulled. The episodes take savage strikes at not only favorite target BET, but also two of its key executives, Debra Lee and former Boondocks producer Reggie Hudlin. In “Hunger Strike,” Lee is made to look a lot like Dr. Evil from Mike Myers Austin Powers films while “Wedgie Rutland” is depicted as a total toadying nerd. “Hunger Strike” takes even broader strokes at the Black Entertainment Television, implying its true goal is to destroy and/or diminish African-American culture, exemplifying what Chuck D’s statement that the networks letters really stand for the “booty ‘en thugs” network. “Ruckus” takes matters even further, working off the premise that the black-hating Uncle Ruckus is given his own show on BET.

The article also quotes an exclusive report by hip-hop news site HipHopDX on the Boondocks controversy. However, there is wide speculation that the true source of the "rescheduling" command was with the show’s producer, Sony, rather than Adult Swim.

 

Warren Ellis on Transmetropolitan: The Movie?

  • News
  • January 29, 2008

During a recent appearance in the Something Awful forums, writer Warren Ellis fielded some questions from members about the possibility of a film based on one of his most most popular series, Transmetropolitan.

The forums require a paid subscription, but the crew at Comics2Film has posted some of the highlights of the discussion, including the identity of the actor both Ellis and Transmet artist Darick Robertson would like to see don the red-and-green glasses of the series’ main character.

Q: More generally, who do you have in mind doing Spider so that it gets "done right"?

A: Darick and I both favour the idea of Tim Roth playing Spider.

Ellis also dismisses the rumor that Patrick Stewart, a fan of the series, will play the role of Spider in any form whatsoever.

Y: The Last Man to be a Film Trilogy?

  • News
  • January 29, 2008

USA Today reports that the director of the big-screen adaptation of Y: The Last Man, D.J. Caruso, plans to break up the story of the last man on Earth into several parts.

According to Caruso, the first film of what is likely to become a trilogy will focus on the storyline of issues #1-14 of the series. Caruso added that he has had "preliminary discussions" with Shia LaBeouf to play Yorick Brown, the story’s main character.

Caruso was the director of another LaBeouf film, Disturbia. The screenwriter for that film, Carl Ellsworth, is also attached to the Y project.

According to Caruso, "The most important thing and the reason I want to do this is … I don’t want to say it’s the end of the innocence, but it’s actually a man-child who has to become a real man now."

"I think it’s a really simple, beautiful theme, but at the same time, the movie’s really pop-culture entertainment," Caruso told USA Today.

 

Marvel, EA Games Part Ways

  • News
  • January 29, 2008

Marvel Comics and videogame developer Electronic Arts have agreed to disagree, it seems, and parted ways after only one game collaboration.

According to a report on GameTap, EA has doscontinued production of the second game it planned to develop with Marvel properties. The two entities had partnered in 2004 to produce games based on Marvel’s stable of characters, but the only game to result from this partnership, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, was largely considered a bust.

"EA and Marvel have jointly agreed to discontinue development of the Marvel titles under the EA Games Label. This was a business decision based on EA’s portfolio strategy," an EA representative told GameTap.

Marvel also issued a statement, claiming that the dissolution of the partnership "will not affect Marvel’s ongoing plans to release fighting games based on the Marvel properties in the future."

Brian K. Vaughan on Lost and Y: the Last Man

  • News
  • January 29, 2008

bkv-5761346Another day, another tease regarding this week’s season premiere of Lost and the impending end of Y: The Last Man.

New York Magazine‘s pop culture blog, Vulture, posted this brief interview with writer Brian K. Vaughan about his uber-popular television and comics projects. The interview provides some context for Vaughan’s decision to off one of the series’ main characters in a recent issue, as well as some insight regarding his favorite characters.

All of that, and some thoughts on the possibility of a spin-off series:

No. I am truly washing my hands. Unless I’m in really dire financial straits and I have to do an Ampersand the Monkey spinoff.

As far as the passengers of Oceanic Flight 813, Vaughan manages to keep the secrets of Lost Season Four, well… secret. And for good reason:

I think if I were to answer too specifically, a future version of myself would appear and assassinate me.

Lost airs Thursday, Jan. 31 on ABC at 8 PM (EST).

Guillermo del Toro to Direct The Hobbit(s)?

  • News
  • January 29, 2008

Guillermo del Toro, director of the critically praised Pan’s Labyrinth and the comic adaptations Hellboy and Blade II, is in talks to helm a pair of films based on author J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings precursor, The Hobbit.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, del Toro is on a short list of directors who studios New Line and MGM, the holders of the film rights, believe to have both the filmmaking chops and respect for the source material necessary for another wildly successful blockbuster. If del Toro indeed becomes the director of The Hobbit, he would become the second filmmaker to to take on a Tolkien project after making a name for himself in the realm of horror films. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson began his career behind the camera of such cult-classic horror films as Bad Taste, Braindead (a.k.a. Dead Alive) and The Frighteners.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Few filmmakers have the cachet that del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated "Pan’s Labyrinth," "Hellboy," "Blade 2" (which was made by New Line) and "The Devil’s Backbone."

Also of note: After settling a heated dispute with Jackson over "profit participation," the studios have agreed on an Executive Producer role for Jackson in The Hobbit, with the director also overseeing certain creative elements of the films.

The Hobbit films are tentatively scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011, but no writers have been assigned to the projects yet due to the WGA strike. Once the strike is settled, the studios plan to fast-track the projects.

 

 

 

Captain America Returns… With a Gun!

  • News
  • January 28, 2008

The Merry Marvel Marketing Machine is firing on all cylinders once again, with coverage of this week’s return of Captain America (in the pages of Captain America #34) planned for every television channel, radio station, newspaper, mailing list and telephone pole on this planet and, quite possibly, a few others.

What’s that, you say? It’s not actually Captain America who’s returning, but his formerly deceased sidekick, Bucky Barnes, who has thrown away Cap’s shield in favor of a gun? You say he’s sporting a cybernetic arm and a bad attitude instead of a body full of super-soldier serum and some good ol’ American pride? And he’s not even wearing Cap’s old costume?

Well, I refuse to hear another word about it, Mr. HatesAmerica. Instead, I’m going to put my hands over my ears, hum The Star-Spangled Banner and provide you with a heaping helping of Captain America coverage, in the form of the links below. Remember: They go great with apple pie!

  • Just as they did with the news of Captain America’s death, The Daily News broke the story of Cap’s return this morning. According to Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, the death of Cap and subsequent promotion of his former sidekick is "just an experiment."

Current series writer Ed Brubaker addressed the whole gun-toting hero issue, explaining, "people forget that Captain America carried a gun a lot in World War II. Every three covers there was a shot of Captain America with a machine gun or a flamethrower – or an atom bomb."

The Daily News also coaxed some hints about the future of Steve Rogers, the former Captain America, from Quesada in this excerpt:

Quesada admits Rogers, the scrawny kid from the lower East Side who was injected with Super Soldier serum and turned into one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture, may yet return.

(more…)

New Dark Knight Photos

  • News
  • January 28, 2008

SuperHeroHype recently posted some new, leaked photos from the upcoming Warner Bros. film The Dark Knight featuring Christian Bale both in and out of costume as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Among the images also appears to be a promotional poster for the film.

The Dark Knight is scheduled to hit theaters on July 18.

 

Anton Yelchin on Becoming Star Trek’s Pavel Chekov

  • News
  • January 28, 2008

Anton Yelchin, the actor who will complete James T. Kirk’s away team on the upcoming Star Trek film by taking up the mantle of Pavel Chekov, recently opened up about taking the role in this interview with SuperHeroFlix.

It is weird being on a set where a lot of the actors, myself included, have no idea what a turbine engine is. Or what it might do when it explodes. You are looking at a green screen that is supposed to be a battlefield. But nothing is going on. It is fun. It really puts you into the frame of mind that you are making a movie. I had this feeling that I was on a big film. It is the old classic idea of what a film set is supposed to be.

The actor went on to discuss whether the original Chekov, Walter Koenig, has stopped by the set to give him any advice.

I was worried and freaked out that he would come on set and not like me. Then he would say may accent is awful.

Star Trek is scheduled for a December 2008 release.

 

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