Tagged: Fantastic Four

Chris Evans cast as Captain America

  • News
  • March 23, 2010

Variety reports that square-jawed lady-killer Chris Evans will be under the winged-mask of Captain America for Marvel’s upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America, set to hit theaters next summer.

Also noted from Variety: Evan’s deal looks to be for at least three pictures, not including the already mentioned “Avengers” film set to come out in 2012. Evans will be hurling his shield next to Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, as well as Edward Norton’s green skinned goliath, the Hulk.

The First Avenger: Captain America also has cast the neo-hating turned neo-nazi, Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull.

Of course, comic book fans should not be surprised by Mr. Evan’s turn as a hero, given his lengthy comic book twinged resumé. Starring first as the hot headed Johnny Storm in the less-than-beloved pair of Fantastic Four pictures, Evans will also debut as the alliterated Lucas Lee in the upcoming Scott Pilgrim flick, as well as the jacked-mouth hacker Jake Jensen in the forthcoming Losers movie coming out this April.

So, ComicMix fans, what do you think? Does Evans belong wielding the shield? Where do you think Stan Lee will cameo in the Cap film? Do you think Ben Grimm will enjoy a quieter Baxter building while Johnny get’s a little patriotic? Tell us what you think, soldier!

Human Torch Cast As Captain America?

  • News
  • March 20, 2010

According to the Hollywood

Reporter, Chris Evans has been offered the lead in The First Avenger: Captain America. Evans is perhaps best known in these circles as Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, in the two Fantastic Four movies.

Evans would be signing for what has been reported to be a nine picture deal: at least two sequels and appearance(s) in The Avengers movie(s) as well as in other Marvel superhero films. Nice steady work for an actor who isn’t afraid to get typecast.

The First Avenger is to be directed by Joe “Wolfman” Johnston; Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, V For Vendetta) has been cast as The Red Skull. The movie is presently set for a July 22, 2011 release, with The Avengers following on May 4, 2012.

There’s probably no chance of a cross-over, as Marvel’s doing a complete reboot on The Fantastic Four movie franchise.

Neither Marvel Films nor Evans’ people have confirmed or denied as of yet this weekend.

Marvel’s 4Q report: Studios and money making

  • News
  • February 25, 2009

marvellogo-7722713Marvel Entertainment announced today operating results for its 4th-quarter ended December 31, 2008 and record net sales, net income and earnings per share for the full year 2008. For Q4 2008, Marvel reported net sales of $224.3 million and net income of $63.0 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, compared to net sales of $109.3 million and net income of $27.6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in Q4 2007. "The improvement reflects recognition of $135.5 million in film production segment revenues principally associated with the DVD performance of Marvel’s Iron Man feature film," the company said. For the full year 2008, Marvel reported net sales of $676.2 million and net income of $205.5 million, or $2.61 per diluted share, compared to net sales of $485.8 million and net income of $139.8 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, in 2007. The revenue and net income growth principally reflects the contribution from Marvel Studios which released its first two feature films, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, in the summer of 2008.

Below is an updated look at the Marvel Studios’ product pipeline. The company also announced today that Kenneth Branagh is set to direct Thor (our spies tell us sets are already being built) which Paramount Pictures will distribute worldwide. It will be released domestically on July 16, 2010. Also, Iron Man 2 will begin principal photography in early April.

Marvel Studios Entertainment Pipeline
(According to its 4th quarter earnings report. Scheduled release dates are subject to change)

Self-Produced Feature Film Line-Up

  • Iron Man 2 (Marvel), scheduled for May 7, 2010 release, starts principal photography in April, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle
  • Thor (Marvel), scheduled for July 16, 2010 release, directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • The First Avenger: Captain America (Marvel), scheduled for May 6, 2011 release
  • The Avengers (Marvel), scheduled for July 15, 2011 release

Licensed Feature Film Line-Up

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox), scheduled for May 1, 2009 release

Self-Produced Animated TV Series Line-Up

  • Super Hero Squad (Marvel Animation) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production with Film Roman, scheduled for Q3 2009 release on Cartoon Network
  • The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (Marvel Animation) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production with Film Roman; scheduled for Q3 2011 release

Licensed Animated TV Series Line-Up

  • Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes (Moonscoop SAS – France), 26 thirty-minute episodes airing internationally and on Marvel.com and Marvelkids.com
  • Spectacular Spider-Man (Culver Studios – U.S.) Will air on Disney XD in the U.S. beginning in March and currently airing on various networks internationally
  • Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Animation / First Serve Toonz – India), 52 thirty-minute episodes. Episodes 1-26 are currently airing on Nicktoons in the U.S. and are on air internationally, Episodes 27-52 are currently in pre-production
  • Black Panther (Marvel Animation / BET) 8 thirty-minute episodes in production, scheduled for Q2 2009 release on BET
  • Iron Man: Armored Adventures (Marvel Animation / Method Films – France) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production, scheduled for Q2 2009 release in the U.S. on Nicktoons and various networks internationally

Licensed Animated Direct-to-DVD Projects

  • Thor: Son of Asgard (Lionsgate), scheduled for September 2009 release

Licensed Broadway Stage Project

  • Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, the Musical, Julie Taymor director; music & lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge (Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Jeremiah Harris) Slated for a February 18, 2010 opening

‘Tron’ Sequel Gains New Cast

  • News
  • December 17, 2008

olivia-2-4661579Whatever Disney intends to formally call its sequel to Tron, the movie has added Olivia Wilde (House) and Beau Garrett (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), joining returning star Jeff Bridges.

The 1982 film was among the earliest to use computer special effects and has a strong fan following.  The sequel was among the top five film searches performed at IMDB in 2008.

The trades refer to the sequel as Tron 2.0, and was written by Lost’s Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, for director Joseph Kosinski, making his helming debut. Steven Lisberger, who directed the original and cowrote its script, will produce with Sean Bailey and Jeff Silver.

Wilde’s character will be ‘worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, the villainous intelligence protocol that was the nemesis in the original film. Garrett will play a siren in the virtual world.”

The film’s tech look has been in development for a year with footage screened at Comic-Con International, igniting a fresh round of buzz for the film.  Actual production begins in the spring.
 

Obama Walks in Pettigrew’s Footsteps

  • News
  • November 4, 2008

pettigrew02-5498772A black man could be elected president today.  But he would not necessarily be the first depicted in the media.  After all, we’ve already seen black presidents such as Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact but even he was beaten to the Oval Office in 1976 by New York Governor Timothy Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was the creation of Berry Reece and was featured in a serialized story that ran in A Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact from January through June 1964. Joe Sinnott, famed as inker on Fantastic Four, did the artwork as part of his long association with the Catholic Church’s magazine.

According to Reece, Pope Pius XI asked that American parochial school students becoming more aware of and active in civic affairs. The result was the six-part serial featuring the African-American’s run for office.  He came in second in New Hampshire’s primary and even survived an assassination attempt. In an eerie foreshadowing of the Kerry campaign, Pettigrew is accused of cowardice in Vietnam, a conflict ongoing at the time of the serial.

His efforts are aided by the children of press secretary Bart Blatt, getting the message across to the magazine’s readers. He is seen as a silhouette or shadow throughout the first five parts and it’s not until he wins the Democratic nomination that readers realize he is black.

"And so this man Pettigrew became the first Negro candidate for the President of the United States,” the final panel of the serial read. “He then went out across the land, this black man, to campaign for the highest office. Would he win? Well, the year was 1976. It was the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Could he win? Well, it would depend in part on how the boys and girls reading this comic grew up and voted … it would depend on whether they believed and, indeed, lived those words in the declaration — All Men are Created Equal."

Reece, a Yazoo City, Miss., native and Notre Dame graduate, told the New York Times today that he had entirely forgotten about the series until it s was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered back in February. “I wanted the students to judge him on the strength of his character before they made any judgments about his race,” Reece told the National Catholic Review.

“I was trying to conceive of a person, a hero, a protagonist, who could unite the allegedly United States of America,” Reece told them.

“What we wanted to do,” Reece told the Times, “was get the readers in deep through this Pettigrew’s integrity, his charisma, before we ever disclosed his race so that they would not prejudge him”

The serial ended with Pettigrew a candidate but not yet elected.  How did Reece see the conclusion.  He told the Times, “Could he win? Well, it would depend in part on how the boys and girls who were reading this grew up and voted.”

For another look at the serial, check out the clip below.

Comic Mix Six – The Six Worst Comic Book Video Games

  • Uncategorized
  • October 18, 2008

xmennesbox-9758167Comic books, admittedly, don’t have a great history when itcomes to video game adaptations.  Hell,most games based on licensed properties have a certain stigma about them.  It probably stems from the fact that theyfeel like a cheap cash-in…a way to make a quick buck on a popular fad such asmovies, TV shows, and yes, comics.  Now,that’s not to say ALL comic book games are bad, no; but the genre does have itsshare of stinkers.  Out of all thepossible crap-fests out there, these are the top six games that should never beallowed near your console of choice…EVER.

Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men– 1989: NES

Back in the heyday of the Nintendo Entertainment System,they were making games for EVERYTHING. At the time, publisher LJN held the rights to the Marvel license, andsadly, churned out turd after turd.  Oneof their biggest steaming piles was this mess, based on Marvel’s MightyMutants.  What made this game sobad?  Well, sadly, the technology of theday seems to be the biggest culprit.  Thegame took a top-down view of the action, and since there was only so much youcould show in 8-bit, character details were pretty much non-existent.  That, combined with the muddy, dirty colorsof the backgrounds and you were lucky you could see anything at all, let alonewhich character you had selected. Nothing was recognizable, despite the fact that it had a decent sized rosterselected from the books.  Thankfully, it’sone of the few bad marks on an otherwise mostly successful game franchise.

Fantastic Four – 1997:Playstation

Ugh.  When you talkabout ugly games, two system generations ago, we had some DOGS.  3D graphics were all the rage, and polygoncounts were climbing higher and higher. Sadly, they still couldn’t figure out that muddy background thing, andso stuff tended to blend together – badly. At least this time you could see what was happening…but it wasn’tpretty.  Take a tried and true gameplaystyle, affectionately known as the “beat ‘em up”, and add comic’s firstfamily.  What could go wrong?  Well, how about poor control, terrible plotand just plain shoddy gameplay?  First,the game is about the Fantastic FOUR…so you have Mr. Fantastic, InvisibleWoman, Human Torch, The Thing and…She-Hulk? Wouldn’t that be FIVE?  Then, you have repetitive, lazy combat (anormal pitfall for the “beat ‘em up”) of miscellaneous enemies that are largein number and small in variety.  Add to thatthe poor hit detection, lousy control response and just a general sense of “whybother?” and you fantfour-screen002-7432099have this mighty gem.  Fantastic,indeed.

(more…)

‘Secret Invasion’ So Far: The Tie-Ins

  • News
  • September 24, 2008

If you read Part 1 of my report on "Secret Invasion so far", you know I have found a lot of faults with the main series of this Marvel crossover and the tie-ins written by Brian Michael Bendis.

Now, any major crossover these days has tie-ins with other titles. It’s a good marketing idea because it gets readers to check out characters and books they may not have already been reading. And it helps give the story an epic feel when you can show how its effects are felt in various other parts of the Marvel Universe and how other folks are forced to get dragged into it.

A lot of times, these tie-ins are unnecessary and fairly forgettable unless you were already a fan of those books. Imagine my surprise when I found that a lot of these tie-ins were actually enjoyable and greatly enhanced the crossover for me. Frankly, I think some of these tie-ins could have replaced a few issues of the main series.

Let’s go into a bit more detail, shall we? (more…)

Happy Birthday: Marv Wolfman

homeland-1397145Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946, Marvin A. “Marv” Wolfman got his start in comic book fandom before joining DC in 1968. In 1972, he moved to Marvel Comics under editor Roy Thomas.

After Thomas left, Wolfman’s friend Len Wein became editor-in-chief, but  a year later he passed the position on to Wolfman. Wolfman missed writing, however, and chose to step down as editor-in-chief a few years later so he could return to creating the comics himself.

While at Marvel, Wolfman wrote for Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Doctor Strange, but he is possibly best known for his work on Tomb of Dracula, including the creation of the vampire-hunter Blade.

In 1980, Wolfman returned to DC and created The New Teen Titans. He worked on Superman and Night Force, revived Dial H for Hero, and then launched the pivotal Crisis on Infinite Earths.

During the ’90s, Wolfman focused more on animation and television, and in the 2000s he has written a novel based on Crisis on Infinite Earths, the novelization of Superman Returns, and an animated movie, Condor, for Stan Lee’s Pow Entertainment. Wolfman recently took over the writing for DC’s Nightwing series.

In 2007, he wrote a nonfiction book, Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel, which won the National Jewish Book Award and the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, among other honors.

Images of New ‘Iron Man’ Game Armor Revealed

  • News
  • April 11, 2008

One of the staple of comic book videogames is that players can unlock alternate costumes that the characters have had at one time or another. (My favorite is still the Spider-Man costume featuring a paper-bag head, Fantastic Four uniform and "Kick Me" sign pulled from Amazing Spider-Man #258 and available in the Spider-Man videogame that was released with the first film.)

Since Iron Man rarely settled on a suit for very long, it’s no surprise that Sega decided to include a variety of unlockable costumes in the upcoming Iron Man movie-based game in addition to the three models seen in the film.

To add a dash of "Armor Wars" to the eternal war over which console is the best, there will be exclusive armors for different systems: PlayStation 3 gets Ultimate Iron Man from The Ultimates. Xbox 360 gets the Silver Centurion Iron Man from Iron Man #200.

A gallery of 360-degree visuals of all the armor is posted after the jump: (more…)

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