A "Scarier" Ghostbusters?

Is this even possible?  A scary Ghostbusters movie?  If Paul Feig has anything to do with it, that's exactly what we'll get with the upcoming film!  Feig is putting together an all-female lead cast to re-introduce the world to the 80's classic, but he wants to do it with a little more realism.

Instead of returning to the world from the original movie where everybody knows of the existence of ghosts, and to see one is almost commonplace, he wants to follow the story of people coming to grips with the fact that ghosts are real.  That's not to say that we are going to get a Ghostbusters that is more in line with something like The Conjuring, this is still going to be a "comedy," but Feig does want to go darker and a little bit more realistic when it comes to the ghosts, and how his cast reacts to them.

The problem with this is balancing the new vibe of the film with the original.  You don't want to call something a "sequel" and have it not have anything to do with the original film.  Feig thinks that he's found this balance in the script, and has a lot of faith in the cast that they are putting together to pull this off.

Even with the scarier feel of the movie, Feig still promises to make this a PG-13 film.  He doesn't want to alienate anyone from being able to see this movie, and an R rating would limit it to being accessed by only a certain group.  The more the merrier, right?

No release date has been set, and the final draft of the script is still in the works, but the good news is it's being done!

Happy New Year everybody!

What We Know About The Upcoming Daredevil On Netflix

2015 is going to bring us the first program from Netflix that will join the Marvel universe.  With less restrictions than ABC and their Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to them being a paid subscriber provider, this should be one show that you'll want to watch!  But what can we expect from it?

The show stars Ben Affleck...ehem...Charie Cox as the show's hero, Matt Murdoch (sorry, I couldn't resist!)  Luckily, this show will not be returning to any of the 2003 movie's story lines.  Considering that this movie put Affleck in sci-fi jail for a long time, this is a smart move.  Example?  The 2003 movie set out to be a "superhero" flick, where the upcoming television series is going to seem more like a crime drama, with a little superhero stuff thrown in.

Daredevil takes place in the same Marvel universe as the movies, but the story is going to be more localized.  It focuses on his crusade to keep "Hell's Kitchen," the neighborhood where Matt Murdoch grew up, from falling to the gangs and criminals that look to take it over.  This is what Marvel's TV head, Jeph Loeb, had to say on the matter:

"Within the Marvel universe there are thousands of heroes of all shapes and sizes, but the Avengers are here to save the universe and Daredevil is here to save the neighborhood.  It's a very unique look at Hell's Kitchen in New York, where Matt Murdoch grew up and continues to defend it from people who would harm the people that live there."

Loeb continued:

"It does take place in the Marvel cinematic universe.  It's all connected.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that we would look up in the sky and see Iron Man.  It's just a different part of New York that we have not yet seen in the Marvel movies."

The first season (yes, I said first season) will focus on Matt Murdoch, as well as the rise of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin.  Loeb said that Fisk's story arc will be just as important as Murdoch's, and the way that they are writing him may make the viewers a bit sympathetic towards him.  It will follow him before he becomes the Kingpin, when he first falls in love and marries his wife Vanessa, and all of the choices that follow and how those choices begin to mold him into the future crime boss.  Kingpin will be protrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio, who was brilliantly cast into this role.

Daredevil will be more graphic and darker than any Marvel property so far, but don't expect it to be a "rated-R" program.  Even though it will show a lot more violence than past projects, it still remains a family friendly show.  Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight had this to say about the show's content:

"When I came onto this there was no way I wanted to make this a hard-R or NC-17, I don't think the material warrents that.  It is a little grittier and edgier than Marvel has gone before, but we are not looking to push it to extreme graphic violence, gratuitous nudity or anything like that.  The story does not require that and I think would suffer if you pushed it that far."

Daredevil is set to air May 2015 on Netflix.

The Walking Dead Companion Series

AMC and Robert Kirkman's companion series to The Walking Dead is getting ready to start filming in California, but what do we know about the upcoming series?  Here are a few things that I've learned from the web:

First, it'll actually be set in California.  It was originally rumored to be taking place in Pennsylvania, but now things seem to be moving, both for the story and it's location, to California.  The film company could still move the set to Pennsylvania to avoid the high taxes that go along with filming in California, but for now it'll be based in the Golden State.

Second, the cast is going to be more ethnically diverse and feature older "teenagers" within the group.  The former is to try and give viewers more people that they can relate to, while the latter is presumably to avoid the child labor laws that came with filming the original series when they hired Chandler Riggs to play Carl Grimes.  Either way, both of these moves were deliberate to try and expand their audience.

Third, it's going to be set near the beginning of the outbreak.  It's going to show how people were trying to contain the epidemic before it got out of control.

Fourth, we've learned who some of the actors are that will be featured in this series.  The list is as follows:

Cliff Curtis - Male Lead
Kim Dickens - Female Lead
Frank Dillane - Teenager
Alycia Debnam Carey - Teenager

Finally, we learn that this series will not be tied to any storylines from the comic books.  This is an entirely new script that will be unique to itself.  This will allow the creators to try new things and to explore different avenues, without being tied down to following specific canon.

The new The Walking Dead companion series will be airing in the off season of the original show, to give viewers more zombies year round.  Both shows will air on AMC.

First Star Wars Stand Alone Film to Feature Han Solo

Welcome back!  Just a few days left for this year, but the incredible news that has been flowing out of Hollywood is still coming.  Case in point?  We may have just got confirmation that the first Star Wars stand alone movie will be featuring none other than Han Solo!

There have been a lot of rumors across the web hypothesizing who or what the stand alone films will be dealing with.  Some of these rumors included stand alone fims for Obi Wan, Yoda, Boba Fett, and even the Rebel's Rogue Squadron, but it looks like our favorite scruffy smuggler will be their first feature.  It should be noted, though, just because Han Solo will be the focus of the first of the Star Wars stand alone films, that doesn't mean that one or all of the ideas I just listed won't be used, as well.  The Star Wars stand alones will be released in between the "Episode" movies off years.

This information comes to us courtesy of Making Star Wars Editor in Chief Jason Ward., who spoke with someone that is close to the production of this movie.  Here's what Ward told Comicbook.com:

"I generally shy away from reporting too much on the specifics of the stand-alone spin-off Star Wars films because we hear so much stuff it can be difficult to know what to take seriously.  Since there has never been a Star Wars spin-off film like we're about to get, there's no good or bad track record.  For this reason, we're having to rely pretty much entirely on the sources that have panned out for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  So today's information comes from a friend that did give us legit Star Wars: The Force Awakens set photos and more."

Ward also dropped a little bit of a hint as to a possible actor for the film.

"They went on to say the word around the current production at Pinewood is that Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) is looking to be attached to the first Star Wars spin-off in some fashion.  There was no direct implication he was playing Han Solo."
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For those of you who don't know, Pinewood is the studio where the Star Wars movies are being filmed.  Ward also teased that the code name for this production is Luminac Industrial Goods, and filming for this movie will be overlapping with the filming of Episode VII.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released December 18, 2015.

HBO Reboots Westworld As Miniseries

Picture originally posted on Blastr.com

Back in 1979, the late Michael Crichton brought us Westworld, a movie about an amusement park that catered to the rich.  It allowed them to live out their fantasies through the use of robots that would do whatever they wanted them to do.  After the park became plagued by malfunctions, a rogue black-clad robot cowboy from their "Wild West" portion of the park begins to hunt down the tourists.  It was a "dark social commentary on the dangers of our increasingly technologically advanced world," according to Nathalie Caron from Blastr.com.  Think HAL from the 2001 series.

Now, HBO wants to give us their own version of the film in a miniseries that is supposed to be airing late in 2015.  They already have an incredibly strong cast, with the likes of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ed Harris all siged on to the series.  Hopkins is rumored to be playing the park's owner/operator, and Ed Harris is thought to be playing the murderous cowboy android, the Man in Black.

Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar) will be writing and producing Westworld, along with JJ Abrams.  Lisa Joy, one of the co-creators, said this of the series:

"It's sci-fi but mashed-up with a Western.  We get to look backward and forward."

Here's what Nolan said about the series:

"What we can tell you is that we intend to make the most ambitious, subversive, f-ked-up television series.  The things that keep you up at night, any of those things that trouble you...that is exactly what this show is about."

With a description like that, how could you not want to watch this thing?  Can't wait for it to air!

The Fast And The Furious Director Joins Star Trek 3

As I had reported earlier on this blog, Roberto Orci was released from the director's chair on the upcoming Star Trek 3 movie, and it sent the studio scrambling to find a new person to helm the picture.

Enter Justin Lin.  He is one of the most highly sought after director in the business right now.  He is credited for turning around the Fast and Furious franchise into the money making behemoth that it is today, as well as critically acclaimed show True Detective that aired on HBO.  Most importantly, he is one of the few directors in Hollywood that can handle directing a big-budget film like this, finish it on schedule, and release an amazing final product...as long as the script doesn't suck!

It's been said that Orci was released from his contract after some disagreements came up as to which direction they were wanting to take the movie.  Paramount wanted him to make changes to the film so it more resembled The Gaurdians of the Galaxy.  This makes sense (sarcasm) because we haven't been given one of these movies since, oh, a few months ago.  And why not?  They've got Zoe Saldana already, and she can just reprise her role as Gamora.  Sheesh!

With Lin now in the director's chair (and it should be mentioned that Orci will stay on as one of the movie's executive producers), it now looks like Star Trek 3 is on track for a 2016 release date, which Paramount was desperate to make so it would coincide with the franchise's 50th anniversary.  We don't know if the script changes being made to the film will include getting rid of the "time traveling" aspect, which was rumored to be the reason they were courting William Shatner to return as James T. Kirk.  If I hear anything regarding this, I'll be sure to let you know.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Make sure you catch my YouTube channel tomorrow, new episodes post every Friday morning!

New Star Wars Figures Leak Online

As a Christmas Eve present to all of my loyal readers, I thought it be nice to let you see some of the prototypes of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures that leaked online from a Chinese website.

As you can probably recognize, the one on the far right is Peter Mayhew's Chewbacca.  This one is much more detailed than the original Kenner figures, which leads me to believe that they are going to be apart of the Star Wars Black line.

The other figures, listed from left to right, are Kylo Ren (it hasn't been announced who this character is being played by officially), John Boyega's Finn (as you can see, he isn't in his Stormtrooper outfit here), Daisy Ridley's Rey, and the round droid that was the star of the trailer release, BB-8.

As I said in the previous paragraph, there hasn't been an announcement as to who will be playing Kylo Ren, but with the release of this photograph, it has lead many to speculate that it will be played by Gwendoline Christie, from the television show Game of Thrones.  Christie measures in at 6'3", and has been rumored for the part.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and even though it will be a holiday, I'll be back tomorrow giving you more news from around the Fanboy Universe!

New Batman V Superman Details Leak Online

I guess that it goes without saying that if you don’t want to know anything about the upcoming DC team up movie, then you should probably stop reading this…

…Still with me?  Okay, good!  So some details have emerged online about the upcoming trailer for the new Batman V Superman movie, and on top of these details, it also talks about some of the possible plot points.  Ready to get started?

According to Badass Digest, the movie takes place in Metropolis (duh.) with Superman protecting the city from its bad guys.  He’s living a double life as Superman and Clark Kent, the latter working for The Daily Planet and now living with Lois Lane.  Things start to go south for the Kryptonian after Lois, who is in the Middle East, gets into some trouble, and Superman flies over there to save her.  This sets off an international incident because the other countries around the world see Superman as a “tool of the United States.”  Countries like China even refuse to allow him to fly into their air space.  Many people, including many Americans, see Superman as a danger and a threat to humanity.  The fight that took place between Superman and Zod didn’t help him in this viewpoint, considering the entire city of Metropolis was nearly destroyed during their fight.

So where does Batman figure into all of this?  I mean, it is called Batman V Superman, right?

Over at Movie Pilot, they posted what is supposed to be the breakdown of the new, upcoming trailer for the movie.  It reads like this:

“The trailer opens to the Man of Steel ending during the chaos and destruction in Metropolis as Ben Affleck narrates something along the lines of, ‘…the world has changed with the arrival of the Kryptonians.’

Cut to Affleck in his Batsuit and he asks whether Superman is here to save us…  Or destroy us?  Before revealing…’I’m going to find out’

At which point…we cut to a shot of the Batman v Superman logo.”

I’m not really surprised at the direction that Zach Snyder is taking the movie.  He seemed to be going that route with Man of Steel, and I’m curious how the world reacts to the introduction of Aquaman and Wonder Woman.  They aren’t “aliens,” necessarily, but they aren’t human either.  Whatever happens, I think it’s pretty safe to say that all hell is going to break loose!

Batman V Superman is set to be released May 25, 2016.

Could This Be Our Next James Bond?

Welcome back!  I gotta tell you, the leaks from the Sony hacks just keep giving us more and more information on the direction that they are wanting to take their movies.  This next one, though, I think was their best one yet!

Meet Idris Elba.  Most people here in the United States probably aren't too familiar with him, but our friends across the pond sure are.  If you are here in the States and you have Netflix, make sure you watch the BBC program Luther.  If you like police/crime dramas, you are going to love this show!

So how did we get to this point?  Back on January 4th of this past year, Amy Pascal (co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment) sent an email to Elizebeth Cantillon, formerly the executive vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, which is also the the company that distributes the James Bond films, telling her that she wanted Idris Elba to be the next James Bond.  It's not an earth shattering reveal, mind you, but let's consider the facts: fans have been petitioning for years to get Elba to be selected as the next James Bond.  Also, back in 2012, Elba had a meeting with Barbara Broccoli, the franchise's producer, to discuss this possibility.  Now that one of the big wigs up at Sony wants to make this happen?  Things are definitely looking like this could happen.

The current James Bond is being played by Daniel Craig, and after the upcoming James Bond film Spectre is released next year, he has one more Bond film left to do under his contract.  Craig has shown no interest in continuing his role as James Bond after his contract expires, so within the next six or seven years, we may have our new James Bond in the wildly talented Idris Elba!

If You Like My Blog...

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Actors Get Together To Perform Live Reading Of The Empire Strikes Back

Last night in Los Angeles, a group of actors were brought together by director Jason Reitman (you may know him from the movie Juno) to do a live reading of  The Empire Strikes Back. This is an unusual departure from other live readings, because this movie relied more heavily on special effects and action than actual dialogue.  Most live readings choose films that are comedies or dramas due to the fact that it gives the actors a better opportunity to perform their craft.  To be fair, though, The Empire Strikes Back probably had the best dialogue out of all of the Star Wars movies.

The other interesting thing involving this reading were the actor choices for each role.  Here's the list:

Luke Skywalker - Aaron Paul
Han Solo - Ellen Page
Princess Leia - Jessica Alba
Darth Vader - JK Simmons
C-3P0 - Stephen Merchant
Lando Calrissian - Dennis Haysbert
Yoda - Kevin Pollak

Wait...what?  Ellen Page as Han Solo?  Yep!  Here's what Reitman told EW on why he chose Ellen Page for the role.

"In casting Han, the most important thing is: who has the most interesting, ironic approach to life?  And when I think of that, I think of Ellen Page.  She's a small human being who has the energy to fill Madison Square Garden."

Tickets sold out for this event ages ago, and they actually had to move it from it's original location at the Loss Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to a bigger theater that was downtown to accomodate the larger audience.

I would have loved to have been able to attend this show!  Can you imagine Kevin Pollak performing Yoda in his Christopher Walken voice?  Okay, I'm sure he didn't do it that way, but still...pretty funny, right?

Meet Jeff 1000

 

 

I thought that I'd give you all something different for today.  Instead of writing about things that are coming up, I wanted to give you a peek at something that you can watch right now.  It's well made, it's funny, and most importantly...it stars Summer Glau!

 

A few of my friends believe that Ms. Glau is toxic for a television show, mainly because they seem to be canceled after they feature her(i.e. The Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Firefly, Dollhouse,) but I disagree completely!  She has made many appearances on programs that are still at the top of their game, as well as the ratings(i.e. Arrow, The Big Bang Theory.)  Not only is she an amazing actress, but she always livens up the show. She is every fanboy's crush, just like Carrie Fisher was to the fanboys of the 70's and 80's as Princess Leia.  She knows this genre, and plays to her strengths, and even pokes fun at it a little!

 

Case in point: Summer Glau is starring in a "trilogy of shorts" in a new webseries which she plays herself, along side her friend, Jeff.  Jeff is a novice in Hollywood, having moved out there from a small town where he used to work at an automobile factory.  Oh, and he's a ten foot tall robot.

 

The chemistry between these two is terrific, and the shorts are hilarious!  If you have time today to give this a watch, you should.  It's not very long, and it will definately brighten up your day!  Don't forget to watch The Comconocave tomorrow, new episodes air every Friday!  Okay, here's the link:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIWcRU38ls

 

See you tomorrow!

Fan Art Gets Response From Stephen Amell

Okay, so this post doesn't exactly fall under the "comic book news" category, but I liked reading about this one, so I thought I'd share it.  There's been a poster making its way around the web that a fan made showing what he/she thinks will take place in the upcoming second half of season three.  Check it out:



Pretty cool, huh?  Well, it's so cool, that Stephen Amell went onto his Facebook page and responded to the fan art with, "We have some clever fans."

Now, there has been some speculation that Amell just gave away the secret to his resurrection (the arm holding the arrow looks to be rising out of the Lazarus Pit,) but I think that he was referring more to the ingenuity of the fan in coming up with this art work.  Does this mean I've changed my mind about the Lazarus Pit's role in the upcoming episodes?  Of course not!  Too many things point to this taking place.  For soome examples on this, read my earlier blogs regarding this subject.

Stephen Amell is a huge fan of social media, and constantly goes online to talk to the fans directly...one of the very few that do this.  He doesn't take the show's popularity for granted, or his fans.  He has been unusually quiet online though, ever since the mid-season finale.  Once it aired, he teased, "It was a good run."

So what do you think his post meant?  Was he giving away how his resurrection takes place, or was he just complimenting the artist who made the poster?  Give me your thoughts in the comment section, and I'll see you all again tomorrow!

The Gotham Television Series Almost Looked A Lot Different

Gotham has been one of the more popular comic book based television series to be introduced this year, along with Flash and the ever increasing in popularity Constantine.  But few people know that while this version of the show was being created, another vision of a prequel was also in development.

Harry Locke IV had envisioned his own idea for a show that featured the city as it's title character.  He had put together his ideas, and with the help of some friends and producing partners that had faith in his idea, was introduced to a former 'showrunner' from the Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman to help bring together his idea so that he could pitch it to the studios.  They put together a flow of how the show would work from week to week, and were going to make an impresive presentation.  But things never got to that point.

Unbeknownst to Locke, the studio was in the process of developing their own version of a Batman prequel, and his idea never got to see the light of day.  Since the show is up and running, and seems to be doing quite well, Locke and his developing team decided to reveal their own version of the show for people to read.  Here's the synopsis of their idea, courtesy of Blastr.com:

The home of the Dark Knight viewed through the eyes of its citizen’s greatest threat…themselves.

Synopsis: A world asphyxiating on its own blood and moral depravity, GOTHAM thrusts us into a community at its breaking point, barreling headlong into urban warfare with the greatest gallery of rogues known to man smelling blood in the water. Winter is upon the dark city, and its citizens are being ushered towards an inevitable confrontation against a most vicious threat… their own sins.

Olivia Sage, a struggling 21-year-old college physics student, reluctantly returns home to Gotham City following the grisly murder of her younger sister. Amidst mourning her death and tending a frayed relationship with her father, she finds the sprawling megalopolis quickly becoming engulfed by a powerful new hallucinogenic derived from Joker Venom. The drug spreads rapidly from the city’s underbelly and into its mainstream consciousness, igniting urban warfare in its wake, and exposing a corrupt political façade teetering on the edge of collapse.

GOTHAM seeks to bring forth the creation of an episodic fiction series that explores the famed city of DC Comics through an unfamiliar perspective, the lives of its very inhabitants. For over 50 years, fans around the world have made countless trips to a nightmare built from stone and metal, witnessing the world’s most revered heroes and despised villains engage in colossal warfare. However, these stories have often utilized Gotham City as a backdrop to the action, viewing the city on a macro level to the trials and tribulations survived by its patron guardian… until now. GOTHAM takes us into the city deeper than ever before, bringing specific focus to the unknown inhabitants that make the city come to life, and offering a glimpse at daily survival under the constant threat of super-villains, inexplicable supernatural occurrences, and the looming presence of an unpredictable entity known only as The Batman. 

It's a pretty good idea, and his vision of showing the decline of Gotham from a "regular" person's point of view is pretty imaginative.  Where Locke's version shows what's going on in the city from the "every man's" point of view, the current version is from a title character in James Gordan.  Also, in Locke's version, the villians already exist, and so does Batman.  The current version is long before Batman is even a thought.

So what do you think?  Would you have rather seen Locke's vision of Gotham, or are you enjoying the current program?  I would have enjoyed to see a pilot episode of the former at least, just to get a better idea of the direction it would have taken, but alas...

The Mid Season Finale For Flash And Arrow

Welcome back!  Did everyone have a good weekend?  Hope so!  Okay, enough of the pleasantries, let’s get to it!

Like I said last week, today I’m going to talk about the mid-season finales of the Flash and Arrow.  Let’s start with the first of the two that aired…the Flash!  And in case you weren’t warned at the end of last week’s episode, there will be spoilers, so be warned!

At the end of the mid-season finale of the Flash, there were a couple of questions answered, but more questions were raised.  First of all, a lot of people have been trying to figure out who exactly Dr. Harrison Wells is, and at the end of the episode, we learned that apparently Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash.  This still doesn’t answer the question as to who Dr. Wells is!  Okay, so Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash, but does he actually have the natural ability to super speed like Barry Allen has, or does he need the tachyons in order to power the suit?  If he does, then how was he able to change his voice like Barry does?  Is this through some futuristic gizmo?  And why was Eddie Thawne left alive?  In the DC universe, Eddie is ‘Professor Zoom,’ or better known as the ‘Reverse Flash.’  Does this mean that Dr. Wells is a future version of Eddie that has traveled back in time to change things?  If he’s not Eddie, then why didn’t he kill Iris like he threatened to?  If Dr. Wells isn’t Eddie, then who is he?  Like I said, a lot of questions were answered, but more have been raised…

Next, let’s tackled Arrow!  Oliver Queen is dead!  Yeah, okay, I don’t buy this one, either, but as far as we know, he died at the hands of Ra’s ah Ghul.  The first thing I had a problem with was during the fight, Oliver didn’t fight like the ‘Arrow,’ he fought like a clumsy oaf.  He looked nothing like the Starling City protector that we’ve been watching the last two and a half seasons.  That said, how are they going to bring back Oliver?  Because, let’s be honest, he’s coming back!  I think that they are going to be turning to the Lazarus Pit!  My guess is that Maseo Yamashiro is going to find his body, and drag him to the pit to be healed.  Why do I think that they are going to introduce the Pit in the series?  In the episode, Ra’s said that he hasn’t been challenged in 67 years…67 years?  The gut doesn’t look old enough to be out of his 50’s!  He also says that he’s killed thousands since his first kill at the age of eleven.  This one is harder to date, but dude…really? Thousands?  Need a lifetime or two to do that! 

Like I said, I think Maseo Yamashiro finds Oliver’s body, takes him to the pit and heals him/brings him back to life, because they were once friends.  Oliver is a little bit crazy when he comes too, and Ra’s takes him into the League of Assassins.  Why would he do this when he just killed him, you ask?  Nyssa didn’t believe Oliver when he told her he killed Sara, so why would Ra’s?  Ra’s takes advantage of Oliver in his messed-up state, and brings him into the league.  This probably means that Maseo will die, but what are you going to do, right?  I have know idea how this will play out afterwards.  Maybe a fight between him and Atom?  Maybe Deathstroke?  We know Slade is coming back this season, so maybe we’ll get to see a rematch?

These are all just guesses, so don’t take anything I say too seriously, but if you have any thoughts on the matter, you should let me know so I can share them.  Either way, we only have several more weeks to go until we start to find out.  I don’t know if I can contain myself until then…can you? 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Releases The New Character's Names

Well, this is pretty cool.  Disney and JJ Abrams have released the names of the new Star Wars characters a la old-school Topps trading cards!  You remember Topps trading cards, right?  They came with a group of cards featuring pictures from the movie, as well as a concrete stick of what they tried to pawn off as "gum."  Here's a picture of what was released online.  By the way, the water mark that show Entertainment Weekly isn't really on the cards, they were just the ones who released the photo!

These things are AWESOME!!!  My only complaint so far is that I haven't read anyplace that these tings are actually going to be made available!  I realize that if they were going to be sold, it more than likely wouldn't be until after the film's release, so they don't give too much away before hand, but at least throw us a bone and tell us these are going to be for sale!  JJ Abrams did say that there is some significance to the numbers on each of the cards, but what they mean is still a mystery.  If anyone reading this can figure it out, let me know!

One of the people not featured on the cards is Andy Serkis' character (or 'characters',) but some news as to who he will be playing seemed to have leaked online.  Star Wars Underworld reports that Serkis' character is old..so old that he "looks like a zombie almost risen from the dead."  The 'zombie' reference seems to imply that he has some "unnatural" powers, according to Making Star Wars.

International Business Times reported that his character is is extremely old, and is someone who has existed for a very long time. They also say that he is "some kind of alien Sith exempt from the Rule of Two."  He apparently is a very powerful Sith who either trained Palpatine, or was using him for his own purposes.  As I've mentioned before, Serkis' character will also play a large part in Rey's backstory.  Rey is Daisy Ridley's character who was previously thought to be named Kira.

I was going to discuss the season finales of both Flash and Arrow today, but wanted to make sure that I gave enough time for people who may have missed them when they aired to watch them.  I don't want to spoil anything for anyone...yet!  So be warned!  Monday I'll be talking about these two shows, and giving my opinions on what we might expect come January!

The Hacks at Sony Reveal...23 Jump Street Meets Men In Black???

So, did everyone get to watch the mid-season finale of Arrow last night?  I was right! Who'd a thunk it?

Alright, let's get to it.  As everyone had probably heard by now, Sony had been hacked and a lot of their emails were released online.  This has been giving the company some pretty big headaches, but has given us a plethora of movie news!

First off, we've learned that the talks between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures regarding the inclusion of Spiderman into the Avengers universe may not be dead after all.  It had previously been reported that they had talked about possibly featuring Spiderman in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War with Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures negotiating a "co-production effort," with Marvel taking on 60% of the cost, and Sony covering the other 40%.  That deal ended up going nowhere.

...Except the even bigger big-wigs at Sony Pictures' parent company, Sony, heard about this possible deal, and are now pushing to get it done.  Who could blame them?  They have a multi-billion dollar franchise that they've screwed up so badly that it's not even pulling in a single billion!  Marvel, on the other hand, can almost make that with just one of their movies.  A lot of this comes down to writing and execution, which Sony has been able to butcher over the last couple of movies, and Marvel keeps hitting out of the park.  Will we get to see Spiderman in the Avengers universe any time soon?  We'll just have to wait and see!

Next we have news that Columbia Pictures (which is owned by Sony) is considering "rebooting" the Men In Black franchise...but not in the traditional sense.  Two years after the release of Men In Black 3, (sidenote: this movie pulled in $600 million dollars globally, but Columbia Pictures ended up losing money on the film) it has been revealed to us by the hackers that Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal is wanting to bring the franchise back by crossing it over with another one of their franchises...the upsoming 23 Jump Street!  According to the leaked emails, Jonah Hill, one of the two stars of the Jump Street franchise and one of it's producers, was quoted as saying, "jump street merging with mib i think that's clean and rad and powerful."

There aren't any details as to when the movie would be released, but the Wall Street Journal reports that it's looking at 2016 or 2017.  There is also no news as to if Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones would be reprising their rolls, or if they would be bringing in new agents for the film.  It might even be possible that they are going to put Hill and Channing Tatum into the black suits for this one.

So what do you think about these leaked emails?  Is what you've read here good ideas, or bad?  Leave your thoughts in the comments, and I'll be back with more news tomorrow! 

Did (SPOILER!) Really Kill Sara on ARROW?

Tonight's Arrow looks to be an amazing mid-season finale, with commercials showing what could be an epic fight between Oliver and Ra's al Ghul, but one of the international trailers for tonight's show seemed to reveal who killed the Canary.  If you want to be surprised by tonight's episode, you may want to stop reading this, because there are going to be a lot of spoilers coming up...

...Still with me? Cool!  During the international trailer, and one that was released online here in the United States, Felicity gets a phone call from S.T.A.R. Labs, and they were able to put together the fragmented DNA that was pulled from the arrows that killed Sara Lance, and when Felicity runs the DNA through her computer system to find a match, it comes back as...Oliver!

Marc Guggenheim loves to misdirect us with his commercials and tease us every chance he gets, so I feel it's pretty safe to say Oliver isn't the killer...probably.  Unless he was being mind-controlled, unless he has a soap opera style long-lost twin bother, or unless he has been cloned, I'm pretty sure he's innocent.  So why did the DNA come up as a match to Oliver?

In order for the DNA to point to Oliver, it's coding had to be so close, so precise to match his that it could only come from another member of his family.  So, who's the only living relative Oliver has left?  Could Thea be the one that killed Sara?  With her under Malcolm Merlin's wing now, this seems to be a more plausible answer.  However, if Thea did kill Sara, this begs to ask the question why?  I have no good answers to this question, if this is indeed the case, so we'll just have to keep watching to find out!  By the way, in case you need to be told, these scenarios are pure speculation on my part, and have not been confirmed.  Duh.

Speaking of Arrow, Marc Guggenheim, and international trailers, there's one that was released showing footage of the new A.T.O.M. exo-suit, and it created a lot of excitement on the web...but not because people were loving it.  Many fans around the web were complaining that it looked too close to the Fallout 3 exo-suit, and were calling it a rip off.  They had good reason to think this...because they were right!

In an interview with Russ Burlingame, Marc Guggenheim said that they always have to produce a rough cut of each episode to show the studio and the network, and when they do this, it's way before any of the special effect have been included, like arrows flying through the air, explosions, or...an A.T.O.M. exo-suit!  In order to give the studio an idea of what will show up, they pull images from around the web and insert them into the places that are still being completed, so they have a better picture of the completed scene.  He said they usually stamp "TEMP VFX" over the image, but when they sending out promotional commercials to the international market so they have an idea of what's coming up, they leave it off.  Someone screwed up, thought it was the final cut, and BAM!  It aired in the foreign markets.  Whoops!

Guggenheim said not to worry, though.  The Arrow A.T.O.M. exo-suit is going to kick ass, and he can't wait for it's reveal!  Arrow's mid-season finale airs tonight a 8 pm EST on The CW.

SyFy Channel To Develop New "Krypton" Television Show

With the popularity of shows like Arrow, The Flash, Constantine, Gotham, The Walking Dead, Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the upcoming Marvel: Agent Carter, comic book properties have never been in higher demand by television studios.  We already know that there is a Supergirl television show in the works, as well as a live-action Teen Titans show that starts filming next year.  So what else could they possibly want to bring us from the universes of Marvel, DC, or one of the many other publishers?

Enter David Goyer.  He is going to be producing a new hour long, live-action drama called Krypton, which will be airing on the SyFy channel.  Ian Goldberg, who will be one of the executive producers of the show, will be writing the script.

Both Goyer and Goldberg have experience with the Kryptoninan universe, since both of them write for DC, and Goyer was lead writer for the Man Of Steel movie, with Christopher Nolan also credited as well. (IMDB)  Because of this, we think that a lot of Goyer's influence for the planet Krypton will come from the first part of the Man Of Steel movie, as well as from John Byrne's World of Krypton mini series.  This comic book told tales of Krypton long before Superman had been born, and may lend to some of the planned storylines. 

As the series title indicates (for those of you familiar with the Superman storyline, which is, well...everybody!) it takes place long before Kal-El had been born and rocketed to Earth, right before the destruction of his home planet.  According to Comicbook.com's writer, Russ Burlingame, the shows official synopsis "talks about a time when the House of El was 'shamed and ostracized.'"  Because of this, we believe we can expect to see characters like The Eradicator and Brainiac show up, with possibilities for Mertron and Doomsday showing up in future seasons.

In order to get the show right, it's going to cost quite a bit of money, and it may never measure up to the incredible look that the movie Man Of Steel gave the planet.  Let's hope that the smaller budget of the show doesn't diminish the grandeur of the planet.

Star Trek 3 Loses Director Orci, Production Shut Down Temperalily

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  It's Monday, so let's jump right in...

Just a few months after Roberto Orci was announced as the director of the upcoming Star Trek 3 movie, it was revealed last week that he no longer has that job.  This came as a bit of a surprise, Orci had been lobbying for the job after J.J. Abrams left the director's chair to helm the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie.  Orci has been a writer and producer for the previous two Star Trek movies, and this one was set to be his directorial debut.

At the time of the announcement that Orci was no longer the director of the upcoming film, no reason had been given.  But sources close to the set and company revealed that it may have had more to do with a disagreement on the script, rather than lack of faith in the newbie director. 

According to these sources, the script focused on the crew of the Enterprise, the Vulcans, and an unnamed new alien race.  The three groups are all trying to get their hands on a time-traveling device.  The Vulcans want it so they can go back and stop the destruction of their home planet of Vulcan.  If they were able to do this, it would essentially "reset" the entire Star Trek universe again, making what happened in the previous two movies pointless.  This storyline would explain how they were planning on bring the younger Kirk face to face with his older counterpart.  The rejection of this storyline may have been what led to Orci's firing.  Even though Orci is no longer the director, he will still have a producer's credit on the upcoming film.

With Orci out, they need to have someone take over as director, and soon, too.  Paramount Pictures is still aiming to have the movie released in 2016, just in time to capitalize off of Star Trek's 50th anniversary.  The list for new directors is short, with Edgar Wright's name leading the pack.  There is also an online petition going on that is trying to get the studio to hire Star Trek alumn Jonathan Frakes.  There had been no word from Frakes or Paramount regarding this petition.

Is This The Guy Who Killed The Waynes On Gotham?

There have been two burning questions that have been ongoing with the television series Gotham. 

One is, "Who turns out to be the Joker?"  Creators of the series have said that they are going to introduce characters in each episode that could potentially become the Clown Prince of Crime in an effort to keep you guessing and to keep watching.  With regards to this question, I hope that they don't give him an origin story.  He doesn't really have one in the comic books, and I don't think he needs one.  He just..."is," you know?

The second question, and the one that they seem to be building up an answer to, is "Who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne?"  The people at Legends of Gotham seemed to think that they've figured it out. 

The question of who killed the Wayne's has been the heart of the show, while not always being at the forefront of each episode.  Detective James Gordan has been following every lead and every potential witness to this case, even though it has been officially closed.  His investigation has introduced him to a number of soon-to-be prominent Batman characters, with Selena Kyle being his best bet on solving the murder.  She witnessed the attack that took place in the alley, and has even given a sketch artist a description of what he looks like.  One of the clues that she gave Gordan was that the killer wore "shiny shoes."  That line seemed a little trivial, but there may have been more to that clue than people had realized at the time.

Here's what they are saying over at Legends of Gotham: Do you remember the guy in the purple suit that was at the police station during the pilot episode?  No? Neither did I, but I went back and re-watched it to better familiarize myself with the guy.  He yells at Bullock for stepping on his shoes.  His "shiny" shoes. I know, that's not enough to make the case, but then in episode nine, when Selina gives the sketch artist the description of the guy, it looks remarkably like this same guy from the pilot episode!  Why would the writers expect anybody to remember a character that had a fleeting scene in the pilot episode?  It kind of makes sense...

If you want to see their whole theory and the proof that they've laid out, go onto YouTube and watch their video.  It's titled "WE solve the Wayne Murder on Gotham."

Lastly, it's Friday.  I'll be off over the weekend (maybe) but I'll be back on Monday.  In the mean time, check out my new video on YouTube.  Just type in "Comconocave" and enjoy more news for fanboys, nerds, and geeks! 

Is Miller Working On A Third Dark Knight Comic Book?

Back in 1986, I was a huge Uncanny X-Men fan and I followed them every week.  I couldn't see any other comic book character being better than them...and so I missed out on Frank Miller's The Dark Knight. 

Miller's dark and gritty version of an older Bruce Wayne was so authentic, so original, that it became an instant hit.  Fans had never seen a Bruce Wayne or Batman like this before.  Soon, other comic book writers and artists began to emulate Miller's work, and Batman became the fan favorite that it is today.

Jump ahead fifteen years, and Frank Miller released The Dark Knight Strikes Again.  While this one didn't have the same impact on the character or the comic book business that the original had, it was still an incredible read...no matter what the critics thought.  This second story elaborated on the character Carrie Kelley, who was first introduced to us in The Dark Knight.  She became the new Robin, but in this sequel she found her own personality and costume.

So now we are twelve years removed from that second storyline, and Miller is fighting some health issues.  He's not able to do the work that he once was, but is still as imaginative as ever, and is engaged in discussions with DC to do one more Dark Knight comic book. 

Now, mind you, these discussions that are going on doesn't mean that anything concrete has been agreed to, but the fact that they are happening is exciting in itself.  According to reports, Frank Miller and Scott Snyder (the latter is the current writer for Batman) are collaborating on a third installment in the storyline that jumps ahead even farther in the future of the Batman universe with an aging Carrie Kelley who is looking for a successor to take up the fight of protecting the city after she's gone.

Since Miller won't be doing the art work for this run, DC is considering hiring a different artist for each of the issues of the miniseries.  Some of the names that have popped up for this include Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, and Greg Capullo.

The timing of this isn't too surprising.  With the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice coming out next year, releasing this series within the next couple of years would be great for sales, especially if the movie boosts interest in both the Superman and Batman.  This may be one of the final story lines we get from the great Frank Miller, and to cap off a storyline that changed the Batman universe forever would be terrific bow to, and for, his fans.

The Return Of A Major Arrow Villian This Season

With the epic cross-over event finishing up tonight between the Flash and Arrow, I thought I'd throw out a little SPOILER for you regarding a future episode of Arrow.  Be warned!

MTV is reporting (wait, MTV???) that Manu Bennett will be returning to the show in season three's 14th episode to reprise his roll as Deathstroke.  A little recap for those not familiar: Slade Wilson, a.k.a Deathstroke, was the major baddie from season two.  He swore vengeance against Oliver Queen over the death of his love, Shado.  He created an army of super soldiers with the help of the Mirakuru drug to help him destroy Starling City, which Oliver swore to protect, and began attacking Oliver through a series of mind games and attacks, one of which left Moria Queen (Ollie's mother) dead.  In an EPIC three episode finale, Arrow and Deathstroke finally fight in a battle that was being built up to since the first episode of the season.  Arrow beats Deathstroke (obviously!) and he sends him to a prison on the island of Lian Yu, the same island that they both had been stranded on for the better part of two years. Before Oliver leaves Deathstroke, Slade swears to escape and exact his revenge against Oliver.

Fast forward to season three.  We haven't heard anything about Slade Wilson yet this season, so the fact that they are bringing him back so quickly is a bit of a surprise.  They haven't said whether it's just a quick appearance of him in the prison, or if he escapes and will be playing a bigger roll as season three progresses, but since Bennett is a HUGE fan favorite, any glimpse of Deathstroke is going to be big!

(...can you imagine a fight between him, Ra's al Ghul, and Arrow in the season three finale???)

Is Harrison Wells A Character From The 80's Super Friends?

This picture was posted at Comicbook.com.

A lot of people are speculating on who exactly Harrison Wells is on CW's The Flash, and one very smart person on Facebook may have found the answer.

Jonathan Corbitt found and episode of  The Super Friends that featured one "Dr. Wells," although no first name was given.  The episode's title is "The Elevator To Nowhere," and it only runs around eight minutes long.  The episode features Wonder Woman and the Atom.  They're summoned by a Dr. Wells, who tells them that he's underground and they can reach him by taking an elevator. It turns out that the "elevator" is actually a time machine and Wonder Woman and the Atom end up having to travel through time, escape capture, return to the present, and capture Dr. Wells.

Now, I watched this show religiously when I was a kid, but I don't remember this episode. I'm going to see if they have it available on Netflix this afternoon.  I'm curious to watch this episode again.  That being said, the similarities between the two characters are extroidinary.  Not only do their appearances look the same, that is if Tom Cavanagh were an 80's cartoon character, but the whole time traveling angle jibes as well.  Could Harrison Well's little secret room be his "elevator?"  Geoff Johns is an executive producer on the show, and it's reported that he does contribute to the creative process.  His knowledge on all things DC is extensive, so who's to say he didn't find this guy from the cartoon and expand on who he is?

What do you think?  Does this sound plausible?  What are your theories on who Harrison Wells really is?  Leave a comment and let me know!

The Superman Movie That Never Was...

There has been a lot of interest in the never-made movie Superman Lives that was to be directed by Tim Burton back in the 1990's, and the fact that there's been interest in this now defunk film amazes me.

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Tim Burton films, with the one exception being his original Batman starring Michael Keaton.  When I first heard that Keaton was tapped to play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, I was a little upset because I didn't think that he'd be able to pull it off.  I was happy to be proven wrong, and the dark tone of the movie made it one of my all time favorites.  In keeping with hiring what sounds like the wrong actors for certain roles, Tim Burton's Superman Lives movie has been releasing names of the actors they wanted for character roles in the film that just make me scratch my head and go, "Huh?"

Burton had hired Nicholas Cage to play Clark Kent/Superman (Huh?) who was to be appearing as the '90's version of Clark after the "Death of Superman" storyline that rocked that horrible mullet.  The only thing that I think Cage could have pulled off in this role was the mullet.  I've seen too many of Nicholas Cages movies to just be thinking, "What the hell were they thinking?"  I know I was wrong about Keaton in the role of Bruce Wayne, but he's a talent actor.  Cage is...well, Cage.

The most recent reveal about this film comes from CinemaBlend.com, and it tells us that the villian in this film was going to be Brainiac, a robotic nightmare that traveled the universe collecting cities from planets, shrinking them down in size and bottling them up before destroying the rest of the planet, making him the single greatest mass murderer in the entire universe.  So who were they going to get to play this diabolical android?

Enter Jim Carrey!  Carrey had experience working in the Burton universe, having played the Riddler in the Joel Schumacher directed film Batman Forever, and was the front runner to play Brainiac in the movie, with Gary Oldman as their second choice.  It isn't hard to picture Jim Carrey as the green-skinned Brainiac, since we've seen him in the movie The Mask, but I've also seen him in The Mask and can't help asking that question, "Huh?"

This seems to be the worst-cast movie ever to never be made, and I'm thankful that it was shelved.  Even though I would never have gone to see it, just being made would have set the franchise back even farther than it was with the release of Superman Returns.  The interest in this movie-that-never-was isn't really that hard to understand, even though as I said it still amazes me.  People always enjoy the "what if's" of Hollywood, but in this case, I am thankful that this what if never was.