Did Marvel Just Rewrite Venom's Origin...Again?

                               

In this week's issue of Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars comic, Marvel "revealed" the true nature behind Venom's twisted nature.

In the original Secret Wars that was published back in the 80's, Venom was created by Spider-Man "thinking" of a new costume after his was damaged in a fight with a bunch of bad guys.  A black glob appeared in front of him, and it proceeded to spread all over his body.  Later, it was revealed to be a symbiote that was latching itself onto Spidey's mind and body, and after Spider-Man got rid of the "costume," it became Venom, one of Marvel's greatest villains of all time.

Okay, that was the short and sweet. 

Deadpool wasn't around for the original Secret Wars publication, but as Marvel has shown, that doesn'tt mean he wasn't there!  In their fourth Secret Wars (yes, fourth.  There was Secret Wars, Secret Wars 2, then they had a four issue mini-series of a redrawing of the first, and now this one) they've infused Deadpool into the story, and before Spidey got his new costume, it showed that Deadpool actually created the black glob and attached itself to him.  Because it's a symbiote, it latched onto his memories and thoughts which is what caused him to be so twisted.  Deadpool was able to remove the symbiote before Spider-Man arrived and then the story picks up where the original one did, showing Spider-Man getting the new black costume, not knowing that it was forever tainted by Deadpool.

This was a great way to explain Venom's evil nature, since they showed that the planet that the symbiotes live on is actually one of peace.  In Guardians of the Galaxy, they recently traveled to this planet, and the symbiotes were able to rid Venom of his "mental corruption, allowing current host Flash Thompson to fully tap into its full power."

This was probably one of the best rewrites that has ever been done in comics!

Marvel's Fresh Take On Spider-Man

I was reading an article on Comicbook.com and they were talking about how Marvel tries to keep all of their properties fresh by giving each one of them their own "genres" to work with.  They pointed out how Ant-Man was a heist movie, Captain America dealt with espionage, and Guardians of the Galaxy was a space opera.  So where will Spider-Man fall and into which category?  According to their writers, it will be an action and "John Hughes style" of comedy.  Color me intrigued!  So how do you get that particular feel for a movie?  You go to the writers that just finished the reboot of Hughes' Vacation, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.  Here's what they said about the whole thing in an interview with Deadline:

"Our agent helped get our foot in the door with Marvel, sending them a script we had written, and letting them know our track record and that we'd love to move from broad comedy to action and action comedy.  Also, it helped that Kevin Feige wanted to draw on the spirit of John Hughes for this Spider-Man, and we had just written and directed a sequel to a John Hughes-created franchise with Vacation.  We'd pitched ourselves to both write and direct, and so our pitch included a pretty extensive story outline that appealed to them.  After Jon Watts got the directing job, they came back and asked if we would be interested in doing the script.  The answer was, yes."

After explaining that they are currently in the early stages of writing the script, they continued:

"Lot of specifics still have to be worked out, and we'll be sitting with Jon Watts to figure it out, shortly.  We definitely were attracted to approaching it from the standpoint of a real kid, a high school geek who, just because he gets super powers he doesn't really want, doesn't become a superhero right away.  It's a long journey.  You don't want him to become someone capable of saving the world by the second act.  There is a wish fulfillment opportunity here in that few superheroes are given powers like this, and then has to navigate how to use them in a responsible way.  Peter Parker is a geek, like us, and one of the very few superheroes who would actually read comic books.  Stan Lee has said he wrote it that way, with wish fulfillment in mind, where most superheroes are very handsome adults with superpowers.  This is a real kid we're talking about."

Marvel's Spider-Man movie is scheduled for release on July 28, 2017, but you'll be able to see his first appearance into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016.

"The Killing Joke" Animated Film: One Down, One To Go!

Anyone who spent any of their time watching the Batman: The Animated Series  during the late 80's knows that there is only one person who's voice embodies the Joker, and only one voice that is that of the Batman.  These voices belong to Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, respectively.  Hamill had retired from voicing the Joker after lending his talents to the Batman Arkham video games, but when Warner Brothers announced that they were going to be doing an animated feature of Batman: The Killing Joke, Hamill threw his hat back into the ring.  Hamill had always said that The Killing Joke was the best Joker-centric story ever told, and said that he'd come out of retirement to voice him again if they ever decided to make it into an animated feature.  Looks like he's true to his word!

It's now being reported that Hamill will indeed come back and voice the Joker one last time!  This is pretty exciting news, but you also have to understand that one of the reasons that the Joker was so well done was because Hamill had the perfect Batman voice to play against, Kevin Conroy!  Conroy has played Batman longer than any other actor, and when you think of Batman, it's his voice that you hear.  So will he be coming back to voice The Killing Joke as well?  Check out his response:

"Oh, God!  Are you kidding me?  I'd do it in a heartbeat!  I love working with him (Hamill).  I couldn't believe when they killed off the Joker.  I would love to do it, and I hope that it happens."

Conroy added:

"There's an online petition to have us do it!"

This would also fit into the timeline of The Killing Joke.  This story took place in the 1980's, the same time and world that was taking place during the Batman: The Animated Series.  A number of actors have played the Joker and Batman since, but those movies took place in more modern times, and their animated universe has change ever since Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.  Telling a story that took place in the 80's, one would naturally think that you'd have to use those same voices from that period.  Makes sense, right?

Warner Brothers said that The Killing Joke is expected out some time in 2016.

Like I said in the title...one down, one to go!

Bryan Singer's And 20th Century Fox's Marvel Property Plan

It seems like everyone is getting into the "shared universe" game!  This had been a pretty strong rumor, but now Bryan Singer has confirmed that this is the direction that he and 20th Century Fox are wanting to take.  Singer revealed in a recent interview that there have already been talks at Fox that involve bringing the X-men and the Fantastic Four together in a cross over movie.  Here's what Singer had to say about the talks:

"Those ideas are in play.  That would be a natural match-up because they're both ensemble films and there is a natural mechanism by which to do it."

That "natural mechanism" that Singer is referring to is time travel.

"It deals with time.  That's all I'm going to say."

This would seem to make sense.  The Fantastic Four reboot looks to be taking place in the present, while the current crop of X-Men seem to be living in the 80's.  Fox isn't jumping the gun on anything, though.  They are wanting to see how fans react to both the Fantastic Four movie and X-Men: Apocalypse before giving it the green light for production, but with talks having already taken place about a possible cross over film, it seems that 20th Century Fox is expecting some really good numbers for both movies.

Fantastic Four will hit theaters August 7 of this year, and X-Men: Apocalypse is scheduled for May 27 of next year.

Eli Snyder To Be Playing Robin In Upcominng Batman v Superman?

The new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that was revealed at San Diego Comic Con International a couple weeks ago gave us more than enough material to start pouring over and try to sort out.  Example?  The above picture of Robin's costume that is shown hanging in the Batcave.  Was this message written on Robin after the Joker killed him, or did the Joker find out where the Batcave is?  Now last week, I talked to you all about one fan's theory that the Joker is actually Jason Todd, and it's a good theory, but I've also heard a few rumblings that the next solo Batman movie is going to focus on the Red Hood, an identity that Jason Todd (Robin number 2) took up after returning from the dead.  These theories and questions won't be answered for a very long time, however one question has been answered recently regarding Robin...maybe.

It seems that Zack Snyder is going to be playing the whole "Death in the Family" storyline from the comics into his upcoming film, and that there will be a few flashbacks that will involve Robin.  So who are they going to get to play the younger version of Jason Todd?  It might just be the younger version of Snyder! 

According to Heroic Hollywood, Eli Snyder has been asked to play the younger version of Jason Todd in the upcoming film.  This isn't that surprising, seeing how Eli has appeared in a couple of his father's movies before.  Eli played a young Leonidas in the movie 300, as well as a young version of Rorschach in Watchmen.  As you can see, Zack using his son to fill a small role is not that unusual, and since it's a flash back scene, DC and Warner Brothers can cast a new actor in the roll of Jason Todd/Red Hood when they get closer to filming the stand alone Batman movie.  Or, if the fanboy theory about the Joker actually being Jason Todd, then maybe they already have their actor.

After this bit of news was released, Zach Snyder went onto Instagram and posted this picture with the caption "Boy Wonder?"

                        

I'm not sure if this was a confirmation to Eli's hiring, or if he was just throwing fuel onto the rumor fire, but either way, it seems to confirm that at some point, we will be seeing a "Jason Todd" on the silver screen!  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be released May 25, 2016.

Google Cardboard

Tired of waiting for an Oasis machine to be made, or can't afford an Oculus Rift device?  Then Google has the right thing for you!  This is kind of a new item, however it was revealed last year to the Google I/O attendees last year.  It seems to only work on Android devices, but this is still pretty cool!  You can either buy a kit to put together, or you can find plans online to make one yourself out of household items.  There are free apps that you can download, everything from concerts, digital worlds, even a roller coaster ride.  You put your phone in the box, then hold it up to your eyes...kind of like a high-tech View Master!  As you're looking through it, you can turn your head around and you get a 360 degree look at the world you've downloaded.  Unfortunately for me, it's not available on the iPhone yet, and I'm not sure if it is going to be.

It's still pretty cool, though, right?

One Fan's Insane Theory About The Suicide Squad's Joker

This theory is kind of out there, but at the same time, it makes sense.

On Reddit, there's a Redditor that goes by the name Jason-G169 and he suggests that the Joker is really Jason Todd.  Jason Todd was the Batman's second Robin, and he was killed at the hands of the Joker.  He later is resurrected and becomes the Red Hood, and let's just say he's not too happy at Batman for not saving him and letting him die.

Jason-G169 writes, "Bruce was Jason's surrogate father & Jason is probably a little salty about not being saved from the original Joker."

He continues, "Now the Robin suit [as seen in the trailer for Batman v Superman], this one is kind of the first pillar of my theory, we see "The joke's on you Batman'.  What joke is on Batman?  Could it mean Jason wrote that on his suit after he became a deranged psycho?  What I think it means, after all Jason & Bruce have gone through together, him teaching Jason to not be so angry & teaching him how to be a better person, in the end it didn't matter it was all one huge joke because Jason's fate was to become the Joker, his fate was to become the arch nemesis of his father."

There's some credence to this theory.  Like I mentioned earlier, Jason Todd became the Red Hood.  The Red Hood was the Joker's original guise. This also wouldn't be the first time that a former Robin has become the Joker.  In Frank Miller's DK2 series, "Joker" in this run is actually Dick Grayson, who was the original Robin. What if they took elements of both stories and combined them together for the Suicide Squad movie?

I know that this theory is a bit of a stretch, but it also makes perfect sense. If this is the case, though, what happened to the original Joker?  Does this mean that we may be seeing the Red Hood appear in future movies?  What are your thoughts on this idea?  Let me know by putting them in the comments section down below!

I Want This!

This is pretty freakin' awesome!  Of course, I'd have to build an extra room onto the house, or add a stand alone garage...

Hot Toys is a company that does scaled-down replicas of things from movies, like 1/4 scale vehicles and action figures, to full size busts of things like Iron Man or Predator, but never have I heard of a company selling something like this!  It was recently announced that they are going to be offering a 1/6 scale version of the Millennium Falcon for sale, and they are going to have one for display at Ani-Com and Games in Hong Kong on July 24-28 this weekend.

So how big is a 1/6 scale version of the Millennium Falcon?  It measures close to 18 feet (5.5 meters) long and 12 feet (3.7 meters) wide!  Like I said, it should be able to fit into a garage.  Could you imagine your neighbors faces when you open your garage door and they see a freakin' Millennium Falcon sitting inside? 

There's no word yet on how much this thing is going to cost or how many will be made available, but considering it's bigger than a car, expect it to cost more than one, too!

Is This Rumor Real? According To Comicboolmovie.com It Is...

I'm finding this one hard to believe, but if it turns out to be true, I'd be kicking myself if I hadn't reported it when I'd found out.  With everything that Kathleen Kennedy has said on the subject, as well as Chris Pratt for that matter, I find it very unlikely that this is true.

Okay, so here it is!  According to comicbookmovie.com (just for the record, this isn't one of my "go to" sites, so I can't vouch for their track record on reporting things) there is going to be a short teaser  at the beginning of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, kind of like how they used to show cartoons before the feature began.  This one, though, is no cartoon.  It's Indiana Jones himself.  Here's how the teaser is described:

A very old Indiana Jones is sitting in his study with several books open - a laptop computer is nearby, clearly unused.  The books show images of crystal skulls.

In walks Indy's grandson who says something like, "I told you we have to hurry if we are going to make it to Glastonbury" - possibly holding a book on King Arthur.  This character would be [Chris] Pratt's if he does get the role...

The grandson feels a little bad for rushing the old man and tries helping Indy along and asks what all the books spread out on his desk are about.

Indy looks up and says, "Nothing, just a stupid dream I had."

They walk out the door and cue the music.

This is a bad idea from the start.  First of all, the grandson shouldn't be Pratt.  If they are doing this, make it a kid, someone that doesn't really have anything to do with anything.  If they get Pratt, he needs to be the next Indy, not some "grandson" of the man!  I like the King Arthur angle of the potential short, and I think that would make for a good movie, but like I said, I'm not expecting this to actually turn out to be true.  So why am I talking about this if I don't think this is going to happen?  I just thought the idea behind it would be fun if it were.

(It would be a great way to erase the Crystal Skulls from it's cannon, too!)

FINALLY! The Storm I've Been Wanting To See!

I've been wanting to see the Storm character with the Mohawk ever since I first heard that they were going to make an X-Men movie!  Do you realize how disappointed I was when I saw Halle Berry with the regular cut?  Dude!  She could've been AMAZING with the Mohawk!  But I digress...

After Comic Con International: San Diego, a lot of different panels showed teasers for upcoming films to the people that had waited in line to see them.  These clips, though, were very rough cuts of things that are either still being filmed, or still in need of serious touch up.  They do this to gauge the excitement of the crowd, to see if they're heading in the right direction as far as pleasing the audience.  These clips, however, weren't meant for general release.  Guess what happened?

As soon as the clips were shown to the crowds, bootleg versions of these teasers made their way onto the web.  Some of the movie companies, anticipating that this was going to happen, released the official clips online right after showing them to the panels, but all of the movie companies wanted them released.  20th Century Fox, for one, was not happy that images of the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse weren't supposed to go main-stream.  Producer of the film, Hutch Parker said this about the early releases:

"I’d say it really isn’t intended to be leaked. It’s really intended to excite a core. From a marketing perspective, what they want is to share it with the most discerning eyes that are out there for this material. It’s the biggest and probably most intense focus group any of us ever have.

You hope that you excite a level of interest that they will express and celebrate it. But it’s a scary-ass deal, because they’re not shy. If they don’t like it, if they aren’t feeling it, they’re going to let you and everybody else know. [Showing footage] is something people do with trepidation, but with hope. We make a movie and you want to believe it’s going to be great. The reality is, not all of them are. But you have to believe that going in. We go in wanting to be accepted and embraced, and ideally even acknowledged for having done it well.

 The problem with the theory about the marketing is, I don’t actually think it’s good marketing. Leaking footage a year in advance of a movie’s release is not such a good thing. The reason you don’t see footage out that far is you run the risk of it getting stale. Generally speaking, and I can’t speak for other studios — I can’t even speak for Fox any more — but I don’t believe their intention is [for footage to be leaked]. I think their intention is to get the most important opinions and opinion-makers in this community engaged in the promise of what’s coming."

 

He's right about releasing information or scenes a year out from the movie's release.  It's just funny hearing this coming from Parker, considering they started talking about this movie almost before X-Men: Days of Futures Past had even been released!  Hey, Hutch!  If you don't want footage to go main-stream, don't show anything at the panels!

That all being said, what do you think of the pictures that made their way onto the web?  Me?  I think they look a little too cartoony for me to take serious, but that's just my opinion.  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below!

 

Batman Becomes A Know It All

In last week's Justice League #42, Batman became the God of Knowledge. You see what I did there with the title of this post? Hah!

So what happened?  And why should this be important to us, the reader?  Let's begin with the first question...

During this issue, Metron was separated from the Mobious Chair, which gives him the God of Knowledge powers, because of a "misunderstanding."  The chair was about to be Boom Tubed away into the hands of Darseid and the Anti-Monitor, two of the universe's most ancient and warring forces.  In order to keep the chair out of their hands, Batman leaps onto the chair himself, and is instantly subsumed by it, and he becomes the new God of Knowledge.

So now the second question...why should this be important to us, the reader?  Check this out!

Batman is the new God of Knowledge, so if you were him, what would be the one thing that you'd want to know the answer to?  Something that you've never been able to discover, and it's something you've been trying to find ever since picking up the mantle of the Bat?  The answer? 

"What is the Joker's true identity?"

Unfortunately, we don't get to be let in on the little secret, but what ever it was, it not only shocked Batman, but he went into denial of whoever he is, and whatever the chair told him about the Joker's identity.

Even though I hope that DC never gives the Joker an origin story, or explains to us who he really is, they've been messing around with doing this for a little while now (check out Batman: Endgame).  In fact, DC has been messing around with a few things that shouldn't be touched.  For instance, Lois Lane revealed to the world that Clark Kent was really Superman.  In the Batman: Endgame universe, Bruce Wayne seems to be dead, along with the Joker, and now Jim Gordon is Batman.  These things may seem small and trivial, but they are things that shouldn't be touched, and now, well, DC went there.

Look, I understand that in order to stay relevant, you need to do certain things, or go to story lines that die-hard fans don't want you to touch, in order to keep sales up and grow your audience.  But why now?  With all of the buzz surrounding the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie coming out, shouldn't this be enough without having to potentially ruin the greatest mystery in the Batman universe?

I hope that Batman is the only one who will know the answer to the Joker's identity, and they continue to keep it a mystery from us.

Rosetta Snaps Picture Of New Horizons

Well here's something that doesn't happen every day!

While the whole world has been fascinated with the fly-by photos of Pluto, one photo that is pretty amazing kind of got over looked.  The above photo was taken by the Rosetta spacecraft, which was launched by the ESA (European Space Agency) to fly over to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  Two days before New Horizons reached the dwarf planet, the ESA turned the Rosetta spacecraft to focus on Pluto, and in an extremely rare event, took a picture of Pluto and New Horizons.  There haven't been very many photos taken by one spacecraft of another spacecraft while hurtling through space.  And if you're wondering why the ice planet is just a dot, the two spacecraft were separated by 3 billion miles!  That, and the Rosetta's camera, OSIRIS, isn't a telescope.  It was created for taking pictures of the comet 67P up close, as opposed to planets billions of miles away.

The comet 67P is less than a month from reaching it's closest point to the sun, which means things on the comet are going to start getting interesting real quick.  As it approaches the Sun, the comet will begin to heat up, and start expelling debris from it's surface.  That means we're going to be getting a lot of valuable data, and I'm sure some more really cool pictures!

IFLScience.com Makes Arguement Hyperloop Train Would Work Better On Mars

Now don't be confused by the title, they're not saying that it shouldn't be built here, but the argument that they make for using the Hyperloop train technology on Mars makes a lot of sense.  Here's what they had to say about the subject.

First of all, the Hyperloop train is what they call a vactrain.  This is a train that shoots through a tube that is a near vacuum.  The purpose of the tube being a near vacuum is so the train can shoot through the tube at incredible speeds and not have to worry about "drag," the "aerodynamic force that pushes in the opposite direction from which the train is traveling."  This is how the term vactrain got it's name...a train that travels in a vacuum.  The tube can't be completely devoid of air, though.  It will have 99.9% of it's air removed.  The reason for this is because of it's need to ride on a cushion of air.  It's basically floating.  While floating on this small cushion of air, it's propelled through the tube using powerful magnets which when activated in a certain sequence, can catapult the train through the tube at speeds topping out at over 750 mph.  Because of it's need to travel in a vacuum, IFLScience.com's Leon Vanstone suggests that Mars would be a better place for this technology.

He says that because of Mars' low atmosphere, the Hyperloop train may be the perfect form of transportation once we begin to settle colonies on the Red Planet.  The low atmosphere is one of the reasons he gives for this suggestion, but it also has to do with the planet's lack of fossil fuels.  You see, the Hyperloop train is "self-powered with electricity generated by it's own solar panels."  On a planet with no fossil fuels (that we know about!), this is the ideal form of generating power.  Elon Musk, the person that's behind this project, knows a little something about batteries and solar panels, too.  He's the guy behind Tesla Motors.  Tesla recently announced that they've created a solar-powered backup generator for homes, that's continually charged through it's solar panels.  That way, if your power goes out, you can just switch over to the generator to power your home.  Since it doesn't need gas, it's much safer to use, without having to worry about gas leaks that could cause suffocation.

Vanstone makes a very good argument for using this technology on Mars.  Even though we are still years and years away from ever needing trains on Mars to travel between different colonies, it's never to early to plan for our future.

A Possible "The Last Starfighter" Television Series

I've previously posted that there was a rumor of a remake for The Last Starfighter, but it was quickly squashed by the original writer, Jonathan Betuel,  who owns the property rights to the movie.  Now, it seems that the same person who said there would never be a movie remake is telling Variety that he's wanting to turn the movie into a television series.

The television series won't exactly be a remake, and it won't follow immediately after the storyline of the movie.  In the film, a guy gets recruited to fight in an intergalactic war after beating an arcade game.  This time, though, instead of following the 'Starfighters" into battle (a battle that was won, by the way) it will show them more as "space cops" that travel around the galaxy, policing wherever they are needed.  This would make for an easier television series, giving them the ability to change up characters and story lines week to week.

Apparently, there's going to be a VR portion to the show, if I read the article correctly.  Here's what Blastr.com had to say about this part:

"The VR segments will apparently be optional for those who have the hardware and will allow viewers to interact with elements like rooms, ships, and other fairly mundane objects rendered fascinating by the fact that they're in the world of Starfighter."

I don't know about you, but I don't know anybody that has any sort of VR equipment that they could use for this.

I don't know how far along in the process the show is, or if it's even been green-lit as a go.  Since it's the creator that's talking about it, I'm assuming that this is more than just a rumor.  Of course, the article could have just been a public pitch to studios to see what kind of response he'd get.  What do you think about a Starfighter television show?  Me personally?  I'd rather see another full-length feature film.

Joss Whedon's Twist

Joss Whedon was at the San Diego Comic Con over the past weekend, and while he was there he revealed a new project that he was working on.  It's a comic book called Twist, and he describes the lead character as a "Victorian, female Batman."

Color me interested!

After working on the Avengers films over the past few years, Whedon said that it was a nice change of pace, and it was good to flex a different muscle as opposed to big budget movie making.

Joss is no stranger to comic books.  He's been a life-long fan of comics, and has worked on them before.  Some of the titles that he's done are Fray, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9,  Angel: After the Fall, and Firefly, just to name a few,

Entertainment Weekly says that Twist is a "Victorian thriller about a meek chambermaid who is fed to a dark horror--but instead of dying, she returns, with knowledge, power, and rage she can neither deny nor control."

The comic is a planned six-issue series, and Joss will be writing the whole thing himself.  The above art work was drawn by Totino Tedesco.

New Green Lantern Movie Will Focus On The Green Lantern Corps

Here's an interesting turn of events!  Well, kind of.  I reported on the rumors that the next Green Lantern movie was actually going to focus on three of the Earth-bound Lanterns: Hal Jordan, John Stewert, and Guy Gardner. 

This past weekend at San Diego Comic Con, Warner Brothers announced over at their Hall H panel that the title for the next Green Lantern movie was going to be Green Lantern Corps.  This isn't very surprising, seeing as focusing on a number of Green Lanterns would help distance themselves from the catastrophe that was Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern movie.  If you're not familiar with the Green Lanterns (then you've been living under a rock!), here's what DC Comics Wiki says about the group:

"The Green Lantern Corps are an intergalactic police force that patrols the 3600 sectors of the universe.  The organization was founded and, for several billion years, led by the Guardians of the Universe.  After the events of Rise of the Third Army and the Wrath of the First Lantern, leadership of the corps passed to the Templar Guardians and Hal Jordan.  The Green Lantern Corps were created by John Broome and Gil Kane, first appearing in Showcase #22."

There have been rumors that Chris Pine is being courted to play Hal Jordan, but there was no announcement as to whether he has accepted or not.  There's also no word on how exactly the new Green Lanterns will fit into the Justice League movies.  The Justice League movies are expected for release in 2017, and 2019.  The Green Lantern Corps movie is slated for release on June 19, 2020.

What Would Have Amazing Spider-Man 3 Been Like?

Thank Gawd for small favors!

Over this past weekend, IGN was able to do a little sit down with Denis Leary at SDCC, who as you know played Captain George Stacy in the first Amazing Spider-Man movie, and his ghost in the second one.  While he was talking to them, he revealed that he may have been back for the third movie, if the second one had done better in the theaters and hadn't pissed fans off so much.  After hearing what he said Sony had in mind for the third film, let's all be happy that the second film sucked!


"Part of the discussion was that possibly in '3' there was this idea that at one point Spider-Man would be able to take this formula and regenerate the people in his life that had died.  So there was this discussion that Captain Stacy would have come back even bigger in episode three."

Huh?

Were the Sony executives really thinking about a plot line that would allow Peter Parker to raise the dead?  Well, I guess that's one way that they could have brought Gwen back, however this line of thinking was probably the worst one that they could have chosen.  What would they have called it?  Amazing Spider-Man and The Walking Dead?  As Blastr.com put it, "Surely that could not have been on the table, because that would be as ridiculous as Spider-Man's blood being the cure for--oh wait."

Badass Digest had speculated on these rumors early on, before Sony and Marvel ever made their arrangement, that this would have been Sony's cinematic universe's version of the Clone Saga.  The Clone Saga was a low point for Spider-Man comic books, largely being derided by fans.  Sales tanked and readers were lost, which explains why Sony must have thought this was a great storyline for their third installment.  This is what's wrong with certain movie companies that are trying to make comic book movie adaptations without consulting the people that are involved with the actual comic books.  Instead, you have a bunch of Suits deciding what would be a great storyline and butchering the project in the process.

Luckily, the people behind this terrible idea have all been let go, and Sony and Marvel have now teamed up to bring us (hopefully) an actually good Spider-Man movie.  Tom Holland has been cast as the new Peter Parker, and Jon Watts is set to direct the film.  It's release date is scheduled for 2017, but he will make his first appearance in next year's highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War.

My SDCC 2015 Experience!

Okay, first off...I want to apologize for today's blog being late.  I'd been up since 5 am yesterday morning on PST, and didn't get back home until 8 EST, and I'm still a little groggy. That doesn't mean I've forgotten about you all, though.  So today's blog is going to be a little bit different, I wanted to talk about what I saw and what I heard at this year's SDCC 2015.  By the way, this was my very first time being able to go to it, and it was everything that I had imagined it would be!  So let's get started!

Day one started off like you'd imagine, I had to get my pass, and pick up a schedule for everything that was going on for the weekend.  Luckily, I had my sister with me who had been planning this trip for the better part of the last four months!  The first thing I wanted to do was to pick up some of the Comic Con "exclusive" toys they were offering there.  I hit one big snag, though...apparently, having passes to the Comic Con wasn't enough...you had to stand in line just to get a ticket in order to purchase these toys!  Who knew?  Not me!  I was fortunate enough to meet someone that had an extra ticket, and he gave it to me.  By the way, everyone there was super cool!  So I was able to pick up three Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper action figures.  These are like the Black Series figures.   I got only one for myself, one for a friend out on the East Coast, and one for my friend that owns the local comic book shop.  Both amazing friends.  I'm glad I got them on Thursday, because they sold out of these super quick!  My main objective for the Con was complete!

My sister suggested we go sit in on a panel that Felicia Day was hosting, and it was amazing!  Wil Wheaton was even sitting in!  (I'm a HUGE fan!)  He does sooo much great work on YouTube and with podcasting, it was a lot of fun hearing both of them speak.  Then I hit the floor...all of the booths were nothing like I'd expected!  The promotional groups for their booths really went into over drive for this thing. Check out some of the things I saw in the video down below: 

We finished the day off learning how to incorporate LED lights into your cosplay outfits.  Sounds kind of dull, I know, but it was hands on and a lot of fun!  We closed the day out by going to see Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and it was crowd participation...kind of like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's a must watch!

The next day I was able to sit in on another Felicia Day "panel," but this time it was just her, and then we she finished, the cast of Orphan Black came out and talked and took some questions.  The highlight of the day, however, was being able to sit in on the very first "panel" ever for Sense8.  I say "panel" because it was just the creator talking to us, but it was a great time listening to him speak.  I closed it out with my main reason for heading to that particular hall, watching the Ash vs The Evil Dead panel talk and promote their show!  Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ivan and Sam Raimi, it was amazing!  They were hilarious!  They also showed a trailer for the upcoming series, check it out below:

(I'm hoping this is the right trailer...I know that they released it online the next day!)

I never made it into Hall H, but the people that did had to camp out for 48 hours!  Hats off to them.  Me? I'd rather check out the Con instead of camping out on a grassy lawn for two days!  I heard that the Star Wars panel was out of this world!  They gave everyone free lightsabers, showed them a behind-the-scenes clip, had the entire cast (including Harrison Ford, his first public appearance since the plane crash) and then treated them all to a concert!  I felt bad for Kevin Smith, though, because his panel featuring the upcoming Yoga Hosers movie was pretty much empty because everyone left to go see the concert.  Sorry, Kev, I would've stuck around for you, bro...

There was so much more that took place from the merchandise that was being sold to other people I saw (not to drop names or anything, but Joss Wheaton, Tom Hiddleston, Guillermo Del Toro, just to name a few!) that I can't cover it in just one blog, but don't worry, this won't spill over into tomorrow's blog.  I just wanted to gush about my very first San Diego Comic Con.  And for anyone out in San Diego that is reading this?  You all have some of the finest tasting food I've ever had the pleasure of eating!  Your town really and truly embraced the whole Con, and made it an experience I won't soon forget!

Rachel McAdams Rumored To In Upcoming Doctor Strange Movie

The beautiful and talented Rachel McAdams is rumored to have joined the Marvel family.

With the next phase of Marvel's MCU movies getting under way, scores of actors are getting hired to portray some of their most iconic characters.  According to Heroic Hollywood, McAdmas is going to be one of these actors.

It's not known yet who she will be playing (or if she's even signed on yet, this is still all speculation,)but the most obvious choice is that she will be playing Clea in the upcoming Doctor Strange movie.  This is what Blastr.com had to say about the character:

"A sorceress herself, Clea is the daughter of Umar, sister of major Doctor Strange villain Dormammu, who is the ruler of the mystical realm known as the Dark Dimension.  At one point Clea becomes Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension and lords over it herself, estranging herself from Doctor Strange in the process."

If this is the role that she will be playing, it's unclear how much of a back story they plan on making for her, if any at all.  She may not even be playing Clea at all, but another character all together, but the fact that she may be joining the MCU is pretty big news in itself.

Doctor Strange begins shooting this November and is scheduled for release on November 4, 2016.

Chris Pine...Hal Jordan or Steve Trevor?

According to Latino Review, a site that seems to get a lot of early scoops on upcoming movies, it's being reported that Chris Pine has been offered two roles by Warner Brothers involving their upcoming DC Cinematic Universe.  The two roles being offered (and mind you, he won't be playing both, it'll be one or the other) are that of Steve Trevor in the upcoming Wonder Woman film, and Hal Jordan (a.k.a. Green Lantern).

According to BirthMoviesDeath.com, the site claims to have spoken to someone close to the negotiations involving WB and Pine, and they confirmed the rumors.  Even though a decision hasn't been reached yet, sources close to Pine claim that he's leaning towards being the next Green Lantern.

Warner Brothers is hoping to unveil their entire Justice League line-up at this week's San Diego Comic Con, so we may find out his decision by week's end.  As soon as I hear more, I'll let you know.

Green Lantern is scheduled for release on June 19, 2020.

Here's A Double-Header!!! Star Wars AND Daredevil News!

Okay, let me explain what's going on...I've got a couple of posts that I've already written that are going to be released Thursday and Friday, but I'm going to be kind of busy over the weekend, so there won't be any posts over the weekend...I'm heading to San Diego for the San Diego Comic Con, and I'm planning on focusing all of my attention to everything that will be going on!  But I haven't forgot about you all!  That's why I'm planning ahead!  And who knows?  Maybe I'll jump on here and post some pictures or videos of the con over the weekend!  But now, let's get down to some pretty cool news!

The second Anthology film in the Star Wars series IS going to be dealing with Han Solo!  They are going to do a film that shows his rise to being the best smuggler in the business, and they've got some big talent behind them for the film, too!  Even though it had been reported that this film was the one that Fantastic Four director Josh Trank had been tied to, this turns out not to be true.  The directors will be Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed The Lego Movie, and the script is going to be written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan. Lawrence Kasdan helped write The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.  He also helped write The Force Awakens, the upcoming Star Wars film (a.k.a. Chapter IIV).  Lord and Miller had this to say about the upcoming film:

"This is the first film we've worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with.  We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us.  This is a dream come true for us.  And not the kind of dream where you're late for work and all of your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you've loved since before you can remember having dreams at all."

Makes me feel pretty good about the film!  Here's what the Kasdan's had to say:

"We're so excited to be working with Chris and Paul, who will bring a fresh new dimension to the Star Wars universe.  They're two of the smartest, funniest and most original filmmakers around, and the ideal choice to tell the story of Han Solo, one of the coolest characters in the galaxy."

The Han Solo Anthology film is slated to be released May 25, 2018.

Okay, on to number two!!!

Elodie Yung has been cast to play Elektra in season 2 of Daredevil!  Yung's appeared in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and District 13: Ultimatum.  Marvel spent a lot of time trying to find the right actor to take up this role, since she is a main character in the Marvel universe, and was a huge part in Frank Miller's storyline while working on Daredevil.  Jeph Loeb, the Executive Producer and Head of Marvel Television had this to say on her hire:

"After a worldwide search, we found in Elodie the perfect actress to embody both Elektra's impressive and deadly physicality, as well as her psychological complexity.  Paired with Charlie as Matt Murdock, the two will bring one of the most beloved and tumultuous comic book relationships to life with all the accompanying sparks and spectacular action sequences the show is known for."

Now I REALLY can't wait for season 2!  Season 2 will premier sometime in 2016.

So that's it for me for now.  Like I said, I still have stories for you on Thursday and Friday, but if you've heard about them already, then I'm sorry, I have a lot going on this week!  But don't worry!  I'll keep you all updated!    I'll have a YouTube video of the whole week posted next Friday, and a teaser will post this Friday!  Until next week, y'all!

It Was The Superman Movie That Never Was...

...And thank goodness it never happened!  I know I'm going to ruffle a few feathers by saying this, but I'm not a very big Tim Burton movie fan.  Seeing all of the old photos from his attempt at re-energizing the Superman franchise back in the 90's, I get down on my knees and thank the comic book gods that this movie never got made.  The thing is, it's like a car wreck, you can't help but stare and wonder at what happened.  I"m not the only one that feels this way, either.  Documentarian filmmaker Jon Schnepp has also been wondering what happened to the movie and why it never got made.  You can watch the first ten minutes of his film down below:

I think that the thing from the documentary that stuck with me the most was when the guy/fan said that when he saw George Reeves or Christopher Reeves playing Superman, you thought, "Hey!  That's Superman!"  With Nicholas Cage he thought, "Hey! That's Nicholas Cage trying to play Superman!"  I mean really, what were they thinking with that casting choice?  Even at the height of his popularity, Cage could never pull off the role of Superman, let alone Clark Kent.  Still, I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of this documentary.

The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? will be officially released July 9th.

Jay And Silent Bob To Appear In New Kevin Smith Film

I know, I know, how can that be considered "news?" 

Kevin Smith, writer/director of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back, Clerks 2...yeah, okay, you get the idea!  He's contemplating putting the iconic duo in the last of his "True North Trilogy."  The first of this run was Tusk, next to be released is Yoga Hosers, and finishing out the three will be Moose Jaws.  This will be the first time that Jay and Silent Bob have appeared in a film outside of their own cinematic universe, or as it's more commonly referred to, the View Askewnivers!

As Smith usually does. he took to posting his thoughts on the upcoming film to his fans, and kind of floated the idea out there to see what people's reactions would be to the idea.  For the most part, most fans seemed to enjoy the idea of seeing them in the film, even if it was just as a cameo, but there were a vocal minority that wanted to keep the two universes separate.  I think I fall under the "vocal minority" side.  The two film universes work really well apart, and there is no need to combine the two, and it makes it seem more of a marketing or a commercial gimmick, and Smith doesn't come across as a sell-out.

I have to be honest, I'm really looking forward to Moose Jaws.  If what I read about it on CinemaBlend.com is accurate, imagine Jaws, but instead of a shark, it's a moose.  How could this movie not work?!?  Believe it or not, I'm not being sarcastic!  I really can't wait to see this movie!

The melding of the two universes isn't a done deal, and it sounds like Smith wants to get the opinion of his fans before making any final decision on the matter.  I think it's pretty reassuring that Smith is taking how the fans feel into consideration before tinkering with the two cinematic universes. Yeah, I'm talking to you, George Lucas!

So...Where Do We Go When We Go To Mars?

It's easy to ask, "Why don't we send someone to Mars?  We can do it, right?"  But do you realize everything that has to go into sending someone there?  And the furthest thing from your mind when thinking about this is probably, "Where should they land?"  Well, NASA is holding a meeting in Houston, Texas to figure that out.

NASA is in the process of planning where to set up their proposed landing spot on Mars...but I think they need to worry about actually getting a rocket into space first.  I mean, really?  Needing to piggy-back onto the ISS is pretty embarrassing for a country that landed a man on the moon, and considering that the last SpaceX launch blew up, they need to get their stuff together!

Sorry, just had to rant a little.  So if all goes well, NASA is planning on putting a man on Mars during the 2030's.  This is what Blastr.com had to report on the matter:

The researchers are expected to propose and consider approximately 62 mile-wide potential exploration zones. The teams will be considering a host of different variables. Major signposts include areas that are resource-rich to help the astronauts survive, have the potential for sub-surface ice (since those explorers will need water), and a site that is "scientifically interesting" so they might actually find some stuff of note.

NASA's Planetary Science Division head Jim Green said he expects the summit to be a "hot debate," and will serve as the first step toward a human station on Mars. Following the workshop later this year, NASA will study the most promising sites in additional detail from orbit with the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It's a big decision, to be sure, so it's a good thing we have 20+ years to get it right.

If you want to read the whole article, here's the link:

http://www.blastr.com/2015-6-25/nasa-already-trying-figure-out-where-humans-should-set-base-mars

NASA Is Working On A Mars "Flying Boomerang"

NASA is starting to ramp up their tech for the upcoming Mars missions.  In fact, they are testing what will be the first flying machine to soar through the air on Mars, and will be used for mapping and and exploring the Martian landscape.

Right now, NASA is calling the Martian flyer Prandtl-m, is is a light-weight titanium vehicle that is just around 24 inches in length, and just one pound in weight.  Tests of the flier will be taking place before the end of the year, and will be done in the upper atmosphere here on Earth.  The high altitude test will simulate the low gravity and low atmosphere environment of Mars.  They're planning on testing it at 100,000 feet for their first test, then float it up to 450,000 feet on a balloon, and run it's second test there.

"The aircraft would be part of the ballast that would be ejected from the aeroshell that takes the Mars rover to the planet," program manager Al Bowers said." It would be able to deploy and fly in the Martian atmosphere and glide down and land. The Prandtl-m could overfly some of the proposed landing sites for a future astronaut mission and send back to Earth very detailed high resolution photographic map images that could tell scientists about the suitability of those landing sites."

 If all goes well, NASA is planning on sending the flier up with the next Mars rover mission.  There goal is to launch it, have it fly around 20 miles or so, and then land.  The data that they gain may help them nail down a possible site for their planned manned mission to the Red Planet...but more on that tomorrow!

This Aliens Tribute Film HAS To Get Made!!!

What was your favorite Alien film?  For me, it was by far, Aliens...the second movie in the series!  James Cameron did an amazing job on it, just like he does on all of his movies.  Don't believe me? Terminator, Terminator 2, Avatar, Titanic (just making a point) The Abyss...okay that last one may not have been a "great" movie?  But I liked it!

Alien 3 and every movie after has basically sucked.  Luckily, there is a guy that is out there trying to right a wrong.  There is a project that has been presented that would correct all of the mistakes that the franchise has made, by kinda starting over.

One of the biggest mistakes that were made was killing off Newt from Aliens.  This "fan-based" film corrects that problem.  In this film, everything that took place after Aliens was a cryogentic-dream, a "cryo-sleep nightmare" as they put it.  It never happened.  In this film, Elle Vaine Sonnet plays a twenty-something Newt, and Carrie Henn, who played Newt in the original Aliens will play her mother in flash backs.  

Henn is also joined by a returning character from the original Aliens film, Ricco Ross, who played Pvt Robert Frost, you said the classic line in the movie, "What do you expect us to use, man, harsh language?"

There isn't much news as far as where they are wanting to take this film, but they do say that it "plays heavily on the aesthetics of HR Giger," so that tells us something as far as where they're taking things!Adam Sonnet is the writer and director of this flick, and he's trying to get it started off of Kickstarter.com.  If you get a chance, look this film up, follow it on Twitter and Facebook, and if you can, help them get this film off the ground!  It's a great idea, with a great concept!  Make sure you like and follow them!

Black Panther And Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War is quickly turning into Avengers: 2.0.  Look at all of the characters that are going to be making an appearance in the film!  There's Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Vision, Falcon, and if rumors are to be believed, the Hulk.  The one character that stands out in this group is Black Panther, who we know will be playing a large part with Marvel's Phase III.  So why bring in a third tier character to pull a franchise?  I mean, besides the exceptional results from The Guardians of the Galaxy, right?  Here's what Kevin Feige, Marvel's President had to say:

"The reason we introduced him in Civil War is because we needed a third party.  We needed fresh eyes, who wasn't embedded with the Avengers and who has a very different point of view than either Tony or Steve.  We said, 'We need somebody like Black Panther...why don't we just use Black Panther?'  That's how it went in the development process."

Feige went on to explain that when we first see T'challa, he will be assuming the mantle of the Black Panther.  His father, T'Chaka, has handed it it over to him.  He doesn't have the experience of his father, but he holds the will to protect his country and his land.  As you may have noticed in Avengers: Age of Ultron, his mythical land of Wakanda had been mentioned a number of times, primarily dealing with their chief product, "vibranium," an amazing metal that is the composition of Captain America's shield.  It ain't adamantium, but it's still pretty bad ass!  Feige went on to say:

"Today, pre-Civil War, post-Ultron I think [Black Panther] and his father are saying, ' A bunch of vibranium just got out of here and wreaked a lot of havoc.  Maybe we can't stay behind these boarders anymore.  Maybe we have to stick our heads out and make at least an attempt to be part of the rest of the world right now, while at the same time protecting our people.'  That's sort of where we meet [Black Panther] in Civil War."

Black Panther's movie will be arriving in theaters in 2018.

The Falcon And The Ant-Man

We have all figured out by now that Scott Lang (a.k.a. Ant-Man) will soon be joining the Avengers, but how does he make that jump over to super-hero league?  It looks like he'll be getting a little bit of help from Sam Wilson (a.k.a. Falcon)!  The above picture was pulled from one of the Ant-Man commercials, and not only does the gun look like the one that Falcon used in Captain America: The Winter Soldier,  and it also looks like you can make out wings from his suit in the background, but I went onto IMDB.com and Anthony Mackie is listed in the credits as appearing in the movie.

This kind of makes sense.  Most of the team is still recovering from the events that took place in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and as we know from the last scene of that film, Falcon has joined the new team of Avengers.  He's not only going to be one of the new members of the team, but he's also former military, and also worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. when it was around.  Bringing Sam Wilson into the film to help bridge the two franchises into the same universe is a great idea.

There's not a lot of information on just exactly what his role is going to be in the film, but luckily we won't have to wait much longer to find out.

Ant-Man is scheduled to be released into theaters on July 17, 2015.