Month: April 2012

Who Fights Black Widow in The Avengers Movie?

Marvel's The Avengers courtesy Marvel

  Scarlett Johansson is smoking at Black Widow in Marvel’s The Avengers. The actress apparently took a beating while making the flick. On the red carpet before the world premiere Johansson revealed talked about her stunt work and almost revealed a spoiler to MTV News.

“The stunt sequence that I’ve been the most proud of is probably my fight with…” Johansson stops. “Actually, I don’t know if I can say!”

She looks at someone off camera and asks, “Can I say? I don’t know if I can.”

When MTV News asked her if it’s Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Johansson replied, “No,” and her eyes became playfully shifty as she continued, “All I can say is that I had to fight someone else in this film, and they beat the crap out of me in stunt rehearsals. I have to say I could not believe it.”

This Geek’s Opinion: Wouldn’t it be a cool sequence if Loki -being the trickster that he is – turns Black Widow and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) or Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) against each other?

 

Cobie Smulders on The Avengers Red Carpet

Cobie Smulders on the red carpet for the Marvel's The Avengers world premiere, courtesy Marvel.com

 Imagine being the new kid on the block in Marvel’s The Avengers?

Colbie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) plays one of my favorite characters, SHIELD Agent Maria Hill.

Smulders traded her tight spy uniform for a gown to work the red carpet for the world premiere in Los Angeles.

Here’s the Marvel.com link to watch the entire red carpet including interviews with the stars and more photos.

 

The Next Great X-Villain Is Here

Uncanny X-Men #10 courtesy Marvel

  Kieron Gillen is firing on all wicked cylinders with Uncanny X-Men #10. AvX is taking over for a while but I can’t wait to see what happens next with the devious plot threads he launched with this issue.

  Unit is an alien computer-like creation that’s cold and clinical. He’s a chilling hybrid of C3PO and Hannibal Lecter – that’s Gillen’s description and it’s spot on! I say he could be the X-Men’s Ultron. 

  Unit stages a prison break unleashing alien criminal across Earth and uniting the X-Men and Avengers one last time before AvX. But Unit’s real objective is the mutant messiah.

  Scott’s Extinction team of most powerful mutants is skillfully taken apart with cold precision by Unit. The monster’s endgame is an audience with Hope with the promise (or is it a lure) of learning about the Phoenix.

  Watch for two big confrontations for Cyclops in this event filled issue. Due to Scott’s actions Steve Rogers sees a different side of the mutant – planting the seeds for how each leader may strategize against each other in AvX. Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. and Cyke have a testy moment where they share dark secrets and the beginning of  darker covenant.

  Oh and I if you love Emma Frost and Colossus – there are some surprises for them in this issue too that will reverberate into future stories.

And I freakin’ love Adam Kubert’s cover – it’s a perfect representation for what Gillen does to the team and this book.

By Editor

“Firefly” Reunion on “Castle” Tonight

Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin on ABC's Castle, photo courtesy TV Guide

 It’s a Firefly reunion tonight! Adam Baldwin will reunite on-screen with this former Serenity Captain, Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) on ABC’s Castle for the first time in 8 years. TV Guide says don’t expect the on-screen relationship to be just like it was on Firefly and the movie Serenity.

 Baldwin plays Detective Ethan Slaughter, a gang unit officer. Is Baldwin playing a good guy, bad guy or just “aims to misbehave” to quote Mal!

  I just love the Browncoats (if you’re not Firefly savvy, these were the good guys in a future war) and now fans gear up in the uniforms and call themselves Browncoats. The fans are a welcome addition to cons everywhere.

  I just saw Adam Baldwin and Summer Glau recently at Emerald City Comicon and fans of the series (has it really been 10 years?) are still devoted to the cast of the Joss Whedon created show.

It’s cool to see the cast members still have a bond too.

New James Bond Photo: The Spy, The Car!

 

Skyfall photo courtesy Fandango

 

  When I saw this photo from Fandango.com I immediately thought of Sean Connery in Switzerland in Goldfinger.

  Daniel Craig in a classic suit in a shot with his classic car. We know Skyfall is filming and set in Scotland, the home of Bond’s father. This sure looks like 007 on the way to Skyfall Lodge.

 

Fandango’s preview story (out Monday) says the story will also take place in Macau. I think this is the first time that location has been mentioned. We know exterior shooting will take place in Shanghai. If true, this will be first time 007 has been in Macau since Roger Moore in 1974’s The Man With the Golden Gun.

Thanks to Fandango.com.

By Editor

What classic 007 films does this image inspire for you? Join the conversation with Comics Blend on Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

Batman & Catwoman Cover

courtesy Entertainment Weekly

  Prepare to howl and purr for the Bat & the Cat! Take a look at Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway as Batman and Catwoman on the upcoming cover of Entertainment Weekly’s Summer Preview issue.

  From the upcoming story it looks like director Christopher Nolan treated Selina Kyle as a camp-free world-class criminal in The Dark Knight Rises.

  “She has a very strong way of protecting herself and those she cares about, which implies an underlying darkness.” Hathaway says she prepared for the role by reading the comics and studying the moves of Hedy Lamarr and Jean Harlow, the two screen legends that inspired the original conception of the comic book villainess.”

  For more of the story here’s the EW link and here’s my picks for great Catwoman stories you might enjoy.

Thunderous New Avengers Spot

Marvel's The Avengers courtesy Marvel.com

 

  I admit I had my doubts about taking the Asgardian God of Thunder from comic book to big screen was a challenge but Marvel and director Kenneth Branaugh pulled it off majestically. Chris Hemsworth displayed all the charm, swagger, and power as Thor.

 In this new Avengers extended television spot we get to see more of Hemsworth laying the hammer down and radiating the Thunder God aura. Thanks to Marvel and Spinoff Online.

 Take a look and feel the Thunder! By Editor

AvX: The Intimate Cost of War

New Avengers #24 courtesy Marvel.com

  I just read New Avengers #24. Avengers vs. X-Men is the epic. AvX: Vs is all fights. I think New Avengers (and the other X-Men, Avengers tie-ins) will have the emotion and intimacy.

  The majority of issue #24 is the day before Captain America leads a team to confront Cyclops on Utopia. There are moments of great emotional power with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. The couple confront their conflicting roles as heroes and parents. I’ve enjoyed how Brian Michael Bendis has written Luke and Jessica. Marvel’s most romantic and engaging couple is once again challenged by their responsibilities as heroes.

  As we count down to the end of the Bendis Avengers era, I think Luke and Jessica may be my favorite of his many contributions to the Avengers legacy.

By Editor