Month: July 2012

Guardians of the Galaxy Writers on Marvel Movie

 

Courtesy Marvel.com

 Marvel is making Guardians of the Galaxy their next big screen adventure. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning wrote the new version of the team spinning out of their Annihilation storyline.

  Unlike the previous incarnation set in the 31st century, DnA’s team was set in the present day with an odd assortment of cosmic characters that just clicked including Rocket Raccoon and a revamped Star-Lord. It was this team that Marvel Films will feature in the upcoming movie.

 “Dan and I are really excited to see the Guardians of the Galaxy make it to the big screen, especially as it would appear to be the iteration of the team established during our run on the title. We will be eager to see the film along with all the fans of cosmic stories,” Lanning told Comics Newsarama.
 

courtesy Marvel.com

  “One thing we’d like to go on the record with is that we owe a huge debt of thanks to the great stories of our predecessors, in particular, Jim Starlin and Keith Giffen, these guys are the giants on whom we stood.
 
 “Beyond that, we’re sorry but we really don’t know anything, so we can’t make any further comment,” he concluded.  

 Guardians of the Galaxy blasts into theaters August 1, 2014. No word on a new comic book series but with Rocket Raccoon appearing in promo art for Marvel NOW! it’s a good bet the team will be back in a new book soon.

courtesy Marvel.com

If you’d like to check out DnA’s work here’s a link to Annihilation and volume one of their Guardians series.

By Editor

Salute The New Captain America

Marvel NOW! Captain America design courtesy Marvel, an MTV Geek exclusive

  The Marvel NOW! relaunch means new books, new teams, creator changes and new costumes for classic heroes. Captain America is sporting a new design by Jerome Opena and John Cassaday. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort talked with MTV Geek about the new look for the Star-Spangled Avenger. The new look is more military inspired like the Cap played by Chris Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger.

  “The approach and the thought was very simple: we wanted to modernize Cap’s outfit so as to reflect the gear worn by actual soldiers, to convey that sense of the character visually.”

  Brevoort was asked about the criticism that will follow about changing just for the sake of change.

  “Well, every costume design change is really change for change’s sake, and certainly Cap’s costume is a classic. But that said, it’s been updated before, and so long as what we ended up with still looked like and gave you the silhouette of Captain America, that was what was important to me. We just did years of stories in which Bucky wore a variant of Cap’s costume, and people were able to accept it just fine, and still recognize and react to him as Captain America. Same thing here,” Brevoort replied.

Marvel NOW! Captain America design courtesy Marvel, a MTV Geek exclusive

  For more of his thoughts on the costume here’s the MTV Geek link.

  The look reminds me of Bryan Hitch’s Cap in The Ultimates. Cap will be starring in Uncanny Avengers with art my Cassaday and Avengers with art by Opena.

  If you want to see Cassaday’s take on the classic costume take a look at Captain America: The New Deal by John Rey Neiber and Cassaday.

  No word on the creative team for a possible Captain America solo book in the Marvel NOW! relaunch yet.

 My bet is on Mark Waid. I’d like to see Salvador Larroca drawing the Sentinel of Liberty. Stay tuned.

By Editor

Doctor Who Star Mary Tamm Dies

Mary Tamm as Romana with K-9 in Doctor Who “The Ribos Operation” courtesy BBC.

  The universe is little less bright because a beautiful star has gone out. Mary Tamm played the Time Lord Romana on Doctor Who. Tom Baker was my first Doctor. Romana was my first Who companion. Tamm appeared with Baker in six stories in the late 1970’s.

  My first episode was The Pirate Planet. It was the second storyline in the ongoing Key to Time epic in which The White Guardian gave the Doctor a female Time Lord, Romana, to assist in his quest to find segments that would create the Key to Time and restore balance to the universe. I think my favorite episode with her was The Stones of Blood.

 Mary Tamm died at age 62 after a battle with cancer. I will always have a special place in my geek heart for her as Romana, my first Doctor Who companion.

By Editor

X-Treme X-Men Dazzles

 

X-Treme X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

  This is a mission for….Dazzler? You bet!

  There’s a new X-Men book out this week that will remind you of X-books of the past but I’m intrigued by the fun and thrilling future Greg Pak has planned. X-Treme X-Men #1 spins out of Pak’s Exalted storyline in Astonishing X-Men. Alternate universe versions of Wolverine, Emma Frost and Nightcrawler (General Howlett, Emmeline Frost-Summers and Kurt Waggoner) work with a a twisted version of Charles Xavier to save the entire population of a doomed world.

  Our world’s Dazzler is just enjoying life, fame and trying to hook up when Cyclops calls her in to power up a Ghost Box in order to help the new allies Cyke met in Exalted. It does NOT goes as planned and Alison is soon portal jumping with Howlett, Emmeline and Kurt on a mission from Xavier to kill Xavier.

  I’m reminded of the Cross-Time Caper in Excalibur and Exiles. An odd assortment of heroes jumping through the multiverse in order to save it. Fun, humor, time travel and weird science could make this an entertaining Doctor Who/X-Men hybrid. I definitely see great potential.

 If you want to check out the storylines I referenced here are the links to Exalted, Excalibur: The Cross-Time Caper and Exiles.

By Editor

Karl Urban on Playing Judge Dredd

 

courtesy Lionsgate

  Judge Dredd fans are hoping to see justice done with the 2000 A.D. character. Karl Urban (Star Trek, Lord of the Rings Trilogy) wears the uniform in the upcoming Dredd 3D. Urban spoke of his take versus the first film starring Sylvester Stallone.

  “To me, that wasn’t the Dredd that I knew. To me, it was far more interesting to have a character with this inner rage and struggling to contain it, rather than letting it all explode,” Urban tells Movie Fanatic.

  “That’s the direction that I was going in. I decided that what I wanted to do was find the humanity within Dredd. He’s not a superhero. He’s a cloned man, but he’s just a man. He doesn’t have superhero powers. His heroism is defined by the fact that he’s walking into a building while everybody else is running out.”

  One big difference with the films: Dredd will not remove his helmet just like in the comics. Urban explains how he overcome that obstacle. 

  “The challenge was: How do I convey all that without the eyes?” Urban wondered. “There’s a wariness too about the character which is really important. Your voice becomes extremely important. In my research I discovered a passage in one of the comic strips that described Dredd’s voice as a saw cutting through bone,” he reveals.

 “Other tools were the physicality. What can I express with my movement? It’s also really important to identify where the humor lies. That’s one of the things I really loved in the comic is just the really dry, dark humor.”

 For the entire interview here’s the link. Here’s the trailer. Here’s a preview of the new Judge Dredd comic book series from IDW.

 By Editor

 

Romancing Kitty Pryde

Wolverine and the X-Men #14 courtesy Marvel

  Fans of Kitty Pryde and Colossus are teased again in this week’s Wolverine and the X-Men #14. This AvX tie-is a slice of life with humor, drama and hope at the Jean Grey School in a world where the Phoenix Five rule and Avengers are hunted.

  Kitty and Peter split after the events of Fear Itself and Schism. This issue sees a Phoenix fueled Colossus trying to woo his way back into Kitty’s heart. The man who could have everything just wants the love of his life back. Fans like me just want our favorite mutant couple back together but Jason Aaron is making a convincing argument for Kitty and Bobby.

  Kitty’s date with Colossus gets hot but not in the way you hope. By the end I’m excited to see Kitty grow as co-headmaster of the school and develop a romance with Iceman. Bobby comes to a grim realization after an encounter with the Phoenix powered Cyclops.

  It’s amazing how many characters Jason Aaron juggles while giving them all moments that carry the stories forward. From a lovesick Toad’s “date” with Husk to Doop’s defense of the school there are surprising moments of that make you laugh and connect with the odd cast.

  Marvel NOW! is coming. Brian Michael Bendis is taking over the X-Men franchise with All-New X-Men but this issue shows why Jason Aaron should keep crafting this title that delivers heart, humor and thrills. The staff and students of the Jean Grey School deserve to stay. If the editors do cancel it the Bullpen deserves a Bamf infestation!

 By Editor

 

 

  Sometimes I feel like Avengers vs. X-Men should be title Operation Hate the X-Men.

X-Factor Reveals Magneto/Polaris Connection

X-Factor #243 courtesy Marvel

  Longtime X-Factor fans should prepare to be rewarded for their devotion. Peter David promises bring to dangling plot threads and long running storylines together in Breaking Points.

  One of the most tortured couples in Marvel Comics history is Havok and Polaris. The couple recently returned from Shi’ar space and Wolverine placed them with X-Factor Investigations in the book they starred in back in 1990’s also under Peter David’s watch.

  Alex Summers will be starring in Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers. The younger brother of Cyclops will lead the hybrid team of X-Men and Avengers that will be the first book of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. Will Lorna be joining him? Will there even be an X-Factor title?

  Breaking Points appears to be Peter David’s opportunity to wrap up his storylines but is it the end? Lorna’s relationship with Alex and her connection to Magneto will be explored in the storyline. David tells Marvel.com why fans are so obsessed with the Lorna and Magneto and makes a vow.

 “Probably because there have been aspects of Lorna’s background that have been left dangling for literally decades. It’s not just Magneto himself; it’s the entire story behind the demise of her mother and father, and whether Magneto had anything to do with it. All of this will be answered.”

 For more of his interview and plans for other members of X-Factor here’s the Marvel.com link. I’m loving the David Yardin cover for X-Factor #243 featuring Marvel’s tortured mutant lovers.

By Editor

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier “Darker, Edgier”

courtesy Marvel

  Captain America is going into darker territory in his sequel but Marvel films picked two directors known for comedy to take the Star Spangled Avenger there. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is based on Ed Brubaker’s gritty epic in which Steve Rogers faces a mysterious Russian assassin and a ghost from his past.

  Anthony and Joe Russo (Community, Arrested Development) are writing, producing and directing the Cap sequel and gave a preview of what to expect in the modern-day set sequel based on the Brubaker storyline.

 

Chris Evans as Captain America in Marvel’s The Avengers courtesy Marvel Films

   “Well, we like the [story]. I can’t talk too much about specifics, that’s the way Marvel handles things. I can say in general that there’s sort of a darker, edgier sensibility at work there that we found appealing, and that is going find its way into Captain [America] in the modern-day,” Russo tells Huffington Post. 

  Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger was an homage to World War II films so how will the tone change in the new film set in the present day.

  “I have to be very careful how I answer this, because it does border on issues of what the movie is. But yeah, he is in a very different time and place. For as well as that style worked for his World War 2 experience and the origin of Cap — part of the fun of picking a guy out of one time period and plopping him down in another is that all bets are off. The whole world is different, and that’s part of the struggle of the character and the challenge the character faces,” Russo explains.

Black Widow and The Winter Soldier from the cover of Captain America and Bucky #624 courtesy Marvel.com

  In the modern age Cap falls for SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter (niece of Peggy Carter from the first film.) No word on if Sharon will appear but Anthony Mackie is in talks to play Cap’s partner, Sam Wilson aka the Falcon. Sebastian Stan is set to return as Bucky Barnes.

  Will Hugo Weaving return as the Red Skull? How will the Russos explain the archenemy’s return. I do have this geek casting dream Christoph Waltz as Aleksander Lukin, the KGB mastermind who becomes a billionaire with a twisted connection to the Red Skull. Could we see a Black Widow cameo or even as major cast member since Natasha was crucial to Brubaker’s storyline and is currently co-starring in the Winter Soldier book.

By Editor

 By Editor