Category: Books

Ben Affleck Directing Justice League Movie? UPDATED

Justice League #1 DC Comics, Art by Jim Lee

 Update: Representatives for the actor/director have denied reports that Ben Affleck will direct the Justice League movie according to Deadline. 

Original Story:

 The man who played Marvel’s Daredevil may be directing DC’s Justice League movie. Ben Affleck has been approached by Warner Brothers to helm the big screen film starring DC’s biggest heroes according to Variety.

  The writer/director/star of The Town and upcoming Argo is the only director who’s seen the script by Will Beall and is meeting the studio’s top brass this week according to the story.

  Is this a smart move? Marvel tapped comedy actor/director Jon Favreau for the first Iron Man and the rest is pop culture history.

  Ben Affleck is the lead in all the films he directed so would be play a member of the Justice League? Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash? The man has the build and face of a superhero. Affleck played George Reeves (the first actor to play Superman on television) in Hollywoodland.

Maxwell Lord in The Omac Project courtesy DC Comics

  I’d love to see Afflect portray supervillain Maxwell Lord. I don’t know if he’s the foe in the script but that’s the character that jumped to my mind when I saw Affleck’s potential involvement.

  Greg Rucka’s OMAC Project, a prelude to the Infinite Crisis event, is a gripping story that demonstrating why Max Lord is a perfect villain. This story dramatically changed the relationships between Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. This epic with just DC’s Big Three would make a powerhouse movie. 

   Who is Maxwell Lord? A human entrepreneur who created the Justice League that he ran like a company. Later Lord developed mind control abilities and joined the covert espionage agency Checkmate. All that time working as an ally of the JL Lord was gathering information (weaknesses) on the world’s heroes in a plot to wipe them off the planet. Imagine Superman under the control of a warped criminal mind? The Man of Steel actually was compelled to beat Batman to death until…well just read the Omac Project!

By Editor

 

The Old Gambit You Love In a New Series

Gambit #1 courtesy Marvel

  Supportive and sensitive ex-boyfriend. Teacher. Gambit?

  James Asmus shows us that the Cajun mutant hasn’t been fully domesticated yet in a brand new series out this week. Remy LeBeau ditches the purple tights for a walk on the wrong side of the law in Gambit #1. It’s good to welcome the scoundrel back to his thieving ways.

  Remy decides he needs a detour from life at the Jean Grey School and finds a way to steal from the rich and infamous. Our anti-hero suits up (like he’s styled by GQ) for a charity event and shows he still knows how to work a room and case a joint no matter how big and swanky it is. Gambit is the wolf in sheep’s clothing and Sitch is an arms dealer posing as a benevolent socialite. It’s great fun to see Remy charm and scheme his way into Sitch’s secret stash but the prize comes back to bite him…literally.

  Writer James Asmus and artist Clay Mann takes us on thrilling ride. The story is cinematic with scenes worthy of a James Bond or Mission Impossible movie. Asmus gives us the old Gambit we’ve been missing and captures the spirit without overdoing the Cajun sayings. Remy may be from New Orleans but he’s a world-class thief and it’s a joy to see him back doing what he does best.

   I kept thinking of how Remy looks like a buffer, built Matt Smith (the current Doctor Who.) I enjoyed Clay Mann’s art on X-Men Legacy and he’s evolved to more of a painted style. I like what Mann, (Seth) Mann and (Rachelle)Rosenberg are attempting to create in Gambit’s world away from the X-Men.

   A new villain with nasty connections to the entire Marvel underworld, a mystery woman with tattoos (she reminds of girl who used to work at my local comic book shop) and Remy left in a painful cliffhanger make me want to come back for more. This first issue’s heist story may be familiar but it’s a great way to reintroduce the charming thief we love and hopefully thrust him into dangerous new territory and stories.

By Editor

 

The Girl Who Saved Batman

  Becky Cloonan is the guest artist on this week’s Batman#12. This post-Court of Owls issue focuses on Harper Rowe, the girl who saved Batman in issue #7.

 “If I could go back in time and tell myself ten years ago that I would be drawing Batman … well I don’t know if I would because I might mess up continuity, so here I am,” Cloonan told THE SOURCE. “I admit that I had some stage fright going in to this book, but Scott Snyder wrote an awesome script about a character that I could instantly identify with, and was on top of that, fun to draw. Harper is my kind of girl- I even had a similar haircut when I was 20, although I was admittedly not as cool.”

 “Scott had me drawing her in such cool environments too, from living in her crappy slum apartment to working on The Grid – even stealing cupcakes at Wayne Manor (what did I tell you? She’s my kind of girl!). Every scene had me thinking of how Harper would react in each new environment.”

 “A lot of time was spent thinking about her facial expressions and hand gestures, how she does her hair and what her posture is like, building on what Scott had told me about her and using Greg Capullo’s amazing designs to help inform my sense of who this character is. I had a great time drawing this book, and I can’t say how happy I am to have the opportunity to help bring Harper to life. Also, BATMAN!!”

  Batman #0 is in September the Greg Capullo returns for Batman #13 – the return of the Joker.

If you’re a fan of Becky Cloonan then support and celebrate other creative women in comics – here’s a preview of GeekGirlCon.

By Editor

Marvel NOW! Thor/Uncanny Avengers Crossover?

Thor: God of Thunder #1 courtesy Marvel

  Jason Aaron is taking over Asgard with Thor: God of Thunder #1 this November as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. Rick Remender kicks off the relaunch this October with Uncanny Avengers #1. Thor is a member. Aaron and Remender’s friendship and creative rapport could lead to a possible crossover Aaron tells Marvel.com.

  “Yeah, Rick’s probably one of the other writers I talk to the most. He and I have enjoyed sharing ideas over in the X-Men corner of the Marvel U. And I would expect that to continue now. Actually just today we were talking about some THOR: GOD OF THUNDER/UNCANNY AVENGERS business that should pay off way down the road. So yeah, Rick’s all right. For a dude who doesn’t like football.”

  Matt Fraction on The Mighty Thor and Kieron Gillen on Journey Into Mystery are wrapping their epic runs on those series with the Everything Burns crossover kicking off this week.

By Editor

Bane Back Story Sequence Cut From The Dark Knight Rises?

Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, courtesy Warner Brothers

  Director Christopher Nolan updated Bane for the big screen but cut a sequence explaining his back story according to a story in Vulture. The Dark Knight Rises offers glimpses of why the villain dresses and acts the way he does but there’s no explicit origin sequence.

  Costume designer Lindy Hemming was discussing other costumes for the final Batman film when she started revealing the flashback sequence to GQ.

  “The thing that you should have seen during that sequence is [Bane] being injured in his youth. So one of the fundamental things about his costume is that he has this scar from the back injury. Even if he hasn’t got the bulletproof vest on, he still has to wear the waist belt and the braces. In that scene in the prison, where he’s learning to fight the same way Batman learned to fight, he’s wearing an early version of his waist belt. It’s showing support, but it’s not the finished one he eventually wears. He’s also wearing an early version of his gas mask, all glued together … If you look at the film, unless they’ve cut it—and I’m sure they haven’t—there’s a whole early section for Tom Hardy where he’s fighting and being taunted by people. He’s got chains on him, and he’s standing on a wooden thing while people are attacking him. And in that scene, he’s wearing a much more ragged, primitive version of the mask.”

The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster courtesy Warner Brothers

  When the interviewer told her that sequence is not in the final film she reportedly responded, “Well that’s an awful shame, but I suppose you have to cut things. I won’t elaborate on it too much, because it isn’t in the film, but there was another section that showed you why he had the mask and where it came from.”

  Watch for this on the Blu-ray? If you want to dive into Bane’s comic book origins here’s a link to Batman vs. Bane and Knightfall by the legendary Chuck Dixon. 

By Editor

Jason Aaron on THOR: God of Thunder

Thor: God of Thunder #1 courtesy Marvel

  Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic have been deemed worthy to wield the power of THOR! Last week’s teaser sparked speculation. The new creative team is revealing their vision (and the cover to issue #1) for Thor: God of Thunder first to Comics Newsarama.

  Aaron is describing his story as a simultaneous “Year One,” present-day adventure and Dark Knight Returns-esque tale — re-teaming with his Dark Reign: The List — Wolverine collaborator Ribic and his love for Mangog. Aaron created a new villain ominously called the God Butcher.

  Aaron is taking over after Matt Fraction’s long run on The Mighty Thor and cites a Fraction story as part of his inspiration.

  “I remember when [Matt] Fraction did his first Thor stories a few years back in the Ages of Thunder standalones. I remember reading those and thinking for the first time as a writer, “Oh, Thor’s really cool. I could see me writing Thor.” But I never really thought much more about it, other than enjoying the book as it was coming out. But suddenly, once Thor was on the table, that’s the one I instantly gravitated towards. Before I even had a story, I just kind of made my play and tried to plant my flag. “Stay away! I want Thor!”

  Aaron’s story will be set in 3 eras similar to Ages of Thunder.

  “In part. I do flash back and show a young Thor in action, but he’s actually just one of three Thors that I want to focus on. This first story is an epic tale that plays out over the course of thousands of years. So we spend time with young Thor in the Viking age — the young, hotheaded god of the Vikings, who loves to come down to Midgard and get into trouble.

  In the present, we see Thor the Avenger on a journey that takes him to the far corners of space, interacting with all sorts of new space gods and wondrous new locations.

  And then we also see old King Thor, who’s the last king of Asgard, thousands of years in the future, where something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

  Linking all these eras and Thors together is one villain, an all-new character, who is basically, at least initially, a serial killer of gods. He’s a guy with a serious axe to grind against all immortal beings in the cosmos, and he’s going around doing his best to kill them all off, one at a time, as brutally as possible. That villain’s story unfolds over the course of all these different eras. He starts as a serial killer of gods, but by the end, he has become something even more frightening.”

 Aaron calls Gorr, the God Butcher a “serial killer” of Immortals but he has a classic villain on the horizon.

  “This first villain is all-new, but man, I can’t wait to do a Mangog story. I’ve had a Mangog statue sitting on my desk for months now, and he begs me every day to write him in somewhere. Soon, Mangog, soon.”

For the entire interview here’s the Comics Newsarama link.

 Thor: God of Thunder arrives this November as part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch.

By Editor

Updated: Daredevil for Galactus & Silver Surfer?

Daredevil #17 courtesy Marvel.com

  Update: Deadline is reporting that Fox denies is interested in a character rights swap.

Original story:

A street level vigilante in exchange for a massive alien and his cosmic herald? Daredevil for Galactus & Silver Surfer doesn’t sound like a fair trade if your role-playing but we’re talking film franchises here. Fox and Marvel are talking swap according to Variety.

  Fox’s rights to Daredevil are ticking away. The studio has until October 10th to reboot Matt Murdock on the big screen or the rights to back to Marvel. Variety also reports Fox is talking with Joe Carnahan about directing a Daredevil reboot based on the Frank Miller era. According to the story Marvel will extend the deadline if Fox gives up two characters from the Fantastic Four universe: Galactus and Silver Surfer. Fox is working on a Fantastic Four reboot with Josh Trank (Chronicle.)

Fantastic Four #72 courtesy Marvel

  What could this mean? Marvel wants to use cosmic level threats like Galactus and Silver Surfer in their upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film or Avengers sequel.

  Geek Question: What about Annilius? The Fantastic Four villain wasn’t used in previous FF films and plays a key role in the formation of the modern Guardians of the Galaxy? Time will tell.

  Op/Ed: I still dream of a Daredevil/Iron Fist/Luke Cage team up against the Hand on the big screen after three solo smashes. Kind of a Marvel Knights movie if you will.

By Editor

Iron Man: New Team, New Cover

 

Invincible Iron Man #518 courtesy Marvel.com

  Kieron Gillen and Greg Land leave Uncanny X-Men for Iron Man when Marvel NOW! relaunches the Armored Avenger. The writer tells Marvel.com why he left Utopia and Asgard (Journey Into Mystery) for the high-tech, globe-trotting world of playboy genius Tony Stark.

  “It just seemed like an interesting way to mix things up a bit. It wasn’t just the fact that [Tony Stark is] such a tech hero, because beneath some of the stuff I’m doing in UNCANNY X-MEN there is a modicum of science even though I often fire it through quite a few filters. This is actually the first solo hero I’ve ever written. The THOR run really doesn’t count because it was a bit strange; every book I’ve written has been a sort of team book. Loki, abstractly, is the lead [of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY] but in practice he isn’t and, on a larger scale, has gone 23 issues and hasn’t hit anybody. That’s not a traditional Marvel super hero. This is different, this is the iconic Avenger.”

  When I started writing Wolverine in UNCANNY X-MEN, I called my mom once and told her what I do for a living and she said “Ohh, I fancy that Wolverine.” When you’re writing characters that members of your family fancy you’re in an interesting place and, in the case of Iron Man, that’s totally it.

  When Marvel NOW! came around, I had reached a suitable place in UNCANNY X-MEN to move off of, and there were a variety of options with Iron Man [which sounded] really interesting. Of the major Marvel characters he’s the one most aligned to me philosophically, as in he’s a very straightforward person, and in terms of the heroes, there are none more forward than Tony; that’s what attracted me to [him].”

 

Invincible Iron Man #1 Extremis courtesy Marvel

  Gillen reveals his grand scale plans for Tony Stark involve the women of Tony’s complicated life.

  “Oh hell yeah. It’s actually a key part of my second theme. I’m going to explore Tony and his relationship with women. I’m interested in Tony’s selection of women in everything, from his mom, to Pepper, to the random people he’s sleeping with and everything that relates to them. He’s a complicated guy and he does bad things occasionally without thinking. Well, not [without] thinking exactly but he’s not always thinking about the right thing. He’s not the distracted genius but he always has something else going on.

  Matt Fraction did a brilliant take on the corporate figure and his run is a defining arc, so I’m staying away from it. Tony is still a scientist and will still be working on the armor but it’s all about him going out into the world and the whole grail-knight comparison. All the traditional corporate motifs are there but they’re not the primary drive of the book. Tony will be in the armor a lot, he’ll be going out into the world.

Iron Man #1 by Greg Land, courtesy Marvel

  The first five issues will be single stories that will share [both] a defining motif and a plot but it will be Iron Man facing new instances of technology and each is basically a new villain. Each issue will illuminate something about Tony and they’re all very different. Issue two is a lot like the Bruce Lee Kung-Fu Island story; it’s like a joust, it’s all about the knight imagery, essentially going to a tournament. Issue three is like a ninja story, Tony Stark trying to be a full-on stealth master, issue four is a horror story and issue five is something a little more romantic and scientific but I’m going to keep that one under wraps.

  I really want to mix it up with single issue stories because I think that quite a few people are feeling the same way.Single issues are an exciting place to go and anyone can jump on with any of the first five issues, not just issue #1. [In] each of those issues I introduce Iron Man; I say something meaningful about a character that you may know already and I want it to be accessible and to pop. That’s the thing with Greg Land: his photorealistic style really pops and it’s a glamorous book in that way.

  Gillen revealed he will be using Extremis, the creation of Warren Ellis, early in his run on Iron Man. The Extremis storyline is part of the basis for Iron Man 3 currently in production.

 The new Iron Man team debuts this November. Matt Fraction is ending his long run on Invincible Iron Man with Salvador Larroca to take on the Fantastic Four.

For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link. By Editor