It’s not too late to jump on one of the most enjoyable titles of the Marvel Now relaunch. This week’s Indestructible Hulk #3 is the third outstanding example of how great storytelling has made one of oldest icons fresh and fun again.
I definitely have to call this book cinematic. If you enjoyed Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and the Hulk from The Avengers then you’ll enjoy the ride Mark Waid and Leinil Yu will take on in this new series.
Banner is now working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Bruce gets to be a great scientist. Maria Hill gets a big green W.M.D. After showing up Tony Stark in a battle of the brains with his new invention, Bruce HULKED OUT on Iron Man to prove a point.
Maria Hill has given Bruce a job, a lab and the chance to show Tony and Marvel’s other big brains that he’s their scientific equal (or perhaps better as the series go along!) In this issue Maria recruits Banner’s lab team. Seriously who would want to work for a boss who could become a monster?
While science geeks audition to be part of Banner’s think tank, Bruce goes on a mission against A.I.M. and discovers a technological blast from the past that could pose a new threat. Waid and Yu craft a confrontation packed with action, humor and moments that may inspire a “awesome!” from you.
This is the best issue so far in a new series that’s big on action and fun.
The comic book writer who launched Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates (which influenced The Avengers movie) is now the Creative Consultant for the Marvel movie franchises controlled by Fox.
I wanted to share part of Mark Millar’s interview with SciFiNow about the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past. Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise to direct the film based on the classic storyline set in the past and a dark future. Turning that beloved X-Men story into a film is ambitious.
“I know how it’s done, so I’m not worried. I’ve been in all these meetings and talked about it at length with everyone, and everything I hear sounds incredibly mainstream. It’s no more difficult than The Terminator, or whatever, there’s one element of time jump in it, but other than that it’s absolutely fine.”
One of the biggest challenges in turning comic book teams into big screen teams is screen time for fan favorite characters and deciding who to cut. Millar compared what he faced writing Ultimate X-Men with the development of the X-Men movies.
“I remember when I was writing Ultimate X-Men and people were saying ‘I want to see Gambit, I want to see Rogue, I want to see…’ Everybody has a list, and at first you think ‘I’m going to please everyone’ and then you realise you’re pleasing no-one by just throwing in ten second cameos, you know.
I think that was the major problem with that first Wolverine movie and X-Men 3. Bryan Singer did such an incredible job with that original movie – it’s quite like Star Wars in that there’s Episodes IV, V and VI, and we’ve got the Matthew Vaughn prequels, and I love that – I love the fact that it simplifies so well. X-Men in the Nineties was so convoluted in comic-book terms, and Bryan drove a knife through it and make it work and simplified the whole thing.
I’d like to have that same approach and if we are bringing in a character then it shouldn’t just be for a trailer or to get a picture up online, get people excited, it should actually have a point in the story.
The trick with that is to try and keep the cast relatively small so that you actually care about them.”
For the entire interview here’s the ScifFiNow link.
Bryan Singer has revealed Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman will reprise their roles. Kitty Pryde is critical to the original story but no word on it Kitty (played by Ellen Page in X3) will be in the film.
If you missed it – here’s my X-geek wish list for the next movie!
Thanos was behind Loki’s alien army in the movie but in the comic books the super villain once wiped out half the universe.
The comeback of Thanos continues in a brand new limited series Thanos Rising this April by Jason Aaron (Wolverine and the X-Men) and Simone Bianchi. Aaron talks with Marvel.com about why he wants to delve into the origin of the death worshipping God of Titan.
“The chance to do as dark and creepy a story as I’ve ever done for Marvel. This is not a super hero story. There are no good guys swooping in to save the day here. This is the origin story of a very bad dude. A cosmic mass murderer.”
Aaron says the story begins on the day Thanos is born and “things start to get weird right from the get-go” and as for the women who influence the Titan Aaron says “Thanos has dangerous taste in women.”
The series will introduce new characters and classic characters like Mentor, the father of Thanos and show us how Titan “was a sci-fi paradise when Thanos was born. A place without weapons, without the idea of murder. But that all began to change…”
For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
Thanos killed half the universe in the classic story The Infinity Gauntlet. The gauntlet was seen briefly in the movie Thor. In the pages of the new New Avengers the member of the Illuminati are searching for a lost Infinity Gem. Could these upcoming comic book stories be setting the stage for what we might see in Avengers 2: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against Thanos?
Actor, author, gamer and geek icon Wil Wheaton will return to Emerald City Comicon, March 1-3, 2013 in Seattle. Wheaton played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and has been a voice actor on several popular video game franchises plus recently appeared on The Big Bang Theory and Eureka.
I will always remember Wheaton as Gordie from one of my all-time favorite movies: Stand By Me.
This is Wheaton’s 6th consecutive year as guest of ECCC. Wheaton’s ST:TNG co-star Patrick Stewart is making his first ECCC appearance this year.
A brand new Guardians of the Galaxy will blast off next month. It’s part of the Marvel/Disney big expansion off the company’s sci-fi heroes. All-New X-Men writer Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven will steer the new comic book series. James Gunn will direct the big screen film and the search is currently on for the actor to play Star-Lord. Bendis revealed on Marvel.com how these space-faring heroes will connect to teams on planet earth and the connection to the 2014 movie.
“This will be the most surprising chapter of Marvel NOW! This is a brand new #1 that starts these characters off in a place for new readers but doesn’t rob them of what made them great in the first place. It’s also a great place for you to hop on and see why we’re excited for these characters to be in a movie and why it’s as good a franchise as Marvel has.”
“This ties into a lot of things already happening in the Marvel Universe. The things that have happened on Earth in the past few events have had a butterfly effect through the galaxy. The abuse of time travel, the use of the Infinity Gems…these things have costs.”
“If you’re looking at Earth in the Marvel Universe from a distant, it looks like an insane asylum! It’s a place where the Phoenix Force doesn’t destroy the world, where Galactus doesn’t feed. It’s the scariest place anywhere to the rest of the galaxy! Wait until Earth joins the cosmic community…”
Guardians of the Galaxy #3 courtesy Marvel
For the newbies…Peter Quill has an alien father but was raised on Earth. The young man who will become Star-Lord eventually meets up with various aliens (Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora, Groot.)
“I wrote Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 without anybody asking me to, I love the characters so much. Starlord’s origin is a hidden gem. I repeated it in a Marvel retreat and it was nice to see even guys like Dan Slott didn’t know it. It’s as good an origin as Spider-Man. This is why you care about this guy.
They all have father issues or are the last of their species. It’s a universal thing not to like the world you’re born into and not having to be a part of it.”
“Peter Quill’s father is basically the king of the galaxy, but I’m of the belief that the guy who won the war is just the biggest [expletive].
“Every Marvel comic is science fiction on some level. As I was working this, I pulled out every sci-fi book that meant something to me on some level. I have so many that I truly love. I want to see what I was looking at and what drove me crazy; it was always the character and the artwork. That’s the philosophy I applied toward this book.”
In The Avengers movie Earth became a bigger target because its mightiest heroes defeated an alien army. Bendis revealed the first enemies his team will encounter.
“The threat of the first arc is that the Spartax Empire is an empire of conquerors, and the Earth is the sexiest jewel in the galaxy. There will be a lot of complicated plays for Earth, you can’t just come in and invade it if Galactus, the Phoenix and the Skrulls couldn’t do it. They have to be smart. That includes manipulating Starlord and the Guardians into a place where they won’t be an issue.”
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 courtesy Marvel
Bendis is also writing the Age of Ultron event and the brand new Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men so expect the storylines to weave into Guardians.
“When you see what’s coming to the book in its second arc, you will be shocked. The fallout from Age of Ultron lands directly in this book.”
“Iron Man joins the team right from the get go, which is exciting and show that the Guardians are really the cosmic Avengers.
The Guardians will be out in space a lot, but there’s something about them trying to protect the Earth but not belonging here and needing to understand it. Earth is in the first two issues.”
“A crossover with the X-Men is absolutely going to happen. The All-New X-Men have a lot to answer for. You know who’s not excited for Jean Grey to be back? Everybody who saw her as Dark Phoenix.”
“Marvel Studios has been developing the Guardians movie for years. I was not the most focused member of the Creative Committee on these characters, but looking at them with eyes wide open and became so excited. When it came time to think about putting this book out, they called me because I sounded like a mental patient talking about the possibilities of Peter Quill.”
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
Two titanic talents team up for a clash of titans in Asgard! Legendary Thor writer/artist Walter Simonson is joining Mark Waid for an upcoming arc of Indestructible Hulk guest starring Thor in April. Expect Banner’s trip to Asgard to be a SMASH!
In Marvel’s The Avengers Hulk famously sneaked in a sucker punch on the Odinson. In Indestructible Hulk #2 Bruce showed up Tony Stark in the labs of SHIELD and by unleashing the Hulk on Iron Man. Could the reinvigorated and bold Bruce be testing his power by going after the God of Thunder?
Mark Waid told Marvel.com how the first arc leads into the second and Banner’s mission:
“Bruce Banner learned a lot about his new crew of assistants; as he points out, their common denominator is that they all have a big secret in their lives—a “hidden self,” if you will –and the secret one of them is harboring is what makes the mission to Jotunheim, land of the Frost Giants, a priority for Bruce.
On the face of it, Banner claims that he’s taking his crew to Jotunheim in search of a specific element that exists only at Frost Giant temperatures. But Bruce has a hidden motive, as well. The real fun of it is how Bruce and his team get to Jotunheim in the first place; it’s a nifty piece of applied science, if I do say so myself.”
Banner reports to Maria Hill now so obviously SHIELD has an interest in the journey to Asgard.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.’s buying in to Bruce’s search for the Frost Giant metal—the scientific applications are myriad—but it’s one of Bruce’s assistants who has the most to lose or gain, and you’ll be surprised at the who and the why.
Indestructible Hulk #6 smashes into comic shops this April! For more of Waid’s interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
Congratulations to Hugh Jackman for winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical for his role in Les Miserables but it’s this role that has fans excited.
In this photo from Marvel.com Hugh Jackman is ready to fight in a scene from The Wolverine. Jackman is ripped and looks like he’s ready to fight a squad of ninjas! The new film is based on the classic story of Logan in Japan by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.
This post reveals the ending of Wolverine and the X-Men #23
Do NOT keep reading unless you read that issue!
Seriously!
OK
Here it is:
Wolverine and the X-Men #23 courtesy Marvel
The finale of the Frankenstein Murder Circus arc ended with comeback of a villain I wasn’t expecting! Jason Aaron dropped a supernatural bombshell but has he been warning us of this old enemy’s return since the first issue?
Frankenstein’s Monster and a witch named Calcabring made an unholy alliance to enchant the X-Men into becoming circus freaks and helping the monster track his prey – the young Bishop of the new Hellfire Club aka the last Frankenstien!
The X-Men ultimately defeated Frankenstein, the witch and their circus of zombie clowns! On the final page we learned the witch has been serving Azazel! The demon looking mutant daddy of Nightcrawler appeared to have magically transported into our world!
courtesy Marvel Comics
Who is Azazel?
In a storyline called The Draco (Uncanny X-Men #426 – #434) writer Chuck Austen revealed that Nightcrawler’s father was Azazel. This mutant from Biblical times was banished by Angels to a dark brimstone dimension. He was able to escape the dimension for brief periods of time and visited Earth to father several demon-looking mutant children. Azazel fathered Kurt Wagner with Mystique. The X-Men stopped Azazel’s plot to claim the Earth via his teleporting demon children and the villain went into character no man’s land.
Azazel (played by Jason Flemying) was part of Sebastian Shaw’s Hellfire Club in X-Men: First Class. Director Matthew Vaughn didn’t reference the Nightcrawler connection and turned the reviled character into a sinister on- screen smash.
Uncanny X-Men #434 courtesy Marvel
It appears Azazel’s popularity from the last film has inspired a comic book comeback. One of the many running storylines since Wolverine and the X-Men launched is the bamfs running wild at The Jean Grey School. The tiny Nightcrawler looking creatures escaped to the school when Beast opened a portal to their dimension. The little gremlins have been making mischief as the school (like stealing Wolverine’s whisky) but have they been agents of Azazel all this time? Could this lead to the resurrection of the real Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler?
