Joss Whedon and Scarlett Johannson made the Black Widow just work beautifully in The Avengers. Natasha Romanoff is deadly, gorgeous and damaged. She is haunted by the red in her ledger. At New York Comic Con Marvel revealed the Widow’s past will be explore in The Widow’s Ledger storyline.
Avengers Assemble #12 courtesy Marvel
Avengers Assemble writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Pete Woods kick off the new arc jumping from the film.
“Oh, it was absolutely inspired by the ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’ movie,” confirms DeConnick. “As soon as the Widow said the line, ‘I have a lot of red in my ledger,’ I was like, “Holy crap. I want to see that movie!’”
“This is a story about debts, among other things, and there’s a coolness, an almost clinical remove to the way in which Black Widow keeps score,” says DeConnick. “Now, add Jessica Drew and Clint Barton to that mix and it all gets messy. Suddenly the Widow’s well out of her comfort zone.
“I love how preternaturally cool Natasha is; not cool like rock star cool, cool like temper-less, controlled. In that way she’s the opposite of the character I’ve been writing most of late; Carol Danvers is quick-tempered, explosive. Natasha is patient, chill, calculating.”
Go inside The Widow’s Ledger starting with Avengers Assemble #12.
Captain America: The First Avenger promo art courtesy Marvel.com
The Red Skull is enemy number one in the Marvel Now revamp. Rick Remender and John Cassaday brought back the Captain America villain in Uncanny Avengers #1. The mad scientific genius has an anti-mutant agenda and a shocking weapon to execute it. The Red Skull’s sickening act inspired this reaction from me.
The Red Skull was a huge presence in the Winter Soldier epic but if the character makes it back on the big screen – it may be with a new actor. Hugo Weaving may not reprise the role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Weaving tells Collider about appearing in the Cap or Avengers sequel.
“I did that for Captain America. I think the tendency, with those films, would be to probably not bring a villain back. They might for The Avengers, but I didn’t think I’d be in Captain America 2 or 3. I don’t think Red Skull will be there. And it’s not something I would want to do again. I’m glad I did it. I did sign up for a number of pictures and I suppose, contractually, I would be obliged to, if they forced me to, but they wouldn’t want to force someone to do it, if they didn’t want to. I think I’ve done my dash with that sort of film. It was good to do it and try it out, but to be honest, it’s not the sort of film I seek out and really am excited by. As an actor, to do all sorts of different films is great. It stretches you in different ways. But, I increasingly like to go back to what I used to always do, which is to get involved with projects that I really have a personal affiliation with.”
In The Winter Soldier storyline the Red Skull is assassinated at the very beginning but there’s a twist I won’t reveal (Ed Brubaker Cap fans know how awesome it is!) so Weaving could do the job in the studio with just his voice.
Maybe Cap will face the Red Skull’s sinister daughter, Sin, and her man, Crossbones. I hope Weaving returns.
Marvel is aiming for the stars with Guardians of the Galaxy. A movie directed by James Gunn is in development. The publisher has recruited three superstars for a brand new Marvel Now series. At New York Comic Con Marvel announced Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven will create a new Guardians of the Galaxy series premiering in February 2013. The third superstar? Iron Man.
Guardians of the Galaxy will spin out of Avengers Assemble with a team of Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora and Iron Man. Bendis tells Marvel.com he’s been digging into the book’s history as he prepares to blast them into the Marvel Now.
We were talking about the characters, what they want and their reliability. I dug up some of their origin stories, particularly Peter Quill’s origin story, which as I tweeted recently I had come across, and decided that it was, for my money, as good as Superman or Spider-man’s origin—it was just no one knew it! It was literally a two-page story in MARVEL PREMIERE about 34 years ago, and I just really really liked it. As the movie was getting closer, and more drafts were coming in, they called me and said “Listen, you were so excited during the Guardians movie calls, we need to get this book back in the public eye. We really want to make it more a part of the Marvel Universe.”
Sometimes the cosmic books are in their own little corner—and sometimes that’s charming, but it’s a lot of the reason that they don’t have a bigger audience. I had voiced how cool it would be, and how easy it would be, to guide them closer to the center of the Marvel universe, to be almost part of the Avengers franchise instead of off on their own. I was talking about it as a fan, more just like what I’d like to see, and then they called and said that they really want to do this book, how about you and someone like Steve McNiven? Steve and I worked together years ago on NEW AVENGERS, and I was just waiting patiently for my turn to work with him again. And I said, “I’ll tell you what, if you get Steve McNiven, I’ll do it.”
In terms of the cinematic Marvel Universe – Tony Stark is the biggest gun. Bendis is the guy who recruited Wolverine and Spider-Man for the Avengers. Bendis explains why Stark is joining this team.
“It’s more about that he’s a futurist, and he’s an explorer, and he’s a scientist, and an adventurer. You could certainty see Tony getting to a place in his mind where number one, he needs a vacation more than anyone on the planet. But number two, more like a working vacation, and thinking, you know what, I kind of hit a ceiling with my technology. I want to go out and explore some new stuff and see things from a new perspective, and really look at the Earth from a new perspective, and come back and see if that doesn’t help him break past whatever ceiling he’s hit with his work.
And plus, we’re going to have some fun with Tony trying to live out his William Shatner/Captain Kirk space-girl fantasies. So Tony will come out here to be part of the Guardians, to explore the ideas that the Guardians had put in his head during AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, that the Earth is a very important part of the cosmic civilization for the next generation. So Tony literally needs to go out and look at it from their point of view to see what he can do to help. And so he gets to have space adventures, he gets to live the William Shatner/Captain Kirk, he gets to explore, he gets to invent, and Tony gets to see the world from a different perspective.
When Tony’s with the Avengers, he’s always top dog, alpha male, he’s always kind of in charge. Here, he’s going to be a fish way out of water. Even though he’s been to outer space a few times, this is living in outer space, which is a completely different thing. And basically living on a pirate ship!”
Avengers Assemble #6 courtesy Marvel
In The Avengers movie Earth now has its Mightiest Heroes but it has become a target to alien races. That awareness is part of the premise of this upcoming series Bendis explains.
“As far as what the premise of the book is, we hinted at it a little bit in AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, that it’s very clear to the cosmic civilizations of the Marvel universe—which is the Kree, the Skrulls, the Badoon, and the Chitauri—they all are looking at Earth. Earth seems to be a very important element; it’s literally the center of the universe. Here we have this one-of-a-kind amalgam of super heroes and Guardians and alien technologies and mutants, and it’s just this smorgasbord of powers and choices.
Look at it from a distance, say from the Kree’s point of view. Earth is very scary because it’s got all these things and it almost looks like a cauldron of craziness. It’s only one generation away from being able to join the cosmic civilization. From this point, it looks like they’re either going to be this warring tribe of barbarians with laser guns, or they’re going to be able to join us.
And it becomes clear to the leaders of the other civilizations that Earth isn’t being left alone to develop itself. Every five minutes, there’s some kind of alien interaction on Earth that is damaging to Earth’s development. Like the Skrull attack, the Kree experiments on us—there [are] all these things going around and Earth isn’t being allowed to be just Earth. If this continues, if people keep poking at it or attacking it, when Earth is able to join the cosmic civilizations, they’re going to come at us as a war tribe.
We have two choices: We can either blow the Earth up and put ourselves at war with Asgard; or we can make a new rule, and the new rule is that no one is allowed to touch Earth. You’re not allowed to touch it. You’re not allowed anywhere near it, and if you do, you’re breaking the number one cosmic law.
Peter’s father, who is the King of Spartax, asks Peter to lead the Spartax army to guard Earth, because Peter is half-Earthling. Peter doesn’t trust his father, and he’s right not to trust his father, so instead he takes the Guardians and makes them in charge of protecting Earth without him touching it. Tony is going to be involved in a very large terrorist attack on Earth that happens in the very first issue, and from that will decide to join the Guardians in this endeavor.”
Bendis confirmed S.W.O.R.D. (SHIELD of outer space) will appear in the first issue.
For more of his interview and Steve McNiven here’s the Marvel.com link.
Agent Maria Hill assembles a powerhouse roster for a new Secret Avengers by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross. At New York Comic Con Marvel revealed plans for a new Secret Avengers #1 debuting February 2013. The team will include Phil Coulson, the new Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Mockingbird, Hulk, Winter Soldier, and a brand new Iron Patriot.
“These operatives were hand-picked by S.H.I.E.L.D. based on a number of factors,” revealed Spencer. “Some have experience in black ops missions. Some have military training. Some are walking weapons of mass destruction. The combination is a potent one, and a veritable dream team for these kinds of assignments. But I should also say they’re not the only ones. A big part of the fun is anyone can get the call. And then forget they got it, once the mission’s done.”
Spencer says the mission debriefing will take fans back to the awesome Secret War limited series by Brian Michael Bendis.
“In Secret War, we saw Nick Fury used mind-wipe/memory plant tech to bring together a team of super-powered operatives to take down an off-the-books threat,” he reminds. “The end result of that mission was a full-scale disaster, and essentially set off a chain of events that ripped S.H.I.E.L.D. apart. But now that there’s a new S.H.I.E.L.D. up and running, there’s already interest in re-visiting this initiative. Because at the end of the day, there are limits to what their own agents can do—they need high-powered operatives to tackle high-powered threats. They need Avengers.”
Spencer explains how this team’s missions will differ from Jonathan Hickman’s book.
“As I said, this is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s team, so the kinds of threats they deal with look very different from the ones the core Avengers team might come up against,” Spencer says. “These are rogue states, terrorist groups, arms dealers. The missions are often diplomatically sensitive and highly classified. They’re working in a world with a lot of gray in it, making tough decisions in order to prevent war and protect the peace.”
Any guesses on who’s under the helmet of the new Iron Patriot suit?
Op/Ed: Mindwipes are never good S.O.P.
For more of Nick Spencer’s interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson in The Avengers courtesy Marvel
At New York Comic Con Marvel announced Clark Gregg will reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson in the SHIELD live-action television pilot by Joss Whedon. Gregg played Coulson in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and The Avengers.
The actor is the voice of Principal Coulson on the Ultimate Spider-Man series.
Maybe the clever agent used his life model decoy in the his encounter with Loki in The Avengers? Phil Coulson recently joined the Marvel comic universe in the Battle Scars mini-series.
2013 is Superman’s 75th Anniversary and fans have reason to celebrate. The Man of Steel by Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan will hit the big screen. Scott Snyder and Jim Lee will team up to launch a brand new Superman book.
“As a huge fan of Scott’s writing, I’m looking forward to drawing Superman as much as I am reading Scott’s story as it unfolds,” Lee told The Source, “Scott’s crafted a truly epic yet personal story which will demonstrate without a doubt why Superman remains the most iconic hero of the modern age. 2013 is gonna absolutely rock!”
“I’ve loved Superman since I was a kid, and to be working on him now, with the great Jim Lee, is simply too thrilling for words. It’s a dream come true for me on every front,” said Snyder . “I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say it’s the Superman story I’d write if I only ever got one chance to write the character. It’s an exploration of everything I love and am fascinated by about him. Like Court of Owls for Batman, it’s a character piece for Clark – it’s going to challenge him to his core. And it’s definitely epic in scope, with huge action and drama – the biggest and most earth-shaking action I’ve ever done. Can’t wait to see what you all think of it. Couldn’t be more grateful or excited to get the chance to make this one!”
Will Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker “hit the jackpot?”
Variety reports Sony is in talks with Shailene Woodley (The Descedants, The Secret Life of An American Teenager) to play Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel. Director Marc Webb is back to direct. According to the story the search is on for an actor to play Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend and eventual enemy and an unspecified villain. The report says an option is Max Dillon aka Electro.
I hope the producers continue to keep Norman Osborn off camera and in the shadows until a final film. I would love to see Dr. Michael Morbius aka Morbius, The Living Vampire as a villain in the tradition of the Lizard from the first film.
Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in Skyfall this November. Craig’s third film as 007 is part of the 50th Anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. While you wait for the newest adventure of Ian Fleming’s super spy consider enjoying a blast from the past. 007 has starred in movies, novels, comic books and daily comic strips.
The James Bond Omnibus collects nine original daily comic strips by writer Jim Lawrence and artist Yaroslav Horak from Titan Books. My favorite Bond novel and movie is From Russia, With Love so I really enjoyed these retro tales of 007. These strips were published by British newspapers in the early 1970’s.
Horak’s stark black and white art reminds me of Klaus Janson (Daredevil.) This James Bond is chiseled with visual elements of Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
courtesy Titan Books
In the first story Trouble Spot James Bond encounters a trio of femme fatales and sharkfaced KGB spymaster and goes undercover in a nudist colony?
The collection also includes titles like Die With My Boots On, The Girl Machine, and The Nevsky Nude. filled with dangerous Bond girls, sinister villains, exotic locales and some surprising plot twists. I think Ian Fleming would raise his martini to this omnibus.
The James Bond Omnibus 004 from Titan Books is perfect for the 007 fanatic but for all lovers of classic adventure comic strips and graphic storytelling.
