The Dark Knight Rises one sheet courtesy Warner Brothers
The Dark Knight Rises is the finale of Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale’s Batman trilogy. The executive producer of the franchise talked with my friend Elisa Jaffe on 570 KVI Seattle Smart Talk Mornings. Michael Uslan says “I am walking in a dream!”
Uslan’s lifelong love of Batman is because “his greatest superpower is his humanity and that’s why I identified with him,” and calls the new film “the greatest superhero movie ever.”
Uslan reveals how he finally launched the Batman franchise, his geeky collection, teaching comics in college and his encounter with Adam West and more in The Boy Who Loved Batman.
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy from X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Director Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman and Simon Kinberg are working on the script for a sequel to X-Men: First Class. While promoting Elysium at San Diego Comic Con writer Simon Kinberg gave Collider hints of what to expect in the mutant sequel.
“I wish I could tell you about it, but literally, it’s like the most guarded state secret I’ve ever been around. I can tell you that it’s going really well, and I can tell you that I’ve been working closely with Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman on the script of the movie and that we hope to be shooting in Spring of next year to come out in July of 2014 and that I’m really excited about it, because the only thing I can say, because I have to be extraordinarily vague about it, because the last time I talked to anybody about it, I got in trouble…big trouble…what I can tell you is [that] it’s extraordinarily ambitious. It is unlike the other X-Men movies and yet very much a celebration of the X-Men movies.”
“I don’t know enough of what he [Vaughn] has or hasn’t talked about. I can tell you it’s been a very fluid process in the sense of we really went into it, Matthew, Jane and myself, just wanting to create a movie that was as…I’m very proud of First Class…as dramatic as that movie, I think it is as dramatic as that movie, but more epic, mythic in a way as well. So, there are ideas that we’ve started with that haven’t survived, there are ideas that we started with from conversations we had from making First Class that are going to be in the sequel. So, it’s vague but…”
The Cast of X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
“It’s one of those movies that, because it’s such a big deal for the studio, they have some sense of what it is that we’re writing and they are ambitious about the movie, too. I don’t know what the budget’s going to be, we’ve got to finish the script before we have a budget, but I would assume that it is a bigger movie than the last in physical scope, and that we have the license to do that because of the success of First Class. And because I think Fox has had success with interesting movies in the last couple of years in the genre, like Planet of the Apes was a really good movie, Chronicle was a cool movie, First Class, they’re just narratively or creatively a little bit more ambitious. So they’ve encouraged us to do that with the sequel.”
For more of this interview here’s the Collider link.
The full cast is on signed on to return. I’m still hoping we may see Magneto’s children: Polaris, Scarlet Witch or Quicksilver. I wonder if the success of the prequel inspired the Marvel NOW! decision to bring the original five X-Men into the current time in All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis?
Carol Danvers flies solo in a new series by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Dexter Soy. Carol is sporting a new uniform and finally accepts the mantle she earned a long time ago in this week’s Captain Marvel #1.
DeConnick kicks off the issue with Carol and Captain America in a showdown with a classic bruiser that’s packed with action and wit. Carol is a Colonel so she really does outrank Cap! The two Avenging friends also share a moving debate over Carol taking the title. Carol show she has the heart of a fighter and a humble hero.
There’s a scene that really hit me. I just fly home to take my mom to her first chemo treatment so the scene with Carol caring Tracy is moving and ironic. Tracy was Carol’s editor and is now going through chemo. That encounter leads to tragic news concerning the woman who was Carol’s biggest inspiration. DeConnick takes inside Carol’s mind as she remembers meeting, says goodbye and pays tribute to the female pilot who sparked her dream of flying.
I loved the old costume but as DeConnick told me earlier this year, Carol is a pilot and needs a uniform. Jamie McKelvie designed the sleek new look worthy of a Captain. Dexter Soy shows great promise. I think the art was too dark and Carol’s hairstyle was inconsistent.
Captain Marvel #1 courtesy Marvel.com
I commend Marvel for a bold rebirth for one of their leading female heroes. Carol assumes her new identity and is ready to push herself. Kelly Sue DeConnick gives Carol a dramatic premiere filled with action, humor and emotion and sets the stage for an exciting new era for the high-flying powerhouse.
A Geek can dream: Dwayne Johnson could be playing a Greek demigod or an alien bounty hunter next but I think he was born to play another famous comic book alien. Johnson is in talks to play Hercules based on Radical Publishing’s Hercules The Thracian Wars and Lobo of DC Comics.
After reading Wolverine and the X-Men #13 it came to me how Johnson would be perfect as Gladiator, the ultimate Shi’ar warrior turned Emperor. I don’t want to spoil the ending of that issue so I’ll go back in time.
I was a young geek when I first marveled at Gladiator and the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin had already blown my mind with what would become the Dark Phoenix Saga. As I opened Uncanny X-Men #137 to see my favorite heroes on a Shi’ar spacecraft surrounded by Empress Lilandra and her Imperial Guard. This elite squadron of warriors was led by a muscle-bound alien with mohawk. Gladiator (real name Kallark) is a Strontian warrior created by Claremont and Dave Cockrum. Strontians have the capacity for incredible strength and various powers as long as they are completely devoted to a sole purpose. Kind of a Zen Superman.
Wolverine and the X-Men #13 courtesy Marvel.com
Gladiator has fought with and against the X-Men to protect the universe from the Phoenix. Emperor Kallark now leads the Shi’ar Empire and his son is at Wolverine’s school – protected by Warbird. The Phoenix is back on Earth. Gladiator and his Shi’ar army arrived to save his son and take on the Phoenix Five in a cosmic throwdown.
Only the Marvel editors know the final fate of Gladiator after this week’s Avengers vs X-Men tie-in but the Marvel Universe would not be as amazing without him in it.
Fantastic Four #249 courtesy Marvel.com
Given the cosmic direction Marvel movies are going maybe we’ll see the Shi’ar Empire in an Avengers sequel or the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Dwayne Johnson has the powerhouse body and presence to portray one of the coolest aliens to grace comic books and may be it’s worth considerating a Gladiator series and solo movie. Thanks for reading the casting dream of a devoted geek.
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 #3 courtesy IDW Publishing
How to make the Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 comic book crossover even more geektastic? Jelly babies!
The creative team behind IDW Publishing’s clever mashup gives old school fans a flashback with the fourth Doctor (and my first*) Tom Baker in an encounter with Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty.
Issue #3 takes us right into the action as the eleventh Doctor is on the bridge of the Enterprise with Captain Jean-Luc Picard and crew. The Enterprise is on the run from an armada of Borg cubes and Cybermen warships. What Picard sees being transmitted from the lead Borg cube is bizarre behavior even for the alien assimilators.
Peering into the Starfleet database reveals images of Cybermen and a curly haired man sporting a hat and scarf! The current Doctor’s violent reaction to the images triggers a flashback and away we go. Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott are on an away mission where the humans seem zombified, robot warriors attack and a friendly stranger in hat, scarf and offering jelly babies saves the day. The writing and art style change to reflect the flashback feel of the tale within a tale. The trip back shows that the Cybermen have been in the Trek universe for a long time and hints at the origin of the Borg/Cybermen alliance that’s threatening the Federation now.
The writers succeed again at capturing the spirit of the classic characters and how they would act and interact. I have to thank the writers for making me remember the Cybermen’s weakness. How could I have forgotten?
Back to the future present the Time Lord is puzzled that he keeps remembering things he didn’t remember like when he recognized Worf as a Klington even though he’d never encountered one before…or did he? As Picard grows suspicious of the eleventh Doctor’s story he calls on an ancient ally to help determine the truth.
I’m excited to see that encounter next issue! *To be even more specific – my first Doctor Who episode was The Pirate Planet!
Will a new Judge Dredd film finally bring cinematic justice for fans of the 2000 AD character? Karl Urban wears the uniform (and will not be taking off the helmet!) in Dredd 3D. Olivia Thirlby plays Anderson the psychic Judge-in-training who had her own spinoff comic book series. The stars welcomed fans to a sneak preview of the upcoming Lionsgate film during San Diego Comic Con. Thirlby spoke with Dread Central about why the reboot appealed ot her.
“The appeal was the amazing script and the amazing character that Alex Garland wrote for this. Dredd didn’t read like a normal genre script; the characters felt so real and the circumstances felt so realistic. There’s something I really like about the heroes in this film and about this world in general. They are just men and women really; they don’t have superhuman strength, or they’re not gods from a different planet- they’re just really brave and they feel really real to me.”
The actress says she looked to the classic comic book to help prep for the role.
“There are the comic books, definitely. Those had the same kind of feel that this version had so they were helpful. I picked up on a lot of the dry humor to this world, too- that kind of humor that comes from desperation where the humor just begins to leak out in very dark ways. All that really informed what we were doing, definitely.”
Here’s the trailer:
For more of her interview here’s the Dread Central link. Alex Garland is author of The Beach and wrote for script for Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and Sunshine. Dredd 3D opens September 21st. By Editor
Jessica Biel won’t be playing the Viper in The Wolverine. The actress was offered the role but talks broke down and the studio is looking at other stars according to Collider.
Hugh Jackman’s next film is based on the limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller and focuses on Logan falling in love with a crime lord’s daughter in Japan. The Viper is a mercenary who works for the Silver Samurai – a mutant, half brother of the woman Logan loves, and heir to the clan. The Viper eventually becomes Madame Hydra, leader of the organization led by the Red Skull in the Captain America movie.
If Biel is out I say producers turn to her Total Recall co-star Kate Beckinsale. This would reteam Jackman and Beckinsale and stake the memories of their last on-screen appearance Van Helsing.
Wolverine and the X-Men #13 by Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw featured a cosmic level slugfest between Gladiator and the Phoenix fueled X-Men but the real star was Warbird. The creative team showcases the warrior’s fury and reveals Ava’dara’s tragic past. This issue proves this new character deserves to a major star in Marvel’s future.
Wolverine and the X-Men #13 courtesy Marvel.com
Aaron and Bradshaw deliver a brutal showdown between the Phoenix Five and their former ally while revealing Warbird’s brutal upbringing and violent past. The Shi’ar have always been portrayed as regal rulers over their sprawling empire but Aaron rips away the facade and shows life growing up as a Shi’ar warrior and how an act of compassion landed her on Earth in her current role.
Wolverine and the X-Men #13 courtesy Marvel.com
Aaron takes Ava’dara’s attraction to Bobby Drake that started in Marjorie Liu’s first Astonishing X-Men arc and plays with that plot here even as the allies have become enemies.
Here’s hoping Gladiator survives but I have a newfound obsessive love for Warbird! Jonathan Hickman’s new Avengers series is said have a huge cast and he favors the old school cosmic epics so maybe Gladiator or Warbird might turn up on his book. And given the cosmic direction Marvel movies are going maybe we’ll see the Shi’ar Empire in an Avengers sequel or if a Guardians of the Galaxy movie happens?
