Today may be the Super Bowl but for comic book fans the big game starts in March with Avengers Versus X-Men! No half time act but I bet Dazzler is available if she’s not fighting Mockingbird!
AvX #1 cover by Jim Cheung courtesy Marvel.com
My picks to win:
Overall Team: X-Men!
Cyclops V. Captain America
Iron Man V. Magneto
Thor V. Storm
Beast V. Luke Cage
Ms. Marvel V. Rogue
Spider-Woman V. Gambit
Namor V. Thing
Hulk V. Emma Frost
Black Widow V. Psylocke
Iceman V. Spider Man
Colossus (in Juggernaut mode)V. Rulk
Matchups not teased yet but I hope we’ll see in AVX.
Colossus (in Juggernaut mode) V. Thing
Thor V. Colossal Juggernaut
Warpath V. Hawkeye
Emma Frost V. Ms. Marvel
Winter Soldier V. Warparth
Wolverine V. Captain America – Logan will be on Team Cyke but I suspect he will be forced to switch sides.
X Marks the spot for the cast of X-Men: First Class. Following up on yesterday’s news that Matthew Vaughn will return to direct the next film – The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision reports that the entire cast will return – including Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence.
One point the article makes is that Simon Kinberg is working on the script – he wrote the excellent Sherlock Holmes and the “critically reviled” X-Men: The Last Stand.
I hope Rose Byrne’s Moira MacTaggert is back. I think James McAvoy (will he lose his locks in the next film?) and Byrne have great chemistry to explore.
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy from X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Jane Goldman is screenwriter and queen of comic book geek friendly films. She’s featured in Entertainment Weekly because her new film The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe opens February 3rd. I was fascinated to learn the greek cred connections Goldman shares.
With director Matthew Vaughn, she gave us Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. The Goldman-Vaughn partnership started with an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. He’s a family friend who recommended Goldman to Vaughn. Her husband is British television presenter Jonathan Ross, who is collaborating with Bryan Hitch on an upcoming comic book series, America’s Got Powers. Goldman wrote the short film James Bond Supports International Women’s Day.
With Kick-Ass based on Mark Millar’s comic and X-Men: First Class -Goldman has become the female member of a male dominated clique of superhero-film makers.
“The only moment I became aware of being the only woman in a meeting is when actresses are being discussed,” she told EW, “If someone’s critical of how a woman looks, they turn to me and apologize.”
Goldman told EW she and Matthew Vaughn enjoyed a “huge amount of freedom” on the reboot. And her response to a Vaughn directed sequel, “I’m there.”
I’ve posted my hope that a X-Men: First Class sequel will introduce Magneto’s children: Polaris, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver.
I loved Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men: First Class – all very different movies from the comic book genre that worked – a sure sign that the Goldman/Vaughn partnership is magic.
X-Men Legacy #261 isn’t just in fine hands but phenomenal hands. Christos Gage took over last month after Mike Carey long run. His second issue is filled with drama, humor and action. A love triangle is building into a quadrangle. An old enemy arrives.
I’ve never been a fan of the villain Exodus. He’s a pink skinned, immortal mutant who can do anything but I think it’s very clever how Gage uses him here. Exodus wants to reunite the X-Men. Through the conflict the X-Men show why Schism happened and why they made the right choice to follow Logan.
X-Men Legacy #261 preview art courtesy Marvel.com
Gage has picked up the baton from Carey when it comes to portraying Rogue as the confident teacher/leader she’s become. From her girl talk with Rachel about long distance relationships to tapping into powers for a takedown of Exodus, this is the decisive, exciting Rogue I’ve come to love.
I really love David Baldeon’s art. His work is energetic and expessive. The fight scenes are dynamic and a great fit with Nick Bradshaw’s work on Wolverine and the X-Men. I’m reminded of Gary Frank and Dale Keown’s work on The Incredible Hulk.
I’m definitely excited to see where this new team take Rogue, Gambit, Frenzy and company. The Exodus plot is not over and looks like this team is heading back to Utopia.
School’s in session for Christos Gage. He’s not just a popular writer he’s kind of like the Secretary of Education for Marvel’s next generation. The writer behind Avengers Academy and now X-Men: Legacy talked about the difference between attending the Academy and Wolverine’s Jean Grey School.
“Being an Avenger is a choice, being an X-Man is almost part and parcel of being a mutant,” says Gage.
“That wasn’t always the case, but now that there are so few mutants left, that’s how it is. So for the X-Men, it’s more about ‘This is the hand we’ve been dealt—what’s the best way to approach life?’ [where] with the Avengers it’s much more the traditional super hero philosophy of ‘Let’s use our talents to serve mankind.’ Not that the X-Men don’t care about that, but it’s just one part of a whole.
“Being an Avenger is a part-time thing, and when you’re not doing that, you’re being a billionaire industrialist or whatever. Being an X-Man is a full-time job.”
X-Men Legacy #261 preview art courtesy Marvel.com
While Gage will focus on the staff (Rogue, Gambit, Frenzy) of the Jean Grey School, we’ve already seen intense interaction with the students. I really loved Rogue’s lesson that helped Rockslide reach a new level of his mutant power. I’m thrilled to see Gage using the Guthries (Cannonball and Husk) in the book too.
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy from X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Michael Fassbender quotes are coming fast and furious as the hot star talks about a possible sequel to X-Men: First Class while promoting his new movie Haywire.
Fassbender gave IFC his thoughts on the next chapter of Xavier and Magneto.
“You know what’s interesting about Magneto and Professor X from the comic books as well, is there’s such a complexity to their relationship,” he explained, offering the notion that Magneto need not necessarily become a full-fledged villain. “It’s not just like clear-cut enemies; they’re best friends as well. In the comic books, even after they’ve had this sort of rift, Professor X asks Magneto to come back and look after the students at certain points… I think there’s always that complexity in their relationship and we want to keep that alive as possible, because that’s I think a really interesting thing — the conflict there.”
“I get where [Magneto] is coming from, that’s for sure — having read the source material, the comic books,” he explained. “From what we know with human beings, history has told us that we’re a pretty destructive race, so you can see where he’s coming from. It’s always interesting for me to have the villains doing positive things as well as negative or destructive things. I just think it’s more realistic.”
I would like to see Magneto’s children (Polaris, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver) turn up in the sequel. Fassbender is still a young man so casting and aging make-up would be considerations to make it work.
The fallout from The Dark Angel Saga is bleeding into the main X-Men titles. This week’s Uncanny X-Men #5 and last week’s Wolverine and the X-Men #5 take the aftermath of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force epic to create new characters and threats for Logan and Scott’s teams.
Psylocke is becoming the female version of Wolverine. Scott and Betsy have a clever exchange that plays on the fact that suddenly Psylocke is in every X-book and a crucial part of every key storyline now.
Someone on the Extinction Team knows about Logan and Betsy’s dark secret from Uncanny X-Force and that could lead to some intense future plot threads for Cyke’s team – if they survive their trip to Tabula Rasa.
The Cast of X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Michael Fassbender is the indie prince of Hollywood right now but to the geeks he’s the Master of Magnetism. While talking about his work on Shame with The Hollywood Reporter Fassbender did talk about X-Men: First Class in which he played a young Magneto.
“I’m very proud that were able to pare it down and make it about relationships and the characters. The action sequences were there to support those relationships, as opposed to the other way around.”
For the full interview and his revealing cover click here.
