Tag: Marvel

Well now, isn’t this some interesting ‘Punisher: War Zone’ news…

Hey folks, just got this link from Ain’t It Cool News sent to me about the “Punisher: War Zone” trailer at Comic-Con. Here’s a taste of the juicy gossip/interesting information it contains…

“Well when I posted that Comic Con footage with the sh–ty music and terrible scratches (that otherwise rocked)—a source of mine that I’ve been in contact for years inside Lionsgate contacted me out of sheer frustration, whom I’ll call JIGSAW. It seems that after a summer, where we’ve had incredible success with Superhero properties that were treated with respect by filmmakers that were left to do their thing… that Lionsgate has turned a deaf ear to all of that.”

The article seems to confirm that the ridiculous nature of the Red Band trailer I talked about earlier is likely due to Lionsgate and not the creative minds behind the film.

Now, the dudes over at Ain’t It Cool don’t have a history of making false claims, so I’m taking this as pretty reliable info (as reliable as news can be when delivered by unnamed Hollywood sources) at this point.

I guess the main point of this post was simply to pass that on and say that while the aforementioned Red Band trailer was pretty silly, I could still see a rad movie coming out of that. But now, with rumors/info like this coming out about it, I’m inclined to think ol’ Frank Castle might have some egg on his face come premiere time.

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‘Punisher: War Zone,’ my god, what have you done?!

I’m not sure how many of you have caught the new Red Band trailer of “Punisher: War Zone,” but here’s just a list of initial reactions I’ve heard after having the link sent to me and passing it around to some others (friends, colleagues, etc)…

“This is the goriest trailer I have ever seen.”

“This could either be the best movie ever or the worst movie ever…there is no middle ground for a movie like this.”

[In response to above comment] “…or it could be the best movie ever BECAUSE it is the worst movie ever…I could get behind that!”

“If that is the trailer…this is a snuff film.”

I could grab some screen caps of the crazy gore and post them here, but honestly, I don’t want someone to walk into those without some forewarning. So, if those comments have piqued your interest, or you’re the “it mght gross me out, but now I have to see it” type, then click here and watch the trailer. But be warned, it is a gore-fest the likes of which has never been seen in a “superhero” film!

Now, I’m a big fan of HBO’s “Rome,” so hearing Ray Stevenson was going to be the new Punisher was awesome news for me. I’d seen him cut down gladiators, so heck yeah I’d be up for seeing him chop the mob into bits! Early photos from the set had me pretty psyched, as well! It looked good, dark and pretty cool. Then, the first trailer hit and featured far too much chandelier swinging which kinda led me to move from psyched to apathetic about the film.

But now, after this trailer…it’s like…I don’t want to say I want to see it…but, hell yes, I will see it! It might be awful, or it might be surprisingly good…that’s up to you after you watch it.

Me? Well, I can see this movie being a bit like a semi-serious “Shoot ‘Em Up” and just being so much ridiculous fun that it’ll be great. Conversely, it could easily just be too much gore to work, even with the Punisher.

I just hope they aren’t aiming for super-serious, because they’ve already lost that with Frank Castle punching in faces like they’re month old pumpkins.

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The New, More ‘Mortal’ Iron Fist!?

So, I just checked out Duane Swierczynski’s first issue of Immortal Iron Fist.

Being a huge fan of Brubaker and Fraction’s relaunch and run on the book, I was as bummed as everyone else to hear they’d be moving on. But, when Marvel announced the Swiercz would be taking the reigns, I had this quiet hope that the book would continue it’s radness. Sure, he only had one or two issues of Cable under his belt when the announcement was made, but something told me he had the chops to rock this chop-socky book in a way that would live up to what came before while taking the book in a whole new direction.

I’m happy to say that after one issue, as far as I’m concerned, the Swiercz is on target and kickin’ this book like a kung-fu foot through a few planks of wood!

Seriously, don’t be deterred by the change of team. If you liked this book before, you’re still going to like this book. There is no drop-off at all, which is saying something as the book was definitely of a high-quality before, and the story is super cohesive with everything that was set up in the previous arc. I don’t want to say to much, because you should really read it…ok, there’s a dragon-man who hunts down and kills Iron Fists, an old west Iron Fist flashback story and some Danny Rand/Misty Knight sexiness! It’s pretty awesome!

My only real gripe is David Aja’s not on art duty anymore. New artist Travel Foreman’s style takes a little getting used to, and while his more talky scenes aren’t really to my liking, when the guy can draw actions scenes like these…

…well, that’s really the most important aspect of drawing Marvel’s Immortal Weapon!

So—as if it weren’t already obvious—my recommendation is to go pick it up!

Also, we ran an interview with the Swiercz yesterday over on Wizard Universe proper, so go check it out if you’re craving more info on the book.

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Captain America casting news and rumors (and/or, one die-hard fan’s view the Cap movie!)

So, according to Latino Review, Marvel is looking for an uber-large star to fill the shoes of Steve Rogers for the upcoming film based on founding Avenger Captain America. The frontrunner, according to the rumor/article, is Leonardo DiCaprio with Brad Pitt a close runner-up for Steve Rogers’ boots—or apparently as Thor.

Now before I get a bit ranty and give you all my casting and plot ideas for a Captain America flick, let me just preface this whole thing by saying that Steve Rogers’ Captain America is my superhero. I’m of the opinion that every comic book fan has that one hero that they have a link to that’s so strong it’s inherently part of who they are and the whole reason they read comics: to me, that’s Captain America. As big a Spider-Man, X-Men and Hulk fan that I am, I could stomach some less-than-good parts in all these franchises by telling myself that Hollywood has to change certain things in translation for a mass audience. For a Cap movie, I can’t—cannot—have that be the case. I need a Cap movie to be an amazingly well done superhero epic or I will freak out. Seriously.

So, as far as Leo goes, I have to agree with the duderino over at Latino Review…

I personally believe DiCaprio is an odd choice. To me, Leo’s tall and lanky figure is perfect for Steve Rogers pre-super soldier serum but I wonder how they are going to make Leo look like a bulked up super soldier.

…I also agree that Leo’s got the acting chops to really pull off this role, but he’s just too darn thin!

This dude is thick! Beefy even!

As for Brad Pitt, I think he’s a great actor and proved he can be a bad ass with a shield in “Troy,” but I think he’s a bit too old and not quite “super” enough looking to portray a super soldier. However, I can see either of these two in the role (despite my feelings that they aren’t the best choice) and neither of these two choices make me have to vomit—hard, for nine days—like the Cap-casting rumors about Matthew McConaughey did. So, that’s a plus!

Still, I’m not sure a BIG BIG name portraying Steve Rogers would really work best for a Captain America film. I think a Captain America film’s greatest asset has to be it’s story. A great story that makes sense of a man misplaced in time who is a paragon of American idealism and moral virtue is the essential ingredient for a Cap film. “Iron Man” had a great story, but even if it hadn’t been so perfect, the big acting talent—well-suited to the film and character and feel of the comic they were portraying—could’ve pulled it off. Tony Stark/Iron Man feels like a character and property best handled by big Hollywood names. He’s the shiny Avenger so give him the big shiny Hollywood movie! Cap is a classic. He’s a hero that I think could easily be misused in the hands of a super-Hollywoody film. Don’t get me wrong, i want a big budget for my favorite hero’s flick, I just don’t want the mentality of big-budget Hollywood behind it.

So, my Cap-casting advice would be to get someone who fits into the Steve Rogers camp. You do a “Superman Returns”/Chris Reeve thing and get a no-name actor that can become Captain America just like the U.S. Government got Steve Rogers and made him into that symbol—like they made him Captain America.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to what Wizard TV‘s been up to, then you likely saw “Friday Night Lights” and “Speed Racer” star Scott Porter doing some interviews over at Wizard World Philly. Now, Scott doesn’t fit my no-name actor criteria for the role, but he was lobbying hard in some of those interviews to get himself cast as Captain America (can’t blame a guy for trying!). I think Scott could be a good choice to play a young, World War II era Cap, though I think a modern Cap needs to look like he’s got a bit more mileage on him (being frozen for 40 or more years’ll do that to ya!). Scott’s got the uber-American, wholesome look to pull off the look of one young man symbolizing the good ol’ U.S. of A., and really impressed me by calling out Joe Q on the reveal of Kitty’s Astonishing “conclusion” three weeks earlier in Uncanny. He reads comics. He gets it. And, he’ll know how much a proper portrayal of Cap means to die-hard fans like myself. In that respect, I think he’d be a great frontrunner for a younger, pre-being-frozen Cap.

As far as timeline, in my opinion a Cap movie has to take place in both the WWII era and modern times. I think people need to see the gritty, war epic aspect of this character to understand him in a modern context. I’m not saying you need a Millar-style Ultimate Captain America, I just think understanding this man—who’s a war hero living in the future seeing what he fought to win for America and deciding why to fight for it again—is crucial to the character.

If you don’t understand WWII Cap then modern Cap can come across as kind of goofy. I mean, the guy punched out Hitler—a scene which has to be in the movie!—you cannot skip that aspect of him and what that means to every single character around him! He is the definition of superhero—the first superhero!

Based on some of that rambling, I think you need two or three people playing Steve Rogers in this film: You need the scrawny pre-serum Steve, the WWII era super-wholesome Steve and the modern war-torn (and slightly older and looking a bit world-weary) Steve. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think the WWE’s John Cena is the perfect physical specimen for Cap…

…but he could never pull off the acting tour-de-force needed for Steve Rogers. Do I have a set cast in mind? No, because I’m not sure the ranks of Hollywood hold it. I do think a lot of the actors being talked about for the role online and around this office (DiCaprio, Pitt, Damon) are a bit too small, but in the end, I think the key is capturing the eyes of Cap. You need to see the soul of America when you see the eyes of whoever portrays Cap, that’s the key!

In the end, Marvel’s definitely proved that they are on the right track with “Iron Man” and “Incredible Hulk” this summer, so I have faith. But, as a huge Cap fan, I am extremely nervous that the film could be easily ruined. With every other superhero movie that I’ve seen and liked, I think I’ve always been more open to whatever creative vision was put up there because I didn’t have my own, super-specific thoughts on exactly what the movie should be like. With Cap, I do and I’m worried that whatever’s delivered won’t capture the essence of Cap, and that’ll be a crime against my childhood I may not ever get over.

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Get your time machines, we’re heading to ‘1985′

Hey folks!
So, it’s been a long Monday, but I loves ya’ll so I figured I’d post some bloggy goodness for you (Side note, all my blogs are high on fiber and will help your “passage” so you can continue flinging the poo with The Loudest Monkey!):

I read the first two issues of Mark Millar’s upcoming 1985 this weekend (yep, that’s one of the perks of being a comic book journalist—occasional advanced PDFs of books) and my initial curiosity about the book named after a year not renowned for major events has now turned to excitement. I grabbed the book free of preconceptions, simply looking to pull back the shroud of mystery around the book I knew little to nothing about before reading. So, what did I learn? It’s about 1985! (Insert your *Gasp* here) Yes, the year! Check out the preview we ran for a little more of a tease.

No, seriously, check it out quick.

So, Red Skull in the window, Mole Man looking guy chatting up the neighbor; it looks a little crazy and the first two issues remain mysterious, leaving me to bask in the craziness for months until I get my hands on the third issue. Still, Tommy Lee Edwards’ art is just gorgeous and filled me with nostalgia for the time period while reading (Ok, I was only one year old in 1985, but you catch my drift) and the slow teasing out of this idea of comic book characters in the real world through the eyes of a tween is pretty interesting. In the end, that’s what really hammered this book home for me: little dude and main character Toby.

Millar always draws me in with his plots, but he’s never written a character I connected with more. I swear, it feels like he somehow tapped into my childhood and created this character partially from me. Toby seemed that familiar to read. He wasn’t entirely me, otherwise he’d have been more that goofy-looking, peachfuzz-faced and awkwardly tall kid with glasses, but the character rang true. He’s that kid who’s more interested in his comics than his life and he’s looking for his comics to enter his reality because it’d be way more interesting and an enjoyable reprieve from the same monotony relatable to nearly anyone who was ever 13-year-old comic reader. He’s an escapist, and every comic fan can relate to that and whether or not that Skull in the window is real or not, he’s sure something is up.

That was me at 12 or 13. I remember running around my mostly under-construction neighborhood back in suburban Atlanta, being sure that mystic forces were leaving TVs on inside these “For Sale” houses instead of lazy painters working on their final coat and that the “strange” influx of crows on my street had to be black magic and not the presence of trash-filled, construction dumpsters in every fourth driveway.

Reading 1985, I could really relate to Toby and, more than any amount of alien invasions or superpowered slugfests, that drew me into the series. I could step into the main character’s shoes in a way that, try as I might have, I just couldn’t with last week’s Kick-Ass. Now, that may simply have been due to the fact that Kick-Ass hero Dave Lizewski listens to the Goo Goo Dolls, or that my pudgy ass back when I was 13 would have been better suited to the semi-delusional, daydream tendencies of Toby than squeezing into a wetsuit underneath my clothes everyday (though I did look smashing in my swim team speedo—a dream of pale, undeveloped fleshiness). Either way, the gorgeous art and relatable character has me excited to see more of 1985 just to spend more time following the young hero’s adventures, and the continuing mystery behind the book is a bonus as well.

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