The boys over at Latino-Review have the scoop that apparently Thanos, a.k.a. The Mad Titan, will be voiced by Josh Brolin (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Jonah Hex). While Marvel hasn't announced it yet, LR has been correct for the majority of their recent scoops. This seems like a solid casting choice. Brolin seems like he could play a great crazed, mad man. Thanos is expected to be at some point in 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'The Avengers 3'. We will keep you updated as more news comes out.
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A rumor has been floating around that Marvel is meeting with Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Anchorman 1+2, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), Rawson Thurber (We're The Millers, Easy A), and Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Gangster Squad) to replace the role of director of 'Ant-Man' that was recently vacated by Edgar Wright. None of these names inspire confidence. My worst fear would be McKay directing, seeing as how he has little to no experience directing action and I am not a huge fan of his works. Best out of these 3 is Fleischer, seeing as how he directed the semi-action/comedy 'Zombieland'. I honestly hope this is all false, because if any of these men are hired, it will surely not be as good as Edgar Wright's version.
It was announced today that 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' is set to come out on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 9th. Here is the list of bonus features for the film. Surprisingly there is no new One-Shot that will be featured on this DVD. Marvel confirmed it today. There will most likely be more in the future, though. Blu-ray features:
· Making-of Featurettes · Audio Commentary · Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes · Bloopers · And More… 1-Disc DVD features: · Making-of Featurette · Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scene 'World War Z' is getting a sequel. And now that sequel has a writer. Oscar-nominated writer Steven Knight has been brought on to pen the script. Hopefully this helps make the sequel better then the original. I wasn't a big fan of the film mainly due to it's anti-climatic and somewhat ridiculous ending. Plus I never felt it was strong character drama or strong action film. I just felt it was too regular. I never expected it to be like the book, because that would be too difficult to translate to film, but I did expect a quality film. I will wait and see with this film.
The famous screenwriter (known for the Transformers films, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and the rebooted Star Trek series) is now taking over the role vacated by J.J. Abrams. Not much is known about the new film. This could be good news as Orci has had a chance to work on multiple franchises with big name directors, so he had to have had to pick up a few skills along the way. It could be bad, because he has never directed a film before and the majority of the films he has written aren't exactly beloved by the public (minus the Transformers films, I am a fan of his work, even when it is rough *ahem* The Amazing Spider-Man 2 *ahem*). I will take a wait and see approach on this. SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW I have never really gotten into the X-Men movies. I liked 'The Wolverine' and 'First Class', but never really got into the main series. So I was pleasantly surprised when 'Days of Future Past' turned out to be the best X-Men film to grace the screen. It had all the good parts of all the previous X-Men films. There was the great character drama, compelling story, good action, and it cleared up the continuity a bit. The story was good. Essentially Wolverine travels back in time to stop Mystique/Raven from killing Bolivar Trask, which would lead to the creation of the Sentinels. Along the way Wolverine runs into younger counterparts of the X-Men we know and love. This was a time-travel story that managed to not screw up the timeline or make things confusing. I have to applaud it for that. The only big continuity error that bothered me was the deal about Wolverine's adamantium claws. How does he have his adamantium claws in the future? The story managed to keep things moving, too. This was a very much a character exploration, rather than an action packed popcorn flick. Each character got a chance to shine and the core managed to have time to grow and develop. We get to further see development and softening of Logan, while we also see Magneto's descend even further into his desire for a mutant rule. I loved young Xavier's rise arc the most. This man was down on his luck for the longest time and we got to see him climb back up and get stronger throughout this film. I also loved the exploration of Mystique/Raven's moral gray area. There were a few interesting story beats there were skipped over or abandoned, which disappointed me. The whole JFK assassination fell a bit flat. I also didn;t like that Wolverine couldn't remember the new future when he came to. It seems like he would be able to remember both, since he would've lived both, but oh well. I don't want to discuss time-travel theories and loopholes. The end did a great job of bringing everyone (and I mean EVERYONE from the originals back). This story was great in that it kept the story moving at an exciting pace and also managed to develop the core characters. The actors all stepped up their game. James McAvoy really brought it as Xavier. The way he played his character actually made his version of Xavier my favorite version and favorite character of the film. Not far behind is a more nuanced version of Logan (Hugh Jackman). We are used to seeing a more aggressive and loner type of Logan, but since the events of 'The Wolverine', Logan has started to open up a bit more. It is really a lot more fun to see Logan now that he is trying to be helpful and patient with people. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) wasn't given much to do, but what he did worked well. The only core members that bugged me were Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and that isn't to say they aren't great actors. They are, it is just that there characters were just so gosh darn stubborn. It really just bugged me that they couldn't think logically for a minute. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart were great as Future Magneto and Future Xavier. But that is expected. I really liked Blink, a future X-Man. She just rocked to me. Kitty Pryde was also pretty good with the little material she was given. Bolivar Trask was a better villain than people give him credit for. I loved how he was played as more of a sympathetic villain, per se, because he was really just interested in the mutants. I didn't ever really think he wanted to kill all of them. He just need an excuse to see what made them all special. The greatest surprise, though, was Quicksilver. He got a lot of hate for his costume (non-existent), but a lot of love once the movie came out. The love was deserved. He was easily the best part of the film. He had very subtle humor and his one action scene was just epic. Quicksilver was the bomb. As for the action, well surprisingly there wasn't much big set-piece action sequences. A lot stayed intimate. The beginning sequence for example was relatively small. But seeing all these characters with all their different powers work together was pretty insane, especially considering how cohesive they were as a unit. What I loved about the action was how visually stunning it was. There was a bit of slo-mo, which I usually don't like, but Singer knew how to use it best. Plus that Quicksilver sequence was just about the greatest thing ever shown in a comic book film. There was a head scratching moment at the end. I have no idea why Magneto decided to bring a baseball stadium with him to a final showdown. It didn't really seem to play a part in anything. Overall, there wasn't too much action, but the little that was present was visually beautiful. Overall, this was the best X-Men movie yet. I have never been a huge fan of X-Men movies, but this film actually got me excited for the next. The story gave everyone a chance to shine. There wasn't much time-travel confusion. The actors, all of them, gave it their all and rocked it. And the thing that I liked the most was how it was a character study. You don't see that much in a comic book film (The Dark Knight of the few), and this one pulled it off even with the ensemble cast. Fantastic film.
In some of the most shocking and disappointing comic book movie news, Edgar Wright has decided to leave 'Ant-Man' due to creative differences with Marvel. It is obvious that his vision didn't fit Marvel's plans, which is odd considering he wrote the script. According to Marvel, this won't affect the release date of the film and that they are currently in negotiations with other directors. Still this film was Wright's baby. He has been the man pushing it for years and you would think Marvel would give him a little more leeway because of that. It is also possible that some of the cast may drop out if they don't agree with the new director. This is very disappointing news. Wright's unique vision and passion for this film could've made it Marvel's best yet. My guess he strayed too far from their proven strategy and they wanted to play it safe on this film. Minus 1 for Marvel. It's official. The new DC comics movie will be called 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'. Now before you make fun of it, think about this. This is essentially now Justice League Origins. That is pretty exciting. Sorry to those of you that were hoping for a proper 'Man of Steel' sequel. Looks like we'll have to wait for that.
This movie is looking better with every new bit of it that I see. It looks funny, action-packed, and like a comic book on-screen. What do you think?
It's the day we have been waiting for since Comic-Con last year. We finally have the new Batsuit set to be worn by Ben Affleck. I must say it looks pretty freaking awesome. This is by far my favorite suit. It is definitely taking inspiration from 'The Dark Knight Returns' comic. Hopefully it looks even better in action. It also seems to be taking a note and using similar fabric/material to what Superman was using in 'Man of Steel'. I hope they use this design for all characters, because if they do when we get the Justice League movie, well it will be epic! As for the new Batmobile, I am very meh on that right now. I will need to see more pics before I pass final judgement, though. Keep on eye on DC news the rest of the week. It has been hinted at by many people that this is only phase one. Maybe we will get a picture of Wonder Woman's and Superman's new suits and maybe the three together. Also keep on eye out for news on the Flash. It is looking like a big week for DC.
Either Zack Snyder is a really mean dude or we will see the new Batmobile tomorrow. In the tweet above there is a tease of the new Batmobile. From the little bit we can see, I'd say it is a mix between the Tumbler and the '89 Batmobile (i.e. really fracking cool Batmobile).
In other Batman news, it seems like we will finally be getting to see the new Batman and Wonder Woman costumes soon. Maybe even before the predicted Comic-Con date. If that happens, it might be possible that DC's big reveal will be the 'Justice League' movie and cast (not officially confirmed by WB yet). Expect Hall H to lose their minds. Today we have a new trailer for the new Matt Reeves directed pic. It looks pretty darn good if you ask me. Be warned that this is a discussion about the climatic events of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' and there are HUGE SPOILERS. Last Chance. So we all know that the film did include the of Gwen Stacy. I will say it was probably the most effective death in a comic book movie. The reason the death held so much weight was because the creative team earned it. They have been working to get her from day one on the first film. They put the work into developing Peter and Gwen's relationship. It may be due to the fact that Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are a real life couple, but the chemistry they have on-screen together really pops and is really vibrant. It makes the films better. And when Gwen's dad ask Peter to stay away from Gwen at the end of the first, you really feel bad for Peter. But like any crazy, teenage boy Peter doesn't listen and him and Gwen date. Flash-forward to the second film and Peter is having guilt about dating Gwen. He honestly doesn't want anything to happen to her. So they call it quits. Focusing the entire second film on a plot point that is about Gwen and Peter's relationship is what helped make her death all the more sad. Peter is obviously struggling, because Gwen is the one person he may love more than Aunt May. Peter calls Gwen up and they start to work out their problems, but that won't work, because they can't be just friends because of how strong their feelings are. But she is still there for him as a friend, and this is showed best when even though she is late for her Oxford meeting all ready, she will still stop and try to help him. All of this leads to the climax. I thought for sure that the Green Goblin was gonna show up at that bridge and throw Gwen off, but that would be too predictable. No instead the director decides to give us some hope for Gwen. Even though she is wearing a similar outfit to the one she died in in the comics, I still thought there was a chance she would live. Alas, it wasn't to be. The Green Goblin shows up, realizes Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one and the same, and threatens Gwen. Spidey gets her out of that jam, but then puts her on a clock gear. But then she falls of some clock gears, and even though Spidey catches her with a web, it breaks and we see her fall, Spider-Man tries to save her with his web again, but by the time he catches her she has already hit the floor. Let's take a minute, though, to applaud Emma Stone for her performance falling to her death. I know that sounds ridiculous, but her facial expressions said it all. Her brief look of worry that she might die, followed by a slightly less worried moment after Spidey catches her, and then the realization that she won't make it in time was just so heart-wrenching, as was her death. I gave a recap of their relationship throughout the second film to help you picture how much Peter loved and cared for Gwen Stacy. And this shows best the moment he realizes she is dead and he realizes it is his fault. Peter is there clutching her dead body, crying as if a part of him just died. And it really did. Gwen Stacy was perfect for Peter Parker. But now she is gone. As I sat there watching her die and the following scene of the funeral and Peter visiting her grave, I just felt for Peter Parker. I was sad for him. My heart hurt for Peter. I about teared up at her death, too. I really felt this way, because the writers put the time into developing this relationship. They did a great job at capturing the essence of the scene from the comics, all while making it their own. I felt everything about this scene was beautiful. Great job, Spidey team. On a smaller note, I cannot wait for this team to explore the fallout from this event in the next few Spider-Man films. I feel bad for whoever winds up playing Mary Jane, because I don't think she will be able to capture the same amount of chemistry that made Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy so great to watch together. On an even smaller note, I have heard there are other versions of Gwen Stacy's death floating around. I really hope these are included on the DVD, because even though I loved this version (because it honored the comics) I am curious to see what the other ways look like. Overall, though, I want to thank the writers for giving us a great Gwen Stacy that I actually cared for and was actually quite sad that she is now gone.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD I am going to start out by saying my views on this movie match a lot of the other reviews. I differ in the fact that I actually loved this movie. In fact, to me, this is the best Spider-Man movie I have seen. Let's start with the story. The one thing I loved about this film is that it was very story-based, not relying on action too much. At times I got frustrated with the way they told the story. The constant flashbacks or voice-overs of previous conversations was unnecessary and I just didn't agree with it. The mystery of Peter's parents was a good story. I enjoyed every bit, even if I still do have a few questions regarding it. I did love the Peter/Gwen relationship story. Peter is back and forth on whether or not to date Gwen, because of the promise he made her father. The chemistry between the two stars popped of the screen and you could really feel the happiness, struggles , and pain between the two. However, the story does some disservices to other characters to get to the climax. Rhino shouldn't have been in this film. He was only there to be introduced for the future. Electro was horrifically underwritten. The writers tried to attack from the sympathetic villain standpoint, but the writers didn't dedicate enough time to that, and for that his motivations really suffered. I felt they were weak at best motivations and were just kinda dumb. The Harry Osborn storyline was a bit rushed. That is not to say it wasn't good. It was good. I just wished that the writers would've spent more time developing the Harry Osborn/Peter Parker friendship aspect, because I never felt that they were best friends. By the time we got to Green Goblin it barely felt like we actually knew the real Harry Osborn, seeing as how all we saw was a Harry that was fighting to live. However, the most heart-wrenching part of this story was the climax, featuring a scene we all expected to happen. I was very pleased with this scene, because it stayed fairly close to the comics, the acting was on-point, and the aftermath also really helped show the damage done. The action/CGI was pretty impressive. I did have a few problems with the CGI. At times it looked like we had a different character model for Electro. Also, some of the slow-mo was over-used/unnecessary. It was either too long or just didn't fit. Have the times it did work, where great. I was really surprised at the lack of action in this film. We didn't get much time with the actual Spider-Man. The time we did get was created very beautifully. The colors they used were really great. This is actually one of the most colorful comic book movies I have seen. I loved every second of the colors. Overall, the action we did get was great. The acting in this movie was either over-the-top or fantastic. Andrew Garfield was great again as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He still manages to get the mix of awkwardness, yet confidence that makes Peter Parker and that cockiness and wit that makes Spider-Man. I really loved Spider-Man's one-liners and humor in this film. Emma Stone is yet again the emotional rock of this film. And she has to be based on the plot of the film. She has the smart, confident, yet cheeriness that makes Gwen Stacey, which helps us really connect to her. You put her and Garfield together, and magic happens. Jaime Foxx, although somewhat oddly cast, is a bit over-the-top as Electro, but it works strangely enough. I prefer the Max Dillion over Electro, but they were both still well-acted. The most over-the-top performance, though, goes to Paul Giammti's Rhino. His Russian accent was way out there, and based on the time we got with the character, I'm not sure how I feel about him. Sally Field was also great as Aunt May. I love her super-motherly take on Aunt May that comes out in this film, and her and Garfield share some great scenes with one another. Dane DeHann is really creepy and chilling as Harry Osborn. I liked his take, more so than I liked James Franco's. I felt he had a really great motivation for his actions. He was easily the best villain in the film. Some minor characters such as Norman Osborn and Felicia Hardy weren't given much to do, and I wish that wasn't the case, as they both came across as really interesting characters. Overall, for all its faults, I felt that 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' was able to overcome its short-comings to deliver the best Spider-Man film to date. It really captured the essence of Spider-Man, more so than the other films, all while delivering a semi-faithful take on a big story in the comics. It doesn't suffer from Iron Man 2 syndrome. And it helped clear up some of the mystery from the last film, while it set up for the next. The only super weak point in this film was the villains, and that was due only to poor motivations. Some miscellaneous thoughts. It seemed like they cut A LOT out of this film. There was a lot in the trailers that didn't make it to the film. I also heard there were many different ways they shot the climax. My hope is that they include all the cuts (sans Mary Jane) on the Blu-Ray, or have some kind of director's cut, because I am very interested in what I can assume has been cut.
Here is a slightly different trailer for the new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie. It features a better look at the turtles. Tim Blake Nelson, known for his roles in 'Holes' and 'The Incredible Hulk', has joined the cast of the new Fantastic Four movie. He is currently credited for the role of Harvey Elder, who winds up turning into Mole Man. I wouldn't expect a Mole Man appearance in this film, due to Doctor Doom being in the film. We will keep you updated as more news trickles out. |