Spider-man, Spider-man...George Takei should be Spider-man.

This week belongs to George Takei.  He's doing all kinds of awesome shit on Howard Stern as the guest announcer for the week and now he's lobbying for the Spider-man role in "Turn Off the Dark".  Its more of a cheap advertising ploy for his new musical (Allegiance, coming in 2012), but it makes sense.  He's got great moves, a great voice, and great musculature.

I haven't seen "Turn Off The Dark", but I have a feeling George would make it better.

Oh my.

Spider-Man : Best. Week. Ever.

So first, we see that Pete gets a spot on the Fantastic Four The Future Foundation and an ultra slick new white and black costume, and now the Spider-man reboot can officially be called "The Amazing Spider-man".  Pretty...pretty.....pretty good.

I'm excited to read the new FF, but the variant cover above confuses me.  Obviously everyone on the cover  is excited that Spidey is on the team, but aren't they a little TOO happy? I mean, Johnny Storm just died guys.  Tone it down a bit. The team consists of 3/4 of the Fantastic Four, the two Richards kids, and then I'm lost.  I suppose that's a gargoyle, 2 mutant birds, a flying alien monkey head, some other stereotypical looking aliens, and a Sleestak lurking under Sue Storm's underarm?

The new teaser picture for Amazing Spider-Man looks awesome.  His costume doesn't look like he made it in his bedroom like in the comics, but for the first time in a long time it looks like he's wearing web shooters. Pretty cool.

Captain America, Fuck Yeah

X-Men : First Class

I've held out little hope for this movie since reading details, and this trailer doesn't really get me all hot and bothered. I got into this a couple weeks ago, but in case you're too lazy too read another post or just forgot what I said : I think releasing an X-men movie without a cast of familiar X-men is a bad move, especially with all the comic book movies out there.

Fantastic Fou...Wait, What Now?

If I read any comics besides the ULTIMATE series, I'd know what the hell was going on. New suits, some kind of 3 logo, The Thing is throwing two kids on some sort of Fantasticar, and Spider-Man is lurking.  I guess Johnny Storm is dead, or something?

That's the type of journalism you can expect from your friends at Brain Dead Blog.

UPDATE : The always correct Wikipedia says that Johnny Storm dies after stopping a horde of monsters from the Negative Zone.  Really? The Negative Zone? Has ANY story involving the Negative Zone ever gone well? If Reed Richards so damn smart, how come he act so dam stoopid?

UPDATE v2 : I think Spider-man looks cool in this outfit.  It clearly won't be when he's rolling solo, so why not.

UPDATE v3 : Loyal BrainDeadBlog reader Jordan Buckley (Loyal? No. Reader? Probably not) brought up a good point via twitter :"He died so that he could be Captain America".

He went on to say: "(get it)?"

Then ended with: "(because the same actor that played Johnny Storm in the F4 movie is now playing Captain America in the Captain America movie)".

I think he's on to something.

UPDATE v4:

This has just been confirmed: the kid who played Andy Keaton (Alex's younger brother) on Family Ties will now play any and all renditions of Johnny Storm, even in the comics.

This makes me sick.  Just like Hollywood to bring in a cute kid to create interest.

Robin a Legit Rumor Now?

Den of Geek is reporting that a place called "Grand Ledge" was being scouted as a location for the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises". More importantly, that location was described as a "hideout for Batman sidekick Robin".

They went on to point out that Joseph Gordin Levitt has been casted in an unnamed role and speculated that the role could in fact be Robin.

If you think that I'm above an "I told you so" post based on an unconfirmed rumor, you clearly don't know me at all.

Update : Film School Rejects is also speculating that Robin could be in the movie and played by JGL, but unfortunately no one is using the image I created...yet.
(via Den of Geek)

Cowboys and Aliens May Feel Familiar

Everyone likes to see actors and directors grow and expand outside of their typical roles. However...what's so wrong in sticking to what you're good at?

Jon Favreau went from directing 2 Iron Man movies to Cowboys & Aliens, a film that involves a story from a comic book, a hero that wears a cool blue glowing thing on his wrist that shoots stuff, and a bunch of cool CGI and explosions.  Daniel Craig plays a bad ass with a gun and Harrison Ford plays a guy that looks awesome in a hat. Its not exactly unfamiliar territory for any of them, but it feels like a safe bet that this movie will be entertaining.



(graphic via The Daily Blam)

Christopher Nolan : Big Fan of 3rd Rock From the Sun

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is going to be in Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie, although his role is unspecified. The pic above insinuates that he may be cast as Heath Ledger's replacement and that there will be a Joker cameo.

There were also rumors that he was going to be the Riddler, so maybe they'll introduce Edward Nygma and set the stage for Batman 4. Or maybe they'll just introduce him then never reference it again like when Billy D. Williams was Harvey Dent in the original Batman. 

I think Nolan is ready to jump the shark and get the hell out of Gotham, so don't be surprised if Gordon-Levitt is Dick Grayson aka Robin. He would be an absolutely TERRIBLE Robin, which I would love to see.

Marvel Vs. Capcom OMGs

I don't really give a rat's ass about Street Fighter, but if I did I'd be siked for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I've played DC vs. Mortal Kombat and if you can get over how unbelievably unbelievable it is (in what world could Catwoman beat the crap out of Superman?), its pretty fun. So, this will be cool...probably.

Its nice to see some of the lesser known characters of the Marvel Universe like Taskmaster, Deadpool, X-23 and Dormammu. And then a bunch of Capcom guys are in it, but I only really recognize Street Fighter guys and the dude from Ghosts N Goblins.

If you don't want to know who the "Final Boss" is, don't hit the jump (you baby).

Superman Likes Tea, Who Cares?

Henry Cavill was cast as Superman today, which poses an interesting question : "Who the hell is that guy".

I'll do my best to answer that...Superman is an alien who crash landed in the country, was raised by farmers, has a secret identity that involves glasses, and can fly/lift stuff/burn stuff with his eyes/reverse time by spinning the earth backward and is basically has no vulnerabilities. Bad joke aside, I hate Superman. He's as vanilla as comic book characters come.  The "only weakness is Kryptonite" thing is played out.

More Spider-man Reboot Stuff

Some of the action scenes from the original Spider-man movies looked  like a PS2 game.  Complete garbage.

It looks like they're looking to fix some of those issues in the reboot by shooting more practical effects, which I think is awesome.

Here's Spider-man doing some real Spider-man type stuff.  I'm pretty sure this clip will need some color correction before it makes it's way to theatres.

Super Clerk.

Before Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" hit the screens in 2006. We had all heard rumors of another film to be helmed by Tim Burton called "Superman Lives" which would star Nicolas Cage. However, due to disagreements with script and budgets, Burton left the project to direct Sleepy Hollow. After other directors, scripts, and stars came and went the film was finally scrapped in 2001.

In the last few years, leaked concept art and costume designs have surfaced all around the internet. While "Superman Returns" did become quite forgettable, I am happy that was the movie that made it to the theaters as opposed to the one with this guy.

Believe it or not "Superman Lives" ill fate began way before H.I. McDunnough threw on this set of PJs. Kevin Smith, director & comic book lover, tells his experience with this deathship of a film. Although I can't say I am a huge fan of all his cinematic efforts, Smith is a great raconteur. This story may be a bit long but it does paint a very real and humorous look at the Hollywood studio system.

Enjoy.

The Dark Knight Rises Casting Shinfo

Big news from "The Dark Knight Rises" today; Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Tom Hardy has been cast as Bane. No Riddler or Killer Croc, so I'm sure Batman nerds are bummed, but Catwoman and Bane were a good choice.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Finally, a love interest that doesn't involve Katie Holmes or what's his name...Maggie Gyllenhaal. Anne Hathaway doesn't come off as the Catwoman type but I'm all for non-traditional casting.

Tom Hardy as BANE

Knightfall is probably one of my favorite story arcs. In it, BANE travels to Gotham to fight Batman but realizes that he can't win a fair fight, so destroys a wall at Arkham Asylum and lets all the crazies loose (including Joker, Scarecrow and Zsasz). It takes months for Batman to round them all up, and when he finally succeeds his is suffering from extreme exhaustion. He cruises back to Wayne Manor and Bane is just chilling in his house. So, Batman is weak, BANE knows his secret identity, and they're about to fight in his own crib. BANE winds up literally breaking him over his knee. Unfortunately, BANE has fallen short in just about everything he's been in since his introduction. 

If they follow the Knightfall story, you could see a bunch of cameos of other villains, which would be cool.

From The Mind Of DER (Why WATCHMEN Failed At The Movies)

This is not a new concept.
A story suffering from a book to film adaptation.
It's going to happen. The deck is stacked. Real world time and resources against endless imagination where the only restriction is when words cease to fall on the page.
Most of the time we take it with a grain of salt and are willing to sacrifice a little to see some portion of a tale we loved come to life.
However, some are doomed from the start.
This is the first installment in a series of:

WHY THEY FAILED AS MOVIES : WATCHMEN

X-Men Family Tree

Illustrator Joe Stone created a family tree based on Marvel Comics' mutants and its pretty sweet.  There are no names to the faces, but I figured out about half of them. Hit the jump for the illustration with labels, or go here to see the original.

X-Men First Class Picture

This is the first official photo, and for me its pretty meh. I'm surprised that FOX decided to go the prequel route over a complete reboot.  To have an X-men movie without Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Iceman feels like a bad idea. Watchmen taught us that getting too "comic booky" can be a bad thing at the box office, and when casual fans sit down to watch the X-men I assume they'll want to see the heavy hitters and not Havok and Azazel. I'm sure no one will complain, but does anyone outside of comic book nerds know who Emma Frost is?

Deadpool Family

Deadpool has to be put in the correct writer's hands or it has potential to be EXTREMELY lame.  Luckily, the last couple years have had a pretty impressive batting average.  Straight from the pages of "DEADPOOL CORPS", Marvel announced today that they'd be debuting the latest exploits of the Merc With A Mouth this February with "DEADPOOL FAMILY".


From the press release: The Deadpools are one big happy psychotic family in Deadpool Family #1, from writers James Asmus, Cullen Bunn, and Mary HK Choi with artists Darnell Johnson, Dominike Stanton, and Iren Strychalski! Join Deadpool, Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, Headpool, and Dogpool in three action-packed, explosive stories all told in this great one-shot! Robots, psychotherapy, canine archenemies—this book has it all!

"People really couldn't get enough of the Deadpools," said Marvel editor Sebastian Girner. "We wanted to continue delivering the action-packed hilarity and the great team dynamic we've created with this cast so we've lined up some really talented creative teams to tell the stories of this Deadpool Family."

Do not miss out on the lunacy in Deadpool Family #1!

DEADPOOL FAMILY #1
Written by JAMES ASMUS, CULLEN BUNN & MARY HK CHOI
Penciled by DARNELL JOHNSON, DOMINIKE STANTON & IRENE STRYCHALSKI
Cover by JASON PEARSON
Parental Advisory …$3.99
ON SALE IN APRIL!

Spider-man Reboot Picture

First off; reboot.  Insanely stupid word.

The picture above is of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone all done up in their roles as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, and they look how Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy appear in the comics.

I'm a big fan of Spider-man of what Brian Michael Bendis did with Ultimate Spider-man. Instead of an origin of "oh shit, I got bit by a spider....now I'm Spider-man"that lasted for 20 something pages, Bendis spread the story over a 6 issue arc. I think the point of this movie is to spread out the origin, so hopefully they follow Bendis' lead.

Well...not too closely.

There was a rumor going around that Bendis told a fan that the movie was going to be EXACTLY like the first volume of Ultimate Spider-man, but he tweeted that he never said that.

Stan "The Man" Lee Is A Star

Stan Lee, co-creator of such small time/indie superheroes like the Fantastic Four, Spider-man, the X-men, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, the Avengers and a couple others, was honored yesterday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  He's already won a ton of awards for his work in the comic book industry, but its cool for him to be recognized by "non-comic book" people.

Stan received his star in the "Film" category, which is obviously for his amazing work as "Old Man #1" in Spider-man, and "Guy Who Looks Like Hugh Hefner" in Iron Man 2.

Stan received his star in the "Film" category, which is obviously for his amazing work as "Old Man #1" in Spider-man, and "Guy Who Looks Like Hugh Hefner" in Iron Man 2. 

Excelsior!!

(posted by Douger)

Smallville Fans are Patient

I've always liked Marvel WAY more than DC. Whenever that came up in conversation (not surprisingly, kind of a lot) someone always says "Well, what about Batman?". Yes. Batman is ok, but he doesn't make up for Plastic Man, Aquaman, Booster Gold, and the rest of the DC jobbers. Green Lantern is going to have a good year, but I attribute that more to Ryan Reynolds' abs then to Hal Jordan's winning personality.

As you can probably figure out, I don't care about Smallville. I like the premise: Clark Kent's life before he turned into Superman, but I don't really care about Superman all that much so that isn't all that appealing. But the premise is cool and I respect that the writers can spend 9 years fighting the urge to have him jump into a phone booth and fly off.

So, after 9 seasons it looks like Superman is finally going to look like Superman and put on the iconic suit. Its impressive that ANY show could go so long, and fans of the show seem to be die-hards. You can catch a new episode on January 29th at 8/7c on The CW Channel (now, send over free stuff).

(posted by Douger)