Posts with tag Marvel Comics
Posted May 1st 2008 11:02PM by James Rocchi
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Paramount, Theatrical Reviews, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek
One of the many nice moments in
Iron Man comes as techno-titan Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is consulting with his artificial intelligence majordomo, Jarvis, about the fabrication of the newest version of the high-tech power armor Stark intends to use to stop evil and protect the innocent. Looking at a holographic simulation of the proposed design of the glittering, golden armor -- which enables its wearer to fly, lift cars, shoot energy beams, withstand bullets and includes many other clever bits of engineering -- Stark makes a brief request regarding the color scheme: "Why don't you throw a little hot rod red in there?" Stark seems to be saying
Sure,
it's fancy and expensive and technologically majestic and wonderful, but a little style can still go a long way. ...
And as it is with the Iron Man armor, so it is with the
Iron Man movie. Marvel Comics' first foray into self-financed film making has movie stars and impressive effects and a script where every plot point you would expect meshes with its neighbors as precisely as the plates and pieces of Stark's armor do, but it's the touches of style that make it truly sizzle. Director
Jon Favreau does not seem like a choice you would expect as the director of a comic-book movie;
Robert Downey Jr. does not seem like a choice you would expect as the star of a comic-book film. Between the two of them, they give us something different from the comic-book movies we've come to expect; a little swagger, a little strut, a touch of self-mocking humor that never undercuts the pleasures of the thing being mocked. It's as if someone snuck a hefty slug of bourbon into your cherry cola; all of the sugar and flavor and fizz you expect from a well-made comic-book movie are there, but there's something a little more grown-up going on behind them.
Continue reading Review: Iron Man -- James's Take
Posted Jan 29th 2008 7:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Site Announcements, Lionsgate Films, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Images
I think I can speak for most fans of Marvel Comic's
Punisher when I say that in light of just how
crappy previous
Punisher flicks have been in the past, then a 're-boot' was really the only sensible option (though I'm not sure it's a re-boot; perhaps a continuation or something along those lines).
Latino Review is now hosting three
new images from
Punisher: War Zone straight from director
Lexi Alexander's blog (which you can also view here, to the right, and after the jump). The last picture we got wasn't exactly the most illuminating when it comes to details, and, to be honest, I couldn't make out much here either. On the up side, at least star
Ray Stevenson no longer looks like
Steven Seagal's long lost brother.
Taking over where
Thomas Jane and
Dolph Lundgren left off, Stevenson stars as Frank Castle (aka The Punisher); when his family is wiped out by the mob, he becomes a one man army pegging off criminals and mobsters everywhere. Joining Stevenson are
Dominic West as Jigsaw (who fans might remember from the comics, albeit from a different storyline) and
Wayne Knight (better known as
Jerry's nemesis Newman) as Microchip.
Erik got the chance to
talk with director Lexi Alexander about the need for a remake of the classic character. Alexander said, "I would say it's a complete different re-boot, just because neither one of the previous [films] were relevant. And with Castle, it's one story -- the mythology stays the same -- and I think I just have a very very different take on it. I was lucky to put it in the right environment, which was dark and cold". Judging by the photos on her blog, it looks like she succeeded in creating that 'environment'. Shooting for
Punisher: War Zone wrapped back in December and is scheduled to hit theaters on September 12th, 2008. Check out two more pics after the jump ...
Continue reading New 'Punisher: War Zone' Pics
Posted Sep 19th 2007 6:02PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Back in August, Patrick
reported that Marvel and Paramount had finally selected
Matthew Vaughn (
Stardust) to bring Marvel superhero Thor to the big screen. Vaughn will be working from
Mark Protosevich's (
I Am Legend) script, but a cast hasn't been selected. So far,
only Tyler Mane has been offered up as a serious contender -- but if you have ever seen
Adventures in Babysitting, you might agree that
Vincent D'Onofrio might have a shot.
Vaughn recently talked with
Empire about how he became involved: "When I went into Marvel for my first X-Men meeting, I saw a figure on the desk and said 'are you guys are going to make
Thor?' They said, 'We're just going to commission a script. We want to do it like
Gladiator with Norse mythology and the birth of a superhero'. That really stuck in my mind. And when Marvel saw
Stardust, they asked me to do it. So here I am, back again and prepping
Thor."
For the uninitiated: Thor is the son of the God Odin, and a little bit of a bad-boy, so dad decides to teach his son a little humility by placing him on earth as a surgeon. Once there, Thor no longer remembers his divine origins, but he does develop the power to transform back and forth (eventually the series did away with the alter-ego altogether). Vaughn has confirmed that there is not going to be much crossover between the Norse and Marvel mythology, saying: "...You've got Thor and Odin and it's set in Asgard - it's not going to be like
Lord of the Rings or even
Narnia. I think it's important to keep it comic book. We're not doing the Thor of Norse mythology. We're doing the Marvel Thor." We already know that the looming threat of a strike has
placed the flick on the fast track, so stay tuned for any updates that come our way.
Posted Aug 29th 2007 3:01PM by Matt Bradshaw
Filed under: Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Tyler Mane, who will be seen in theaters nationwide this Friday as Michael Myers in
Rob Zombie's
Halloween remake, told the
MTV Movie Blog that he hasn't been offered the role of The Mighty Thor, but he'd be glad to entertain the idea. As Scott Weinberg
posted a little while ago, the film adaptation of Marvel Comics' take on the Norse god of thunder is being directed by
Matthew Vaughn -- whose film
Stardust is currently in theaters -- from a screenplay by
Mark Protosevich who scripted the upcoming Will Smith vehicle
I Am Legend.
"I would love to," Mane told MTV. "You never know [whether Thor will make it as a movie]. You have all those genres of the comic book characters coming to life, from the Sabretooth character I did in
X-Men to all the ones that they did. It could be [the right time for Thor]. it depends on how it's done, and who writes the script. [Have they come to me] about 'Thor'? I have not heard anything yet, so we'll see. Hopefully, somebody's out there writing it for me like Rob [Zombie] wrote [a role in 'Halloween'] for me."
Apparently the idea of Mane taking on the role is gathering buzz on the internet. One Cinematical reader suggested Mane in response to Scott's post, but then again there were also votes for
Jason Mewes and Jesus. That guy who played Thor in the Marvel Super Heroes
Got Milk? commercial wasn't bad (click
here to refresh your memory). Mane certainly does seem like a viable candidate for flinging the uru hammer Mjolnir at the bad guys. Actually, I suppose the real test of any actor who might play Thor is his ability to pronounce Mjolnir.
Posted Jun 13th 2007 3:32PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
According to the LA Times today, 20th Century Fox is already
prepping a solo spin-off for the Silver Surfer. The Marvel character features in
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, opening this weekend, and Fox is apparently hoping that pic performs well enough to give the Surfer his own movie, because the studio has hired comic book writer/screenwriter
J. Michael Straczynski to pen the thing. Straczynski has written for a number of Marvel titles, including the new series
Silver Surfer: Requiem, he created the sci-fi series
Babylon 5 and he recently delivered scripts for
The Changeling, to be directed by Clint Eastwood, and the zombie adaptation
World War Z. The LA Times article claims the Silver Surfer movie would be darker in tone than the new
Fantastic Four sequel, possibly in response to fan criticisms of the sequel's PG rating. I've never actually read the Silver Surfer comics, so I'm not sure how dark is appropriate for the character, but I'll always take a more grown-up comic adaptation than something geared toward young children.
More exciting for me is the news, also mentioned in the LA Times piece, that
Thor may soon have a director. Unlike the Surfer comics,
The Mighty Thor was a title I followed for years, and so far the closest thing I've had to seeing the hero/god on the big screen is his 'cameo' in
Adventures in Babysitting (and I doubt he'll be in
the remake). Supposedly
Layer Cake director
Matthew Vaughn is in negotiations to helm the comic adaptation, which was
greenlit last summer and which has a script by
Mark Protosevich (
Poseidon). I'm not a huge fan of Vaughn's directorial style and I was happy when he dropped out of
X-Men: The Last Stand (though now I think he'd have done better), but I'm willing to give him a chance with Thor. I think his style may actually be appropriate for the god of thunder. Besides, we've so far only seen one film from him; his next,
Stardust, arrives in August.
[via
JoBlo and
Moviehole]
Posted May 30th 2007 12:02PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Comic/Superhero/Geek
I usually don't get excited about movies based on comic books I'm not familiar with, but I have to admit I'm really, really looking forward to
Iron Man. Despite the fact that its based on one of the few Marvel titles I never got into, the adaptation stars three of my current favorite actors,
Robert Downey, Jr.,
Terrence Howard and
Jeff Bridges. It also stars
Gwyneth Paltrow, who I certainly don't mind looking at for any extended period of time. With an Oscar-winning actress and three Oscar-nominated actors,
Iron Man won't be just another comic book movie; it has the opportunity to be one of the best.
Entertainment Tonight has scored one of the first looks at the movie, including some behind-the-scenes footage of Downey goofing around on the set with a motor bike and Howard firing a M2. 50 caliber machine gun from atop an army Hummer. There's no new Paltrow material for you to feast your eyes on, but while being interviewed by
ET, Downey does discuss a kissing scene he filmed with the actress.. When asked if he should have serenaded Paltrow to get her in the mood, Downey states that there's no way he could compete with Paltrow's husband, Coldplay singer
Chris Martin.
Iron Man is being directed by
Jon Favreau, and I've been trying really hard not to associate his involvement with the fact that he appears in an awful Marvel Comics adaptation,
Daredevil. That pic marked the last time I looked forward to movie based on a comic book character unfamiliar to me. I am confident, though, that my expectation for
Iron Man will not result in similar disappointment.
You can check out the movie on May 2, 2008. You can check out the
EW clip after the jump.
Continue reading Footage, Interviews from 'Iron Man' Set
Posted May 4th 2007 9:01AM by James Rocchi
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sony, Theatrical Reviews, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Joking among friends about the impending release of
Spider-Man 3, someone – it may have been me – started talking about "Spider-Man Friday" – suggesting it was like Good Friday, but for dorks. And like most jokes, it had a kernel of truth. This film was going to be a finale of sorts, and a celebration of the work director
Sam Raimi and his cast and crew had done to capture on film the superhero, his secret identity and nearly 50 years of comic-book history – the spider, the man and the franchise's spirit, if you will. And there was no reason to worry – hadn't
Spider-Man and
Spider-Man 2 both been excellent? And wasn't the continued participation of Raimi,
Tobey Maguire,
Kirsten Dunst and the return of
Spider-Man 2 scribe Alvin Sargent a good thing, in an age when directors and stars drop off (or get killed out of) repeated installments of comic-book material? Sure, the film had not one, not two, but three separate villains – a worrying sign of excess -- but surely Raimi and his cast and crew would pull it off.
Watching
Spider-Man 3 is different from hoping about it, though. And watching
Spider-Man 3, I was amazed – and appalled – that the people who had given us two of the best comic-book movies ever made could wind up giving us something as lazy, as slip-shod, as tedious as
Spider-Man 3 actually is. It's not like you have to wait for the bad news, either. As anyone who's seen a trailer, a bus ad, or one of the thousand merchandising tie-ins knows, much of
Spider-Man 3 revolves around one of the comic's '80s story lines – with a fluid alien life form finding Spider-Man, literally becoming his costume and enhancing his abilities while degrading his spirit, making him more powerful as a super-hero, but less noble as a man. And how do the writers – the screenplay credit names Ivan and Sam Raimi, as well as Sargent – introduce this concept to the film? By literally dropping it from the sky in a meteor, which happens to land with 20 meters of Peter Parker (Maguire) as he's spending some time in the park with his girlfriend Mary-Jane (Dunst). Sitting in the theater, I think I may have actually thrown my hands up – the universal movie-watcher's sign language for "
Really? That's all you got?"
Continue reading Review: Spider-Man 3 -- James's Review
Posted Mar 23rd 2007 6:31PM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sony, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
We've gotten a few teases, but Sony has pretty much kept footage of Venom under wraps. But today us Spider-Man fans get to finally see the villain in action, as a final trailer for Spider-Man 3 has been unveiled courtesy of Comcast. Not only do we get to see shots of Venom, we get a good peek at some scenes, including his origin and a some fight sequences between him and Spidey. I have to honestly admit that it is actually too much footage. I've been dying to see Topher Grace get covered in the gooey black costume for months, but now I feel like I've seen so much that I've lost some of my excitement about seeing the actual movie -- not that the trailer makes the movie look bad; it is just overly satisfying and doesn't leave much in the way of suspense.
The venom footage isn't even half of the excessive spoils of the trailer, either. There are plenty of plot points and visuals that may give too much away with the characters of Mary Jane and Harry/Green Goblin 2. I don't even want to go into these spoilers here, because I'd rather let you decide whether or not to watch the trailer. I'm sure a lot of you can wait two months to see Venom (and the rest.) I sure wish that I had. Right now I feel like I've seen an abridged version of the film from beginning to end. And yet, there is still no clear presentation of Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, which I think is kinda weird. Anyway, you should head over to Comcast's Spidey site regardless of your plans to watch the trailer because there is plenty of other goodies, like videos about the making of the film and about the history of the comic book.
Posted Mar 7th 2007 5:32PM by Scott Weinberg
Filed under: Action, Comic/Superhero/Geek
The powers-that-be over at Marvel Comics have decided to kill off one of their most
popular patriotic characters! According to
AOL's Entertainment Division, Cap gets capped in the most recent issue of his comic book, and this is definitely the end of the road for Steve Rogers ... for the time being, anyway. (Don't get too bummed out, Marvelites, characters get re-killed and resurrected all the time in that universe; the extra drama helps to sell issues.) The saddest part of the whole story is the reaction from 93-year-old
Captain America co-creator Joe Simon: "We really need him now," is what the aged artist had to say.
But even if ol' Captain A doesn't get a new comic book right away, Marvel has earmarked this character for his very own movie adpatation. (Yes, you get geek points for remembering that there already
was a
Captain America movie, but you lose those points (times two) if you actually liked that movie. Triple bonus points to anyone who's seen
both of the 1979 made-for-TV
CapAm movies!) So in honor of the red, white and blue-coated superhero, we ask you this: Who the heck would
you cast as Captain America in a live-action movie? I would have said
Thomas Jane if that guy didn't already have
his own Marvel franchise to deal with, but how about somebody like
Ryan Reynolds? Oh, he's still a possibility for the lead in that
Flash movie? Okay, then you guys decide: Who'd be the perfect choice for this hero? (And to the hardcore fans: Who would you get to play
Red Skull?)
Posted Mar 5th 2007 10:01PM by Kevin Kelly
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Sony, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Cinematical was invited to Sony Pictures on Saturday for a top-secret screening of several scenes from Spider-Man 3. Needless to say, they didn't have to ask me twice. I would have spent several days after I'd gotten the invitation building web-shooters if I needed to. Although Peter now uses organic webbing in the movies, so I'd have to try and genetically splice spider-DNA onto my own, which would have been too time-consuming. Thankfully, they weren't that demanding. OK, before we proceed any further, I should wave the giant spoiler alert flag. If you don't want to know anything about the plot of Spider-Man 3, then you should read no further. You especially don't want to find out from me that Aunt May is actually Galactus. Whoops. Sorry, but you've been warned. Just wait until you see a 300-foot tall May stomping on New York. It's not pretty. Although imagine the size of the cookies she could bake.
Anyhow, onto the screening and into the swanky Cary Grant theater. Sony, if you're not using that theater all the time, mind if we use it for movie watching and playing video games? OK -- here's what happened. Sam Raimi himself (dressed in his ever-present suit) came out and introduced the footage to us and called it a "super ... sneak .... preview ... scenelet." He told us the footage was brand-new, hadn't been seen outside of Sony, had a temporary score, and that some things had been shortened a bit for this preview. He then had to run off to do some audio recording with Stan Lee, who was next door, so we begrudgingly let him go. I mean, no one makes Stan "The Man" Lee wait, even if he does have yet another scene in this Spidey flick.
Continue reading A Sneak Peek at Spider-Man 3!
Posted Dec 6th 2006 9:30AM by Matt Bradshaw
Filed under: Action, Animation, New Releases, Comic/Superhero/Geek
There must have been an editorial policy at Marvel Comics back in the 60s that required nearly all their super hero comics to start with a catchy descriptive word. There was
The Amazing Spider-man,
The Uncanny X-Men,
The Incredible Hulk, and, of course,
The Invincible Iron Man. While the first three have trimmed their somewhat wordy titles for the big screen, it does my heart good to see that Marvel Entertainment's direct-to-DVD
Invincible Iron Man feature will arrive with its adjective intact on January 23.
Superhero Hype reports that the animated film's
official website has been launched, and while content is kind of sparse at the moment, there is a rather cool trailer as well as an image gallery. The feature seems similar to the
Ultimate Avengers DVD features (the first of which I thought was pretty cool), but has a visual style that is all its own. Iron Man's origin is updated for the twenty-first century, placing the story in China where Tony Stark, the man who will become the Armored Avenger, is using his wealth and resources to raise an ancient city. Something goes wrong and Stark must use his modern technology to battle ancient magic. In the comics 'ol Shell Head's armor has had more face lifts than Michael Jackson and Liz Taylor combined, and I'm pleased to see at least three designs in the trailer: original gray and clunky, all gold and not quite as clunky, and the red and gold design which has been evolving for years.
News of the big budget
Iron Man film starring Robert Downey Jr. is rolling in all the time (check out Mark Beall's
most recent post on the subject). Hopefully the animated feature will hold us fans until the live action movie hits theaters.
Posted Nov 7th 2006 1:00PM by Mark Beall
Filed under: Action, Deals, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Games and Game Movies
For those of us who revel in all things geek, the combination of comic book superheroes and video games is a long and often glorious one. I have many a fond memory of hours and hours in front of the
Avengers arcade machine with my younger brother and any other friends we could round up to join us for a day of multiplayer superhero action. Obviously, the recent flourish of Marvel movies has led to an equally large flourish of movie-related comic book video games. Granted some of them aren't worth the discs they are printed on, but some of them, such as the
Spider-Man and
X-Men: Legends titles have been pure gaming gold.
Not to be outdone by all the Marvel movies which have come before it,
Iron Man is already working on a
video game deal based on the plot of the flick to launch concurrently with the movie in 2008; and they are doing it with the help of an old industry titan: SEGA. Although SEGA isn't the juggernaut it once was, it is still a highly recognized name, and a decent one for Marvel to partner with for such a game. If SEGA can turn it into anything resembling the fun of the previously mentioned titles, I'll be a very happy geek indeed.
Posted Oct 15th 2006 1:36PM by Matt Bradshaw
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Comic/Superhero/Geek
There's more to X-Men's Wolverine than sharp claws and sideburns (though he's definitely got those), and it sounds like we're going to find out what makes this beast-like mutant tick when the Wolverine solo flick hits the screen. According to star Hugh Jackman, who can currently be seen in The Prestige, things are rolling along and the script is completed.
"We've now signed off on the script. If you know about the history of X-Men movies, that's a revolution for us. We're a year away from shooting the film and we have the script," Jackman said. "And, by the way, it is unbelievable. It's a David Benioff script. He's probably the hottest writer going around town, and he was beating down our door to write this movie. It was the most amazing thing."
Script writer Benioff does indeed seem to be in high demand. Having penned the screenplay for Troy, Stay, and 25th Hour, he is also attached to The Kite Runner (which is in pre-production), Alpha and Ender's Game, both of which are listed as "announced" by the IMDB. Jackman also mentioned that he hoped to be able to announce a director sometime in the coming months, although the IMDB currently has James Roddy helming the project. Since Jackman says this film will explain who the character is and how he became Wolverine, it seems obvious that the Weapon X mythos from the comics will serve as the film's springboard, but he also states that while this is definitely a prequel, it will not follow the Japanese elements of the storyline.
Related Posts:
X-Men 4 Update: Wolverine Comes First
Wolverine Script Review
Wolverine Movie Details Starting to Leak
Posted Oct 13th 2006 3:32PM by Mark Beall
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
It is sort of embarrassing to admit this, and I always duck my head and mumble when I end up talking to people about it, but I really liked
The Punisher. Yes,
Travolta was a terrible villain. Yes, the plot was more than a little hackneyed. Okay, okay, the whole thing was really campy and somewhat poorly assembled. I
know it was not a great movie ... but I loved it. I think
Tom Jane was fantastic as Frank Castle, and I want to see him at it again. Talk of a sequel has persisted since the first film wrapped, and from the sounds of it we're getting close to a return.
MTV reports a quote from Tom Jane, who told them the script is only weeks away. In a comment sure to warm the hearts of Marvel geeks everywhere, he also promised the second
Punisher attempt would contain more of what the fans want -- it'll be "darker, bloodier, and more unfriendly" than the last one. Yours truly is thrilled to hear the film is coming, and more thrilled to hear it's going to be edgier than the last time. Anyone else out there actually excited for this film?
Posted Oct 5th 2006 11:03AM by Mark Beall
Filed under: Action, Deals, Distribution, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
So it turns out Marvel hadn't officially arranged finances for their upcoming
Iron Man and
Incredible Hulk films. Although it has long been known Marvel intended on releasing
Iron Man as the first main flick under their brand-new film wing Marvel Studios, it was apparently not part of the initial "non-recourse debt facility" Marvel put together (colloquially known as the Marvel Warchest). Marvel legal guys got on it, though, and the agreement has been amended to include both films under the same terms and conditions as the rest of the deal.
Iron Man is slated for Paramount distribution, and
Hulk with Universal; both films expect to hit theaters sometime in 2008.
Marvel needs at least passable returns on both of these films. They've borrowed heavily against their own current popularity to finance their own films, and if early movies start tanking, Marvel could quickly find itself in some real monetary difficulty and future projects may be abandoned.
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