Return of an X-man? Again…

There has been plenty of comic news coming out of C2E2, the Chicago Comic Convention, over the weekend. And even though the following snippet via IGN is not big news, it’s something that we’ve all come to anticipate from a comic book death; a comic book resurrection! The character in question is Nightcrawler who died at the hands of Bastion saving Hope during the Second Coming story arc.

The panel’s response to if he would return was a bit muddled:

“We’ve talked about it within the X-Men office,” noted X-Editor Daniel Ketchum. “It’s always a card on the table. I guess I’ll leave it up to you to figure out, ‘Well, are we going to play to type or go against the grain?'”

I would imagine that means they are conflicted about whether they should bring him back like every other character, or actually try to keep him dead. As we all know, no comic character ever stays dead, but I think their death and inevitable return means more the longer they are gone. So as much as I wish that Nightcrawler would grace us with a return it would be the same old crap with him returning after only a year of being gone.

Below is a small list of X-men who have died and the circumstances of both their deaths and returns. Some of the reasoning behind their resurrections are quite amusing if not completely ridiculous.

Colossus

Collosus_01

– Death: Injected himself with the cure to the mutant killing legacy Virus with the full knowledge that in order to spread antibodies the cure would kill the first user. Ballsy.
– Return: Turns out he didn’t die, and an alien named Ord switched bodies with a duplicate. Rrrrright.

Psylocke

psylocke_alex_garner

– Death: Killed in combat by the loser villain Vargas.
– Return: Her brother Jamie Braddock reached back in time to stop her spirit from reaching the afterlife. Wow.

Cyclops

Cyclopsjc

– Death: Merges with the spirit of Apocalypse to save his son.
– Return: Jean and Cable track down CyPocalypse and separate their two spirits. Sounds like a cheap rip off of The Exorcist.

Professor X

Professor_X_by_JoeJusko

– Death: Accidentally killed by his son when he went back in time to kill Magneto.
– Return: Death is undone when Bishop travels back in time and stops Legion. Time travel is super nifty.

Jean Grey/Phoenix

1

– Death(s): Committed suicide to stop the Dark Phoenix and was also killed by John Sublime…posing as Magneto…posing as Xorn. That’s a crapload of retcons there.
– Return(s): Retcon with the Phoenix Force being a copy of Jean, while the real Jean is in a healing cocoon. Yes… a healing cocoon. Brought back to life by the Phoenix Force after the Sublime kill, now living on a higher plane of existence.

And the list goes on – Cannonball, Havok, Storm, Warpath, Archangel, Rachel Summers, Emma Frost, and of couse, Wolverine. This isn’t even all of them either…

With very few exceptions, Comic Book Deaths are a very fickle thing…

Stop…Hobbit Time!

After months and months of lawsuits, broke ass studios, a Guillermo del Toro bailout, boycotts, and ulcers, the Hobbit will finally begin filming according to Yahoo! Movies!

After writing several articles about the upcoming duology on BamKapow, all talk of it seemed to cease after it was announced that Peter Jackson would be the one to direct it. Aside from the minor casting calls of people we obviously know will be starring in it there was no announcement worthy of a hobbit feet picture… until now.

Hobbit, LOTR, Feet
Boom!

It’s about time Jackson and company got a move on because the first movie is set for a December 2012 release.

Returning stars to the world of Tolkien include Ian McKellen (obviously) as Gandalf the Grey, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Andy Serkis as Gollum, and Elijah as Frodo.

I’m a bit puzzled as to how Frodo would be in the movie since he wasn’t even born at the time The Hobbit events take place. I’m assuming it will be an introduction with Frodo looking over notes of Bilbo’s old travels.

Bilbo himself will be played by Martin Freeman who is well-known to those in the U.K., but a relatively unknown actor to us here in the States. I particularly enjoyed his small role at the beginning and end of Hot Fuzz.

Martin Freeman inherits Ian Holm’s role

Now, for those of you who do not know what The Hobbit is, the two films take place approximately 55 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The one ring is in the possession of Gollum in the Misty Mountains at this time, and you don’t even realize that it is indeed the ‘one ring’, it’s simply a magical ring that helps Bilbo disappear. In The Hobbit, Gandalf and Bilbo are just meeting for the first time, in which the wizard puts Bilbo in the midst of an adventure he never asked for. Throughout the story we are treated to trolls, goblins, the dragon Smaug, and much more to keep any avid watcher or reader of fantasy entertained. So mark your calendars and hope the world doesn’t end in 2012 because the Hobbit draws near!

Ian Holm driven mad from a glimpse at my Hobbit feet

To Pan or not to Pan

Since the inception of Peter Pan, written by J.M. Berry in 1911, there have been numerous incarnations of the character in the film realm. Starting with the 1953 animated classic from Disney, and leading to the live-action sequel Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1991. Peter Pan has become a household name all over the world. Hell, personally I only eat Peter Pan Peanut Butter!

After Hook there was yet another Peter Pan movie in 2003 starring Jason Isaacs, that was not a horrible watch, but didn’t manage to bring in the big box office bucks.

Now we have a whole bunch of new Peter Pan stuff flying our way (pun intended), some of it is promising, and some if not so promising. Seeing as I’m the type who likes my bad news first, so here it is: Channing Tatum is said to star in a project purchased by Sony, and titled thus far as Pan. The movie would go forth based on the idea that Captain Hook and Peter Pan are brothers, and is said to be an origin story.

The idea of the two foes being brothers is a decent one, but casting Channing Tatum as Peter Pan? Do the letters W, T, and F mean anything to you?

I would hope that this is a complete re-imagining of the story; where Pan left Neverland and aged quite a bit, much like what happened in Hook. But so help me, if I have to sit and watch Channing Tatum fly around in green tights, acting like a happy little child, then I will be thoroughly disgusted and I might stab someone. Now, I am aware that Robin Williams did this in Hook, a movie I enjoyed as a child, but now I can’t stand seeing Robin Williams in the green tights.


Pan
is a project that I have little faith but will keep an eye on to see how it progresses. You know, at least until Justin Bieber is cast as Captain Hook. Despite hating Channing Tatum, I’m trying to be open-minded about Sony’s Pan movie, because I do enjoy the story. The thing I want to see most is the crocodile that bites off Captain Hook’s hand, but who knows if they’ll even tell that part of the story.

For more, check out an article about it at The Hollywood Reporter.

Bang-A-Rang!

Now for the promising news: SyFy is also currently developing a prequel to Peter Pan in the form of a four-hour, four-episode mini series event that is set to debut in December of this year.

The project is titled Neverland, and has what so far seems like a very solid cast of actors. The most notable of them being Keira Knightley to voice the magical tree spirit – Tinkerbell.  Bob Hoskins is reprising his role as Smee from Hook, and The Amazing Spiderman‘s recently announced ‘Lizard’ Rhys Ifans as James Hook.

Rhys Ifans and Captain James Hook: Mr. Ifans needs to grow out that mustachio

Below is a description of the series courtesy of Slice of SciFi:

Peter, along with his pals of young pickpockets, have been rounded up by their mentor Jimmy Hook to snatch a magical orb which transports them to another world—Neverland. Filled with white jungles and imposing cities formed out of trees, created by Dr. Fludd and inhabited by a colony of tree spirits led by Tinker Bell, this mysterious realm welcomes unknown friends and enemies snatched from time. These include power-mad Elizabeth Bonny and her band of 18th century pirates who search for the answer to eternal youth, a secret guarded by a Holy Man. As the fight to save this strange and beautiful world escalates, Peter and his crew consider that growing old somewhere in time could be less important than growing up—right here in their new home called Neverland.

Keira Knightley and the ever popular Tinkerbell.

Out of the two projects I am more enthusiastic about SyFy’s Neverland mini-series, because four hours gives them plenty of time to explore Neverland, and develop the characters to the maximum. Plus Bob Hoskins portrayal of Smee in Hook was so brilliant he could perform the role exactly the same this time and I would love it.

I’ll keep everyone posted on the status of both projects, the Channing Tatum one will be under the most scrutiny due to its high probability of fail.

Channing Tatum - Fail

Comment below about both, or even if you just hate Peter Pan.

Random-Ass Movie Reviews: IP MAN (or Yip Man to you hipsters)

When I sit down to watch a kung fu flick, I expect ridiculous action, a killer soundtrack, and a main character that has the ability to kick everyone’s asses, but won’t because of a higher sense of morality, spirituality, or justice. Now you might be thinking, “Wow, that sounds like a description of Batman Forever!” Shut up your face.

Ip Man was really more than simply a Kung Fu flick; it was a quasi-biopic concerned with the life of Yip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art of Wing Chun (No, not Wang Chung, but like you, I also love that band). While this film, upon cursory research, has severe historical and biographical inaccuracies, the basic premise behind it stands tall:

Continue reading Random-Ass Movie Reviews: IP MAN (or Yip Man to you hipsters)

Upcoming – Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

I doubt many of the readers of this site have played the PC Game Sins of a Solar Empire or either of its Micro-Expansions, despite it being 2008’s ‘Strategy Game of the Year’ for most reputable game reviewers. In a world where fast paced Action games take up much of the mainstream spotlight, its easy to pass by some of the other quiet behemoths of excellence within other genres. My purpose therefore, is to shed some light on an exciting upcoming addition to the Sins universe in the form of the first stand-alone expansion: Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion.

Continue reading Upcoming – Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

Wonder Woman is Back… and She’s Missing Her Underwear!

Our favorite Amazonian is coming back to TV in the form of the Friday Night Lights star Adrianne Palicki. Ms. Palicki is no stranger to DC’s television universe as she appeared in both an episode of Smalleville, as well as the TV movie Aquaman.

Are you excited? Because Lynda Carter is! The original TV Wonder Woman has given her public blessing to Palicki via Twitter, and an interview where she said that she wants her to “kick butt”.

I smell a cameo…

Bringing Wonder Woman back to TV seems like a fantastic idea at first – however, there are skeptics out there, and I cannot blame them. There are certain things to consider when casting a lady superhero who is SUPPOSED to be an Amazon woman, and who ACTUALLY is a pretty skinny babe. Don’t get me wrong, from what I have seen of her, she’ll do a fine job playing the super heroine. I am fairly certain however, that she would need a gun to win any type of fight. I do not, for one second think that she could actually do many of the things that I’m sure we’ll see her do in the NBC show. She could only be taken seriously as a rival if the vileness was played by… oh, I don’t know… Elizabeth Hurley. Oh wait…

Who wouldn’t want to see those two brawl?

That being said…

The cast has not been completely decided 100%, but the actors who are set in stone are winners (not Charlie Sheen’s definition of winners… REAL winners). Cary Elwes is playing Henry Demeter, the CEO of Themyscira Industries. Any show co-starring Robin Hood is automatically going to get a big thumbs up from me.

Princess Bride, Robin Hood

As I have already mentioned, Adrianne Palicki will be the star. I have to admit, when I found out that Wonder Woman was coming back, and she WASN’T being played by Kate Beckinsale, I was slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, I believe the curvy, gorgeous, talented Palicki will, I’m sure, do justice to the DC character.

Casted alongside these characters is Elizabeth Hurley as Veronica Cale, our villain. Also, and I give kudos to David Rapaport for casting such promising actors, Tracie Thoms as Etta Candy, and Pedro Pascal as Ed Indelicato.

Here is Thoms in Quentin Tarantino’s DEATH PROOF along with 3 of my (Dr. Kronner) favorite actresses:    L to R – Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, Tracie Thoms

Another important element of the new NBC show is that Wonder Woman’s famous costume has been altered!

Of course Wonder Woman must come prepared with her lasso of truth at all times, so that has not changed. But she is now sporting long spandex-tight leather/plastic pants as opposed to the old-fashioned underoos. She has also switched from red boots to blue. There is no real way to gauge the potential success of the new Wonder Woman series. Superhero shows as of late have not fared well, most recently NBC’s The Cape lasted only 9 episodes. So all we can do now it is wait and see.

Wonder Woman is set to air this fall on NBC.

For more, check out SupaScoot’s write ups:

Wonder Woman Has Been Cast!
‘Wonder Woman’ Really Fills Out That… Cast
First Look at Adrianne Palicki In Costume!

Conveyors of Common Sense…

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