Tag Archives: Fantastic Four

Movie News & Opinions

Exclusive Simon Kinberg Interview: Rogue, Apocalypse & The Future of X-Men

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With X-Men: Days of Future Past coming out on DVD/Blu-ray on Tuesday, October 14, 2014, we get to view what is arguably the best of the X-movies right in the comfort of our own homes. Of course, there will be a lot of special features on the discs and we know that there will be some deleted scenes and features we’ll be dying to see, like the previous incarnation of the kitchen sequence. We know that X-Men: Apocalypse will be coming along in a few years with a gaggle of other X-Movies to accompany the franchise. One of the people shepherding these movies to a new phase is screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg. Not only did he write and co-produce X-Men: Days of Future Past, he is also produced and wrote the new Fantastic Four reboot for 20th Century Fox, and helped create the Star Wars: Rebels series, so he definitely has a lot on his plate. We managed to catch a few minutes with Simon and found some great insights into this X-Trilogy, the deleted scenes for Days of Future Past, as well as the future of the franchise and what he’d like to see.

Continue reading Exclusive Simon Kinberg Interview: Rogue, Apocalypse & The Future of X-Men →

MOVIES

Hero Express: Spidey’s New Suit, Nolan Producing ‘Justice League’, & Matthew Vaughn on ‘Fantastic Four’!

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Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop sometimes SPOILER filled shop through the top stories in comic based Film & TV news!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Chris Cooper as Osborn, Marc Webb Reveals Set Photos, and the New Spidey Suit!

Horse whisperer – check. Homicidal closeted gay man – check. Traitorous spy – check. Orchid poacher – check.

What on earth is left for Chris Cooper to play? Apparently it’s Norman Osborn, aka The Green Goblin.

Chris Cooper as Norman Osborne

Cooper will join Jamie Foxx as Electro and Paul Giamatti as Rhino as they tackle Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield, of course) in the upcoming sequel. Will Cooper’s Green Goblin be on par with Willem Dafoe’s from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man? That will be difficult as Dafoe plays the unhinged supervillain so well, but if anyone is up to the task, it would be Chris Cooper.

If you follow no one else on twitter (besides Grizzly Bomb of course), make sure you follow The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s director, Marc Webb. He’s been tweeting photos from the set everyday and it’s always fun to get a look behind the scenes, and commentary from the director isn’t too shabby. Yesterday he sent out a picture of an upended car on top of a crushed cab… Rhino’s handiwork? [Ed. Note: I’ve included a shot of Shailene Woodley as MJ from the set. No reason.]

Marc Webb set photos

Shailene Woodley on the movie set of 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' in NYC

In addition to the day to day photos, some pics of the new Spider-Man suit have been released. Now you aren’t going to make everyone happy, and there were quite a few people displeased with the suit in the first film of this trilogy, but I like this one. The eyes look great, much better than the first attempt.

hero-express-amazing spider-man-2-new-costume

Now that filming is underway, I’m sure there will be plenty more in the way of news and such from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 so stay tuned!

Justice League

Christopher Nolan is Allegedly Producing with Zack Snyder Possibly Directing, and Christian Bale Might be Batman! But Probably Not.

christopher_nolan2I can not be the only person who feels like this movie has been in the works for decades now and with every passing day comes another rumor only to be shot down the following day. At this rate, my grandchildren might get to see a Justice League movie, but only if they are lucky.

The latest of these rumors was that Christian Bale was going to be returning as the Dark Knight, but that has been apparently dismissed. However, it was confirmed that Christopher Nolan is involved in some capacity, most likely as a producer. Also a producer is Man of Steel director Zack Snyder and there are hints that he might be directing Justice League as well.

Of course the biggest statement in the ComicBookMovie report is that we will probably not be getting much Justice League news until after Man of Steel is released on June 14th of this year. What that really means is we won’t be getting any “official” information but if it’s like anything else in the internet age, we’ll know plenty. It may not be completely factual but we will know it!

Fantastic Four

Vampire Hunter Scribe Takes a Stab at the Script, And a Producer is Named!

AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter

What do Pride and Prejudice, zombies, Abraham Lincoln, vampires, and Mr. Fantastic have in common? Well, thanks to the Fantastic Four reboot, Seth Grahame-Smith. He’s taken on the task of “polishing” the script and one can only hope that means this reboot will be much better than Rise of the Silver Surfer because I think we can all agree, that is a movie that just needs to be forgotten about, for all eternity. Burned from the annals of geek history. Grahame-Smith wrote the screenplay to last year’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer based on his novel of the same title (he also wrote the incredibly popular Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) and the Johnny Depp vampire movie, Dark Shadows. Also of note, he is the writer of the hopefully upcoming Beetlejuice 2.

hero-express-matthew-vaughn-fantastic-four

Matthew Vaughn has been announced as the producer of  the FF reboot, directed by Josh Trank. Vaughn is obviously no stranger to the geek world with a resume including Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, so I think we can rest easy knowing that the Fantastic Four family will be treated right.

Speaking of Matthew Vaughn and X-Men…

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Peter Dinklage, Richard Nixon, and Halle Berry!

Ever since Game of Thrones (and the movie Station Agent,  that everyone should see) actor Peter Dinklage was announced for X-Men: Days of Future Past, there has been speculation as to who he would be playing. Now it appears as if there’s a character emerging from the rumors as a front-runner.

[quote]But thanks to a tipster who prefers to remain anonymous, but is extremely reliable, we can tentatively confirm: Dinklage is playing Bolivar Trask, inventor of the mutant hunting robot Sentinels in the movie sequel. -MTV[/quote]

Obviously fans have been waiting for the Sentinels to feature into the story for a long time, and Peter Dinklage as any character in the world is fine with me.

Peter Dinklage and Bolivar Trask

While that is fun news, it’s still technically a rumor so it could easily change. However, director Bryan Singer has said that there is one person we are sure to see in Days of Future Past and that is none other than the 37th President himself, Richard Nixon. Apparently part of the movie is based in the ’70s, and Singer has promised that Tricky Dick has a role in the story. If I have no other reason to watch this movie, it will be to see how Richard Nixon factors into the X-Men universe.

Also official? Halle Berry is returning as Storm. Is there really much more to say on that besides an underwhelmed “that’s good, I guess, for her, maybe?”

Didn’t think so.

That about does it for this edition of Hero Express! Let us know what you think of these stories in the comments and we’ll see ya next time!

Movie News & Opinions

Josh Trank’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Gets Release Date

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The Fantastic Four franchise never really got up and running, mainly because it was just not well received among fans [Ed. Note – That’s an understatement]. So the decision to reboot the product came as no surprise to anyone. Now this reboot has an official release date, but do not get excited quite yet as it is a while.

ERC Box Office have it down as March 6th 2015, a year that will put it in competition with the likes of Avengers 2, Justice League, and the final installment of The Hobbit (probably). I do not know if I would take this news as real either, because it is far enough away that it could get set back if problems arise. This release date also means that there is going to be a lot of time before we find any juicy news about the movie. The positive of this is that because of the luke warm response of the first two movies and the eight year gap there will be before we see another one, it seems the right time for the fab four to fly back into action. As good as I felt Amazing Spider-Man was, Sam Raimi’s version was still fresh in people’s heads when it came out this year.

Josh Trank's 'Fantastic Four' Reboot Gets Release Date - Cast

We already know that Chronicle director Josh Trank is on board and newbie Jeremy Slater is on hand with the writing. This information came out during Comic-Con, so the project is slowly coming together, which is probably a good thing. Trank has a superb eye and his visuals are stunning, as well as him having a good grasp on character interaction. So here is hoping that this translates over to the reboot as the original suffered greatly from miscasting and no real chemistry between the cast (aside from Michael Chiklis as The Thing, he was fantastic). So now us fans have to play the waiting game. Will this keep fans excited about the franchise or will the long wait make them forget about it and move on to the next big super hero flick? Only time will tell, but I do not mind waiting for a bit to see how it all pans out.

fantastic four Chronicle Cover

Uncategorized

The Griz Bin: NYCC CosPlay, PokeVengers, and Superman’s a Douche.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please find enclosed 1 (one) Griz Bin. We hope that you find its contents of comic randomness to your taste and we apologize for the lateness of its arrival.

5 Classic Superman Comics That Prove He Used To Be A Dick – Think the Man of Steel was always the big boy scout we usually think of him being today. Nope. He used to be a massive tool and here’s the proof. [Cracked]

Superman used to be a dick

Comic Covers Recreated With Family Guy – See Peter Griffin as (amongst others) Spider-Man, Batman and Superman in these recreations of classic comic covers. My favourite is the Fantastic Four one that includes the entire Griffin clan. [Herochan]

9 Reasons To Elect A Supervillian President – The US is to shortly head to the polls, and for all of you Americans yet to make up your minds, here are some decent reasons to vote for the greater, rather than the lesser, of evils. [io9]

President Lex Luthor

Pokevengers – Do you like Pokemon? Do you like The Avengers? Than you’ll love Pokevengers fan art by AstroZerk! [deviantART]

Kia’s Batman Themed Car – DC and Kia have joined forces to make a range of Justice League themed cars. Here is the Batman one and it’s no Tumbler. [Geekologie]

Fantastic (Four) Pumpkin Art – Made from 11 pumpkins here is the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing. [io9]

DC Collectibles Unveils High-End Prints – They may be more expensive by some of these would look good on anybody’s wall. Who could resist Ace the Bathound, Krypto and Streaky? [Comics Alliance]

Punisher Cosplay NY Comic Con 2012

New York Comic-Con Cosplay – There was a vast array of great cosplay at the recent con. Whilst it’s not all comics related it’s all far too fabulous to not include. [io9, Comics Alliance 1, 2, 3, Gamma Squad 1, 2, 3, and Geeks Are Sexy 1, 2]

Old Iron Man – Is this Tony Starks Future? Fan art by gimaldinov. [CG Hub]

And Finally – We end with the news that Superman is quitting the Daily Planet as told in the inimitable CG style of Taiwan’s NMA. [Comics Alliance]

So until next time…’keep watching the skies!’

Movie News & Opinions

Daredevil Movie Rights to Revert Back to Marvel Studios

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So remember all of the hullabaloo the other day about Fox giving up Daredevil or possibly some Fantastic Four characters? (If not, then read the article HERE.) Well Fox made their move and it was to simply…. Do nothing with Daredevil. Deadline, Variety and IGN have all reported that Fox fully intends to do nothing with a Daredevil movie by the October 10th deadline. Apparently they don’t feel that Daredevil is necessary when they have the full stable of X-men characters and the Fantastic Four. I have to say it at least seems like Fox is now heading in the right direction since X-men: First Class was released. Now it even seems like they may be having the good ole’ canucklehead set down the right path in the upcoming The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman has been out promoting the film as a standalone story, completely separate from Wolverine: Origins. Hey, if Logan can have amnesia and forget the horrible events of the first movie then we sure as hell can… and will if I have anything to say about it.

I’m definitely glad that Daredevil is heading back to the care of Marvel Studios. They’ve been producing hits left and right with their characters since the first Iron Man movie came out and have a lot of faith that they’ll continue the tradition with the Man Without Fear. There is no word as of yet whether or not Joe Carnahan will still get a shot at directing the movie, but I would imagine that Marvel has it’s own ideas about who they’ll want to use. Personally I think that Carnahan had the right vision for Daredevil, wanting the movie to be in the vein of a 70’s crime thriller and I hope they at least sit down and talk with the guy.

Another interesting tidbit would be that Fox retains the rights to the character Elektra who, let’s face it, plays a pretty big part in the comic world of Daredevil. I’m thinking they can either have a renamed character similar to her in the movie (or future movies) or use another dangerous femme fatale who has spent a lot of time with Matt Murdock in the superhero world and the bedroom; Black Widow. As you may or may not know, in the comic books the pair dated at one point and I think it could be perfect for a movie crossover for the two characters. Hell, Daredevil was more recently on an Avengers team in the comic world so it may not be out of the realm of possibility to have him in the Avengers 2. It probably wouldn’t happen, but unlike Fox, Marvel now has all of the time in the world to make their Daredevil movie. And this true believer has all of the confidence in the world that they can do it right.

Movie News & Opinions

Could Marvel Studios Get Back Some Characters?

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How’s this for something to make a person stroke their chin in equanimity: A certain character or characters could be returning to a movie home with Marvel Studios in the near future from their very abusive home at Fox. I mean let’s face it, Fox has screwed up with nearly every Marvel movie they’ve churned out of their mediocre studio. Wolverine, the Fantastic  Four movies, Daredevil, Elektra and the Ghost Rider movies have all blown goats of the highest caliber! The only franchise they’ve had some good results with is the X-Men franchise, and even that took a couple stutter steps. I’m always hoping that Fox can step it up and I’m hopeful that Wolverine 2 (The Wolverine) and Josh Trank’s forthcoming Fantastic Four reboot can begin setting things right. Daredevil is another matter entirely and one of the big reasons as to all of the talk and rumors about certain characters reverting back to Marvel.

Like the Hellraiser franchise last year, Dimension needed to do something with the rights or risk losing them. So they produced a crappy movie that was finished in weeks and released on DVD, and now they are supposedly working on a reboot for the franchise. This is the same issue that Fox has with the Daredevil rights. If they don’t start production on a Daredevil movie by October 10th, then ‘the Man Without Fear’ would return to the Marvel Studios stable. This then brings up the rumors of a deal where Fox would trade the characters of Galactus and Silver Surfer back to Marvel so they can retain the rights to Daredevil. Because really, would Fox have the balls to produce a cheap piece of crap like Dimension did with Hellraiser just to hang onto it? I doubt it. They fail at even trying to make legitimate comic movies, let-alone an intentionally crappy one. Studio insiders at Fox are denying all of this of course and as I said it is all rumor at this point, but there has to be some truth to it or no one would be reporting on it.

There are a few different ways that this could boil down.

– Fox could make a piece of crap Daredevil movie and keep his rights, as well as those of Galactus and Silver Surfer, and then make a potentially decent Daredevil flick somewhere down the road.

– Fox could cut a deal with Marvel, letting Galactus and Silver Surfer go back with Marvel and avoid having to make a crappy Daredevil just for the sake of hanging onto the rights.

– ORRRRRRR Fox does absolutely nothing with Daredevil and loses him to Marvel while hanging on to Galactus and Silver Surfer.

Who knows what will happen at this point as the talks continue.

Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) is currently in talks with Fox to direct the Daredevil reboot, and as stated before, Chronicle director Josh Trank is going to be rebooting the Fantastic Four franchise for Fox. I don’t see why Fox would have a problem letting Galactus and Silver Surfer go to hang onto Daredevil, because Trank would still have plenty of villains to draw on from the Fantastic Four comics. Dr. Doom is the obvious first choice and could carry over into any sequels. Then they can still use the Skrulls, Annihilus and the Mole Man. Regardless of how stupid the Mole Man looks, they could absolutely change him up to be a legitimate threat in a Fantastic Four movie.

This may just all be wishful thinking on my part since it appears that Marvel is certainly ramping up their foray into the cosmic scene with Thor, Avengers and now an upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Imagine if they had Galactus and Silver Surfer to add into the mix? The Galactus Seed storyline from the Mighty Thor comic in 2011 comes to mind as a great possibility for a crossover movie between Thor and the Asgardians squaring off against Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

I would honestly hate to see Daredevil made into such a terrible film again, but one could only hope that Fox sees how badly it botched the first one. You know, when they cast Ben Affleck and made DD look like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction? And I’d be willing for the trade off of Fox potentially doing that film right in return for Marvel Studios to add more players to its cosmic sandbox.