Marvel Comics

Marvel announced a new line of comics that will be set in Marvel's regular continuity, but accessible to new readers who aren't entrenched in the goings-on in the Marvel Universe. It's the Ultimate line all over again, except...not. The first "Astonishing" titles - Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine and Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis - should hit stands this May.

Marvel's VP of Sales and Circulation, David Gabriel, says, "They are firmly set in Marvel continuity but also accessible to new readers. If you're looking for big changes and character developments or a place to start reading if you are new to comics, this is where you come." My question is, if a reader is so unfamiliar with comics that he needs a fresh starting point, how is that same reader supposed to know that the Astonishing titles will serve that purpose? I can't imagine someone going into a shop for the first time and being able to distinguish Astonishing X-Men over Uncanny X-Men or Astonishing Spider-Man over Amazing Spider-Man.

This is what the Ultimate brand was intended for - a fresh start for new readers, free of years worth of backstory. The trouble is the Ultimate Universe created its own convoluted backstories, and now even those titles carry the burden of continuity. The Astonishing line seems confusing -- it's in-continuity, but ignores continuity; it's for brand new readers, but also old fans. Personally, I think monthly comics should be accessible to new readers all the time, but that's how the books were when I grew up reading. Seems like it's becoming more and more of a lost art amongst comic book writers and editors. Newsarama seems slightly baffled by the brand as well, and asks some obvious questions about it here.

(via Marvel)

Stan Lee may be partly responsible for Marvel's most famous creations, but he hasn't been able to create the same kind of superhero magic since the late 60's when long-time collaborator Jack Kirby quit Marvel. With Kirby, Lee created the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, the X-Men, and many other icons. On his own, he's brought us She-Hulk (arguably his last important Marvel Universe creation), Ravage 2099, Mosiac, The Condor, Lightspeed, and Striperella. That's a pretty significant creative downturn.

Smilin' Stan is back with a new concept called "Super Seven", in which he stars as himself in the story of an aging comic book creator who talks seven stranded aliens into becoming an Earth-bound super-team. The comic book will be published by Archie Comics, with A Squared looking to develop the superheroes into a potential TV series.

Though the concept is interesting (if a bit cheesy), I don't expect Super Seven to be the next Spider-Man, just based on Stan Lee's track record for the past thirty years. I love the guy, but I wish he'd retire gracefully, instead of tarnishing his legacy with dozens of lame creations. Look for Stan Lee to continue to appear in every Marvel movie ever, at a theatre near you.

(Source: Hollywood Reporter)

As Marvel Studios ramps up production on Thor and puts the finishing touches on Iron Man 2 -- all for the purpose of an eventual Avengers film -- Marvel Comics is canceling all four of its monthly Avengers titles.

The monthly books, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative, will all cease publication in April 2010 at the end of Marvel's multi-part Siege crossover. Siege is the culmination of several years' worth of stories from writer Brian Michael Bendis that sees the villains of the Marvel Universe (including Dr. Doom, Loki, and Norman Osborn) forming an alliance to manipulate the Avengers into invading Asgard.

One would assume, based on Marvel's publishing history, that they're streamlining the brand down to one single Avengers title after April and starting fresh with a new issue one. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that new title featured Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America front-and-center as the core of the team, to make the book more recognizable to the general public. There's no word yet from Marvel on what their post-Siege plans are for the Avengers, but I wouldn't dare count the team out for good.

(via IGN)

I love my superhero movies, but I'm not exactly drunk with anticipation over Kenneth Branagh's Thor flick. I have nothing against Branagh. I think he's an inspired choice to direct the movie. But I've never been a big fan of Marvel Comics' God of Thunder. I like my superheroes to come packaged with plenty of real-world quirks: Spider-Man is an angsty put-upon teen, Iron Man is a womanizer and an alcoholic, and Batman is ... well ... a crazy person. Thor? He's an indestructible Norse god with Fabio hair who uses the word "thou" a lot. He's got no chinks in his armor, which makes him a bit boring.

OK, maybe I'm being a little too harsh on Thor. He's obviously one of Marvel's most beloved heroes, and I'm sure the movie will at least deliver some dazzling visuals and cool fight scenes. It's also got a great cast, and it's reportedly gonna set up Marvel's next big dream project – an Avengers movie. (Hmm ... I'm starting to anticipate the thing a whole lot more as I write this.)

Here's one reason I might show up to the theater for Thor on opening weekend: The film is co-scripted by Ashley Miller, one of the scribes behind two of my favorite sci-fi shows, Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Speaking to our pals at Airlock Alpha, Miller compared the Thor flick to Batman Begins.

Disney's 4.2 billion dollar purchase of Marvel Entertainment is expected to close this week. With that kind of price tag, Disney's latest acquisition, announced back in August, is heftier than originally planned as Marvel's stock rose by 40% since the announcement, according to a Hollywood Reporter article.

Some of the Marvel properties, such as Spider-Man, are already locked into long term deals with rival studios, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of potential in Marvel's vault.

Disney's doing good, and with that 40% bump in the sticker price, Marvel's healthy, too. So now the question is which one of Marvel's 5,000 plus characters is going to the big screen? Iron Man's first movie took in $572 million, despite being considered a B-list superhero, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Based on the response to the Iron Man 2 trailer debut at Buttnumbathon earlier this month, the sequel will likely do just as well, if not better.

So which will it be? Ant-Man? The Runaways? Dr. Strange? What Marvel superhero would you most like to see brought to the big screen? Inquiring minds want to know.

Let me get this out of the way first: I am a huge Hawkeye fan. When I was a pre-teen I'd pick up Solo Avengers (the Hawkeye solo title) and West Coast Avengers (the team where Hawkeye was the leader) every month while my friends were buying Wolverine or Uncanny X-Men. He may just be a guy that shoots arrows, but there's something about his personality that just clicks with me. He's the Han Solo-type--a rogue and a scoundrel--but with the quick tongue of Spider-Man.

Forgive me then if I geek out a little more than usual at the news (from Empire Online) that Jeremy Renner is talking like it's all but official that he'll be playing Clint Barton aka Hawkeye in Marvel's upcoming Avengers-related films. Renner tells Empire, "If I was a betting man, I would bet that Hawkeye would probably show up in Thor, and then be in The Avengers, but do I know for sure? I can't say. But I'd love for that to happen. It'd be fun." He admits he was considered for the role of Captain America, but Marvel screenwriter Zak Penn would like to work Renner into the stories as Hawkeye instead.

Thor's cast is already stuffed with characters, so I don't know how they'd fit in just one more hero (or villain...Hawkeye started as a bad guy, then changed his ways). Can we expect a cameo from Renner in Iron Man 2 in much the same manner as Downey Jr. showing up as Tony Stark at the end of Incredible Hulk?

Comic book casting rumors seem to happen on a daily basis lately , and, obviously, nothing is set in stone, but I think Renner's an inspired choice. I'm pretty excited. What do you guys think?

Hasbro continues their steamrolling of Hollywood with the announcement that J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) is in negotiations to produce a film based on their Micronauts property. The Japanese science-fiction action figure line from Takara was brought to the States in the 1970's by Mego (with some items replicated for the collector's market in 2002 by Palisades), but has kept a pretty low profile since the line's cancellation in 1980.

Most fans are familiar with The Micronauts from the officially licensed Marvel Comic series, which ran throughout the 1980's, long after the toys had vanished from shelves. Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing both tried their hand at a Micronauts comic book revival during the last decade, but were met with little success.

The original Micronauts figures were an odd-looking assortment of strange heroes and bizarre aliens, and many of the toys featured interchangeable parts. While no over-arching story was created for the toys upon release (marking it as one of the few action figure assortments at the time with no built-in storyline), the comic versions of the Micronauts have positioned the characters as defenders of a microscopic universe, attempting to overthrow the evil Baron Karza.

If a full-on Micronauts revival is just around the corner, I'm hoping Hasbro keeps a lot of the funky character design intact. I had a good amount of Micronauts growing up, and they still stand out to me as being some of the weirdest looking (and most fun) toys from my early childhood.

(via Wall Street Journal)

I'm not sure how reliable a source for movie news the German version of GQ magazine is, but Ain't It Cool was alerted by one of their German readers that actor Matthaius Schweigholer confirmed to German GQ that not only is he up for a possible role, but Robert DeNiro and Jude Law are also now part of Kenneth Branaugh's Thor cast.

I can't seem to turn up any information about what Schweigholer's role in the film is, but the bigger question is what Marvel Universe roles are DeNiro and Law being considered for? Most of the principals are cast, including Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. Last week Stellan Skarsgard joined the cast, and most assumed he was going to play Odin.

There are plenty of colorful secondary characters in Marvel Comics' Thor, so it will be interesting to see just who DeNiro and Law are supposed to play. I'm taking this news with a giant grain of salt, but if it holds true, they'll both make fine additions to the cast. Thor is set for release Summer 2011. I'm curious--what characters would you like to see these actors play?

The movies have been very, very bad to Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops, the leader of Marvel's X-Men. Last time we saw poor Mr. Summers on screen, he was played by young actor Tim Pocock and plagued by headaches and a lousy character arc in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Now, Pocock is saying he plans to reprise the role in the upcoming X-Men: First Class movie, which will likely feature the X-Men as young students taught by a heavily CGI'd Patrick Stewart.

"Currently shooting Australian TV series till February 2010...then X-men first class," Pocock posted on Twitter recently. Wolverine Producer Laura Schuler-Donner told IESB that a new Fox X-Men movie would be heading into production in 2010, presumably for a 2011 release. If Pocock is to be believed, then Schuler-Donner was probably talking about the long-rumored X-Men: First Class, scripted by Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl).

This is fine. I'd much rather see a film based on some classic X-Men stories than producer David Goyer's rumored X-Men Origins: Magneto flick. Wolverine set up the First Class movie nicely with the subplot about the young mutants being held captive and later saved by Prof. X. But there are a lot of ways this thing could go horribly, horribly wrong. (I think I'll shoot myself if I hear anyone close to the film calling it "X-Men for the Twilight generation.")

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening today:

- The Battlestar Galactica movie reboot rumors are cropping up again. HitFix is reporting that Universal is nearing a deal with X-Men director Bryan Singer to produce and possibly helm a brand new BSG feature film. Singer was originally attached to a scrapped BSG project in 2001 before Ron Moore's landmark SciFi Channel series hit the air. Is it too soon for another take on Battlestar?

- A movie based on Marvel's Namor The Sub-Mariner is "in active development," says director Jonathon Mostow (Terminator 3, The Surrogates), who is attached to direct. Unfortunately, the character is held under option by Universal, which means he probably won't show up in Marvel Studios' upcoming Avengers flick. [/Film]

- Shock Till You Drop is reporting that a Death Race prequel is in the works. Expect more explosions, car chases and the suicide of Roger Ebert.

- TV Squad tells us writer-director Frank Darabont (The Mist, Shawshank Redemption) is bringing writer Robert Kirkman and illustrator Tony Moore's awesome zombie comic The Walking Dead to TV. The series will air on AMC, home to the popular "Fear Fest" horror movie showcase.

More sci-fi awesomness after the jump.