I'm back after a five-day hiatus. The main reason that? I was soaking up all the news and big announcements from the San Diego Comic-Con, that's what I was doing! All while struggling to keep my cool and stay in a professional mood for my next article, then I thought, to hell with it, I'm going all-out comic-book geek on this one. So as Jurassic Park-era Samuel L. Jackson would say, hold on to your butts. Amazing Spider-Man 2, Avengers 2, X-Men, Captain America, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Man of Steel sequel, The Flash, The Justice League! News on all below folks... get reading!
Ok I'm going to start with the first big reveal I, personally, heard from San Diego. That big reveal being the first real look at Jamie Foxx's take on the Spider-Man villain Max Dillon, aka Electro, and as first impressions go, I'm impressed.
Now, without wishing to tread dangerous and controversial ground here, I was sceptical when Marc Webb first announced that Electro would be his ASM2 villain and that Jamie Foxx would be playing him. The reason for this scepticism, and I can't stress enough that I am not in anyway discriminating, was that Jamie Foxx is black, and that Max Dillon is not portrayed in any of the Spider-Man comics (Amazing and Ultimate) as a black man. Despite this, I had faith in Webb, and indeed the highly respected Foxx, that Electro would be given the best treatment possible to make his big-screen debut a memorable one. The main thing that pleases me with the above image is that Foxx does indeed prove me wrong, and pays wonderful homage to the Ultimate version of Dillon (right). Take my advice, look at the image to the right. Now look at Foxx's take at the top. He really does look the part. The Amazing Spider-Man was received in a mixed fashion by comic-book fans a year ago. I actually thought it was alright, but just that, alright. It was good enough, but not enough to feel significant so soon after the end of Raimi's Tobey Maguire trilogy. Next year's reboot sequel however, seems to be showing that it's treating itself more seriously. It seems to have thrown off the shackles that come with an already-done origin story and is now going to let Spidey and Electro have a good ol' thrash about in the streets of Manhattan. Colour this critic excited.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Now to possibly the largest main cast ever assembled (no Marvel pun intended). X-Men Days of Future Past's casting department has certainly been busy, bringing back 90% of the cast from both Mathew Vaughn's First Class and the original X-trilogy. All this as well as adding four new mutants to the world of cinema. These newbies being the energy-absorbing Sebastian Shaw-like Bishop, human-solar panel Sunspot, and the controversial inclusion of the brother and sister Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. So controversial because, only days before, director of Avengers 2 Joss Whedon had announced that Pietro and Wanda Maximoff would be somehow involved in his 2015 Marvel team-up sequel.
Well, controversy aside, the important thing for us comic book fans to contemplate is that this is clearly a massive undertaking for Bryan Singer, and possibly a very risky one too. 2007's Spider-Man 3 was slated by many simply for getting way ahead of itself and including one or two too many villains in the mix. DOFP is expanding on it's predecessor's cast with over 50% more characters.
I've mentioned all this and yet, there's more. Other big X-Men news is that, after all the Pucks and the MODOKs (really?!), Peter Dinklage has been officially confirmed to be playing Bolivar Trask, creator of the futuristic Mutant-exterminating Sentinels. The Terminator-esque death machines have also been given their long-awaited unveiling in San Diego, and they seem to have taken some inspiration (not much) from I, Robot. I'm assuming that the helmet in the above image will be scaled up somewhat, as their comic counterparts are giant, lumbering leviathans. All in all though Bryan Singer's return to the X-Men timeline is certainly looking like an interesting one.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Say hello to your 80's political sci-fi thriller folks, as Captain Rogers is taking on mercenaries, teaming up with Russian spies, and y'know, saving Washington from a brainwashed cyborg.
It's no secret that the mysterious metal man seen in the concept art and leaked set photos, marks the surprising return of James 'Bucky' Barnes, Cap's best friend during the events of World War II. No spoilers here though, as the surprise is not meant for the audience. Co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo state that Rogers will be the one shocked by the revelation. This revelation being, for non-comic book readers, that Bucky Barnes somehow survived his supposedly fatal fall off the moving Hydra train in The First Avenger, and has been given the same cryo-sleep treatment as our hero, only this time waking up in the modern world under the influence of some pretty handy (and somewhat believable) Russian brainwashing. The photo to the right is one of those aforementioned leaked set photos, and one of the first for that matter, of Bucky in his sleek Winter Soldier reincarnation. All I can say is bravo to the costume department at Marvel Studios (yet again), as they really have kept true to the famous Winter Soldier/Captain America comic story-arc with this particular get-up. Everyone may be looking towards 2015 as the year to remember for superhero films, and I couldn't agree more, but please don't let that prevent you from paying close attention to the films we have before then. Very promising stuff.
Thor: The Dark World
The other sequel to come out of Marvel's post Avengers Assemble Phase 2, is Thor: The Dark World. Seeing as this was announced quite a while ago, and has already spawned a full trailer, there wasn't much news to come from the Asgardian's second solo-outing. Nothing midgard-shattering anyway.
Oh, did I forget to mention? He has an army.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Arguably the most surprising news to come out of the Marvel booth in Hall H was Joss Whedon arriving on stage, unexpectedly, and announcing that the official title of his massively anticipated sequel to the 3rd highest grossing film of all-time, is Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Yes after many months of speculation that Marvel's Mad Murdering Titan Thanos would certainly be the villain for The Avengers 2, Joss Whedon has raised many an eyebrow by introducing everyone to The Age of Ultron. Ultron in this case being a super-A.I. gone rogue (like genocide-level rogue). Originally created by Dr Hank Pym, who goes on to become Ant-Man, Ultron gradually developed it's own intelligence and becomes self-aware. This leads to the A.I. building itself some armour, a physical, empowering body, with a taste for human genocide. That is the general gist of it though, as I couldn't possibly detail the complete story without writing a novel. Dr Pym goes on to live his whole life in deep regret for creating his very own Frankenstein's Monster. Interestingly, Edgar Wright's eagerly-awaited Ant-Man 2015 movie is due for release in Marvel's 'Phase Three', after the events of Age of Ultron. Now at first this naturally led to fans speculating that Pym would be introduced as a scientist under the employment of S.H.I.E.L.D, where he would later become develop his molecular structure-shrinking Ant-Man suit, supposedly to make-up for his own mistakes with Ultron. This rumour has however, been swiftly put to death by Whedon, stating that neither Ant-Man nor Hank Pym would be making an appearance during the Avengers sequel.
The full statement goes, “Well, because there was a book called 'Age of Ultron' quite recently, a lot of people have assumed that is what we're doing, but that is not the case,” Whedon reportedly reveals in the interview. “We're doing our own version of the origin story for Ultron. In the origin story, there was Hank Pym, so a lot of people assumed that he will be in the mix. He's not. We're basically taking the things from the comics for the movies that we need and can use. A lot of stuff has to fall by the wayside.". "We're crafting our own version of it where his origin comes more directly from The Avengers we already know about.” Whedon reportedly continues. “It's a little bit darker than the other film because Ultron is in the house. There's a science fiction theme that wasn't there in the other one. Ultron is definitely something that evolves, so we're going to get together a couple of different iterations. Nothing can be translated exactly as it was from the comics; particularly Ultron."
Now, with the Internet being the Internet, many Marvel fans have taken to the forums to vent their disgust in this origin story re-hash. I can already see how this is going to turn out: fans not happy with new Ultron origin story "this film's going to suck", trailer released "can't wait for this, going to own 2015", and finally, "just got back from seeing Age of Ultron, best film of year". Sorry, but, that's the sad truth of some fans out there, they jump to ridiculous conclusions way too quickly. Be patient, Marvel know what they are doing, oh and by the way, these character's are their creations. So by right, they can do what they want with them.
As far as where this leaves our buddy Thanos, well this is also interesting, as Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has confirmed that he will play some part in his cosmic adventure. Joss Whedon has, despite his newly-announced title, also confirmed that the purple villain is to make himself known during The Avenger's second outing. The Mad Titan seems to be coming out on top as the mastermind of the Marvel attacks, after all, he ended up being the mysterious figure bestowing our Loki with the "Glowstick of Destiny". The Mad Titan seems to be all but confirmed to face Earth's Mightiest Heroes faces-to-purple face come The Avengers 3.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Touted as the biggest risk of Marvel's Phase 2, and pretty much unheard of amongst non-comic book readers, The so-called Guardians of the Galaxy are also unofficially known as Tomorrow's Avengers, or the Space Avengers (that last one is sure to sell it). Now I immediately have an advantage with this piece, because I have had the absolute PLEASURE of to have followed the Guardians' journey's in print. All I can say is just get on and read them! Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the best titles to have been spawned from the furnace of Marvel's comic book production line in many a decade (my opinion of course). It is truly fantastic, blending action and genuinely good comedy. It takes obvious nods from the Star Wars Saga when it comes to crafting a narrative that involves cantinas filled with various races of all shapes (walking trees?) and sizes (talking, swearing Raccoons?!). Long story short, and in the wish that you people go and discover the brilliance for yourselves, I urge you to try it.
Now, as I'd really like to get this article published and for you folks to read it as soon as possible, but also really not wishing to sacrifice information quality, I am going to move on swiftly through this article and the next. However, this also gives me more time to do what I really, really want to do, and that is sell The Guardians of the Galaxy to you people who are still debating whether it'll be worth your Marvel film-time. This means, next week, I will be bringing you a full bio on each of the members of Tomorrow's Avengers and their most famous villains, and who has been cast as who in 2014 film. I can barely wait.
The Bat Returns
And finally, I bring you the last of my news round-up bulletins from the San Diego Comic-Con 2013, and it's fair to say, this is by far my favourite. Yes, the news that succeeded in turning me once again into a ten-year old kid, was the fantastic announcement from Zack Snyder himself that the Man of Steel sequel will arrive in cinemas in 2015 (alongside Age of Ultron), and will introduce the new Batman to our screens.
It was unbelievable news to comic book fans the world over as Hall H exploded with screams, cheers and applause, in utter amazement of reveal. I have to praise the way in which it was revealed too, as Zack Snyder asked Henry Lennix (who portrayed General Waller in MoS) to come onto the stage and "read something that will help you (the audience) understand".
Lennix proceeded to read, in wonderful prose, "I want you to remember, Clark. In all the years to come. In all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you". A famous extract from a most famous story-arc, The Dark Knight Returns. The screams then began until Henry Cavill's Superman logo appeared, and Hall H positively trembled with crown noise as a large and re-mastered Bat-symbol loomed behind it with all the menace and presence we have come to expect and demand from the Batman. No more has been stated on the reveal. Snyder and Goyer, simply leaving the audience to simmer and soak up the sheer anticipation of such a premise. 2015 is going to be one hell of a year for superhero films I can safely say. Almost like 2012 all over again.
Thank you very much for reading this article as I really did want to give you ladies and gents a nice juicy summary of, not all the reveals obviously, but of the ones that left people thinking and discussing, waiting with bated breath. Again, please feel free to comment below and even request any news, something I misses and you want it written about? Ask me in the comments and it will be done! Also share me around. Thank you again.
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