Comic Book Films & TV

[TKz]

I'm calling Justice League. 1 film isn't anywhere near enough of a set up for a JLA film. It might not be a bad film, but it's going to pale in comparison to Avengers 1, let alone 2.

Fantastic Four doesn't have the lofty expectations and really, all they need to do is a better job than last time and it'll be a good enough. If anyone actually goes to see it or not, that's a different beast... Fantastic Four has always been a bit of a tough sell. Kind of just sucks that they've held onto the rights for Galactus and Silver Surfer from Marvel. I really hope they manage to sort out a deal where this could exist in the Marvel Universe.

You'd think they'd want to, considering how much of a pain it'd probably be to get the rights to any villains outside of Dr. Doom, Galactus and Silver Surfer.

[livid]

Well it's technically not even one film because Man of Steel isn't a direct lead-in to the Justice League film (at least that's what we've been told for forever but Snyder has been less adamant about it not being connected lately). I do think you're right though because they haven't even hired anybody to make it yet so it's either going to be pushed back (probably should considering the amount of things lined up for 2015) or be a horrible mess. Though the same was being said about X-Men: First Class and look how well that turned out.

I'm optimistic about Fantastic Four because of the talent they've hired thus far (I was disappointed in Chronicle overall but the direction was good) and the previous films actually did okay at the box office so I think it could do even better if it's not portrayed childish and campy like those ones.

[TKz]

Justice League just doesn't seem like it'll work right now. It's got so much going up against it. Expectations from fans, living in the shadow of The Avengers, the fact that it'd really need to introduce each character with a separate film and that's going to need a new Batman film... which isn't going to go over that well. There's the fact that making a Wonder Woman feature film is apparently impossible. Green Lantern is still fairly recent and was awful. So that's two characters they'd probably need to reboot in way too short a time span and one character that's been trying to have a film for years actually getting it.

I mean, The Avengers had things it needed to overcome, but not things on this scale.

[TKz]

Man of Steel Trailer #2!

Oh man. That looks pretty interesting. Let's hope it's more Nolan than Snyder.

[livid]

Man of Steel Trailer #2!

Oh man. That looks pretty interesting. Let's hope it's more Nolan than Snyder.

Edited it a bit so that it shows in the post.

But yeah, I've got a say as someone who rarely gives a shit about Superman, this was a really well done trailer and made me really excited for it. I'm pretty confident in Snyder though because I trust Nolan and he was the one that signed off on Snyder as director so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[TKz]

Yeah, cheers for that man, I don't seem to be able to get it work lately. All I really want to see now is like a "Zod" trailer. Or a story oriented trailer. We've seen the teaser, we've gotten a look at the feel of this Superman, now I just want to know what story I'm getting into.

Sucks that Shannon has confirmed he won't say "Kneel before Zod."

[brenchill]

From what I have seen so far I think the story will be centered around his struggle to come to terms with who he is and where he has come from, similar to Batman Begins.

[livid]

Guardians of the Galaxy update; it appears the shortlist of actors being screen-tested to play Star-Lord are Joel Edgerton, Lee Pace, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, and Eddie Redmayne. Any of the first three would be greatly exciting to me, can't really say anything about the other two.

New update

Can't say I know how well he'd fit but Zachary Levi in anything sounds good to me! Not sure how that'd work with him being in Thor 2 though, should they crossover.

[GoGo Yubari]

Bah, that's disappointing. I like Levi a lot but I don't want him double-cast. No opinion whatsoever on Jim Sturgess.

[Summers]

i hate double casting in super hero films. :@

[livid]

So while we were gone, a couple of names were added to the shortlist of those being considered for Star-Lord: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinksi and Michael Rosenbaum.

I imagine a fair amount of people are a bit tired of JGL after this year but I think he's a great actor and the biggest name mentioned so far (which would help the film's appeal to a more general audience). Krasinski and Rosenbaum seem like odd choices but I do like the idea of Rosenbaum because he was pretty underrated as Lex Luthor in Smallville.

Also mentioned in that Krasinski article is that Batista, some unknown and Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice guy) are being considered for Drax the Destroyer. That, coupled with the names mentioned for Star-Lord so far, makes for some interesting (re: not your usual guys) casting choices.

[TKz]

At this point, I'm starting to think the only criteria required to read for the role of Star Lord is being a dude. Also, Old Spice guy as Drax would be a ton of fun and kinda work. He's not all GRR ANGRY all the time. He can be kinda light hearted at times. For a guy named The Destroyer, anyway.

[livid]

Yeah pretty much my thoughts exactly, they need to just cast the damn role already.

[TKz]

I'm still rooting for Joel Edgarton. He's the only one of the lot I can really picture as Peter Quill. I'm more interested in hearing the rest of the cast now.

[Kane's Mullet Slacker]

Yeah, I wanna know who's voicing Rocket Raccoon, goddammit!

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm 100% behind Batista as Drax. He was great in Man With the Iron Fist and can portray rage and being chill in equal measure.

[Kane's Mullet Slacker]

Batista certainly has the build but I don't know about his acting skills. I haven't seen him in Man with the Iron Fist.

[GoGo Yubari]

Exactly. Go see that movie.

[livid]

So apparently JGL is doing Sin City 2 instead.

[Jimmy]

In a recent interview, Kevin Feige confirmed that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man would be the official starting point of Marvel’s “Phase Three.” What other films will be included in the post-Avengers 2grouping? For starters, none other than the long-rumored Doctor Strange adaptation. Feige mentioned Doctor Strange in the same sentence as the “Phase Two” film Guardians of the Galaxy, since both pictures will be somewhat outside of the normal realm of core characters we’ve come to know and love. Hit the jump for more on “Phase Three” from Feige and an update on Iron Man 3and Avengers 2.

Feige recently spoke to MTV about the slate of Marvel films starting in 2015. We know that Ant-Man will debut on November 6th of that year and here’s what Feige had to say about the project:

“‘Ant-Man’ is definitely part of Phase Three. Like ‘Iron Man 3,’ it’s certainly set in the Marvel Universe, but it’s also through the lens of Edgar Wright — which is the only reason we’re making the

movie

…I’ve known Edgar since our first lunch together at Comic-Con in 2004. He asked me what Marvel was doing with ‘Ant-Man’ — we weren’t even a studio then; what a difference eight years makes! It’s very much an ‘Ant-Man’ origin movie from the perspective of Edgar Wright and his co-writer Joe Cornish. It will of course be firmly planted in the MCU, but a different corner than we’ve seen before.”

Feige went on to tease about other characters that we might see during “Phase Three,” but also confirmed Doctor Strange in the process:

“Beyond that… ‘Ant-Man’ is the only one officially announced, but you probably don’t have to look too far to guess at the next list of characters we’re toying with and beginning to develop…’Doctor Strange,’ which I’ve been talking about for years, is definitely one of them. He’s a great, original character, and he checks the box off this criteria that I have: he’s totally different from anything else we have, just like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ He’s totally different from anything we’ve done before, as is ‘Ant-Man,’ which keeps us excited.”

Before we can get to Phase Three, we must remember to stop and enjoy Phase Two! Starting in May, Iron Man 3 will kick off Marvel’s second set of films that will lead to The Avengers 2 in 2015. Just how soon can we expect to start seeing groundwork for the plot of the second Marvel mash-up? According to Feige (viaMTV):

“I would say that the exercise of this film [

Iron Man 3

] is very much standalone, more so than any ‘Iron Man’ film since the first one. But because we are in Phase Two and we’re heading towards another ‘Avengers’ movie, there’s certainly a road that’s being paved — you just might not notice it…While you’re driving on the road, not knowing where it’s going, you might not realize that there are road signs and signals and lane changes that we’re setting up now — they might not be readily apparent the first time you see the movie…In this one, it has less to do with any sort of larger S.H.I.E.L.D. or cosmic overlay, but much more about Tony, his frame of mind, his viewpoint and the things he wants to pursue.”

Feige also updated the progress of The Avengers 2 and commented on Joss Whedon’s script so far:

“It’s still early days, but I told [Whedon] after reading the first sketch outline he delivered — and there’s a lot of work still to do, he has to sit down and turn this into a movie — but there are already seven things in there that are worth the price of admission alone.”

Avengers 2 aside, are you excited to see Doctor Strange on the big screen? We previously reported that the rumor of Viggo Mortensen taking on the role had been denied, but who would you want to see don the cape?