The New Wonder Woman

I haven't exactly been the biggest supporter of the Wonder Woman TV show.  I'm not a huge fan of the character, and the show's basic premise of Wonder Woman as an executive sounded shallow at best.  And today we have a look at Adrianne Palicki in full gear, and this isn't exactly winning me over.

I've seen cosplay better than this.  The blue and red are far too bright and shiny, and the gold looks more like yellow than metal.  Although the color palette is the chief offender, the odd construction and composition doesn't exactly do wonders.  The strange looking belt and Ws on the boots are good examples of misuse of detail.  I'm actually surprised the thing looks as retro as it does.  Say what you want about the new costume in comics, it does feel much more suited for live action.  I'm surprised we didn't see more of its influence here. 

I know this is TV, and that we shouldn't expect something out of this world like Iron Man, but still.  They could have done better.

Darren Aronofsky Off Wolverine?!?!

This is downright disappointing news.  Darren Aronofsky was all lined up to direct the Wolverine, which I was hoping to be THE definitive take on Marvel's biggest mutant.  Aronofsky has earned huge critical acclaim with the Wrestler and Black Swan, and is arguably the most artistic director in Hollywood right now.  I was incredibly excited to see someone with that style take on brutal little furball like Wolverine.  While most of Marvel's movies are aiming for a nice blend of fun action and maturity, it felt like Wolverine was firmly going into darker territory.  And with this character and this director, I thought this movie even had a shot at rivaling the Dark Knight himself.

So now we have to find a new director.  While I'm certain there is someone out there to take on Fox's latest X-installment, I'm a big fan of Aronofsky and can't imagine another director piquing my interest quite like him.  I wouldn't say it's time to abandon ship just yet though.  With a solid script and strong leading man, the movie still has two key ingredients for success.  And if Aronofsky was able to at least hammer out some of the basic themes and elements, perhaps it's possible for someone to pick up where he left off.  What I'm trying to say, my dear readers, is not to give up hope on this one just yet.  Still, I can't help but feel decidedly less interested without a visionary like Darren Aronofsky on board.

Daredevil Reboot Is A Go?

Well this is...surprising.  Two or so years ago we heard whispers of a Daredevil reboot.  And why not?  The Dark Knight had just demolished the box ofice and Fox had a character with unbelievable potential on their hands.  Of course, after the train wreck that is the original adaption, most fans wanted Marvel to get their hands on it and do it justice.  And with the rights soon to expire, most fans though this wish would come true.  Sadly this isn't the case, and Fox has hired David Slade to direct not a reboot, but a continuation of the original story. 

So let's look at David Slade.  His name was thrown around during the search for a Wolverine director, where he lost out to the highly talented Darren Aronofsky.  I can't fault him for losing to one best directors in the Biz.  What I can fault him for is directing Twilight: Eclipse.  Sorry Mr. Slade, you're going to have to turn in your man-card for that on.  Hard to get excited about someone with such a small resume, or a resume that  includes 2 hours of shirtless werewolves.

As for this "continuation" stuff, this is the third time we've heard that excuse this year.  Spider-Man and Ghost Rider have both made similar claims in order to avoid some of the recent stigma towards rebooting a franchise.  Although it's unfair to not give Fox a chance, I still wish Marvel could have gotten the rights back for this one.  They have a much better record of staying true to the source material, which seems to be a key ingredient for a movie's success.  But who knows, maybe if this thing stalls long enough Marvel can get the rights back after all?

Shane Black Talks Iron Man 3

So Shane Black is directing Iron Man 3.  We now know he's writing it too.  And he had this to say about Tony Stark's final adventure.

"'Iron Man 3' will not be another 'two men in iron suits fighting each other' film,"  "Instead, it will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villains."

In some ways, this sounds remarkably spot on.  Iron Man seems to work best when dealing with real world issues rather than more classic supervillains.  Tony Stark is just at home fighting terrorist threats as he is joining up with the Avengers.  The best action scene in the first Iron Man was Tony tearing apart tanks a desert somewhere off in the Middle East.  Not to mention Warren Ellis' character defining story arcs which showed us Tony in a world of conspiracies and espionage.  And the Mandarin actually fits into this perfectly.  The 10 Rings are a terrorist cell, and the Mandarin is a part of that threat.  Now, I still want to see Tony fight the Mandarin in an epic clash.  Fighting against rogue forces is awesome, but Iron Man must battle the Mandarin to win the day.  This is like, comic book 101.

We also have the rumor of "no crossovers".  The first thing we have to do is ask what exactly this might mean.  Are we going to see no extra characters whatsoever?  This I could live with, as long as SHIELD is still around.  You can't have intelligence operations and espionage without SHIELD.  And as much as I want to see a Captain America cameo, it's not something I need.  Additional appearances and extra touches should only be ever added if they can add to the story, or are small enough so that they don't detract from the story and help make the universe a richer place.  So while I'm okay with limiting the influence of outside characters, I see absolutely no reason to take the story outside of the Marvel Universe and it's wonderful continuity.

So is this more isolated approach for the best?  I think so.  Just like the comics, the solo titles need to focus on the main character and their own supporting cast.  Could the Black Widow appear in Thor 2?  Sure, but she doesn't have to play a large role.  Give each character their own time to shine, and let them mash it up together in the Avengers.  Y'know, exactly like it happens in the comics.

2011 Event Face Off

I'm sure everyone knows how busy a summer this is for superheroes in the movies, but it's just as busy in the world of comics.  After Marvel and DC convinced themselves that we needed a break from big mega events, things were just too damn quiet without the Avengers confronting armies of genocidal ninja robots FROM SPACE!  We have three big storylines right on the horizon, and I'll break down which to be excited for.

War of the Green Lanterns
The jury is still out on whether or not the Green Lantern movie will be a success, but its hard to argue that Hal Jordan and Co. haven't been dominating comics these past few years.  In the aftermath of Blackest Night, Hal has joined forces with the rest of the Lantern Corps. to stop the renegade guardian Krona.  The rest of the Corps. isn't too happy with their star Lantern going all loose cannon, and we're going to see Guy Gardner and Hal try and kill each other, a story which refuses to get old.  And you won't have to worry about an endless storm of tie ins either.  The story is self contained within the trio of  GL books.  Green Lantern is a safe bet for good story telling these days, and even if it's not as iconic as the Sinestro Corps. War or Blackest Night, I can't imagine this War not being a fun one.

Fear Itself
I'm a sucker for the Thor mythos, and this storyline puts Marvel's best and brightest against the God of Fear itself.  The event has alot of players, ranging from the classic Avengers to the Juggernaut to Dracula.  Fear Itself certainly boasts a solid enough premise.  Ancient evil gods and a solid cast of heroes is always a good start.  The true deciding factor for this event will be Matt Fraction's writing.  The man can write pitch perfect dialogue and understands his characters incredibly well, but does decompress the hell out of his stories.  This doesn't bother me when he's writing Iron Man and explores the nature of Tony Stark's personal demons, but for an action packed event?  This could either be one of the smartest, most imaginative sagas yet or move at a snail's pace.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Still, early images look pretty cool, so check it out.

Flashpoint
While Green Lantern's event is very self contained (and all the better for it, IMO), Flashpoint will bring in the entire DCU.  And while Blackest Night dealt with the comic book trope of character deaths and resurrection, Flashpoint looks to deal with retcons.  The Flash does have a history of dealing with  time travel and such, and it looks like Earth's time line is going to radically change.  Out of all the events this summer, Flashpoint has me the least interested.  I gave the Flash a shot when Geoff Johns took on the new title and it let me down.  And the idea of exploring alternate reality versions of classic DC characters?  Not a bad one, but I'm not in the mood to pick up a ridiculous number of tie ins just to follow up on that.  And honestly, how many times have we seen alternate universes and time lines?  The event does have some promise, but if DC uses this as an excuse to retcon more storylines 


 So to sum things up, War of the Green Lanterns should be a solid, fun storyline, Fear Itself is both blessed and cursed a wildly imaginative, thoughtful writer, and I can live without entering the Flashpoint.  Regardless whether or not all of these events work out, I'm excited just to explore what they have to offer.  Say what you want about events, you can help but deny the sense of scale they bring to comics.

Hugo Weaving

Everyone knows Nazi's are evil.  And everyone knows Supervillains are evil.  But Nazi Supervillains?  Those guys are just the worst.  Enter the Red Skull, one of the most sinister, villainous characters in all of comics.  Up until now we haven't gotten a perfect look at Hugo Weaving in full make up, so Entertainment Weekly has shown us a full look at Cap's archenemy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Red Skull.

I was wondering how they were going to make him look, and that really is the Red Skull!  It has all the iconic elements that make the Skull so distinctive, while at the same time you can see there's a human being under there.  And I'm especially impressed by the costume.  It looks distinctly Nazi, but still larger than life enough to fit in a superhero movie.  And you can never go wrong with black, red and silver in a costume.  I'm going to reserve final-final judgment until I see him in motion, but this is pretty badass.  The first full trailer should be out tomorrow, so that time will be coming very soon.

Loki Vs. The Avengers?

Loki has to be in the Avengers.  He has always played such an intergral role in the team's formation, and was even their first villain.  And if rumors are to be believed, Loki will be fighting the team, and he'll be bringing help.  Apparently in the form of the alien Skrulls.  And he'll be using the cosmic cube to do it.

For the record, Loki should not be "the" villain.  He's Thor's archnemesis, not the archnemesis of the Avengers and the entire Marvel U.  The Avengers need to fight a villain that no single one of them can stand against alone, and Thor has beaten Loki one on one more than once.  Nevertheless, he should be a villainous character who does go acting like a giant asshole.  As for the Skrulls?  They're tricky to set up and explain, but offer a wonderful threat for the team to face.  I have no idea why Loki needs the cosmic cube, and I'm unsure of that part being true.

Another fun rumor is that there will be an Avengers teaser trailer in front of Captain America.  This is something I'm really hoping to be true, just to get some early buzz for the movie.  Pretty soon the movie will even start filming.  What a scary thought that is...